Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed Rules for Northeast Skate Fishery

June 6, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region:

Today, NOAA Fisheries proposes, and opens for public comments, new management measures for the northeast skate fishery.

These were developed through Framework Adjustment 3 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan at the recommendation of the New England Fishery Management Council.

The proposed measures are:

  • New quotas for the skate wing (8,372 mt) and bait (4,218 mt) fisheries for the 2016 and 2017.
  • All skate trip limits are proposed to remain unchanged from current levels.
  • Splitting the skate wing fishery quota into two seasons (May through August and September through April) to allow the directed fishery to be temporarily closed in-season if the seasonal quota is reached.

Read the proposed rule as filed in the Federal Register.

The comment period is open until 5pm on June 21.

Please submit your comments online or by mailing them to:

John Bullard, Regional Administrator
NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930

Please mark the outside of the envelope “Comments on Northeast Skate Fishery Proposed Rule.”

Unmanned vessels deployed for Alaska ocean research

June 6, 2016 — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Researchers in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s west coast will get help this summer from drones, but not the kind that fly.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and private researchers are gathering data on marine mammals, fish and ocean conditions from two “autonomous sailing vessels” built by Saildrone, an Alameda, California, company.

“Think of a 20-foot outrigger canoe with an airplane wing sticking up from the middle,” said Chris Sabine, director of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab, at a press teleconference Friday.

They hold great appeal for researchers because they’re far cheaper to operate than research ships and they can work in dangerous conditions of the North Pacific.

“Imagine the TV series, ‘Deadliest Catch,’ and you can imagine why we would like to remotely gather this information,” Sabine said from Seattle.

Operating by solar and wind power, the vessels can carry 200 pounds of instruments. Two were deployed last week from Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Part of their payload will be acoustic gear that can pick up the sounds of North Pacific right whales, one on the most endangered animals on the planet.

Read the full story at the New Jersey Herald

Federal Legislators Tour New Bedford Fisheries, Discuss At-Sea Monitoring

Bishop 5

Rep. Bill Keating (left) and Rep. Rob Bishop (right) discuss at-sea monitoring in a visit to New Bedford on Thursday, June 2. (Photo: House Natural Resources Committee)

June 3, 2016 — The following is excerpted from a story published yesterday by WBSM:

The City of New Bedford welcomed a possible congressional ally for the fishing industry Thursday to tour fisheries along the harbor.

Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) took a tour of the Whaling City Seafood Auction and seafood processing plant Northern Wind along with Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA), New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and representatives of the local seafood industry.

Elected officials and members of the fishing industry have expressed grave concern over the federally mandated costs by NOAA for at-sea monitors aboard select fishing vessels across the east coast.

Keating said it’s difficult for legislators outside maritime districts to fully understand the impact of the at-sea monitoring costs.

“It creates a greater challenge to get the understanding why this is so important,” said Keating. “The cost of monitoring $800 a day could be enough to be the difference between success and failure of a small business.”

Read the full story at WBSM

MAINE: Feds Propose to Protect Atlantic Sturgeon Habitat in Maine

June 3, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine – Federal fishing regulators are proposing to designate the waters of several Maine rivers as critical habitat for Atlantic sturgeon.  The designation is also proposed for other Atlantic coast waterways further south.

The anadromous fish, which mature in estuaries and marine waters but return to rivers to spawn, are listed as a threatened species in the Gulf of Maine, and as endangered in other areas.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing to protect the Atlantic sturgeon’s river habitat in Maine, including parts of the Penobscot, Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Piscataqua rivers.

NOAA announces more than $11 million in grants

June 3, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, NOAA is recommending more than $11 million in funding for 50 projects across the nation.

Of the 50 projects selected nationally, 22 projects are in the Greater Atlantic Region requesting over $4.6 million in federal support.

The list of recommended projects are in the Greater Atlantic Region is now available. Read summaries of work to be performed under these recommended projects.

