Saving Seafood

Feds want to cut sport fishermen’s haddock catch, prohibit cod

May 31, 2017 — Tom Orrell was under the impression he’d entered the charter fishing business with his Gloucester-based Yankee Fleet. He didn’t know it came with such a large roller-coaster.

Up one incline, down the next, riding the rails of ever-changing regulation while plying the Atlantic in search of the fin fish and fishing experience his recreational fishing customers seek.

It doesn’t appear that 2017 is going to provide much solace.

Orrell and the rest of the Cape Ann for-hire charter fleet are bracing for a mid-season audible by NOAA Fisheries that could change the rules of the game right at the height of the season.

“It’s unreal,” Orrell said Wednesday. “It makes it very difficult to run a business.”

Citing recreational catch excesses in haddock and cod in the 2016 season, NOAA Fisheries seeks to enact measures to produce a 20 percent reduction in daily bag limits for haddock while taking away the solitary cod recreational anglers currently are allowed to catch and keep each day.

But the most significant impact on the recreational segment of the fishing industry could come in the fall, when charter owners have the Hobson’s choice of a four-week closure that includes the bountiful Labor Day weekend or a six-week closure that wipes out the last half of September and all of October.   

 “It’s not much of a choice,” Orrell said. “It’s like picking out your cleanest dirty shirt to go to work.”

Still, Orrell said, his preference would be to suffer through the later, longer closure rather than lose his Labor Day trips.

“Later on, the weather changes and it becomes more unpredictable and the pollock start moving in,” Orrell said. “And once you take the people off the boat, they don’t just turn around in the fall and come back fishing.”

NOAA Fisheries, which also is proposing a spring closing from March 1 through April 14, is seeking public comment on the proposed changes. An agency spokeswoman said they could be enacted as soon a late June or early July.

At its January meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council voted to ask NOAA Fisheries to enact new measures on cod and haddock because preliminary 2016 data showed recreational anglers substantially exceeded the annual catch limit (ACL) for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: $185K in state Senate budget for industry-based cod survey

May 31, 2017 — The state Senate’s amended 2018 budget includes $185,000 to continue the industry-based cod survey that could help close the divide between commercial fishermen and regulatory scientists on the true state of the Gulf of Maine’s cod stock.

The survey funds now must survive the legislative conference committee formed to reconcile the differing budgets produced by the state Senate and House of Representatives before the final budget goes to Gov. Charlie Baker.

“This is really one of the rays of hope, that we can produce science that is credible and also acceptable to the people that have to live with it,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr of Gloucester, who, along with Assistant Majority Leader Mark Montigny, a Democrat from New Bedford, pushed to include the money in the Senate budget.

Tarr said the House budget contains only $125,000 to continue the industry-based survey.

“We’re significantly higher, but obviously we’re hoping to get the larger amount,” Tarr said. “The governor is a strong proponent of collaborative research, so I would say the likelihood is very strong that he will continue to support this program.”

Researchers from the state Division of Marine Fisheries, working on commercial fishing boats, recently completed the first year of the random-area survey that was funded with federal fishery disaster funds.

The goal of the survey, begun last year at the behest of Baker following his meetings with fishing stakeholders, was to produce “credible scientific information that could be accepted by fishermen, scientists and fisheries managers” and used in future NOAA Fisheries cod stock assessments.

As with many elements of commercial fisheries management, agreement between fishermen and regulatory scientists on the data used to generate cod assessments has been hard to come by.

The release in April of the preliminary results of the survey — appearing in a Boston Globe story — set off a firestorm among commercial fishermen and prompted some backtracking by the Baker administration.

The initial results, according to the Globe story, were in direct line with the dire assessments of NOAA Fisheries scientists about the imperiled state of the Gulf of Maine cod stock.

Fishing stakeholders were incensed.

“We’re appreciative and supportive of the state’s work and very much want the work to continue,” Vito Giacalone, policy director for the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, said at the time. “We’re not appreciative of the premature conclusions publicized by the scientists. It is this kind of scientific double standard that drives the loss of credibility of the science community in the eyes of industry.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Louisiana wants to give 150 anglers unlimited access to 25,000 pounds of red snapper

May 25, 2017 — Despite vehement opposition from recreational-fishing advocacy groups, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says it has worked up a pilot program that will award a significant portion of the state’s red snapper haul to select recreational anglers.

The department announced the plan in a Thursday afternoon press release, just one day after meeting with pro-recreational fishing groups and mentioning nothing about the program.

Under the pilot program, which would run in 2018 and 2019, a total of 150 anglers would be selected at random to receive 25,000 pounds of the recreational red snapper quota. Those anglers would not be subject to daily bag limits or season restrictions.

