Saving Seafood

NOAA Announces 2017 Limited Opening of Recreational and Commercial Red Snapper Fishery in South Atlantic Federal Waters

October 27, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

KEY MESSAGE:

  • Red snapper recreational and commercial seasons will open in South Atlantic federal waters for limited harvest in 2017 through emergency action.
  • The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council requested the opening after recent scientific information indicated a large increase in the size of the red snapper population since 2010.
  • NOAA Fisheries determined the limited harvest in 2017 is neither expected to result in overfishing, nor prevent continued rebuilding of the population.WHEN RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT:
  • The recreational sector will open for harvest on weekends only (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) on the following days:
    • November 3, 4, and 5, 2017 – The recreational season opens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 3, 2017, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 6, 2017.
    • November 10, 11, and 12, 2017 – The recreational season opens again at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 10, 2017, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 13, 2017.
  • The commercial sector will open for harvest upon implementation of the emergency rule at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 2, 2017, and will close at 11:59 p.m., local time, on December 31, 2017, unless the commercial annual catch limit is met or projected to be met before this date.
    • NOAA Fisheries will announce if the commercial sector needs to close before 11:59 p.m., local time, on December 31, 2017.

 THE REGULATIONS DURING THE LIMITED SEASONS ARE:

  • For the recreational sector, the bag limit is one red snapper per person per day. This applies to private and charterboat/headboat vessels (the captain and crew on for-hire vessels may retain the recreational bag limit).
  • For the commercial sector, the trip limit is 75 pounds gutted weight.
  • There are no minimum size limits for the recreational and commercial sectors.
  • The recreational and commercial catch limits are 29,656 fish and 124,815 pounds whole weight, respectively.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.

 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) 

When are the 2017 South Atlantic recreational and commercial red snapper seasons?

  • The recreational sector will open for harvest on weekends only (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) on the following days:
    • November 3, 4, and 5, 2017 – The recreational season opens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 3, 2017, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 6, 2017.
    • November 10, 11, and 12, 2017 – The recreational season opens again at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 10, 2017, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 13, 2017.
  • The commercial sector will open for harvest upon implementation of the emergency rule at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 2, 2017, and will close at 11:59 p.m., local time, on December 31, 2017, unless the commercial annual catch limit is met or projected to be met before this date.
    NOAA Fisheries will announce if the commercial sector needs to close before December 31, 2017.

    • NOAA Fisheries will announce if the commercial sector needs to close before December 31, 2017.

What are the regulations for red snapper during these seasons?

    • Recreational annual catch limit of 29,656 fish.
    • The recreational bag limit is one red snapper per person per day.
    • Commercial annual catch limit of 124,815 pounds whole weight.
    • The commercial trip limit is 75 pounds gutted weight.
    • There is no minimum size limit for both the recreational and commercial sectors.

What is the history of red snapper harvest and prohibitions in the South Atlantic Region?  

  • Harvest of red snapper from South Atlantic federal waters was prohibited in 2010 when the population was determined to be severely overfished and undergoing overfishing (Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review [SEDAR] 15).
  • Amendment 28 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region established a process that allowed harvest if total removals (landings plus dead discards) were below the acceptable biological catch in the previous year.
  • Limited harvest of red snapper was allowed in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
  • The estimated total removals of red snapper exceeded the acceptable biological catch in 2014, 2015, and 2016, resulting in no allowable harvest since 2014.

What is the current status of the red snapper population in the South Atlantic Region?

  • The latest population assessment (SEDAR 41) was completed in 2016 and revised in 2017. It indicated the South Atlantic red snapper population is overfished and undergoing overfishing; however, the population is rebuilding.
  • The red snapper overfishing determination in the assessment came from 2012-2014 when only a small amount of harvest was allowed to occur. However, discards during this time period were high due to fishermen targeting species that co-occur with red snapper, which likely contributed to the overfishing determination.
  • SEDAR 41 stated that recreational discards were one of the most important and uncertain sources of information used in the stock assessment during the harvest prohibition from 2010-2014.
  • The harvest prohibition in 2015 and 2016 has contributed towards addressing overfishing of red snapper supported by an increase in population biomass of red snapper since 2010.

Why is limited harvest of red snapper being allowed in 2017?

