Saving Seafood

NMFS to expand Northeast ropeless gear trials

June 1, 2022 — Up to 100 commercial lobster vessels would be allowed to test alternative gear without static vertical lines, under an exempted fishing permit application filed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Up to 30 of those boats would be allowed to fish using so-called ropeless gear in areas where conventional lobster gear with vertical line is restricted under the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, according to a notice issued May 31 by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The permit application, to be published in the June 1 Federal Register, is subject to a public comment period through June 15. NMFS is looking to on-demand or pop-up buoy retrieval systems in the lobster fishery as a long-term solution to reducing whale entanglements in lobster gear, particularly for the highly endangered northern right whale.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Rep. Moulton introduces bill geared to lobstermen coping with right whale rules

May 31, 2022 — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, has introduced a bill called the CLAW (Conserving Lobstering and Whales) Act that would establish a tax credit to make it easier for lobstermen to afford gear meant to reduce the chance of endangered right whales becoming entangled.

Hunted to the brink of extinction by the early 1890s by commercial whalers, it’s estimated there are fewer than 350 right whales in existence, according to NOAA Fisheries’ website. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the leading causes of mortality, NOAA Fisheries says.

However, there is concern that regulations to conserve right whales, including seasonal area closures and the added cost for weak rope and inserts and gear marking requirements, have created an added cost burden to lobstermen.

Moulton said he and his office have been working on the legislation with various industry stakeholders, including the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association and the Massachusetts Seafood Collaborative.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Hawaii longliners convert gear to reduce whitetip shark bycatch

May 27, 2022 — Hawaii’s deep-set longline fleet is completing its changeover from wire leaders to nylon monofilament, a process that fishermen started on their own and is expected to reduce bycatch and mortality of threatened oceanic whitetip sharks by 30 percent.

A new federal regulation effective May 31 will prohibit the use of wire leaders in the fishery, formally instituting the industry-led initiative.

Wire leaders have been used so hooked fish can’t break off, and to make gear safer for fishermen. But even the sharp-toothed oceanic whitetip sharks can’t bite through them, meaning fishermen must release them, a dangerous process for both fish and fishermen.

The Hawaii Longline Association, representing tuna longline fishermen in the area, took the initiative to stop using wire leaders when deep-set longline fishing when its members voluntarily phased out wire leaders starting in November 2020, according to HLA Executive Director Eric Kingma.

“Our members—which include all of the Hawaii-based longline fleet of around 145 vessels—don’t want to catch sharks,” Kingma said in a joint statement with NMFS. “While the amount of fishing effort by Hawaii vessels is small compared with foreign fleets, we continue to work with our members and researchers on innovative methods to minimize the impacts of our fishery on these sharks and other protected species.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Gulf Coast commercial fishermen file lawsuit over new red grouper quotas

May 23, 2022 — The federal government will soon impose new limits on the amount of red grouper that commercial fishers can catch in the Gulf of Mexico and local business owners say that will impact the industry and their customers.

“It will definitely cost you more today. And will probably cost you more tomorrow because there’ll be less allocation,” said Frank Chivas, owner of Baystar Restaurant Group, which operates 12 restaurants in the greater Tampa Bay region.

Karen Bell, owner of A.P. Bell Fishing Company in Cortez agrees that the price for grouper is likely to rise.

“It’s limiting what we’re able to sell to the public,” she said. “When the supply is reduced, the price goes up because there’s less of it available.”

Earlier this month, the government announced an amendment to the National Marine Fisheries Service management plan. The quota for recreational fishing would rise from 24 percent to 40.7 percent, while the commercial share would decline from 76 percent to 59.3 percent.

Bell has signed on to a federal lawsuit challenging the reallocation of the red grouper harvest.

“I don’t dislike the recreational sector,” she said. “In fact, we pack bait for them and I think it’s important that they have quality time on the water just like we do but to shift it to give it to someone else when we provide it to the non-fishing public, that’s a hard pill to swallow.”

