Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Announces a New and Improved Catch Shares Online System

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

  • NOAA Fisheries is currently developing an updated Catch Shares Online System. The new system will be hosted in a cloud application that should decrease the unexpected down-times in the future.
  • As development of the new Catch Shares Online System is underway, NOAA Fisheries will be looking for volunteers, both shareholder and dealer account holders, to help test functions in the new system. If users are interested in testing the new online system, they should contact Catch Share Support at nmfs.ser.catchshare@noaa.gov.
  • Catch Share Support anticipates the new online system will launch in fall 2020. The official date will be listed on the current system’s messages when known.
  • The new online system will function in a similar manner to the existing online system with some long awaited improvements, including mobile phone and tablet compatibility.

NEW URL

  • The URL to the website will be changing to https://SECatchShares.fisheries.noaa.gov/
  • Be sure to update all bookmarks.
  • Please note that NOAA Fisheries will redirect from the old website for the foreseeable future.

INCREASED SECURITY THROUGH STRONGER PIN REQUIREMENTS

  • Must have at least fifteen (15) non-blank characters.
  • Must contain each of the following categories:
    1. Two English upper-case characters (A-Z)
    2. Two English lower-case characters (a-z)
    3. Two Special Characters
    4. Two Numbers (0-9)
  • New PIN may not be the same as the current PIN or past eight (8) PINs

INCREASED SECURITY THROUGH SECRET QUESTIONS

  • Secret question and answer development will become mandatory.
  • Account PIN will only be recoverable by answering secret questions.
  • Answering secret questions will provide a temporary PIN to access account.
  • Upon logging in with the temporary PIN, users will be prompted to create a new account PIN following new PIN requirements.

**To facilitate this change, users should consider meeting the new PIN and secret question requirements before the new system is launched, as we anticipate increased call volume during the transition.**

LANDING TRANSACTIONS WITH DIFFERENT PRICES PER POUND FOR THE SAME SPECIES

  • The system will now accept multiple entries per species to allow for different prices per pound in one landing transaction, rather than having to submit multiple transactions.
  • Therefore, if someone lands red snapper at two different prices per pound, they can record red snapper in the same transaction two different times, with the appropriate weight and price per pound (e.g., 100 pounds at $4.50 and 50 pounds at $5.00).

Read the full release here

New report reveals insights into the condition of natural and cultural resources of Papahānaumokuākea

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:

The State of the Monument Report

NOAA has published a peer-reviewed State of the Monument report that was jointly produced by the co-trustees of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The report includes information on the status and trends of living resources, habitats, ocean conditions, maritime and cultural archaeological resources, and the human activities and natural events that affect them.

The data used in the report were collected from research over the last 10 years. Assessments of status and trends involved scientists and researchers from the monument’s management agencies and partners, and were based on the most recent data available as well as expert opinion.

An unrivalled reef ecosystem

Located northwest of the main Hawaiian islands, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is virtually unpopulated. Because of its isolation, scale, and high degree of protection, the monument provides an unrivalled example of reef ecosystems still dominated by top predators such as sharks. This is not seen in most other island environments due to human activity.

Papahānaumokuākea is of great importance to Native Hawaiians, and has spiritual significance in Hawaiian cosmology. Cultural sites found on the islands of Nihoa and Mokumanamana are on both National and State Registers for Historic Places. Mokumanamana has one of the highest densities of sacred sites in the Hawaiian Archipelago.

The monument is also home to a variety of post-Western-contact historic resources, such as those associated with maritime heritage, the Battle of Midway, and 19th century commercial whaling.

What the report says

Impacts from local human uses have been relatively few, and the monument’s reefs and other marine resources are considered to be in nearly pristine condition. However, some marine habitat has been impacted by derelict fishing gear, large storms, aggressive nuisance algae, and coral bleaching. Most marine areas of the monument have not been significantly affected and are in relatively good to fair condition.

Read the full release here

FB20-063: NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to Transit Provisions for the South Atlantic Shrimp Fishery

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGES:

  • NOAA Fisheries announces changes to provisions for shrimp trawl vessels transiting through cold weather closed areas with brown, pink, or white shrimp on board in federal waters of the South Atlantic.
  • The rule will allow trawl doors in the rack (cradle), nets in the rigging and tied down, and try net on the deck during transit.
  • The final rule for Amendment 11 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic Region will update the regulations to more closely align with current fishing practices, reduce the socio-economic impacts for fishermen who transit these closed areas, and improve safety at sea while maintaining protection for overwintering white shrimp.

WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:

  • Regulations will be effective November 23, 2020

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION:

  • 85 FR 67309; October 22, 2020. 

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

Where can I find more information on Amendment 11? 

  • By Phone: (727) 824-5305
  • By FAX: (727) 824-5308

Reminder: Midwater Trawl Herring Vessels May Only Fish Inside Groundfish Closed Areas on Trips That Carry an Observer

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Atlantic herring vessels may only fish with midwater trawl gear inside the following Groundfish Closed Areas when carrying an observer onboard the vessel:

  • Closed Area I North (February 1 – April 15)
  • Western Gulf of Maine Closure Area
  • Cashes Ledge Closure Area
  • Closed Area II

Because industry-funded monitoring has not yet been implemented in the herring fishery, vessels are currently unable to purchase optional industry-funded observer coverage in order to fish inside a Groundfish Closed Area.

Currently, a vessel may fish with midwater trawl gear inside a Groundfish Closed Area on a herring trip if the following criteria are met:

  1. If the vessel is assigned Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) coverage on the trip in the Pre-Trip Notification System, and
  2. If the vessel actually carries a NEFOP observer on the trip.

