Saving Seafood

Wildlife secrets revealed with advanced tracking devices

February 29, 2016 — BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Solar-powered trackers on wings have recorded California condors soaring to 15,000 feet, while locators attached to humpback whales have revealed 1,000-foot dives to underwater mountains. And GPS collars on Yellowstone grizzly bears are giving new insights into one of the most studied large carnivore populations in the world.

Technological advances in recent years have allowed what could be the most inquisitive Earth dweller of them all, humans, to invent ever more ingenious tracking devices to find out what their fellow inhabitants are up to.

“It’s a large field that’s developing very fast,” said Alex Zerbini, a research biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle. “There are many types of tags being developed for many species of marine animals.”

Scientists say the trove of information thanks to ever smaller, tougher and more powerful tracking devices is leading to discoveries that could be used to make better wildlife and habitat management decisions.

The devices are also revealing the secret lives of hard-to-study animals.

For example, Zerbini said, scientists recently discovered humpback whales diving to underwater mountains on a regular basis, and also making the dives during migrations.

In Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area, more sophisticated tracking devices on grizzly bears are providing information, notably on their ability to find food, that could be a factor in whether Endangered Species Act protections are lifted.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at San Francisco Chronicle

Slave Labor on the High Seas

February 20, 2016 — Shocking revelations about the international fishing industry’s reliance on slave labor have caused many people to question the origin of the shrimp or tuna they eat. The disclosures have also led the United States to take some important new steps to clamp down on the use of indentured workers and discourage other unlawful activities on the high seas.

President Obama is expected to sign legislation that effectively bans American imports of fish caught by forced labor in Southeast Asia. The bill, passed by Congress this month, would close a loophole in the Tariff Act of 1930 that prohibits imports made by convicts or forced labor but exempts such goods if American domestic production could not meet demand. Now that is expected to end. The president recently signed an agreement allowing officials to deny port services to foreign vessels suspected of illegal fishing.

In another useful move, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this month said it would improve how seafood is tracked from catch to market by imposing new reporting requirements on American importers, who purchase from overseas sources 90 percent of the seafood that humans and pets consume in the United States. These new requirements would affect 16 species, including cod, snapper and some tuna, and are intended to protect species that are overfished or at risk of being overfished by cracking down on illegally caught or mislabeled fish.

Read the full editorial at The New York Times

Warmer waters could change Cape Cod fisheries

February 15, 2016 — Hot water is fine for fish chowder and lobster bisque, but not so much for many fish in the sea.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has unveiled a study of 82 species of fish, mollusks and crustaceans, ranking each on how they might fare under a regime of warming waters in the Northeast.

The authors, and there are quite a few, selected important commercial species, various forage fish of little economic import such as sand lances that are ecological heavyweights, and endangered species.

The amount of available data varies widely species by species, but the authors made their best assessments based on the estimated vulnerability of each animal to shifting climate. They weighed environmental factors that would be altered by climate change (water and air temperature, salinity, acidity, precipitation, the variance of those factors, sea level and ocean currents) vs. the species’ resilience (prey and habitat specificity, sensitivity to temperature, acidity, stock size, population growth rate, spawning cycle and mobility).

The ocean has been heating up, if not steadily.

“It depends on what period you’re looking over,” reflected lead author John Hare, director of NOAA’s Narragansett Laboratory. “I tend to look over a long period, since the 1880s, it’s up about two degrees Fahrenheit. We took all the information we know now and try to look forward to 2050.”

Read the full story at The Cape Codder

 

A new formula for whale preservation

February 17, 2016 — WOODS HOLE — From 750 feet above Northeast ocean waters, right whale researchers can easily pick out “Ruffian” for his many scars or “Baldy” for her lack of rough skin patches. Other right whales, though, may take hours to identify.

A new “face recognition” algorithm for right whales, however, announced recently by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, could lead to development of time- and money-saving software and eventually to greater preservation of a species whose global population is 520, right whale experts say.

The new algorithm, created in an international competition sponsored by NOAA Fisheries and the Natick software developer MathWorks, can identify right whale “faces,” or tissue patterns on the top of their heads, with 87 percent accuracy, according to Christin Khan, a NOAA Fisheries biologist and right whale aerial surveyor. Khan, who works in Woods Hole, pursued the idea of facial recognition software for the right whales, and researched how to get the algorithm built, through an online competition that began in August and ended in January.

The winning team, out of 364 entries, was from the software company deepsense.io, with offices in the United States and Poland.

