Saving Seafood

Gulf Seafood Leaders Find Aquaculture Doable in Gulf of Mexico

August 1, 2017 — Growing shell and finfish in an aquaculture setting is certainly doable in the Gulf of Mexico according to Sebastian Belle, Executive Director of the Maine Aquaculture Association (MAA). The association recently hosted 20 members of the Gulf seafood community who ventured to the Pine Tree State to examine its innovative aquaculture program.

The tour, organized by the Gulf Seafood Institute and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was designed to showcase the success of Maine’s 40-year-old aquaculture program and give Gulf visitors new insights.

In 2016, NOAA filed a final rule implementing the nation’s first comprehensive regulatory program for aquaculture in federal waters. The rule allowed for the establishment of a regional permitting process to manage the development of an environmentally sound and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in federal waters of the Gulf.

Throughout the process, NOAA Fisheries has worked with stakeholders to address questions and help policy makers understand the challenges and opportunities in aquaculture. By traveling to Maine, Gulf of Mexico fishermen, scientists and state officials were able to explore real-world examples of successful aquaculture companies and seafood farmers and have meaningful discussions with researchers, policy makers and growers.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Foundation

NOAA Fisheries Announces Extension of Voluntary Speed Restriction Zone South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales

July 31, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The voluntary vessel speed restriction zone south of Nantucket, MA has been extended and enlarged to protected an aggregation of four right whales sighted in this area on July 28, 2017.

Mariners, please avoid or transit at 10 knots or less inside the area.

Nantucket, MA zone coordinates:

  • 41 33 N
  • 40 54 N
  • 070 35 W
  • 069 42 W

This voluntary speed restriction zone is in effect through August 12.

Find out more about all the dynamic and seasonal management areas where speed is restricted.

Learn more about how to reduce vessels strikes of whales.

You can also get recent right whale sightings and the latest acoustic detections of right whales in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston shipping lanes. Or, download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone.

Remember that approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law. Please report all right whale sightings to 866-755-NOAA (6622)

NOAA Fisheries says no more cod fishing for fun

July 31, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Federal regulators had some bad news for New England’s recreational saltwater fishermen this week.

NOAA Fisheries announced new management measures for the recreational cod and haddock fisheries in the Gulf of Maine.

Effective Thursday, July 27, the regulators banned all recreational cod fishing in the waters between Cape Cod and the Canadian border known as the Gulf of Maine Regulated Mesh Area.

The ban applies to possession of any cod by recreational fishermen.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

MASSACHUSETTS: Improving the science is key

Gov. Baker pledges support for new studies, research on fishing industry

July 31, 2017 — Governor Charlie Baker says more and stronger data will help Gloucester fishermen push back against federal fisheries regulations they believe are unwarranted and which, they claim, are in some cases based on inaccurate government data.

Citing scientific data as key to reviving not only Gloucester’s, but also the state’s fishing industry, Baker told a roomful of fishermen and their supporters Thursday that he will continue to support their push for new studies and other research. He also hailed the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition for its focus on those needs.

“We’re very proud of you and all that you are doing to improve the science,” Baker told up to 300 people gathered for the coalition’s annual fundraiser at The Gloucester House. The benefit, which was expected to raise up to $50,000 for the fishing industry policy and advocacy organization, carried a theme of “Know fish, better science.”

“We look forward to working with you, and we are committed to advocating for you,” the governor added, noting that the coalition continues to push for a greater role for fishermen in government trawl studies and other research used to craft fishing quotas on cod and other groundfish. “We respect the work you do, and we look to working with you and for you long into the future.”

Baker, who has consistently sided with fishermen in their questioning of the accuracy of government catch data, made his latest visit to Gloucester two weeks after the announcement that John Bullard, NOAA Fisheries’ Greater Atlantic regional administrator for the past five years, is retiring in January.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NOAA Fisheries Announces Common Pool Area Closure for Georges Bank Cod

July 28, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are closing the Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area for Georges Bank cod to common pool vessels fishing on a groundfish trip with trawl, sink gillnet, and longline/hook gear for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2017.

The closure is effective today, July 28, 2017, at 0845 hours. The area will reopen at the beginning of Trimester 2, on September 1, 2017.

The closure applies to the following statistical areas: 521, 522, 525, and 561. See map below.

If you have crossed the vessel monitoring system demarcation line prior to 0845 hours on July 28, and are currently at sea on a groundfish trip, you may complete your trip in all or part of the closed area. If you have set gillnet gear prior to July 28, 2017, you may complete your trip to retrieve that gear.

