Saving Seafood

Scientists to Evaluate Impacts of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Expansion

September 16, 2021 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) suggested developing a working group to evaluate the impacts of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) expansion on Hawai‘i-based fisheries. Several recently published peer-review scientific papers show differing impacts and are unclear on this contentious issue.

In 2016, President Obama issued a proclamation to expand the existing monument from 50 to 200 nautical miles around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). Council and Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) staffs and the SSC would work jointly to examine the expansion’s potential local economic and other impacts, and determine whether the area is achieving its stated management objectives. The working group would share its results with the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils that are providing feedback on President Biden’s 30×30 area-based management initiative.

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is in the initial stages of responding to the president’s request to initiate a new designation process for a NWHI sanctuary. As part of this process, the Council is afforded the opportunity to provide input on any potential fishing regulations. The National Marine Sanctuaries Act designation process requires compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws. This was circumvented by the presidential proclamations to create the PMNM in 2006 and the expanded area in 2016, which effectively cut out the local community’s engagement and input on the matter.

—

PIFSC presented a research plan to the SSC on investigating the impact of imports on the Hawai‘i fish market. Recently, the price of bigeye ahi exceeded $20 per pound at the market—several times more than what buyers usually pay. Prices then stayed around $11–12 per pound and cooled off to $7–8 per pound during the second week in August.

The Hawai‘i market had an extreme shortage of foreign-sourced pelagic fish products and an overall decreased supply in the local market—mainly from local Hawaiian fisheries. The supply shortage, coupled with the increase in tourism after COVID-19 restrictions were partially lifted, created a “perfect storm” for the consumer.

The SSC suggested that consumer choice and fish substitution be incorporated into PIFSC’s model to attempt to discern the true value difference between fish species. Fish originating from different locations outside of Hawai‘i are not equivalent in terms of quality or type of fish. PIFSC anticipates the final report will be available for review in August 2022.

The SSC meeting continues through tomorrow, Sept. 16, 2021. Instructions on connecting to the web conference, agenda and briefing documents are posted at www.wpcouncil.org/event/141st-scientific-and-statistical-committee-virtual-meeting.

 

Potential Groundfish Sector Monitoring Providers

September 15, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

If your company is not currently an approved at-sea monitoring (ASM) and/or electronic monitoring (EM) provider and you would like to provide monitoring services to groundfish sectors in fishing year 2022 (May 1, 2022, through April 30, 2023), you must submit an application by October 15, 2021.  Companies already approved to provide ASM or EM services in fishing years 2021 and 2022 do not need to apply again in order to provide those services in 2022.  Companies not already approved to provide either ASM or EM services in fishing years 2021 and 2022 need to apply for approval for the respective service in 2022.

Applications must include a cover letter and the information and statements identified in the regulations at 50 CFR 648.87(b)(4).  In your cover letter, please specify whether you are interested in providing ASM services, EM services, or both.  Companies interested in providing both ASM and EM services must develop separate ASM and EM deployment plans to meet the service provider performance standards (§ 648.87(b)(4)(ii)(A)).

We will review your application in accordance with the third-party monitoring provider standards (§ 648.87(b)(4) and (5)).  Please review the regulations describing ASM and EM provider and operational standards carefully, including the requirements for signed statements.  Approvals will cover fishing year 2022, and final decisions will be published in the Federal Register.  There will be a future opportunity to apply for a two-year approval for fishing years 2023 and 2024.

Please use Kiteworks, a secure file-sharing service, to submit the requested documents by October 15, 2021, to Claire Fitz-Gerald and Kyle Molton.  If you need help creating a Kiteworks account, please contact Claire Fitz-Gerald for assistance. The bulletin announcement can be found here.

 

NOAA Fisheries Will Announce Over $3.7 Million of Grants Awarded Through the FY 2021 Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grants Program

September 15, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

These Prescott Grants support a core mission of NOAA Fisheries— the conservation and recovery of protected marine species—by helping to improve our national marine mammal stranding response capabilities. Through this program, we have provided $67.5 million over the past two decades, and our stranding network partners have provided, at minimum, an additional $28.3 million in matching funds, to build a strong network of over 100 trained, professional partners. These trained professionals and volunteers provide valuable environmental intelligence as they respond to marine mammals in distress, helping NOAA establish links among the health of marine mammals, coastal ecosystems, and coastal communities.

For FY 2021, NOAA Fisheries awarded 55 grants to 50 recipients in 19 states and one tribe, representing marine mammal stranding network partners from every NOAA Fisheries Region. Additional information about this successful program can be found here.

