Saving Seafood

Texas fishing industry finally gets COVID-19 stimulus

January 29, 2021 — The Texas fishing industry is about to get a long-awaited $9 million that Congress allocated way back in March 2020.

Commercial fishing experienced “broad declines” as COVID-19 ravaged the country, according an analysis by NOAA Fisheries. Data shows that revenue among Gulf Coast and southeast fisheries fell sharply between February and June as the pandemic slowed the economy.

The $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which Congress passed in March, allocated $300 million for the fishing industry in coastal states. Texas was allocated $9 million, or 3 percent.

Read the full story at The Houston Chronicle

NOAA Fisheries Announces Weekly For-Hire Reporting Webinars

January 29, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

KEY MESSAGE:

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

WHEN:

The webinars are scheduled for Tuesday evenings from 6:00 PM–7:00 PM, EST, from February 2, 2021, to March 30, 2021.

To register for the webinars and access the 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 software vendor representatives will participate in these webinars to answer questions and resolve issues users identify. 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 boat with any of the following permits: Atlantic coastal migratory pelagics, Atlantic dolphin wahoo, South Atlantic snapper grouper, Gulf of Mexico reef fish, and Gulf Of Mexico coastal migratory pelagics.

NOAA Fisheries implemented the new Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program in January 2021. This program will provide more timely catch, effort, and discard information from federally-permitted for-hire vessels, to be used in future fish population assessments and management evaluations.

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

Please know that NOAA Fisheries is here to help, and we respect your time and business operations. We look forward to working with you during the implementation phase of this new program. Our goals are to provide each fisherman with excellent customer service, improve for-hire data collection, and reduce the amount of time you spend reporting so you can focus more time on your customers.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

Commercial Gillnet Harvest of King Mackerel in Federal Waters of the Gulf of Mexico Southern Zone Closed on January 28, 2021

January 28, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

  • Commercial gillnet harvest of king mackerel in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico Southern Zone closed at 12 p.m., local time, on January 28, 2021.
  • Commercial king mackerel gillnet harvest will reopen at 6:00 a.m., (local time) on January 18, 2022.
  • The Gulf of Mexico Southern Zone includes federal waters off Collier and Monroe Counties, Florida (see map).

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • The 2020/2021 commercial gillnet quota is 575,400 pounds.
  • Updated landings data indicate that commercial gillnet harvest of king mackerel has reached its quota.
  • In accordance with the regulations, NOAA Fisheries is required to close this component of the fishery when the quota has been met or projected to be met. The closure is needed to prevent overfishing (too many fish being harvested).

DURING THE CLOSURE:

  • No person aboard a vessel with a commercial king mackerel permit with a gillnet endorsement may fish for king mackerel using a run-around gillnet in the closed zone after 12 p.m., local time, on January 28, 2021.
  • The operator of a vessel that has been issued a federal commercial king mackerel permit with a gillnet endorsement and who is landing king mackerel for sale must have harvested, landed ashore, and sold before 12 p.m., local time, January 28, 2021.
  • No person aboard a vessel possessing a gillnet with a stretched-mesh size of 4.75 inches (12.1 cm) or larger, may fish for or possess king mackerel in this zone during the closure.
  • Sale or purchase of gillnet harvested king mackerel in or from federal waters in the Southern Zone after January 28, 2021 is prohibited.
  • The prohibition on sale or purchase does not apply to trade in king mackerel that were harvested by gillnet, landed ashore, and sold before 12 p.m., local time, January 28, 2021, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • The hook-and-line component of the fishery remains open in this zone at this time. Therefore, only king mackerel caught by hook-and-line in this zone may be purchased, bartered, traded, or sold after 12 p.m., local time, on January 28, 2021.
  • A vessel for which a king mackerel gillnet endorsement has been issued may not retain king mackerel for sale in or from federal waters harvested with any other gear.
  • Persons aboard commercial vessels with a federal king mackerel permit may fish for and retain the recreational bag and possession limit of king mackerel during the open recreational season, even if commercial fishing for this species is closed in this zone or others.

Read the full release here

NOAA wants monitors on 40% of groundfish trips

January 28, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries has established a monitoring coverage target that would deploy at-sea monitors aboard 40% of all groundfish sector trips in the Northeast in the upcoming 2021 fishing year, the agency announced Tuesday.

The 2021 ASM coverage target represents a 25% increase from the 32% monitoring coverage target in the 2020 fishing year for the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery.

“Consistent with the requirement to monitor sector operations and to reliably estimate overall catch to the extent practical, the coverage target level will be 40%,” NOAA Fisheries stated in its bulletin  announcing the coverage target.

At-sea monitoring coverage levels for Northeast sector groundfish vessels was one of the more tumultuous issues of the 2020 fishing season because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the monitoring program and the New England Fishery Management Council’s approval of Amendment 23 that set future at-sea monitoring coverage target rates for the fishery.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Major Refresh Orients our Fishery Monitoring and Research Division Toward the Future

January 27, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Staff involved with cooperative research and fishery monitoring at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center interact daily with the fishing industry. It’s a challenging job, and an essential one: scientists and fishermen working together in areas of mutual interest improves fisheries science and management.

