Saving Seafood

Fall Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey Wraps Up

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

The COVID-19 pandemic and typical fall weather conditions were challenges, but the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey team and industry partners wrapped up a successful season in early November.

“Every single person on the bottom longline survey team worked incredibly hard to get the survey completed this fall,” said Anna Mercer, chief of the Cooperative Research Branch. “From building new software to installing new camera systems, from repeated COVID-19 testing to careful quarantining, from new work flows to new hardware, it was a true team effort.”

The survey targets groundfish at 45 stations across the Gulf of Maine using tub-trawl bottom longline gear. The survey plan focuses on rocky bottom habitat, where fish are difficult to sample with trawl gear.

New Data Collection System Used

This year’s survey is the first to use a new data collection system developed by the branch. This next generation of software and hardware significantly upgrades digital data collection and catch processing at sea.

A tablet-based application replaces paper logs for most data types, improves operational efficiency, consistency, and data quality control for recording catch data and biological samples. Digital scales, electronic fish measuring boards, and barcode scanners now wirelessly communicate with the tablets. This keeps the system compact and agile for use on small commercial fishing vessels.

Both vessels were also newly equipped with electronic monitoring cameras. Adding cameras provides a way to get detailed information on the condition of bait or fish on hooks as the vessel retrieves the gear. This “hook status” information gives analysts a measure of hook availability—how available the hook is to fish that the gear encounters—which will improve understanding of catch rates.

Read the full release here

Economic and Social Well-Being of Northeast Commercial Fishing Fleets Displayed in New Web-based Application

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

Social scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center have found a new way to tame an old problem: how to put the data we collect into a form that’s relevant not only to fellow researchers, but also to a wider public.

“For years we’ve put out a lot of data on the health and well-being of fish stocks. Now we can put forth similar data  for our commercial fishing fleets and communities, and our new tool makes it easy for anyone to see the results,” said John Walden, an economist in the science center’s Social Sciences Branch and a leader of the project.

While there are other places where similar kinds of data are already available, this is the first to aggregate the information by fishery management plan. Users can see the information in graphs and charts that render on demand and update annually, with options to download the data for use in other applications.

Read the full release here

Dungeness Crab Fishing Industry Response to Climate Shock

January 5, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Fishermen contend with regulations, natural disasters, and the ups and downs of the stocks they fish, along with many other changes. As a result, fishing communities are quite resilient. That is, they can withstand, recover from, and adapt to change.

But how much pressure can they stand? The 2014–2016 North Pacific marine heatwave, known as the Blob, led to a harmful algal bloom of unprecedented scale. It necessitated substantial delays in the opening of the 2015–16 U.S. West Coast Dungeness crab fishery. The fishery is vital to West Coast communities. It produces around 26 percent of all annual fishing revenue and supports more than 30 percent of all commercial fishing vessels.

Understanding Impacts from Climate Shocks

Previous studies have documented the devastating economic impacts from the 2015–16 event on Dungeness crab fishermen. Members of affected coastal communities attest that these socioeconomic effects rippled through associated industries and coastal communities. But can changes in fishing practices in response to this significant climate shock be quantified?

“We wanted to examine the extent to which the Dungeness crab fishery delays affected participation in other fisheries, and the duration of those changes,” said Mary Fisher, a doctoral student at the University of Washington. Fisher did the work as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Internship Program Fellow at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Fisher and her colleagues at NOAA Fisheries, University of Washington, and Oregon State University studied the impacts on more than 2,500 vessels across seven California fishing communities. The researchers wanted to see how a climate-related shock (like the heatwave and associated harmful algal bloom) can impact communities’ use of ocean resources.

Read the full release here

NOAA FISHERIES: Stock Assessment 2021 Schedule

January 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Northeast Region Coordinating Council has approved the 2021 fisheries stock assessment schedule for management and research track assessments.

The management track assessments scheduled for 2021 are: Atlantic mackerel, golden tilefish, summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, bluefish, Georges Bank cod, Gulf of Maine cod, Georges Bank haddock, and Gulf of Maine haddock. Management track assessments follow a routine schedule to provide the updated advice needed to inform fisheries management.

There are two research track assessments scheduled for 2021. Haddock (all stocks) will be peer reviewed in July in conjunction with the Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee, while Illex squid and butterfish will be peer reviewed in November. The Illex Research Track Working Group will have its kick-off meeting on Tuesday, January 5 at 1pm. The Haddock Working Group will meet on January 7 and 11, while the Butterfish Working Group is scheduled to meet on January 21. Research track assessments dive deeper into research topics needed to better understand the overall condition of one or more stocks.

Our fisheries stock assessments follow a robust, transparent and collaborative process that brings experts together to determine the overall health of a fishery. Stock assessments have many steps to ensure the best available science and information about the fishery are considered.