Regional breakdown of the FY 2021 Prescott Grant awards (detailed table below):

  • Greater Atlantic Region: 11 awards (total $913,262)
  • Southeast Region: 10 awards (total $675,124)
  • West Coast Region: 21 awards (total $1,223,913)
  • Alaska Region: 4 awards (total $243,070)
  • Pacific Islands Region: 2 awards (total $195,000)
  • National: 7 awards (total $465,102) are for projects that meet national research or services needs (diagnostics, tagging, etc.) across regions.

Additionally, NOAA is announcing that the application deadline for FY 2022 Prescott grants is October 13, 2021.

 

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed Rule to Implement the Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment

September 13, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries proposes measures for Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The purpose of this comprehensive amendment is to update the FMP with the best scientific information available and to respond to changes in the fishery over time. Specifically, this action proposes to:

  • Update the Bluefish FMP goals and objectives from those that were initially established in 1991, to better reflect the current fishery.
  • Re-allocate bluefish quota between fishery sectors; allocating 14 percent to the commercial fishery and 86 percent to the recreational fishery.
  • Re-allocate bluefish commercial quota to the states from Maine to Florida based on recent 10 years of landings data including a 0.1-percent minimum default allocation. This change in commercial allocation to the states would be phased in equally over a period of seven years, so each state would only experience 1/7th percent of the change in allocation until 2028.
  • Implement a 7-year rebuilding plan.
  • Revise the sector quota transfer measures to allow quota to be transferred in either direction (from commercial to recreational sector or vice versa), with a revised maximum transfer cap of 10-percent of the acceptable biological catch.
  • Revise how management uncertainty is accounted for in the specifications process. Currently, the fishery-level annual catch limit may be reduced by a buffer to account for sources of management uncertainty before quota is allocated to the fishery sectors. This amendment proposes that management uncertainty to be applied separately within each sector, after the sector split.

For more information, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. 

The comment period is open through October 13, 2021.

 

Commercial Closure for Red Snapper in South Atlantic Federal Waters on September 14, 2021

September 9, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What/When:

  • The commercial harvest of red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 14, 2021. During the commercial closure, all sale or purchase of red snapper is prohibited.
  • All harvest or possession of red snapper in or from South Atlantic federal waters is now prohibited, as the recreational fishing season is also closed for 2021.

Why This Closure is Happening:

  • The commercial catch limit is 124,815 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial catch limit. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the commercial catch limit from being exceeded.

After the Closure:

  • The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper, regardless of where such fish are harvested or possessed, i.e.,in state or federal waters.
  • The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for red snapper does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, on September 14, 2021, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • Unless specified otherwise, commercial harvest will open on July 11, 2022, for the 2022 commercial fishing season.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=383bc195ccbeab4fd6bec1c24905df34&node=sp50.12.622.i&rgn=div6#se50.12.622_1193.

 

Winter red king crab fishery in Alaska’s Bering Sea canceled

September 9, 2021 — Low stocks have prompted the U.S. state of Alaska to cancel the red king crab fishery in Alaska’s Bering Sea for winter 2021-2022 season.

After a review of the final bottom-trawl survey by the National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) ADFG made the announcement Friday, 3 September, saying the stock was “below the regulatory threshold for opening a fishery.” ADFG said more details about the closure will be provided during the TAC meeting in early October.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

NOAA Fisheries Awards $2.2M to Support Bycatch Reduction Projects

September 9, 2021 —NOAA Fisheries has awarded approximately $2.2 million in grants to support 12 projects under our Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. Out of the 12 awarded projects, 5 were awarded to the Greater Atlantic Region totaling $1.07 million. Bycatch reduction is a top priority for NOAA Fisheries, as outlined in our National Bycatch Reduction Strategy because bycatch can contribute to overfishing, can threaten endangered and threatened species and protected marine mammals, and can close fisheries, significantly impacting U.S. economic growth. This year’s projects focus on several priority bycatch issues related to a variety of species, including whales, turtles, sharks, sturgeon, and halibut.

Projects in the Greater Atlantic Region will focus on developing gears to reduce interactions between whales and turtles in vertical buoy lines, reducing the capture of Atlantic sturgeon in large mesh gillnets, and increasing our knowledge of porbeagle bycatch in the groundfish bottom trawl fishery.   

NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program has resulted in innovative technological solutions to some of the nation’s top bycatch challenges. NOAA Fisheries is proud to continue to partner with fishermen, fishery managers, industry, and the environmental community to avoid and minimize bycatch.

For more information about this year’s recipients and selected projects visit our website.

