Saving Seafood

ALASKA: NOAA announces up to $1 million in funding for crucial research projects — here’s why we should be paying attention

December 30, 2024 Alaska is known for its beauty, northern location, fishing industry, and harsh winter weather. Now, the resilient state is set to benefit from up to $1 million to support research geared toward its local communities, as reported by NOAA.

During the first year alone, the remote state will receive about $500,000 of that funding thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act signed by the Biden-Harris administration in 2022.

Alaska may be the country’s largest state by land mass, but it has a sparse population in comparison — one projected to decline by 2% or 15,000 people by 2050, according to Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Read the full article at The Cool Down

Pacific salmon restoration efforts see massive influx of funding from US Congress

December 30, 2024 — As Pacific salmon navigate their way upstream to spawn along the U.S. West Coast, they desperately need patches of cold water to rest and replenish.

Historically, log jams provided many of these fish refuge by diverting the flow of rivers and creating deep, cool pools of water for salmon to recover on their epic journey. Due to human interference, many of those naturally occurring barriers and the adjacent wooded areas that created them are gone, degrading salmon habitats and making passage more difficult for the species.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Fish, crab may shift to further north waters

December 27, 2024 — Regional models being developed by NOAA Fisheries indicate that some fish and crab may shift further north in Alaskan waters than previously predicted due to climate change.

A new report issued by NOAA Fisheries on Dec. 17 says scientists have developed new models that predict more extreme changes in the ecosystem of the eastern Bering Sea by the end of the century, with larger summer northward shifts and changes in areas occupied by important commercial crab and fish species.

Specifically, the majority of models estimate changes in the center of distribution for several commercially important species. They predict that most species’ summer distributions will shift north by between 50 and 200 kilometers by 2080-2089.

Scientists also project large declines in the amount of area occupied by red king crab and snow crab and potentially northern rock sole in summer months, a substantial increase in area occupied by arrowtooth flounder who are a key predator of walleye pollock and declines in probability of occurrence of most species in areas with low pH and oxygen concentration.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

New law targets ‘ghost fishing’ by old gear. How discarded traps and nets are harmful

December 26, 2024 — Abandoned fishing gear has posed problems for authorities wishing to clear it from state waters and shorelines for decades, but new legislation is aimed at making that task easier.

An amendment by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, to an existing statute will speed the process of removing the environmentally harmful debris.

“Left unchecked, abandoned fishing gear poses several threats to our marine environment and ecosystems,” Tarr stated in a press release.

One of the problems it creates, he said, is “ghost fishing.”

According to the NOAA Marine Debris Program, “Ghost fishing occurs when lost or discarded fishing gear that is no longer under a fisherman’s control continues to trap and kill target species like fish and crustaceans, and non-target species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds. Derelict fishing nets and traps can continue to ghost-fish for years once they are lost under the water’s surface. Storms, ship traffic, and interactions with other types of fishing gear are the primary mechanisms for gear loss, resulting in an estimated 1% to 5% annual rate of gear loss in the Massachusetts lobster fishery. In Cape Cod Bay, derelict lobster traps are estimated to kill 12,500 to 33,000 lobsters per year. By removing derelict fishing gear, ghost fishing can be reduced.”

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

Aquaculture cited as strong tool for climate resilience

December 26, 2024 — A new aquaculture report released by NOAA Fisheries on Dec. 17 cites aquaculture as increasingly important in the nation’s commitment to food security, climate resilience and protection of threatened and endangered marine and freshwater species.

The updated National Aquaculture Development Plan credits aquaculture as one of the most environmentally sustainable ways to produce healthy food and also cites aquaculture for its important role in fisheries restoration.

Hatchery-reared fish are released into the wild to help boost populations of wild marine species.

According to NOAA Fisheries, aquaculture has helped more than 70 endangered or threatened species – including Pacific salmon, white abalone, and queen conch – and has also helped restore habitats and mitigate impacts of climate change.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

Senate approves fisheries, critical mineral bills

December 23, 2024 — The Senate on Friday approved legislation to address fishery disasters and critical mineral supply issues. Both bills will go to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

The chamber passed by unanimous consent H.R. 5103, the “Fishery Improvement to Streamline untimely regulatory Hurdles post Emergency Situation (FISHES) Act,” from Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

The bill, which already cleared the House, would speed up the process of doling out fishery disaster relief. It would set deadlines for the Office of Management and Budget to respond to NOAA fishery funding requests.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Environmentalist group sues to gain information about Alaska trawler toll on marine mammals

December 20, 2024 — The federal government has failed to give adequate information on deaths of killer whales and other marine mammals that become entangled in commercial trawling gear in Alaska waters, claims a lawsuit filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.

The lawsuit, filed by the environmental group Oceana, targets the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The whales and other marine mammals killed in fishing gear are subjects of what is known as bycatch, the unintended, incidental catch of species that are not the harvest target.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon

West Coast whale entanglements up in 2024

December 20, 2024 — Whale entanglements in fishing gear off the Pacific Coast rose in 2024 despite state and federal measures to reduce such incidents, including efforts to deploy “ropeless“ fishing gear that could eliminate risk of entanglements.

Preliminary data from NOAA Fisheries shows 34 whales became entangled in 2024, the highest number since 2018. Another entangled whale was reported off Orange County, California, earlier this month but has not been seen since last week, NOAA said.

NOAA spokesperson Nick Rahaim confirmed the latest entanglement numbers for California, Oregon and Washington state, which were released to the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group on Wednesday and will be publicly released next year.

Read the full article at E&E News

Endangered whales found entangled in rope off Massachusetts

December 19, 2024 — Two endangered whales have been spotted entangled in fishing gear off Massachusetts, and one is likely to die from its injuries, the federal government said.

They are North Atlantic right whales, which number less than 400 and face existential threats from entanglement in gear and collisions with ships. An aerial survey found the whales swimming about 50 miles southeast of Nantucket on Dec. 9, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

One of the whales is a juvenile that has a thick line that passes across its head and back and is likely to succumb to the injury, the agency said in a statement. The other whale is an adult female who biologists think has suffered a sublethal injury from the entanglement, NOAA said.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

NOAA cuts 2025 Atlantic herring catch limits

December 19, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has announced a significant reduction in Atlantic herring catch limits for 2025, effective January 1, 2025, in response to a recent stock assessment indicating that the herring biomass is approximately 25 percent of the level needed to support maximum sustainable yield.

The revised 2025 specifications are as follows:

  • Overfishing Limit (OFL): Reduced from 40,727 metric tons (mt) to 18,273 mt.
  • Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC): Decreased from 28,181 mt to 6,741 mt.
  • Annual Catch Limit (ACL): Lowered from 23,961 mt to 2,710 mt.
  • Area 1A Sub-ACL: Reduced from 6,925 mt to 783 mt.
  • Area 1B Sub-ACL: Decreased from 1,030 mt to 117 mt.
  • Area 2 Sub-ACL: Lowered from 6,661 mt to 753 mt.
  • Area 3 Sub-ACL: Reduced from 9,345 mt to 1,057 mt.

The following was released by the National Fisherman