  • Recently available fisheries independent studies by the Southeast Reef Fish Survey program available here and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission available here have shown relative abundance of red snapper has increased since 2014, and was highest in 2017.
  • The scientific studies also show a greater number of large red snapper and a broader range of ages in recent years suggesting rebuilding of the red snapper population despite the limited harvest allowed in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
  • The total annual catch limit implemented by this temporary rule equals the landings of red snapper during the limited harvest in 2014.
  • The harvest prohibitions of red snapper since 2010 have resulted in adverse socio-economic effects to fishermen and fishing communities such as loss of additional revenue and recreational opportunities, as well as indirect benefits to businesses that provide supplies for fishing trips.
  • Collection of fishery dependent data is limited during harvest prohibitions. Federal and state personnel will collect information, including catch data and biological samples during the open season in 2017, which will inform future population assessments for red snapper.

How will the limited harvest in 2017 affect the overfishing and overfished status of red snapper?

  • NOAA Fisheries has determined that the limited harvest in 2017 is not expected to result in overfishing and will not prevent the continued rebuilding of the red snapper population.

What are some Best Fishing Practices while fishing for red snapper?
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council identified the following best practices to reduce release mortality and further protect the population as it rebuilds:

    • Avoid areas likely to have red snapper if you already have met your recreational bag limit. If you are approaching your commercial vessel limit, move to a different area.
    • When red snapper are out of season, avoid areas where they are common.
    • Use single hook rigs since the recreational bag limit for red snapper during the limited fishing season is one per person per day. This will potentially reduce the number of red snapper that are caught on one drop.
    • Use a dehooking device to remove the hook. Keep fish in the water if you plan to release them or return them as quickly as possible.
    • Use descending devices when releasing fish with signs of barotrauma.

Where can I find more information on the environmental assessment and temporary final rule through emergency action?

  • Contact NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office

By Mail: Nikhil Mehta

NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office

Sustainable Fisheries Division

263 13th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505

By FAX: (727) 824-5308

By Phone: (727) 824-5305

The environmental assessment and temporary final rule through emergency action may be found online at the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office Web site at: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2017/red_snapper_er_2017/index.html 

Additional information on management of red snapper in the South Atlantic may be found at: http://safmc.net/regulations/regulations-by-species/red-snapper/

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

 

Recreational Closure for Greater Amberjack in South Atlantic Federal Waters on October 31, 2017

October 27, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

WHAT/WHEN:

The recreational harvest of greater amberjack in South Atlantic federal waters will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, October 31, 2017.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

The 2017 recreational catch limit is 1,167,837 pounds whole weight. Recreational landings have met the recreational catch limit.  According to the accountability measure, recreational harvest must close.

DURING THE CLOSURE:

During the recreational closure, the bag and possession limits of greater amberjack in or from federal waters are zero. Because commercial harvest is also closed, the prohibition on harvest or possession of greater amberjack applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a Federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic snapper-grouper.

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#_top.

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

 

Misplaced NOAA footnote blamed for shark fin miscue

October 27, 2017 — US senator Cory Booker and others have been exaggerating the number of shark fin incidents in efforts to get legislation passed that would ban the practice, but it’s really a misplaced footnote that’s to blame, a fishing industry trade group says.

Booker, who has been suggested as a future possible presidential candidate, reported at a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, & Coast Guard, in early August, that he was “shocked to find out that, since 2010, [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)] has investigated over 500 incidences of alleged shark fining.”

But the New Jersey Democrat is wrong, according to a press release issued by Saving Seafood on Thursday, bringing the matter to light.

“While the information NOAA provided in response to senator Booker’s staff was not entirely inaccurate, a footnote was attached to the wrong sentence, making it possible for a reader to misinterpret the over-inclusive information provided,” the group said.“So, in the past 7.5 years, with an annual average of 2.6 million pounds landed sustainably from federally managed shark fisheries, there has been on average just 3.5 incidents per year resulting in charges,” Saving Seafood said.

“Shark finning is a reprehensible activity that has been outlawed in the U.S. and is opposed by participants in the sustainable U.S. shark fishery,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of the group. “Members of our coalition do not believe there is any need for Booker’s bill.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Shark Landings Update Through October 23, 2017

October 27, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The following are preliminary landings estimates in metric tons (mt) and pounds (lb) dressed weight (dw) for the Atlantic shark commercial fisheries; 1 mt is equal to 2,204.6 pounds.  These preliminary estimates are based on dealer reports and other information received from January 1 through October 23, 2017.  The estimates include landings by state-only permitted vessels, federally permitted vessels, and the 2017 shark research fishery participants.  We provide percentages of landings instead of estimated landings where needed to continue ensuring participant confidentiality.  The fishing seasons for all shark management groups opened on January 1, 2017, except for the aggregated LCS, blacktip shark, and hammerhead shark management groups in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region which opened on February 1, 2017.

