Saving Seafood

Maine wants more credit from feds for efforts to save whales

February 14, 2020 — Maine’s top marine official has told the federal government that his state deserves more credit for the efforts it has made to try to save an endangered species of whale.

Maine is tasked with coming up with new regulations that make the oceans safer for North Atlantic right whales, which number only about 400 in the world. The proposed new protections place new restrictions on the lobster fishing business, which is critical to Maine’s economy and heritage.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration informed Maine in January that its proposal to protect the whales doesn’t go far enough.

But Patrick Keliher, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, sent a letter to NOAA on Wednesday that outlined numerous existing and additional proposed protections that he said play a key role in protecting the whales.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Alaska Sea Grant Deadline for Fellowship Program is Tomorrow

February 14, 2020 — The Alaska Sea Grant Program wants to remind soon-to-graduate or recently finished graduate students interested in the science and policy that applications for their 2020 state fellowship program must be in by tomorrow.

Six positions are available — Alaska Sea Grant Mariculture Fellow, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, National Park Service, North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the United States Geological Survey.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Maine Lobstermen Dismayed By Fed’s Push For More Gear Changes To Protect Endangered Whale

February 14, 2020 — Maine’s top fisheries regulator is telling his federal counterparts the state’s lobster fleet deserves more credit for its efforts to reduce the risk of fishing gear entanglements with the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher revealed this week that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told him that Maine’s proposed gear changes, including a reduced number of  vertical ropes in offshore waters, are insufficient.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Keliher tells NOAA that it is overlooking other whale protection measures that the state has taken in the past and is proposing for the future. “It needs to be taken into consideration: it’s not part of any calculations they have on the books right now,” he says.

Keliher met last night with the state Lobster Advisory Council, which includes fishermen from each of the state’s seven lobster management zones.

He says Maine should get credit for replacing floating rope lines that pose a big hazard for the whales with safer, sinking lines, and for Maine’s proposal to require inshore boats to weave weak, breakaway links into their lines.

Read the full story at Maine Public

NOAA Fisheries – FB20-008: Closure for the Commercial Golden Tilefish Longline Component in South Atlantic Federal Waters on February 18, 2020

February 14, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial longline component for golden tilefish in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on February 18, 2020. The closure applies to all harvest or possession of golden tilefish with longline fishing gear.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • Only golden tilefish longline endorsement holders are allowed to harvest golden tilefish with longline fishing gear.
  • The 2020 commercial catch limit for the golden tilefish longline component is 248,805 pounds gutted weight. NOAA Fisheries predicts this catch limit will be reached by February 18, 2020, and according to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

DURING AND AFTER THE CLOSURE:

  • Golden tilefish harvested with longline fishing gear may not be sold or purchased after the closure. The prohibition on sale or purchase during the closure does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time on February 18, 2020, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • During the longline closure, a vessel with a golden tilefish longline endorsement may not commercially harvest golden tilefish using hook-and-line fishing gear, and 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).
  • A vessel that does not have a longline endorsement, but has a commercial South Atlantic snapper-grouper unlimited permit, may commercially harvest golden tilefish with hook-and-line fishing gear until the hook-and-line catch limit is reached.
  • The commercial longline component for golden tilefish in federal waters of the South Atlantic will open at 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2021.

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/text-idx?SID=383bc195ccbeab4fd6bec1c24905df34&node=sp50.12.622.i&rgn=div6

NOAA Fisheries Announces Final 2020 Blueline Tilefish Commercial and Recreational Fishery Specifications

February 14, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is finalizing blueline tilefish quotas for the 2020 fishing year that we previously announced as projected on February 12, 2019. There have been no overages in the Greater Atlantic Region in 2019, and there is no new biological information, so we are now finalizing the 2020 quotas. The quotas are the same as in 2019.

Approved measures include acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), and total allowable landings (TAL) for the commercial and recreational fisheries.

All other requirements remain the same.

For more details, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register today and the permit holder bulletin posted on our website.

Read the full release here

NOAA Seeks Public Comment on Revised Management Plan for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

February 14, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has released the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Condition Report. Condition reports summarize resources and ecosystem services within a national marine sanctuary, pressures on those resources, current conditions and trends, and management responses to the pressures.

The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Condition Report indicates that water quality in the sanctuary is good, but habitat, living resources, and maritime heritage resources continue to experience human impacts (vessel traffic, fishing, marine debris, ocean noise) and climate change. The condition report also includes an assessment of the sanctuary’s ecosystem services, which are benefits that people obtain from the environment, such as seafood and recreation.

