Saving Seafood

ASMFC Presents Annual Awards of Excellence

May 10, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission presented Mr. Robert Glenn, Dr. Amy Schueller and Lieutenant Conservation Officer Zane Batten with its Annual Awards of Excellence for their outstanding contributions to science and law enforcement along the Atlantic coast.

“Every year a great many people contribute to the success of fisheries management along the Atlantic coast. The Commission’s Annual Awards of Excellence recognize outstanding efforts by professionals who have made a difference in the way we manage and conserve our fisheries,” said ASMFC Chair Douglas Grout of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. “This evening, we honor several exceptional individuals for their contributions to the management and conservation of Atlantic coast fisheries.”

Scientific & Technical Contributions

Mr. Robert Glenn, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

Mr. Robert Glenn has dedicated his career to furthering our understanding of American lobster – its biology, environmental drivers and limitations, and how best to model and predict its stock condition. For more than two decades, Mr. Glenn has provided leadership on the Commission’s American Lobster Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee. Over this 20-year span, he contributed to a total of four lobster benchmark stock assessments and served as the lead scientist on two of those assessments. His considerable investment in our stock assessment process has helped to develop new and improved ways to analyze data and model population dynamics, as well as assess the effects of climate change on the lobster population. Mr. Glenn’s analysis of spatial shifts in fishing effort in the Massachusetts fishery south of Cape Cod was among the earliest indicators of movement by female lobsters into cooler, deeper water. He found that movement of egg bearing female lobsters into more offshore waters could be expected to cause drastic changes in lobster larval recruitment patterns and collapse of the Buzzards Bay fishery. His leadership, knowledge and insight on the Southern New England lobster resources were instrumental in bringing together all of the other information pertinent to fully document the region’s lobster recruitment failure. 

Underlying these accomplishments are Mr. Glenn’s calm and supportive leadership which fostered harmonious and productive working relationships between Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee members, even as stock conditions in Southern New England deteriorated and controversies arose.  He was also instrumental in enhancing relationships between the Commission, state agencies, National Marine Fisheries Service, Canadian and academic scientists and industry groups. Mr. Glenn has consistently performed in an exemplary manner, gracefully dealing with a contentious, complex and confounding species management program. Throughout it all, he has maintained a balanced view and approach to lobster management. His efforts and leadership have advanced our understanding of the American lobster resource and provided us with a solid scientific foundation to manage American lobster for years to come.

Dr. Amy Schueller, NOAA Fisheries Beaufort Laboratory

In only a short period of time, Dr. Amy Schueller with NOAA Fisheries Beaufort Laboratory has made notable contributions to Atlantic menhaden science and management. As the lead assessment scientist for the 2015 Atlantic menhaden benchmark stock assessment, Dr. Schueller took on the formidable task of assessing the high profile and controversial forage species. Through consideration of new and existing datasets and exploration of alternative model configurations, the 2015 assessment ushered in a new period of unprecedented support for menhaden science from industry, NGOs and the public. In addition to her participation on the Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee, Stock Assessment Subcommittee and Biological Ecological Reference Points Workgroup, Dr. Schueller actively pursues research relevant to menhaden science and management. Some recent pursuits and publications include securing grant money in support of recovering old menhaden tagging data; dedicating time and effort in support of the Beaufort Lab’s menhaden data collection program; conducting research on age-structured movement and mortality of Atlantic menhaden as well as trends in relative abundance and early life survival. 

In just five years Dr. Schueller has greatly improved our understanding of Atlantic menhaden. Imagine how much more she will achieve and how much more the fisheries science and management process has to gain from her accomplishments.

Law Enforcement Contributions

Lieutenant Conservation Officer Zane Batten with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of law Enforcement

Lieutenant Conservation Officer Zane Batten has been with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Law Enforcement for nearly 25 years. First as a volunteer Deputy Conservation Officer, next as a Lt. C.O. for the Special Investigations Unit, where he served for five years and lastly as District supervisor. Lt. Batten is being recognized for his efforts on behalf of the Special Investigation Unit, where he worked on several cases of magnitude that resulted in both domestic and international charges. Two cases in particular exemplify Lt. Batten’s perseverance, self-sacrifice and dedication to resource conservation. 

