Saving Seafood

More ships must slow to protect right whales, NOAA says

February 5, 2021 — A detailed analysis shows that speed limits for ships have reduced risk for collisions with endangered right whales, but there are significant gaps in compliance – particularly off U.S. Southeast ports, where burgeoning cargo traffic is on a long-term upswing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported.

Drafted in June and released on 21 January, the NOAA review used automatic identification system (AIS) data to track total vessel transits through the two types of speed limit zones: Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs), frequented by whales at known times of year where ships over 65 feet in length are mandated to make way at 10 knots or less; and dynamic management areas (DMAs), where NOAA issues temporary advisories to mariners to voluntarily observe the 10-knot limit when whales have been reported.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

HAWAII: Two of three dead monk seals on Kauai likely died from drowning in lay nets

February 4, 2021 — Post-mortem exams have revealed that two of the three Hawaiian monk seals that were found dead on Kauai’s north shore last year likely drowned in lay nets, wildlife officials said today.

Three seals were found dead separately — in September, November and December — all in the Anahola area of Kauai.

The unusual succession of deaths prompted an investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, which was offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the issuance of a civil penalty or criminal conviction in one or both of these endangered Hawaiian monk seals.

The first seal, a juvenile male identified as RL52, was found dead around Sept. 10 after having just been spotted a week earlier nearby in good condition. The second seal, an untagged, juvenile female, was found dead around Nov. 18.

NOAA now believes the first two seals found in September and November likely died after becoming entangled in lay gill nets, a news release from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said, based on recent lab test results and information gathered by law enforcement officials.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Star Advertiser

They should be heading north, but whale and her calf are going south. Scientists worried

February 2, 2021 — The coasts off Northeast Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are the only known spots in the ocean where North Atlantic right whales give birth to their calves. After birth, the mother and calf usually swim north to New England.

But a right whale that recently gave birth to a calf is heading in the wrong direction, according to federal marine scientists.

The 12-year-old adult and her baby were first seen off Amelia Island near Jacksonville on Jan. 21. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are concerned because the pair was next spotted last Wednesday, Jan. 27, much farther south near the Lake Worth Inlet just north of West Palm Beach in South Florida.

“In this case, the pair is heading south, into areas they normally don’t go, making it important for people to be on the lookout for them,” said Allison Garret, spokeswoman with NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at The Bradenton Herald

Oceana takes government to court again over anchovy limits

February 2, 2021 — Oceana continues to challenge the U.S. government over federal catch limits on anchovy the organization claims ignore scientific advice.

In a statement on Monday, 1 February, the environmental conservation group announced it has filed two legal actions to support what it calls “science-based management” of the northern anchovy stock. The organization has taken NOAA Fisheries to court over anchovy catch limits multiple times over the past few years, and alleged in 2019 that it had failed to protect the anchovy stock in Northern California.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

As Warming Oceans Bring Tough Times to California Crab Fishers, Scientists Say Diversifying is Key to Survival

February 1, 2021 — California’s Dungeness crab fishermen have had a rough year. Poor meat quality, endangered whales migrating too close to shore and price disputes with wholesalers kept crab pots on boats for nearly two months. The delays left families without their cherished holiday centerpiece and fisherman without the funds that normally pay their bills the rest of the year.

But as rising ocean temperatures threaten to make fishery closures routine, it will be even harder to count on crab for holiday meals—or livelihoods. Over the past decade, warming sea waters have produced harmful algal blooms that contaminate crab meat with domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can cause seizures, memory loss and other serious symptoms and has been blamed for poisoning and stranding scores of sea lions in California every year. State officials delayed three out of the last six crab seasons to protect public health after an unprecedented multiyear marine heat wave, dubbed “the blob,” hit the north Pacific Ocean in 2013.

The blob precipitated a series of extraordinary events: it caused a massive harmful algal bloom that led to record-breaking domoic acid concentrations, which in turn caused first-of-its-kind closures of the West Coast’s most valuable fishery, from southern California to Washington state. But in doing so, it also set up a natural experiment that researchers harnessed to reveal strategies that could help food-producing communities recover from climate-driven disturbances.

Read the full story at Inside Climate News

New whale species discovered in the Gulf of Mexico — and it’s endangered

February 1, 2021 — A new species of baleen whale has been identified in the Gulf of Mexico.

Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a paper earlier this month in Marine Mammal Science explaining that a whale previously thought to be a subspecies of the Bryde’s whale is actually a new species entirely.

Bryde’s whales live in the warm waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and are closely related to the blue and humpback whale.

