Saving Seafood

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

 

Southern Cape’s commercial fishing worth $85 million, report says

November 27, 2017 — Southern Cape May County’s commercial fishing industry is worth $85 million, according to a recently released federal report.

The combined port of Cape May and Wildwood is the ninth largest commercial fishing port in the United States and the second biggest on the East Coast, measured by dollar value.

In a county known as a tourism hub, commercial fishing — and especially the scallop trade — is a big part of the area’s economy, those in the industry say.

“It trickles down through the whole economy,” said Tom McNulty Jr., 36, of Middle Township, who captains a pair of scallop boats.

Commercial fishermen landed 47 million pounds of seafood at the Cape May port in 2016, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That’s 30 million pounds less than the port pulled in the year before, but in terms of dollars, the 2016 catch was worth about $13 million more, according to the report. The Cape May port ranked ninth in the country both years.

Since 2013, the county’s commercial fishing industry has grown by $50 million, despite fluctuating pound totals.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

Read the latest South Atlantic Update Newsletter – Now Available!

November 27, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Inside this issue:

Council Requests Changes to Red Snapper Annual Catch Limits for 2018

The Council approved an amendment to modify the catch limit for 2018 with the intent to allow a limited harvest next year as the red snapper stock continues to rebuild…

NOTE: As this issue of the SA Update Newsletter was sent to press – NOAA Fisheries announced the opening of an additional weekend for the recreational harvest of red snapper – December 8-10, 2017. Read more by clicking here.

Chair’s Column

Newly elected Council Chair Charlie Phillips shares his insight…

Cobia Management Update

Read the latest on proposed management changes for Atlantic cobia…

MyFishCount.com

Recreational anglers have the opportunity to report their red snapper fishing activities during 2017. See the results and how this pilot project may be used in the future….

And more!

Read the full newsletter here

Why are North Atlantic right whale numbers declining?

One of the world’s most endangered animals used to be routinely seen off the NC coast. Not anymore.

November 27, 2017 — WILMINGTON, N.C. — After years of steady improvement, one of the Atlantic ocean’s most at-risk whales — a species with strong ties to North Carolina — is in perilous decline, according to researchers.

The North Atlantic right whale, historically a target for harpooners, saw its population improve from 270 whales in 1990 to 483 in 2010, according to research led by Richard Pace of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The population fell to 458 whales by 2015.

“When you’re talking about a population that’s somewhere between 400 and 500 individuals, you can never let your guard down. And you can never assume that things are going well,” said Ann Pabst, a University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) zoologist whose lab focuses on marine mammals.

The downward trend continued in 2017, with 16 North American right whales dying, putting the species’ population in decline and at risk of endangerment. The Pace team’s research indicates the female population declined about 7 percent from 2010 to 2015, while the male population dropped about 4 percent.

Right whales are likely not breeding quickly enough to replace their deceased counterparts, according to the Pace team’s study, with the plight further enhanced by female whales dying at a faster rate than males. Bill McLellan, who works with UNCW’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program, explained some of the reasons behind it.

“Females have a lot riskier life. They spend a lot more time up and down the coast, they migrate a lot more to give birth,” McLellan said. “Males generally stay north. … They’re sitting in one location, and they’re not exposing themselves to the mortality factors.”

Read the full story from GateHouse Media at the Jacksonville Daily News

Feds Seeking Comments on Future Lobster Regulations

November 27, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries is seeking comments on possible revisions for the lobster industry.

They include changes to lobster trap gear requirements and allowing substitute vessels to fish lobster traps for those that are federally permitted but inoperable.

The poor condition of the of the Southern New England lobster stock is part of the reason for this action.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com