In the first case, Lt. Batten was instrumental in identifying fishermen involved in the illegal commercialization of elvers. As he worked to document the activities of the fishermen, Lt. Batten was also able to gain the trust of a number of large buyers who were knowingly purchasing illegally harvested eels for export overseas. Spanning three years, the investigation uncovered a multi-million dollar black market in elvers and exposed the identities of numerous fishermen and buyers, from Florida to Maine, that were involved in the black market.  The charging and prosecution of those involved is still pending.

During another case, Lt. Batten coordinated a joint investigation with the Pennsylvania Game Commission involving the illegal commercialization of striped bass from Delaware Bay. The investigation, which spanned two years, identified an organized ring of 8 commercial fishermen illegally selling striped bass to a seafood store. Both criminal and civil charges were filed, with the maximum fine for all charges filed in excess of $3.4 million.

Named New Jersey’s Conservation Officer of the Year in 2014, Lt. Batten is widely respected by his fellow officers and colleagues. His commitment to ensuring our fisheries management regulations are being upheld is notable and worth recognition.

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Section Approves Addendum I

May 10, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section approved Addendum I to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring. The Addendum includes management measures intended to stabilize the rate of catch in the Area 1A fishery and distribute the seasonal quota throughout Trimester 2 (June through September), which has 72.8 % of the season’s allocation. The following measures were approved by the Section:

Days Out Program (effective for the 2017 fishing season)

The Section will separately address days out provisions for federal herring Category A vessels and small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal herring Category C or D permit.

  • In addition to landing restrictions associated with the days out program, Category A vessels are now prohibited from possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
  • Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a Category C or D permit will notify states of their intent to fish in Area 1A prior to June 1st.

Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts will make days out decisions by consensus. If a consensus cannot be reached, then the default landing day scenario will be zero landing days.

Weekly Landing Limit (effective for the 2017 fishing season)

The Addendum implements a weekly harvester landing limit for vessels with a Category A permit. The weekly limit will be adjusted throughout the fishing season based on effort. Forty-five days prior to the start of the fishing season, Category A vessels will notify states of their intent to fish in Area 1A, including a specification of gear type. This will provide states with an estimate of effort to calculate the weekly landing limit. For the 2017 fishing season, the notification date is set at May 23rd.

New Fishery Management Plan Tools

The following measures may be considered as potential management tools prior to the start of the fishing year:

  • Herring caught in Area 1A can only be landed by the respective harvester vessel (i.e. no carrier vessels)
  • Herring carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one harvester vessel per week and landing once per 24-hour period

State Landing Report

NOAA Fisheries has granted access to vessel monitoring system-submitted daily catch report data for select staff in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. This will provide real-time data for the states to implement a weekly landing limit. Therefore, the implementation of a state landing report is not necessary at this time. The Section will include the option to implement a state landing report as part of the interstate fishery management program if it becomes necessary at a future date. The Addendum will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org(on the Atlantic Herring webpage).

The Section also approved continuing the use of the GSI30-based forecast system to determine spawning closures in Area 1A. This method was developed by the Technical Committee, then tested and evaluated for effectiveness during the 2016 fishing season. The modified GSI‐based spawning monitoring system tracks reproductive maturity to align the timing of spawning area closures with the onset of spawning. The modeling efforts to forecast the spawning closures will be made available via a website.

For more information, please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at aharp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

NOAA: U.S. fishing generated more than $200 billion in sales in 2015; two stocks rebuilt in 2016

May 9, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

U.S. commercial and recreational fishing generated $208 billion in sales, contributed $97 billion to the gross domestic product, and supported 1.6 million full- and part-time jobs in 2015–above the five-year average, according to NOAA’s Fisheries Economics of the United States report released today.

Also out today, the Annual Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries shows that the number of domestic fish stocks listed as overfished or subject to overfishing remain near all-time lows, with two new stocks rebuilt in 2016.

The reports highlight the collaborative role of NOAA Fisheries and many partners in making continued progress towards ending overfishing, rebuilding stocks, and realizing significant benefits to the U.S. economy.

“U.S. fisheries are big business,” said Samuel Rauch, acting assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “Sustainable management of our nation’s fisheries, supported by sound science, opens up economic opportunities to Americans along the supply chain– from buying bait at a local marina to enjoying a seafood dinner.”

