Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: Lookout for humpback whales in the Long Island Sound

August 1, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is asking boaters to be on the lookout for humpback whales in the Long Island Sound, according to a press release.

There have been recent sightings of humpback whales feeding on small fish, possibly menhaden, in the western portion of Long Island Sound, NOAA officials said.

Humpback whales are about 60 feet and weigh nearly 40 tons.

The federal agency is asking boaters to follow safety viewing guidelines, which includes staying 100 feet away from whales.

“Humpbacks create bubble clouds to corral their prey and then lunge through the center to swallow the small fish,” according to the NOAA press release. “Fishermen or boaters in these bubble patches run the risk of colliding with a massive whale as it rapidly approaches the surface.”

Read the full story at The Suffolk Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Recreational fishermen can target cod starting Monday

July 29, 2016 — As of Monday, recreational anglers will get a chance to reacquaint themselves with the much-coveted Gulf of Maine cod when federal fishing restrictions for the species are lifted until the end of September.

But don’t expect a windfall. The bag limit for the iconic species, whose stock NOAA Fisheries maintains is in freefall, will be one cod per fisherman per day.

Still, for recreational fishermen, party boats and larger charter operations, it just might work out that the opportunity to catch one cod a day is enough to lure bigger crowds aboard the boats. Tom Orrell, owner of Gloucester-based Yankee Fleet, certainly hopes that’s the case.

“Our numbers were a little light in July and we’ve been wondering if maybe if some of our recreational fishermen made a conscious decision to wait until they had a chance to land cod,” Orrell said. “So, we’re kind of holding our breath to see what happens.”

Up to this point in the season, Orrell said, his customers have been hauling big numbers of haddock and cusk from around the waters off Cape Ann and farther out. But there is no discounting the allure of the cod.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Scientists have found a way to predict whether fisheries are vulnerable to climate change

July 29, 2016 — World fisheries have steadily been declining over the past couple of decades, and the trend is continuing today.

Just this April, the United States banned  most Pacific sardine fishing after the fish population declined by 90% over a nine year period.

And now, one of the United State’s fisheries that was once thought to be “indestructible” is in grave danger as well.

New England’s coastal Atlantic cod population used to be able to recover from short-term population drops, but since 2008, the cod fish have been unable to successfully rebound.

Overexploitation by humans is one of the leading causes of the drops in fish populations, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But a new study  places at least part of the blame on the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) as well.

The NAO is responsible for causing warmer water temperatures in the North Atlantic by creating basin-wide changes in the intensity and location of the North Atlantic jet stream and storm track. It also affects the normal patterns of heat and moisture, affecting temperature and precipitation patterns. This varying phenomenon is the reason for at least 17% of the New England population loss since 1980. The warmer water temperatures cycle hurt the reproductive processes in fish.

Read the full story from Business Insider 

NOAA: Drone technology aids whale research off Hawaii

July 29, 2016 — HONOLULU — Federal researchers returning from a 30-day expedition to study whales and dolphins around the Hawaiian Islands said Thursday they are looking for clues to help sustain healthy populations of the marine mammals.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists told reporters that gathering data on the animals is often difficult, especially around the windward coasts of the Hawaiian Islands.

The researchers worked from a large ship, instead of using their normally small survey boats, and explored the coasts of the main Hawaiian Islands where wind conditions and severe weather make it difficult to navigate and remain at sea for extended periods of time.

The team also used a hexacopter drone to photograph the whales and dolphins, something they have never done before in this region.

Using drones allows researchers to get better images of groups of whales because they are not disturbed by the approaching boat, said NOAA’s Erin Oleson, who led the expedition.

The vantage point of the drone also allowed them to more accurately count the number of individuals in a pod, including mothers and calves that sometimes stay underwater. The number of calves helps researchers gauge the whale’s reproductive health. The perspective also allows the scientists to get more accurate size estimates for individual whales.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Daily News

NOAA Proposes Increase in Allowable Harvest of Gulf Red Grouper

July 29, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries is seeking comments on changes to the red grouper allowable harvest in the Gulf of Mexico.

Proposed Changes:

Increase the Gulf of Mexico red grouper annual catch limit and quota (annual catch target) for the commercial sector from 6.03 and 5.72 million pounds gutted weight, to 8.19 and 7.78 million pounds gutted weight, respectively.
Increase the Gulf of Mexico red grouper annual catch limit and annual catch target for the recreational sector from 1.9 and 1.73 million pounds gutted weight, to 2.58 and 2.37 million pounds gutted weight, respectively.

Need for Action:

This increase in allowable harvest is anticipated to allow the recreational fishing season the opportunity to remain open yearlong instead of closing late in the season. In addition, the increase in quota will provide the commercial fisherman an increase in their Individual Fishing Quota allocation.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

7 things NOAA Fisheries will give you money for

July 28, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries has made $10 million in grants available for projects focused on sustainable fisheries and coastal fishing communities.

The award ceiling for a grant is $300,000. The floor is $25,000.

