Saving Seafood

JIM HUTCHINSON JR: WILL ANGRY ANGLERS RESPOND TO FLUKE FIASCO?

November 28th, 2016 — Seriously, reading any further is just going to make you incredibly angry.

There’s no way to sugarcoat this, the coastwide quota for summer flounder (fluke) in 2017 is expected to be cut by about 40%. That means a shorter season, lower bag, an increase in size limits, or any combination of the three.

Pardon my French, but I told you that you’d be pissed!

The question is, what are you – what are we going to do about it?

NOAA Fisheries recently announced that their July 2016 summer flounder assessment shows continued overfishing and a fluke stock biomass in decline; in response, the federal government proposes a 30% reduction from catch limits previously implemented for the 2017 season, along with a 16% reduction from current 2018 allocations.

Because the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) showed gross overharvest in the recreational sector in 2016, that means we’re officially “overfishing” the fluke stock. That’s not to say the stock is in trouble, but because MRIP showed anglers caught too many fish this past summer, we now have a summer flounder stock that is experiencing statutory overfishing.

Read the full story at The Fisherman 

New Program Gives Vet Foothold in Fisheries

November 22, 2016 — Barney Boyer’s first few months as a NOAA Fisheries intern have been busy. He has assisted with tracking the return of salmon and forage fish to the Elwha River estuary, surveyed Puget Sound ocean conditions, and begun studying the invasion of non-native fish in the Snohomish River.

Boyer is the first military veteran to take an internship with NOAA Fisheries through a new partnership between Washington’s The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site Department of Veterans Affairs and The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site Veterans Conservation Corps, NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region, the The next link/button will exit from NWFSC web site NOAA Restoration Center and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC). Boyer is based at the NWFSC’s Mukilteo Research Station, near Everett, where he is assisting with several research projects, including one that may include him as co-author of a peer-reviewed paper.

“It’s really turned out to be an amazing experience so far,” Boyer said. “Every day here is an interesting experience, and I’m learning all the time.”

Casey Rice, director of the Mukilteo Research Station until his unexpected passing earlier this year, was a key advocate of hosting veterans at Mukilteo.

“Casey wanted this to happen and his colleagues have assumed the task of moving it forward,” said John Floberg of the NOAA Restoration Center, who helped coordinate the program. “It’s Casey’s legacy that veterans are now contributing to research at Mukilteo.”

Read the full story at the Fishing Wire

NOAA reports on state of US fisheries: Landings up, values down

October 27, 2016 — Gloucester improved its standing among all U.S. commercial ports in both the volume and value of its commercial seafood landings in 2015, according to the NOAA Fisheries annual Fisheries of the United States report released Wednesday.

The report is described by NOAA officials as an “annual snapshot of key national fishing and seafood statistics.” It showed the quantity of U.S. commercial seafood landings rebounded slightly in 2015 to 9.7 billion pounds valued at $5.2 billion. But the value of those landings decreased by almost 5 percent nationally from the previous year.

Gloucester’s performance in 2015 mirrored the national picture, with an increase in landings, but a decline in the overall value of those landings.

Gloucester, which ranked 22nd in volume of landings in 2014 among all U.S. commercial fishing ports, moved up two spots to 20th in 2015 by landing 68 million pounds of seafood — an increase of 11.5 percent from 2014.

And while America’s oldest seaport moved up four spots to No. 22 in the value of its landings, its 2015 value of $44 million actually represented a 4.3 percent drop from the $46 million worth of commercial seafood it landed in 2014.

The declines in value locally and nationally were reflected in prices off the boat, as the price index for edible fish declined by 9 percent nationally in 2015.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on a Notice of Availability for Hogfish in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic Region

October 11th, 2016 — The following was released by South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: 

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 37).

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to manage hogfish in the South Atlantic 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.

 Actions in Amendment 37 would

  • Modify the management unit for hogfish.
  • Establish a rebuilding plan for the Florida Keys/East Florida population to increase hogfish biomass to sustainable levels.
  • Specify commercial and recreational annual catch limits and accountability measures for the Georgia/North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida populations of hogfish.
  • Modify or establish minimum size limits, commercial trip limits, and recreational bag limits for both populations of hogfish; and establish a recreational fishing season for the Florida Keys/East Florida population.For more information, please see the frequently asked questions section at:
    http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.htmlRequest for Comments
    The comment period on Amendment 37 ends on December 6, 2016. You may obtain electronic copies of Amendment 37 from the NOAA Fisheries web site at
    http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.html or the e-Rulemaking Portal (see Addresses section).

    Addresses
    You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068, by either of the following methods:

    ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.

    1. Go to: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068.
    2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
    3. Enter or attach your comments.

    MAIL: Submit written comments to Nikhil Mehta, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

    INSTRUCTIONS: Comments sent by any other method (such as e-mail), to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

    All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on  http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

NOAA hosting hearings on funding fish monitors

September 21, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries has scheduled a number of public hearings in October and November, including one in Gloucester, to elicit public comment on the proposals for industry-funded monitoring programs for a variety of fisheries.

The schedule includes a public hearing at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at 55 Great Republic Drive in Gloucester on Oct. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The other locations for the public hearings are Portland, Maine, on Oct. 20; Cape May, New Jersey, on Oct. 27; and Narragansett, Rhode Island, on Nov. 1. There also will be an online webinar Oct. 17.

The period for written public comments on the amendments being considered by the New England Fishery Management Council and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will stretch from Sept. 23 until Nov. 7.

“The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils are developing an omnibus amendment to allow for industry-funded monitoring,” said the notice published Tuesday in the Federal Registry. “This amendment includes omnibus alternatives that would modify all of the fishery management plans managed by the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils to allow for standardized and streamlined development of future industry-funded monitoring programs.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Bottom trawlers sought for NOAA surveys

September 2, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries is looking for a few good boats.