The U.S commercial fishing and seafood industry (including imports) generated $144 billion in sales in 2015, a 6% decline from the previous year, and supported 1.2 million jobs, a 15% decline from 2014, although this is still above the five-year average. Factors such as the “warm blob,” marine toxins, and El Nino affected the Pacific marine environment in 2015, and West Coast fishermen saw lower landings and revenue for several key commercial species.

Market forces affected fisheries in other regions, such as in the Gulf of Mexico, where revenue for shrimp landings decreased due to high inventories, dampening prices for both domestic harvest and imports. Seafood imports were also lower in 2015–$1.4 billion less than in 2014.

Saltwater angling generated $63 billion in sales across the economy in 2015, up 5% from 2014. Job impacts in the marine recreational fishing industry remained steady from 2014 at 439,000 jobs. Mississippi, Connecticut, South Carolina, Washington, and Alaska had the greatest recreational fishing sector job growth in 2015.

In 2016, U.S. fisheries continued to rebuild, with the number of stocks on the overfishing and overfished lists remaining near all-time lows. Four stocks came off the overfishing list, while six stocks were added to the overfishing list. There were no changes to the list of overfished stocks in 2016. Two additional stocks–barndoor skate in Georges Bank/Southern New England and albacore in the North Atlantic–were rebuilt in 2016, bringing the total stocks rebuilt since 2000 to 41.

A stock is on the overfishing list when the catch rate is too high. A stock is on the overfished list when the population size of a stock is too low, whether because of fishing or other causes, such as environmental changes.

“These reports show that the U.S. is on the right track when it comes to sustainably managing our fisheries,” said Rauch. “Rebuilding and keeping stocks at sustainable levels will help us address the growing challenge of increasing our nation’s seafood supply and keep us competitive in a global marketplace.”

View the 2015 Fisheries Economics of the United States and 2016 Status of U.S. Fisheries reports.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Monkfish Management Measures

May 9, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is requesting comments on a proposed rule to implement Framework Adjustment 10 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan. This action proposes to increase monkfish quotas for the next three fishing years.

The measures would increase quota in the Northern Fishery Management Area by 8.27% and would increase the incidental landing limits for vessels fishing on a groundfish Day-at-Sea:

  • Category C: from 600 to 900 lb tail weight/DAS
  • Category D: from 500 to 750 lb tail weight/DAS.

For the Southern Fishery Management Area, quota would increase by 0.96%, and the DAS allocation and trip limits would increase by 15 percent. Monkfish permitted vessels could fish in the SFMA for 37 DAS, up from 32. Trip limits would also increase:

  • Category A and C: from 610 to 700 lb tail weight/DAS
  • Category B and D: from 500 to 575 lb tail weight/DAS 

These proposed management measures are designed to increase monkfish landings, provide operational flexibility, and increase economic efficiency.

To get all the details on these proposed management measures, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today and the background documentsposted on our website.

We are accepting comments through May 24.

Please submit comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to:

John Bullard, Regional Administrator

National Marine Fisheries Service

55 Great Republic Drive

Gloucester, MA, 01930.

Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for Monkfish Framework 10.”

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel at 978-281-9175 or jennifer.goebel@noaa.gov

HANK SOULE: Rafael: Punishment should fit the crimes

May 9, 2017 — New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael has now pleaded guilty to a suite of felonies including tax evasion, smuggling fish to shore and cash offshore, false federal reporting, and evading quotas. The Justice Department has worked up a plea deal including four years in prison and seizure of some boats and permits. That suffices for the cash-related crimes, and thanks goes to law enforcement for their long, hard work and the penalties imposed. But it’s not enough.

Rafael has a multi-decadal history of lawbreaking. In 2016 the Boston Globe reported, “Rafael has a history of crime related to his business. He served a six-month prison term for tax evasion in the 1980s and was charged with price-fixing in 1994, though he was acquitted in that case, according to court records. He was also convicted of making false statements on landing slips for commercial fishing vessels in 2000 and was sentenced to probation, according to court records.”

That’s not the half of it. The National Maine Fisheries Service has record of 20 separate admitted violations over the last two decades involving Rafael’s vessels and corporations. They include sub-legal net mesh sizes, missing fishing day declarations and under-counting, quota violations, false reporting, and concealing illicit catch. The boats and scams varied but they all have one common thread: The name “Rafael” stamped on the corporate documentation.