NOAA awards $7.3 million for marine debris removal, prevention, and research

September 9, 2021 — Today, NOAA announced $7.3 million in fiscal year 2021 grants supporting 25 projects to address the harmful effects of marine debris on wildlife, navigation safety, ecosystem health, and the economy. With the addition of non-federal matching contributions, the total investment in these marine debris projects is approximately $14.7 million. The grants, selected after a rigorous and competitive review process, are spread across 14 states and territories, as well as 8 international regions.

“Marine debris harms our coastal communities every day,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “These grants fund critical clean-up, while also working to prevent the problem at the source and better understand the movement of marine debris. These types of projects will help us remove the most harmful types of marine debris and mitigate the most harmful effects.”

Among the projects selected are the removal of up to 17 abandoned and derelict vessels from the Hudson River Estuary, representing all known abandoned and derelict vessels in the estuary; the removal of more than 100 metric tons of debris, including derelict fishing gear, from Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, and Maui Islands; an assessment of how marine debris moves from the upstream areas of the Guánica Watershed to the nearshore coastal waters of southwest Puerto Rico; reduction of the amount of marine debris entering the Tijuana River from the Los Laureles Canyon tributary in Mexico; and the launch of the North American Net Collection Initiative to collect and transform end-of-life fishing nets into high-value consumer goods.

Approximately $1.8 million will support 10 removal projects in Alaska, California, Hawaiʻi, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Washington. The grantees will implement locally developed and cost-effective activities to remove marine debris, including derelict fishing gear and other medium- and large-scale debris. Projects will benefit coastal habitats, waterways, wildlife, and surrounding communities.

Approximately $1.4 million will support 5 marine debris research projects in California, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Puerto Rico. The grantees will investigate and identify the critical input pathways for marine debris introduction into the coastal zone.

Approximately $4.1 million will support 10 marine debris prevention and removal projects in the Great Lakes, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, Mexican Caribbean, North America Pacific Ocean, Salish Sea, and Tijuana River estuary. The grantees will address common marine debris issues in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada border areas that impact the U.S. marine environment, including preventing or reducing the occurrence of marine debris, or removing marine debris from the environment.

Marine debris is not only a threat to wildlife in our ocean, Great Lakes, and waterways, but can adversely affect navigation safety and the economy. To address this growing challenge, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is dedicated to identifying, determining sources of, assessing, preventing, reducing and removing marine debris and addressing the adverse impacts of marine debris in our nation’s marine environment and Great Lakes. The Marine Debris Act authorized the NOAA Marine Debris Program in 2006 as the lead federal program for addressing the problem. This program was reauthorized in 2018 through the Save Our Seas Act, and recently amended by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act of 2020.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is currently accepting Letters of Intent for its Fiscal Year 2022 Marine Debris Removal funding opportunity. In mid-September, the NOAA Marine Debris Program will announce its Fiscal Year 2022 Marine Debris Prevention notice of funding opportunity. For more information, visit the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s website.

 

NOAA Fisheries rules limiting lobstering draw harsh criticism from fishing, environmental groups

August 31, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries has announced a set of new regulations intended to protect the North Atlantic right whale from entanglement-related incidents. The regulations will cost the Northeast lobster fishery between USD 9 million and 20 million (EUR 7.6 million and 16.9 million) to implement.

The new regulations are in response to the ongoing decline of the highly endangered whale, of which only a few hundred remain in the wild. The species is currently undergoing what NOAA has dubbed an “unusual mortality event,” with 34 right whales having died since 2017.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Offers Online Webinars for Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish and Coastal Migratory Pelagic For-Hire Permit Holders (Topic: Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting Program Vessel Monitoring System Requirements)

August 31, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Regional Office is in the process of implementing Phase 2 of the Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting Program, requiring a position reporting device, or vessel monitoring system (VMS), to be permanently affixed to a vessel and transmitting at all times.  A series of constituent webinars will be held in September 2021 in order to assist the public with preparing for the implementation of this requirement.

When:

Webinars:

  • Tuesday, September 7th, 2021, 6:30-7:30 PM, ET
  • Thursday, September 16th, 2021, 2:00-3:00 PM, ET
  • Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021, 6:30-7:30 PM, ET
  • Tuesday, September 28th, 2021, 10:00-11:00 AM, ET

To register for the webinars and access additional meeting information go to: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/recreational-fishing-data/southeast-hire-electronic-reporting-program.

Why:

These webinars will provide program participants information about the new VMS requirement for the federally permitted Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish and Coastal Migratory Pelagic for-hire participants.  The webinars will include information such as timelines, approved VMS units, and reporting requirements.  There will also be plenty of time for questions.

The position reporting requirement is essential for validating the information collected through the Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting Program.  The data collected from the VMS units are expected to result in enhanced tracking of recreational catch limits in the Gulf of Mexico; thereby, improving fisheries management.

Read the full release here