Saving Seafood

Fishermen at odds over impact of Trump executive order

February 23, 2017 — An executive order by President Donald Trump designed to radically cut back on federal regulations has spurred disagreement among fishermen about how it will affect them — and lawmakers and regulators aren’t sure what the answer is.

Groups that represent both commercial and recreational fishermen are divided over whether Trump’s “one in, two out” approach to federal regulations will benefit their industry, harm it or not affect it at all.

Meanwhile, the arm of the federal government that regulates fishing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is still trying to figure out exactly what the executive order means for fisheries management.

Other industry interests, including the Fisheries Survival Fund, said the order will likely leave fisheries unaffected. The order would apply only to financially significant regulations, and that would not include things like opening fishing seasons and enforcing catch limits, said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for the fund.

“All this talk about how you’re not going to be able to manage fisheries — not true, doesn’t apply, not going to happen,” he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Island fishermen implore state to protect squid

February 23, 2017 — For the past couple of years, Nantucket fishermen have had a hard time finding striped bass in the rips and alongshore where they were accustomed to catching them.

They think they know why: no squid.

“This was where all the bass were caught. Now, no bait, no fish, no stripers to speak of,” said Pete Kaizer, a charter boat captain and commercial tuna fisherman.

Kaizer and other Nantucket fishermen petitioned the state Division of Marine Fisheries to prohibit fish draggers and scallopers that tow nets or large metal dredges along the ocean bottom from state waters, up to 3 miles out from shore all around the island. The ban would run from May 1 to Oct. 31 with the idea of protecting spawning longfin squid.

Kaizer said squid boats target the squid when they spawn because they come together in large schools and are easier to catch. Following mating, female squid drop to the bottom and put down a sticky substance that adheres to the sandy bottom, rocks or vegetation. They then deposit tubelike sacks containing over 100 embryos apiece, that stick to that patch and can resemble an underwater chrysanthemum, but are prosaically known as “squid mops.”

Nets or dredges towed across the bottom can dislodge these mops or even bring them up to the surface along with fish or squid. There is some debate about whether any young can survive this, but some lab studies have shown that older embryos hatch prematurely when the mop is dislodged from its adhesive anchor and tend to die, said Lisa Hendrickson, a fishery biologist specializing in squid with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

NOAA Fisheries Declines to List Thorny Skate as Threatened or Endangered

February 23, 2017 — The following has been released by NOAA:

In response to a petition from Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Welfare Institute to list thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) under the Endangered Species Act, we have now determined that listing is not warranted at this time.

The May 2015 petition requested that we list a “Northwest Atlantic Distinct Population Segment” or a “United States Distinct Population Segment” of thorny skate as threatened or endangered.

In making a determination as to whether distinct population segments of thorny skate exist, we considered the best available information on thorny skate distribution, genetics, and behavior. We considered whether the information supported the distinct population segments as identified in the petition or if other distinct population segments exist.

We determined that the information does not support the existence of any distinct population segments of thorny skate as they mix throughout the North Atlantic. Therefore, we also assessed whether listing the full species was warranted.

Based on a comprehensive status review report, which included an Extinction Risk Analysis, we determined that the species is not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, nor is it likely to become so within the foreseeable future, so listing is not warranted at this time.

Thorny skate are at low abundance in U.S. waters compared to historical levels, primarily due to overfishing. However, declines have been halted throughout most of the species’ full range, and the species remains abundant throughout the North Atlantic, with hundreds of millions of individuals in the Northwest Atlantic alone.

Read our determination as filed in the Federal Register today.

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

Request for Comments: Proposed Rule to Modify Management of Atlantic Cobia (Georgia through New York)

February 22, 2017 — The following has been released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 

KEY MESSAGE: 

NOAA Fisheries requests your comments on a proposed rule to implement Framework Amendment 4 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region (Framework Amendment 4).

Measures for Atlantic cobia in the proposed rule for Framework Amendment 4 would:

  • increase the recreational minimum size limit
  • reduce the recreational bag limit
  • establish a recreational vessel limit
  • establish a commercial trip limit
  • modify the recreational accountability measure

The proposed actions are expected to reduce the likelihood of exceeding the recreational and commercial Atlantic cobia catch limits in future years.

The 2016 and 2017 recreational fishing seasons for Atlantic cobia were shortened due to the overage of the catch limits.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES: 

  • For the Atlantic cobia recreational fishery, the proposed actions include an increase to the minimum size limit from 33 inches fork length to 36 inches fork length. In addition, the proposed rule specifies a bag limit of one fish per person per day, or a vessel limit of six fish per person per day, whichever is more restrictive.
  • For the Atlantic cobia commercial fishery, the proposed actions include a commercial trip limit of two fish per person per day or six fish per vessel per day, whichever is more restrictive.
  • The proposed rule would also modify the accountability measure for the recreational sector. If the recreational and total catch limits (commercial and recreational combined) are exceeded, NOAA Fisheries would reduce the vessel limit, and if necessary, shorten the following season.

