Saving Seafood

SAMFC: Proposed Changes to Sea Turtle Release Gear Types for For-Hire/Charter and Commercial Fishermen

April 23, 2018 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: 

Written comments due by May 18, 2018

 The Council is soliciting public comment on options for changes to current sea turtle release gear types for use in handling and releasing incidentally caught sea turtles. Vessels with Commercial or For-Hire South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Federal Permits are required to follow the sea turtle release gear requirements.

The proposed changes provide additional options for approved gear. The new gear would require less space on vessels while still providing the necessary function. These new gear types are only additional options, and not the only gear that industry may use to satisfy the current regulatory requirements.

Learn More

Additional information, including the Amendment 42 Scoping Document, Overview, and Video Presentation is available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/.

Comments may be submitted via the online public comment form available from the link above. Written comments are due by 5 p.m. on May 18, 2018.

See the Story Map for Amendment 42 for a quick overview of proposed options.

Scoping Meetings via Webinar Begin Today! 

In addition to the information available online, the Council is offering two public scoping webinars, each beginning at 6:00 PM. Registration is required.

Monday, April 23

Register

Tuesday, April 24

Register

During the scoping meetings, Council staff will present an overview of the proposed changes and will be available for informal discussions and to answer questions via webinar. Members of the public will have an opportunity to go on record to record their comments for consideration by the Council.

Learn more about the SAFMC by visiting their site here.

 

NE Fishery Management Council Divided Over New Plan For Rafael’s Fishing Sector

April 20, 2018 — In a divided vote, the New England Fishery Management Council is backing a new operations plan for a sector of New Bedford boats that have been prohibited from fishing. However, the council said the plan should only be approved if certain conditions are met.

The sector of boats, called Sector IX, has been banned from catching groundfish, such as cod and haddock, for the past five months. Federal regulators from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made the decision to prohibit all sector activity after fishing mogul Carlos Rafael, who has also been referred to as “The Codfather,” pleaded guilty to misreporting the numbers of fish his boats were catching.

Now, Sector IX wants to be operational again as a “lease-only” sector, which means the boats would remain docked but could still make money by leasing their fishing allocation to other fishermen.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

NOAA finalizes plan for record scallop year

April 20, 2018 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has now finalized its plan to allow the biggest Atlantic scallop harvest in 14 years in the 2018-2019 fishing year.

In a final rule appearing in Thursday’s Federal Register, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published the last few technical elements it needed to implement Framework Adjustment 29, advancing a plan that would boost the scallop harvest by 26%  — to as much as 60 million pounds of scallops from the 47.5 million lbs caught in 2017. The 2018-2019 season began on April 19 and runs until March 21, 2019. Earlier elements of the plan were laid out on March 26, 2018.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

SAFMC Solicits Input on Proposed Changes to Sea Turtle Release Gear Requirements for For-Hire/Charter and Commercial Fishermen

April 20, 2018 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting public comment on options for changes to current turtle release gear requirements and protocol. Vessels with Commercial or For-Hire South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Federal Permits already have requirements for such gear.

The proposed changes in Amendment 42 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan provide additional options for approved gear. The new gear would require less space on vessels while still providing the necessary function.

Additional information, including the Amendment 42 Scoping Document, Overview, and Video Presentation is available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/.

Comments may be submitted via an online public comment form available from the link above. Written comments are due by May 18, 2018.

Scoping Meetings via Webinar

In addition to the information available online, the Council will offer two public scoping webinars, each beginning at 6:00 PM. Registration is required.

Monday, April 23

Register

Tuesday, April 24

Register

During the scoping meetings, Council staff will present an overview of the proposed changes and will be available for informal discussions and to answer questions via webinar. Members of the public will have an opportunity to go on record to record their comments for consideration by the Council.

See the Story Map for Amendment 43 for a quick overview of proposed options. Contact Christina Wiegand at Christina.Wiegand@safmc.net or call the Council office at 843/224-7258 with any questions.

 

NOAA Gives Final Approval to 2018 Scallop Plan Which Will Result in 60 Million Lb. Harvest

April 19, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — NOAA Fisheries and NMFS have approved measures included in Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management plan. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on Thursday and sets an annual catch limit of 60 million pounds of scallops for FY 2018. In comparison, the 2017 fishing year was set at 51.7 million pounds.

