Saving Seafood

Commercial Closure for Vermilion Snapper in South Atlantic Federal Waters on October 17, 2017

October 13, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of vermilion snapper in South Atlantic federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m. on October 17, 2017. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of vermilion snapper in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational fishery is open.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

  • The 2017 July-December commercial catch limit is 431,460 pounds whole weight. In addition, the unused portion of the January 1 through June 30, 2017, commercial catch limit was added to the July 1 through December 31, 2017, commercial catch limit. Commercial landings are projected to reach the July-December commercial catch limit by October 17, 2017.  According to the accountability measure, harvest should 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 vermilion snapper does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m. on October 17, 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.

Trump nominates AccuWeather CEO to run NOAA

October 12, 2017 — President Trump has chosen Barry Myers, the CEO of the private weather forecaster AccuWeather, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In that role, Myers, who has served as the chief executive of AccuWeather since 2007, would head the agency charged with executing a broad portfolio of responsibilities ranging from providing severe storm warnings to managing the nation’s fisheries.

If confirmed by the Senate, the nomination would install a business executive at an agency more recently headed by scientists. Former President Obama’s last NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan, for example, was a geologist and former astronaut.

Ray Ban, the co-chair of the weather industry advocacy group the Weather Coalition, praised Myers’  success in growing AccuWeather’s business, and said he would bring that expertise to the Trump administration.

“[I]n an administration that places high value on business acumen, Barry brings a strong track record in growing one of the most successful companies in the weather industry,” Ban told The Washington Post.

Read the full story at The Hill

Commercial Fisherman Reviews Shark Fishing Research

October 12, 2017 — Meet Mark Twinam of St. Petersburg, Florida, who fishes from Madeira Beach for large coastal sharks such as hammerhead, lemon and bull sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. He’s part of a group of fishermen who help NOAA research sharks in exchange for landing and selling a small quota of sandbar sharks. Twinam fishes from his 40-foot single-engine boat, the Captain Tate, named for his son, who he proudly says is getting a doctorate in economics although he fished with Twinam as a boy. “I pretty much cured him of fishing. He decided schoolwork wasn’t so bad.”

How did you get into shark fishing?

I started fishing after high school, went grouper fishing, then fished with longlines for tuna and swordfish. There was a bycatch (unintentional catch) of sharks, and we thought we’d like to sell them. We caught some sharks off Tampa Bay in the 1980s and that was around the time the government was encouraging fishermen to go shark fishing. I’ve been doing it off and on ever since.

How is the shark fishing business these days?

Practically nonexistent. The fishing effort today is not even five percent of what it was in the 1980s. The quotas are strict, not many people participate although we’re filling the quota. Then there’s the research fishery. These are the only fishermen allowed to land sandbar sharks. I’m involved with the research. We take an observer on our boat; they count sharks, measure them, and collect other biological information. We get paid by selling the sharks we catch.

What are the major challenges in the shark fishing business?

The biggest challenge is the propaganda from environmentalists who say that everyone in the world is cutting the fins off and throwing the sharks back alive. This is not what we’re doing in the U.S. We follow the law, land sharks with fins attached, and sell both meat and fins. This year, we’ve had a tremendous challenge because environmentalists persuaded the California Legislature to ban the buying, selling and trading of shark fins. California was our biggest market for fins and a connection to the Hong Kong market. Now the price, if you can sell them, has dropped from $32 per pound to $14.

Read the full interview at the Fishing Wire

US sea scallop surveys open door for big harvest in 2018

October 11, 2017 — GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts — Extensive surveys of Atlantic sea scallop beds on Georges Bank and in the Mid-Atlantic bode well for area fishermen counting on a good haul in 2018: The biomass is so high that it’s possible catch limits could even be increased.

Sea scallops have been a more solid source of seafood business in New England than other fish and shellfish in recent years. The 35.7 million pounds harvested in 2015, the most recent year available from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, were worth $437.9m in ex-vessel landings value, sixth most valuable among all seafood landings in the US and an almost 6% weight gain over the previous year. The average ex-vessel price per pound of meats in 2015 was $12.26.

No wonder scallops make up 80% of the total value of all landings in the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Sen. Warren: New Bedford should keep Rafael’s fishing permits

October 10, 2017 — And another voice enters the fray.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has weighed in on the debate over the ultimate fate of Carlos Rafael’s seized commercial fishing permits, saying in a letter to NOAA Fisheries the permits should remain in New Bedford.

