Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Scup Quotas

November 7, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries proposes to revise the 2018 quotas and announce projected 2019 quotas for the scup fishery. Compared to the current specifications in place for 2018, this action would increase the commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits each by approximately 40 percent.

The recent scup stock assessment update indicated that the stock is not overfished and overfishing did not occur in 2016. The update also showed that the 2015 year class was about 2.1 times larger than the average recruitment (i.e., number of age 0 scup) from 1984 to 2016.

Due to increases in the stock size, we are proposing revised 2018 specifications that are a 38 percent increase in the commercial quota and a 41 percent increase in the recreational harvest limit. These catch limits would replace the current 2018 allowances established in 2015.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online rule making portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

The comment period is open through November 22.

To learn more about NOAA visit their site here.

 

Monkfish RSA Accepting Proposals

November 7, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Competition for monkfish research support opened today in a program unique to Northeast fishery management. Projects selected through the competition are awarded fishing days rather than dollars, and use the proceeds from catch made using those days to fund their work.

This year’s priorities include monkfish life history, stock structure, migration patterns, interactions with other species, population surveys, bycatch, sources of catch mortality, and gear studies to reduce unwanted bycatch.

The full description of the program, its priorities, deadlines, and how to apply can be found here.

To learn more about NOAA visit their site here.

 

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment

November 6, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are seeking public comment on an action that would:

  • Revise the essential fish habitat designations for all New England Fishery Management Council-managed species and life stages;
  • Add Habitat Areas of Particular Concern to highlight especially important habitat areas, including 16 canyons and two seamounts;
  • Revise the spatial management system within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and the southern New England area to better align with scientific advice on how and where to protect essential fish habitat while balancing the economic needs of the fishing industry;
  • Establish two Dedicated Habitat Research Areas;
  • Revise or implement seasonal spawning protection measures; and
  • Add a system for reviewing and updating the proposed measures.

Read the proposed rule and supplemental documents as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

The comment period is open through December 5.

To learn more about NOAA visit their site here.

 

Commercial Closure for Gray Triggerfish in South Atlantic Federal Waters on November 8, 2017

November 6, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of gray triggerfish in South Atlantic federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 8, 2017. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of gray triggerfish in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational sector is open.

 WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • The 2017 July-December commercial catch limit is 156,162 pounds whole weight. In addition, the unused portion of the January 1 through June 30, 2017, commercial catch limit (20,278 pounds whole weight) was added to the July 1 through December 31, 2017, commercial catch limit for a revised catch limit of 176,440 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach that revised July-December commercial catch limit on November 8, 2017.  According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

AFTER THE CLOSURE:

  • The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper.
  • The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for gray triggerfish does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 8, 2017,and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or at https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=383bc195ccbeab4fd6bec1c24905df34&node=sp50.12.622.i&rgn=div6#se50.12.622_1190.

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

 

Federal bill that could eliminate shark fin sales puts pressure on N.C. shark fishermen

November 6, 2017 — WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. — The sale of shark fins may soon become illegal for coastal fisherman across the country. Legislation has been introduced to the House and Senate which would make it illegal to possess, buy, sell, or transport shark fins or any product containing shark fins.

Local fishermen make a portion of their income based off of the sale of shark fins and shark meat. Some perceive this aspect of their business to be at risk because of the potential regulation.

Shark fins, not shark finning 

Shark finning is the process of cutting the fin off of a live shark and discarding the remainder of the fish back into the ocean.

The practice was made illegal in the United States in 2000, with a loophole that was closed by 2009.

All shark species, with the exception of the smooth dogfish, are federally protected from finning under current legislation.

The sale of shark fins is legal in North Carolina. Fishermen are permitted to harvest and sell the fins of sharks once landed, not while the shark is still alive and at sea. This distinction is important to fishermen who oppose the inhumane act of shark finning.

“People are obviously horrified by the thought, and they should be,” said Jerry Schill, director of government relations for the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

Read the full story at the Port City Daily 

 

Aquatic limbo

November 5, 2017 — Fourteen years is a long time.

Consider, in 14 years children go from being unable to do much more than eat, sleep and relieve themselves to walking, talking, and giving serious consideration to driving a car.

Fourteen years is also the length of time of three-and-a-half presidential terms; more than long enough to change the direction of an entire country and the fates of hundreds of millions of people.

Fourteen years is also an interminably long time to wait if your livelihood is at stake. And yet, it took the New England Fisheries Management Council 14 years to develop regulations regarding the protection of fishing habitats. That, in and of itself, would not be so bad; after all, one would hope that those involved would take the time necessary to get the science right on an issue where so much is at stake.

