Saving Seafood

HAWAII: Application period for federal fishing funds begins today

November 2, 2020 — The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act authorizes and provides appropriations to the U.S. Department of Commerce to aid qualified fisheries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over $300 million was identified for fisheries and aquaculture, with a total sum of $4,337,445 allocated for eligible Hawai‘i fishery sectors. The application period opens today.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources has developed a spending plan with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Applications must be submitted to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission by Monday, Nov. 23. Interested applicants must review the spending plan to determine their eligibility.

Read the full story at The Garden Island

ALASKA: Seafood Bycatch Donation Relieves Hunger and Reduces Waste

November 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Fishermen sometimes unintentionally catch fish they do not want or cannot keep. This is called bycatch. While these fish are returned to the sea, many of them do not survive. This is a major problem worldwide—nearly 10 percent of global fishery catches are discarded each year

This waste of valuable seafood protein has been an increasing focus of management, industry, and public concern due to its ecological and economic impacts. That’s where our innovative donation program comes in.

Alaska fishermen occasionally catch Pacific halibut and salmon incidentally in trawls targeting groundfish. Because halibut and salmon are valuable targets of other fisheries, they are designated as prohibited species. Groundfish trawlers are not allowed to retain or sell them. Historically, all prohibited species caught in Alaska were discarded at sea to avoid any incentive to catch these species.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Alaska seafood industry have a long history of cooperative efforts to reduce bycatch. However, even after bycatch has been eliminated to the extent practicable, some is inevitable.

In 1996, NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council established the Prohibited Species Donation Program. It takes a unique approach to the problem of discarded fish by making it possible for fishermen to donate some bycatch to hunger relief organizations. It simultaneously reduces waste, provides high quality seafood protein to people in need, and avoids incentives to catch prohibited species.

“Bycatch donation is an example of thinking outside the box. When we think about reducing waste, it is usually about avoiding bycatch. This program is a creative solution to maximize the value of the bycatch that can’t be avoided,”  said Jordan Watson, NOAA Fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Read the full release here

Extended: Slow Speed Zone South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales

November 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces an extension to the previously triggered voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA) south of Nantucket.

This DMA was originally triggered by an August 31, 2020 sighting of an aggregation of right whales and previously extended until October 20, 2020, and again to November 3, 2020. We are now extending the Slow Zone through November 15, 2020 after an aerial survey team observed an aggregation of right whales South of Nantucket on October 31, 2020.

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

South of Nantucket DMA is in effect through November 15.

41 16 N
40 32 N
069 37 W
070 28 W

Read the full release here

Salmon study sheds light on why fall-run fish are bigger than their spring-run cousins

October 30, 2020 — For the Yurok people, who have lived at the mouth of the Klamath River for generations, the spring run of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is a welcome—and nutritious—relief from winter. But as the fish have dwindled to just a fraction of their original numbers, Indigenous groups there are pushing to have them protected by the Endangered Species Act. New research, which suggests genes play only a small role in distinguishing the spring salmon from their fall-run cousins, may call into question the need for such a designation.

The rivers of the Pacific Northwest used to teem with two waves of Chinook: those that arrived in March or April, and those that came 6 months later, swimming from the sea to their upriver breeding grounds. Although technically the same species, the spring-run and fall-run fish have some “iconic differences,” says Eric Anderson, a molecular geneticist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Spring salmon are smaller, fattier, and less sexually mature than fall fish. They also swim further upriver to breed.

To tease out the genetic basis of those differences, Anderson and colleagues teamed up with Yurok fishers living at the mouth of the Klamath River in northern California. Together, they examined 500 fish as they started their upstream journeys in all four seasons. The researchers measured the size of each fish, assessed its fattiness and reproductive status, and took samples of its DNA. The researchers gathered similar data from other rivers.

Past studies have shown that a small region of the salmon chromosome 28 contains two genes, GREB1L and ROCK1, that vary between spring and fall salmon. Anderson and his colleagues did further genomic studies, sequencing the whole genomes of 160 fish in the hopes of linking the two genes to the spring and fall traits. The data set is “impressive” and the work unique says Sheela Phansalkar Turbek, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who was not involved with the work.

Read the full story at Science Magazine

Small Genetic Difference Determines Chinook Salmon Migration Timing, New Study Shows

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

The annual migration of Chinook salmon up West Coast rivers from the ocean has enriched ecosystems, inspired cultures, and shaped landscapes. Yet the timing of their migration is controlled by one small section of their genome, according to research published this week in Science.

This is the first time scientists have linked a single gene region to such an influential difference in a vertebrate species. For salmon, it determines whether they return upriver from the ocean in spring or fall. This has crucial implications for other species that rely on them for food. First author Neil Thompson of the University of California Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center said that this small genetic difference can have a major effect on a complex pattern of migration and reproduction.

