February 28, 2020 — Thursday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), approved a $24.4 million dollar disaster relief package to help restore the loss of fisheries impacted by the 2018 pacific cod fishery disaster and sockeye salmon failure in Chignik.
The money will be administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission who will distribute the relief payments to fishermen and their deckhands, processors, and fishery research in the affected regions.
February 28, 2020 — Congressman Garret Graves has written a letter to the National Oceanic an Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) asking them to allocated the remaining $100 million in fisheries disaster assistance to Louisiana to go towards mitigating the impacts of the recent openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
This comes after NOAA announced Thursday, Feb. 27 that several states that experienced catastrophic fishery losses after Hurricane Michael would receive $65 million.
“Boiled shrimp. Boiled crabs. A dozen oysters on a platter. These delicacies feed Louisiana, the country, and the world. But yet we will find a way to bite the hand that feeds,” Graves said. “Louisiana is still hurting from losses to our fisheries after the opening of the spillway. Fisheries in south Louisiana are engines of local economies, employing both commercial and recreational fishermen, processors, marinas, supportive maritime industries, and restaurants. However, this isn’t just about jobs, it’s about generations of Cajun and Creole culture being threatened by the impacts of disasters.”
February 28, 2020 — The Fisheries of the United States 2018 report recently released by NOAA Fisheries highlighted a recurring annual trend nationally of overall commercial landings declining while the overall value of those landings increased.
In 2018, total landings at U.S. ports declined 5.3% to 4.3 million metric tons as compared to 2017. The value of those landings, however, rose 2.8% to $5.6 billion in 2018.
The port of Gloucester didn’t precisely mirror that trend in 2018.
While landings here declined 7.8% to 59 million pounds as compared to 2017, the value of those landings remained at $53 million — the same as 2017 and a $1 million increase from 2016
Massachusetts saw its landings decline 0.3% to 109,442 metric tons in 2018, but the statewide value of those landings — $647.2 million — was second only to Alaska’s catch value of $1.78 billion. The 2018 value of Massachusetts landings represented a 6.9% increase from 2017.
February 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries announces interim 2020 recreational management measures for the Atlantic bluefish fishery. These temporary measures are needed to prevent overfishing on the bluefish stock, which was declared overfished in late 2019.
The following interim regulations apply to all recreational vessels fishing for bluefish in federal waters from Maine through Florida effective February 28, 2020:
All other management measures and requirements, including minimum size and recreational seasons, remain unchanged.
For more details read the rule as published in the Federal Register and the bulletin posted on our website.
Submit Your Comments by March 30, 2020
Submit your comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Bluefish Interim Action.”
February 28, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
KEY MESSAGE
NOAA Fisheries announces the final rule for Vision Blueprint Recreational Regulatory Amendment 26 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 26). The final rule will:
WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:
The rule will be effective on March 30, 2020.
SUMMARY OF CHANGES FOR THE RECREATIONAL SECTOR:
20-Fish Aggregate Bag Limit
FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER: 85 FR 11307, February 27, 2020.
A complete version of this Fishery Bulletin is available from NOAA Fisheries and includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and additional information.
February 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:
Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $65 million to communities in Alaska, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and the Yurok Tribe (California) that suffered fishery disasters between 2017 and 2019.
“These funds help impacted fisheries recover from recent disasters and make them more resilient to future challenges,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This allocation supports the hard-working American fishing communities suffering from impacts beyond their control.”
Fisheries play a critical role for coastal economies, providing jobs for fishermen, fish processors, and other related maritime industries. However, fisheries can experience natural disaster events and other circumstances beyond the control of fishery managers, resulting in sudden and unexpected losses within the fishery and leading to serious economic impacts to those who rely on them.
NOAA Fisheries used commercial revenue loss information to allocate funding among the eligible disasters. NOAA Fisheries also took into consideration traditional uses that cannot be accounted for in commercial revenue loss alone.
The allocated funds can be used to help the fishing community including commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, charter businesses, shore-side infrastructure, and subsistence users, as well as improve the fishing ecosystem and environment. These funds will improve the long term economic and environmental sustainability of the impacted fisheries. Activities that can be considered for funding include infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and fishing permit buybacks, and job retraining.
In addition, some of the affected fishing communities may be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration or other Federal agencies.
February 27, 2020 — The word is out, almost, on what a panel of independent scientists thinks about the controversial “decision support tool” used by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service last spring when it drafted proposed rules aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales and other large marine mammals from entanglement with fishing gear.
When the fisheries service made its decision last spring on how best to reduce the risk to whales, it relied on a “decision support tool” based on a poll of Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (TRT) members, rather than extensive data collected over the years, as to where the whales are found and how much interaction there has been between them and Maine lobster gear. The team includes fishermen, scientists, representatives of conservation organizations and fisheries management officials from the federal government and from every state along the Atlantic Seaboard from Maine to Florida.
Data collected by NOAA show that, since the beginning of 2017, seventy percent of right whale deaths attributable to human-related causes (21) have occurred in Canadian waters while 30 percent (nine) occurred in U.S. waters. Not all of those deaths were clearly attributable to entanglement with fishing gear. Despite the disparity, NOAA insisted that U.S. interests must take steps to reduce the risk to right whales by 50 percent and is calling on Maine lobstermen to reduce the number of vertical lines that connect traps to surface buoys they use by half.
The TRT members from Maine objected to the use of the decision support tool because it had not been subject to the “peer review” process in which an independent panel of experts determines the adequacy of the data and methods to, in this case, form the basis for new management rules.
February 27, 2020 — Blue whales have been spotted in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Connecticut shoreline.
This month, researchers from the New England Aquarium surveyed the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, according to a release from the aquarium
Within six hours, the researchers had counted 322 whales and dolphins, including two blue whales.
“As marine mammal researchers, it’s such a thrill to fly in this area and see such a great diversity of animals,” researcher Orla O’Brien said in a release.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association lists blue whales as endangered. The exact population size is not known, but there were only 440 confirmed sightings in the Atlantic Ocean between 1979 and 2009.
February 27, 2020 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is investing resources in Alaska, a move seen helping move the state’s mariculture development forward.
The agency has appointed a Regional Office Mariculture Coordinator for the Alaska region for the first time.
Alaska’s Mariculture Initiative has a goal of building a $100-million industry in 20 years. Among Alicia Bishop’s many tasks as regional coordinator is to bring together stakeholders that will help lay the foundation for achieving that goal.
The head of the Task Force that developed the Initiative said the creation of the coordinator position for Alaska signals NOAA’s commitment to the state.
February 27, 2020 — Rapidly warming Alaska is already a poster child for climate change, from its vanishing sea ice to its thawing permafrost. But over the last three years, the state’s northwestern coast has experienced a series of unusual climate-related changes—remarkable even for the long-altered Pacific Arctic.
Beginning in 2017, a combination of abnormally high temperatures and unusually strong, southerly winds swept the Bering and Chukchi seas. An alarming cascade of ecological consequences ensued—record-low sea ice, shifting algae blooms, migrating fish populations and sudden seabird die-offs were just a few.
“Most of my own research is with people living in the coastal communities, so talking to them and hearing about what they’re seeing,” said Henry Huntington, an independent Alaskan researcher and consultant. “And they saw some very unusual things, and things that struck them.”
“Ridiculous” water temperatures and unstable sea ice were among the most common complaints raised in interviews with coastal residents, Huntington noted.
“Adding to that, what we’re hearing from folks on the research cruises, it just became apparent that things were really a lot different from what any of us expected,” he said.