Saving Seafood

New Jersey Flounder Fishery Shut Down for Rest of Year

December 1, 2017 — BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. — Federal fishing regulators say they’ve closed a New Jersey fishery that targets a popular species of flatfish through the end of the year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the summer flounder fishery in the state must close because fishermen have hit their quota. Regulators previously shut down the summer flounder fishery in Rhode Island.

The state of New Jersey has also shut down the flounder fishery. The state is one of the biggest producers of the fish, which is sold as food in restaurants, super markets and seafood markets.

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

 

Rafael Arrest Shines Light on Fishing System

December 1, 2017 — Dozens of New Bedford-based commercial fishing boats were ordered to stop fishing last week in the wake of the federal prosecution of fishing magnate Carlos Rafael, known as The Codfather, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, cash smuggling, and falsifying records and misidentifying and mislabeling fish to avoid fishing quotas.

Members of the dwindling Vineyard fishing community who have been watching the proceedings say the tale is a sad commentary on the state of the industry and highlights flaws in its regulation.

“It’s a symptom of poor policy,” said Wes Brighton, a Vineyard fisherman and one of the only Islanders to hold a federal commercial groundfishing permit. Mr. Brighton fishes for lobster, conch, monkfish, and some cod from his boat Martha Elizabeth.

The system creates an imbalance, he said, giving independently-owned family fishing businesses little access to the fisheries and allowing larger corporations the ability to consolidate fishing permits and quota.

Mr. Rafael was arrested and charged in February 2016 after an undercover investigation. According to the government, federal agents posed as organized crime figures interested in buying his fishing business. For about four years, the Department of Justice said, Mr. Rafael lied to the government about the quantity and species of fish his boats in an effort to evade the strict federal quotas that are designed to protect the sustainability of certain fish species.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

 

ASMFC Seeks Proposals for Marine Aquaculture Pilot Projects Proposals Due February 1, 2018

December 1, 2017 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is requesting proposals to develop potential marine aquaculture projects in the U.S. Atlantic coast region. NOAA Fisheries, through the Commission, is making $450,000 available for the funding period of April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019. The Commission plans to award several projects ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 each, but will give consideration to projects that can justify a greater need. Any investigator seeking support for this period must submit, as a single file, an electronic proposal by email no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, February, 1, 2018. Please see the Request for Proposals (RFP) for complete proposal details, qualifying requirements, and submission instructions. The RFP is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/JobAnnouncements/ASMFCAquacultureRFP_Dec2017.pdf.

 The Gulf and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commissions have also issued similar RFPs seeking proposals relevant to their respective regions.
 
For more information, please contact Dr. Louis Daniel at ldaniel@asmfc.org or 252.342.1478.

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.

 

NOAA Fisheries Reminds Permit Holders to Renew Permits Following Hurricane Season

December 1, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

KEY MESSAGE:

  • With hurricane season over, the Southeast Permits Office reminds all permit holders, including those who may have been impacted by extreme weather events, that all limited access permits must be renewed by the termination date printed on the face of the permit or the permit will become non-renewable.
  • If you have lost your permitted vessel, you can transfer the permit to another vessel, or even a U.S. Coast Guard or state registered raft or dinghy, to keep the permit viable.  Permit holders may call the Southeast Permits Office toll free at (877) 376-4877 to ask about transfer provisions and what their opportunities are to retain their limited access permits.

MORE INFORMATION:

  •  The Southeast Region was impacted by a number of hurricanes in 2017, and those impacts may have resulted in a loss of property, including fishing vessels.
  • NOAA Fisheries reminds permit holders to ensure they renew their limited access permits before the termination date printed on the face of the permit or the permit will become non-renewable.
  • All limited access permits, except South Atlantic Golden Crab and Atlantic Tuna Longline, are renewable within one year of the permit’s expiration date.
    • Federal law requires the Southeast Regional Office receive renewal applications for South Atlantic Golden Crab no later than June 30 following the permit’s December 31 expiration.
    • There is no termination date printed on the face of the Atlantic Tuna Longline permit, and therefore, this permit can be renewed at any time.
  • Permit holders renew their permits by submitting an application with required documents to the Southeast Permits Office.  Permit holders can call the Southeast Permits Office and request an application or download one from  sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/permits.
  • An application postmarked within the renewal period but received by the Southeast Permits Office after the last day of the renewal period does not meet this requirement.
  • If the last day of the renewal period falls on a weekend or holiday, then the Southeast Permits Office must receive the application on the last business day before that weekend or holiday.
  • If the permit is not renewed before the termination date, the permit will be terminated and cannot be transferred or renewed.
  • Turnaround time, from the date the Southeast Permits Office receives an application to the date they mail out permits, varies.  Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are received to ensure fairness to all applicants.  The regulations advise to allow at least 30 days for the review of the application.
  • Applicants cannot fish while waiting for the Southeast Permits Office to renew their expired permit.  Applicants fishing on an expired permit could be subject to penalties.
  • The number of limited access permits has been capped and no new permits can be issued for a specific fishery.  If a permit holder loses a limited access permit, they must transfer an existing permit to their vessel.

Access this and other Fishery Bulletins from NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office by clicking here.