Framework 29 sets management measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery for the remainder of the 2018 fishing year, which runs from April 19, 2018 to March 21, 2019. Northern Gulf of Maine management measures in Framework 29 were previously published on March 26, 2018 and were set to prevent overfishing and improve the yield-per-recruit and overall management of the Atlantic sea scallop resource in the Northern Gulf of Maine. Those measures went into effect on April 1, 2018. The Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan is in addition to the March 26 final rule.

Framework 29 also “allocates effort into four rotational access areas (Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship-West, Nantucket Lightship-South, and Closed Area 1).” Both Closed Area 1 and Nantucket Lightship-West contain new area available to scallop fishing through the Omnibus Habitat Amendment. In addition, Framework 29 adjusts the scallop fleet’s accountability measures for Southern New England/ Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder.

You can find the final rule in the Federal Register here.

This story was originally published by Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

NOAA: New Voluntary Slow Speed Zone to Protect Right Whales

April 19, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces that a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area  or DMA) has been established to protect a group of five right whales sighted 12 nautical miles east of Boston on April 18.

Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

VOLUNTARY DYNAMIC MANAGEMENT AREAS (DMAs)

Mariners are requested to avoid or transit at 10 knots or less inside the following areas where a group of right whales has been sighted. Find out more about ship strike reduction efforts.

East of Boston – In effect through May 3.

42 43 N
42 00 N
071 17 W
070 20 W

ACTIVE SEASONAL MANAGEMENT AREAS (SMAs)

Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

  • Cape Cod Bay SMA in effect through May 15, 2018
  • Block Island SMA in effect through April 30, 2018
  • New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk SMA in effect through April 30, 2018

Right Whales in Crisis

The year 2017 was devastating for North Atlantic right whales, which suffered a loss of 17 whales, plus an additional mortality in January 2018–about 4 percent of their population–an alarming number for such a critically endangered species with a population currently estimated at about 450 animals.

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

More Info   

Recent right whale sightings

Download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone

Acoustic detections in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston TSS

Send a blank message to receive a return email listing all current U.S. DMAs and SMAs.

Details and graphics of all ship strike management zones currently in effect.

Reminder: Approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law.

 

NEFMC Streamlines Scallop Specification Process and Ranks 2018 Priorities; Discusses Enforcement Issues

April 19, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its mid-April meeting in Mystic, CT, the New England Fishery Management Council took steps to streamline the process used to develop annual specifications for Atlantic sea scallops. It also reviewed, refined, and ranked its 2018 scallop priorities and voted to send letters to NOAA Fisheries on: (1) enforcement-related matters; and (2) implementation of real-time, online transfers of limited access general category individual fishing quota (IFQ).

The Council recognized that several basic scallop measures regularly are included in annual specifications without being modified from one year to the next. As a new work priority, the Council approved having its Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT) compile a list of these now-routine provisions with the intent of turning them into “standard default measures.” This way, the Council will be able to include default measures in specifications packages without having the PDT conduct extensive and repetitive analyses each year.

The Council determined that this move would:

• Help streamline the specification-setting process;

• Increase the prospect that final specifications will be implemented by the April 1 start of the scallop fishing year;

• Lighten the PDT’s analytical workload during the busiest time of the year for scallop analyses;

• Reduce the number of decisions the Council needs to make during final action; and

• Lead to more predictable outcomes for industry.

Given these considerable benefits, the Council readily agreed to add the item to its 2018 scallop priorities. It also voted to remove an item that initially was on the priority list – “gear modifications to protect small scallops.” While recognizing the importance of this work, the Council noted that gear modifications could be considered in future years and that several other actions were more pressing.

The Council then ranked the five items on its revised 2018 scallop priority list in the following order:

  1. Develop an action to modify scallop access areas consistent with the recently implemented Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2;
  2. Develop the newly approved “standard default measures” approach;
  3. Review and address monitoring and catch accounting provisions in the fishery, including those related to hail requirements, IFQ vessels exceeding their quota, and possession limit overages, among others;
  4. Consider limited access general category IFQ trip limit modifications; and
  5. Revisit and potentially modify Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area measures

In spite of this ranking, the Council emphasized that its most critical actions this year are focused on the 2018 scallop benchmark stock assessment and the specifications package for fishing year 2019 with default specifications for 2020. The Council then will work its way down the items on the list above, recognizing that work on several priorities may require more time to develop than is available this year.

