Saving Seafood

Attention Current and Future “Slinky Pot” Users: Update to Frequently Asked Questions to Promote Compliance with Biodegradable Panel Regulation

May 12, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has updated its FAQs regarding longline pot gear and the placement of biodegradable panels on “slinky pots.” The applicable regulation, 50 CFR 679.2 (definition of “authorized fishing gear” at (15)(i)), defines these as:

Biodegradable panel. Each pot used to fish for groundfish must be equipped with a biodegradable panel at least 18 inches (45.72 cm) in length that is parallel to, and within 6 inches (15.24 cm) of, the bottom of the pot, and that is sewn up with untreated cotton thread of no larger size than No. 30.

While round, tunnel-shaped “slinky pots” do not have a distinct top or bottom, NMFS has concluded that it is possible to configure them to comply with the regulation. Each pot used to harvest federally managed groundfish must be equipped with a biodegradable panel at least 18 inches (45.72 cm) in length that is sewn up with untreated cotton thread of no larger size than No. 30. Each 18” panel must be sewn into the mesh covering the frame of a tunnel-shaped pot on the curved surface of the pot (not on a tunnel end).

Under the existing regulation, wrapping the door closure of a pot with untreated cotton thread DOES NOT meet the regulatory definition of a biodegradable panel for any type of pot.

We encourage you to read the updated Frequently Asked Questions for the Longline Pot Gear GOA IFQ Sablefish Fishery. Question #8 contains example photographs of biodegradable panels on “slinky pots” that NMFS has found to be compliant.

Ship speed limit sought to protect endangered whales in Gulf

May 12, 2021 — A speed limit for ships in part of the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle is needed to protect the few remaining endangered whales there, environmental groups said Tuesday.

The groups asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service to set a 10-knot (11.5 mph, 18.5 kph) speed limit in an area covering about 11,500 square miles (30,000 square kilometers) off Florida and Alabama.

Shipping interests did not immediately answer requests for comment on the petition, which also asks NOAA Fisheries to make all shipping detour around the whales’ core habitat at night.

The federal agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation, spokeswoman Allison Garrett said.

“One of the rarest, most endangered whales on the planet is in our backyard, and we have a responsibility to save it,” said Michael Jasny, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the groups.

Read the full story at The Star Tribune

NOAA Fisheries Announces Additional For-Hire Electronic Reporting Webinars

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

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Regional Office will host monthly question and answer webinar sessions to assist participants with program information and compliance.

When:

The webinars are scheduled for the following dates and times:

  • Tuesday, May 18, 2021, from 6:30-8:00 PM, ET
  • Tuesday, June 15, 2021, from 6:30-8:00 PM, ET
  • Tuesday, July 20, 2021, from 6:30-8:00 PM, ET

To register for the webinars and access additional information, such as tool-kits and instructional videos, go to: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/recreational-fishing-data/southeast-hire-electronic-reporting-program. 

Additional Information:

Program staff and vendor representatives will participate in these webinars to answer questions and resolve issues identified by users.  These webinars are for anyone with an interest in the Southeast Electronic For-Hire Program and specifically, any captain, owner, or lessee running a headboat or charter trip on a vessel with any of the following federal for-hire permits: Atlantic coastal migratory pelagics, Atlantic dolphin wahoo, South Atlantic snapper-grouper, Gulf of Mexico reef fish, or Gulf of Mexico coastal migratory pelagics.

NOAA Fisheries implemented the new Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program in January 2021.  This program provides more timely catch, effort, and discard information from federally-permitted for-hire vessels.  Our goals in these webinars are to provide fishermen with quality customer service, improve understanding of federal for-hire data collection, and explain ways the apps may simplify the reporting requirements.  NOAA Fisheries respects your time and business operations, so please continue to submit suggestions on ways we can improve your understanding of the Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program.  We look forward to working with you.

Please call our customer service hotline with any questions (available from 8:00 AM-4:30 PM, ET) at 1-833-707-1632 or email us at ser.electronicreporting@noaa.gov.

NOAA Fisheries Offers Webinars to Assist Skimmer Trawl Fishermen with Turtle Excluder Device (TEDs) Installation

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

Key Message:

Fishing gear specialists with NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fishery Science Center’s Gear Monitoring Team will host question and answer webinar sessions and virtual workshops summarizing upcoming skimmer trawl Turtle Excluder Device (TED) requirements and assist participants with program information and compliance.

When:

  • The webinars are scheduled twice a month on Tuesday mornings starting at 9:00 AM through 10:30 AM CST. Webinars are scheduled for May 18, June 1, June 15, July 13, and July 27, 2021.
  • In addition, virtual workshops will be held one Friday a month starting at 9:00 AM through 10:30 AM CST. Virtual workshops are scheduled for May 14, June 25, and July 30, 2021. The full schedule and registration information are listed below.