It is no stretch to stipulate that this record, along with the recent case at hand, constitutes prima-facie evidence of repeated, willful, and egregious criminal activity on the part of Rafael. These violations caused unknown harm to fishery resources — by statute, property of the people of the United States — and to all the law-abiding fishermen who have suffered under increasingly stringent regulations (or been forced out of the business entirely). The question at hand is: How to protect the victims and environment alike from this serial offender?

Here’s the rest of the story: In addition to the 13 vessels and permits to be seized, Rafael has another eight vessels and 25 permits still enrolled in the groundfishery. The government has not proposed to restrict those vessels in any way. There are no known sanctions on the offending captains. No additional monitoring of those vessels is planned. In other words: It’s pretty much business as usual, and for Rafael while the loss of those 13 vessels is unfortunate, it’s just one of the costs of engaging in smuggling.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Labor Council latest to make plea for Carlos Rafael permits to remain in New Bedford

May 8, 2017 — The line of organizations with their eyes focused on the future of Carlos Rafael’s fishing permits continued to grow Friday.

The Greater Southeastern Massachusetts Labor Council addressed a letter to John K. Bullard, NOAA’s regional director from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as well as U.S. Attorney William Weinreb that urged the two men “to allocate the fishing permits now controlled by Carlos Rafael to the New Bedford area.”

“We sent a letter basically because of the fishing industry in New Bedford,” Cynthia Rodrigues, president of the council said. “(The permits landing elsewhere) will hurt the fishing in New Bedford.”

Bullard said he couldn’t comment on matters under litigation but saw no issues with parties announcing their opinions on the matter.

“I think it is perfectly fine for people to weigh in on what they think should happen in this case. It is a significant case and many people have been impacted,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with people letting us know how they feel about this case or what they think the government should do. That is perfectly appropriate at any time. But the case is under litigation.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Three Contenders Emerge to Lead Fisheries Service

May 5, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS [E&E News] — A former Louisiana official, an Alaskan fishery manager and a Sea Grant program director are reportedly in the running to head the National Marine Fisheries Service.

NMFS — an agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — oversees fishing regulations, endangered species listings and fisheries research. It is headed by an assistant administrator for fisheries, a position that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross can fill without Senate confirmation.

It’s unclear when Ross — or the White House — will make that decision. But three names have popped up as contenders, according to several sources inside and outside the agency: Robert Barham, Chris Oliver and LaDon Swann.

Barham was once Louisiana’s wildlife and fisheries secretary, Oliver heads the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and Swann is the director of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

Fishermen are split in their support.

Robert Barham

Barham served as wildlife and fisheries secretary under former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R). Some recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico — as well as the shrimp and menhaden industry — recently sent letters to Ross emphasizing Barham’s Louisiana experience and his identity as a hunter and fisherman.

“We have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Barham over the years and … it is evident that he possesses the management ability and understanding of the nuances of maintaining sustainable fish populations, while maximizing their economic value,” wrote officials from Omega Protein Corp. and other companies that harvest menhaden, a tiny forage fish used in fish oil.

Some Gulf of Mexico anglers have also tried to propel Barham to the NMFS spot, with the hope that he will come down on their side in the controversy over red snapper quotas. The debate has made its way to Capitol Hill, with some Republicans newly enraged by this year’s three-day recreational fishing season.

In a Facebook post shared among anglers, fisherman Steve Hoyland Jr. provided a form letter to send to Ross that praised Barham’s ability to “manage the public’s fish and wildlife resources in a manner that balances conservation and access.”

“If Robert Barham could get this position, it would totally change how our fishery is managed,” Hoyland wrote in one post. “THIS MAN IS ON OUR SIDE!!! We need him in this seat.”

Barnum’s tenure at the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries was marred after auditors found questionable spending between 2010 and 2015. A report from the state legislative auditor found, among other things, that the department spent some Gulf oil spill recovery money on boats, cameras, iPads, clothing and “an abundance of fishing and water sports equipment.”

The money was part of $10.5 million BP PLC provided for a seafood safety program to test fish. According to the Associated Press, Barnum has said the program came in under budget and properly tested fish. He has also emphasized that it wasn’t a taxpayer-funded program.

Chris Oliver

Oliver is the longtime executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which is based in Anchorage, Alaska. Commercial and charter boat fishermen have endorsed him as an experienced leader, with groups from New England, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico sending letters of support to the Commerce Department.

