Saving Seafood

Fishers urged to register for $1M given for Guam fisheries

June 2, 2020 — Of $300 million set aside from the CARES Act for fisheries throughout the U.S. and territories, Guam will be receiving $1 million.

The Guam Department of Agriculture’s Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources is in communication with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working on guidelines for the money.

Once the guidelines are developed, the money will be given to a fisheries commission that will oversee the dispersal of the money to individual fishers on Guam, according to the agency. That commission will work with the Agriculture division to develop a plan for Guam and in anticipation of this, the division has already written a draft plan based on general guidelines already provided and will submit this for approval once the guidelines are ready.

Read the full story at KUAM

New report indicates US marine economy worth USD 373 billion

June 2, 2020 — A new joint report put together by NOAA and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has found that the country’s marine economy contributed USD 373 billion (EUR 334 billion) to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.

The new report covers a wide range of the ocean economy, from “living resources” in the seafood industry to transportation and warehousing, offshore mining, scientific research, and more. All told, from 2017 to 2018, the marine economy – including economic activity sourced to the nation’s oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes – grew by 5.8 percent, faster than the 5.4 percent growth of the total U.S. GDP.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Marine economy in 2018 grew faster than U.S. overall

June 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:

America’s marine economy, including goods and services, contributed about $373 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018 and grew faster than the nation’s economy as a whole, according to the marine economy statistics released today by two Department of Commerce agencies.

“These statistics are the first-of-its-kind estimate of the U.S. marine economy, a primary driver of jobs, innovation and economic growth,” said retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator. “Data such as these provide a critical baseline to inform, track progress and accelerate America’s economic recovery.”

For these statistics, experts from NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis considered 10 sectors representing businesses dependent on the nation’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes between the years 2014 and 2018. Marine-related gross domestic product grew 5.8% from 2017 to 2018, faster than the 5.4% growth of the total U.S. gross domestic product as measured in current dollars. Businesses included in the report also supported 2.3 million jobs in 2018.

“The marine economy statistics clarify just how dependent America is on our waters,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, acting director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “It is nearly impossible for most Americans to go a single day without eating, wearing or using products that come from or through our coastal communities.”

“For the first time, the United States has ocean data that can be compared with our official statistics on other U.S. industries and with the ocean economies of other nations,” said Mary Bohman, BEA’s acting director. “These prototype statistics offer a baseline for understanding the importance of the ocean economy, including recreation, seafood, transportation and ship building. Businesses, policymakers, and coastal communities can use these economic data as a compass as they chart the way forward.”

The sectors making the largest contributions to the nation’s gross domestic product, not adjusted for inflation, are:

  • Tourism and recreation, including recreational fishing ($143 billion)
  • National defense and public administration ($124 billion)
  • Offshore minerals ($49 billion)
  • Transportation and warehousing ($25 billion)
  • Living resources, including commercial fishing and aquaculture ($13 billion)
  • Ship and boat building ($9 billion)
  • Power generation ($4 billion)
  • Research and education ($3 billion)
  • Construction ($2.5 billion)
  • Professional and technical services ($31 million)

These prototype statistics are the most comprehensive and accurate produced to date, thanks to the addition of newer, more inclusive data sets. The economic statistics validate previous estimates of the value of the marine economy. The data, report and other materials are available at https://www.bea.gov/data/special-topics/ocean-economy Send any comments or questions to OceanEconomy@noaa.gov.

2020 Species Recovery Grant Awardees Announced

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

Today, NOAA Fisheries is announcing the award of $6.5 million in funding to states and tribes through its Species Recovery Grant Program. These grants promote the recovery of species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

States and tribes play an essential role in conserving and recovering species. Threatened or endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction may spend all or part of their lifecycle in state waters. Successfully conserving these species depends largely on working cooperatively with states and tribes. This year’s funding support our state and tribal partners in a range of activities, such as:

  • Designing and testing new fishing gear to reduce or remove significant sources of mortality and injury.
  • Assessing and monitoring species presence, status, and movement, and collecting genetic information to improve understanding of population distribution, foraging ecology and habitat use, population structure, and restoration efforts.
  • Engaging the public in conservation of Endangered Species Act-listed species.

In the Greater Atlantic Region the funding will support one new award and the continuation of seven multi-year projects that were approved in prior grant cycles.

Read our web story to learn more or visit the complete descriptions of funded projects to states and Tribes.

Autonomous Vehicles Help Scientists Estimate Fish Abundance While Protecting Human Health and Safety

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

Scientists are capitalizing on existing technological capabilities and partnerships to collect fisheries data. This will help fill the information gap resulting from the cancellation of FY20 ship-based surveys due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NOAA Fisheries plans to use autonomous surface vehicles to collect some critically needed data to support management of the nation’s largest commercial fishery for Alaska pollock.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures,” said Alex De Robertis, NOAA Fisheries fisheries biologist and project lead for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “We knew there was a possibility that surveys may be cancelled this year, so we worked on a contingency plan to collect some data just in case. We were able to capitalize on our previous experience working closely with Saildrone and NOAA Research’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory to get things off the ground quickly.”