The structure would be similar to what exists in the commercial sector, where fishers have been awarded percentages of the overall commercial quota, and may harvest their red snapper at any time during the year. The system, called individual fishing quotas, has been panned by recreational-fishing organizations as well as good-government groups because it has set up so-called Sea Lords, who own quota and make hundreds of thousands of dollars on a public resource without ever leaving the dock.

Gov. John Bel Edwards lauded the department’s proposal.

“As a fisherman myself, that sounds like a lot better system than squeezing all of my red snapper fishing into June when there might be bad weather or when family obligations get in the way,” Edwards stated in the news release.

NOAA Fisheries announced last month the 2017 recreational red snapper season in federal waters would run three days, June 1-3. It’s the shortest federal red snapper season in history.

Read the full story at The Times-Picayune

Trump budget delivers body blows to Alaska fisheries

May 27, 2017 — The 2018 budget unveiled May 23 by the Trump administration is bad news for anything that swims in or near U.S. waters.

The Trump budget will cut $1.5 billion from the U.S. Commerce Department, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taking the hardest hit.

The NOAA budget for its National Marine Fisheries Service operations, research and facilities would be slashed by about $43 million, eliminating NOAA’s coastal research efforts as well as its Sea Grant program.

The Trump dump also includes pulling the budget from NOAA’s Coastal Zone Management Program and the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which targets recovery of West Coast and Alaska salmon runs.

Funding for management and enforcement of U.S. catch share programs, such as halibut, sablefish and Bering Sea crab, would be cut by $5 million.

Budgets for Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants, Interjurisdictional Fisheries Grants, the Chesapeake Bay project, the Great Lakes Restoration Project and the National Estuary Program also would be eliminated.

Another $193 billion would be cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over 10 years. SNAP is a program used by more than 42 million needy Americans to supplement food purchases and often includes government-purchased seafood.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told McClatchy News that the Trump administration “looked at the budget process through the eyes of the people who were actually paying the bills.”

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News

Senators Booker, Menendez Introduce Bill to Ban Seismic Testing in Atlantic

May 27, 2017 — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-NJ), Bill Nelson, (D-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the “Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act’’ a bill to ban oil, gas and methane hydrate-related seismic activities in the Atlantic Ocean. The bill will prohibit the use of seismic airgun blasting — a disruptive and potentially economically damaging method of surveying offshore oil and gas reserves — in the North Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida.

“Offshore fossil fuel exploration of any kind in the Atlantic poses a direct and serious threat to New Jersey’s economy and environment. My colleagues and I will do everything in our power to protect our coastal communities and those who work in our fishing industry from the potentially disastrous effects of seismic blasting,” said Senator Booker. “Our bill makes it clear that when it comes to offshore oil exploration of any kind, the Atlantic and our coasts are off limits.”

“We are introducing this commonsense legislation because we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our environment, and allowing big oil to use seismic blasting methods that are incredibly disruptive to marine life is a total abdication of that responsibility,” said Senator Menendez. “New Jersey’s fishing industry supports tens of thousands of jobs, and the state is home to one of the largest saltwater recreational fishing industries in the nation. I will continue to fight for New Jersey’s clean coastal waters and rich ecosystems, our small businesses and fishermen who have built and sustained a thriving shore economy against all odds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, and for all New Jerseyans who know the value of having a clean energy future.”

Booker has been an outspoken advocated for a ban on seismic airgun blasting and other harmful extraction efforts in the Atlantic. In Aug. 2015, Booker sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) urging a denial of four seismic survey applications for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. Last month, Booker spoke out against President Trump’s executive order on expediting off-shore drilling, pledging to fight the Administration’s efforts to erode coastal protections from off-shore drilling.

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

Shark Landings Update Through May 19, 2017

May 26, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

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 May 19, 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 5/19/2017, 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-region1.
  • The retention limit for directed permit holders can change throughout the season.

Sub-Region

Shark Management Group

2017 Quota

 

Estimated Landings Through 5/19/2017

% of 2017 Quota

2016 Landings Through same reporting period

Eastern

Gulf of Mexico (East of 88° W. lat. only)

Blacktip

36.0 mt dw

(79,359 lb dw)

11.1 mt dw

(24,411 lb dw)

31%

15.5 mt dw

(34,117 lb dw)

Aggregated Large Coastal (quota linked to Hammerhead)

85.5 mt dw

(188,593 lb dw)

24.7 mt dw

(54,515 lb dw)

29%

39.9 mt dw

(88,031 lb dw)

Hammerhead

(quota linked to Agg. LCS)

13.4 mt dw

(29,421 lb dw)

<4 mt dw

(<8,818 lb dw)