HOW TO COMMENT ON THE PROPOSED RULE: 

The comment period is open now through March 23, 2016. You may submit comments by electronic submission or by postal mail. Comments sent by any other method (such as e-mail), to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER: 82 FR 11166, published February 21, 2017

Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.  

1. Go to: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0167-0001 

2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields. 

3. Enter or attach your comments. 

Mail: Submit written comments to Karla Gore, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs) 

 What are the actions in the proposed rule for Framework Amendment 4? 

  • Recreational minimum size limit: Increase in the minimum size limit for recreationally caught Atlantic cobia from 33 inches to 36 inches fork length.
  • Recreational bag/vessel limits: Specify a bag limit of one fish per person per day or a vessel limit of six fish per person per day, whichever is more restrictive.
  • Commercial trip limit: Establish a commercial trip limit of two fish per person per day or six fish per vessel per day, whichever is more restrictive.
  • Modify the recreational accountability measure: If the recreational and total catch limits (commercial and recreational combined) are exceeded, NOAA Fisheries would reduce the vessel limit, and if necessary, shorten the following season.

 Where would these regulations apply? 

  • These proposed regulations would apply to the Atlantic group cobia, which extends from Georgia through New York.
    • Cobia off the east coast of Florida are part of the Gulf of Mexico migratory group.  
    • The boundary between the Gulf of Mexico migratory group and the Atlantic migratory group is the Georgia/Florida border. 
    • Genetic information from the most recent population assessment for cobia indicates that the Gulf of Mexico cobia stock extends through the Florida east coast. 

Why are these changes needed? 

  • In 2015 and 2016, recreational landings for Atlantic cobia exceeded the recreational catch limit and the stock catch limit. The current accountability measure is to reduce the length of the following recreational season by the amount necessary to ensure recreational landings achieve the recreational annual catch target, but not exceed the recreational catch limit.  
  • Based on the accountability measure, the recreational portion of the Atlantic group cobia was closed in federal waters on June 20, 2016, and January 24, 2017. 
  • The actions in Framework Amendment 4 are intended to reduce the likelihood of exceeding the stock catch limit and triggering the accountability measures in the future. 

Where can I find more information on Framework Amendment 4? 

  • Contact NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office 

By Mail: Karla Gore 

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 

 

FLORIDA: TIME TO RETHINK RED SNAPPER RULES?: Locals are hopeful feds will reopen fishery

February 22, 2017 — Local fisherman say officials should consider re-opening the red snapper fishery in the federally controlled waters off of Florida’s northeast coast this year, but after years of being told it won’t happen, they don’t sound too hopeful.

While the season remains open year-round in the state-controlled Atlantic waters between the coast and 3-miles offshore (regulations are different in the Gulf of Mexico), fishermen say there are virtually no snapper to be had there.

“You won’t catch a snapper around here in state waters,” said Capt. Luke Jarriel, a boat captain for Sea Love Charters that operates out of Cat’s Paw Marina.

But they are thick, he said, at the spots 16-20 miles offshore, where he was fishing Monday with about 30 clients.

He estimated those clients caught about 60 red snapper, none of which could be kept.

“And that’s on the modest end,” he said Monday evening as he helped some clean the fish they could keep.

It’s numbers like those that make Jarriel and his boss, Sea Love’s co-owner, Darryl Lloyd, think the population is strong enough to start fishing again.

“You’ll see more red snapper than pretty much any fish you will see out there,” Lloyd said Monday while waiting in the marina parking lot for his boat to return.

Lloyd said he could only speak to the waters around the Northeast Florida area, but what he and his captains see from week to week suggests they should be allowed to keep the snapper they are catching anyway.

Read the full story at The St. Augustine Record

Rep. DeFazio increases fishermen catch limit

February 21, 2017 — The following has been released by the office of Representative Peter DeFazio:

Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) today cut through bureaucratic red tape in the Trump Administration and helped to secure an increased catch limit for groundfish species caught in the Pacific Northwest Region.

Every two years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sets a biennial catch limit for several groundfish species, such as canary and widow rockfish, caught in the Pacific Northwest region. Because of overfishing, the industry had not had access to healthy rockfish markets in decades.  Thanks to the efforts of Oregon fishers, the population has been rebuilt.  Due to the recovery of the species, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) substantially increased the catch limits for the 2017-2018 season.