It’s little wonder that managing the many moving parts of this effort requires constant assessment and adaptation. The most recent effort is a major one that has resulted in a new internal structure to improve operations and maximize resources.

The ultimate goal is to ensure accurate representation of fishing activity.

“Improving integration of our efforts, modernizing our systems, and making the data we collect even more useful will enable us to have increased confidence in our science, take some of the burden off the industry, and make it easier for fishermen to access information,” said Amanda McCarty, chief of the center’s Fishery Monitoring and Research Division, which includes the fishery monitoring and cooperative research efforts.

Read the full release here

New Slow Zone East of Boston to Protect Right Whales

January 27, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction) to protect right whales.

On January 25, 2021, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Stellwagen Bank Slocum buoy acoustically detected the presence of right whales 35nm East of Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Slow Zone is in effect through February 9, 2021. 

Mariners, please go around this slow zone or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

42 47 N
42 07 N
069 51 W
070 46 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here

Major Reorganization Improves NEFSC Fishery Monitoring and Research

January 27, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A new internal structure within the NEFSC’s Fishery Monitoring and Research Division  is a major overhaul intended to improve operations and maximize resources.

The ultimate goal is to ensure accurate representation of fishing activity.

While the basic tasking is the same, separating work into four branches allows better accountability and expansion of existing capability.

Four organizational groups, rather than two, are now responsible for:

  • Fisheries observer program
  • Fisheries observer training and trip data
  • Data and information systems management and development
  • Cooperative research.

Read all about the “new” Fishery Monitoring and Research Division here.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2021 At-Sea Monitoring Coverage Levels for Groundfish Sector Fishery

January 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces that for fishing year 2021, the total target at-sea monitoring (ASM) coverage level is 40 percent of all groundfish sector trips subject to the ASM program.

Our annual analysis to determine the level of ASM coverage required to estimate discards for each northeast multispecies stock with no greater than a 30-percent coefficient of variation (CV30) calculated a minimum target coverage level of 33 percent of all groundfish sector trips, based on Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. For more information about that analysis, please read the Summary of Analyses Conducted to Determine At-Sea Monitoring Requirements for Multispecies Sectors FY 2021. In addition to the CV analysis, we also considered analyses of bias developed by the Groundfish Plan Development Team and the peer review by a sub-panel of the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee in 2019. Consistent with the regulations and the Court’s ruling in Oceana v. Pritzker, we have determined that coverage needs to be increased above the minimum coverage necessary to achieve a CV30 in order to address the peer review’s conclusions. Consistent with the requirement to monitor sector operations and to reliably estimate overall catch to the extent practicable, the coverage target level will be 40 percent.

Read the full release here

Southeast Regional Permits Office Will Start Issuing Operator Permits on Paper Effective Immediately

January 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

  • An operator permit is required for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic, and for rock shrimp of the Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic.
  • Effective immediately, the NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Region Permit Office will no longer be issuing an operator permit for these fisheries on a plastic card, but will be issuing the permit on paper.
  • In addition, beginning in February 2021, if an applicant selects the “Check here to receive your operator permit by email” box on the application, the operator permit will be emailed to the applicant upon approval and the applicant can print it. Otherwise, if the applicant does not select the “Check here to receive your operator permit by email” box on their application to the Southeast Region Permit Office, the operator permit will be printed out on paper and mailed to them from the Southeast Region Permit Office.

Who is required to have an operator permit?

  • An operator of a vessel that has, or is required to have, a commercial vessel permit or a charter vessel/headboat permit for Atlantic dolphin and wahoo.
  • An operator of a vessel that has, or is required to have, a commercial vessel permit for rock shrimp (Carolinas Zone) or a commercial vessel permit for rock shrimp (South Atlantic federal waters).
  • More information on operator permits can be found here for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic, and here for rock shrimp of the Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic.

How will I receive my approved operator permit?

Starting February 2021, if the applicant selects the “Check here to receive your operator permit by email” box on the paper application, the operator permit will be sent to the email address provided.

What if I still want my approved operator permit mailed to me instead of emailed?

While the email address is a required field on the application, unless the applicant selects the “Check here to receive your operator permit by email” box, we will print and mail the paper operator permit from the Southeast Region Permit Office.

Read the full release here

Paul Doremus takes over as acting head of NOAA Fisheries after Chris Oliver departs

January 25, 2021 — Paul Doremus has taken over as acting assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries following the departure of Chris Oliver, who had served as NOAA Fisheries’ assistant administrator since June 2017.

Doremus has worked at NOAA for the past 16 years, including as chief strategy officer from 2005 to 2011, assistant secretary for conservation and management from 2017 to 2018, and chief of strategy and operations, as well as lead for seafood production and aquaculture from 2011 until his recent promotion.

Read the full story at Seafood Source