Saving Seafood

North Slope Borough, NOAA, University of Washington and Cooperative Institute for Climate Ocean and Ecosystem Studies Scientists Collaborate to Monitor Whales in 2020 in Northern Alaska

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In the Arctic, each year before daylight disappears and winter arrives, thousands of bowhead whales make their  fall migration across the Beaufort Sea off northern Alaska. The timing of the migration is something Alaska Indigenous communities and scientists can count on. However, 2019 was not a normal year.

What Happened in 2019?

The year 2019 was unusual in several ways. It was Alaska’s hottest year on record. Sea surface temperatures were significantly warmer than average. There also were salmon die-offs across the state as river temperatures, in some areas, hit 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

The timing of the bowhead whale migration was also different. By late October, the largely subsistence-based community of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, had seen few whales. Never in recent memory had whales come so late. NOAA researchers observed that both the edge of the sea ice and the bowhead whales were farther north than in previous years of surveying the area in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-funded aerial studies.

“Whales are a vital part of our communities. Bowheads help us to feed our communities and are central to many of our cultural traditions. Hunting whales has been our way of life for thousands of years,” said North Slope Borough Mayor Harry K. Brower, Jr.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Science Helps Maine’s Pioneering Sea Scallop Farmers

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A trait fishermen and scientists share is adaptability: the trait required to think on your feet, be comfortable with uncertainty, and repurpose resources when necessary.

“Adaptable” is a word that perfectly describes Marsden Brewer, a third-generation commercial fisherman, who is also a scallop farmer and owner of PenBay Farmed Scallops. Brewer’s business is the result of his 20-year effort, as well as techniques learned through Maine’s enduring friendship with its sister state, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His three-and-a-quarter acre Stonington, Maine, farm is the first of its kind in Penobscot Bay.

“Princess” Scallops: A New England Locavore’s Delight

The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is one of the most valuable in the United States. While wild caught scallops have shells four inches across or larger and you only eat the adductor muscle, Brewer sells a smaller, whole-animal product. He offers three sizes:

  • “Princess” scallops are two inches across and can be grown in just 18 months
  • Medium scallops are about 2.75 inches and take 2 years
  • Large scallops are about 3 inches and take 3 years to grow.

Whole scallops are a delicacy prepared by chefs at restaurants in Maine and as far away as Colorado and Arizona. Brewer is not competing with the wild scallop fishery, but bringing a new local seafood to market. He has led other fishermen to farm scallops as a way to diversify their income in a changing environment.

Read the full release here

Black Sea Bass Sensitive to Ocean Noise in Wind Energy Development Areas

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists looking at the effects of underwater pile driving and construction noise on sea life have found that black sea bass can hear these sounds. The noise may interfere with their natural behavior.

Their study is the first to look at the impact of ocean noise on this fish species. It found that younger fish were more sensitive to sounds than older fish. The frequencies at which the fish are most sensitive to sound directly overlap with frequencies of human-produced noise pollution. This noise comes from activities like shipping and the underwater construction required for offshore wind farms.

“No one knew for sure how much black sea bass can hear and how that changes as they age,” said Beth Phelan, a fishery biologist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s laboratory at Sandy Hook, New Jersey and a co-author of the study. “We do know that black sea bass are attracted to underwater structures, and have anecdotal information that they move away from noise. We had to first determine the range of sounds they can hear by giving them a type of hearing test, much like we do to humans.”

Black sea bass are a commercially and recreationally important fish in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the coastal region from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to southern New England. Wind farms planned in the region overlap with current black sea bass habitat, exposing fish to construction and operational noises. Pile driving, for example, produces sounds that might stress fish, impacting their choice of habitat, feeding, social interaction and reproduction.

Read the full release here

Long-Running Plankton Survey to Resume in the Gulf of Maine

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A new agreement between NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, England and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will allow a plankton survey to resume. The survey was originally conducted across the Gulf of Maine from 1961 to 2017.

