Saving Seafood

NOAA wants stricter vessel speed limits to protect right whales

August 1, 2022 — Existing vessel speed limits are inadequate to protect endangered north Atlantic right whales from lethal collisions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is proposing to expand 10-knot speed limit zones.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service on Friday announced the new rule proposal, which would also extend speed restrictions, now on vessels over 65 feet, down to 35 feet. That would make many more fishing and recreational vessels subject to mandatory speed restrictions.

The move on smaller boats comes after a 2021 incident when a young right whale calf died after it was struck by a 54-foot sportfishing yacht inbound to a Florida inlet.

Proposing stricter speed limits comes as NMFS is under pressure to do more for the whales. In January 2021 an analysis by the agency found speed restrictions are often ignored, according to automatic identification system (AIS) ship tracking.

A similar July 2021 study by the environmental group Oceana found most vessel traffic by far has been exceeding speed limits declared by NMFS, by as much as 90 percent in some areas.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

The trouble with tuna

July 29, 2022 — Is it possible to have too much of a good thing? That certainly seems to be the case with so many bluefin tuna being landed that buyers are telling fishermen to tie up their boats for a week until the market recovers. It’s become an annual event and each time it happens, people point fingers, make accusations and voice their complaints. Few offer logical solutions and it likely won’t change unless we make the effort to evaluate the situation, put things into perspective and address the affliction rather than the symptoms.

Too many fish

For the last several seasons, usually around mid-July, there’s a point where the bluefin market gets flooded because so many fish are caught and landed in a short period. But isn’t that a good thing? It means tuna are abundant. Yes, there are more boats in the water, but the reason more fish are being landed is due more to availability than effort. The downside is that prices plummet and the limited quota gets filled too quickly, meaning a hasty end to fishing season at its peak.

Preliminary steps were taken to address this in 2020, after results of the stock assessment seemed to conflict with what fishermen observed. The assessment said the stock was healthy but possibly in need of increased protection through quota reductions because of poor recruitment. The U.S. fishing community, special interest groups and fisheries managers joined forces to dispute that assessment.

First they gathered evidence to contradict the claims, while at the same time pointing out flaws in the procedures used to assess stocks. The models failed to take into account mixing between eastern and western stocks. Pretty much everyone admitted MRIP data are flawed. Additional spawning areas are not taken into account, and dramatically increasing release rates of sub-legal fish by commercial fishermen are not being recorded. Meanwhile, both commercial and recreational anglers were seeing increasingly more young, small fish while the models said they didn’t exist.

The effort was worthy enough to warrant a second assessment, and then an acknowledgment that revision was needed as stocks indeed appeared stronger than initially thought. In the short term, that resulted in a small quota increase for the western Atlantic bluefin fishery. So far, so good, but we can’t wait five years for another assessment.

Read the full article at The National Fisherman

Ships must slow down more often to save whales, feds say

July 29, 2022 — Vessels off the East Coast must slow down more often to help save a vanishing species of whale from extinction, the federal government said Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the announcement via new proposed rules designed to prevent ships colliding with North Atlantic right whales. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the two biggest threats to the giant animals, which number less than 340 and are falling in population.

Efforts to save the whales have long focused on fishing gear, especially that used by East Coast lobster fishermen. The proposed vessel speed rules signal that the government wants the shipping industry to take more responsibility.

The new rules would expand seasonal slow zones off the East Coast that require mariners to slow down to 10 knots (19 kilometers per hour). They would also require more vessels to comply with the rules by expanding the size classes that must slow down. The rules also state that NOAA would create a framework to implement mandatory speed restrictions when whales are known to be present outside the seasonal slow zones.

The whales were once numerous off the East Coast, but their populations plummeted due to commercial whaling generations ago. Although they’ve been protected under the Endangered Species Act for decades, they’ve been slow to recover.

More than 50 of the whales were struck by ships between spring 1999 and spring 2018, NOAA records state. Scientists have said in recent years that warming ocean temperatures are causing the whales to stray out of protected areas and into shipping lanes in search of food.

Members of New England’s lobster fishing industry have made the case that too many rules designed to save the whales focus on fishing and not on vessel strikes. Some characterized the new vessel speed rules as overdue.

Fishermen are unfairly being held accountable for whale deaths that occur due to vessel strikes, said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, which is the largest fishing industry association on the East Coast.

Read the full article at ABC

Unexploded bomb discovery flags growing challenge for offshore wind

July 27, 2022 — The first large offshore wind farms in the United States are unearthing unexploded munitions from World War II, representing a potentially growing challenge for both developers and U.S. policymakers as the emerging industry anchors off America’s coasts.

While surveying the seafloor in the waters of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay in recent weeks, the Danish firm Ørsted found 11 unexploded weapons, prompting a warning to mariners by the Coast Guard.