Most recently, the Gulf Seafood Institute, the Louisiana Restaurant Association, the Charter Fisherman’s Association and similar groups wrote in an April letter to Ross that Oliver “has proven to be a motivated and talented leader with a passion for bridging divides among diverse fishing interest in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.”

Oliver has helmed the fishery council for 16 years. In an interview with the Alaska Journal of Commerce earlier this year, he said he would be “inclined” to take the NMFS job if asked.

“There’s no guarantee … that I would say yes if they offered it to me,” he told the newspaper. “But I’ve got a lot of people who’ve expended a lot of effort, and my understanding is I’ve got a pretty strong backing from our congressional delegation.”

Oliver began at the council in 1990 as a plan coordinator. He is from Texas and worked on Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery management issues, according to his biography on the council’s website. He has advocated for a more regional approach to fishery management.

Several council decisions in recent years have been reversed by the courts. Last year, for example, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2011 decision to remove an Alaskan salmon fishery from federal oversight. Fishing groups won a lawsuit in 2012 to overturn the council’s fishing closures to protect Steller sea lions.

LaDon Swann

Swann directs one of 33 Sea Grant programs President Trump has proposed eliminating, citing its primary benefit to “industry and state and local stakeholders.”

Congress appears unlikely to follow through with that suggestion; an omnibus spending package slated to pass this week preserves the popular program. And Swann — who has also worked at the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program — is reportedly the pick of some Alabama lawmakers who see him as a good fit for NMFS.

In his position at Sea Grant, Swann must help coastal communities become resilient without stirring up debate about climate change. He recently told ProPublica that the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium is “a neutral broker of science information” that is there to give communities the data — not persuade them of the link between climate change and coastal hazards.

Swann is also a recreational fisherman. A 2015 al.com article detailed his record-breaking catch of a 94-pound cubera snapper.

Swann, who has a master’s in fisheries biology and a Ph.D. in curriculum, is also former president of the United States Aquaculture Society. In recent years, NMFS has attempted to promote sustainable aquaculture as a way forward for the increasing demands for seafood.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Feds holding the line on monkfishing rules for now

May 5, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Federal fishing regulators say the rules for harvesting monkfish are staying the same for now.

Monkfish are bottom-dwelling fish that resemble sea monsters and are prized by some chefs. They are fished commercially along the East Coast and are a popular item at fish markets and restaurants.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there have not been changes to monkfish possession limits for 2017.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Virginian-Pilot

Anglers seeing red over snapper season

May 5, 2017 — To say the least, local anglers are unhappy about the three-day federal red snapper season this year.

“A federal season is a joke,” said Chris Nixon of Wewahitchka. “A three-day federal season is an insult.”

Other words used by anglers to describe the three-day season included “ridiculous,” “shenanigans,” “a travesty,” “a sick joke,” “corruption at its finest” and a handful of curse words.

For years now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has been steadily shrinking the length of the red snapper season for private anglers. Twenty years ago, the red snapper fishery was open to recreational anglers year round. Then the Sustainable Fishery Act of 1996 passed, and the season started shrinking to combat overfishing and rebuild stocks.

From 2000 to 2007, the season was open from April 21 through Oct. 21, but then NOAA changed the management plan to try to rebuild the stock faster. In 2008, it dropped to 66 days. In 2010, it was 53 days. In 2012, it was 40 days. In 2014, it was nine days.

In 2014, private anglers and for-hire boats still were operating under the same rules, but a nine-day season was devastating to for-hire boats, who depend on customers. So, in 2015 a new rule, Amendment 45, was put in place by NOAA, dividing the two groups. Private anglers received 10 days; for-hire boats had a 44-day season.

Now, private anglers have a historically short three-day season — that doesn’t fully align with a weekend — and they are crying foul. And for-hire vessels have a 49-day federal season.

Read the full story the Panama City News Herald 

Monkfish Permit Holders: No Changes to Monkfish Posession Limits for Now

May 4, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We would like to remind monkfish permit holders that there have not been any changes to the monkfish possession limits for 2017.

We have not yet published a proposed rule soliciting public comment on Framework Adjustment 10 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan. If approved, Framework 10 would increase several possession limits.

We anticipate the proposed rule will be filing soon, and will announce when the proposed and final rules are published.