NOAA Archives - Page 476 of 522

Scientists use drones to study sea lions in Aleutians

September 30, 2016 — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Scientists are using drone technology to track declining Steller sea lion populations in Alaska.

Every summer researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Fisheries Science Center study the animals along the Aleutian Island chain.

They use a variety of methods to count the sea lions including stationary game cameras and manned aircraft that fly over a region where scientists can take pictures.

Since 2014, they’ve been using a hexacopter, or drone, to survey areas as well.

Fish biologist Katie Sweeney said the drones won’t replace the manned aircraft but are useful in Alaska’s inclement weather.

“They tried to survey around the Delarof Islands and there wasn’t good weather. It was foggy, low ceilings, which is a challenge,” Sweeney explained in a Skype interview from Seattle. “That means those sites that were missed we can go to next year when we’re on our research vessel cruise and survey them with a hexacopter so we can fill in those gaps.”

Read the full story at KTVA

Commercial Harvest for Greater Amberjack in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic Will Close on October 4, 2016

September 29, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

The commercial harvest for greater amberjack in South Atlantic waters will close, at 12:01 a.m. (local time) October 4, 2016, and will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on March 1, 2017. The 2016-2017 commercial quota for greater amberjack is 769,388 pounds gutted weight. Commercial landings are approaching the commercial catch limit and should close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

The operator of a vessel that has been issued a federal commercial permit for snapper-grouper and is landing greater amberjack for sale must have landed and bartered, traded, or sold such greater amberjack prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, October 4, 2016.

During the commercial closure:

Sale or purchase of greater amberjack is prohibited.
The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper.
Harvest or possession of greater amberjack is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational sector is open.
The prohibition on sale or purchase does not apply to the sale or purchase of greater amberjack that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, October 4, 2016, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

This closure is necessary to protect the greater amberjack resources by preventing the commercial annual catch limit from being exceeded.

NOAA expedition off Kona unearths mysterious deep sea creatures

September 29, 2016 — Nearly three quarters of the Earth is taken up by the ocean but NOAA scientists say less than five percent of its have ever been explored.

NOAA fisheries is on a mission to expand our understanding. Researchers just wrapped up an expedition off the Kona Coast. 20 scientists spent 20 days in waters off West Hawai’i known for it’s thriving ocean environment.

“We’re trying to really pinpoint some of the primary mechanism’s…primary reasons why this ecosystem is so productive,” said Jamison Gove, a NOAA Oceanographer.

Scientists discovered an abundant community of creatures 2,000 feet down that possessed out of the ordinary features.

“Huge teeth… they’re all very strange looking. They have adapted to life where there’s virtually no light, food is incredibly scarce and if you come across a meal you have to be able to grab it,” said Jonathan Whitney, a NOAA Biologist.

The mysterious species are believed to be an important food source to larger marine mammals like dolphins.

Large trawl nets scooped up organisms from the deep depths and near the surface in an area known as the surface slicks. The visibly smooth ribbon like section pulls together floating material and serves as somewhat of a nursery for young marine life.

Read the full story at KITV

High US scallop yield expectations may impact market now

September 28, 2016 — Contrary to expectations in some quarters, there may not be a boom in US scallop landings next year, and planning for one now could adversely affect the market, Joe Furtado — executive vice president of Eastern Fisheries — told Undercurrent News.

“If your only source of information was the headlines of most of the articles over the last year, you would think that the fishery is going to be double what it has been. But the reality is that the exploitable biomass just isn’t growing as quickly as anticipated,” he said.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2015 claimed to have identified very strong scallop recruitment throughout the Mid-Atlantic, and especially so in an area called the ‘Elephant’s Trunk‘.

“Recruitment refers to two-year-old scallops, roughly two inches in shell height,” Dvora Hart with NOAA told Undercurrent at that time.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Spate of whale entanglements could inform regulations

September 28, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — A recent spate of entanglements of rare whales off of New England could help shape future regulations to preserve the endangered animals, federal authorities said Tuesday.

A North Atlantic right whale was found dead about 12 miles off the Maine coast over the weekend, entangled in fishing gear. Two other right whales were also found entangled recently. One of them was reported alive, and researchers plan to reassess its condition.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the 45-ton animal’s death near Maine was still being investigated, including whether the gear can be traced back to its owner.

“We’re on par for the course with the averages for the year for entanglements,” he said. “Overall, if you look at entanglements of all large whale species, we’re a little bit above our average.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Boston Globe

Scientists bemoan spate of whale entanglements

September 28, 2016 — It has not been a good week for right whales off the coast of New England, nor for the marine scientists who study them.

In the wake of the three separate right whale incidents since last Thursday, including two involving dead right whales, NOAA Fisheries organized a teleconference Tuesday in which a number of scientists said the recent spate of incidents reflect the continuing crisis of trying to return the right whale population — now estimated at about 500 — to health.

“In recent years, we’re not seeing the strides we had once seen,” said David Gouveia, the marine mammal and sea turtle program coordinator in NOAA’s greater Atlantic region. “When you have something like this, that within a three-day period you’ve lost two valuable members or contributors to the population, that’s something we wanted to share with our partners and wanted to share with the public and wanted to really stress the continued importance of us being mindful of our conservation efforts.”