“They range from 6-inch artillery shells to a 250-pound bomb,” said Ryan Ferguson, a spokesperson for Ørsted.

Reported to federal agencies like the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and NOAA, as well as the U.S. military branches that operate offshore, the discoveries will add to an existing map of unexploded munitions up and down the Atlantic seaboard.

Known sites range from nearby hotbeds like Massachusetts’ Nomans Land island — once used by the Navy for target practice — to dumping grounds where the United States disposed of its post-war mountains of munitions after World War II. But other uncharted sites may exist, where sea and sand have moved historic hazards or unethical shippers dumped them outside established locations.

The Department of Defense in general has advised a leave-in-place policy, noting that objects have often become part of the marine ecosystem and that removal can cause harm.

Read the full article at E&E News

NEW JERSEY: Fishermen fear Hudson Canyon sanctuary will mean more restrictions: ‘Why do we need this?’

July 25, 2022 — Of great concern to the fishermen that showed up to a public scoping meeting is a guarantee that no extra regulations would be placed on their industry if the Hudson Canyon was designated a National Marine Sanctuary.

They didn’t walk away with one after the meeting with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s sanctuary’s staff at Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute on Thursday. NOAA, however, was not there to make promises or make any management decisions. At this point it’s just looking for public comments, the first part of a multi-year designation process.

NOAA’s sanctuary staff will use the public comments then to put together a management plan for the Hudson Canyon, such as the boundaries for the sanctuary, its permitted uses and protections. If it gets to the point of a sanctuary, an advisory committee would be created where fishermen would have a seat at the table, the staff said.

The canyon is a prolific fishing ground that starts about 90 miles offshore from Manasquan Inlet and is in the crosshairs of a public debate over the sanctuary designation, which would give NOAA more leverage managing the resources of the largest submarine canyon off the Atlantic Coast.

The canyon, which draws warm-water eddies that spin off from the Gulf Stream, is an ecological wonder, supporting large schools of tuna and squids; it’s a foraging ground for whales and porpoises and home to many bottom fish and curious sea creatures such as anemones, crabs, octopi, deep water corals and is dotted with shipwrecks, some dating to the 19th century.

Several federal and international regulatory bodies and acts already manage the fish species that traverse the canyon or reside there, including the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or ICCAT.

Officials from Jenkinson’s Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach attended the meeting and put their support for the sanctuary designation on the public record.

 

Unusual Mortality Event Declared for Seals in Maine

July 20, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA has declared an Unusual Mortality Event for elevated Maine harbor and gray seal strandings from June 1, 2022 to present.

Beginning in June 2022, Marine Mammals of Maine (MMoME)—a NOAA Fisheries authorized marine mammal stranding network partner—has responded to an elevated number of stranded seals. Most of the seals were found dead. On July 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed that samples from four stranded seals in Maine have tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1.  HPAI is a “zoonotic disease” that has the potential to spread between animals and people (and their pets).

Live seals on the beach have symptoms including lethargy, coughing, discharge from the eyes and nose, seizures, and death. Preliminary testing of samples has found some harbor and gray seals positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, which is a zoonotic disease that has the potential to spread between animals and people, and their pets. There is an ongoing HPAI H5N1 event North America that was first detected in early winter 2021. The first detections in Maine waterfowl were in February 2022. HPAI H5N1 has now been confirmed in 41 U.S. states and 11 Canada provinces, in commercial poultry, backyard flocks, nearly 90 species of wild birds, eight species of scavenging mammals, and now seals.

According to the CDC, the health risk posed to the general public is low however, precautions are recommended for people and their pets. We continue to ask the public not to touch ill, stranded or floating dead seals, to keep pets far away from seals, and to call their local stranding network organization to report live or dead stranded seals. The most important action someone can take is to immediately report strandings to the Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Networks rather than take matters into their own hands.

To date, the seal strandings have been focused along the southern and central coast of Maine from Biddeford to Boothbay (including Cumberland, Lincoln, Knox, Sagadahoc and York Counties). There have been a total of 150 seals reported in the event as of July 18, 2022. Harbor and gray seals in the U.S. are not listed as “endangered” or “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act or as “depleted” under the MMPA.

NOAA Fisheries is working with our local, state, tribal, federal and international partners as appropriate in the investigation of HPAI in seals. We will update our website regularly with information as it becomes available. You can follow this event through updates on this page.

Biden Administration announces funding targeting salmon recovery and restoration in the West

July 15, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries announced funding to boost the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) program and target salmon recovery efforts across the West Coast and Alaska. NOAA recommends $95 million in funding, including $34 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, for 19 new and continuing salmon recovery activities.

Programs and projects recommended for funding will benefit three NOAA Fisheries Species in the Spotlight: Central California Coast coho salmon, Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon and Southern resident killer whales. In addition, programs and projects recommended for funding will aid in the recovery of 28 Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon and steelhead species as well as non-listed ESA salmon and steelhead that are necessary for native subsistence or tribal treaty fishing rights. 

