Saving Seafood

Alaskans worried by prospect of deep-sea fish farms

September 4, 2018 — In a Centennial Hall listening session, Alaskans raised concerns about federal plans to boost open-ocean fish farms under a new strategic plan for the U.S. Department of Commerce.

On Friday afternoon, Tim Gallaudet, acting undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, hosted a listening session at the end of a weeklong gathering of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts in Juneau.

NOAA is an agency of the Department of Commerce, and Gallaudet is among the figures hosting meetings across the country as part of the process that creates the strategic plan.

In a speech opening the listening session, Gallaudet said the strategic plan is an “initiative to grow the American ‘blue economy.’”

That phrase is used as an umbrella term that includes fisheries, oceanic tourism and other aspects of the national economy that relate to the oceans.

Gallaudet echoed the familiar refrains of the Trump Administration, saying the department is interested in deregulation and “reducing the seafood trade deficit.”

President Donald Trump’s trade war with China has resulted in Chinese tariffs on Alaska seafood exported to that country, and American tariffs on processed Alaska seafood products imported from China.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

NOAA Funds Projects to Reduce Bycatch With Engineering

September 4, 2018 — A group of organizations is getting more than $2 million in grants to use engineering to try to reduce bycatch in fisheries.

Bycatch is the term for when fish and other animals are accidentally caught with gear that was seeking a different species. Bycatch poses problems for rare species of dolphins, turtles, sharks and other animals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is awarding more than $2.3 million to 14 projects as part of its 2018 Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.

One of the recipients is Duke University, which will test the applicability of sensory-based bycatch reduction technology. Duke’s project seeks to reduce sea turtle bycatch in North Carolina.

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

California Moves to Ban Mile-Long Fishing Nets Blamed For Killing Whales, Sharks, Dolphins, and Other Sea Life

September 4, 2018 — Environmentalists scored a major victory in Sacramento Thursday after California lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to phase out the use of a controversial type of fishing gear known as drift gillnets: mile-long nets blamed for unintentionally killing thousands of sea creatures, including endangered animals.

Over the past 28 years, drift gillnets have entangled and killed an estimated 4,000 dolphins, 456 whales and 136 sea turtles, according to government data obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization. The federal agency, which regulates the fishing gear, randomly places observers on about 20 percent of all fishing trips that utilize the gear in an effort to document the environmental impact.

California fishermen view the ban as extreme and unnecessary, and believe their livelihood is being unfairly targeted. Without the fishing gear, they fear they won’t be able to continue making a living.

“I don’t know what I’d do,” said Mike Flynn, who has depended on drift gillnets to catch swordfish for the past 40 years. “There’s very few of us left, and we don’t seem to have a chance…we’re being villainized, unjustly.”

Only about 20 fisherman actively use the gear off the California coast; that’s down from 141 active permits at the peak back in 1990, according to NOAA.

Read the full story at NBC Bay Area

ASMFC Coastal Sharks Board Releases Draft Addendum V for Public Comment

August 31, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Coastal Sharks Management Board releases Draft Addendum V to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Coastal Sharks for public comment. The Draft Addendum proposes options to allow the Board to streamline the process of state implementation of shark regulations so that complementary measures are seamlessly and concurrently implemented at the state and federal level whenever possible.

The FMP currently allows for commercial quotas, possession limits, and season dates to be set annually through Board approved specifications.  All other changes to commercial or recreational management can only be accomplished through an addendum or emergency action. While addenda can be completed in a relatively short period of time, the timing of addenda and state implementation can result in inconsistencies between state and federal shark regulations, particularly when NOAA Fisheries adopts changes through interim emergency rules. The only option for the Board to respond quicker than an addendum is through an emergency action, which has a set of criteria that are rigorous and often not met, making it rarely used to enact regulatory changes. The Draft Addendum seeks to provide the Board more flexibility in responding to changes in the fishery for shark species managed under the FMP.

A public hearing webinar will be held Tuesday, September 25th at 5:30 p.m. The details of the webinar follow:

Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2613822106816627203

Phone: 1.888.585.9008

Room Number: 853-657-937

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum V either by attending the public hearing webinar or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum is available at

http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/CoastalSharksDraftAddendumV_PublicComment_Aug2018.pdf and can also be accessed on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 1, 2018 and should be forwarded to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N, Arlington, VA, 22201; 703.842.07401 (fax); or comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum V).