Michael Moore, a senior research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, was even more emphatic in his reaction to the trio of right whale incidents.

“The fishermen and the fisheries, the stakeholders, have been put through an enormous amount of gear change and stress to make a more whale-friendly fishery and we’re not out of the woods by any means,” Moore said. “There needs to be a revisiting of strategy and public expectations. Something needs to change.”

The first incident occurred Thursday, when recreational boaters off Cape Cod reported seeing an entangled right whale — later identified as an 8-year-old female — towing hundreds of feet of line and buoys from its jaws.

A disentanglement team cut away some of the line and made other cuts scientists believe helped the whale, which scientists believe to be alive somewhere in the Gulf of Maine, to shed even more of the gear.

The gear was recovered and Gouveia said it provides clues to who owned the gear, where it was fished and whether that fisherman was in compliance with safety and gear regulations related to fishing in areas populated by right whales.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Control Date for the Federal For-Hire Recreational Sector of Fisheries for the Atlantic Dolphin and Wahoo, Atlantic Coastal Migratory Pelagics, and South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper

September 28, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

On September 27, 2016, NOAA Fisheries published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to set a control date of June 15, 2016, for the federal charter vessel/headboat (for-hire) component of the recreational sectors of the coastal migratory pelagics fishery in the Atlantic, dolphin and wahoo fishery in the Atlantic, and snapper-grouper fishery in the South Atlantic. This notice informs current and potential future fishermen that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) is considering restrictions limiting participation in these fisheries. Fishermen who enter the federal for-hire recreational sector for these fisheries after June 15, 2016, will not be assured of future access should a management regime that limits participation in the sector be prepared and implemented.

The establishment of a control date does not commit the Council or NOAA Fisheries to any particular management regime. The Council may or may not make use of this control date as part of the requirements for participation in these fisheries. Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in the sector, regardless of their entry date. The Council may take action that would affect participants who were in these fisheries prior to the control date, or the Council may choose to take no further action to control entry or access.

Establishment of new federal marine sanctuary draws mixed reaction

September 26, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — To the predictable responses of the commercial fishing industry — largely negative — and the conservation community — largely positive — President Obama last week set aside nearly 5,000 square miles off the coast of New England as a marine sanctuary.

Acting under the aegis of the Antiquities Act of 1906, he established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine Monument. That was the same statutory authority the President used to establish the controversial 87,600-acre Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in northern Maine last month.

In August, the President expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii by 442,781 square miles, creating the world’s largest marine protected area.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the monument encompasses a total of 4,913 square miles in two tracts. The first, rectangular in shape, protects three deep-ocean canyons: Oceanographer, Gilbert and Lydonia. The second, a larger triangle, protects the Bear, Physalla, Mytilus and Retriever seamounts.

Each of the three protected underwater canyons is deeper than the Grand Canyon. The four underwater mountains are, according to NOAA, “biodiversity hotspots and home to many rare and endangered species.”

To be managed jointly by NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the protected areas are home to deep-sea coral ecosystems and home to unique species. Additionally, the protected areas create oceanographic conditions that concentrate pelagic species, including whales, dolphins and turtles; and highly migratory fish such as tunas, bullfish and sharks.

A large number of birds also rely on this area for foraging. The purpose of the proposed monument designation is to protect these fragile and largely pristine deep-sea habitats, and species and ecosystems.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

NOAA Fisheries Announces Public Hearing and Comment Period for Amendment

September 26, 2016 — HYANNIS – The public comment period is now open for a new amendment that allows for industry-funded monitoring over the past several years.

The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils have worked on the amendment, which includes alternatives that would modify all the fishery management plans managed by the councils to allow for future industry-funded monitoring programs.

The public will have a chance to comment on the various amendment alternatives, including cost responsibilities, processes, administrative requirements and priorities.

The public meetings begin on October 4 in Gloucester and continue until November 1.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Program looks at industrial aquaculture

September 26, 2016 — LIHUE, Hawaii — Right now, anyone can throw a cage into the open ocean within the Economic Enterprise Zone and begin an aquaculture operation, said Joshua DeMello, of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

But with “gray area rules” on things like permits, species and reporting requirements, large-scale companies are hesitant to take advantage of the open ocean just yet.

“No one is doing that,” DeMello said. “We’ve gotten calls in the past about folks that are interested, but a lot of them are waiting to see what type of management plan comes out.”

The beginning of that aquaculture management program for the Pacific Islands Region is in the works, under the eye of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service and in conjunction with Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

The entities are preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) analyzing the possible environmental impacts of the proposed management program and alternatives.

“The purpose of it is to develop a management program to support sustainable, economically sound aquaculture in the Pacific Island Region,” DeMello said.

The PEIS process looks at options for permit duration, whether cages should be metal or net pens, and allowable species.

“The push is to have something in place so if someone does come in and do (large-scale aquaculture), there would be rules set up to ensure the wild stocks and environment are protected, and the rights of other fishermen and ocean users are preserved,” DeMello said.

Read the full story at The Garden Island