Learn more about NOAA by visiting their site here.

 

Recreational Reporting Pilot Project Continues for December Red Snapper Opening

November 30, 2017 — CHARLESTON, S.C. — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: 

Information and data provided by recreational fishermen through the new pilot electronic reporting project MyFishCount.com were considered by NOAA Fisheries in order to extend the red snapper mini-season into December. NOAA Fisheries recently announced the reopening of the red snapper mini-season in federal waters for December 8-10, 2017. The bag limit will continue to be one fish per person/day with no minimum size limit.

Angler participation in MyFishCount, a voluntary recreational reporting pilot project developed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in collaboration with the Snook and Gamefish Foundation and Elemental Methods, was instrumental in the re-opening of this fishery by providing information not previously captured by current monitoring programs. MyFishCount is an online web portal that allows recreational fishermen to report information about their red snapper fishing activities, including the length of the fish kept and of those released, catch location, depth fished, hook type, hooking location, release treatment, and reason for release. Anglers are also able to report if trips were not taken for various reasons, including weather. For example, 106 reports were submitted for the second weekend of the mini-season and over 95% of trips were reported as abandoned due to weather. A detailed report including facts and figures of the information provided by anglers through MyFishCount during the November mini-season can be found on MyFishCount.com under the “2017 Season” tab.

Recreational fishermen are encouraged to continue reporting or to create a member profile on MyFishCount.com in order to report during the December 8-10 mini-season. Feedback from members has already been utilized in order to improve the program design. While the reporting platform will close after the December mini-season, MyFishCount will be modified into a mobile application to improve ease and timeliness of reporting and expanded to include other species. The pilot mobile app will be available for testing in 2018. If you would like to become involved in the piloting of the enhanced app in 2018 or provide feedback on the 2017 red snapper mini-season MyFishCount reporting platform, please contact Kelsey Dick at kelsey.dick@safmc.net or Chip Collier at chip.collier@safmc.net.

Learn more about the SAFMC by visiting their site here.

 

Martha’s Vineyard herring stocks show alarming decline

November 30, 2017 — Herring Creek is a small stream that plays a mighty role in the Martha’s Vineyard ecosystem. It’s the one waterway that connects Menemsha Pond and Squibnocket Pond, and the one place on the Island where blueback herring and alewives — also known as river herring — come home to reproduce.

River herring are anadromous fish and live most of their lives, three to five years, in the ocean. When it’s time to breed, they return to the exact river or pond where they were born.

Twenty years ago, the herring run at Herring Creek was described as “one of the largest on the East Coast, with up to 1.5 million fish making their way through the creek,” according to David H. Killoy, then chief of permits and enforcement for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

 

Barry Myers, Trump’s pick to run NOAA, declares humans are main cause of climate change

November 29, 2017 — In his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday morning, Barry Myers, President Trump’s choice to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said he agrees humans are the primary driver of recent climate change.

Myers’s unambiguous acceptance of the human role in climate change marks a clean break from other members of the Trump administration, including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Trump himself — all of whom have questioned the extent of human contributions.

Myers, the chief executive of the private weather forecasting company AccuWeather, was first questioned about human contributions to climate change by Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass). Markey asked Myers if he agreed with the climate science report released by 13 federal agencies earlier this month which stated it is “extremely likely” human activities are the dominant cause of recent climate warming. “I have no reason to disagree with the reports,” Myers said.

Markey pressed Myers further. “So you agree humans are the main cause of climate change?” he asked. Myers responded, “Yes.”

In a written response to questioning from Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Myers also said he accepted the federal report and a supportive statement from the American Meteorological Society “as the current state of the articulated science.”

Despite these authoritative reports, efforts to publicize climate change science research findings have been undermined at a number of federal agencies, probably reflecting the dismissive stance of their leadership. The EPA, for example, took down its climate change website and blocked researchers from presenting scientific results at a recent conference.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

 

US fishing rules coming to impact New England scallops, cod harvests

November 29, 2017 — The US’s National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) has released a proposal that could mean dramatic changes for the way fishing is managed off the coasts of the New England states, the Associated Press reports.

The proposed “Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment” from NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would address the way such species as scallops and haddock are harvested in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and other areas, and how rare whales are protected.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News 

 

Red Snapper Fishing Opens for Three Extra Days in South Atlantic

November 29, 2017 — Recreational anglers can once again fish for and keep red snapper in 2017.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced in its South Atlantic Fishery Bulletin newsletter that harvesting will reopen to recreational anglers for three days, December 8-10, because preliminary estimates indicate anglers have not reached the 29,656-fish catch limit set for 2017.

The recreational and commercial harvest of red snapper was allowed for six days in November — the first time anglers were allowed to fish for red snapper in this area since 2014 — and projections estimate an additional three days will not surpass the catch limit.

Read the full story at Sport Fishing Magazine Online

 

High scallop prices see New Jersey port’s catch value rocket

November 28, 2017 — The fishing sector in a county in the East Coast US state of New Jersey is worth $85 million, reports Press of Atlantic City, citing a recently released federal report.

High prices for scallops are a big driver. In 2016, fishermen landed 47 million pounds of seafood at the Cape May port, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News