Saving Seafood

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  

 

Fisheries council to undertake independent review

November 3, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council is undertaking an independent review it hopes will provide a sense of what it does well and where it needs to improve in the administration and management of the region’s fisheries.

The council on Thursday announced it is forming an external panel of managers and scientists from other regions and fisheries to administer the council program review, stating those selected will have “a strong understanding of U.S. federal fisheries management but no recent involvement or affiliation” with the council.

“As with the case of many organizations, it’s good to have third-party individuals look at our processes and see if they can be improved upon,” council Chairman John Quinn said Thursday. “We want to hear from everybody, from members of the fishing industry, non-governmental organizations and even government entities with whom we frequently interact.”

Quinn said the council hopes to answer three elemental questions with the review: What it’s doing right, what it’s doing wrong and “How can we improve the way we serve the people who are involved in our fisheries and the public overall.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times 

 

UM scientist awarded grant aimed to increase aquaculture production in the US

November 2, 2017 — University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM) Professor Daniel Benetti has been awarded $967,000 by Florida Sea Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The funding is just a portion of $9.3 million NOAA has slated for 32 projects around the country to help spur the development and growth of shellfish, finfish and seaweed aquaculture businesses. All projects include public-private partnerships and will be led by Sea Grant programs across the nation.

With each project, every two dollars of federal funding is matched by one dollar of non-federal funds, bringing the total investment to more than $13.9 million. UM successfully leveraged with matching funds from an ongoing research agreement with Aqquua, LLC, a US company investing in advanced technologies to further aquaculture development in the nation.

The projects include basic and applied research to improve efficient production of seafood, permitting of new businesses, management of environmental health issues, and economic success of aquaculture businesses.

Read the full story at PHYS

 

US fishermen’s catch up in value, volume declines slightly

November 1, 2017 — The federal government says American fisheries grew by a little more than 2 percent in value last year, even with fishermen bringing slightly less fish to shore.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says in an annual report released Wednesday that U.S. commercial fishermen brought 9.6 billion pounds (4.3 billion kilograms) of seafood to land last year — down 1.5 percent from 2015.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Washington Post

 

Rep. Walter Jones weighs in for North Carolina fishermen

November 2, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the office of Congressman Walter Jones:

Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) is moving to help Eastern North Carolina fishermen who could be hurt by legislation pending before Congress. The bills threaten America’s domestic shark fisheries, and a significant piece of those fisheries is in Eastern North Carolina. They are sustainably managed and help support the economy in coastal North Carolina and other small fishing communities around the country.

The bills – H.R. 1456 and S. 793 – purport to be an attempt to stop the practice of shark finning (i.e. the process of removing fins at sea and discarding the shark). They seek to do so by banning the sale of fins, even those harvested legally here in the United States. However well-intentioned the bill sponsors may be, the fact is that shark finning has been illegal in the United States for many years. Advocates for the legislation have countered with the false allegation that the practice is still widespread. They publicly claimed that NOAA Fisheries had 500 cases of shark finning over the last several years. That number sounded impossibly high to Congressman Jones, so in August he asked NOAA Fisheries for the real number of federal shark finning violations assessed over the past five years. According to NOAA, the real number is not 500, it is 22. The Associated Press recently ran a story correcting the record on the ‘fake news’ claims distributed by the bill’s supporters. You can find that story HERE.

“If foreign countries are failing to manage their shark populations appropriately, they should change their ways,” said Congressman Jones. “But we should not put U.S. fishermen out of business in the process.”

This week, Congressman Jones urged U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to join him in opposing the legislation. The Commerce Department is home to the regulatory agency – NOAA Fisheries – which manages the domestic shark fisheries. As Congressman Jones pointed out to Secretary Ross in a letter, federal law mandates that the domestic shark fishery be managed sustainably. According to renowned shark scientist, Dr. Robert E. Heuter of Florida’s Mote Marine Lab, America has “one of the best systems in the world for shark fisheries management and conservation.” The proof can be seen in NOAA Fisheries own data. NOAA Fisheries’ 2015 coastal shark survey captured and tagged “more than 2,800 sharks, the most in the survey’s 29-year history.” The leader of the survey stated that NOAA Fisheries has “seen an increase in the number of sharks in every survey since 2001,” and the agency called the survey results “very good news for shark populations.”