TED Tuesday Webinars:

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Addition of Bullet Mackerel and Frigate Mackerel to the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery Management Plan of the Atlantic as Ecosystem Component Species

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

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries announces the final rule for Amendment 12 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic (Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 12). The final rule adds bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel to the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery Management Plan and designates them as ecosystem component species. Ecosystem component species are those that do not require conservation and management, but are deemed important to include in a fishery management plan to achieve ecosystem management objectives. Bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel are documented as important prey species particularly for wahoo, dolphin (to a lesser extent), blue marlin, and yellowfin tuna in the Atlantic Region.

When Rule Will Take Effect:

Regulations become effective June 9, 2021.

Summary of Changes:

  • The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council wants to consider ecosystem management approaches to fisheries management and advance ecosystem management objectives in the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan.
  • Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 12 and the final rule could result in potential indirect benefits such as increased awareness among the fishing constituents, fishing communities, and fishery management agencies.
  • If landings for bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel were to greatly increase in the future to unsustainable levels, fisheries managers could be made aware of the changing stock status before the stocks are depleted which may have subsequent beneficial effects on populations of several economically important predatory fish species, including dolphin, wahoo, blue marlin, and yellowfin tuna.

Read the full release here

Is That Steller Sea Lion in Distress? Waving? Or Is It …Thermoregulation?

May 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Imagine that you are enjoying a wonderful day along Alaska’s rocky shores when suddenly you see something strange in the water. Is that an orca? You look through your binoculars and realize it is a Steller sea lion. You see its flipper in the air, and it only surfaces its head to breathe once in a while. Is it sick or injured? Or is this normal behavior?

NOAA Fisheries often receives reports of Steller sea lions exhibiting this behavior from concerned citizens who think the sea lion may be in distress.

“When people get hot or cold, they can remove or add a layer of clothing,” explains Steller sea lion expert Kim Raum-Suryan of NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office. “Since Steller sea lions don’t have this option, they do something a little different. They instead have this amazing ability to use thermoregulation—in other words, to regulate their own body temperature. “

A Steller sea lion’s core body temperature is about 100°F. Heat loss in water is about 25 times faster than in air. Steller sea lions deposit most of their body fat into a thick layer of blubber just under the skin. This blubber layer insulates the sea lion’s body from the cold water and provides an excess energy reserve.

However, the flippers are poorly insulated, with the blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. Sea lions often regulate their own body temperature by lifting and exposing one or more flippers as they are floating on the surface of the water. The blood vessels just under the skin dilate and either absorb heat from, or release heat to, the environment. Absorbed heat is then circulated to the rest of the body.

If you ever see a stranded, injured, entangled, or dead Steller sea lion or other marine mammal, please call the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Statewide 24-hour Stranding Hotline at (877) 925-7773. But the next time you see a sea lion or a group of sea lions with their flippers extended out of the water, there’s no need to call. This is just normal sea lion behavior … but you can wave back if you want to!

Read the full release here

Federal Waters off Texas Close to Shrimping on May 15, 2021

May 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Key Message:

NOAA Fisheries announces federal waters from 9 to 200 nautical miles off Texas will close to shrimp trawling 30 minutes after official sunset, local time, on May 15, 2021, corresponding to the time Texas closes its state waters to shrimp trawling.

Federal waters off Texas are west of the line (from A to B) shown in the map below.  Fishermen should not use any other division between Texas and Louisiana federal waters, including lines on NOAA Chart 1116A, which is to be used for mineral rights and not for navigation.

Why This Closure Is Happening

The shrimp fishery is closed annually off Texas to allow brown shrimp to reach a larger and more valuable size prior to harvest, and to prevent waste of brown shrimp that might otherwise be discarded due to their small size.

The Texas closure ranges from 45 to 60 days.  The closing date is based on catch rates of brown shrimp collected with seine gear by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, mean length of shrimp collected in April, percent of samples containing shrimp, and periods of maximum nocturnal ebb tidal flow.

Texas will re-open state waters to shrimp trawling based on sampling projections of when brown shrimp will reach a mean size of 112 mm, and when maximum duration ebb tides will occur.  NOAA Fisheries will re-open federal waters off Texas when Texas re-opens its state waters.  Historically, the re-opening has been on or about July 15.  If there is a need to adjust the July 15 date for the re-opening, notification of the revised date will be published in the Federal Register and announced in a subsequent fishery bulletin.

