Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area

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

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to all federally permitted limited access general category scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on May 23, 2020.

As of May 23, 2020, no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that 100 percent of the 2020 default total allowable catch for this area will be taken. The closure will be in effect until the end of the fishing year, March 31, 2021.

If you have declared a trip into the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, May 23, 2020, you may complete the trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

Read the full release here

Fishing industry in Hawaii to receive millions in targeted COVID-19 aid

May 21, 2020 — Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) recently announced that more than $4.3 million is now available for the State of Hawaii’s fishing and aquaculture industry impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is the agency tasked to administer the funds to eligible applicants.

“Those eligible for the funds include commercial fishing businesses, charter for hire fishing companies, qualified aquaculture operations and marine fisheries management agencies,” said Case.

The money was made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), which Congress passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support and was signed into law by the president on March 27, 2020.

Nationally, the funds are administered through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Read the full story at Lahaina News

Researchers Probe Orca Poop for Microplastics: Part 2

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

How do microplastics end up in killer whale feces?

“There are two ways that the whales could ingest microplastics,” says Kim Parsons, Research Geneticist with NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “They could incidentally swallow particles in sea water while eating fish, or they could ingest salmon that are themselves contaminated with microplastic particles.”

She suspects that most of the microplastics in orca poop are coming from the whales’ prey. The particles are traveling up the food chain from gut to gut, from herring to salmon to orca.

But why does it matter for orcas if their guts are full of microplastic particles and fibers?

How ingestion of microplastics affects marine mammals is both poorly understood and scientifically controversial. So the answer is, we don’t know yet, but scientists are concerned for the health of organisms at all levels of the marine food chain.

You might own a reusable water bottle advertised as being free of toxic chemical additives like bisphenol A, or BPA. Many chemicals found in microplastics are pollutants, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, phthalates, and BPA and its substitutes. Some of these chemicals are known endocrine disruptors, which means that the chemicals can disrupt an animal’s natural hormones. The chemicals may affect reproduction, growth and development, and ultimately population viability. When microplastics are moving through the whales’ digestive tract, the harmful chemicals could leach into their bodies.

Read the full release here

$11 million in aid aimed at Alabama’s seafood, fishing industries

May 21, 2020 — Gov. Kay Ivey has announced that more than $11 million in federal relief money, some of it coronavirus-related, will be directed to fishing- and seafood-related industries.

Details such as who will be eligible for the funds and how the application process will work remain to be ironed out. A statement issued Wednesday by the governor’s office said some of the money will be used to offset coronavirus-related losses, while the lion’s share “will be used to address a range of impacts including those to commercial fishing businesses, charter/for-hire fishing businesses, qualified aquaculture operations, seafood processors, and the fishing ecosystem and environment.”

According to the governor’s office, $3.3 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act will go to “qualifying applicants in the state’s seafood industry who have been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.”

An additional $8.6 million comes from federal fisheries disaster relief funds being directed to Alabama because of freshwater flooding that harmed Gulf of Mexico fisheries in 2019. According to Wednesday’s announcement, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division to establish eligibility guidelines.

Read the full story at AL.com

Protecting Fish Habitat Helps Put Food on Your Table

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

Healthy habitats are productive habitats. They provide food and shelter for fish and help to maintain sustainable fish populations and fisheries that produce the seafood that we all love and depend on. Everyone benefits when marine habitats are protected from the effects of fishing.

Read our webstory to learn more about what we do to ensure that habitats remain healthy and productive.

Fishing monitors not required through May 30; draft rule hearing Thursday

May 20, 2020 — Meanwhile, the New England Fishery Management Council is hosting a webinar public hearing on its draft groundfish monitoring amendment and has extended the public comment deadline to the end of June.

The council, which voted in April to postpone final action on draft Amendment 23 beyond its June meeting, will hold the webinar public hearing Thursday, May 21. One hearing was held May 12. If approved, the council would work with new NOAA to implement the new monitoring rules.

Thursday’s session is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. and individuals may register through a link on the council’s website, nefmc.org.

More information on Amendment 23 and proposed changes to monitoring can be found at https://bit.ly/2zN4vcR

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Industry Spoke and We Listened: Communications Effort Focuses on Groundfish Monitoring and Amendment 23 Development

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

NOAA Fisheries collaboratively manages U.S. fisheries with fishery management councils, fisheries commissions, and state partners. The New England Fishery Management Council is developing Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Through this amendment, the Council is evaluating the current groundfish monitoring program and considering changes to improve the monitoring system. Early discussions during the development of Amendment 23 revealed that industry members wanted more information about our current monitoring system. The groundfish monitoring system is complex, and since the at-sea monitoring program is industry-funded, changes to this program have implications for the industry. Communication is key to our work and we always strive to do a better job communicating about our programs and systems. The development of this amendment presents an opportunity for us to improve understanding about our monitoring programs. We can also help industry and other stakeholders engage in the development of Amendment 23.

Creating a Plan to Improve Communication about Monitoring and Amendment 23

In 2018, we contracted with a team of public outreach specialists from Vision Planning and Consulting, LLC (VPC). They helped us develop a strategic communications plan to improve the way we communicate about groundfish monitoring and Amendment 23. We developed the plan to ensure that members of the industry, particularly those who may not always participate in Council meetings, have the information they need to engage meaningfully in the management process.

Read the full release here

Researchers Probe Orca Poop for Microplastics: Part 1

May 19, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

You might worry about your toddler chewing on a plastic toy with toxic chemicals. Some orca researchers are beginning to worry about whales ingesting a gut full of microplastics, and what that might mean for their health.

Microplastics are everywhere. Millions of tons of plastic enter our oceans annually, and much of it breaks into tiny pieces. Microplastics are plastic particles five millimeters (about two-tenths of an inch) or smaller. They represent 92 percent of plastic pieces polluting the oceans’ surface waters. Researchers have found microplastics in all major seas and oceans. They’ve also found them in the intestinal tracts of organisms at all levels of the ocean food chain, from zooplankton to fish to marine mammals.

Some scientists are concerned that microplastics and their toxic effects are bioaccumulating in killer whales, the oceans’ top predators. Endangered Southern Resident killer whales spend much of their summers in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. Chemical contamination from pollution, particularly in young whales, is one of three primary threats to their population. Could microplastics be part of the problem?

A team of scientists with NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center (Center) and the University of Washington have started an investigation. They are looking at what microplastics the Southern Residents are ingesting, at what scale, and whether the whales are being exposed to toxic chemicals associated with microplastics.

Read the full release here

NOAA Extends Waiver for Monitors on Fishing Ships

May 19, 2020 — The federal government is continuing to waive the need for some fishing vessels to carry at-sea monitors.

At-sea monitors and fishery observers collect data on board fishing boats that help inform the management of U.S. fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office has waived the requirement for vessels with Northeast fishing permits to carry the monitors through May 30.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

NOAA hosts virtual meeting to discuss offshore mapping progress in Alaska

May 19, 2020 — Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) held a virtual meeting of the Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) to discuss progress made in the offshore mapping of Alaska, among other topics.

The HSRP is a federal advisory committee comprised of stakeholders who assists in advising NOAA on navigation-related products, data, and services.

Read the full story at Seafood Source