Gulf of Mexico Region

  • Includes any landings south and west 25° 20.4’ N. long.
  • As of 10/23/2017, the retention limit for directed permit holders is 45 large coastal sharks other than sandbar sharks per vessel per trip in the eastern Gulf of Mexico sub-region and no retention of large coastal sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region*.
  • The retention limit for directed permit holders can change throughout the season.

GOM

* Fishery closed at 11:30 p.m. local time on May 2, 2017 (82 FR 20447).

NMFS will announce closures of management groups when landings reach or are projected to reach 80 percent of the quota.  Management groups that are quota linked close when landings of either of the linked management groups reach or are projected to reach 80 percent of the quota.

For the full list of shark landings by region visit NOAA Fisheries

Agency gave bad data to senator trying to stop shark finning

October 27, 2017 — A federal agency said on Thursday that it made a mistake with a key piece of data it gave to U.S. Sen. Cory Booker as he was building a case to shut down America’s shark fin trade.

Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, has cited more than 500 incidents involving complaints of shark finning in the U.S., dating back to January 2010, as cause to support shutting down the trade. But the number is actually 85.

Booker reached out to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration months ago to find out how often it investigates allegations of shark finning, an illegal practice in which a shark’s fins are removed and the shark is dumped back into the water, sometimes while it’s still alive.

An NOAA worker’s error involving a new case management system caused the mistake in the number of finning incident reports, said Casey Brennan, chief of staff for the NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement. He said the number of reports that led to charges was 26.

Saving Seafood, a fishing industry trade group, asked the NOAA to clarify the figures about shark finning incidents after seeing conflicting data on the agency’s website.

“Shark finning is a reprehensible activity that has been outlawed in the U.S. and is opposed by participants in the sustainable U.S. shark fishery,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of the group. “Members of our coalition do not believe there is any need for Booker’s bill.”

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

Footnote Error Leads to Dramatically Inflated Claims of Illegal Shark Finning from Sen. Booker, Oceana

October 26, 2017 (Saving Seafood) — The horrific practice of shark finning has been illegal in U.S. waters since 2000, and is vehemently opposed by all U.S. shark fisheries and participants in those fisheries. The Office of Law Enforcement at NOAA Fisheries is enforcing the current finning prohibition; US fishermen are in full compliance with the law.  There are very few incidents of this terrible practice on record in the United States.

On August 1, 2017, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) chaired a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, & Coast Guard regarding the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).  During the hearing, Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) asked Chris Oliver, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries and head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, to keep him informed on NOAA investigations of shark finning allegations. Sen. Booker introduced a bill earlier this year designed to prevent people from possessing or selling shark fins in America.

Leading up to his question, Senator Booker stated the following. “You know that shark finning was first outlawed in U.S. waters in 2000. And a loophole in that original law was closed by the Shark Conservation Act of 2009. I recently asked your office how many shark-finning investigations NOAA has opened since January 1, 2010. I was shocked to find out that since 2010, NOAA has investigated over 500 incidences of alleged shark finning. As of April, there were seven shark finning cases that were open but not yet charged.”

Sen. Booker’s statement, that NOAA advised him of over 500 instances of alleged shark finning immediately sparked incredulity in the commercial fishing industry, because in June 2016, in an article by Ally Rogers, a communications specialist for NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), entitled OLE Working Hard To Identify, Prevent Incidents of Shark Finning, Illegal Shark Fishing, NOAA stated that during the ten year period from 2006-2016, 40% of the “nearly 80 shark-related incidents” referred to “fins that were not naturally attached to the shark carcasses.”  That works out to fewer than 32 incidents involving shark fins in a decade, or on average no more than 3.16 per year.

Saving Seafood asked NOAA how it could be that the agency told Senator Booker that they had “investigated over 500 incidences of alleged shark finning” in the past 7.5 years.

While the information NOAA provided in response to Senator Booker’s staff was not entirely inaccurate, a footnote was attached to the wrong sentence, making it possible for a reader to misinterpret the over-inclusive information provided.

In the NOAA case management system, there were 526 reports that contained the word “shark” in some form or another.  This could include a number of legal and illegal activities including inspections, boardings, a legal or illegal take of a shark, by-catch, harvesting sharks during a closed season, and unpermitted shark fishing activities, to name a few.  Any report that came into NOAA with the word “shark” in it, would have appeared as an incident in the numbers provided to Senator Booker.