The release of the condition report will initiate the review and revision of the management plan for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Public scoping is the first phase in the revision process, and the public can comment through April 10, 2020, on the scope of issues and programs to be considered within an updated plan. Comments may be submitted online, by mail, or in person at the public scoping meetings.

WHAT:

Public scoping meetings and public comment period through April 10 to solicit input on the scope of issues and programs to be considered within an updated management plan for Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

WHEN and WHERE:

  • March 11, 6:30-8 p.m., New England Aquarium, Harborside Learning Lab,1 Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110
  • March 12, 6:30-8 p.m., Maritime Gloucester, 23 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, MA 01930
  • March 18, 6:30-8 p.m., Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Admiral’s Hall,101 Academy Dr, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532

HOW TO COMMENT:

Online: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal and use docket number NOAA-NOS-2020-0003.

By mail:

NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
175 Edward Foster Road
Scituate, MA 02066
Attn: Management Plan Revision

Maine whale protection plan doesn’t go far enough, feds say

February 13, 2020 — Federal regulators don’t believe a Maine plan to reduce risk to endangered whales goes far enough, and that means fishermen in the state could face more restrictions.

Maine officials submitted a plan to the federal government designed to meet a requirement to better protect rare North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in lobster fishing gear. The whales number only about 400 and can die if ensnared in the gear, which is used to trap one of Maine’s best known and most valuable natural resources.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notified the state in a Jan. 10 letter that its proposed package of measures would result in no more than a 52% reduction in risk to the whales. The required goal is 60%, said the letter, which was written by Michael Pentony, regional administrator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

US government allocates funds to fight IUU as part of trade agreement

February 13, 2020 — The U.S. government has allocated USD 8 million (EUR 7.3 million) to fight IUU fishing and bolster the country’s Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) as part of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) that was approved in January.

As part of the agreement, funding will go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help it cooperate with the Mexican government on fighting illegal fishing through 2023.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Announces Final 2020 Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Commercial Fishery Specifications and Minimum Size Suspension for Atlantic Surfclams

February 13, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is implementing surfclam and ocean quahog quotas for the 2020 fishing year that we previously announced as projected on February 6, 2018. There have been no overages in 2019, and there is no new biological information, so we are now finalizing the 2020 quotas. The 2020 fishing year quotas will remain 3.4 million bushels for surfclams, 5.33 million bushels for ocean quahogs, and 100,000 Maine bushels for Maine ocean quahogs.

NOAA Fisheries is also suspending the minimum size requirement for surfclams. Discard, catch, and biological data show that 22 percent of 2019 coastwide landed surfclams had a shell length less than 4.75 inches, which is less than the 30 percent trigger for a minimum size requirement. This is closer to the trigger than in prior years. Vessels are encouraged to avoid areas with a lot of clams under 4.75 inches to reduce the chance of initiating the default minimum size in 2021.

For more details, read the final rule as published in the Federal Register today and the permit holder bulletin posted on our website.

How Our Shark Finning Ban Helps Us Sustainably Manage Shark Fisheries

February 12, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Shark finning is often pointed to as a leading cause of decline in global shark populations. The wasteful practice has been illegal in United States federal waters for decades, though. Guy DuBeck, a highly migratory species fisheries management specialist, breaks down how a federal ban on shark finning works and the role it plays in protecting shark populations.

What is shark finning?  

Shark finning is the practice of removing a shark’s fins and dumping the rest of the body at sea.

It’s important to remember that shark finning happens at sea. Fishermen or dealers who remove fins after bringing the whole shark to shore are not “finning” sharks. They are sustainably selling all parts of the shark.

How did shark finning come to be?

Fins are easier to transport than a whole animal. And while there are commercial uses for the rest of the shark, their meat is less profitable. That’s why some foreign fishermen will remove fins at sea.

Why would fishermen want to harvest fins at all? 

Shark fins have a higher economic value than both shark meat and some other fish. So, fin sales are key to any commercial shark fishing operation. By selling the fins, U.S. fishermen are also making use of all parts of a sustainably harvested shark.

When did the United States ban shark finning? 

NOAA Fisheries first banned shark finning in the Atlantic Ocean in 1993 because of the role it played in overfishing. Congress extended the ban to any vessel in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone with the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 and Shark Conservation Act of 2010.

Under these laws, fishermen must bring a shark to shore with all its fins naturally attached. That specific requirement is what makes our ban so effective. For example, it prevents fishermen from finning one shark and using staples or tape to attach the fins to another carcass on the boat. This is a loophole other countries have had to deal with.

Read the full release here