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Can big data save the ocean?

December 8, 2022 — This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Marine Sanctuaries, a crowning conservation achievement akin to National Parks. Places with this designation protect 620,000 square miles of beautiful and diverse ocean and Great Lakes habitats for future generations. By protecting ecosystems and sustainable fisheries, as well as promoting tourism and recreational opportunities, the sanctuaries and other coastal habitats contribute $160 billion to the $373 billion blue economy, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates. Sanctuary managers are turning to new information technology to identify emerging threats to ocean life caused by the absorption of excess heat and carbon dioxide produced by human industrial activity.

From 2014-2015, a massive marine heat wave, dubbed “the blob,” developed in the Gulf of Alaska and spread down the West Coast triggering a cascade of harmful events from Washington to Southern California. Higher ocean temperatures can stress ecosystems by decreasing marine productivity and oxygen levels and disrupting the balance of microscopic algal species, called phytoplankton, to favor harmful species. Some toxic algae produce high levels of a neurotoxin that accumulates in the marine food chain — including important shellfish species such as mussels, clams and crabs — and poisons shellfish-consuming marine mammals and humans.

Read the full article at The Hill

BOEM, NOAA release plan to mitigate wind energy impacts on US fisheries

December 7, 2022 — The U.S. government on Monday, 5 December, unveiled a cross-agency plan to reduce the impact offshore wind energy sites may have on fishery surveys. However, questions remain on how NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will be able to completely fund the initiative.

According to a 37-page NOAA technical memorandum, the Federal Survey Mitigation Strategy is designed to come up with ways to ensure population counts conducted by boats and airplanes are not hindered by the construction and deployment of wind turbines in federal waters. While it currently relates to projects in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, federal officials said they believe it will have use in other regions as the government looks to develop offshore wind farms in other parts of the country.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA increases annual catch limits for Gulf of Mexico red snapper

December 7, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries has expanded the catch limits for both the commercial and the recreational red snapper fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite “uncertainties” in the most-recent count of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA increased the total annual catch limit by 300,000 pounds to 15.4 million pounds for 2023, and the overfishing limit from 15.5 million pounds to 25.6 million pounds. Of the annual catch limit, the share dedicated to commercial fishermen will move from 7.7 million pounds to 7.854 million pounds, representing 51 percent of the catch limit, and the recreational share will increase from 7.399 million pounds to 7.546 million pounds, or 49 percent of the total limit. Charter fishermen will receive 42 percent of the recreational catch limit, or 3.192 million pounds.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries Invite Public Input on Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument Management Plan

December 5, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries are seeking public input to guide the future management of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.

Located 130 miles east-southeast off the coast of Cape Cod, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was established by Presidential Proclamation in 2016 to protect and conserve its unique and pristine habitats, historic objects, and features of high scientific interest for current and future generations of Americans. As the first marine monument in the Atlantic, it is renowned for its rich and unique biodiversity, including deep-sea coral communities and concentrations of marine wildlife.

The public’s engagement will help guide the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument Joint Management Plan—a long-term vision and framework to provide proper care for the Monument’s ecosystem, marine life, and natural and historical resources, as well as set priorities and goals for management in the future.

The Management Plan will consider the Monument’s potential for research, exploration, conservation, learning, engagement, and more. We invite the public to share their ideas and suggestions to help set the Monument’s long-term vision and guide stewardship priorities.

Public engagement sessions are as follows:

In-Person

  • Mystic Aquarium- Tuesday, December 6 at 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.- 55 Coogan Blvd, Mystic, CT 06355
  • New England Aquarium- Monday, December 12 at 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m – 1 Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110

Virtual

  • Friday, December 9 at 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. (Zoom) 
  • Monday, December 19 at 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (Zoom) 

Registration for Public Engagement Sessions can be found here: Registration: Public Engagement Sessions-Monument Management Plan

 

NOAA and BOEM announce joint strategy for fisheries surveys

December 5, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are announcing a joint strategy to address potential impacts of offshore wind energy development on NOAA Fisheries’ scientific surveys. The Federal Survey Mitigation Strategy underscores the agencies’ shared commitment to the Biden-Harris Administration’s clean energy goals of responsibly advancing offshore wind energy production while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use. 

