Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Seeking New Marine Mammal Stranding Partners in Massachusetts

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

As of May 1, the New England Aquarium will no longer respond to stranded marine mammals in order to focus their efforts on sea turtle response given the increasing number of sea turtle strandings in our region. Going forward, NOAA will receive calls about stranded seals, dolphins, and whales from Rockport through Plymouth, MA.

Because the Aquarium will no longer be responding to stranded marine mammals, we are seeking new partners to join our Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Network to serve communities in this area and aid in our response. Network participants are volunteer organizations trained and federally authorized to respond to sick or injured dolphins, seals, and whales that strand along our shorelines. For more information and to learn how to become an authorized response organization, please contact Mendy Garron, NOAA Regional Marine Mammal Response Program Coordinator at 978-282-8478 or mendy.garron@noaa.gov. To report a stranded marine mammal, please call the NOAA Regional Marine Animal Hotline at 866-755-6622. For more information about our Marine Mammal Stranding Network, visit our website.

Read the full release here

Commercial fishermen struggling to sell seafood amid restaurant closures

April 28, 2020 — Restaurant closures due to the coronavirus pandemic continue to cause a major disruption in the seafood supply industry – and as a result, some commercial fishermen have turned to new ways to sell their catch.

“Everything is just being devastated because of the coronavirus,” said Wes Townsend, a full-time commercial fisherman in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Townsend has been fishing for about 44 years.

“Black sea bass is the main thing that we have. We also do lobster, certain times of the year we do rock fishing,” Townsend said.

This season, though, he’s catching a lot less — and not because of a lack of fish.

“This year, with the coronavirus, we have actually had buyers tell us, ‘Don’t go, we do not want your fish. We have no markets,’” Townsend added.

It’s something he said he’d never experienced before.

“We have never had the buyers tell us don’t go,” Townsend said.

With most restaurants closing their doors, the seafood supply industry has been suffering.

According to the most recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than two-thirds of seafood has been served at restaurants.

Read the full story at Fox News

CAROL SMITH: Maine lobstermen are not a threat to right whales

April 27, 2020 — U.S. District Court Judge James Boasburg’s recent ruling is the latest blow to Maine’s billion-dollar industry. Boasburg’s decision that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration violated the Endangered Species Act by authorizing the American lobster fishery despite its potential to harm the North Atlantic right whale population comes on the heels of new regulations imposed on fishermen last year. With many fishermen just starting to mark their fishing gear according to the new regulations, Boasburg’s ruling has left them in a state of uncertainty. Will this be the end of the industry as they know it?

Maine’s lobster industry provides an estimated 5,500 jobs throughout the state, according to a study conducted by Colby College and Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association in 2016. In a state with a population of 1.3 million, 5,500 jobs may seem expendable. However, the fishermen themselves are often the main source of income for their households. In Washington County, where unemployment is the highest in the state, households dependent on lobster fishermen rely on the fishery for an average of 77 percent of household income, according to a 2012 study by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The death of the fishery would throw many into poverty, and others would be forced to leave their coastal homes to find work.

To add insult to injury, Boasburg’s ruling represents a mere stripe in a pattern of striking injustice. Since June 2017, right whale mortalities have been on the rise, a pattern that has been declared an Unusual Mortality Event by NOAA. However, according to current statistics from NOAA Fisheries, 21 of the 30 dead stranded whales for the UME were found in Canada. Of the nine found in the U.S., only five were confirmed or suspected of entanglement, and not a single one was found in Maine waters. Furthermore, NOAA has only documented Maine lobster gear on three live entangled whales, most recently in 2004. None has been documented on a dead right whale.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

Right whales: Lawsuit on protections could last for months

April 27, 2020 — A judge’s ruling that the federal government didn’t take adequate steps to protect endangered whales will probably result in another monthslong court battle, parties to the lawsuit said.

Environmental groups sued the U.S. government with a claim that regulators’ failure to protect the North Atlantic right whale from harm was a violation of the Endangered Species Act, and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled April 9 that they were right. The right whales number only about 400 and are in the midst of a worrisome decline in population.

The government, environmentalists and industry members who are involved in the lawsuit must still return to court to determine a remedy. Boasberg ruled that the risk posed to the whales by the lobster fishery was too great to be sustainable, and that a remedy could ultimately result in new restrictions on lobster fishing.

The whales are vulnerable to lethal entanglement in lobster fishing gear.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

NOAA Fisheries Allocates Annual Catch Entitlements for Fishing Year 2020

April 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is allocating annual catch entitlements (ACE) to sectors for fishing year 2020, based on catch limits set by Framework 57 and 58, which will allow previously approved sectors to operate in fishing year 2020. These allocations will be updated once Framework 59 is finalized. We are also announcing default allocations for Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock to prevent impacts to industry resulting from delays in finalizing Framework 59, which will also update these allocations. We are also changing the Redfish Exemption Area and gear stowage requirements for vessels fishing under the redfish exemption.