“It has been reported that (Rafael’s) fishing permits may be cancelled or seized by the federal government and I am urging you to do everything possible to ensure that those permits stay in the port of New Bedford,” Warren wrote to Chris Oliver, NOAA Fisheries’ assistant administrator for fisheries. “Not doing so has the potential to devastate the local economy and effectively punish numerous innocent workers and businesses in New Bedford for Mr. Rafael’s crimes.”

Warren’s position aligns her with New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, who has led the campaign to keep Rafael’s permits in New Bedford. Other public officials, such as Gov. Charlie Baker, have called for the seized Rafael permits to be redistributed to Massachusetts fishermen.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

After Supreme Court ruling, fight over at-sea monitoring costs may head to Congress

October 10, 2017 — Despite a recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, a New Hampshire fisherman pledges to continue his fight against having to pay for monitors to accompany them while at sea.

When the court opened its new term last Monday, 2 October, it decided against hearing David Goethel’s case against the U.S. Department of Commerce, allowing the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to stand. The Hampton fisherman filed suit in December 2015, about nine months after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it would begin passing the costs of the monitoring program to the fishermen.

The monitoring costs more than USD 700 (EUR 596.03) per day, a price that Goethel and officials from the Northeast Fishery Sector 13 claim is too steep.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scientists survey Pacific Northwest salmon each year. For the first time, some nets are coming up empty

October 10, 2017 — SEATTLE — Scientists have been hauling survey nets through the ocean off the coasts of Washington and Oregon for 20 years. But this is the first time some have come up empty.

“We were really worrying if there was something wrong with our equipment,” said David Huff, estuarine and ocean ecology program manager in the fish ecology division at NOAA Fisheries. “We have never hauled that net through the water looking for salmon or forage fish and not gotten a single salmon. Three times we pulled that net up, and there was not a thing in it. We looked at each other, like, ‘this is really different than anything we have ever seen.’

“It was alarming.”

Moving from Newport, Oregon, to the northern tip of Washington, anywhere from 25 to 40 nautical miles offshore last spring and summer, the survey team began catching fish — but not the ones usually in those waters. Instead, warm-water fish, such as mackerel — a predator of young salmon — and Pacific pompano and pyrozomes — normally associated with tropical seas — turned up in droves. Both deplete the plankton that salmon need to survive.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Deal between Rafael, Canastra brothers worth $93M, still needs government OK

October 6, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Richard and Ray Canastra offered $93 million to purchase 42 permits and 28 vessels as part of a “global settlement” which would remove Carlos Rafael from the commercial fishing industry, Richard Canastra told The Standard-Times on Thursday.

The brothers approached Rafael about six months ago, Canastra said, offering the fishing mogul, who pleaded guilty to falsifying fishing quota, bulk cash smuggling and tax evasion in March, a way out of the industry. The deal would include Rafael’s fleet of scallopers and accompanying permits.

Canastra said, Rafael mulled the offer over for a few days before negotiations began. The two parties eventually entered into a Memorandum of Agreement, which was mentioned in court documents. The Canastras weren’t revealed as the buyers until Rafael’s sentencing on Sept. 25.

While the Canastras and Rafael have agreed, the deal isn’t complete. NOAA and the U.S. Attorney haven’t taken a final position on the proposed sale, according to court documents.

Canastra said he “didn’t know” how likely the agreement was to becoming a done deal.

“We’re just waiting,” Canastra said. “The government has all our deal structure. We presented it to the government. They know the deal and how Carlos would stay out of the business.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Notice of Availability for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2

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

Today, we published a Notice of Availability for the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2.

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;
  • Revise the spatial management system within the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and the southern New England area;
  • Establish two Dedicated Habitat Research Areas;
  • Revise or implement seasonal spawning protection measures; and
  • Add system for reviewing and updating the proposed measures.

Read the Notice 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, 2017.

ASMFC August/September 2017 issue of Fisheries Focus Now Available

October 6, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The August/September 2017 issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus is now available at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/59d79752FishFocusAugustSept2017.pdf.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Meetings

page 2

From the Executive Director’s Desk

ASMFC Discusses Next Steps in State/Federal Management

page 3

Species Profile

Spot

page 4

Fishery Management Actions

American Lobster

Scup

page 7

Proposed Management Actions

Atlantic Menhaden

Cobia

page 9 

Science Highlight

ASMFC Releases Stock Assessment Updates for Atlantic Menhaden and River Herring

page 11

ACCSP

ACCSP Submits Regional Recreational Implementation Plan to NOAA Fisheries MRIP

page 12

Comings & Goings
page 14

Employees of the Quarter Named

page 16

Past issues of Fisheries Focus can be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/search/%20/%20/Fishery-Focus.