If the vessel is issued a coverage waiver for the trip for any reason, the vessel is not permitted to fish inside Groundfish Closed Areas during that trip. For complete information on notification and reporting requirements, please see Notification, Reporting, and Monitoring Requirements for the Atlantic Herring Fishery.

Read the full release here

Six critically endangered sawfish found dead on the side of the road in Florida Everglades

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is conducting an investigation involving the deaths of six critically endangered smalltooth sawfish in Everglades City, Fla. An employee with Everglades National Park reported the dead sawfish and two dead bonnethead sharks to NOAA experts. Two of the sawfish are missing their rostra (saws). One other had its meat removed, leaving only the carcass.

The animals were found along the causeway between Everglades City and Chokoloskee Island, Fla. A sawfish biologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will perform a necropsy on the animals to try to determine the cause of death.

Smalltooth sawfish are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. They were once found in the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Florida and along the East Coast from Florida to North Carolina. Their distribution has decreased greatly in U.S. waters over the past century. Today, the species is generally only found off the coast of Florida, especially southwest Florida where sawfish give birth. They reproduce every other year and give birth to just 7-14 young. The loss of these six animals is nearly equivalent to one mother’s entire litter.

NOAA officials seek information from anyone who may have details about this incident and are offering a reward up to $20,000 for information leading to a criminal conviction or the assessment of a civil penalty.

Please call the NOAA Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Tips may be left anonymously.

Read the full release here

Fishery council to finalize priorities for 2021

October 21, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council has scheduled a special meeting for next week to finalize its priorities for 2021, as well as approve recommendations that fit within the executive order promoting U.S. seafood competitiveness and economic growth.

The special meeting, set for Oct. 27, will be held as a webinar. It is set to begin at 12:40 p.m. Deadline for submitting written comments is Thursday at 8 a.m.

The council, which usually finalizes its next-year priorities at its December meeting, moved up final action on its priorities so it may identify which of those may also directly respond to Executive Order 13921 issued in May by President Donald Trump.

“The council will first adopt its priorities for 2021 related to every fishery management plan and every action,” Janice Plante, council spokeswoman, said Tuesday. “The council has to decide which of those priorities will make the cut.”

Plante said the development of the master list of 2021 council priorities should naturally help inform the council when it turns to crafting its recommendations for the executive order.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Nature Conservancy purchasing millions of surplus oysters to offset COVID-19 losses

October 21, 2020 — The Nature Conservancy announced 21 October it plans to help struggling oyster farmers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic by purchasing five million surplus oysters.

The oysters, according to a release from The Nature Conservancy, will be used in nearby oyster restoration projects in order to rebuild 27 acres of “imperiled native shellfish reefs.” Partnering on the initiative are The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the action is being coordinated with efforts taken by NOAA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Announces Adjustments to the 2020 Atlantic Herring Specifications

October 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This action increases the Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) and the ACL for 2020.  Because landings in New Brunswick weir fishery were less than 2,942 mt through October 1, we subtracted 1,000 mt from the management uncertainty buffer and re-allocated it to the herring Area 1A sub-ACL and ACL.

This action increases the Area 1A herring sub-ACL from 3,344 mt to 4,344 mt for the remainder of the fishing year. When 92 percent of the total Area 1A sub-ACL is reached, vessels are prohibited from fishing for, possessing, catching, transferring, or landing more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip, per calendar day.

This action also increases the herring ACL from 11,571 mt to 12,571 mt. When 95 percent of the herring ACL is reached, vessels are prohibited from fishing for, possessing, catching, transferring, or landing more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip, per calendar day in or from all herring management areas.

For more details, please read the rule in the Federal Register and our permit holder bulletin.

Read the full release here

Marine heat wave ‘blobs’ are becoming more severe as oceans warm

October 20, 2020 — Off the coast of California this August a sea monster of record size was spotted: a patch of warm water that grew to the size of Canada, 9.8 million square kilometers simmering up to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than usual. “It’s off the chart,” says Andrew Leising, a fisheries oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who is mapping the marine heatwave on his website, nicknamed the Blobtracker. By Leising’s reckoning, in September, the unglamorously-named “NEP20b” became the biggest-yet-spotted blob of warm water there since satellite records began in the early 1980s.

Researchers are now scrambling to chart or anticipate the impacts of the NEP20b blob on marine life, tracking how the step change in temperature throws ecosystems out of whack.

The phenomenon of a patch of abnormally warm water off the west coast of North America gained notoriety in 2014, when the first such “Blob” was spotted and given that name, after the horror movie creature that devoured everything in its path. That first Blob lasted years, from 2013 to 2016. It has been blamed for slicing some forage fish populations in half; starving seabirds; triggering a collapse in cod; shifting tuna as far north as Alaska; pushing whales into the path of crab fishing lines and ships; and allowing exotics, including glowing tropical sea pickles, to arrive in northern waters.

In 2019, a second blob emerged. With record-warm waters appearing again this year, some scientists believe the 2019 event, known as Blob 2.0, may have just never gone away. If NEP20b is now big enough and hot enough, Leising says, it may do what the 2013-2016 version did, creating its own microclimate that perpetuates the heat, forcing the warm water to stick around for years yet to come.

Read the full story at PBS

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

October 20, 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. A Center for Coastal Studies aerial survey observed an aggregation of whales in this area on October 19. Since the current DMA is set to expire we are extending it through November 3.

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 3.

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

Read the full release here