NOAA Fisheries’ surveys are essential for sustainably managing our nation’s fisheries. For 150 years, the agency’s scientists have collected survey data that form the basis of the science-based management of America’s federal fisheries, support the protection and recovery of marine mammals and endangered and threatened species, and increase understanding and conservation of coastal and marine habitats and ecosystems for future generations. 

“This joint strategy will help ensure the quality of NOAA’s fisheries surveys and data are maintained while the nation develops offshore wind energy,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, and deputy NOAA administrator. “Our fisheries surveys allow NOAA to monitor important trends for individual species over time, with the broader goals of understanding marine ecosystems, particularly in the face of climate change, and supporting sustainable fisheries.” 

“BOEM values our partnership with NOAA to proactively address key challenges as we work together to achieve the Administration’s ambitious offshore wind goals,” said Amanda Lefton, BOEM director. “We are committed to incorporating the best available science into our decision making processes as we continue to advance the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. By taking an all-of-government approach, we can leverage the expertise and resources of our federal partners to ensure responsible development of offshore wind energy.”

During the environmental review of the first offshore wind energy project on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, BOEM and NOAA Fisheries identified major adverse impacts on surveys conducted in the Northeast region. In response, a draft survey mitigation strategy was developed and made available for public comment earlier this year. Now finalized, the strategy identifies the essential components of mitigating the impacts of offshore wind energy development on the surveys.

The five goals of the strategy are:

  • Mitigate impacts of offshore wind energy development on NOAA Fisheries surveys.
  • Evaluate and integrate, where feasible, wind energy development monitoring studies with NOAA Fisheries surveys.
  • Collaboratively plan and implement NOAA Fisheries survey mitigation with partners, stakeholders, and other ocean users using the principles of best scientific information available and co-production of knowledge, including fishermen’s local ecological knowledge and indigenous traditional ecological knowledge.
  • Adaptively implement this strategy recognizing the long-term nature of the surveys and the dynamic nature of wind energy development, survey technology and approaches, marine ecosystems and human uses of marine ecosystems.
  • Advance coordination between NOAA Fisheries and BOEM in the execution of this strategy and share experiences and lessons learned with other regions and countries where offshore wind energy development is being planned and underway.

The strategy — while focused on New England and the Mid-Atlantic — will serve as a model to address the impacts of offshore wind on NOAA Fisheries surveys in other regions. Nationally, NOAA Fisheries assesses the status of approximately 450 fishery stocks, 200 marine mammal stocks and 165 threatened and endangered species (recognizing that some marine mammals are also endangered). These assessments rely on more than 50 long-term, standardized surveys, many of which have been ongoing for more than 30 years.

Offshore wind energy development plays an important role in U.S. efforts to combat the climate crisis and build a clean energy economy. The White House has set a goal of significantly increasing the nation’s offshore wind energy capacity to 30 gigawatts by 2030 and an additional 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind technology by 2035. 

BOEM is the lead federal agency responsible for leasing the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf for offshore energy development. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for stewardship of the nation’s living marine resources including fisheries, marine mammals, endangered and threatened species and their habitats and ecosystems. Both agencies share responsibilities for resource management, research, public engagement and other requirements related to promoting offshore wind energy development, protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use.

Aquarium to host public input session on plan for national marine monument

December 3, 2022 — Mystic Aquarium will host one of two live public sessions seeking input on a management plan for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument on Tuesday, Dec. 6 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will hold the mandated public engagement session as the first of seven steps to develop the Monument Management Plan.