We are required to close this area because the common pool fishery is projected to have caught 90 percent of its Trimester 1 Total Allowable Catch for GB cod. This closure is intended to prevent an overage of the common pool’s quota for this stock.

For more details, read the notice (pdf) as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin available on our website.

NOAA Reminds Boaters to Watch Out for Whales

July 28, 2017 — WASHINGTON — NOAA Fisheries is reminding boaters to keep a close eye out for feeding and traveling whales, along with following safe viewing guidelines.

During the summer whales are feeding on small schooling fish and zooplankton in coastal areas around New England.

Vessels should stay at least 100 feet away from humpback, fin, sei and minke whales and 500 feet away from critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

“Increased whale activity in areas off Northern New England are coinciding with summer boat traffic. We want to remind boaters of ways to prevent accidental interactions with whales, which can be fatal to the whales and cause damage to boats,” says Jeff Ray, the deputy special agent in charge for NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

This small, lowly sponge from Alaska may have special powers: curing cancer

July 28, 2017 — An obscure Alaska sea sponge, unknown to science until about a decade ago, shows promise as a tool to help patients fight pancreatic cancer, a notoriously deadly and hard-to-treat disease, researchers say.

The sponge, first spotted in 2005 on the floor of the eastern Gulf of Alaska off Baranof Island, holds unusual molecules that target and kill pancreatic cancer cells in the laboratory.

The Alaska sponge now shows more promise as pancreatic-cancer fighter than any of the other sea sponges or plants, marine creatures and bacteria that Mark Hamann of the Medical University of South Carolina and Fred Valeriote of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit have examined over the past two decades.

“This is certainly, for us, the best and most exciting looking candidate for the control of pancreatic cancer that we’ve come across in that 20-year period,” Hamann said in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, which is collaborating in the research.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to control and spreads rapidly to nearby parts of the body, according to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The pancreas is a part of the digestive system, secreting hormones that enable the body to process sugars.

The Alaska sponge was discovered by Bob Stone, a NOAA Fisheries biologist conducting an ocean-floor survey of coral habitat that fishery managers were interested in protecting.

It immediately stood out for its green color, contrasting with the browns common to Southeast Alaska sea sponges, said Stone, who was in the submersible vessel doing the survey. It looked like a sponge from the faraway Aleutians, he said.

“The second I saw it, I thought I should collect it,” he said.

Read the full story at the Alaska Dispatch News

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2017 Recreational Measures for Gulf of Maine Cod and Haddock

July 27, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces recreational measures for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year.

These measures are effective immediately.

Gulf of Maine Cod:

No Possession

Gulf of Maine Haddock:

Minimum size: 17 inches

Daily limit: 12 fish per angler per day

Open Seasons: May 1-September 16; November 1-February 28; April 15-30

Read the final rule as published in the Federal Register, and the permit holder letter posted on our website.

Final Rule for Hogfish Management in South Atlantic Federal Waters

July 27, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

KEY MESSAGE:

NOAA Fisheries announces a final rule for Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 37).  Hogfish in the South Atlantic will be managed as two populations: Georgia through North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida.  A population assessment determined that the Florida Keys/East Florida population is undergoing overfishing (rate of removal is too high) and is overfished (population abundance is too low) and, therefore, in need of a rebuilding plan.  The overfishing and overfished status of the Georgia/North Carolina population is unknown.

WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:

  • Regulations will be effective August 24, 2017.

WHAT THIS MEANS:

The final rule for Amendment 37 will implement the following management measures in addition to specifying commercial and recreational annual catch limits and accountability measures:

Management Measures Georgia-North Carolina Florida Keys/East Florida
Minimum size limit

(for both commercial and recreational sectors)

 17 inches fork length 16 inches fork length
Commercial trip limit 500 pounds whole weight 25 pounds whole weight
Recreational bag limit 2 fish per person per day 1 fish per person per day
Recreational fishing season Open year-round Open – May through October

Closed- January through April; November through December

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER:

82 FR 34584, published July 25, 2017.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

U.S. putting whale rescue efforts on hold after Canadian fisherman is killed

July 17, 2017 — The U.S. is suspending whale rescue efforts after a Canadian fisherman died last week during one such mission.

Joe Howlett, founder of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, was killed Monday while helping to free a North Atlantic right whale off the coast of New Brunswick. Mackie Green, captain of the rescue group, told the Canadian Press the team had actually succeeded in freeing the animal when “some kind of freak thing happened and the whale made a big flip,” striking Howlett.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is now “suspending all large whale entanglement response activities nationally until further notice, in order to review our own emergency response protocols in light of this event,” Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said in a statement.

Read the full story at USA Today