“This funding, including critical investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will enable NOAA Fisheries to deliver measurable, lasting benefits to both the environment and local economies on a scale like never before,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Working with states and tribes to restore these iconic species illustrates the Administration’s commitment to supporting collaborative conservation and building a Climate-Ready Nation.”

PCSRF funds will target salmon habitat protection and restoration, enhancing tribal treaty and trust resources, critical salmon research and monitoring and will complement state and tribal programs for salmon recovery. NOAA is recommending $61 million in annual appropriation funding and $34 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to supplement state and tribal salmon recovery programs and projects. Of the 19 applicants recommended to receive funding, 14 are individual tribal and tribal commission/consortia proposals and of those, two have not previously received PCSRF funds.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for NOAA to fund tribal applicants with $17 million recommended in awards to Columbia River and Pacific Coast tribes,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries and acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere at NOAA. “The enhanced funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help restore vital habitat for salmon and steelhead, adding significantly to the 1.2 million acres protected and conserved in the Pacific Northwest since 2000.”

Highlighted projects and programs recommended for funding include but are not limited to: 

  • Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association: Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Research and Restoration Program
  • Coeur d’Alene Tribe: Phase 2 Feasibility Studies for Salmon Reintroduction: Evaluation of Downstream Movement and Survival of Juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Upper Columbia Basin
  • Suquamish Tribe: Rose Point Embayment Restoration
  • Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR): Mill Creek Flow Restoration
  • Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI): Waite Ranch Tidal Wetland Restoration 
  • Karuk Tribe: Upper Red Cap Creek Floodplain Restoration Project
  • Tolowa Dee Ni’ Nation” Rowdy and Dominie Creek Fish Passage Improvement Project

NOAA funding enables some projects to bring years of planning to execution by transitioning from design to construction, while other projects use NOAA funds to design projects that will result in multiple community and economic benefits.

NOAA’s PCSRF program has provided assistance to partners across the West Coast and Alaska for over 20 years. The program has a long history of successful habitat restoration projects that support threatened or endangered salmon and steelhead populations and help maintain populations necessary for exercising tribal treaty fishing rights and native subsistence fishing. 

While application approvals and fund obligations are not yet final, each of these applications is being “recommended” for funding. This is not an authorization to start projects or guarantee of funding and final decisions will be made no later than October 1, 2022. Explore how fiscal year 2021 PCSRF efforts are benefiting communities through an interactive story map.

Council Discusses Climate Change, Research Priorities, EBFM, Sturgeon, Right Whales, and Equity & Environmental Justice

July 14, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council met June 28-30, 2022 and received numerous updates over the course of its three-day hybrid meeting in Portland, Maine. Here are a few of the highlights.

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Council received a presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center on the Draft Northeast Climate Regional Action Plan, which is out for public comment through July 29, 2022. Version 1 of the plan was in place from 2016 to 2021. The current draft – Version 2 – will be used by NOAA Fisheries to implement the agency’s Climate Science Strategy in 2022-2024. The document contains information on warming ocean temperatures (see graphic at right) and much more. The Council received input from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) on the draft action plan and will be submitting its own written comments in advance of the deadline.

The Council also received a progress report on the East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning initiative. The overarching questions are:

• How might climate change affect stock availability and distribution, as well as other aspects of East Coast marine fisheries, over the next 20 years; and

• What does this mean for effective future governance and management across multiple jurisdictions? What tools are needed to provide flexible and robust management strategies to address uncertainty in an era of climate change?

The Core Team working on this initiative hosted a June 21-23, 2022 Scenario Creation Workshop where participants developed scenarios or stories describing eight alternative futures under climate change. Next, the Core Team will review and edit inputs from the workshop to create a draft set of scenarios for further discussion and feedback during three scenario deepening webinars in mid-August. These webinars will be open to the public. The Council will have an in-depth discussion of the scenarios during its September 27-29, 2022 meeting and provide feedback to the Core Team on next steps.

Read the full release here

On the horizon: National survey in support of a strong domestic seafood economy

July 13, 2022 — American seafood harvesters play a vital role in supplying healthy, high-quality food to people across the United States and around the world. But they also face serious challenges caused by market disruptions, competing ocean uses, environmental change, and fishing regulations.

Selling seafood directly to consumers, or direct seafood marketing, has become an increasingly common way for harvesters to sell their catch. A forthcoming national survey aims to strengthen the domestic seafood economy by understanding direct marketing practices of American seafood harvesters.

Surveys of direct marketing practices have been beneficial to the agricultural sector. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) surveys American farmers engaging in direct marketing of agricultural products through the Local Food Marketing Practices Survey (LFMPS). Data from these surveys helped the USDA develop grant programs and technical assistance to support small- and mid-sized farming operations.

Read the full story at National Fisherman