“Mr. Secretary, you know how important good jobs are to America’s future,” said Congressman Jones. “The sustainably managed U.S. shark fishery helps many hard working people in Eastern North Carolina and across the country support their families and their communities. For the sake of the American fishermen who make this country great, I respectfully ask you to oppose these bills.”

Congressman Jones has long been a strong supporter and advocate for Eastern North Carolina fishermen.

Additional information on Jones’ backing of North Carolina fishermen can be found here.

 

Government files appeal hoping to grab more Carlos Rafael permits

November 1, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Just when it felt safe to close the Carlos Rafael case, the government appealed Judge William Young’s decision regarding forfeiture on Wednesday.

A motion for reconsideration was filed Oct. 25 by the government seeking Young to alter his decision to force Rafael to forfeit four vessels and the accompanying permits. Young dismissed the motion a day later.

Wednesday’s appeal will be sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, according to court documents. It pertains only to Young’s determination of forfeiture.

Young sentenced Rafael to 46 months in prison on Sept. 25 after the New Bedford fishing mogul pleaded guilty to falsifying fishing quota, bulk cash smuggling and tax evasion in March. A decision on forfeiture wasn’t made until Oct. 11. U.S. Marshals seized the Bull Dog, the Lady Patricia, the Olivia and Rafaela and the Southern Crusader II a week later.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA: Fewer fish landed in 2016 but higher value

November 1, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Mirroring a national trend, the port of Gloucester in 2016 landed fewer fish than the previous year, even as the value of those fish rose by double digits, according to the annual state of the U.S. fisheries report released on Wednesday.

America’s oldest commercial seaport ranked 15th among the nation’s ports with 63 million pounds of fish landed, a decrease of 5 million pounds, or 7.3 percent, from 2015. But the city’s waterfront ranked 18th in the value of its landings, which increased 18 percent to $52 million in 2016 from $44 million in the previous year.

The Gloucester fishing experience in 2016 reflected a national trend. Throughout the United States, commercial landings of edible and industrial seafood was down 145.6 million pounds, or 1.5 percent, to 9.6 billion pounds. The value of those landings, however, rose 2.1 percent to $5.3 billion.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times 

 

Entangled: Making The Sea Safer For Whales

November 1, 2017 — More than 30 times this year, the federal government has received reports of whales tangled in fishing gear along the West Coast. Sometimes the whales manage to wriggle free. Other times you see heart-rending pictures on the news or a rescue mission.

The culprit often involves Dungeness crab pot lines. Now Oregon crabbers are working with marine scientists to make the seas safer for whales and to avoid a black mark on their brand.

Bob Eder has fished commercially out of Newport, Oregon for decades.

“Over 45 years of pulling crab pots—I think I’ve probably hauled in close to a million—I’ve never encountered an entangled whale,” he said.

‘We want to be proactive’

Eder often sees whales at sea and recognizes just one bad outcome blamed on fishing gear could be all it takes to cause a PR nightmare. Whale numbers are up, but so are sightings of humpback whales, gray whales and the odd blue whale entangled in fishing lines and buoys—especially in California.

“We want to get out ahead of it. We want to be proactive,” Eder said. “We don’t want to be sued by the Center for Biological Diversity. We want to see what we can do to mitigate the situation.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is an environmental group and it did just sue the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The group wants a federal judge to order the state regulator to make crab fishermen do more to avoid harm to endangered whales.

Crab traps themselves are not the problem, but rather the heavy-duty ropes stretching from the seafloor to one or more buoys at the surface. Whales can snag a fin or a tail and get all tangled up if there’s too much slack in the vertical line or excess floating on the surface.

“They normally don’t come in where our gear is,” Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission Executive Director Hugh Link said. “But when we get warmer water and the feed comes in closer to shore, then we have an issue.”

