Saving Seafood

NOAA plans to open federal waters in Pacific to fish farming

January 6, 2017 — HONOLULU — As traditional commercial fishing is threatening fish populations worldwide, U.S. officials are working on a plan to expand fish farming into federal waters around the Pacific Ocean.

The government sees the move toward aquaculture as a promising solution to overfishing and feeding a hungry planet. But some environmentalists say the industrial-scale farms could do more harm than good to overall fish stocks and ocean health.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is creating a plan to manage commercial fish farms in federal waters, the area of ocean from three to 200 miles offshore, around Hawaii and other Pacific islands.

The program is similar to one recently implemented by NOAA in the Gulf of Mexico. The farms in the Gulf and the Pacific would be the only aquaculture operations in U.S. federal waters, though there are smaller operations in state waters close to shore.

Fish farming has been practiced for centuries in Hawaii and around the world. But modern aquaculture, some environmentalists say, carries pollution risks and the potential for non-native farmed fish to escape and enter the natural ecosystem.

Most shellfish consumed in America comes from farms, and their methods are widely considered sustainable. However, some farms that grow carnivorous fish such as salmon have raised concerns about sustainability because they use wild-caught fish to feed the captive species.

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

Request for Comments: Proposed Actions to Implement Special Management Zones in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic Region

January 6, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

KEY MESSAGE:

NOAA Fisheries requests your comments on an amendment that considers implementation of spawning special management zones (SMZ) in federal waters of the South Atlantic region. The actions outlined in Amendment 36 to the Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan of the South Atlantic region (Amendment 36) are intended to protect spawning, or reproducing, fish and their habitat. Comments are due by March 6, 2017.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED ACTIONS:

  • Implement five spawning SMZs in federal waters of the South Atlantic region off North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.
  • Inside of the spawning SMZs, fishing for, retention, and possession of fish species in the snapper-grouper complex would be prohibited year-round by all fishers.
  • Anchoring inside most of the spawning SMZs would not be allowed; however, transit with snapper-grouper species onboard would be allowed if gear is properly stowed in most spawning SMZs.
  • Most spawning SMZs would automatically go away in 10 years unless they are reauthorized.
  • Move the existing Charleston Deep Artificial Reef Marine Protected Area to match the boundaries of the permitted site.
  • Modify the SMZ procedure in the fishery management plan to allow for the designation of spawning SMZs and the framework procedure to allow spawning SMZs to be established or modified through the framework process, rather than through plan amendments.

HOW TO COMMENT ON THE PROPOSED ACTIONS:

The comment period on the amendment is open now through March 6, 2017.

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.

The comment period on the amendment will be followed by a comment period on the proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted through the same method as used for the amendment as specified below.

FORMAL FEDERAL REGISTER NAME/NUMBER: 2016-31896, published Jan. 4, 2017

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

  1. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0153.
  2. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
  3. Enter or attach your comments.

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

NOTE: Read the complete Fishery Bulletin with Frequently Asked Questions and Proposed SMZ Coordinates available from the NOAA Fisheries Website.

NOAA expands ways to get fishing information

January 5, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries is entering 2017 with the goal of offering more ways for fishermen, seafood dealers and the general public to get the federal fishing news they need.

The federal fisheries regulator is providing a slew of avenues for information, from password-protected websites to smartphone text alerts and fishery information all designed to provide updated information on a continuous schedule.

“We really want to make it easier for fishermen, seafood dealers and the public to be able to do a number of different things,” said Olivia Rugo, a staffer in NOAA Fisheries’ stakeholder engagement division and the managing editor of NOAA Navigator, a bi-monthly insert generated by NOAA Fisheries that appears in the Commercial Fisheries News publication.

For commercial fishermen, the information platforms include the Fish OnLine website, regulatory text alerts, NOAA Navigator, vessel monitoring systems, fishery bulletins and information sheets.

The password-protected Fish OnLine website is available to all vessel permit holders and allows them to access vessel and vessel trip reports data, dealer landing reports, observer data, as well as lease additional multi-species days at sea and collect the most recent regulatory information.

“It’s someplace they can go to check their landings data, providing a way to cross-check for accuracy,” Rugo said. “It’s also a place where we will post news and notices related to changes in regulations. They can also use it to check with their sector managers, trade some quota and even pay bills.”

