Saving Seafood

Using eDNA to Monitor Alaskan Waters for Invasive European Green Crabs

December 1, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Natural resource managers in British Columbia discovered several adult male and female European green crabs on Haida Gwaii this past July. Alarm bells immediately went off for biologists in Alaska.

The archipelago of Haida Gwaii, off the coast of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, is very close to Alaska. The July discovery is the closest confirmed finding of the invasive crustacean since it was first detected in the San Francisco Bay area in 1989.

European green crabs were first introduced to North America in the 1800s, likely hitching a ride in the ballast water of merchant ships from Europe. Experts believe the invasive crab was transported to the West Coast in ballast water as well.

The green crab is considered one of the most invasive species in the marine environment. It has few predators, aggressively hunts and eats its prey, destroys seagrass, and outcompetes local species for food and habitat. It has been documented that European green crab devour juvenile king crab as well as juvenile salmon.

Read more.

MyFishCount Electronic Reporting Program Moves to Angler Action Foundation

December 1, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

MyFishCount, an electronic reporting pilot project for recreational anglers, is taking another step in its development by transitioning operations to the Angler Action Foundation in December 2020. The pilot project, now in its third year, allows recreational anglers in the South Atlantic region the opportunity to submit information about their fishing trips and catches through an electronic platform. The pilot project consists of a website and mobile app co-created by the Angler Action Foundation and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council through a grant from NOAA Fisheries.

“We’re excited about this transition and extend a warm welcome to recreational anglers using MyFishCount,” said Brett Fitzgerald, Executive Director of the Angler Action Foundation. “Working with anglers, fishery managers and scientists in the development of MyFishCount has been a rewarding experience. Other than a slight change in the logo, users of MyFishCount should not notice any changes in appearances or performance of the mobile app or website.” The Angler Action Foundation is dedicated to improving angler access, fisheries science and marine habitat through collaborative research, education and conservation programs. Formerly the Snook and Gamefish Foundation, the organization has been involved in the development of electronic reporting platforms, including iAngler, to help improve the quality of fisheries data and supplement existing monitoring efforts.

The launch of MyFishCount coincided with the opening of the recreational Red Snapper season in late fall of 2017. Since that time, the project has expanded to allow year-round reporting of multiple species, both saltwater and freshwater. With input from MyFishCount users, the mobile app became more user-friendly with the addition of requested enhancements including a tally feature and marine weather information. MyFishCount can also be used as a personal fishing log, recording details of each fishing trip.

“Under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s leadership, MyFishCount has been a huge step forward for recreational data collection,” said Kellie Ralston, Southeast Fisheries Policy Director for the American Sportfishing Association. “This advanced electronic reporting platform allows anglers to provide valuable catch data to help inform fisheries management decisions,” explained Ralston. “We look forward to continued advances as the program transitions from the Council to the Angler Action Foundation.”

Information provided through MyFishCount will continue to be housed and made available to fishery managers and researchers through the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP), a data warehouse involving both state and federal partners. Storage of MyFishCount data within ACCSP will help ensure data are available with other data sources used for fishery management purposes. “MyFishCount provides valuable insight into electronic reporting as the Council continues to explore options for improving recreational fisheries data,” said Mel Bell, Chair of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

“We are grateful to the Angler Action Foundation, NOAA Fisheries, Elemental Methods, ACCSP, Council staff, and others involved in the MyFishCount pilot project. We are most grateful for the dedicated users of MyFishCount and continue to encourage recreational fishermen to do their part in making their fish count by downloading and using the mobile app today.”

For additional information, visit myfishcount.com.

Extended: Slow Speed Zone Southeast of New York City to Protect Right Whales

November 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect Through December 15

NOAA Fisheries is extending a Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone), southeast of New York City.

This Slow Zone was first triggered on November 17, when the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute acoustic monitoring buoy detected right whales in the New York Bight, New York. The buoy detected right whales again on November 30.

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

Southeast of New York City Slow Zone is in effect through December 15.

40 41 N
40 01 N
073 03 W
073 55 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones and dynamic management areas currently in effect.

Read the full release here

Fishermen were right: Dogfish are eating cod

November 30, 2020 — When Chatham commercial fisherman Bruce Kaminski took Lt. Gov. Tim Murray and other state officials out fishing in August 2008, he hoped to prove the spiny dogfish were overrunning their fishing grounds and inhibiting the restoration of more valuable species such as cod.