<30%

6.3 mt dw

(13,884 lb dw)

Western

Gulf of Mexico (West of 88° W. lat. only)

Blacktip

331.6 mt dw

(730,425 lb dw)

207.2 mt dw

(456,815 lb dw)

63%

Closed1

165.7 mt dw

(365,268 lb dw)

Aggregated Large Coastal

(quota linked to Hammerhead)

72.0 mt dw

(158,724 lb dw)

65.2 mt dw

(143,818 lb dw)

91%

Closed1

66.1 mt dw

(145,624 lb dw)

Hammerhead

(quota linked to Agg. LCS)

11.9 mt dw

(26,301 lb dw)

2.5 mt dw

(5.541 lb dw) 2

24%

Closed1

16.8 mt dw

(37,063 lb dw)

N/A

Non-Blacknose Small Coastal

112.6 mt dw

(248,215 lb dw)

21.4 mt dw

(47,155 lb dw)

19%

13.2 mt dw

(29,040 lb dw)

N/A

Smoothhound

504.6 mt dw

(1,112,441 lb dw)

0 mt dw 

(0 lb dw)

0%

0 mt dw

(0 lb dw)

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

 2 The landings decrease from the previous month is due to removal of duplicate records.  

Atlantic Region

  • Includes any landings north of 25° 20.4′ N. lat.
  • As of 5/19/2017, the retention limit for directed permit holders is 3 large coastal sharks other than sandbar sharks per vessel per trip, and the retention limit for all permit holders is 8 blacknose sharks per vessel per trip1.
  • The retention limit for directed permit holders can change throughout the season.  

Shark Management Group

2017 Quota

Estimated Landings

Through 5/19/2017

% of 2017 Quota

2016 Landings through same reporting perio

Aggregated Large Coastal

(quota linked to Hammerhead)

168.9 mt dw

(372,552 lb dw)

49.3 mt dw

(108,671 lb dw)

29%

34.7 mt dw

(76,518 lb dw)

Hammerhead

(quota linked to Agg. Large Coastal)

27.1 mt dw

(59,736  lb dw)

4.3 mt dw

(9,427 lb dw)

16%

8.3 mt dw

(18,282 lb dw)

Non-Blacknose Small Coastal

(quota linked to Blacknose south of 34° N. lat. only)

264.1 mt dw

(582,333 lb dw)

47.0 mt dw

(103,674 lb dw)

18%

31.4 mt dw

(69,281 lb dw)

Blacknose 1

(South of 34° N. lat. only)

17.2 mt dw

(37,921 lb dw)

4.4 mt dw

(9,743 lb dw)

26%

9.3 mt dw

(20,527 lb dw)

Smoothhound

1,802.6 mt dw

(3,971,587 lb dw)

56.8 mt dw (125,318 lb dw)

3%

70.5 mt dw

(155,352 lb dw)

1 NMFS implemented a retention limit of 8 blacknose shark per vessel per trip on January 13, 2017 (81 FR 90241; December 12, 2016).  NMFS implemented a change in the retention limit of large coastal sharks other than sandbar for all directed permit holders on April 13, 2017 (82 FR 17765, April 13, 2017).

No Regional Quotas

Shark Management Group

2017 Quota

Estimated Landings

Through 5/19/2017

% of 2017 Quota

2016 Landings through same reporting period

Shark Research Fishery

(Aggregated LCS)

50.0 mt dw

(110,230 lb dw)

5.1 mt dw

(11,305 lb dw)

10%

3.7 mt dw

(8,219lb dw)

Shark Research Fishery

(Sandbar only)

90.7 mt dw

(199,943 lb dw)

23.4 mt dw

(51,530 lb dw)

26%

21.5 mt dw

(47,479 lb dw)

Blue

273.0 mt dw

(601,856 lb dw)

< 2.3 mt dw

(< 5,000 lb dw)

<1%

0 mt dw

(0 lb dw)

Porbeagle

1.7 mt dw

(3,748 lb dw)

0 mt dw

(0 lb dw)

0%

0 mt dw

(0 lb dw)

Pelagic Sharks Other Than Porbeagle or Blue

488.0 mt dw

(1,075,856 lb dw)

53.0 mt dw

(116,923 lb dw)

11%

33.6 mt dw

(74,029 lb dw)

Aggregated Large Coastal (LCS)

Hammerhead

Non-Blacknose Small Coastal

Pelagic Sharks other than Porbeagle or Blue

Smoothhound

– Blacktip (Atlantic region only*)

– Bull

-Lemon

– Nurse

– Silky   

– Tiger

– Spinner

                                       

 

– Great Hammerhead

– Smooth Hammerhead

– Scalloped Hammerhead

– Atlantic sharpnose

– Bonnethead

– Finetooth

– Common thresher

– Shortfin mako

– Oceanic whitetip

 

– Smooth dogfish**

– Florida smoothhound

– Gulf smoothhound

*Blacktip shark is part of its own management group in the Gulf of Mexico Region

** Smooth dogfish is the only smoothhound species in the Atlantic Region 

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.