The new algorithm is a first step to developing software for day-to-day use, Khan said. The algorithm, in its initial form, is for aerial photos only, not for photos taken from a boat, Khan said. But the potential is great and part of the growing use of technology to protect whales, several right whale experts said.

“Right now we’re living in the golden age of whale research in terms of technology,” Dave Wiley, research coordinator for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, said. “The things we’re doing now I couldn’t even have imagined 20 years ago. This Cape Cod area is probably at the forefront of all this stuff.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Mid-Atlantic Council Announces Policies on Non-Fishing Activities that Threaten Fish Habitat

February 17, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has released a series of policy documents focused on non-fishing activities that threaten fish habitat. These documents outline the Council’s positions on five anthropogenic (human) activities: wind energy, offshore oil, marine transport, liquefied natural gas, and coastal development.

Productive commercial and recreational fisheries are inextricably linked to healthy habitat. Multiple factors are contributing to the degradation or destruction of fish habitat, such as coastal development, land-based pollution, and dams and other blockages that restrict the movement of migratory fish species and can alter the delivery of freshwater to estuaries.

The Council is limited in its ability to address these threats, as its authority is largely restricted to the development of fishing regulations. However, the Council is involved in a range of habitat management and conservation initiatives through collaboration with its partners in the Greater Atlantic region.

Development of habitat policy documents is one component of the Council’s ongoing Habitat Pilot Project, which was initiated in July 2014 with support from NOAA Fisheries. The project is focused on strengthening the use of existing habitat authorities and tools to address threats to fish habitat more effectively.

“Habitat is essential to the health and productivity of our marine fisheries, and is susceptible to a wide range of anthropogenic impacts, and emerging risks, including oil and gas development in the Mid-Atlantic region,” said Rick Robins, Council Chairman. “The Council’s habitat conservation policies recognize the foundational importance of habitat to our marine fisheries and the coastal communities that depend on a healthy marine ecosystem.”

Policy development was spearheaded by the Council’s Ecosystem and Ocean Planning (EOP) Committee in conjunction with input from members of the public, the Council’s EOP Advisory Panel, and subject matter experts on state coastal zone management, energy issues, and habitat.

By clearly communicating its positions on anthropogenic activities, the Council hopes to work more effectively with its management partners to mitigate and avoid adverse impacts to fish habitat. The Council is currently developing an additional set of policies focused on fishing impacts on fish habitat.

The habitat policies can be downloaded as a single document here. Individual policy sections and supporting documents are available on the Council’s website at www.mafmc.org/habitat.

$2.5 Million Available from NOAA for Bycatch Reduction Solutions

February 17, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program supports the development of technological solutions and changes in fishing practices designed to minimize bycatch. Our mission is to find creative approaches and strategies for reducing bycatch, seabird interactions, and post-release mortality in federally managed fisheries.

$2.5 Million Available For Innovative Bycatch Solutions

NOAA Fisheries is now accepting applications for the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.

Projects must address bycatch research priorities by:

Developing innovative and effective technologies, gear modifications, and/or improving fishing practices in commercial and recreational fisheries to reduce bycatch impacts. Proposals that specifically reduce impacts to catch share fisheries, protected species (those species listed as part of the NOAA “Species in the Spotlight” campaign), highly migratory species, fish stocks that are overfished, where overfishing is occurring, or are under prohibited species catch limits, or seabirds are particularly encouraged.

Improving understanding and reduction of post-release and other indirect mortality, including barotrauma, predation, and unaccounted mortality in commercial and recreational fisheries including target and non-target species.

Determining the degree and nature of interactions and developing techniques to reduce interactions between fishing gears and corals, sponges, and other structure-forming invertebrates.

Read the full story from The Outdoor Wire

States Schedule Hearings on Jonah Crab Draft Addendum I

February 11, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC):

The states of Maine through Maryland have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum I to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan  for Jonah Crab (FMP). The details of those hearings follow.

