Saving Seafood

Fish aid 2 weeks away

March 31, 2020 — Specific eligibility criteria and distribution details for the $300 million in federal assistance to the U.S. seafood industry probably won’t be available for at least another two weeks, Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken estimated on Monday.

Romeo Theken, who spent much of last weekend on conference calls discussing the economic and health implications of the novel coronavirus pandemic,  said she urged state and federal officials to move quickly in getting the money into the hands of fishermen, charter operators, aquaculturists, processors and other shoreside businesses financially wounded by health crisis.

“We’re fighting this invisible war and everyone has to work together or no one is going to survive this” Romeo Theken said. “The plan is very complex and very broad because, unlike previous fishery disaster assistance, this touches everybody in the commercial fishing industry from Alaska to Massachusetts.”

The mayor said she anticipates the federal funds will be distributed by the Commerce Department through NOAA Fisheries to individual regions and states, which then would manage the disbursement of funds to seafood industry stakeholders.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA Fisheries Provides an Update on Notification Requirements and Implementing Industry-Funded Monitoring in the Atlantic Herring Fishery

March 31, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On February 12, 2020, we invited monitoring service providers to apply to become NOAA Fisheries-approved providers for industry-funded observer, at-sea monitoring, and portside sampling coverage. We expect to announce the approved industry-funded monitoring providers in April.

Beginning April 1, 2020, herring vessels will notify us via the pre-trip notification system (PTNS) to be considered for monitoring coverage, including coverage to satisfy Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology coverage and industry-funded monitoring coverage. The details of new and existing notification, reporting, and monitoring requirements, and how to comply with those requirements, is described in this bulletin.

Originally, we had also planned to begin selecting vessels, specifically vessels issued Category A or B herring permits, for industry-funded at-sea monitoring coverage on April 1. However, we are delaying the start date to begin assigning industry-funded monitoring coverage in the herring fishery. Once monitoring service providers are approved, we want to provide ample time for industry participants to make arrangements with service providers to secure at-sea monitoring coverage, and potentially observer coverage to access Northeast multispecies closed areas, for their vessels. Additionally, our training class for new monitors and observers in the herring fishery has been delayed in response to the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. For these reasons, we will not be selecting herring vessels for industry-funded monitoring coverage any earlier than June 15, 2020. This means that PTNS will issue waivers for industry-funded monitoring coverage until June, and herring vessels will not be responsible for paying sampling costs associated with industry-funded monitoring until June.

Read the full release here

NOAA Suspends Northeast Fishing Monitor Requirement

March 30, 2020 — An arm of the federal government is temporarily waiving 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 April 4.

NOAA said additional extensions would be evaluated every week. The rule changes is one of the emergency measures NOAA is using to address fishery observer coverage during the coronavirus outbreak, the agency said.

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

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Midwater Trawl Vessels to Participate in an Atlantic Herring Exempted Fishing Permit

March 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) to evaluate how to best administer an electronic monitoring (EM) and portside sampling program in the Atlantic herring fishery.

This EFP would allow midwater trawl vessels issued Category A or B Atlantic herring permits to use EM, coupled with portside sampling, instead of at-sea monitoring to satisfy their industry-funded monitoring (IFM) requirements during IFM years 2020-2021 (April 1, 2020 – March 31, 2022). Participating vessels would be required to operate EM systems on all declared herring trips and obtain portside sampling services for trips selected for IFM coverage. Consistent with the 50-percent IFM coverage target for herring vessels, 50 percent of EFP trips would be selected for portside sampling. For more information about the proposed EFP, please read the Federal Register notice describing the project.

If you own a midwater trawl vessel issued a Category A or B herring permit and would like to be issued an EFP, please contact NOAA Fisheries no later than April 27, 2020.

Notifying NOAA Fisheries that you would like to participate in the EFP by April 27, 2020, will help us ensure we have sufficient information for you to participate, including ensuring that the Pre-Trip Notification System works properly for your vessel.  Additionally, your notification will alert the EM and portside sampling service providers of your interest in the EFP, which will facilitate arranging system upgrades and your coverage in advance of IFM coverage beginning as early as June 2020.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Final Management Measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery for the 2020 Fishing Year

March 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Framework 32 sets specifications for the scallop fishery for fishing year 2020, including days-at-sea, individual fishing quotas, sea scallop access area trips, and Northern Gulf of Maine management measures.