In fact, of those 526 reports, only 85 were incidents that referred to “shark fins” or “shark finning”.  Of those 85 incidents, only 26 resulted in charges that could be a criminal complaint, a summary settlement, a written warning, or a Notice of Violation and Assessment (NOVA).  So, in the past 7.5 years, with an annual average of 2.6 million pounds landed sustainably from Federally managed shark fisheries, there has been on average just 3.5 incidents per year resulting in charges. And that is consistent with the earlier data.

In 2016, just ahead of the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” Senator Booker, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-California) joined with actor Morgan Freeman and the environmental group Oceana to introduce the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act (S. 793/H.R. 1456, in the current Congress).  The ban is opposed by leading shark scientists David Shiffman of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia and Robert Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida.  Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (I- Northern Mariana Islands), and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) are also original co-sponsors.

Oceana, the Humane Society International, Wild Aid, and COARE have used the inaccurate information in support of the shark fin ban, erroneously arguing that even “in U.S. waters, our anti-finning law does not effectively stop shark finning.”  In a recent blog post, Lora Snyder, Campaign Director at Oceana, Iris Ho, Wildlife Program Manager at Humane Society International, Peter Knights, Executive Director at WildAid and Christopher Chin, Executive Director at COARE, reference “government records cited during recent Congressional testimony” to make the claim that “more than 500 alleged shark finning incidents… have taken place in U.S. waters since January 2010.”  They go on to extrapolate from that number, stating “That is approximately five cases every month.”

In fact, over the past decade, there have been fewer than four incidents per year.

Oceana hired The McGrath Group, headed by six-term former Congressman and President of the National Republican Club Ray McGrath to lobby for the bills, spending $20,000 with the GOP firm between July 1 and Sept 31 this year.

Surprise Catch: First Shortnose Sturgeon Documented Above Dam in Connecticut River

October 25, 2017 — VERNON, Vt. — This August, a fisherman casting downstream of the Vernon Dam (in Vernon, Vermont) on the Connecticut River had quite a surprise when he reeled in not a walleye or bass, but instead a relic from the age of dinosaurs: an adult-sized shortnose sturgeon!

Sturgeon are among the most primitive of the bony fishes, and have five rows of bony plates or “scutes” covering their bodies. More than once, these odd-looking ancients have been mistaken for sea monsters. Shortnose sturgeon are the smallest of the sturgeon species that live in North America, and have been listed as endangered since 1967. As part of our Recovery Plan for the species, we monitor their populations in a number of rivers along the U.S. East Coast.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries 

 

Fishermen, researchers try to outsmart bait-robbing seabirds to save them

October 24, 2017 — When commercial fishermen spool out long lines in pursuit of sablefish— better known to consumers as black cod — seabirds looking for an easy meal dive to steal the bait off the series of hooks.

Some unlucky birds get hooked and drown as the line sinks to the deep. And when the drowned bird is an endangered species such as the short-tailed albatross, it triggers scrutiny.

“Just one was all it took. Yeah, just one,” said Amanda Gladics, a coastal fisheries specialist with Oregon Sea Grant. “Because they are endangered there is a lot of scrutiny on every single time any of those albatrosses are caught in a fishery.”

Gladics and colleagues from Oregon and Washington went to sea to determine the best tactics to avoid bycatch and published those in the journal Fisheries Research.

The paper recommends either fishing at night or deploying bird-scaring streamers on a line towed from a mast.

Read the full story at KTOO Public Media 

 

Right whale deaths raise concern for species’ survival

October 24, 2017 — CAPE COD, Mass. — The discovery Monday of another dead North Atlantic right whale off Cape Cod escalated the already fevered concern among Canadian and U.S. marine scientists and fishery managers on the imperiled state of the highly endangered species.

The discovery of the severely decomposed whale brings the 2017 death count to at least 16, with the majority of the mortalities — attributed exclusively by researchers to ship strikes and gear entanglements — occurring in Canadian waters.

Four of the right whale deaths have occurred off the coast of Massachusetts.

“Our research and data have shown us that ship-strike or entanglement are the only definitive cause of death,” said Mike Asaro, NOAA Fisheries’ Gloucester-based marine mammal and sea turtle branch chief for the Atlantic region. “There’s nothing else we’re aware of.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times 

NOAA approves changes to scallop fishery in New England

October 24, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal regulators say they have approved a change to fishing rules that will allow Maine and Massachusetts scallop fishermen opportunities to fish in state waters.

An arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says both states qualify for a program called the State Waters Scallop Exemption Program. The program allows some fishermen who are permitted to fish in federal waters to harvest scallops in state waters.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Seattle Times