Unfortunately, NMFS did not finalize the implementation prior to January 1, 2017. When President Trump took office, he instituted a 90-day freeze on all new federal regulations made after January 1, suspending the groundfish catch limit at the lower 2015-2016 levels.

Congressman DeFazio intervened with the Trump Administration and urged them to provide a waiver exempting the catch limit from the regulatory freeze. As a result of his efforts, after the Federal Register is published next week, groundfish fishermen in Oregon will immediately be able to fish at the higher 2017-2018 catch limit.

“Unfortunately, Oregon’s fishermen got caught in the Trump Administration’s blanket regulatory freeze, so I jumped in,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio.  “I’m happy that the White House provided an exception so we could help a critical industry in the Pacific Northwest.”

Read the full Press Release here

For fisheries regulations, a Trump edict signals uncertainty

February 21, 2017 — New England fishermen and conservationists fear one of President Trump’s executive orders will have disruptive effects on fisheries management, although it will not affect routine seasonal fisheries regulation, as some had initially feared.

The ambiguously worded Jan. 30 order requires that two regulations be effectively eliminated for each new one promulgated by most federal agencies. The order prompted a fiery letter three days later from two prominent Democratic congressmen pointing out it could have “devastating impacts on commercial and recreational fisheries and the businesses and communities they support.”

However, on Feb. 2 the acting head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs issued an advisory memo that clarified that the president’s order applied only to “significant regulatory actions” as defined under a 1993 executive order issued by President Bill Clinton. The memo is posted at the White House’s website, suggesting it has presidential approval.

The good news for fishermen: The vast majority of federal fisheries regulations do not meet this standard, meaning routine closures and assessments should proceed as they always have.

However, NOAA Fisheries has several regulations currently under consideration that OMB does consider “significant regulatory actions” and therefore are expected to run afoul of Trump’s order, according to OMB’s official “reginfo” database. These include a proposed update to ensure consistent application of rules at federal marine sanctuaries and an effort to combat the spread of illegally caught or fraudulently identified seafood in U.S. markets.

In recent years, numerous fisheries regulations were also treated as “significant” actions by the OMB, including the 2013 overhaul of the framework for managing 16 commercial groundfish off New England and the mid-Atlantic states; a 2013 rule to better protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale from ship strikes; and a 2016 regulation that protected critical spawning habitat for Atlantic sturgeon in the Gulf of Maine and New York Bight.

Drew Minkiewicz, a Washington, D.C., lawyer representing larger Eastern Seaboard scallop fishermen, says fishermen need not be concerned about most regulations. “This executive order has zero impact on 99.9 percent of the fishing regulations going out, so people who are wondering if the fishing season will be delayed don’t need to,” he says. “It’s much ado about nothing.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Feds to Analyze Environmental Impacts of Western Pacific Longline Fisheries for Bigeye and Tuna

February 17, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — HONOLULU — The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced on Monday that it will prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the U.S. Pacific Island deep-set tuna longline fisheries, which target bigeye tuna.

The PEIS will analyze the environmental impacts of management of deep-set tuna longliners, which operate out of Hawaii, American Samoa, and the U.S. West Coast. The need for the proposed action is to manage deep-set tuna longline fisheries under an adaptive management framework that allows for timely management responses to changing environmental conditions, consistent with domestic and international conservation and management measures.

The PEIS will be developed in coordination with the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council based in Honolulu.

Tuna longline fisheries use two distinct gear types: shallow-set vessels target swordfish near the surface and deep-set vessels target tunas deeper than 100 meters.

The deep-set tuna longline fisheries have greater levels of vessel participation, fishing effort, catch, and revenue than the shallow-set fishery. NOAA Fisheries previously evaluated the effects of the shallow-set fishery, so it will not be included in this PEIS.

The primary deep-set tuna longline fisheries are the Hawaii and American Samoa longline fisheries. Access to the Hawaii longline fisheries is limited to 164 vessel permits, of which about 140 vessels are active. Of these active vessels, about 20 may also shallow-set during any given year. Most vessels in the Hawaii deep-set tuna longline fleet homeport in Hawaii and about 10 operate from ports on the U.S. west coast. These vessels target bigeye tuna.

Access to the American Samoa deep-set tuna fishery is limited to 60 permits. Historically, a few deep-set tuna longline vessels operated out of Guam and the CNMI, but these fisheries have been inactive since 2011.

“The PEIS is a proactive step in the management of deep-set tuna longline fisheries,” said Council Executive Director Kitty M. Simonds. “It streamlines environmental review for future management decisions and facilitates the ability of fisheries to adaptively respond to changing conditions.”