This effort supports NOAA’s broader strategy to expand the use of emerging science and technologies including unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and ‘omics to advance ocean research. NOAA released its strategy in February.

“The Alaska Fisheries Science Center has been engaged in research and development efforts to test new technologies to both improve our operating efficiencies and enable us to quickly respond when situations like this arise,” said Robert Foy, Alaska Fisheries Science Center Director. “Providing the best available science to support management decisions is at the heart of our mission to ensure the health of marine ecosystems while supporting sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries and strong local economies.”

Read the full release here

New England cod fishery restrictions in place this spring

June 1, 2020 — Commercial fishing for Atlantic cod is limited by closures off the coast of New England this spring, federal fishing managers said.

Cod were once the subject of one of the largest fisheries in the country, but it has collapsed after years of overfishing and is much smaller than it once was. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said cod protection closures in the Gulf of Maine are taking place throughout May and June. More are scheduled in the fall.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com

NOAA Taking Emergency Action to Reduce Economic Harm to Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

June 1, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries announced on Friday a temporary rule that will extend portions of the fishing year 2019 carryover provisions in the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan into the fishing year 2020. According to the government agency this is an emergency action that is necessary to provide the scallop fleet the opportunity to land allocations that may have gone unharvested. The hope is that this temporary rule will reduce economic harm to the scallop fishery caused by COVID-19.

The temporary rule goes into effect on June 1 and was brought on by a request from the New England Fishery Management Council during their April 15 meeting. During that meeting the Council requested that all 2019 access area carryover pounds, as well as unharvested RSA compensation pounds from fishing year 2019, be available for harvest for 180 days in fishing year 2020. The council also requested that the NLS-Wests remain an access area during the fishing year 2020, and that all LAGC IFQ vessels be allowed to roll forward all unharvested quota from fishing year 2019 for 180 days into fishing year 2020.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA Fisheries Announces Correction to Framework Adjustment 8 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan

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

NOAA Fisheries announces a correction to the final rule of Framework Adjustment 8 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan originally published on April 27, 2020. A minor error in the body of the original rule listed the new barndoor skate wing possession limits in Season 2 as 1,025 lb (465 kg), which was the old limit. This has been corrected to the accurate, increased limit of 1,250 lb (567 kg).

These values were correct in the proposed rule and the regulatory text of the final action, so this rule simply corrects the minor error in the text of the body of the Federal Register notice. This action does not make any changes to the regulatory text, specifications, or management measures.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register. You can also find the original final rule for Framework 8 in the Federal Register.

New Modeling Approach Provides Valuable Insights into the Important and Complex Role of Environmental Variables in Juvenile Fish Survival

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

Variation in the productivity and sustainability of fish resources is determined, in part, by large changes in juvenile fish production from year to year. This is defined as “recruitment.” Fisheries oceanographers and fish stock assessment scientists have been trying to better understand and predict this variation for more than 100 years.

“We are seeing a lot of changes in the Bering Sea ecosystem. With analytical tools like this, we should be able to quickly identify factors affecting juvenile fish survival in a given year to generate reliable estimates of future productivity. This may help resource managers to more effectively target their management efforts,” said Jim Thorson, Habitat Ecological Processes Research Program Lead, Alaska Fisheries Science Center and lead author for the paper.

For the first time, scientists glimpsed how ocean temperature in different parts of Alaska’s Bering Sea may have influenced juvenile fish survival over the past three decades. They also gained valuable insights into how it may be affected under warmer ocean conditions in the future.

This unique approach combines oceanographic data collected from research surveys (1982-2018) with recruitment data into a single model. It also incorporated end-of-century projections of bottom and sea surface temperatures for the eastern Bering Sea. Scientists then used global climate models to develop regional-scale projections.

The authors see this an important step to understand the complex relationship between fish stock production and long-term climate processes. The ongoing collection of biological and environmental data will help to further improve these predictions.

Read the full release here

American Lobster, Sea Scallops Habitat Could Shift Off the Northeast

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

Researchers have projected significant changes in the habitat of commercially important American lobster and sea scallops on the Northeast U.S. continental shelf. They used a suite of models to estimate how species will react as waters warm. The researchers suggest that American lobster will move further offshore and sea scallops will shift to the north in the coming decades.

Findings from the study were published recently in Diversity and Distributions. They pose fishery management challenges as the changes can move stocks into and out of fixed management areas. Habitats within current management areas will also experience changes — some will show species increases, others decreases, and still others no change.

“Changes in stock distribution affect where fish and shellfish can be caught and who has access to them over time,” said Vincent Saba, a fishery biologist in the Ecosystems Dynamics and Assessment Branch at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a co-author of the study. “American lobster and sea scallop are two of the most economically valuable single-species fisheries in the entire United States. They are also important to the economic and cultural well-being of coastal communities in the Northeast. Any changes to their distribution and abundance will have major impacts,” he said.

Read the full release here