Saving Seafood

New Rules to Protect Endangered Right Whales Face Delays

January 30, 2020 — A federal government plan to protect an endangered species of whale is snarled in delays and won’t likely be available for public comment until the summer, court papers state.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is working with state governments on the plan to protect the North Atlantic right whale, which only numbers about 400. The plan is expected to restrict commercial fishing activities off New England to try to prevent the whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear.

Jennifer Anderson, an assistant regional administration for protected resources in a NOAA regional office, wrote Tuesday that “unfortunately, the state measures have taken more time to be developed than we expected.” The agency expects to publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register in July, she wrote.

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

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Measures for Private Recreational Tilefish Vessels

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

NOAA Fisheries seeks comments on proposed measures for private recreational tilefish vessels that were approved in Amendment 6 to the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. Proposed measures include requiring private recreational vessels that intend to target golden or blueline tilefish north of the Virginia/North Carolina border, to obtain a federal private recreational tilefish vessel permit through an online application on the Greater Atlantic Regional Office website. Proposed measures also include a requirement for private recreational tilefish vessels to fill out and submit an electronic vessel trip report within 24 hours of returning to port for trips where tilefish were targeted and/or retained.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

The comments due date is 02-28-2020.

The Pacific Ocean is so acidic that it’s dissolving Dungeness crabs’ shells

January 28, 2020 — The Pacific Ocean is becoming more acidic, and the cash-crabs that live in its coastal waters are some of its first inhabitants to feel its effects.

The Dungeness crab is vital to commercial fisheries in the Pacific Northwest, but lower pH levels in its habitat are dissolving parts of its shell and damaging its sensory organs, a new study found.

Their injuries could impact coastal economies and forebode the obstacles in a changing sea. And while the results aren’t unexpected, the study’s authors said the damage to the crabs is premature: The acidity wasn’t predicted to damage the crabs this quickly.

“If the crabs are affected already, we really need to make sure we pay much more attention to various components of the food chain before it is too late,” said study lead author Nina Bednarsek, a senior scientist with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.

The findings were published this month in the journal Science of the Total Environment and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The agency studies ocean acidification and how changing pH levels are impacting coasts.

Read the full story at CNN

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2020 At-Sea Monitoring Coverage Levels for Groundfish Sector Fishery

January 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces that for fishing year 2020, the total target at-sea monitoring coverage level is 40 percent of all groundfish sector trips subject to the at-sea monitoring program. For more information, please read our letter to the New England Fishery Management Council and the Summary of Analysis Conducted to Determine At-Sea Monitoring Requirements for Multispecies Sectors FY 2020.

Per direction in 2020 appropriations, we have funds allocated for reimbursing industry for its at-sea monitoring costs. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will continue to administer the reimbursement program for 2020 as in prior years.

Read the full release here

Fisherman’s Perspective: Electronic Monitoring Needs to Pay Off for Fishermen

January 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This is part two of our interview Rick Bellevance, a charter fisherman out of Point Judith, Rhode Island and a member of the New England Fishery Management Council, about his experiences using electronic monitoring and reporting. In this part, we focus on electronic monitoring. Read Part 1 for Rick’s take on electronic reporting.

Getting Started in Electronic Monitoring

You just recently started a pilot project using cameras to attempt to verify eVTR recreational fishing reports. Why did you start this project?

I started the project on electronic monitoring as a way to validate my electronic vessel trip reports. I grow frustrated with folks who feel like they need to double, triple, and quadruple check our vessel trip reports. I honestly believe that we all try hard to accurately report what we catch and what we throw back. This was my way of being able to show a full season of how my business works. So those cameras are, in my opinion, recording what I already know, and I want to have an opportunity to show that to people.

Where are the cameras located on your boat?

One camera is on the railing on my bridge that shoots down into the cockpit and captures all the anglers in the back of the boat and all of the fishing activity. There is a second camera that is focused straight down on the station where we generally measure all the fish to determine if they are legal-sized or not. And so as I understand it, they can take the images from the angler reeling in the fish. Then the fish is then captured by the camera where it gets measured, and you can see whether the fish is discarded or retained. That system validates the numbers of discards and kept fish that we reported.

Have you seen the video? How are the cameras on the vessel working out so far?

I did see a little snippet from the program. It’s really cool how you can see the fish get caught on the first camera, and then see the fish measured and tossed or kept on the second camera.

Read the rest of the interview on our website.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

January 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. This action would set specifications for the herring fishery for 2020-2021. The proposed specifications would reduce catch limits for 2020 and 2021 in response to estimates of herring biomass and recruitment.

This action would use status quo methods to set all other specifications, including catch caps for river herring and shad.