Link and Eder are two members of a work group of crabbers, marine biologists and government agency and nonprofit representatives. They’ve been meeting in Oregon since March.

A grant from NOAA Fisheries launched what is known as the Oregon Whale Entanglement Work Group, which is facilitated and now supported by Oregon Sea Grant. Washington state crabbers and other interested parties plan to meet in Montesano on November 8 to hear an update on whale entanglements and discuss whether the Washington-based/the local fleet should launch a proactive work group too.

The work group agreed to distribute a flyer to crab boat operators ahead of the season opener next month with best practices for setting and tending gear. Oregon and Washington also have programs to retrieve lost or derelict fishing gear. The work group next plans to survey the fleet about potential season modifications and area closures to keep whales away from gauntlets of ropes.

Read the full story at KUOW

 

NOAA: American fisheries remain a strong economic driver

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

Commercial and recreational fisheries remain a strong contributor to the United States economy, according to the annual Fisheries of the United States report released today by NOAA.

Saltwater recreational fishing remains one of America’s favorite pastimes and a key contributor to the national economy—with 9.6 million anglers making nearly 63 million trips in 2016, catching more than 371 million fish (61 percent of which are released alive), and in 2015, contributing $36 billion to the national economy. By weight, striped bass remains the top harvested catch among saltwater anglers, followed by dolphinfish, bluefish, yellowfin tuna, spotted seatrout, and summer flounder.

Also in 2016, U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.6 billion pounds of seafood (down 1.5 percent from 2015) valued at $5.3 billion (up 2.1 percent from 2015). The highest value commercial species were lobster ($723 million), crabs ($704 million), scallops ($488 million), shrimp ($483 million), salmon ($420 million), and Alaska walleye pollock ($417 million). By volume, the nation’s largest commercial fishery remains Alaska walleye pollock, which showed near record landings of 3.4 billion pounds (up 3 percent from 2015), representing 35 percent of total U.S. commercial and recreational seafood landings.

In 2016, the U.S. imported 5.8 billion pounds of seafood (up 1 percent compared to 2015) worth $19.5 billion (up 3.5 percent). However, a significant portion of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing, and then reimported to the United States. Shrimp and salmon are two of the top three imported species and much of that is farm-raised. The U.S. ranks 16th in total aquaculture production around the world—far behind China, Indonesia and India. In 2015, 1.4 billion pounds of aquaculture production was reported in the U.S.

“With the United States importing billions of pounds of seafood annually, and with so much of that seafood foreign farm-raised, the numbers in this report underscore the untapped potential of aquaculture here at home,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “Expanding our nation’s aquaculture capacity presents an opportunity to reduce America’s reliance on imports while creating thousands of new jobs.”

The report also shows that the average American ate 14.9 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2016, a decrease from 15.5 pounds the year before. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend 8-12 ounces of a variety of seafood species per week, or 26 to 39 pounds per person per year.

For the 20th consecutive year, the Alaskan port of Dutch Harbor led the nation in 2016 with the highest amount of seafood landed—770 million pounds, valued at $198 million. Walleye pollock accounted for 89 percent of that volume. Likewise, for the 17th year in a row, New Bedford, Massachusetts, claimed the highest value catch from one port—107 million pounds, valued at $327 million. Sea scallops accounted for 77 percent of that value.

NOAA Fisheries will release a detailed look at economic impact of recreational and commercial fisheries on the U.S. economy in the upcoming Fisheries Economics of the United States report.

View more facts and figures or read the report.

Government Appeals Carlos Rafael Forfeiture Decision to First Circuit Court of Appeals

November 1, 2017 (Saving Seafood) — The government prosecution in the Carlos Rafael case has filed notice that they are appealing Judge Young’s decision on forfeiture to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, as well as Judge Young’s memorandum denying the government’s motion for reconsideration.

The appeal can be read here.

For more information on the Carlos Rafael verdict:

Judge denies feds’ motion for Carlos Rafael to forfeit more vessels, permits

Judge issues forfeiture order in Rafael case