The federal fishing regulator’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole seeks one to three commercial fishing boats to participate in the agency’s bottom trawl survey in the waters of the mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the Atlantic Ocean.

The use of the commercial vessels to help supplement — or in some cases, supplant — the work of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s survey vessel, the FSV Henry B. Bigelow, is one of the first steps in NOAA’s recently announced plan to incorporate more commercial boats in the trawl survey.

NOAA announced on Aug. 3 that it plans to shift “part or all” of its spring and fall trawl surveys to fishing industry boats over the next five years in an attempt to get more consistent and expansive coverage and to bridge the current gap between what fishermen say they are seeing on the water and what NOAA is reporting from its trawl surveys.

“The goal is to build trust in the best science through cooperative and collaborative research and improving both the communication and transparency with the fishing industry,” Bill Karp, the director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said at the announcement.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NOAA Fisheries Announces Availability of Draft Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management Road Map for Public Comment by October 15, 2016

August 30, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Resilient, productive ocean fisheries are critical to our economy and way of life.  Managing these fisheries over the long-term means taking into account more than just one species at a time. It requires a holistic, science-based approach that looks at the entire ecosystem. This approach is known as Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management (EBFM).

NOAA Fisheries has developed an agency-wide EBFM policy, which outlines a set of principles to guide our actions and decisions over the long-term. It directs continued progress toward development and implementation of EBFM approaches. It also ensures our commitment to incorporate EBFM into the agency’s resource management decisions.

NOAA also recently released a EBFM draft “road map” to guide implementation of the EBFM policy over the next five years. The road map outlines actions we can take now to further the policy’s 6 guiding principles:

  • Implement ecosystem-level planning
  • Advance understanding of ecosystem processes
  • Assess risks and vulnerabilities
  • Explore trade-offs
  • Incorporate ecosystem considerations into management advice
  • Maintain ecosystem resilience and social well-being

Interested parties can send their comments on the draft road map no later than October 15, 2016 to Heather.Sagar@noaa.gov and Jason.Link@noaa.gov.  Further information can be found online here.

Trip Limit Decreased to 500 Pounds per Trip for Commercial Harvest of Vermilion Snapper in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic

August 23, 2016 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The daily trip limit for the commercial harvest of vermilion snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic is reduced from 1,000 pounds gutted weight to 500 pounds gutted weight, effective 12:01 a.m. (local time) August 28, 2016. NOAA Fisheries has determined 75 percent of the July-December quota of 431,460 pounds whole weight will be landed by August 28, 2016.

Reduction of the commercial vermilion snapper trip limit when 75 percent of the July-December quota is reached in federal waters of the South Atlantic complies with regulations implemented under the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. The 500-pound gutted weight trip limit applies to vessels with a South Atlantic Unlimited Snapper-Grouper Permit fishing for vermilion snapper in or from the federal waters in the South Atlantic region. The 500-pound gutted weight trip limit will remain in effect until the end of the current July – December 2016 fishing season or until the quota is reached and vermilion snapper closes, whichever occurs first.

OCEARCH Tags and Releases Great White Shark Pups For The First Time Off Long Island

August 22, 2016 — MONTAUK, N.Y. — Meet Montauk and Hudson, two young-of-the-year great white sharks just tagged and released off Montauk, NY by OCEARCH and its collaborative team of multi-disciplined scientists.

“This is an exciting marine conservation event right here in our New York seascape,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, Director of WCS’s New York Aquarium.

“We’ve learned a lot about the adult sharks in recent years, but the pups are still a complete mystery,” said Tobey Curtis, lead scientist and Fisheries Manager at NOAA Fisheries. “Tagging these baby white sharks will help us better understand how essential Long Island waters are for their survival.”

Montauk, a 50-pound, 4-foot female white shark, and Hudson, a 67-pound, 5-foot male white shark, are the first two white sharks tagged by the shark-tagging partnership in New York waters. The tags on these young-of-the-year sharks will allow scientists to track their movements up and down the coast for the next several years.

The team, which includes researchers from WCS, NOAA Fisheries, South Hampton Schools, Florida Atlantic University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Stony Brook University, collected blood samples, fin clips, parasites, muscle sample and took measurements of the sharks. Each sample provides baseline data previously unattainable for great white sharks in this initial phase of life.

Read the full release at Marketwired

Rep. Moulton: Sweden’s lobster science flawed

August 15, 2016 — Sweden’s response to a highly critical analysis of its rationale for banning the export of American lobsters into the European Union still falls far short of a credible scientific standard, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton said Friday.

“The science they are citing is flawed,” Moulton said following a congressional briefing by NOAA Fisheries on the international contretemps. “They’ve done nothing to back up their data. And if they can’t back up their data, then there’s something else going on.”

In March, Sweden petitioned the remainder of the European Union to list American lobsters as an invasive species, claiming the increased presence of the American crustaceans in Swedish waters during the past three decades is imperiling its indigenous lobsters.

If successful, the invasive species listing would lead to a ban on U.S. and Canadian live lobster exports to Sweden and the rest of the 28-member European Union. The U.S. exports about $150 million worth of live lobsters to the EU each year — the vast majority landed in Maine and Massachusetts, where Gloucester is the top port — and Canada exports about $75 million.

The Swedish risk assessment, which cites the adverse potential of disease and cross-breeding between the indigenous lobsters and their American cousins across the pond, was like a starting pistol, spurring both U.S. and Canadian governmental agencies, trade officials and lobster stakeholders into action.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times