In addition, Framework 32:

  • Sets precautionary default 2021 specifications, in case we implement the next framework after the April 1, 2021 start of the 2021 fishing year.
  • Allocates effort into five rotational access areas (Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship-South-Deep, Nantucket Lightship-North, Closed Area I, and Closed Area II).
  • Allows allocation in Closed Area I to be landed from either Closed Area I or the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.
  • Extends the existing seasonal closure in Closed Area II by two additional weeks to reduce bycatch of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder.
  • Closes areas to fishing to protect small scallops and reduce bycatch of flatfish.
  • Modifies the one-for-one access area trip exchange requirements to accommodate different access area allocations.
  • Reduces the limited access general category portion of the Northern Gulf of Maine total allowable catch by 3,718 lb to account for an overage in fishing year 2018.

For more information, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletins (Limited Access and Limited Access General Category) posted on our website.

Read the full release here

Highlighting Women in Electronic Technologies: Part 2

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

Electronic monitoring and electronic reporting technologies are being developed to support science-based management decisions in commercial and recreational fisheries. NOAA Fisheries is working with fishermen and industry organizations, fishery management councils, and many other partners. We will improve the timeliness, quality, cost effectiveness, and accessibility of fishery-dependent data by integrating technology into fishery reporting and monitoring programs. Learn about nine women from around the country that are helping shape the future of electronic technologies in U.S fisheries.

Mel Sanderson
Chief Operating Officer
Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Chatham, Massachusetts

Originally from Minnesota, Mel Sanderson received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Occidental College. She earned her master’s of coastal environmental management from Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment. While in graduate school, Mel interned with the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association (now the Fishermen’s Alliance). The following October, the Alliance asked if she wanted to come back after she graduated to manage a new cooperative research project that she helped design while interning. Almost 16 years later, she’s still there. She works to ensure the sustainability of both the fisheries and the small fishing businesses that rely upon them. She has held almost every role at the Fishermen’s Alliance—a direct consequence of always being willing to say yes to whatever needed to be done in a small non-profit. She also has great bosses that support her need for a fresh challenge every few years.

In her role, Mel manages the regional electronic monitoring (EM) pre-implementation project for New England groundfish. She contracts with EM service providers and coordinates with NOAA and more than 20 fishermen. Together, they design, troubleshoot, and refine the EM audit model program design.

Read the full release here

Women’s History Month: Talking with Kate Sampson

March 26, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What do you do as the Sea Turtle Stranding and Disentanglement Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region?

I oversee a network of organizations that respond to and care for stranded (sick, injured, or dead) and entangled sea turtles. There are many facets of this role, including coordinating the placement of sick or injured sea turtles in rehabilitation facilities, solving state and federal permitting issues. I help locate pilots and planes to carry turtles south for release into warmer waters and consistent communication through the network. I also manage the important data collected from these events.

What do you like best about your job?

I enjoy working with the dedicated, caring staff and volunteers in the network. They impress me every day with their tireless efforts to rescue these endangered and threatened sea turtles.

What’s the hardest part of your job?

The hardest part is witnessing the conflict between sea turtles and human activities, such as boating, recreational and commercial fishing, and marine debris. Documentation of strandings is a vital source of information about the threats facing sea turtles. However, it’s difficult to see the results of these conflicts and not have immediate solutions. We continue to try to understand these conflicts and brainstorm new ways to address them.

Read the full release here

Women’s History Month: Talking with Jui-Han Chang

March 26, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Can you tell us about your science journey, your career in science?

My journey to science was not the shortest, but it was the luckiest. I grew up in Taiwan, a small but beautiful island country about 100 miles off the coast of southeastern China. It’s surrounded by spectacular oceans and full of rugged mountains. My dad is an amateur ecologist and my mom is an environmental advocate. It seemed all the cards were lined up for a career in the natural sciences, but nothing particularly inspired me until later.