But it has now been two years since those regulations were passed, and there is little indication that they are any closer to being implemented.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

Headless 400-pound tuna found in Massachusetts woods

November 2, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Spotting a 400-pound tuna in the Massachusetts seaport of Gloucester, known as America’s oldest seaport, is not unusual. But finding a headless tuna in the woods is a bit odd.

State Environmental Police and federal fisheries regulators are trying to figure out who dumped the headless fish, which had to be hauled out of the trees by a tow truck.

Authorities won’t say exactly when the tuna was found or who tipped them off.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Fox News

 

Red snapper season could be too little, too late

November 2, 2017 — After three years of no allowable red snapper fishing off the South Atlantic coast, it opens back up today for the first in consecutive 3-day weekends for recreational fishermen. For a lot of charter fishermen, however, the chance to take advantage of the reopened fishery may have come and gone.

Scott Griffin of Goin’ Coastal Charters said he and his fellow captains really had less than a week to get the word out, and even then, years of atrophy to offshore charter business already had an impact.

“Most of the guys are concentrating inshore for trout and redfish right now,” Griffin said. “If it had been during the tourist season, it would have been a whole different story. We could’ve booked all six days. So, giving us one week’s notice in the middle of the fall, it basically does nothing for us. It’s a shame, too, because the fish are out there.”

The area covered goes from 3 miles out from the coast, to 200 miles, administered through federal regulatory bodies.

In the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meetings on Jekyll Island in March, discussion shifted between whether they were in a position to accurately know the health of the fishery, to the amount of by-catch — usually dead snapper thrown back into the water when caught during fishing for other species — to the continuing frustration of recreational anglers who maintain there are more than enough red snapper for both harvesting and maintaining the population.

Read the full story at the Brunswick News

 

Commercial Closure in Federal Waters for Atlantic Migratory Group Spanish Mackerel Northern Zone on November 7, 2017

November 2, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone in federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 7, 2017. The northern zone for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel includes federal waters off New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of Spanish mackerel in or from the northern zone federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits while the recreational sector is open.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • Originally, the 2017/2018 commercial quota for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone was 662,670 pounds. However, regulations allow for quota transfers between the northern and southern zones with the approval from the Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries to allow the commercial quota for both zones to be fully harvested. 100,000 pounds of Spanish mackerel were transferred from the southern zone quota to the northern zone quota. Therefore, the revised quotas are 2,567,330 pounds for the southern zone and 762,670 pounds for the northern zone.
  • Commercial landings are projected to reach the revised commercial quota for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the quota from being exceeded.

DURING THE CLOSURE:

  • The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial permit for Coastal Migratory Pelagics.
  • The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for Spanish mackerel does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, November 7, 2017, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
  • During the closure, a person on board a vessel that has been issued a valid Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for coastal migratory pelagic fish may continue to retain Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the northern zone under the recreational bag and possession limits, as long as the recreational sector for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel is open.
  • Commercial harvest for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel northern zone will re-open on March 1, 2018.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. For a full list of regulations visit the Federal Register here.

 

Cape Cod fishermen have high hopes for halibut

November 2, 2017 — CHATHAM, Mass. — On the U.S. side of the border Atlantic halibut are listed as a species of concern by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and fishermen are limited to one fish per trip.

Less than a half a day’s steam to the east, the same fish is the poster child for sustainable fishery management and generates between $100 million and $200 million a year for Canadian fishermen.

It’s a divergence shrouded in mystery as deep as the ocean on either side of the Hague Line, the boundary that separates the two nations out to the 200 mile limit of their exclusive economic zones. The target date to rebuild the U.S. Atlantic halibut stock to healthy levels is 2056, nearly 40 years in the future.

But Cape Cod fishermen believe the future may be happening now. They have been seeing more halibut in recent years and believe the science is wrong.

“Yes, we’re seeing more halibut, continuously,” said Jason Amaru, the captain and owner of the Chatham-based trawler Joanne A III. “The population seems to be recovering.”

Last year, the Nature Conservancy received a $270,000 federal grant to work with fishermen, scientists from NOAA, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada, and the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance to place satellite tags on halibut and take biological samples.

Grant money pays for Amaru to attach the tracking devices, which cost more than $3,000 each. He also takes biological samples: the ear bones that determine age, gonads that tell the stage of sexual maturity, the heart for genetic analysis, and documents where the fish was caught, its weight and length.

“Four years ago, we were talking to fishermen. They said they were seeing more halibut than ever before. It used to be like seeing a unicorn, one a year, then once a month, now every day,” said Christopher McGuire, marine program director for The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts, who spearheaded the drive for research money after listening to Cape fishermen. “We see that one fish a day being landed by a lot of fishermen.”

McGuire said he hopes the new data will show whether a resurgent Canadian halibut population is repopulating U.S. waters, or whether the U.S. fish are experiencing their own population boom.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times