That day, Kaminski and his crew caught 300 dogfish on 300 hooks in a scant 10 minutes. It was a sign that dogfish populations were rebounding from low numbers in the late 1990s. Cape fishermen were asking that their daily catch limit of dogfish be increased from 600 pounds per day to something closer to the 7,000 pounds per day they caught in the early ’90s.

Dogfish have since rebounded to relatively healthy levels, and fishermen are now allowed to catch 6,000 pounds per day, but they say the dogfish comeback happened at the expense of cod, which are still mired at all-time low population levels.

There are many reasons for the lack of success reviving the cod population — chronic overfishing, a rapidly warming ocean and insufficient habitat protection, to name a few. But fishermen told scientists for decades they think an imbalance in the ecosystem, brought on by a resurgent dogfish population, shares a good portion of the blame.

Fishermen say they have witnessed dogfish eating cod, but that’s been hard to quantify. From 1977 to 2017 only 14 cod were found in the stomachs of dogfish caught in NOAA’s annual bottom trawl survey that involves random sampling using a fishing net in waters from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Vessel Slow Speed Zone SW of Nantucket in Effect Through December 14

November 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is triggering voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA) southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

This DMA was triggered on November 29, 2020, when an aerial survey team from the New England Aquarium sighted right whales in the area.

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

South of Nantucket, MA DMA is in effect through December 14, 2020

40 01 N
40 22 N
070 07 W
070 59 W

Other Slow Speed Zones

South of Nantucket, MA DMA is in effect through November 30 (expires today)

40 59 N
40 23 N
069 05 W
069 52 W

Southeast of New York City Slow Zone is in effect through December 2

40 41 N
40 01 N
073 03 W
073 55 W

Southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey in effect through December 5

39 25 N
38 44 N
073 44 W
074 36 W

Read the full release here

NOAA Renews Temporary Rule For Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan

November 27, 2020 — Earlier this week NOAA Fisheries announced the renewal of a temporary rule to extend portions of the fishing year 2019 carryover provisions in the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan into fishing year 2020.

NOAA initially published an emergency action on June 1, 2020 at the request of the New England Fishery Management Council. At the time the June action allowed limited access general category individual fishing quota vessels to carryover all fishing year 2019 unharvested quota into fishing year 2020. The June action also allowed any access area carryover pounds and unharvested research set-aside compensation pounds from fishing year 2019 to be available for harvest through August 31, 2020.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NORTH CAROLINA: NMFS accepts comments on proposed gear restricting zones

November 27, 2020 — Carteret County residents and others have an opportunity to provide input to federal fisheries managers on potential restrictions to fishing gear.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service is accepting public comment on Regulatory Amendment 34 to the fishery management plan for the snapper-grouper fishery of the South Atlantic Region.  Comments on the proposed rule are due by Wednesday, Dec. 16. The proposed rule would create 30 special management zones around artificial reefs off North Carolina, including six off the coast of Carteret County, and four off of South Carolina. The the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources have requested these SMZs.

The proposed SMZs range in size from 0.041 to 1.01 square miles. There would be additional gear and harvest restrictions within the proposed zones.

The stated purpose of the framework amendment is to restrict use of fishing gear that could result in high exploitation rates to reduce adverse effects to federally managed snapper-grouper species at these sites. Harvest of snapper-grouper species would only be allowed with handline, rod and reel and spear in the SMZs. Therefore, the action would prohibit the use of bandit reel, powerhead, pot and longline gear at the sites.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

Additional Public Listening Session on December 3 for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas

November 25, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

December 3, 2020 from 12 pm to 2 pm ET

Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOA), which are called for in the May 2020 Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, are defined as geographic areas that have been evaluated for their potential for sustainable commercial aquaculture. Selected areas are expected to support multiple aquaculture farm sites of varying types including finfish, shellfish, seaweed, or some combination of these farm types.

We have added a fifth AOA listening session to grant stakeholders another opportunity to provide comment. To ensure that all stakeholders, including the recreational and commercial fishing industries, from whom we would like to hear more, have the opportunity to provide comments the additional public listening session will be held December 3, 2020 from 12:00-2:00 ET.