Information on specific regulatory information is available to commercial fishermen in the fishery bulletins and information sheets.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

A high-tech battle for the future of the fishing industry

January 3, 2017 — OFF THE COAST OF SCITUATE, Mass. — The high-tech battle for the future of the Massachusetts fishing industry is being waged aboard a western-rigged stern trawler named the Miss Emily.

Onboard the commercial groundfish vessel, in addition to the satellite positioning system and other sophisticated tools that have become standard in the industry, are at least five computer monitors and a $14,000 fish-measuring board that has halved the time it takes to gauge the catch.

State officials say it’s money well spent.

Federal catch limits — caps on how many fish each boat can catch — have devastated the state’s most iconic commercial sector, fishermen say. In response to an outcry from the struggling local groundfishing industry, environmental officials are now using the Miss Emily to try to come up with a new — and, they say, more accurate — estimate of codfish in the Gulf of Maine.

Under a survey launched last April, local fishermen hope new technology and an aggressive timetable will yield what they have concluded based on their own anecdotal evidence: There are more fish in the sea.

“That’ll give the federal scientists something to think about,” says David Pierce, director of the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries. “It’s going to be eye-opening, I suspect. It’s going to force them to do some soul-searching.”

National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration estimates put the Gulf of Maine groundfish stock at historically low levels, dictating a corresponding reduction in catch limits. Between 1982 and 2013, the number of metric tons of cod landed aboard commercial vessels plunged from more than 13,000 to 951, according to federal estimates. That, predictably, has drastically undercut the industry.

“The fleet has been decreasing in size, and we’re seeing less effort due to these catch limits,” says Bill Hoffman, a senior biologist with the state who oversees the survey. “Guys have gotten out.”

The 55-foot Miss Emily, skippered out of Scituate by captain Kevin Norton, has been equipped to approximate a smaller version of the Henry B. Bigelow, a 209-foot floating research vessel operated by NOAA, that is used to count fish for the federal government. Using a small portion of $21 million in federal fisheries disaster relief, the state launched a series of random “tows” to counter what some think is the less accurate federal vessel.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

US issuing new rules to curb illegal fishing, seafood fraud

January 3, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — The Obama administration is issuing new rules it says will crack down on illegal fishing and seafood fraud by preventing unverifiable fish products from entering the U.S. market.

The new protections are called the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, and they are designed to stop illegally fished and intentionally misidentified seafood from getting into stores and restaurants by way of imported fish.

The rules will require seafood importers to report information and maintain records about the harvest and chain of custody of fish, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The program will start by focusing on “priority species” that are especially vulnerable to illegal fishing, such as popular food fish like tuna, swordfish, Atlantic cod and grouper. The government hopes eventually to broaden the program out to include all fish species, NOAA officials said.

“It sends an important message to the international seafood community that if you are open and transparent about the seafood you catch and sell across the supply chain, then the U.S. markets are open for your business,” said Catherine Novelli, a State Department undersecretary.

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

VIRGINIA: Derelict pots killing 3.3 million crabs annually in the Bay

January 3, 2017 — When Virginia closed its winter dredge fishery in 2008, waterman Clay Justis turned his attention from catching crabs that season to collecting the gear that captures them.

He was one of several watermen hired under a program that taught them to use sonar to find and remove lost and abandoned fishing gear, primarily crab pots, littering the bottom of the Bay.

“As a waterman, I knew there was stuff on the bottom, but when I turned the machine on, I was like, ‘Wow!’” said Justis, who fishes out of Accomack on the Eastern Shore.

Out of sight in the Bay’s often murky water, crab pots lay scattered all over the bottom, the sonar showed — along with other fishing gear such as gill nets, and all manner of trash, even a laundry machine.

But the so-called “ghost pots” are a special concern because the wire mesh cages with openings to draw crabs in but not let them out can continue to catch — and kill — crabs and fish for years. They are taking a bite out of both the crab populations and the wallets of watermen. More often than not, Justis noted, the derelict pots he pulled up had something in them. “You’ve got fish, you’ve got crabs, you’ve got ducks. All kinds of things,” he said. But, he added, “most of the time, they are dead.”

Concern about delict crab pots in the Bay has been growing for a decade, and a new report for the first time attempts to estimate their Baywide impact. It found that more than 145,000 pots litter the bottom of the Bay — a number the report authors consider to be conservative.

Each year, the report estimated that those pots kill about 3.3 million crabs, 3.5 million white perch, 3.6 million Atlantic croaker, and smaller numbers of other species, including ducks, diamondback terrapins and striped bass.