Management tools used for deep-set tuna longline fisheries include limited assess programs, vessel size limits, area constraints, observers, satellite-based vessel monitoring systems, gear configuration and specific handling and releasing bycatch methods.

Potential management issues include territorial bigeye tuna specifications and transfers, changes to permitting programs, and new gear requirements to further reduce bycatch.

Potential environmental, social and economic issues include the catch of target tuna and non-target (such as sharks) species, interactions with protected species, gear conflicts, and impacts on the ecosystem.

Public comments may be made at the scoping meetings listed below, sent electronically via the agency, or by mail to Michael D. Tosatto, Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Region (PIR), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.

Public scoping meetings on the PEIS will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 21 in Hilo and Feb. 23 in Honolulu, Hawaii; Feb. 28 in Utulei, March 1 in Tafuna and March 2 in Pago Pago, American Samoa; March 7 in Susupe, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and March 9 in Mangilao, Guam.

All comments must be received by April 14, 2017.

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

Ask a Scientist: Why NOAA matters for the West

February 17, 2017 — On Feb. 5,  Congressional Republicans, led by Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chair of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, released a press release asserting that one study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — which found a hypothesized “hiatus” in the planet’s warming trend to be nonexistent — was incorrect. According to the press release, NOAA “retroactively altered historical climate change data (which) resulted in the elimination of a well-known climate phenomenon known as the ‘climate change hiatus.’” The press release cited an interview with former NOAA employee John Bates in the British tabloid Daily Mail.

The research done by current NOAA scientists, and published in the prestigious research journal Science in June 2015, concluded that the “hiatus” was an artifact of the source of their sea surface temperature measurements, and not an actual reflection of climate trends. The new work presented a more accurate climate change model based on a comprehensive look at available global data.

It’s not the first time the agency has gotten tied up in political wrangling. NOAA was created in 1970 when former President Richard Nixon combined several federal agencies. Its roots stretch back to the 1800s, though, when Americans began to make large scale, coordinated efforts to take the measure of their world: Their financial wellbeing—and their lives—depended on it. The young nation lacked even the most basic standardized information about its weather or coasts. Early agencies that eventually became NOAA worked to fill the gaps. These efforts have not always been well received in the halls of government.

In 1870, for example, former President Ulysses Grant created the Office of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries — precursor to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, which regulates the nation’s commercial and recreational ocean fishing — to investigate why Eastern commercial fisheries were collapsing. Some Congressional Republicans ridiculed the idea, moving to include an investigation into the state of the nation’s grasshoppers and potato bugs.

Political drama aside, NOAA’s mission is to “understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.” High Country News recently asked Waleed Abdalati, director of the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) — a joint program with NOAA based in Boulder — to explain NOAA’s work and how it impacts Westerners. Research topics at CIRES range from the effects of climate change on Western water to the effects of hydraulic fracturing on air quality.

Abdalati, a former chief scientist for NASA, got his PhD from the University of Colorado in 1996 for work on the Greenland ice sheet. Today, his graduate students continue those studies, trying to understand how its melt contributes to rising sea levels.

High Country News: What kinds of things does NOAA do out West?

Waleed Abdalati: We say NOAA’s “from the surface of the sun to bottom of the ocean and everything in between.”

We have a global monitoring division here that basically monitors what’s in our air and where it came from — things like ozone, methane released from fracking, trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

We’re also developing systems that improve weather forecasts and systems, and help us understand how our climate is changing and why, and the implications for water resources out West.

An aspect of NOAA’s work that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the Space Weather Prediction Center. A lot of people don’t realize the sun has weather! Our satellite systems, our navigation systems – a lot of the electronics that we rely on – are vulnerable to major events from solar activity. So there’s a whole enterprise here that’s working to understand what the sun is doing.

Another area that NOAA works in is called the National Centers for Environmental Information, which are the stewards of environmental information.

Read the full interview at High Country News

Fishermen say sanctuary status a risky proposition for them

February 16, 2017 — Some fishermen are relieved the nomination of the Baltimore Canyon as a national marine sanctuary was pulled from consideration, saying that designation could have restricted fishing in the rich area about 73 miles southeast of Delaware Bay.

“It’s in the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and that is what has always been a concern for us as users of the area,” said John Depersenaire, Fisheries Researcher at the Recreation Fishing Alliance in New Gretna. “It says unlawful acts include injuring or harming any sanctuary resource.”

The sanctuary program is set up to protect resources, said Reed Bohne, regional director of the sanctuary program for the Northeast and Great Lakes for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City