Maine Dept. of Marine Resources
March 17, 2016; 6-8 PM
Casco Bay Lines Conference Room
56 Commercial Street
Portland, Maine
Contact: Terry Stockwell at 207.624.6553
 
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
March 14, 2016; 5:30 PM
New Bedford Fairfield Inn and Suites
185 McArthur Drive
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536

March 15, 2016; 6:00 PM
MA DMF Annisquam River Field Station
30 Emerson Avenue
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536

Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management
March 16, 2016; 6-9 PM
University of Rhode Island Bay Campus
Corliss Auditorium
South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Scott Olszewski at 401.423.1934

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation
March 23, 2016; 6:30 PM
New York State Dept. of Enviro Conservation
205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1
East Setauket, New York
Contact: Rachel Sysak at 631.444.0469

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
April 4, 2016; 2-4 PM
Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce
12320 Ocean Gateway
Ocean City, Maryland
Contact: Craig Weedon at 410.643.4601 ext. 2113

The Draft Addendum proposes changes to the incidental bycatch limits for non-trap gear (e.g., otter trawls, gillnets) and non-lobster trap gear (e.g., fish, crab, and whelk pots). For non-trap gear, the Draft Addendum includes options to maintain, increase, or eliminate the bycatch limit, while options for non-lobster traps include establishing bycatch limits of varying size or maintaining no limit on these gears. The intent of the Draft Addendum is to cap incidental landings of Jonah crab while ensuring the inclusion of current participants in the Jonah crab fishery.

The FMP currently prescribes a 200 crab per calendar day/500 crab per trip incidental bycatch limit for non-trap gear; however, concerns were expressed over the appropriateness of these limits. Data submitted by the New England Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries illustrate while 97-99% of trips from 2010 through 2014 were within the current limit, there were several trips above the limit. Furthermore, current bycatch landings were sufficiently low, accounting for approximately 0.1% of total landings.

Bycatch limits for non-lobster trap gear were added as a second issue for consideration in the Draft Addendum to address concerns regarding the lack of effort controls on non-lobster traps and the potential for trap proliferation. Data submitted by NOAA Fisheries show between May 1, 2013 and August 31, 2015, 194 trips landed Jonah crab with whelk pots, crab pots, and fish pots. Of these, 80 trips landed 100 crab or fewer and 115 trips landed 200 crab or fewer.  Approximately 45 trips landed between 200 and 500 crab and 40 trips landed more than 450 crab.  Landings from Maryland show between 2012 and 2015, 33 trips landed Jonah crab with fish pots. All of these trips were under 200 pounds. Reports also indicated from 2014-2015, 36 trips landed Jonah crab with whelk pots. Average landings per trip with whelk pots were under 500 pounds; however, there is concern that these whelk pot landings may in fact be rock crab, a closely related species which is often misreported as Jonah crab.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/JonahCrabDraftAddendumI_PublicComment_Feb2016.pdf or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on April 18, 2016 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at mware@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum I).

Ocean Trust Endorsement of NOAA Assessment

February 1, 2016 – The following was released by Ocean Trust:

Ocean Trust strongly endorsed the recent release of NOAA’s peer-reviewed self-assessment that shows the standards of the United States fishery management system under the Magnuson-Stevens Act more than meet the criteria of the United Nation’s Food And Agriculture Organization’s ecolabelling guidelines. These same guidelines serve as a basis for many consumer seafood certification and ranking schemes.

“The NOAA assessment offers a model for assessing the sustainability of fishery management systems,” noted Thor Lassen, President of Ocean Trust and co-developer of the assessment methodology. “The thoroughness of the assessment by NOAA validates not only the sustainability of US fisheries, but the potential to move towards certification of management systems instead of individual fisheries.”

The assessment evaluated the US management system using the “FAO Evaluation Framework to Assess the Conformity of Public and Private Ecolabelling Schemes with the FAO Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries,” but focused on the conformance of management systems as a whole rather than that of individual fisheries.

The initiative to assess fish management systems was based on discussions and finding from a series of “Science & Sustainability Forums” (2010-2014) convened by Ocean Trust and the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists which concluded that:

  • Sustainability is best defined by the management system, not a snapshot of the stock status (overfished) or fishing level (overfishing) at any point in time, but the capacity of the system to respond to changes in stock levels or impacts via management measures.
  • Effective management systems will include adequate responsive action to end overfishing, avoid irreversible harm, and produce sustainable fisheries, and
  • Sustainability, although often gauged on a fishery-by-fishery basis, is actually the result of a well-designed and implemented management system.

NOAA Fisheries staff participated in the Science and Sustainability Forum in Reston, Virginia in February 2012. Following the forum, NOAA Fisheries initiated a project to evaluate the U.S. federal fishery management system against the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Guidelines for the Ecolabelling of Fish & Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries.

2012 Knauss Fellow Dr. Michelle Walsh led the NOAA Fisheries effort and collaborated closely with Thor Lassen of Ocean Trust.