Read the full release here

NOAA’s Draft Mitigation Policy for Trust Resources Available for Public Comment

May 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA is releasing for public comment its draft Mitigation Policy for Trust Resources. The public may review the policy and provide comments through July 12, 2021.

The purpose of the draft Mitigation Policy is to improve conservation of NOAA’s trust resources through more effective mitigation of adverse impacts to those trust resources. In implementing the draft policy NOAA will expand best practices in mitigation across NOAA programs and regions.

The draft policy describes eight principles that will guide NOAA recommendations and decisions about mitigation, with the ultimate goal of achieving environmental benefits consistent with applicable authorities. The eight principles are:

  1. Apply the mitigation sequence appropriately.
  2. Employ the best scientific information available.
  3. Apply a holistic landscape and/or seascape approach.
  4. Promote mitigation strategies that have a high probability of success.
  5. Consider climate change and climate resilience when evaluating and developing mitigation measures.
  6. Implement mitigation that is proportional to impacts to NOAA trust resources and fully offset those impacts.
  7. Use preservation of intact habitat as compensation appropriately, taking into account the high risk of habitat loss in many rapidly developing coastal and marine landscapes and seascapes.
  8. Collaborate with partner agencies and stakeholders.

For more information on how to comment view our web story.

Read the full release here

Massachusetts waters remain closed to lobstermen

May 6, 2021 — The state Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding lobstermen and other trap fishermen that state waters north and east of Cape Cod remain closed to all commercial harvesting because of the continued presence of North Atlantic right whales.

DMF and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies continue to fly aerial survey flights to gauge the scale of right whale presence in state waters as the imperiled stock continues its northward feeding migration.

The agency said its most recent flight, on April 28, 2021, observed 86 right whales in the waters of northern Cape Cod Bay, southern Massachusetts Bay, and Stellwagen Bank, a fishing ground located about 15 miles southeast of Gloucester to about six miles north of Provincetown.

“Additional surveillance flights are anticipated to occur over the next several days,” DMF stated. “DMF will reevaluate the status of this closure based on the presence or absence of whales. Should observational data demonstrate right whales have migrated out of Massachusetts waters, DMF may lift the trap gear closure prior to May 15.”

Also, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s Slocum underwater glider on Sunday acoustically detected the presence of North Atlantic right whales north of Cape Cod and NOAA Fisheries on Monday instituted a voluntary right whale slow zone north of Cape Cod until May 17.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

National Fish Habitat Partnership Projects to Enhance Recreational Fishing and Restore Habitat

May 6, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA is funding four projects designed to enhance recreational fisheries engagement and restore habitat through the coastal National Fish Habitat Partnerships. Saltwater recreational fishing is a part of the fabric of coastal communities, and anglers make critical contributions to the conservation of fish habitat nationwide. NOAA Fisheries is committed to collaborating with the recreational fishing community and supporting access to sustainable saltwater recreational opportunities. These projects will actively involve anglers in habitat restoration efforts that will benefit coastal communities and economies.

Recreational Engagement and Ecological Learning Series in Louisiana

Sponsoring Partnership: Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership

Anglers Bettering Louisiana’s Estuaries, Louisiana Sea Grant, and the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership will work with local charter boat captains. They will provide an experiential learning program about Louisiana habitat restoration and coastal planning. The program will include classroom sessions, field days, and time on the water. During the field days, the charter captains will pot, plant, and monitor black mangroves to improve habitat for juvenile fish, shrimp, and crabs. The program will also recruit local high school students to participate in the field days. At the end of the program, the charter boat captains will take these students on two recreational fishing trips. They will teach the students to fish and share what they have learned about Louisiana habitats and their connection to fish.

Outreach and Education at Bill Burton Fishing Pier in Maryland

Sponsoring Partnership: Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership

As part of its Living Reef Action Campaign, Coastal Conservation Association Maryland will expand outreach and education efforts at the Bill Burton Fishing Pier. The pier is frequently visited by a diverse community in Dorchester County, Maryland, and is an access point to the Choptank River Habitat Focus Area. In 2014 and 2015, oyster reef balls were successfully deployed off the pier to provide habitat for striped bass, drum, shad, blue crab, and other species. In this project, CCA Maryland will host several public oyster reef ball building events to construct and deploy more reef balls at the site. The project will also add six bilingual (English and Spanish) signs to inform recreational anglers of the new and previously deployed reef balls at this site. The signs will describe their purpose, the habitat types along the pier, fishing regulations, gear disposal instructions, and seafood consumption safety. An underwater web camera will be installed at the reef and live video will be displayed at the nearby visitor center. A video about the resources at the pier will also be produced and shared with the local community.

Read the full release here