Read the interim final rule as published in the Federal Register.  You may also submit comments through the online portal.  Copies of each sector’s operations plan and contract are available online.

The comment period is open through May 27, 2020.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to Redfish Exemption for Sector Vessels

April 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

As part of the 2020 Interim Final Sector Rule (published today), NOAA Fisheries is announcing changes to the Redfish Exemption Area and gear stowage requirements for sector vessels fishing under the redfish exemption in fishing year 2020.

Vessels were previously required to stow redfish codends below deck prior to fishing under the exemption. Vessels may now stow their redfish codends consistent with existing gear stowage regulations. Also, NMFS is changing the Redfish Exemption Area  to minimize catch of non-redfish stocks under the exemption, while still allowing vessels to fish in areas where redfish are abundant and bycatch of other stocks is minimal. The coordinates and a map of the new Redfish Exemption Area are below. All changes will take effect beginning May 1, 2020.

Read the full release here

Extended: Slow Speed Zone East of Boston to Protect Right Whales

April 24, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces an extension to a previously established voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area  or DMA) east of Boston.

This DMA was originally triggered based on an April 9, 2020, sighting of an aggregation of right whales from a Boston-area beach by private citizens.  On April 24, an aggregation of right whales was observed Northeast of Boston, MA.

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

East of Boston DMA is in effect through May 9, 2020.

42 47 N
42 05 N
70 26W
71 23W

Active Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs)

A mandatory speed restriction of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) is in effect in the following areas:

Mid-Atlantic: November 1-April 30

Cape Cod Bay: January 1-May 15

Off Race Point: March 1-April 30

Great South Channel: April 1 – July 31

More info on Seasonal Management Areas

Right Whales Are Migrating 

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.

More Information

Recent right whale sightings

Find out more about our right whale conservation efforts and the researchers behind those efforts.

Download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone

Acoustic detections in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston TSS

Send a blank message to receive a return email listing all current U.S. DMAs and SMAs.

Details and graphics of all ship strike management zones currently in effect.

Reminder: Approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law.

Read the full release here

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

April 24, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are implementing Framework Adjustment 8 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan. Framework 8 increases 2020-2021 skate fishery total allowable landings by 13 percent, and increases seasonal trip limits for the wing and bait fisheries to provide additional flexibility to fishermen. Specifically, this final rule will:

  • Increase the annual catch limit for the skate complex 4-percent to 32,715 mt
  • Increase total allowable landings of skate wings 13-percent to 11,879 mt
  • Increase the total allowable landings of skate bait 13-percent to 5,984 mt
  • Increase the bait fishery Season 3 possession limit to 25,000 lb
  • Increase the wing fishery Season 1 possession limit to 3,000 lb
  • Increase the wing fishery Season 2 possession limit to 5,000 lb
  • Increase the barndoor skate possession limit in the wing fishery to 750 lb in Season 1, and to 1,250 lb in Season 2

All other management measures and requirements, including incidental possession limits of 500 lb in the wing fishery and 8,000 lb in the bait fishery, remain unchanged. These measures will be effective for the start of the fishing year on May 1, 2020.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register, or the bulletin posted on our website.

The Deepwater Horizon Disaster Fueled a Gulf Science Bonanza

April 23, 2020 — After the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded a decade ago this month, killing 11 workers and spewing a massive black curtain of crude oil across the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of first responders and cleanup workers arrived on the scene. So too did an army of scientists. Aboard seagoing research vessels and wading along beaches and marshes, they came to assess the catastrophe and track it over time. British Petroleum, owner of the rig, agreed to fund a scientific stimulus package of $500 million just a few weeks after the April 20, 2010, blowout.

The 134 million gallons of oil devastated wildlife from Texas to Florida, killing thousands of marine mammals, such as dolphins and sea turtles, according to federal officials, and destroying shoreline and underwater habitats for commercially important fish, crabs, shrimp, and oysters. More than 25,000 fishermen and seafood industry workers were suddenly out of work, with a 10-year price tag of $4.5 billion in total economic losses, according to a 2019 study by a trio of researchers funded in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at Wired

Tilefish Recreational Permitting and Reporting Webinar Next Tues – 4/28

April 23, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Recreational tilefish anglers may soon be subject to new permitting and reporting requirements. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a public webinar on Tuesday, April 28, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., to provide information on obtaining recreational tilefish permits and options available to recreational tilefish anglers for electronically submitting VTRs. During the webinar, staff from the Council and NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office will cover the following topics, with opportunities for Q&A after each:

  • Overview of the proposed action.

  • Demonstration of how to obtain a permit.

  • Demonstration of the NOAA/GARFO Fish Online application for submitting reports.

The webinar will be recorded and made available on the Council’s website for later viewing.

For more in formation, including meeting materials, visit the event page on the Council’s website.

Read the full release here