Saving Seafood

NOAA hires directors of offices of science and technology, sustainable fisheries

July 20, 2020 — NOAA has hired a new director of its Office of Science and Technology and director of its Office of Sustainable Fisheries.

Evan Howell, previously the deputy director for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, has been hired to head the Office of Science and Technology, where he will “advocate and ensure a sound scientific basis for NOAA Fisheries science programs and resource conservation and management decisions,” according to the agency. In his role, Howell will coordinate the work being done at six NOAA Fisheries science centers in the U.S. Northeast, Northwest, Pacific Islands, Southeast, Southwest, and Alaska.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Reminder: Complete the COVID-19 Economic Survey

July 20, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

If you received a survey in the mail from NOAA Fisheries and our partner, the University of Florida, please complete it. The results will help us assess  the impact of COVID-19 on commercial/for-hire fishing operations and on seafood dealers and processors.

Survey participants were selected as part of a carefully designed random sample. If you received a letter, your response is very important to the success of this survey. It will take less than 6 minutes, and the information you provide is strictly confidential.

We are using this multi-region survey to inform NOAA Fisheries, the Department of Commerce, Congress, fishery management councils, state fishery managers, and stakeholders about the economic and social impacts that the recent economic downturn has had on the fishing industry.

NOAA Fisheries will draft reports for the public detailing the revenue losses and recovery of fishing-dependent businesses over the past few months.

If you have further questions regarding the survey please contact Eric Thunberg.

New England Lobster Fisheries Dip into Aquaculture

July 17, 2020 — After years of growth, lobster populations in the Gulf of Maine are declining due to warming waters, according to a study by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Fishers are looking to kelp farming to support their livelihoods and the environment.

“We have seen the lobster population just grow and grow [in past years],” Chris Townsend, a commercial fisher on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, tells Food Tank. But, he continues, “A lobster is very sensitive to temperature. As the water warms, they cannot come back to their traditional grounds where they drop their eggs off.”

The Gulf of Maine is the fastest warming body of water, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, gradual warming initially contributed to a boom in lobster populations, but warming waters, coupled with shell disease – a condition that makes lobsters susceptible to mineral loss – is already resulting in a decrease in lobster stocks.

Townsend has been working along the New England coast for 37 years. He now sells his catch to local fish markets, runs eco-tours, and continues to fish commercially. “You used to be able to go lobstering all the way down to South Jersey. Now the southern limit of lobsters is basically Rhode Island,” Townsend tells Food Tank.

Read the full story at Foodtank

Commercial Closure in Federal Waters for Atlantic Migratory Group Spanish Mackerel Northern Zone on July 22, 2020

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone in federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 22, 2020 and will re-open on March 1, 2021. The northern zone for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel includes federal waters from North Carolina through New York. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of Spanish mackerel in or from the northern zone federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits while the recreational sector is open, but those fish may not be sold.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial quota for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the quota from being exceeded.

DURING THE CLOSURE:

  • The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for Spanish mackerel does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, July 22, 2020, 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 permit for coastal migratory pelagic fish may continue to retain Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the northern zone under the recreational bag and possession limits, as long as the recreational sector for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel 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/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=38b00fbc079181f330b3d8428a1d8fea&mc=true&n=pt50.12.622&r=PART&ty=HTML#sp50.12.622.q.

Commercial Closure of the Golden Tilefish Hook-and-Line Component in South Atlantic Federal Waters on July 23, 2020

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:
The commercial hook-and-line component for golden tilefish in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 23, 2020.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:
The 2020 commercial catch limit for the golden tilefish hook-and-line component is 82,935 pounds gutted weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial catch limit and harvest must close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

DURING AND AFTER THE CLOSURE:

  • The closure prohibitions for the commercial hook-and-line component apply in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper permit.
  • The South Atlantic golden tilefish commercial longline component already closed on March 23, 2020, for the remainder of the fishing year. Therefore, all commercial harvest and sale of South Atlantic golden tilefish will be prohibited effective at 12:01 a.m., local time, July 23, 2020.  Harvest or possession is limited to the golden tilefish recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational sector is open, without regard to where the golden tilefish was harvested (i.e. in state or federal waters).
  • Golden tilefish bag and possession limits and the prohibition on sale/purchase apply in the South Atlantic on board a vessel for which a valid federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic snapper-grouper has been issued, without regard to where such species were harvested, i.e., in state or federal waters.
  • The prohibitions on harvest or possession and sale or purchase during the closure do not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 23, 2020, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • The 2020 fishing season for golden tilefish commercial hook-and-line component in the South Atlantic will open on January 1, 2021, with a commercial catch limit of 82,935 pounds gutted weight.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations.  The complete list of regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=383bc195ccbeab4fd6bec1c24905df34&node=sp50.12.622.i&rgn=div6.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area for the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota Fleet

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to all federally permitted limited access general category individual fishing quota (LAGC IFQ) scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on July 19, 2020.