NOAA Fisheries is providing funding for the survey through the NOAA Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region, hosted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The Marine Biological Association manages merchant vessel-based plankton surveys around the world. The association will run and maintain the resumed Gulf of Maine survey through 2024 under this agreement.

“Continuing a long-term time series like the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey is essential to understanding the impact of climate change to marine ecosystems,” said Chris Melrose, a research oceanographer at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island and NOAA representative on the agreement.

“Many marine species are shifting their distributions as ocean waters warm,” explained Melrose. “Because plankton are an important food source for many species, including the endangered North Atlantic right whale, knowing about changes in the plankton helps us to understand other changes we see in the ecosystem.”

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A Sub-ACL Harvested

November 9, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective 00:01 hours on November 11 through December 31, 2020

Under the New England Fishery Management Council’s Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, no person may, fish for, possess, transfer, receive, land, or sell more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip or per calendar day in or from Area 1A for the remainder of the fishing year, as of the projected date when 92 percent of the Herring Management Area 1A catch limit will be harvested.  At 00:01 hours on November 11, 2020, a 2,000-lb herring possession limit per trip or calendar day will become effective for Management Area 1A (Figure 1) and will be in effect through December 31, 2020.

This action also prohibits federally permitted dealers from purchasing, possessing, receiving, selling, bartering, trading, transferring, or attempting to carry out the above actions for more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip or calendar day from Management Area 1A.

This action is in effect through 24:00 hr local time, December 31, 2020, unless it is from a vessel that enters port before 00:01 local time on November 11, 2020.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries to Require Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting for Commercial and For-Hire Vessels

November 9, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective November 10, 2021

NOAA Fisheries is approving a recommendation from both the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils to require federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to submit vessel trip reports electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip.

Upon request of the New England Council, we are also extending this requirement to vessels issued for-hire (charter/party) permits for New England Council-managed fisheries (i.e., Northeast multispecies). Vessels issued a Mid-Atlantic Council for-hire permit have been required to submit vessel trip reports electronically since March 2018. Note, reporting requirements for vessels issued only a federal lobster permit are being addressed in a separate rulemaking and this action does not affect those vessels.

The effective date of this action is being delayed for 1 year, until November 10, 2021, to allow ample time for training on the various electronic reporting applications and to allow vessel owners and operators the time to find the appropriate application for their operations. Information on eVTR applications is available on our website.  Additional information on training opportunities can be found on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s website.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register or the bulletin.

NOAA Fisheries Offers Paperless Ways to Receive Information about Fishing Regulations and Management Actions

November 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

  • This is an annual reminder that NOAA Fisheries offers you three ways to receive your fishery bulletins. These bulletins contain fishing regulation information and are typically referred to as “the blue sheets.”
  • You may receive a copy of the bulletins in three ways:
    • Electronic/E-mail
    • Mail
    • Text Message Notifications

MORE INFORMATION:

  • Electronic/E-mail:
    • To receive an on-line copy of NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fishery Bulletins, which explain current/proposed fishing regulations and other announcements, please visit https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/outreach-and-education/southeast-regional-fisheries-news-sign-or-follow-us. You can unsubscribe at any time.
    • An electronic copy of each bulletin, sent via e-mail, will be delivered to you faster than a paper copy, is in color, features informational links, and reduces paper use.
        • Note: If you already receive electronic fishery bulletins via email, your subscription will not be affected and you do NOT need to sign up again now.
  • Mail:
    • In an effort to better serve you, we want to update our records so the Southeast Fishery Bulletins you receive are of interest to you.
    • Please use the form below to let us know which region-specific bulletins you would like to receive.
    • Send your response to the following address:
      • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
        Southeast Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries Division
        263 13th Avenue South
        Saint Petersburg, FL  33701

        • Note: If you already receive fishery bulletins in the mail, you still need to complete the attached form and send it back to NOAA Fisheries before December 31, 2020. If you do not send to the address above, you will not receive any bulletins in the mail after December 31, 2020.

