Saving Seafood

Local Divers Plunge into Puget Sound to Count Endangered Rockfish

June 17, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Counting fish can be difficult. Fish move, hide, and reproduce; they eat and are eaten. Many have evolved coloration patterns and body shapes that help them avoid being seen. The small size of young fish makes them especially hard to see. They may show up at inconsistent times and places, or not at all, depending on unpredictable environmental conditions.

This was the quandary rockfish experts faced in 2017. The federal recovery plan for bocaccio and yelloweye rockfish in Puget Sound called for annual surveys of the endangered rockfish produced that year, also known as young-of-the-year fish.

Very little is known about how young fish join rockfish populations in Puget Sound, a process called recruitment. Sometimes few fish recruit into the population, despite adequate abundance of reproductive adults. When climatic and oceanographic conditions align, however, rockfish recruits arrive in near-shore habitats in great abundance. Understanding the conditions that lead to these boom years is key to developing management actions to protect and recover rockfish in the region.

That still left the difficult question of how to count tiny (less than 10 centimeters long) rockfish recruits throughout Puget Sound. The best option for NOAA was a collaborative effort with partners throughout the region, including community scientists who are also scuba divers. Scuba diving offers the opportunity to observe fish directly, including taking photos, with minimal disturbance or disruption of their behavior, and no mortality.

Read the full release here

Canh Nguyen, Fisheries Methods and Equipment Specialist

June 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Where did you grow up? 

My parents emigrated from South Vietnam and settled in Abbeville. It is a small town near the central coast of Louisiana, where I was born and raised.

How did you come to work at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center? 

Prior to working at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center, I attended University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a major in Business Systems Analysis Technologies for 3 years. Circumstances forced me to leave college and continue the family shrimping business. I continued to work as a commercial shrimper in Louisiana for the next 10 years. During a routine TED check, I met Mr. Dale Stevens from the science center’s Gear Monitoring Team and during our interaction learned more about NOAA. I was intrigued at all the research and ingenuity done with the turtle excluder devices, something I have personally worked with throughout my years as a shrimper. When a position within the Gear Monitoring Team became available, I knew I would be a perfect fit for the role. I had a unique skill set, I’m bilingual in Vietnamese and English, and had 15 years of working with TEDs. In 2016, I got the opportunity to work with NOAA and I have been part of the Gear Monitoring Team since.

What do you do at the Science Center? 

I am a Fisheries Methods and Equipment Specialist and Gear Monitoring Team Leader. My work consists of providing TED outreach to the shrimping industry. For the community I conduct at-sea and dockside courtesy inspections and building workshops. I also conduct inspection training for federal and state law enforcement along the entire Southeast region.

Canh is featured in this short video discussing the importance of turtle excluder devices, how they work, and compliance.

Read the full release here

2021 Commercial Halibut Season Is Set to Open

June 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The first 3-day commercial halibut fishing season of 2021 in federal waters off the West Coast begins next week. It starts on Tuesday, June 22 at 8 a.m. and ends on Thursday, June 24 at 6 p.m. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement will be conducting patrols throughout the season along with our partners.

Patrols will focus on ensuring compliance with the rules and regulations governing commercial halibut fishing. These include:

  • Proper marking of fishing gear
  • Permitting and vessel documentation
  • Minimum size and possession restrictions

All setline or skate marker buoys carried on board or used by any U.S. vessel for halibut fishing must be marked with either the vessel’s state license number or registration number. The markings must be in legible characters at least 4 inches high and one-half inch wide in a contrasting color visible above the water.

Learn more about commercial halibut fishing regulations

Our partners in these patrols include:

  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police
  • Oregon State Police
  • California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Read the full release here

Meet Joseph (Joey) Bennington-Castro, Science Writer

June 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What are your key responsibilities?

I am the senior science writer at the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office. As a science writer, I share stories about our conservation and management activities in as many formats as I am able. This runs the gamut from: a short article about the birth of a new monk seal to a Q&A about one of our partners to a feature story about a project we funded to help revitalize ancient Hawaiian loko iʻa (fishponds) to a StoryMap about a new type of coral nursery. I work with the rest of our wonderful communications team to develop and edit outreach products, and I help manage our Twitter and Facebook accounts. I am also a photographer and videographer. I have produced videos about the fishing culture of American Samoa, a project that uses sea urchins to clean up invasive algae, and the stranding of a young melon-headed whale, among others.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Waiʻanae, an underserved community on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

What is your educational background?

I attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to study physics and astronomy in hopes of one day specializing in extrasolar planets. Upon earning my B.S. in physics and completing a couple of astronomy research projects, I realized that the life of a scientist (or at least that of an astronomer) wasn’t for me. What I really enjoyed was sharing and talking with people about science—this passion, along with my longtime love of writing, led me to the field of science journalism. I earned a certificate in professional writing from UHM, followed by an M.A. in journalism and an advanced certificate in science, health, and environmental reporting from New York University.

Is there a book, quote, or person that influenced you to be the person that you are today?