Through the current request for information, which is open until December 22, the public and our stakeholders are encouraged to provide comments for AOA creation in federal waters off of southern California and the Gulf of Mexico as well as the location of future AOAs. The synthesis of public input and NOAA’s powerful data-driven siting analysis are essential elements to highlight space that is environmentally, socially, and economically appropriate for commercial aquaculture. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Read the full release here

Reminder of Seasonal Fishing Restrictions in U.S. Caribbean Federal Waters

November 25, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

1)  Seasonal Red Hind Closure

NOAA Fisheries reminds fishers and the public of the annual seasonal closure on fishing for, or possession of, red hind grouper in Puerto Rico federal waters west of 67° 10’ W longitude (see map).

  • The closure begins at 12:01 a.m., local time, on December 1, 2020, and extends through 11:59 p.m., local time, February 28, 2021.

2)  Seasonal Fishing Prohibitions in Red Hind Spawning Areas

From December 1 through February 28 each year, fishing for any species is prohibited in federal waters of the following red hind spawning aggregation areas:

  • The Tourmaline Bank area closure off western Puerto Rico (see map, inset A), bounded by the following coordinates (regulations only apply to the portion of Tourmaline Bank in federal waters):
    • A      18°11.2’ N      67°22.4’ W
    • B      18°11.2’ N      67°19.2’ W
    • C      18°08.2’ N      67°19.2’ W
    • D      18°08.2’ N      67°22.4’ W
  • The Abrir La Sierra Bank area closure off western Puerto Rico, which lies completely within federal waters (see map, inset A), and is bounded by the following coordinates:
    • A      18°06.5’ N      67°26.9’ W
    • B      18°06.5’ N      67°23.9’ W
    • C      18°03.5’ N      67°23.9’ W
    • D      18°03.5’ N      67°26.9’ W
  • The Lang Bank red hind spawning aggregation area, east of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (see map, inset B), bounded by the following coordinates:
    • A      17°50.2’ N      64°27.9’ W
    • B      17°50.1’ N      64°26.1’ W
    • C      17°49.2’ N      64°25.8’ W
    • D      17°48.6’ N      64°25.8’ W
    • E      17°48.1’ N      64°26.1’ W
    • F      17°47.5’ N      64°26.9’ W

3)  Annual Fishing and Anchoring Prohibitions within Hind Bank

NOAA Fisheries also reminds that fishing for any species and anchoring by fishing vessels within the Hind Bank Marine Conservation District, south of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, is prohibited year round (see map, inset C).  The Hind Bank Marine Conservation District is bounded by the following coordinates:

  • A      18°13.2’ N      65°06.0’ W
  • B      18°13.2’ N      64°59.0’ W
  • C      18°11.8’ N      64°59.0’ W
  • D      18°10.7’ N      65°06.0’ W

4)  Seasonal Bajo de Sico Area Closure

The seasonal closure in Federal waters of the Bajo de Sico area off western Puerto Rico, which began October 1, 2020, continues until March 31, 2021.  During the closure, fishing for and possession of reef fish managed by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council is prohibited.  Anchoring by fishing vessels is prohibited year-round.  See Fishery Bulletin FB20-060 for more information.

WHY THESE CLOSURES ARE HAPPENING:

These restrictions were developed to provide further protection for red hind spawning aggregations and large snappers and groupers, and to better protect the essential fish habitat where these species reside.

Read the full release here

CALIFORNIA: Fishermen in Monterey Bay hit with new wave of Dungeness crab season delays

November 25, 2020 — You couldn’t blame crab fishermen Tim and Dan Obert for feeling like they’re passing through the perfect storm.

First there was the pandemic, which shut down restaurants and, in turn, much of the demand for Dungeness crab. Then a new regulation took effect on Nov. 1 that heavily restricts the Dungeness fishery’s operations when whales and sea turtles are around. Then the state delayed the opening of the Dungeness crab season until after Thanksgiving.

“If you take all three of those things, you will destroy this fishery,” said Tim Obert, 35, of Scotts Valley. “There will be no crabbers left.”

Dungeness crab in Northern California is an integral and celebrated part of the culture of coastal communities stretching from Monterey to Crescent City. Wharf restaurants sling crab legs to thousands of tourists in the spring and summer, while bustling seafood markets feed countless locals during the holiday season.

Read the full story at The Mercury News