Text Message Notifications:

  • NOAA’s Text Message Alert Program allows you to receive important fishery related alerts via text message (SMS).
  • Text alerts you receive may include, but are not limited to:
    • Immediate fishery openings and closures
    • Any significant changes to fishing regulations that happen quickly
  • Sign up for one or more of the following groups:
    • Gulf of Mexico Recreational Fisheries Related Alerts
      • Text GULFRECFISH to 888777
    • Gulf of Mexico Commercial Fisheries Related Alerts
      • Text GULFCOMMFISH to 888777
    • South Atlantic Recreational Fisheries Related Alerts
      • Text SATLRECFISH to 888777
    • South Atlantic Commercial Fisheries Related Alerts
      • Text SATLCOMMFISH to 888777
    • Caribbean Fisheries Related Alerts
      • Text CARIBFISH to 888777

Join us every other Friday on NOAA Fish Instagram for Rec Fish Friday!

This change will be EFFECTIVE January 1, 2021.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed 2021 Bluefish Specifications

November 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended catch specifications for the 2021 bluefish fishery. These proposed catch limits are mostly status quo, with only slight changes in the final recreational harvest limit to account for most recent (2019) recreational catch data. A summary of the Council’s recommended specifications is shown in Table 1.

The commercial fishery state allocations for 2021 (Table 2) are based on the final coast-wide commercial quota, and the allocated percentages defined in the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan. No states exceeded their state allocated quota in 2019 or are projected to do so in 2020, so no adjustments are necessary for the 2021 commercial fishery.

All other management measures and requirements, including the recreational daily bag limit of 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels, would remain unchanged.

For more details on the proposed specifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. The comment period is open through November 20, 2020.

Read the full release here

Commercial Harvest of Atlantic Group Cobia (Georgia through New York) Will Close in Federal Waters on November 6, 2020

November 3, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

  • Commercial harvest of Atlantic group cobia (Georgia through New York) will close in federal waters at 12:01 a.m., local time, November 6, 2020. Commercial harvest will reopen in federal waters at 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2021.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • The 2020 commercial quota is 50,000 pounds whole or gutted weight. NOAA Fisheries projects the 2020 Atlantic cobia quota for the commercial sector will be reached by November 6, 2020, based on reported landings to date and landings that are expected to be reported by dealers that do not have a federal dealer permit.
  • This closure is necessary to protect the Atlantic cobia resource by preventing the commercial quota from being exceeded.

DURING THE CLOSURE:

  • The sale or purchase of Atlantic migratory group cobia in or from federal waters during a closure is prohibited. The prohibition on sale and purchase does not apply to the sale or purchase of Atlantic cobia that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, November 6, 2020, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

ALASKA: Seafood Bycatch Donation Relieves Hunger and Reduces Waste

November 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Fishermen sometimes unintentionally catch fish they do not want or cannot keep. This is called bycatch. While these fish are returned to the sea, many of them do not survive. This is a major problem worldwide—nearly 10 percent of global fishery catches are discarded each year

This waste of valuable seafood protein has been an increasing focus of management, industry, and public concern due to its ecological and economic impacts. That’s where our innovative donation program comes in.

Alaska fishermen occasionally catch Pacific halibut and salmon incidentally in trawls targeting groundfish. Because halibut and salmon are valuable targets of other fisheries, they are designated as prohibited species. Groundfish trawlers are not allowed to retain or sell them. Historically, all prohibited species caught in Alaska were discarded at sea to avoid any incentive to catch these species.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Alaska seafood industry have a long history of cooperative efforts to reduce bycatch. However, even after bycatch has been eliminated to the extent practicable, some is inevitable.

In 1996, NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council established the Prohibited Species Donation Program. It takes a unique approach to the problem of discarded fish by making it possible for fishermen to donate some bycatch to hunger relief organizations. It simultaneously reduces waste, provides high quality seafood protein to people in need, and avoids incentives to catch prohibited species.

“Bycatch donation is an example of thinking outside the box. When we think about reducing waste, it is usually about avoiding bycatch. This program is a creative solution to maximize the value of the bycatch that can’t be avoided,”  said Jordan Watson, NOAA Fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full release here