The plan will oversee the long-term care and preservation of the monument, designated by President Barak Obama in 2016.

Read the full article at The Day

Offshore Wind – Not Maine Lobstering – Threatening Endangered Right Whales: Bloomberg

December 3, 2022 — Previously unseen government documents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have revealed that the off-shore wind industry poses a severe threat to endangered right whales.

The documents, obtained by Bloomberg via Freedom of Information Act request, will provide ammunition to lobstermen and elected officials as they fight burdensome federal regulations on Maine’s most prized fishery.

Sean Hayes, the chief of the protected species branch at NOAA’s National Northeast Fisheries Science Center, explained the threat wind turbine construction and operation presents to the endangered mammals in a May 13 letter to to officials with the federal Interior Department.

“Additional noise, vessel traffic and habitat modifications due to offshore wind development will likely cause added stress that could result in additional population consequences to a species that is already experiencing rapid decline,” Hayes said in his letter, according to Bloomberg.

Read the full article at Maine Wire

2022 Fall Bottom Trawl Survey Completed in Northeast

December 3, 2022 — On November 16, Northeast Fisheries Science Center staff finished the 2022 fall bottom trawl survey aboard the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow. Those aboard conducted resource survey tows and temperature and salinity sampling at 308 of 377 planned stations (82 percent completion). They sampled for plankton at 95 of 116 planned stations (82 percent completion).

This year’s fall survey occurred in three legs, moving from south to north. The survey got underway on September 10 and concluded on November 15. Multiple cases of COVID-19 resulted in the loss of 14 sea days during the first two legs of the survey.

The Henry B. Bigelow supports a variety of marine research. However, this multispecies bottom-trawl survey is the most important of its missions for monitoring the region’s fishery resources.

Temperature and salinity profiles collected during the survey help link fish distribution to physical oceanographic conditions. Ichthyoplankton (larval fish and eggs) collected help with understanding spawning distributions and with estimating changes in fish abundance. Zooplankton (tiny animals and immature stages of some larger ones) collected tell researchers about the ocean food web. They are used to construct models that support ecosystem-based fisheries management.

This long-running survey monitors fishery stock abundance and distribution on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to the Scotian Shelf. Data collected include fish age, length, weight, sex, maturity and food habits information. These are critical inputs to regional fish stock assessments helping to inform fishery management decisions by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils as well as Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

The bottom of the Bering and Chukchi seas could become too warm for some important species

December 1, 2022 — There is danger lurking on the floor of the Bering and Chukchi seas for mussels, snails, clams, worms and other cold-water invertebrates, according to a new study led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists.

If climate change continues its current trajectory, the Bering and Chukchi seafloor areas will be too warm for those creatures by the end of the century.

In turn, that means trouble for walruses and other marine species. Snails and mussels are particularly important to commercially harvested fish like halibut and yellowfin sole, along with being prey for the Pacific walruses that gather in the summer in the northern Bering and southern Chukchi seas. The Bering Sea is part of the North Pacific Ocean south of the Bering Strait that separates Alaska from Russia, while the Chukchi Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean just north of the strait.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

FLORIDA: FWC not on board with NOAA’s proposed right whale-related vessel speed restrictions

December 1, 2022 — Scientists believe there are fewer than 340 total North Atlantic right whales remaining.

New rules drawn up to protect North Atlantic right whales in their southern calving grounds picked up opposition from charter boat captains, port operations and now the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

A 10-knot vessel speed rule was in effect for areas where right whales transit, but it was for vessels 65 feet or longer. The new rule drops the length to 35 feet, with the speed zone in effect Nov. 15-April 15 each calving season.

“The issues here are strikes from boats killing the right whales, and fishing entanglements,” FWC Executive Director Eric Sutton said during the Commission’s meetings in Panama City. “There’s no doubt that the right whales are critically endangered, and there’s no doubt that boat strikes are one of the leading causes.”

Read the full article at Florida Politics

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