Read the full story at WUSF Public Media

$1.1M+ in Northeast Offshore Renewable Energy Studies Includes NYSG-Funded Project

May 23, 2022 — The Northeast Sea Grant Consortium (NESGC) — in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office and Water Power Technologies Office, and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA Fisheries) — has invested over $1.1 million in federal funds to support six projects advancing social science and technology research on offshore renewable energy in the Northeast United States.

One of the projects, a nearly $200,000 study supported by the NESGC, including New York Sea Grant (NYSG), as well as DOE and NOAA Fisheries, is led by Cornell University investigator Maha Haji, who is focusing on the development of a tool that would empower stakeholders to make more informed decisions that could substantially increase economic efficiencies in the long term, thereby increasing economic resiliency.

Read the full story at Stony Brook University News

 

Florida captain pays $22,300 to settle federal fisheries case

May 20, 2022 — A Florida commercial fishing captain agreed to pay $22,300 restitution in a settlement with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and National Marine Fisheries Service for resource-related violations dating back to 2015, the agencies said in a May 17 statement.

Darrell York of the commercial fishing vessel Watch Out settled on charges of illegally taking red snapper and grouper, according to the agencies.

“This case is a great example of our commitment to working with our state and federal partners in bringing those who show complete disregard for Florida’s natural resources and are actively evading officers to justice,” said Col. Roger Young of the state commission’s Division of Law Enforcement.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA says status report shows U.S. fisheries ‘on track’ with rebuilding

May 18, 2022 — The federal government’s 2021 annual report on the state of U.S. fisheries portrays progress in managing the nation’s marine resources – even with the massive wallop the seafood industry took with the covid-19 pandemic.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Marine Fisheries Service released the annual summary on May 12, updating the status of 460 fish species in U.S. waters.

“NOAA’s annual Status of Stocks report shows that the United States continues to be a global leader in sustainable fisheries management, as we work to understand how climate change is affecting fisheries and the communities that this sector supports,” said NOA Administrator Rick Spinrad. “The report demonstrates that we remain on track to maximize marine fishing opportunities while ensuring long-term ecological and economic sustainability in our changing world.”

Updated stock assessments and other metrics show improvement “in the face of climate change” and the economic value of fisheries “remain strong” at $4.8 billion in 2020 with 8.4 billion pounds landed, said Janet Coit, NOAA’s assistant administrator for fisheries, in a May 12 conference call with news reporters.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Feds accused of dragging feet on threatened whitetip shark review

May 18, 2022 — The National Marine Fisheries Service has for years failed to complete its legally required consultation regarding the effects authorized fisheries in Hawaii and Samoa have on the threatened whitetip shark population, according to a new lawsuit.

The oceanic whitetip shark has suffered a precipitous population decline of up to 88% in recent decades, the Conservation Council for Hawaii says in a complaintfiled Tuesday in Honolulu. The decline is due primarily to the sharks ending up as “bycatch” of longline fishing fleets in the Pacific Ocean that target tuna and swordfish.

The fisheries service has recognized the whitetip shark as a threatened species but so far has failed to complete the so-called consultation it is required to conduct under the Environmental Species Act to determine the impact the fisheries the agency authorizes have on the sharks.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

Study: Smaller Right Whales Have Fewer Calves

May 17, 2022 — A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and New England Aquarium has found that smaller North Atlantic right whales give birth to fewer calves.

The two organizations teamed up with multiple groups, such as the National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to find this information.

Teams studied aerial photos of 41 female right whales taken between 2000 and 2019, finding that smaller mothers produced fewer babies.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

World Fish Migration Day 2022: helping fish migrate helps the economy

May 17, 2022 — World Fish Migration Day 2022 is celebrated on May 21. It’s a time to look at NOAA Fisheries efforts to help fish migrate and how that reflects, in an effective way, on the fishing industry.

May 21, 2022 is World Fish Migration Day, a global celebration to raise awareness on the importance of free flowing rivers and migratory fish. Every year, millions of fish migrate to their native habitats to reproduce. They are often blocked from completing their journey by dams and other man made barriers. You may think that this is not a problem for the fishing industry, but when fish can’t reach their habitat, their populations can’t grow… so there is less fish to capture. So, to sum it up: open rivers translate into abundant fish.

Read the full story at National Fisherman