Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Changes to Regulations for Snapper-Grouper and Golden Crab in the South Atlantic, and Dolphin and Wahoo in the Atlantic Region

September 28, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Comment Period Ends October 29, 2015

 NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a proposed rule that would:

  • Revise commercial and recreational sector allocations, and annual catch limits for dolphin in the South Atlantic. The recreational sector allocation for dolphin would change from 92.46% to 90% and the annual catch limit would change from 14,187,845 to 13,810,361 pounds whole weight. The commercial sector allocation for dolphin would increase from 7.54% to 10% and the commercial annual catch limit would change from 1,157,001 to 1,534,485 pounds whole weight.
  • Revise the accountability measures for black grouper, mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, greater amberjack, red porgy, gag, golden tilefish, red grouper, snowy grouper, gray triggerfish, hogfish, scamp, Atlantic spadefish, bar jack, the other snappers complex, the other jacks complex, the other shallow-water grouper complex, the other porgies complex; wreckfish (recreational), and golden crab (commercial).
  • Accountability measures are management controls to prevent annual catch limits from being exceeded and to correct overages of the catch limits if they do occur. Accountability measures include in-season closures, and post-season paybacks, such as reducing the length of the next fishing season or reducing the annual catch limit in the next fishing season. See the Frequently Asked Questions for more detailed information on accountability measures for the commercial and recreational sectors.

The proposed rule will publish on September 29, 2015, with a 30-day comment period starting on September 29, 2015, and ending on October 29, 2015.

Request for Comments

Comments on the proposed rule must be received no later than October 29, 2015, to be considered by NOAA Fisheries. See the Addresses section for information on where and how to submit comments.

Addresses

Electronic or hardcopies of the proposed rule may be obtained from:

 You may submit comments by the following methods:

Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0181, click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

  • Mail:

Mary Janine Vara

NOAA Fisheries

Southeast Regional Office

Sustainable Fisheries Division

263 13th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 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).

More Information

For more information on the proposed rule for the Generic Accountability Measures and Dolphin Allocation Amendment, please follow this link to the Frequently Asked Questions:

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/2014/am_dolphin_allocation/index.html.

Northeast Fisheries Science Center Releases Strategic Science Plan 2016-2021

September 28, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

After an extensive development and review process, NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center is proud to release our new Strategic Science Plan. The plan reflects our strategy for ecosystem-based science supporting stewardship of living marine resources under changing climatic conditions. Collaboration and partnerships are cornerstones of the plan, and were essential to its development. 

We would like to extend our sincere thanks for the input and participation of hundreds of partners, stakeholders, and staff in its formulation. In the coming years, this Plan will guide us as we build on a strong foundation of excellence in marine science. 

We now turn towards implementation, with an intention to increase organizational efficiency, reduce research gaps, and work more effectively with partners and stakeholders to meet our collective needs. 

Questions? Contact Nicole Bartlett, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, at 508-495-4723 or Nicole.Bartlett@noaa.gov.

Credit: NEFSC/NOAA

NOAA Fisheries Announces Draft Ecosystem-based Fishery Management Policy

September 24, 2105 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Deadline for comments is December 16, 2015

NOAA Fisheries is developing an Agency-wide Ecosystem-based Fishery Management policy, which outlines a set of principles to guide our actions and decisions over the long-term.  The draft policy goals and framework are informed by NOAA Fisheries’ own practices and experience from that of our partners.  These ideas are intended to limit neither discussion nor consideration of other potential policy goals. 

To read the draft policy and learn more about how to comment please visit: http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/ecosystems/ebfm/creating-an-ebfm-management-policy

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2016 Fishing Quotas for Atlantic Surfclams and Ocean Quahogs

September 21, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The commercial harvest quotas for Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs for the 2016 fishing year (Jan 1-Dec 31) will remain the same as the 2015 fishing year:

Surfclams: 3.4 million bushels

Ocean quahogs: 5.3 million bushels

Maine ocean quahogs: 100,000 Maine bushels

In addition, the Atlantic surfclam minimum size limit will be suspended for 2016, as it has for each of the past 10 years. There is currently no minimum size for ocean quahogs.

For more details, read the rule as filed in the Federal Register and the bulletin posted on our website.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

Atlantic surfclams being sorted on deck. Credit: NOAA

 

Massachusetts 2015 Commercial Summer Flounder and Bluefish Quotas Reached

September 16, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces no commercial landings of summer flounder or bluefish will be allowed in Massachusetts through December 31.

Vessels issued Federal commercial summer flounder permits may not land summer flounder in Massachusetts as of 0001 hours on September 17.

Vessels issued Federal commercial bluefish permits may not land bluefish in Massachusetts as of 0001 hours on September 19.

Massachusetts has harvested its commercial summer flounder quota and its commercial bluefish quota.

These closures are concurrent with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ closure of its commercial summer flounder fishery effective 0001 hours on September 17 and bluefish fishery effective 0001 hours on September 19 to state permitted vessels and dealers.

Vessel owners issued Federal permits must continue to complete and submit vessel logbooks for all other species landed. Dealers issued Federal dealer permits for summer flounder  and bluefish may not purchase these species from federally permitted vessels that land in Massachusetts for the remainder of the calendar year. Federally permitted dealers must also continue to report all fish purchases from any vessel.

Read the rule as filed in the Federal Register, and read the permit holder Bulletin on our website.

Questions? Contact Reid Lichwell, Regional Office at 978-281-9112 or Reid.Lichwell@noaa.gov.