This action would update the overfished and overfishing definition for the herring stock. Updating these definitions is largely an administrative change that is not expected to impact commercial fisheries. Additionally, this action would suspend the carryover of unharvested catch for 2021. Suspending carryover is proposed because the amount of carryover from 2018 (just under 5,000 mt) and potentially 2019 is substantial relative to the reduced ACL for 2020 and 2021 (11,571 mt). If carryover is harvested in specific management areas early in the year, other areas that are typically fished later in the year may be constrained by the ACL such the sub-ACLs in those areas cannot be fully harvested.  It is also consistent with the Council’s conservative management due to the current status of the herring stock and the uncertainty surrounding estimates of biomass and recruitment.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to:

Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator

Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office

55 Great Republic Drive

Gloucester, MA 01930

The comments due date is 02-12-2020.

Read the full release here

What’s tangling up the humpback whales? A food chain snarled by climate change

January 27, 2020 — Karin Forney still remembers when an unusual number of humpback whales started showing up in Monterey Bay a few winters ago. She could see them out her window — so close to the surf that kayakers could literally paddle up to them.

But with this delightful arrival came an alarming number of humpbacks getting entangled in fishing gear that cut into their flesh and often led to death. This sudden crisis confounded scientists, fishermen and animal rights groups.

“We went from virtually no humpback whale entanglements to one every other week — and then during peak, in the spring of 2016 … we were basically on call every single day,” said Forney, an applied marine ecologist at the NOAA Fisheries who scrambled to help the rescue efforts.

“The whales just kept coming.”

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times

Surveys Collect Data Year-Round on Marine Life along U.S. East Coast

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

While the weather outside may be frightful this time of year, Northeast Fisheries Science Center researchers continue collecting data from planes, ships, and underwater.

Many of the studies are part of the Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species, or AMAPPS. This multi-year program is funded by NOAA, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Navy. Researchers put information about abundance, distribution, ecology, and behavior of protected species—from whales, dolphins, and seals to marine turtles and seabirds—into an ecosystem context. This helps resource managers with conservation measures and decision-making.

Aerial Surveys

NOAA Fisheries scientists and colleagues from state and non-profit organizations conducted aerial surveys in the Northeast region through December 2019. Flights will resume on February 1. The focus is on right whale sightings in and near Nantucket Shoals, where many whales have been aggregating recently. We will also survey other areas where right whales were seen in the past.

Two recent aerial surveys used NOAA Twin Otter aircraft. The Northeast center’s aerial whale survey team conducts one based at Air Station Cape Cod. Center staff and colleagues from other marine research organizations conducted a survey specifically for AMAPPS last fall, based at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

AMAPPS surveys moved to southeast U.S. waters off Florida and Georgia in early December and will continue there through the end of January 2020.

Read the full release here

Florida Man Sentenced for Killing Endangered Sawfish

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

Chad Ponce, a 38-year old commercial fishermen, is facing 2 years probation, 80 hours of community service and a $2,000 fine for killing an endangered smalltooth sawfish. A judge determined this sentence on December 19, 2019, after a joint investigation by NOAA Fisheries and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) confirmed Ponce used a power saw to cut the rostrum (saw or bill) off of the live fish before discarding its body back into the ocean.

The St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office and FWC received a tip reporting the capture and gross mishandling of a large (12-14 foot) smalltooth sawfish off the coast of Ponte Vedra, Florida, on July 18, 2018. The sawfish was incidentally caught in one of Ponce’s commercial shrimp trawl nets earlier that day.

Upon retrieval of the net Ponce, captain of the Triton II, first attempted to use a hacksaw on the rostrum, but witnesses report he tossed that saw into the ocean when it didn’t work. Ponce then used a power saw to cut the rostrum off the live animal. Another fisherman in a vessel adjacent to the trawler witnessed the incident and reported it to FWC’s Report Sawfish for Science Hotline.  

This hotline is typically used to document sightings and incidental captures by recreational anglers of sawfish for the purpose of monitoring the population. The report was passed on to NOAA, which oversees the conservation of species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

NOAA and FWC opened an investigation into the alleged violation. FWC sent an officer offshore to the location of the Triton II on the day of the report. DNA evidence connecting Ponce to the crime was gathered in the course of the investigation.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Approves Adjustments to Fishing Year 2019 Specifications for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

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

Each year, NOAA Fisheries determines how much unused quota sectors may carry over from the previous fishing year based on final catch data. Today we are announcing, through a final rule, the amount of allocation each sector may carry over from the 2018 to 2019 fishing year.

This rule also corrects minor errors published in Framework Adjustment 58 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. These errors are administrative and do not change the amount of quota allocated to sectors or the common pool for the 2019 fishing year.

For details see the rule as filed in the Federal Register or our website.