Saving Seafood

GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES: Mixed messages for the fishing industry

October 5, 2015 — Last week brought a mix of news for the region’s fishermen, some of it straight-out bad, some offering a glimmer of hope for the future of one of New England’s oldest industries.

We’ll start with the bad news — the state’s rejection of the so-called “Gloucester Plan” for distributing the last batch of U.S. fishery disaster aid to Massachusetts fishermen with federal permits.

The local plan would have shared the remaining $6 million and $7 million of federal among fishermen with federal permits who landed at least 20,000 pounds of groundfish in any season between 2012 and 2014. That plan would have ensured the money went to the boats most affective by the closing of large swaths of the North Atlantic to fishing.

Instead, the stead opted for a plan with much lower standards.

Read the editorial from the Gloucester Daily Times

Obama announces new measures to crack down on illegal fishing

WASHINGTON — October 5, 2015 — The Obama administration on Monday announced plans to further crack down on illegal fishing, a global problem that can hurt both fishing communities in impoverished nations and the seafood industry in the United States.

As part of a package of initiatives announced in a video message to participants at a major oceans conference in Chile, President Barack Obama announced new steps to tackle illegal fishing. They include the launching of a program called “Sea Scout,” designed to increase cooperation among nations seeking to identify and prosecute illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing around the globe.

Experts say the problem is extensive around the world.

The Pew Charitable Trusts said the issue is difficult to quantify, but that experts estimate that illegal and unreported fishing cost the global economy up to $23 billion annually.

Read the full story from the Miami Herald

NOAA Announces Gulf Red Grouper to Close Oct. 8

October 2, 2015 — Recreational Fishing Season will close on October 8, 2015

The recreational harvest of red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico will close at12:01 a.m., local time, on October 8, 2015, and remain closed until January 1, 2016.

Red grouper catches in early 2015 were substantially higher than the same time periods in previous years. Because the recreational red grouper season closed in October 2014 under a higher bag limit, in May 2015, at the request of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries reduced the bag limit to 2 fish with the intent to extend the fishing season for the entire year. However, fishermen have told us abundant red grouper are being found closer to shore in shallower water this year, making them more accessible to the recreational sector. Despite the reduced bag limit, the 2015 landings data indicate the 1,900,000-pound recreational annual catch limit will be harvested by October 7, 2015.

Read the full story from The Fishing Wire

Fisheries of the South Atlantic; South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

October 2, 2015 — The following notice was released by NOAA:

ACTION: Notice Of A Public Meeting.

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a meeting of its Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management (Habitat) Advisory Panel (AP) in N. Charleston, SC. The meeting is open to the public.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  • DATES:
  • ADDRESSES:
  • FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
  • SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    • Special Accommodations

DATES: The meeting will be held from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, and from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 18, 2015.

ADDRESSES:

Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Florida Fish and Wildlife and Resources Institute (FWRI), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 100 8th Ave. SE., 3370, St. Petersburg, FL; telephone: (727) 896-8626.

Council address: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N. Charleston, SC 29405.

Read the full notice from the Federal Register here

Many Young Fish Moving North with Adults as Climate Changes

October 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Numerous studies in the Northeast U.S. have shown that adult marine fish distributions are changing, but few studies have looked at the early life stages of those adult fish to see what is happening to them over time. A new study by NOAA Fisheries researchers has some answers, finding that distributions of young stages and the timing of the life cycle of many fish species are also changing.

Most marine fish have complex life histories with distinct stages, much like frogs. Marine fish spawn small planktonic eggs, approximately 1/20 of an inch in diameter, that move at the whim of ocean currents. These eggs hatch into larvae that have non-functional guts, un-pigmented eyes, and often don’t yet have a mouth. Over a period of weeks to months, while drifting in the ocean, larvae develop and grow until they reach a point where they transition into juveniles recognizable as a fish. This complex life history is similar to that of frogs, which grow from eggs to tadpoles to adult frogs.

The distribution of larvae in the sea is determined by where adult fish reproduce and by currents that move these small early life stages around the ocean. In a study published September 23 in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center used long-term survey data to compare the distributions of larvae between two decades, from 1977-1987 and from 1999-2008. They also used long-term survey data to compare distributions of adult fish over the same time period.

Read the full release from NOAA fisheries

NOAA’s Update of ‘Menhaden Facts’ Webpage Confirms Sustainable Menhaden Fishery

WASHINGTON (Menhaden Fisheries Coalition) — October 5, 2015 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

NOAA Fisheries’ Chesapeake Bay Office has updated its “Menhaden Facts” webpage, confirming the sustainability of the Atlantic menhaden fishery, and stating clearly that Atlantic menhaden is neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing. The update is based upon the most current menhaden benchmark stock assessment, released in early 2015.

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition credits the stock’s natural resilience for these positive indicators. Years of diligent work by state and federal scientists produced the 2015 Atlantic menhaden stock assessment, considered the most thorough and accurate in the history of the fishery. Its results differ sharply from the prior update assessment, released in 2012, which was broadly criticized for mathematical flaws that underestimated the species’ health.