Read the full release here

New Slow Speed Zone West of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

January 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect through January 15

NOAA Fisheries announces a new Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

On December 31, 2020, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Cox Ledge Slocum glider acoustically detected the presence of right whales 32nm west of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

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

The West of Martha’s Vineyard Slow Zone is in effect through January 15 for waters bounded by:

41 34 N
40 54 N
070 50 W
071 43 W

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

Read the full release here

New Slow Speed Zone South of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

December 31, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect through January 14

NOAA Fisheries announces a new Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

On December 30, 2020, Protected Species Observers aboard wind farm survey vessel Ventus noted the presence of right whales 21nm South of Martha’s Vineyard.

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

The South of Martha’s Vinyeard Slow Zone is in effect through January 14 for waters bounded by:

41 25 N
40 44 N
069 59 W
070 55 W

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

Read the full release here

Due to COVID-19, Drone Survey Powers NOAA’s Bering Cod Assessment

December 30, 2020 — Every other year, NOAA Fisheries conducts an acoustic-trawl survey from crewed research vessels to measure pollock abundance in Alaska’s eastern Bering Sea. As a result of COVID-19, many research surveys were canceled, and we weren’t able to conduct our walleye pollock surveys. Data collected from these surveys are critical to manage pollock, which comprise the nation’s largest commercial fishery.

NOAA Fisheries scientist Alex De Robertis at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center developed a contingency plan: conducting the survey with saildrone wind- and solar-powered ocean-going robots. The hope was to collect some data despite the vessel survey cancellation.

For the past several years, De Robertis and colleagues at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center have been working with partners at NOAA Research’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory,  Saildrone and Kongsberg. They use uncrewed surface vehicles equipped with low-power sonar (acoustic) sensors to conduct research in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. The pollock survey contingency plan was an opportunity to apply what they had learned to collect data for resource management.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Proposed Modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan

December 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we released our proposed modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to further reduce the impacts of entanglement in fishing gear on right whales in U.S. waters. The proposed modifications focus on the Northeast jonah crab and lobster trap/pot fisheries, which deploy about 93 percent of the buoy lines fished in areas where right whales occur. In 2021, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team will be asked to recommend risk reduction measures for other Atlantic trap/pot and gillnet fisheries. We also released the associated Draft Environmental Impact Statement today.

We opened a public comment period on both of these documents. Comments are due on the proposed modifications and on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement by March 1, 2021. We will also hold a series of virtual public hearings to explain the proposed modifications and to accept public comments on the modifications.

Find out more on our website:

How to Comment

1. Attend a public hearing.

2. Submit your comments in writing through our online comment portal. The comment portal will open on December 31, 2020. To comment, go to: regulations.gov. Search for NOAA-NMFS-2020-0031. Choose “Comment Now” to submit your comments.

Read the full release here

Emergency Rule to Increase Carryover for NE Groundfish – Effective 12/31

December 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is announcing a temporary rule for an emergency action that increases the maximum level of Annual Catch Entitlement allowed to be carried over in the Northeast groundfish fishery from fishing year 2019 into fishing year 2020.

On July 2, 2020, the New England Fishery Management Council requested that NOAA Fisheries implement an emergency action to mitigate significant adverse economic impacts to the groundfish fishery caused by the state health and travel restrictions, and market disruptions at the end of fishing year 2019.

This action, which is effective tomorrow (December 31, 2020), increases the maximum carryover of fishing year 2019 sector Annual Catch Entitlement for Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank haddock, and American plaice. The action also allows for unused leased-in Days-At-Sea to be carried over from fishing year 2019 into fishing year 2020 by common pool vessels.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register, and our permit holder bulletin.

Read the full release here

Sharing Our 2021 Priorities and Annual Guidance

December 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, we released the NOAA Fisheries Priorities and Annual Guidance for 2021. This document provides guidance to all NOAA Fisheries employees in executing our mission responsibilities. It also guides the development and execution of the agency’s Annual Operating Plan by establishing a framework for priority milestones. Our primary goal continues to be the long-term sustainability of our fisheries for the benefit of all fishermen, support industries, and the coastal communities that depend on them. Our overall strategic goals have not changed significantly from last year. However, COVID-19 significantly altered the environment related to the management of the nation’s fisheries and the protection and recovery of marine life.

In 2021, our programs, projects, and investments will be designed and conducted in a manner that supports these three strategic goals:

  • Amplify the economic value of commercial and recreational fisheries while ensuring their sustainability
  • Recover and conserve protected species while supporting responsible fishing and resource development
  • Improve organizational excellence and regulatory efficiency

Read the 2021 Priorities and Annual Guidance document