This notice is a courtesy to the HMS fishery participants to help keep you informed about the fishery.  For further information on this landings update, contact Karyl Brewster-Geisz or Guý DuBeck at 301-427-8503.  The information will also be posted on the HMS website at:  http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/news/news_list/index.html.

Commercial Closure for Yellowtail Snapper in South Atlantic Federal Waters on June 3, 2017

May 26, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

WHAT/WHEN:The commercial harvest of yellowtail snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m. on June 3, 2017. During the commercial closure, all sale or purchase of yellowtail snapper is prohibited, and harvest or possession of yellowtail snapper in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational fishery is open.

 WHY IS THIS CLOSURE HAPPENING:

  • The August 2016 – July 2017 commercial catch limit is 1,596,510 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are approaching the commercial catch limit and 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 August 2017 – July 2018 yellowtail snapper season in the South Atlantic will open on August 1, 2017, with a 1,596,510 pounds whole weight catch limit. 

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or by clicking here.

Trump budget guts NOAA, slashes marine science and conservation efforts

May 26, 2017 — U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget, released on Tuesday, 23 May, includes drastic reductions in the budgets of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Those cuts could harm fisheries, ocean conservation efforts, and domestic seafood consumption, according to seafood and food policy groups.

Trump’s budget for the Commerce Department calls for cuts of USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.3 billion) – the majority targeted at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The budget for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service operations, research and facilities would be slashed by nearly USD 43 million (EUR 38 million), and the Trump budget cuts would also eliminate USD 250 million (EUR 223 million) in NOAA’s coastal research programs, including the Sea Grant program, which works with universities to support sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, as well as healthy coastal ecosystems.

Gavin Gibbons, a spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute, told SeafoodSource his organization has not yet conducted a thorough review of the budget cuts, but said the group supports full funding for NOAA.

“NOAA is a platinum-level sustainability oversight agency. Its work managing U.S. fisheries is recognized the world over as exceptional,” NFI spokesman Gavin Gibbons said. “Fully funding the essential services that NOAA provides U.S. fisheries is important to not just the future of the resource, but jobs associated with the stocks it helps maintain.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

LOUISIANA: State seeks approval to test red snapper program

May 26, 2017 — State officials say they hope a trial program could lead to longer red snapper seasons for Louisiana anglers. It’s the latest action in a years-long debate over the seasons’ length and how federal authorities determine it.

“I asked Wildlife and Fisheries to develop a program that could eventually lead to Louisiana controlling red snapper fishing, even in what is determined to be federal waters,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a news release today. “This pilot program could not come soon enough, as the federal government has limited anglers to just three days to fish red snapper this year.”

Recreational fishermen have complained that federal authorities have set overly restrictive catch limits and unnecessarily short seasons for red snapper despite a rebound in the fish’s numbers. Environmentalists and federal regulators, including NOAA Fisheries, contend the species still needs protection after years of overfishing.

Louisiana has long sought authority to manage red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico’s federal waters, which begin three miles off its coast but have recently been extended to nine miles for the species.

“Just like the governor, we have heard from anglers across Louisiana and it is clear what they want most is the flexibility to fish for red snapper when it makes sense for them and their families,” state Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet said. “So we are going to test a new way of doing this.

Read the full story at Houma Today 

Nantucket Lightship Access Area Closing on May 30 for Scallop LAGC-IFQ Permit Holders

May 26, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

We are closing the Nantucket Lightship Access Area to the limited access general category (LAGC) individual fishing quota (IFQ) fleet on May 30, 2017. The area will remain closed to the LAGC IFQ fleet for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year through March 31, 2018.

Under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, once the LAGC IFQ fleet reaches its annual limit on the number of trips into the Nantucket Lightship Access Area (837 trips in 2017), we are required to close the area to the LAGC IFQ fleet for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year to prevent overharvest. We project that the LAGC IFQ fleet has reached its 2017 limit of 837 trips allocated for the Nantucket Lightship Access Area. 

Vessels that have complied with the observer notification requirements, declared a trip into the Nantucket Lightship Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001, May 30, 2017, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Nantucket Lightship Access Area.

For more information, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register this afternoon and the permit holder bulletin on our website.

Questions? Contact Shannah Jaburek at 978-282-8456 or shannah.jaburek@noaa.gov