The assessment examined three forms of evidence for management program conformance with twenty-four key criteria that addressed the management structure, status of stocks and ecosystem impacts as dictated by “FAO Guidelines.” The structure and methodology of the framework approach was developed in collaboration with Ocean Trust and guidance from former FAO Directors to ensure conformance with “FAO’s guidelines.”

The evaluation process was presented at the American Fisheries Society, Managing Our Nations Fisheries Conference, Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee Meeting, and at the 2014 FAO Committee on Fisheries Meeting in Rome. The process was also peer-reviewed by the Center for Independent Experts (CIE) and published as a NOAA Technical Memorandum on January 28, 2016. www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/publications/feature_stories/2016/fisheries_assessment.html

During this same time period Ocean Trust worked with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and later the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to assess management systems in the Gulf of Mexico. The results of both assessments demonstrate that:

1. Management systems can be assessed to FAO standards providing major efficiencies in assuring the sustainability of products from those systems. When serious issues arise or as warranted, fishery-by fishery assessments can be conducted as needed.

2. The assessment process can address both national and state programs. For the Gulf, the assessment confirmed the use of adaptive management practices with modern and well-accepted management techniques to sustain its key fisheries over multiple generations.

3. If the processes within a management system are deemed to be adequate to sustain individual fisheries, then the products from those fisheries should be deemed sustainable (i.e., recognized in the market-place) as is often stated by NOAA regarding US fisheries.

“We need to be realistic when looking at fisheries in the US and abroad, the vast majority of which have not been certified because of the impractically and cost under the current certification programs,” concluded Lassen. “We have to rationalize the process and be open to efficiencies offered by a broader approach that focuses on evaluating management systems.”

Ocean Trust will moderate a panel on “Rationalizing Seafood Sustainability” during the 2016 North American Seafood Expo Conference Session Tuesday, March 8th 10:30-12:00 where representatives from Ocean Trust, NOAA, American Institute of Fishery Biologists and others will present their findings and conclusions regarding the sustainable management of seafood.

View a PDF of the release

ASMFC Approves Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring

February 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Herring. The Amendment refines the spawning closure system, modifies the fixed gear set-aside, and includes an empty fish hold provision contingent on federal adoption. The Amendment consolidates prior amendments (and associated addenda) and recent management decisions into a single document; it is now the comprehensive document for Atlantic herring management in state waters.

The Amendment allows for the use of a modified GSI-based spawning monitoring system to track reproductive maturity in an effort to better align the timing of spawning area closures with the onset of spawning. This new method will be tested and evaluated for effectiveness during the 2016 fishing season. If found to be ineffective the Section has the option to revert back to using the prior monitoring system. Default closure dates have been modified to late August or early October depending on the area. The spawning closure period remains four weeks.

Previously, the fixed gear set-aside was available to fixed gear fishermen through November 1, after this date the remaining set-aside became available to the rest of the Area 1A fishery. The November 1 date had been established because, typically, herring have migrated out of the Gulf of Maine by that time. Anecdotal evidence suggests herring are in the Gulf of Maine after November 1, therefore, fixed gear fishermen requested the set-aside be made available to them for the remainder of the calendar year. Under Amendment 3, fixed gear fishermen will now have access to the quota as long as the directed fishery is open.

Amendment 3 also requires fish holds to be empty of fish prior to trip departures. This measure, which is contingent on adoption in federal waters, seeks to minimize wasteful fishing practices and encourage harvest based on market demand. The New England Fishery Management Council has included a similar provision in its Framework Adjustment 4 to the Federal Atlantic Herring FMP. Framework Adjustment 4 is currently under review by NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

For more information, please contact Ashton Harp, at aharp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Climate change poses threat to fish stocks, study finds

February 3, 2016 — Over the coming decades, dozens of marine species from the Carolinas to New England will be threatened by the warming, changing currents and the increased acidity expected to alter the region’s waters, according to a new study by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Atlantic salmon, winter flounder, bay scallops, ocean quahogs, and other species may face the kind of trouble from climate change that has been linked in previous research to the decline of Atlantic cod, which has lost an estimated 90 percent of its population over the past three decades, the study found.

The authors of the study, released Wednesday by the journal Plos One, found that half of the 82 species they evaluated along the northeastern coast are “highly” or “very highly” vulnerable to the effects of climate change, meaning their populations and ability to reproduce are likely to decline.

“The results show that climate change presents significant challenges to the region’s fishery management and to its ability to sustain fishing communities,” said Jonathan Hare, a NOAA oceanographer who was the lead author of study.

The study also found that 80 percent of the species studied are likely to move beyond their normal habitats.

Read the full story from the Boston Globe