NOAA issues report on at-sea monitors  

September 12, 2015 — The issue of at-sea monitoring seems to pervade almost every current discussion of the future viability of the Northeast groundfish industry, including the distribution of federal fishing disaster money and the ongoing battles over who will  pay for the monitoring program going forward.

NOAA Fisheries this week stepped further into that maelstrom with a largely internally generated report that focuses on cost comparisons between the current manual system of at-sea monitoring and electronic monitoring. It also released an independent review of the NOAA report.

The conclusions?

Electronic monitoring might be a more cost-effective option. Maybe. In some cases. Depending on the fishery and the goals and design of whatever electronic monitoring program ultimately is utilized.

The NOAA report, generated with the assistance of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and other non-governmental organizations, concedes a wide array of assumptions — it is based on hypothetical Northeast multi-species and Atlantic herring and mackerel fisheries — and accepts that it is merely “a starting point for developing future [electronic monitoring] program designs.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

More sharks along East Coast: 2,800 tagged this spring

September 8, 2015 — If it seems like there were more sharks than usual near the coast this spring, that’s because there were. A team of federal researchers, part of the longest-running coastal shark research program along the East Coast, captured and tagged more than 2,800 sharks — the most in 29 years of population monitoring before the summer season got underway.

“We caught fish throughout the survey,” said Lisa Natanson, a scientist at the Narragansett Laboratory of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center and leader of the coastal shark survey. “Sandbar sharks were all along the coast, while most of the dusky sharks were off North Carolina. We captured a bull shark for the first time since 2001 and recaptured 10 sharks previously tagged by our program and two sharks tagged by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.”

No one is sure why the numbers were up. It could have been the fish were simply concentrated in the study area from Florida north to Delaware during the time the sampling occurred. That could have been driven by any number of factors ranging from water temperatures to availability of prey, said Shelley Dawicki, a spokeswoman for the science center.

Read the full story at Delaware Online

 

New Analysis Compares Costs of Electronic Monitoring and At-Sea Observers

September 9, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Earlier this year, NOAA Fisheries issued regional electronic technology implementation plans that lay out our vision for the implementation of electronic technology in U.S. fisheries. One key element missing from those plans and ongoing Fishery Management Council discussions was cost information. 

Today, NOAA Fisheries is releasing two reports comparing costs of actual at-sea monitors and observers against a proposed electronic monitoring system in hypothetical Northeast groundfish and Atlantic herring/mackerel fisheries.

We found that electronic technologies can be a cost-efficient monitoring option in some cases, but not always. Our findings suggest technology, such as on-board camera systems, may be most cost-effective for monitoring compliance, such as in the midwater trawl herring and mackerel fisheries. Our reports also show that human observers proved more cost-efficient than electronic technologies at catch accounting, such as required for groundfish sectors.

Any monitoring program must weigh many factors including data quality, feasibility, and cost. This analysis of relative costs fills an important information gap, and is a first step that will help inform the broader discussion taking place at the Fishery Management Councils about the most effective way to monitor fisheries.  

You can find the full reports, including details about factors driving program costs and our assumptions, as well as an independent peer review pf the report, online.

NOAA Fisheries unveils climate science strategy

September 4, 2015 — As ocean conditions continue to change, putting ocean ecosystems and the communities that rely upon them at risk, NOAA took a first step in providing regional fisheries managers and stakeholders with information they need to reduce the effects of climate change and build resilience.

“NOAA just announced that for the globe the month of July — and actually, the entire year so far — was the warmest ever recorded, driven largely by record warm ocean temperatures,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries.

“Those warmer waters – along with rising seas, coastal droughts and ocean acidification – are already putting people, businesses, and communities at risk. With this strategy, we’re taking a proactive approach in providing information on current and future conditions to try and reduce impacts and increase our resilience,” pointed out Sobeck.

The NOAA Fisheries Climate Science Strategy identifies seven key steps to increase production, delivery, and use of climate-related information to support the management of fish stocks, fisheries, and protected species. The steps focus on how a changing climate affects living marine resources, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them, and how to respond to those changes.

Read the full story at IFFO

Edgartown Mass. commercial fishermen continue to adjust to new realities

September 2, 2015 — Edgartown’s commercial trap fishing industry is tough work. It is evident as much in the number of working boats and fishermen seeking conch and sea bass as it is anecdotally. Those fishermen who remain put in long days and work under strict quotas and regulations. However, fishing is all they’ve done for most of their lives, and they say they are committed to riding out what wave is left of the local industry.

Island landings of channeled whelk, commonly referred to as conch, the most lucrative species caught in Island waters, are valued at more than $2 million each year since 2011, according to the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).

Behind conch are oysters, with Martha’s Vineyard landings valued at $1.3 million in 2014. There is one important distinction. Unlike conch, which are  wild-caught, oysters are for the most part raised in the protected waters of Island bays and ponds. Bay scallops, which are propagated as part of an extensive taxpayer-supported program, accounted for just over $700,000.

Even as conch fishing holds steady, the number of commercial fishermen registered as Island residents has started to decline, according to the DMF. In 2008, there were 360 registered Vineyard commercial fishermen. As of 2015, there are 263.

“Conch fishing is tough fishing,” commercial fisherman Tom Turner of Edgartown said as he replaced lost or damaged sea bass traps aboard his boat, the Sea Raven, docked at Memorial Wharf in Edgartown on a hot and sunny August afternoon.

The commercial sea bass season is short. Fishermen can only go out three days a week: Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and each day they fish, they’re allowed to catch no more than 300 pounds of sea bass, Mr. Turner said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sets quotas and updates fishermen as they change.

Read the full story at Martha’s Vineyard Times