Saving Seafood

WPRFMC Scientists Discuss Next Generation Data Collection, New Strategy to Advocate for Fisheries

March 21, 2022 — Fisheries data collection in remote areas, particularly islands spread hundreds of miles apart, is challenging. Scientists from Hawaii and those informing the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council are looking for answers.

The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Director Michael Seki presented the NOAA Next Generation Data Acquisition Plan (NG-DAP) to the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee this week. The Plan will guide data acquisition for the next 10 to 15 years. The fisheries and technologies to gather data have evolved and regional data needs have changed since the last plan was released in 1998, the Council said. The NG-DAP will use innovative technologies, modern fishery information collection systems, artificial and machine learning and advanced modeling tools to account for climate change, emerging ocean uses and ecosystem-based fisheries management.

While the NG-DAP is a nationwide effort, the plan will point out regional needs and highlight opportunities for potential partners and collaborators. NOAA plans to hold public workshops later this spring to gather input from stakeholders. The SSC noted that meetings should include fishing communities in the territories.

The Western Pacific Region is still challenged by data limitations due to little federal investment in collecting basic fishery-dependent data and life history information for the benefit of local underserved communities. The Council and SSC have, over the years, continuously identified research needs to the National Marine Fisheries Service, focusing on island and pelagic fisheries, ecosystems, protected species and human communities in order to sustainably manage fisheries in the region.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Golden Presses Feds for More Maine Lobstermen Representation on Regulation Advisory Panel

March 21, 2022 — The following was released by The Office of Jared Golden:

Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) called on the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) today to expand representation of lobstermen on its Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (ALWTRT) by including members of the Maine Lobstering Union Local 207 (MLU).

The ALWTRT is a council of stakeholders charged with making recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for addressing rising North Atlantic right whale (NARW) mortalities, or takes. However, only four of the members of the 60-person ALWTRT are Maine lobstermen, the workforce whose livelihoods would be most impacted by the group’s recommendations.

“As the only industry organization comprised exclusively of lobstermen with active commercial lobster and crab fishing licenses, the MLU would bring an essential perspective to the ALWTRT,” said Golden. “For nearly a decade, the MLU has engaged with local, state and federal officials as well as the scientific community on various projects to improve our understanding of the distribution of right whales and their potential interactions with certain gear types and fishing effort. They are currently working on new data collection models utilizing fishermen and their fishing gear to obtain vital information about right whale habitat in the Gulf of Maine. This data, if brought to bear, would prove invaluable to the ALWTRT as they continue to assess the underlying causes of right whale serious injury and mortality.”

“The MLU greatly appreciates Congressman Golden’s support in seeking additional Maine seats on the ALWTRT for Local 207,” said MLU Secretary Virginia Olsen. “These are very uncertain times for Maine lobstermen and securing union seats to bring new science forward is vital in protecting our heritage fishery. As new technologies come available, we need to work with fishermen who are on the water day in and day out to be a part of this process, not only conceptually but in data collection too.”

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), take reduction teams like ALWTRT must be inclusive of “all commercial and recreational fisheries groups and gear types which incidentally take the species or stock.” The MMPA also authorizes NMFS to appoint additional members to a take reduction team if a particular constituency is not adequately represented.

“In order to ensure that the ALWTRT is indeed representative of all commercial fisheries groups, I strongly urge you to appoint representatives from the MLU,” Golden continued. “Their unique makeup as an entirely fishermen-member enterprise that participates in every aspect of the industry make them an indispensable industry participant whose voice deserves to have a seat at the table.”

Maine lobstermen have a history of environmental stewardship and continued commitment to protecting the North Atlantic right whale. Beginning in 1997, Maine lobstermen have implemented costly and labor-intensive gear modifications to protect the NARW. Since then, NARW population growth has doubled. Recent right whale mortalities have been definitively linked to ship strikes and entanglements in Canadian waters with no entanglements affirmatively linked to Maine’s lobster fishery since 2004.

You can read a copy of the letter here.

 

MAINE: $17 million for lobster industry included in bill

March 17, 2022 — A sum of $17,065,000 to support Maine’s lobster industry was included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced March 11. Collins is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee. Pingree is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the Interior and Environment Subcommittee.

The omnibus funding package passed the House and the Senate before heading to the President’s desk.

“NOAA’s own data show that the Maine fishery has never been linked to a right whale death, and the record clearly demonstrates that ship strikes and Canadian fishing activities are major contributors to right whale mortalities,” said Sens. Collins and King and Reps. Pingree and Golden in a joint statement. “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it. That’s why it is extremely frustrating that they have been targeted by the deeply flawed and unfair Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Feds say pesticide won’t destroy species

March 9, 2022 — The Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that the pesticide malathion does not jeopardize threatened and endangered species or their habitat.

In a much-awaited study that’s drawing sharp criticism from environmentalists, the federal agency backed off its most recent draft conclusion that the registration of malathion for use was likely to threaten 78 species and destroy or adversely modify 23 critical habitats (Greenwire, April 21, 2021).

