Saving Seafood

A Sustainable Seafood Sampler from Coast to Coast

May 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In the United States, we love our seafood. Thankfully, due to strong science and a dynamic management process, our fisheries are among the largest and most sustainable in the world. So no matter what coast you’re on, you can be sure that the U.S. seafood you find there is a smart choice. And just like the culture of each region has its own flavor, so does its seafood! Read on to discover what local favorites you might find around the country.

Northeast/Mid Atlantic

Eastern Oysters

Farmed oysters are one of the most popular aquaculture species in the world and they’re an excellent choice for your next seafood dish. Oysters filter the water where they live, which removes excess nutrients and improves water quality. Growing oysters also requires no feed since they eat phytoplankton floating in the water. Unlike wild oysters, farmed oysters are available year round. They are low in saturated fat and excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids and iron.

Oyster flavor profiles can range from sweet to briny. You can eat them raw on the half shell or cook them in a variety of different recipes. They’re delicious whether you grill, fry, broil, or bake them.

> BBQ bourbon chipotle butter grilled oysters

> Asian fried oysters

Acadian Redfish

Acadian redfish, also called ocean perch, are the only fish in the rockfish/ocean perch family in the Atlantic. The fish is called redfish in New England and Canada—not to be confused with redfish from the Gulf of Mexico (which is a drum).

Acadian redfish are harvested year-round but harvests are usually largest during spring and summer in the Gulf of Maine. Their taste profile is mild and slightly sweet and their meat is medium firm, moist, and flaky.

> Acadian redfish with chimichurri

> Spicy redfish tacos

Read the full release here

Community Steps Up to Continue Yukon River Salmon Research During Pandemic

May 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On the Yukon River, Chinook salmon are woven into the fabric of life and culture. They are a resource that indigenous people have harvested for more than 1,000 years. But over the last 20 years or more, the Chinook populations have declined dramatically. Fewer Chinook are returning to the river each year, and those that do are smaller and younger than they have been in the past. This has created hardship for the people who rely on this resource. It is nurturing a strong desire to understand and contribute to solutions to address the dwindling returns.

Ragnar Alstrom, Executive Director of Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association, explains it this way: “We want to be a part of figuring out why our Chinook aren’t returning. Instead of standing by and waiting for someone else to figure it out, we want to be engaged in the science.”

So began a special partnership between NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and local fishermen from the villages of Emmonak and Alakanuk. Starting in 2014, the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association (YDFDA) worked with scientists to identify nine permanent sampling stations on the three main lower Yukon distributaries. Each summer, local fishermen and NOAA Fisheries biologists work together. They set and retrieve salmon sampling nets, identify and count the catch, and measure water temperature and depth. They send salmon samples to the NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Laboratories where their diet and body condition are analyzed.

Read the full release here

Marine scientists call on G7 countries to prioritize ocean protections

May 20, 2021 — An international group of marine scientists have called on G7 countries to prioritize planning ocean protections at the next summit, to take place in Cornwall, England, next month.

The scientists’ statement, dubbed “Seven Asks for the G7,” includes a list of seven actionable steps that could be taken to protect the oceans. Those steps, according to the letter, are central to addressing climate change and supporting “human wellbeing.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New Bedford is America’s most lucrative fishing port for 20th straight year

May 20, 2021 — The National Marine Fisheries Service — better known as NOAA Fisheries — released its annual report on the health of the nation’s fishing industry on Thursday, and once again the Port of New Bedford took top honors as the nation’s highest-grossing commercial fishing port.

New Bedford ranked No. 1 for the value of seafood landed at its port for the 20th consecutive year in 2019, with $451 million worth of fish hauled in by its boats. That was up by $20 million compared with the year before, and far outpaced the second-ranked Port of Naknek, Alaska, which had $289 million worth of landings.

NOAA officials said New Bedford’s dominance remains driven by sea scallops, which account for 84% of the value of all landings there.

The city fell from the top spot for nine years during the 1990s, which NOAA attributed at the time to factors including “the 1994 collapse of the New England groundfish fishery and declining numbers of sea scallops.” But New Bedford retook its crown in 2000 and hasn’t given it up since.

New Bedford’s catch leads the nation in value despite placing far from the top when it comes to total volume, ranking only 14th, at 116 million pounds. The top port by that metric has been Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for 23 years. Dutch Harbor is 763 million pounds a year of landings, with pollock the biggest category.

Read the full story at WPRI

Pogie ships would be forced farther from Louisiana coastline under bill OK’d by House

May 20, 2021 — After decades under lax regulation, the Louisiana House voted 67-28 Wednesday to require the state’s largest commercial fishery to cast its nets farther from the state’s fragile coastline.

Louisiana waters supplied 40% of the menhaden caught in 2019 across the United States, a catch worth tens of millions of dollars, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data. In a given year, the industry’s 180-foot-long vessels and 1,500-foot-long nets ensnare 700 million to 1 billion pounds of the tiny, dart-like silver fish off the state’s shores.

But if House Bill 535 becomes law, Louisiana would forbid menhaden trawling within a half mile of shore, to reduce coastal erosion and limit damage to shallow nurseries of popular game fish species such as redfish and speckled trout. The bill now goes to the Senate. (Here’s how the House voted.)