When I was young, I was lost. I struggled in schools because I couldn’t find anything interesting enough to make me want to study hard, but I went to college anyway. I was a business major at Aletheia University in Taiwan. It was not my choice, but was the only option based on my scores on the test Taiwanese students take to get selected for colleges and majors. During college I went scuba diving, which was part of a swimming coach training. It was love at first sight, my first glimpse into the mystery of the ocean. At the time, I didn’t know what I was looking at, but I knew I loved this different but beautiful world. That’s when I knew I should change my career path.

After barely finishing with a business degree, I decided to go to graduate school. I wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do because of my poor grades, but it was the best decision I ever made. I applied to the National Taiwan Ocean University’s Institute of Marine Resource Management and was accepted. I lucked out because they were looking for students with a multidisciplinary background.

Read the full release here

Highlighting Women in Electronic Technologies: Part 1

March 25, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Electronic monitoring and electronic reporting technologies are being developed to support science-based management decisions in commercial and recreational fisheries. NOAA Fisheries is working with fishermen and industry organizations, fishery management councils, and many other partners. We will improve the timeliness, quality, cost effectiveness, and accessibility of fishery-dependent data by integrating technology into fishery reporting and monitoring programs. Learn about nine women from around the country that are helping shape the future of electronic technologies in U.S fisheries.

Julie Bonney

Owner and Executive Director
Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, Inc.
Kodiak, Alaska

Julie Bonney was born and raised in Colville, Washington, a small logging and farming community in eastern Washington. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from University of Puget Sound and her master’s in environmental science from Drexel University. In 1984, Julie moved with her husband to Kodiak, Alaska. In the early 1990s, Julie reached out to the then-owner of Alaska Groundfish Data Bank (AGDB), Chris Blackburn, for advice about joining the observer program. As a mother of three young children, Julie soon realized that being an at-sea observer was not feasible. Instead, Chris offered Julie a job as an analyst. She continued to work there and eventually bought the business. 

Julie and her company have been involved in three electronic monitoring projects since 2007.  First, AGDB tested at sea electronic monitoring for vessels that participated in the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) Rockfish Limited Access Privilege program in 2007 and 2008. The results of this project showed that observer coverage was similar in cost to monitoring with cameras. Currently, AGDB is involved in two projects:

  • The Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) for pelagic trawl pollock fishing using electronic monitoring (EM) for compliance monitoring in both the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea pollock fisheries.
  • EM as an audit tool so that fish ticket counts of salmon reported by processors can be used in the catch accounting system to inform the hard Chinook salmon cap for the rockfish fishery in the CGOA (1,200 fish).

Within her current role, Julie enjoys problem solving and working with fishermen and processors. She also enjoys improving fishery management in collaboration with the trawl sector and NOAA Fisheries personnel.

“As a woman in fisheries, you must demonstrate your capacity and be one of the smartest people in the room. Have the confidence and be strong-willed enough to step outside traditional roles. Women have the ability to think more globally and be more multidimensional which is essential to solve our fishery problems since the fishing industry is so complicated and multilayered.  As a mother and a woman, I tend to mother my membership (some of the people I work for actually call me ‘mom’).”

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Issues Emergency Action to Waive Observer Coverage on a Case-by-Case Basis

March 25, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, in response to the spread of COVID-19, NOAA Fisheries issued an emergency action to provide the authority, on a case-by-case basis, to waive observer coverage, some training, and other program requirements while meeting conservation needs and providing an ongoing supply of fish to markets. We are taking this emergency action to protect public health and to ensure the safety of fishermen, observers, and others.

Under this emergency action, a NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator, Office Director, or Science Center Director has the ability to waive observer requirements in three specific circumstances, after consulting with observer providers. The three circumstances are:

  • The providers do not have sufficient observers to staff a fleet or a port or a vessel (i.e., the observers are under quarantine).
  • The providers cannot physically get observers to fishing vessel departure points – perhaps because of travel restrictions, or shelter in place guidance, etc.
  • The providers do not have enough trained observers because we could not offer training due to building access restrictions, meeting guidance, etc.

If observer requirements are waived, the agency will monitor fishing effort and catch data and other relevant information to ensure that there are no significant adverse environmental consequences and consider alternative fishery management measures should such consequences arise.

We will continue to fulfill our mission, maintaining our nation’s seafood supply and protecting marine life, while ensuring the health and safety of our employees, partners, and broader fishing community during this crisis.

Read the full release here