While growing up, I had strong female role models who shaped who I am today, particularly my mother and my eldest sister. They have both always been hard-working women who showed me through their words and actions how true strength comes from compassion, kindness, and generosity. I have also always taken to heart the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. I try to keep these ideals in mind not only during my interactions with other people, but also in the way I treat this planet—without which none of us would be here. I am far from perfect, and I fail more often than I like to admit. But I am grateful that I am able to look to these role models and find the motivation and inspiration to keep growing as a person.

Read the full release here

Suit challenging new charter boat rules OK’d as class action

June 15, 2021 — Six captains and five companies from Florida and Louisiana can represent others in a lawsuit challenging new federal regulations for nearly 1,300 charter boats across the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan certified the suit early this month as a class action for the people who take small groups of anglers into the Gulf. She rejected an argument that some charter captains support the regulations.

“The claims and defenses of class representatives are typical of the claims of the class as a whole,” she wrote on June 2.

The lawsuit contends that privacy and other rights are violated by regulations which require permanently active tracking devices on the boats. The suit also challenges requirements to report information including the crew size, number of customers, the fee charged to each and the amount and price of fuel.

Although the regulations took effect in January, the government has not yet set a date for requiring the devices, said Judy Pino, spokeswoman for the nonprofit law firm New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents the captains.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Gulf of Mexico charter operators fight back against lawsuit mandating electronic monitoring

June 15, 2021 — A week after receiving class-action status in its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, and NOAA Fisheries, a nonpartisan civil rights group has filed an amended lawsuit regarding NOAA Fisheries plan to monitor charter boats in the Gulf of Mexico.

A group of 11 small businesses and fishing-boat owners claim that a policy requiring electronic monitoring and reporting infringes on their operations. Last July, NOAA Fisheries issued an order to electronically submit reports for each fishing trip, even if no fish were caught. It also requires boats to notify the agency before departing on any kind of trip.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Events, fisheries proposal keep endangered orcas in the spotlight

June 14, 2021 — While endangered Southern Resident orca whales found in the Salish Sea are rarely seen by the average person, the species continues to be in the spotlight.

Several organizations are holding events throughout June to celebrate Orca Action Month, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries is gathering input on several plans that could shape efforts to protect and understand the species.

Regional wildlife photographer Bart Rulon showcased the species with several of his photos during a Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group event held online Thursday.

Rulon and others who spend significant time on the water have seen the orcas interact with their families, their food and other wildlife including harbor porpoises.

He shared photos of one mother-son duo routinely seen together, from the time the son’s dorsal fin was small next to his mother’s, to now, with the full-grown son dwarfing his mother thanks to male orcas’ larger size.

Read the full story at The Columbian

Fishing Report: US agencies take on wind farm fish surveys

June 14, 2021 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have joined forces to address fish survey challenges presented by offshore wind farms. The NOAA and fishermen have expressed concern about the ability to do fish surveys in wind farm lease areas.

The aim of this joint BOEM/NOAA program is to mitigate the impact of not doing surveys in areas that have traditionally been studied.

NOAA Fisheries’ scientific surveys are essential for setting quotas for commercial and recreational fishermen, as well as monitoring and assessment for recovery and conservation programs for protected species and essential fish habitats.

The program will address impacts from exclusion of NOAA Fisheries’ sampling platforms from the wind development area due to operational and safety limitations; impacts on the random-stratified statistical design that is the basis for scientific assessments, advice and analyses; as well as alteration of benthic and pelagic habitats and airspace in and around the wind energy development. A timeline for initial actions will be developed as part of the program.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Comment on Proposed 2021-2023 Small-mesh Multispecies Specifications and Management Measures

June 11, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing the New England Fishery Management Council’s recommended catch specifications for the 2021-2023 small-mesh multispecies fishery. These proposed catch limits would increase annual quotas for southern whiting and both red hake stocks, and decrease the quota for northern silver hake. Specifications for fishing years 2022 and 2023 are projected to be the same as the proposed 2021 limits.

This proposed rule would also increase the possession limit for whiting (silver hake and offshore hake) on trips using gear with less than 3-inch mesh to 15,000 lb, and reset the in-season adjustment trigger for northern red hake to 90 percent of the annual quota from the current trigger of 37.9 percent to reduce regulatory discards.

For more details on the proposed specifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today. The comment period is open through June 28. Submit your comments through the e-rulemaking portal.

Read the full release here

Fishing Memories: Meet Mike Pentony, Regional Administrator

June 10, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In honor of National Fishing and Boating Week, Mike Pentony, Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, shares his fondness for recreational fishing.

What is your earliest fishing memory?

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, so fishing was all around me as a kid. My earliest fishing memory was entering a fishing contest when I was probably 6 years old. We fished in this little pond in Manasquan, New Jersey, and I won the contest for my age group. (Probably because I was the only kid who actually caught a fish.)

After we moved from Manasquan over to Point Pleasant, I spent a lot of time fishing at the Manasquan Inlet. My friends and I would ride our bikes to fish at the Point Pleasant Canal. With just a simple spoon, we could do pretty well fishing for bluefish, which I would bring home and my mom would grill up with tomatoes, lemon, and bacon. I also had a few crab traps and we’d ride our bikes down to the river beach, hop a fence, and catch a few blue crabs to bring home for dinner.

Learn more about his fishing memories in our web story.