As for the 2018 benchmark assessment, the Scallop Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) Working Group, which includes several members of the Council’s PDT, is conducting the assessment as part of the 65th SAW/SARC. The SARC is the Stock Assessment Review Committee, which will peer review the new assessment.

The scallop working group held a data meeting in early February and then met again in late March. The next meeting is scheduled for April 30-May 4. The scallop assessment results will be peer reviewed during the June 26-29 SARC meeting. A benchmark stock assessment for Atlantic herring also will be reviewed at the same SARC meeting.

View the release in its entirety here.

 

Massachusetts: NOAA Plans Keep Sector IX Boats Moored

April 19, 2018 — MYSTIC, Conn. — Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say fishing vessels that transferred to Sector VII from Sector IX in New Bedford may have to wait until mid-summer to begin leasing quotas.

NOAA closed down fishing out of Sector IX in order to assess just how much quota was illegally used up by fishing magnate and now convicted “Codfather,” Carlos Rafael.

At a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday, NOAA proposed a plan for Sector IX that would treat illegal catch in each fishing year as if it was known immediately after the end of the season, eliminating any carryover of unused quota into the next fishing season if there was any illegal fishing.

Read the full story at WBSM

Sustainable Shark Alliance Condemn Fin Ban, Push For Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act

April 18, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Should shark fin sales be banned in the U.S.? That’ the current debate.

On Tuesday members of the Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans to support legislation that would promote shark conservation and oppose the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.

As we previously reported, chefs and restaurant owners from over 30 states have sent a letter to Congress asking that they pass the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2017, which would ban the trade of shark fins nationwide. Shark finning is often cruel and wasteful, with some fishermen discarding the sharks at sea after cutting off their fins. Those sharks often drown, bleed to death, or get eaten alive by other fish.

The SSA is supporting the Sustainable Shark and Fisheries Trade Act (SSFTA), which would “incentivize” other nations to meet the same high standards of sustainability that U.S. shark fishermen follow.

“The SSFTA creates an incentive for other nations to end shark finning and meet the same high standards for marine conservation which the United States holds its fishermen,” SSA member and fisherman John Polston told the House Natural Resources Committee. “This bill recognizes the sacrifices our fishermen have made, and continue to make, to rebuild domestic shark populations by leveling the playing field with our foreign competitors.”

Dr. Robert Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory, added that the SSFTA would stop the importing and consumption of unsustainably fished shark on American soil, but not completely ban the sale of shark fins. The argument is that banning the sale of shark fins hurts U.S. fishermen who sustainably harvest and sell shark fins and other shark products.

“This bill punishes me and others in the shark fishery by taking away an important income source, undoubtedly pushing some small businesses into unprofitability,” said Polston. “It is an insult to American fishermen who have been required to give so much for decades to create a sustainable fishery.”

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

After a disastrous 2017 season, herring fishermen are cautiously optimistic

April 18, 2018 — As regulators consider alternatives to management of the Atlantic herring fishery — which extends from North Carolina to Maine — fishermen are cautiously hoping for a better year than recent ones.

In 2017, the New England Fishery Management Council released options that could affect the industry that provides food for consumption, fish oil and bait. The council will make a final decision this summer about possible changes regarding fishery catches and potential closures to address concerns about localized depletion and user conflicts.

Variation in the fishery, in terms of volume, area and season, is not uncommon, but what drives the swings depends on whom you ask.

In 2016, fishermen (mostly from Maine and Massachusetts) hit 60.4 percent of quota when they hauled in about 140 million pounds of herring — the lowest since 2002. But dockside, the catch was worth more than $28.8 million, among the highest value totals on record. In 2017, preliminary NOAA estimates indicate just 48.2 percent of herring’s annual catch limit was harvested from a quota just over 226 million pounds.

Read the full story at National Fisherman