Menhaden, also known as pogies or shad, are a keystone species in marine ecosystems, providing food for a wide range of larger fish and birds. When caught commercially, the oil-rich fish is ground up into animal feed, health supplements and fertilizers.

In negotiating the latest bill’s text, menhaden industry representatives stood firmly behind a quarter-mile exclusion zone, stating reports from recreational anglers were hyperbolic. Omega Proteins owns two of the three menhaden reduction plants on the Gulf Coast; Daybrook Fisheries owns the other. Louisiana hosts one in Abbeville and one in Empire.

Omega Proteins’ public affairs manager, Ben Landry, said a half-mile exclusion could cut into the industry’s bottom line as almost one fifth of menhaden harvest occurs within a half mile of the coast. That means some could lose jobs.

“I’m not saying some of that won’t be made up outside of that half mile,” Landry said. “But I can’t promise you that. Who’s family around here could face a 20% cut and then be told, ‘Oh, that’s not going to impact you.'”

Read the full story at NOLA.com

Meet Lisa Hiruki-Raring: Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center

May 19, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What is your key responsibility?  

I translate the research that our scientists do into educational activities or resources. I develop and foster partnerships between the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and other agencies and organizations. I believe education helps to strengthen relationships between communities and our scientists. It is a way to give back to the communities where we do research by sharing and exchanging information with students, families, and community members. We focus on all levels of education, from K-12 to undergraduate internships to graduate fellowship opportunities. We also do informal education opportunities to reach the general public.

What is your educational background?

I grew up and went to school  in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Computing Science, Scientific Applications, from the University of Alberta. I had initially wanted to study biology or zoology, but somehow got the idea that there weren’t many jobs in biology. So I studied computers instead, with a minor in biology/zoology. As an undergraduate, I volunteered at an international mammalogy conference held at my university. At the conference I met Dr. Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist. I got the opportunity to work in his lab as a volunteer and later as a student technician.

He connected me with the Hawaiian monk seal research program at the NOAA Fisheries lab in Honolulu. That inspired me to pursue a Master’s degree in zoology, studying injuries in Hawaiian monk seals. I worked for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu for a few years, studying population dynamics of Hawaiian monk seals. Then I moved to Seattle to work in the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Marine Mammal Laboratory. First I worked on Antarctic fur seals, and later on harbor seals and ice-associated seals in Alaska. Finally, I moved into education and outreach coordination.

Read the full release here

Twelve Projects Selected for Saltonstall-Kennedy Program Funding in the Greater Atlantic Region

May 19, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For over 40 years, NOAA Fisheries has awarded grant funds under the Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) program to organizations nationwide working to address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries, and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable.  Of the 43 projects selected nationally for 2021 funding, 12 projects were from the Greater Atlantic Region, requesting approximately $2.84 million in federal funding.

Awardees

  • University of Maryland Baltimore County
  • Virginia Institute of Marine Science
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
  • Gulf of Maine Research Institute
  • Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
  • American Littoral Society
  • University of Maine

Read more in our web story or review the list of all proposals recommended for funding.

Read the full release here

The PNW is a leader on forage fish management — but it needs better data

May 18, 2021 — Endangered species like salmon and orca get lots of attention in Washington. We painstakingly track their numbers, and each new baby, individual death or a population crash has the potential to spur international reactions. But some species they rely on rarely achieve recognition.

These small, silvery creatures — herring, anchovies, euchalon and more — shuttle energy through the food web between primary producers, like microscopic plants and algae, and bigger aquatic predators.

“They’re small fish that most people don’t typically see but that really make the marine food web go round for larger organisms … that pay attention to where those things are and where they’re not,” says Dr. Jen Zamon, a research fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center who works on forage fish. “And if they’re moving around, that’s going to change the distribution of everything else that’s feeding upon them.”

“Pretty much anything in the water that has a mouth big enough to fit a forage fish in it eats forage fish,” says Phil Dionne, a research scientist with the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife who specializes in forage fish.

Read the full story at Crosscut

Fishing Year 2021 Management Measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

May 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces final management measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery for the 2021 fishing year (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022). The landings for fishing year 2021 are projected to be lower than 2020.

Framework 33:

  • Sets management measures for the scallop fishery for the 2021 fishing year, including the annual catch limits for the limited access and limited access general category (LAGC) fleets, as well as days-at-sea allocations and sea scallop access area trip allocations.
  • Implements specifications that would result in a reduction in projected landings compared to fishing year 2020 (40.0 million pounds for fishing year 2021 compared to 51.6 million pounds for fishing year 2020). This is due primarily to a decrease in harvestable biomass and a lack of significant recruitment in recent years.
  • Maintains the existing seasonal closure in Closed Area II (August 15 – November 30) to reduce bycatch of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder.
  • Closes the Closed Area II-East Closed Area to fishing to protect small scallops and reduce bycatch of flatfish.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletins (Limited Access and LAGC) posted on our website.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Travis Ford, Sustainable Fisheries, 978-281-9233

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

NOAA Fisheries Reminder: Update your Fish Online Account by June 1

May 17, 2021 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

To increase your online security, NOAA Fisheries’ GARFO is changing the way that vessel owners and operators login to Fish Online. By June 1, vessel owners must create a Fish Online user account and vessel operators will also need to create an account to report electronically using a GARFO Fish Online app and to view their previously submitted eVTRs.