“The Biden administration has squandered a historic opportunity to rein in the dangerous use of one of the world’s worst neurotoxic pesticides,” Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement today.

Burd noted that NOAA Fisheries recently released its own updated biological opinion that determined malathion and two other organophosphate pesticides jeopardize endangered U.S. salmon, sturgeon and steelhead species, as well as Puget Sound orcas.

Read the full story at E&E News

Feds institute ’emergency’ lobster closure to protect right whales

March 3, 2022 — The federal government will close an additional 200 square miles off the coast of Massachusetts to lobster and Jonah crab fishing in April to protect endangered right whales.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is closing the area on an “emergency” basis, without taking public comment — a move that frustrates lobstermen already contending with extensive fishing restrictions.

Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni said she recognized that the “wedge” of federal water is particularly dangerous for right whales.

“If there’s an entanglement of serious injury or mortality attributed to the American lobster fishery, it’s not going to be good for anyone, anywhere,” she said.

But Casoni said she was worried by NOAA closing the waters through an emergency order.

Read the full story at WBUR

Tracking Fish in the Chesapeake Bay Helps Researchers and Resource Managers

March 2, 2022 — Equipment recently deployed in the Chesapeake Bay is already giving scientists and resource managers insight into fish behavior. Arrays of acoustic telemetry receivers let researchers know when fish that have been tagged swim near the receivers. The data is helping researchers increase knowledge about fish, their migrations, and how they use different habitat areas in the Chesapeake Bay.

Acoustic Receivers Around the Bay

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) is working with partners to help researchers get data from five groups of receivers. Three arrays form gates across strategic points in northern, middle, and southern bay.

Northern Array 

The northern array includes four receivers across the Bay near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, close to Annapolis. This array, funded by NCBO, is operated in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Southern Array 

This array is composed of 12 receivers near Virginia Beach. It is also funded by NCBO and is operated in partnership with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Mid-Bay Array

This array of six receivers is managed by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. It’s located near the mouth of the Patuxent River, on Maryland’s Western Shore.

NOAA Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System

All five buoys currently deployed in the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System are outfitted with receivers.

Choptank River

We have placed three receivers in the Choptank River near oyster restoration projects. These receivers are on loan from NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

Court: Feds can require tracking of charter fishing boats

March 1, 2022 — A federal judge on Monday rejected a lawsuit filed by Gulf of Mexico charter fishing boat operators opposed to federal regulations that include a requirement that they affix tracking equipment to their vessels.

U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan ruled Monday in favor of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The devices will help make sure logbooks are correct and that data on catches are accurately reported, the agency said in court records.

Morgan rejected the boat operators’ arguments that permanent tracking amounts to a violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Read the full story at AP News

NOAA Fisheries Announces New Name for Its International Office

March 1, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries’ Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection is now the Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce. It remains under the leadership of Director Alexa Cole. This new name integrates the full scope of office functions and more thoroughly reflects the types of work the office carries out. The name also more accurately and comprehensively reflects the important work of the Seafood Inspection Program in support of trade and commerce.

The office’s responsibilities and efforts have expanded and evolved over the years. The proposed changes address the increasing demands related to:

  • Trade and commerce policy and analysis
  • Implementation of new and expanding statutory mandates
  • Seafood trade
  • Information technology modernization

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

After 2019 Mississippi River flood, Louisiana fishers might soon see disaster relief

February 22, 2022 — Louisiana fishers might soon see federal disaster relief more than two years after the unprecedented flooding of 2019 — now considered the longest flood on record — devastated much of the commercial industry.

For more than four months, freshwater was diverted through the Bonnet Carre Spillway to relieve pressure on the levees along the Mississippi River. In that time, the influx of river water killed millions of pounds of oysters and disrupted the balance required for species like shrimp, crab or menhaden to thrive. Fertilizers in the water created pockets of hypoxia, or “dead zones,” and harmful algal blooms.

Distribution of $58 million through several state grant programs could begin as early as June, should the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approve the spending plan drafted by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Relief for a flood that cost fishers at least $101 million in lost revenue has been slow, delayed after several more disasters struck the industry, including the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Read the full story at WWNO

‘The future in our hands’: Scientists call for urgent action to curb sea level rise in Hawaii

February 17, 2022 –America’s coasts will be dealing with about a foot of sea level rise on average by the year 2050, a new federal study shows.

The biggest impacts are forecast for the East Coast, where sea level rise estimates are between 14 and 18 inches. Hawaii, meanwhile, is projected to see between 6 and 8 inches in three decades.

NOAA, which is one of seven agencies responsible for the report, says that much sea level rise will cause tide and storm surge heights to increase and reach further inland.

By the year 2050, “moderate” flooding ― the kind that causes damage ― is expected to occur on average more than 10 times as often as it does today.

“The impacts will will depend upon what we do to mitigate against those,” said William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer. “With less heating under less emissions, the risk of higher sea level rise of mountains is much less. The future is in our hands, and that future does not need to be one of doom and gloom.”

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now