Another Whale Carcass Spotted in Massachusetts Has Scientists Alarmed for Population

August 30, 2018 — The second right whale death of 2018 has been recorded near Martha’s Vineyard.

North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered marine mammals with an estimated population of 450.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the young whale was first reported floating off Tom’s Neck Point, Martha’s Vineyard, on Sunday. The carcass of the 30-foot whale again was spotted Monday and the agency began planning to tow it to shore to perform a necropsy.

On Tuesday, however, the U.S. Coast Guard and two staff members of the NOAA Fisheries Woods Hole Laboratory sailed to the carcass and determined it was too decomposed to bring to shore. The crew attached a satellite tag and took tissue samples. If the whale carcass does make it to land, they will collect more samples.

Read the full story at NH1

Comment sought on observer program insurance requirements

August 30, 2018 — National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment through Sept. 14 to support an initiative to reform and streamline observer program insurance requirements.

Goals of the reform effort are to ease the regulatory burden and reduce costs for private companies providing observer staffing to NMFS observer programs through more efficient, nationally applicable insurance requirements, NMFS stated in its posting in the Federal Register.

The aim is to eliminate outdated and/or inappropriate regulatory requirements, reduce observer deployment risks for vessel owners and shore side processors and identify insurance that could improve observer safety and facilitate full compensation for observer occupational injuries.

NMFS is seeking technical information on the types of insurance and minimum coverage amounts in dollars that would minimize observer deployment risks to the extent practicable considering costs and other factors.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

Scientists discover hidden deep-sea coral reef off South Carolina Coast

August 28, 2018 — If you think Charleston, South Carolina, has plenty of history within its pre-Colonial grounds, just look at what’s been hiding 160 miles off the city’s coast for thousands of years: a giant deep-sea coral reef system. The chief scientist who helped make the discovery called it unbelievable.

Little is known about the natural resources of the deep ocean off the United States’ Southeast coast from Virginia to Georgia, so Deep Search 2018 was created to learn more by exploring the deep sea ecosystems. The project, consisting of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the US Geological Survey, is nearing the end of its 15-day voyage aboard the research vessel Atlantis.

Read the full story at CNN

Aquarium wins grant to test ropeless fishing gear

August 27, 2018 — The New England Aquarium has been awarded a $227,000 grant to test a ropeless fishing prototype to eliminate large whale entanglements in pot fishing gear, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries announced.

The federal agency awarded more than $2.3 million to 14 groups to support bycatch reduction research projects. Bycatch includes fish, marine mammals and turtles in this program, which intends to work side-by-side with fishermen on their boats to develop solutions to some of the top bycatch challenges in the country, the agency said in its announcement.

“U.S. pot fisheries that target crustaceans are popular in New England, and are important economically and culturally,” according to the aquarium’s description of its project. “However, the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, and other large species of whale and protected species can become entangled in the ropes used in pot fisheries.”

“Ropeless fishing” involves securing ropes to the seafloor where traps are being fished, and when the trap is ready to be hauled to check for catch, ropes are released to the surface by an acoustically triggered device, according to the aquarium.

In mid-July, the International Fund for Animal Welfare also funded a $30,000 test with Sandwich lobsterman David Casoni of one type of ropeless technology — an acoustic release system by Desert Star Systems — in cooperation with the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Commercial Closure for Atlantic Cobia Effective September 5, 2018

August 27, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office (SERO) has announced that commercial harvest of Atlantic Migratory Group cobia (Atlantic cobia; New York to Georgia) will close in federal waters on September 5, 2018 due to projections that the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) of 50,000 pounds will be reached on this date (FB18-060, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/bulletin/commercial-harvest-atlantic-group-cobia-georgia-new-york-will-close-federal-waters-0). For more information on this closure, please contact the SERO Sustainable Fisheries Division at 727.824.5305.

The Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Cobia complements these measures and requires that should the coastwide ACL be met, a coastwide commercial closure will occur (Sec. 4.2). Therefore, the states from New York to Georgia that harvest Atlantic cobia must close their commercial cobia fisheries in state waters by September 5, 2018.

For more information or questions about the Commission’s Cobia FMP, please contact Dr. Michael Schmidtke, FMP Coordinator, at mschmidtke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

A PDF of the announcement can be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5b805da2SABoardMemo_2018CobiaClosure_Aug2018.pdf