As of July 19, 2020, no scallop vessel fishing under LAGC IFQ regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that the LAGC fleet has fished all of the 1,142 trips allocated for this area.

Vessels that  have declared a trip into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, July 19, 2020, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.

For more details, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.

Baleen Whales Have Changed Their Distribution in the Western North Atlantic

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Researchers have been using passive acoustic recordings of whale calls to track their movements. They have found that four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean — humpback, sei, fin and blue whales — have changed their distribution patterns in the past decade. The recordings were made over 10 years by devices moored to the seafloor at nearly 300 locations from the Caribbean Sea to western Greenland.

“All four whale species were present in waters from the southeast U.S. to Greenland, with humpbacks also present in the Caribbean Sea,” said Genevieve Davis, a senior acoustician at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and lead author of the study. “These four species were detected throughout all the regions in the winter, suggesting that baleen whales are widely distributed during these months. Humpback, sei, fin, and blue whales also showed significant changes in where they were detected between the two time periods considered in this study: before and after 2010.”

A large group of federal, state and academic researchers from the United States and Canada conducted the study, published in Global Change Biology. It is the first to show the occurrence of these four species across the western North Atlantic Ocean over long time spans and at a large spatial scale. The study also demonstrates how whale distributions have changed over time, and in particular since 2010.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting for Commercial and For-Hire Vessels

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing a recommendation from both the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils to require federally permitted commercial fishing vessels to submit vessel trip reports electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip.

Upon request of the New England Council, we are also proposing to extend this requirement to vessels issued for-hire (charter/party) permits for New England Council-managed fisheries (i.e., Northeast multispecies).  Vessels issued a Mid-Atlantic Council for-hire permit have been required to submit vessel trip reports electronically since March 2019.  Note, reporting requirements for vessels issued only a federal lobster permit are being addressed in a separate rulemaking.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register.  Comments must be submitted by August 17, 2020 through our online e-rulemaking portal.

Marine Debris Removal Grants Available

July 16, 2020 — Applicants have until Sept. 4 to submit a letter of intent for review for marine debris removal project grants.

The fiscal year 2021 Marine Debris Removal grant competition is through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

The projects awarded through the removal grant competition are to create long-term, quantifiable ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources. Priority will be given for efforts targeting derelict fishing gear, abandoned and derelict vessels and other medium- and large-scale debris, according to NOAA.

The letter of intent submission period for removal projects began Wednesday. Applicants who submit successful letters of intent will be invited to submit a full proposal following the review period.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

Pollock Survey Begins in Eastern Bering Sea

July 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For the past four decades, a team of scientists have conducted an acoustic trawl survey from a NOAA research vessel in the eastern Bering Sea. They collect acoustic measurements of fish abundance and distribution. They also sample fish by capturing them with trawl nets to groundtruth the acoustic signals to confirm the species. They also are able to learn more about the fish themselves—for example, their age, length, weight, and reproductive state.

Scientists believe using acoustic technology on saildrones to survey in the eastern Bering Sea will provide a reliable estimate of pollock abundance, based on past experience comparing the technology to ship-based surveys. It also helps that pollock are the dominant fish species in this area, minimizing the need to further sample with a trawl net to confirm species.

Since the standard surveys were cancelled this year due to COVID-19, data collected by the saildrones will fill a gap in the survey time series. Scientists use these survey data along with other data to assess pollock population abundance and trends (whether the stock is increasing or decreasing in size). The saildrone survey is expected to take two months to complete.

In late June, after some 40 days at sea, the three saildrones arrived at Unimak Pass, a 20-nautical-mile gap between Unimak Island and Ugamak Island that separates the North Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea. At this point the saildrones separated. Each saildrone will cover a third of the 600-nautical-mile-wide survey area, which is bordered by Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to the south and the edge of the eastern Bering Sea shelf to the west.

The saildrones will complete a series of north-south transects moving from east to west; the mission is designed to mimic a typical ship survey as closely as possible in the amount of time available. Each vehicle is equipped with a Simrad EK80 high-precision split-beam echo sounder to map fish abundance.

Read the full release here