The number of crabs killed amounts to 4.5 percent of the 2014 Baywide harvest, the report said. Nor is the problem limited to the Bay. Studies have found similar problems with fisheries that use “trap” devices to catch crabs and lobsters globally.

“It’s an issue that, around the country, folks may not be aware of unless you live close to an area where commercial fishing is a way of life,” said Amy Uhrin, senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program, which funded the study. “It is one of those ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ issues.”

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

NOAA Fisheries Announces a Commercial Trip Limit for Dolphin in the Atlantic

December 30, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

The final rule implementing Regulatory Amendment 1 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic (Regulatory Amendment 1) will publish in the Federal Register on December 30, 2016 (81 FR 96388). The final rule becomes effective on January 30, 2017.

The final rule establishes a commercial trip limit for dolphin of 4,000 pounds whole weight after 75 percent of the commercial sector annual catch limit has been reached. The trip limit applies to dolphin caught commercially from Maine through the east coast of Florida. The trip limit remains in place until the end of the fishing year or until the entire commercial annual catch limit is met, whichever comes first. The purpose of the trip limit is to reduce the chance of an in-season closure of the dolphin commercial sector as a result of the annual catch limit being reached during the fishing year, and to reduce the severity of social and economic impacts caused by these closures.

For more information on Regulatory Amendment 1, please visit the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office Website here.

NOAA Fisheries Proposes a Threatened Listing Determination for the Oceanic Whitetip Shark Under the Endangered Species Act

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

NOAA Fisheries has completed a comprehensive status review under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) in response to a petition from Defenders of Wildlife to list the species. Based on the best scientific and commercial information available, including the status review report (Young et al., 2016), and after taking into account efforts being made to protect the species, we have determined that the oceanic whitetip shark warrants listing as a threatened species. We conclude that the oceanic whitetip shark is likely to become endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the foreseeable future. Any protective regulations determined to be necessary and advisable for the conservation of the species under ESA section 4(d) would be proposed in a subsequent Federal Register announcement. Should the proposed listing be finalized, we would also designate critical habitat for the species, to the maximum extent prudent and determinable. We solicit information to assist in this listing determination, the development of proposed protective regulations, and the designation of critical habitat in the event this proposed listing determination is finalized.

See the full release at NOAA

NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to the Current Seasonal Prohibition on Fishing with Black Sea Bass Pots and Gear Marking

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

The final rule for Regulatory Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 16) will publish in the Federal Register on December 29, 2016.  Regulations for the reduced size of the prohibited area for fishing for black sea bass with pots are effective December 29, 2016.  Regulations for the enhanced gear markings are effective January 30, 2017.

Currently, fishermen may not fish with black sea bass pots from November 1 through April 30, each year, in the entire management area for black sea bass in the South Atlantic.  The seasonal prohibition was established in 2013 as a precautionary measure to prevent interactions between black sea bass pot gear and whales during periods of large whale migrations, and during the right whale calving season off the U.S. southeastern coast.  Regulatory Amendment 16 would retain a November 1 through April 30 seasonal prohibition but would reduce the size of the prohibited area.  The goal is to reduce the adverse socioeconomic impacts to fishermen resulting from the current seasonal prohibition while continuing to provide the necessary protection to large whales in the South Atlantic region.

The new seasonal prohibitions are below.  The prohibition shown in Figure 1 will apply annually during November and April.  The prohibition shown in Figure 2 will apply annually from December 1 through March 31.  The coordinates for the new area seasonal prohibitions can be found here.

Regulatory Amendment 16 will also require an additional 12-inch wide purple band in three locations on black sea bass pot lines.  The goal is to enhance current gear marking requirements for black sea bass pots to distinguish black sea bass pot lines from other fishing lines.  Currently, three 12-inch color marks at the top, midway, and bottom sections of the buoy line are required.  Effective January 30, 2017, an additional 12-inch wide purple band must be added at the end of each 12-inch colored mark, making each of the three marks a total of 24 inches in length.  The new gear marking requirements are required in the following areas and during the following dates:  from September 1 through May 31 in the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) Offshore Trap/Pot Waters Area and Southern Nearshore Trap/Pot Waters Area, and from November 15 through May 31 in the ALWTRP Southeast U.S. Restricted Area North.  The areas and current gear marking requirements may be found here.

See the full release at NOAA