Do you have a concept that could help sustain fisheries or enhance economic opportunities for fishing communities?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is looking for fresh ideas about improving fisheries sustainability and coastal community resilience. It has approximately $10 million in Saltonstall-Kennedy grants to award to individuals or groups.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Cod and climate: North Atlantic Oscillation factor in decline

July 28, 2016 — In recent decades, the plight of Atlantic cod off the coast of New England has been front-page news. Since the 1980s in particular, the once-seemingly inexhaustible stocks of Gadus morhua — one of the most important fisheries in North America — have declined dramatically.

In 2008, a formal assessment forecasted that stocks would rebound, but by 2012, they were once again on the verge of collapse. Two years later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration instituted an unprecedented six-month closure of the entire Gulf of Maine cod fishery to allow stocks to recover.

While overfishing is one known culprit, a new study co-authored by researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Columbia University finds that the climatological phenomenon known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is also a factor. And it contributes in a predictable way that may enable fishery managers to protect cod stocks from future collapse. The group’s findings appear in the journal PLOS ONE.

“In the 1980s, the North Atlantic was stuck in a positive phase of NAO,” said lead author Kyle Meng, an economist at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. “We show not only that positive NAO conditions diminish a few consecutive cohorts of cod larvae but also that this effect follows a cohort as it matures.”

Read the full story at Science Daily

Fisheries grant program to top $10 million

July 28, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries estimates it will provide $10 million in funding for the 2017 Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program for projects concentrating on sustainable fisheries and coastal fishing communities, the federal fisheries regulator announced.

The $10 million is based on initial estimates of seafood import tariff revenues and could fluctuate higher or lower, according to Susan Olsen, who coordinates the Saltonstall-Kennedy program within NOAA’s Gloucester-based Greater Atlantic Region.

“It has the opportunity to grow or shrink, but based on our estimates, the $10 million figure was reasonable,” Olsen said.

In 2016, NOAA Fisheries recommended $11 million in funding for 50 projects nationally, which was about $1 million more than the agency initially said it expected to distribute as part of the grants program. Neither of the two applicants from Cape Ann — Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute and the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund — made the final cut for funding in 2016.

This year’s application process includes changes from years past that NOAA Fisheries said “will help applicants sharpen their submissions for greater success.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

‘That Ocean Belongs To Us,’ Former Governor Tells Feds

July 27, 2016 — Former Gov. George Ariyoshi said Tuesday that he doesn’t want “somebody from the outside” dictating how Hawaii residents can use the waters around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

A few dozen opponents of the proposed fourfold expansion of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument stood behind him in the Capitol Rotunda, holding signs saying “Not so fast” and “Protect our local food source.”

“That ocean belongs to us,” Ariyoshi said.

Former U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka followed suit, saying the public needs to know more about the proposal before President Barack Obama considers using his executive authority under the Antiquities Act to expand the monument.

“It’s unconscionable for us to enact a new policy of expanding Papahanaumokuakea without proper transparency,” Akaka said. “What does it do to the people of Hawaii?”

Supporters — a few of whom were at the rally to try to counter the opposition — want the president to expand the monument in September when Hawaii hosts the world’s largest conservation conference. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress is set to meet in Honolulu Sept. 1-10.

While no public hearings are required, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are planning to hold two public meetings next week, one on Oahu and the other on Kauai.

Opponents say that’s not good enough. Hawaii Longline Association President Sean Martin said the feds should have a more robust public process to vet the proposal, one in which comments are tabulated and and submitted. 

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

New and rare whale species identified from carcass found in Pribilofs

July 27, 2016 — A stroll on the beach of a remote Bering Sea island two years ago has produced a scientific breakthrough — the discovery of a previously unidentified species of beaked whale that dwells in the deep waters of the North Pacific Ocean.

The conclusion, described in a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science of the California-based Society for Marine Mammalogy, stems from the 2014 discovery of a beached whale carcass by a local monitoring program called Island Sentinel. Karin Holser, a teacher on St. George Island in the Pribilofs, alerted authorities, and Michelle Ridgway, a Juneau-based biologist involved with a Pribilof science camp, responded quickly.

“She was the one who said, ‘This looks like a Baird’s beaked whale, but it doesn’t,'” said Phillip Morin, a research molecular geneticist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and lead author of the new study.

The whale was about two-thirds the size of a Baird’s beaked whale, which typically grows to 35 or 40 feet, Morin said. It was clearly not a juvenile, as its teeth were worn and yellow, “so they were not baby teeth,” he said. Its skull had a distinct slope and its dorsal fin was different from that of the typical Baird’s beaked whale.

Tissue samples were sent to the Marine Mammal and Turtle Division of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in California, where Morin works and where the world’s most extensive collection of cetacean tissues is kept. The whale’s skull was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington — and students from the Pribilofs visited the lab there to take part in the examination.

DNA analysis showed it was a species different from the 22 previously known species of beaked whales in the world and the two known to swim in the North Pacific.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News