Patricia Rosel, a research geneticist with NOAA Fisheries who led the study, said genetic data gathered from the newly discovered species in the early 2000s hinted at a divergent evolutionary lineage, but more concrete evidence came after researchers were able to examine the skull of the species that washed up on a Florida beach in 2019.

Read the full story at The Hill

NOAA Fisheries to Hold Public Hearings on Proposed Critical Habitat for Ringed and Bearded Seals

February 1, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Public comments accepted through March 9, 2021

NOAA Fisheries will hold three public hearings on proposed rules to designate critical habitat in U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population segment of bearded seals under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA Fisheries opened a 60-day public comment period on the proposed rules when they were published in the Federal Register on January 8, 2021. The proposed critical habitat in the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas provides sea ice conditions that are essential for ringed and bearded seal pupping, nursing, basking, and molting, as well as primary prey resources to support these seals. For bearded seals, the proposed critical habitat also provides acoustic conditions that allow for effective communication for breeding purposes.

Read more.

New Slow Zone South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales

February 1, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction) to protect right whales.

On January 31, 2021, a New England Aquarium aerial survey team detected the presence of right whales 15nm south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. The South of Nantucket, Massachusetts Slow Zone is in effect through February 15, 2021. 

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

Slow Zone Coordinates:

41 23 N
40 40 N
069 39 W
070 35 W

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

Read the full release here

Partners Provide Critical Support in Unprecedented Year for Alaska Research and Fisheries Management

January 29, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Each year, NOAA Fisheries scientists compile information from a variety of sources to produce and update annual indicators of ecosystem status in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands. Data and information are provided by federal, state, academic, non-government organizations, private companies, and local community partners across Alaska. Collected data complement NOAA Fisheries’ own research.

However, in 2020 several key NOAA research surveys were cancelled. Collaboration, increased engagement by community and research partners, and creative thinking on the part of some NOAA scientists helped fill critical information gaps. As a result, the annual Ecosystem Status Reports still could be produced.

“Around 143 individuals contributed to the three Ecosystem Status Reports we produced this year,” said Elizabeth Sidden, editor of the Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem Status Report and a scientist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “The success of this continuing effort to provide valuable ecosystem context to better understand factors contributing to fish stock fluctuations hinges on these partnerships. We couldn’t do this without the help of fellow researchers and local communities along with our staff contributions.”

One example of the kind of information provided by partners this year in all regions is seabird data. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. FWS) was unable to conduct field research due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Coastal community members, tribal governments, and state and university partners provided information on seabird dynamics for the Bering Sea region. U.S. FWS biologists then synthesized that data. In the Gulf of Alaska, they provided opportunistic observations that were incorporated into the Ecosystem Status Report along with other information from non-profits, The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) and U.S. Geological Survey.  Seabird biology and ecology are bellwethers of environmental change, which is one of the reasons they are important ecosystem indicators.

NOAA scientists also identified other sources of information to develop ecosystem indicators in 2020.  For instance, they used satellite data to measure sea surface temperatures in the Bering Sea since they weren’t able to collect these data during annual research surveys. They also were able to process and analyze data collected from previous years of surveys.

Read the full release here

Commercial Closure in Federal Waters for Atlantic Migratory Group Spanish Mackerel Southern Zone on February 3, 2021

January 29, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

  • The commercial harvest of Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the Atlantic southern zone will close at 6:00 a.m., local time, on February 3, 2021, and will open on March 1, 2021, for the March 2021 through February 2022 fishing season. The Atlantic southern zone includes federal waters off the states of South Carolina, Georgia, and the east coast of Florida.
  • During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in or from the Atlantic southern zone is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits while the recreational sector is open.
  • NOAA Fisheries was unable to implement any trip limit reductions prior to the commercial quota being harvested.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • The March 2020 through February 2021 commercial quota for the Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel southern zone is 2,667,330 pounds.
  • Information provided to the Southeast Regional Office indicate that commercial landings for Spanish mackerel in the Atlantic southern zone are projected to reach the commercial quota. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the quota from being exceeded.

AFTER THE CLOSURE:

  • The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 6:00 a.m., local time, February 3, 2021, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • During the closure, a person on board a vessel that has been issued a valid Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for coastal migratory pelagic fish may continue to retain, but not sell or purchase, Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the Atlantic southern zone under the recreational bag and possession limits, as long as the recreational sector is open.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations.  Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=4a1c3805e95097423c9a607a31c4c9f8&rgn=div5&view=text&node=50:12.0.1.1.2&idno=50#sp50.12.622.q.