The results of the 2012 assessment were used as justification for a sweeping 20 percent coastwide harvest cut. As it did then, and now with the support of the 2015 stock assessment, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition questions the legitimacy of this harvest cut.

Fisheries managers have now affirmed what the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition has long maintained. In January, the latest menhaden stock assessment found that menhaden were in fact being harvested sustainably, with positive indicators such as record low levels of fishing mortality and near-record levels of stock fecundity. In June, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) acted on this news and increased harvests by 10 percent, partially reversing the 2012 cut. And last month, NOAA updated its official menhaden page to reflect these changes.

Both agencies-NOAA and the ASMFC-have now officially declared the species to be sustainably harvested and managed. The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is committed to continuing that sustainability into the future.

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is a collective of menhaden fisherman, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of over 30 businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

View a PDF of the release from the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition

 

Many Young Fish Moving North with Adults as Climate Changes

October 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Numerous studies in the Northeast U.S. have shown that adult marine fish distributions are changing, but few studies have looked at the early life stages of those adult fish to see what is happening to them over time. A new study by NOAA Fisheries researchers has some answers, finding that distributions of young stages and the timing of the life cycle of many fish species are also changing.

Most marine fish have complex life histories with distinct stages, much like frogs. Marine fish spawn small planktonic eggs, approximately 1/20 of an inch in diameter, that move at the whim of ocean currents. These eggs hatch into larvae that have non-functional guts, un-pigmented eyes, and often don’t yet have a mouth. Over a period of weeks to months, while drifting in the ocean, larvae develop and grow until they reach a point where they transition into juveniles recognizable as a fish. This complex life history is similar to that of frogs, which grow from eggs to tadpoles to adult frogs.

The distribution of larvae in the sea is determined by where adult fish reproduce and by currents that move these small early life stages around the ocean. In a study published September 23 in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center used long-term survey data to compare the distributions of larvae between two decades, from 1977-1987 and from 1999-2008. They also used long-term survey data to compare distributions of adult fish over the same time period.

Read the whole story on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s website.

Questions? Contact Shelley Dawicki, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, at Shelley.Dawicki@noaa.gov or 508-495-2378.

NEW BEDFORD STANDARD-TIMES: Fishery management needs balance

September 30, 2015 — The requirement that the cost of at-sea monitors be paid by the fishermen who participate in the Northeast Multispecies Fishery is mere weeks away from being phased in.

Study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests as many as 60 percent of affected boats could be pushed out of profitability by the requirement, based on estimates of monitors costing $700 per day.

Republican U.S. Rep. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire hosted a roundtable mid-month with NOAA representatives and fishermen to address the issue.

“We’re supposed to take into account that we don’t destroy the fishing communities,” Rep. Ayotte said, according to Sept. 18 report by the Portsmouth Herald. “(Requirements to protect fishermen) are being ignored in all this.”

She was referring to National Standard 8 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which says measures used to manage the fishery must “take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities by utilizing economic and social data,” consistent with the prevention of “overfishing and rebuilding of overfished stocks.”

The requirement for consistency, above, might explain why Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator John Bullard told Rep. Ayotte that “eliminating overfishing” supersedes all other priorities.

The Standard-Times is having a very difficult time trying to understand why a policy that will have such a clear negative impact on fishermen is being instituted when the beneficial impact on the resource — the fishery — is so unclear.

Read the full editorial from the New Bedford Standard-Times

Large numbers of Guadalupe fur seals dying off California

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) — September 29, 2015 — ” Scientists are looking at ocean-warming trends to figure out why endangered Guadalupe fur seals are stranding themselves and dying in alarming numbers along the central California coast.

Approximately 80 emaciated fur seals have come ashore since January ” about eight times more than normal ” leading the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week to declare an “unusual mortality event” for the animals. The classification diverts additional resources to study the animals, which have been traditionally under-researched, officials said.

Researchers will try to determine if the die-off is a result of a disruption in the seal’s feeding patterns from a large-scale warming of the Pacific Ocean, Toby Garfield, an official with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, said Tuesday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

ATLANTA: Georgia Aquarium Loses Legal Battle Over Beluga Whales

September 28, 2015 — ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Aquarium has lost a legal battle to import 18 beluga whales from Russia, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The aquarium sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in September 2013 after the federal agency refused to grant a permit to import the whales. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg said in a 100-page ruling that the agency properly reviewed the aquarium’s permit application through the lens of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The 1972 law prohibits the capture of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens elsewhere and generally doesn’t allow the import of marine mammals, although there are some exceptions, including one that allows animals to be imported for public display.

Aquarium officials were reviewing the decision, spokeswoman Jessica Fontana said in an email.

The government agency, known as NOAA Fisheries, is pleased with the ruling, spokeswoman Connie Barclay said in an email.

The aquarium, which has said the whales are needed to strengthen the gene pool of whales in captivity in the U.S. and for research, argued the agency’s denial of its permit application was arbitrary and capricious.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times