Fish migrating upriver in spring may access habitat such as higher elevation tributaries. These habitats become less accessible to Chinook salmon migrating later in the year when stream flows decline. The result is that fall-run Chinook salmon remain lower in the watershed without continuing up into the tributaries.

However, the construction of dams in the West blocked spring-run Chinook salmon from much of their original spawning habitat. This contributed to the listing of several spring-migrating fish under the Endangered Species Act. Fall-run Chinook salmon on the West Coast are generally more abundant.

The scientists identified the gene region influencing migration with whole-genome sequencing. Then, they scientists examined the genetic pattern in more than 500 Chinook salmon caught by the Yurok Tribe in the Klamath River estuary. They analyzed the effects of variation in this genetic region on migration timing and other physiological traits.

Read the full release here

PFMC: Call for data and information – Essential Fish Habitat Review for Coastal Pelagic Species

October 30, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center have initiated a review of essential fish habitat provisions in the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan.  This call for data and information is intended to support the review.  Information and data sources can include published scientific literature, unpublished scientific reports, information from interested parties, and previously unavailable or inaccessible data.  Information relevant to the CPS EFH review should be submitted no later than Monday November 30th, 2020.

Please see the “Call for data and information” announcement on the Council’s website for further details..

Survey tracks covid-19 impacts on fishermen

October 30, 2020 — As the seafood industry responds and adapts to the effects of covid-19, NOAA is working to fill in some information gaps in its economic impact surveys.

One of those gaps is West Coast and Alaska seafood harvesters — folks on the East Coast have already been surveyed.

Ocean Strategies is aggregating information and delivering it confidentially to NOAA, helping to ensure West Coast harvesters are included in this important work to document impacts to the commercial fishing industry.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Accepting Applications for Industry-Funded Monitoring (IFM) Providers for Herring Vessels in IFM Year 2021

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

If you would like to provide IFM services (observing, at-sea monitoring, and/or portside sampling) to Atlantic herring vessels in IFM year 2021 (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022), you must submit an application to be an approved provider by December 1, 2020. Companies already approved to provide IFM services in IFM years 2020 and 2021 do not need to apply again in order to provide services in 2021.

Refer to the bulletin for more information on what to include in an application.

Approvals will cover IFM year 2021. If we receive any applications under this announcement, we will notify service providers of our preliminary determination as soon as we have completed our reviews. Final decisions will be published in the Federal Register.

Read the full release here

Reminder: Seasonal Management Areas in Effect November 1 to Protect Right Whales

October 29, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

All vessels 65 feet (19.8 meters) or longer must travel at 10 knots or less in certain locations (called Seasonal Management Areas or SMAs) along the U.S. east coast at certain times of the year to reduce the threat of vessel collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales. The purpose of this mandatory regulation is to reduce the likelihood of deaths and serious injuries to these endangered whales that result from collisions with vessel.Because vessels of all sizes can strike a whale, NOAA Fisheries also encourages vessels less than 65 feet in length to help protect right whales by slowing to 10 knots of less within active SMAs as well.

Migratory Route and Calving Grounds, November 1 – April 30

Block Island Sound waters bounded by:

40º51’53.7″ N 070º36’44.9″ W

41º20’14.1″ N 070º49’44.1″ W

41º04’16.7″ N 071º51’21.0″ W

40º35’56.5″ N 071º38’25.1″ W then back to starting point.

Within a 20-nm (37 km) radius of the following (as measured seaward from the COLREGS lines):

-Ports of New York/New Jersey:

40º29’42.2″N 073º55’57.6″W

-Entrance to the Delaware Bay

(Ports of Philadelphia and Wilmington):

38º52’27.4″N 075º01’32.1″W

-Entrance to the Chesapeake Bay

(Ports of Hampton Roads and Baltimore):

37º00’36.9″N 075º57’50.5″W

-Ports of Morehead City and Beaufort, NC: 34º41’32.0″N 076°40’08.3″W

Within a continuous area 20-nm from shore between Wilmington, North Carolina, to Brunswick, Georgia, bounded by the following:

A- 34º10’30″N, 077º49’12″W

B- 33º56’42″N, 077º31’30″W

C- 33º36’30″N, 077º47’06″W

D- 33º28’24″N, 078º32’30″W

E- 32º59’06″N, 078º50’18″W

F- 31º50’00″N, 080º33’12″W

G- 31º27’00″N, 080º51’36″W

and west back to the shore.

Give Right Whales Room

North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.

Right Whales in Trouble

North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future. 

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

Read the full release here