For more than 60 years, NOAA has awarded grant funding under the Saltonstall-Kennedy program to organizations across the country. Funds address needs of fishing communities, support economic opportunities, and build and maintain resilient and sustainable fisheries.

“These projects represent the best in cutting-edge science and research,” said NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D. “They will help us better understand fish ecosystems, reduce bycatch, advance fish farming and improve fisheries management. All of these things help restore our fisheries and support economic growth.”

Demand for information, data, service and funding from federal agencies continues to grow. This year, NOAA received a record number of proposals—325 applications requesting nearly $77 million. In order to better match research and development proposals with mission needs and goals, this year’s recommended projects fall into seven priorities:

  • Aquaculture
  • Techniques to reduce bycatch
  • Adaptation to long-term climate and ecosystem change
  • Socio-economic research
  • Fishery data collection
  • Promotion, development and marketing
  • Science in U.S. territories

“NOAA continues to work with researchers, the fishing industry, coastal communities, and other stakeholders to build sustainable fisheries and we will continue to fund opportunities like these that help to preserve our ocean for future generations,”  said Sullivan.

Proposals underwent a rigorous evaluation process, including extensive technical review both within the agency and by an external constituent panel before final agency review.

At this point in the selection process, the application approval and recommended funding is not final. Divisions of NOAA and the Department of Commerce, NOAA’s parent agency, must still give final approval before successful applicants receive funding near the end of the fiscal year.

New York Urges Federal Government for Needed Regulatory Changes to Improve Black Sea Bass Fishery

June 2, 2016 — ALBANY, NY — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos continues to call on the federal government to improve management of the black sea bass fishery in the region. In a letter to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on May 17th, DEC urged the federal government to expedite a new stock assessment for black sea bass and implement other modifications to improve regulation.

“The increasingly restrictive measures demanded of Northeastern states are inequitable and cause great socioeconomic harm to our anglers and related businesses,” Seggos said. “The ASMFC and NOAA must revise their management strategy and not keep New York and the Northeast commercial anglers at a competitive disadvantage while the black sea bass population continues to grow.”

Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, black sea bass is managed jointly by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council with decisions for final annual coast wide quotas set under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries program. To implement these federal restrictions, New York’s commercial black sea bass quota is distributed into annual period allocations that were created in consultation with commercial fishermen, and include specific times of year the fishery will be closed to ensure New York stays within its allotment. Commercial anglers in consultation with DEC Division of Marine Resources staff had selected the June 1st – July 1st closure during development of the 2016 commercial fishing regulations.

Read the full story at LongIsland.com

BILL GERENCER: Fishermen needlessly on the hook for uncertainties of stock estimates

June 2, 2016 — BOWDOIN, Maine — Proper stock assessments are the key to sound fisheries management here in New England. The current and now primarily survey-based assessments are heavy with uncertainty and always assumed to be overstated. Given the changes in the available stock assessment data created by 20 years of regulations, the uncertainty only seems to be increasing.

The fact that the R/V Bigelow, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s primary fishery research vessel, delayed the survey this year is a significant threat to fishermen: We have been told that there are very few codfish in the Gulf of Maine, but this spring, fishermen have found it impossible to set a net in the water without catching codfish. This does not correlate well with the assessment advice.

Many boats have simply tied up to avoid codfish. The late start taken by the survey cruise has most likely missed significant codfish “data” as the research vessel remained at the dock.

Even with an on-time start, the survey method employed by the R/V Bigelow covers only a tiny sliver of the available fishing bottom and puts the survey gear on the bottom for a very short time during trips made in the spring and fall. The R/V Bigelow has also become famous in the fishing community for its demonstrated inability to catch cod and flatfish alongside commercial vessels catching those species and in areas fishing boats declared off limits to themselves because of the presence of codfish.

The low annual catch limit for codfish is tied directly to the low numbers provided by the most recent stock assessments. The low limit has resulted in small codfish allocations to each commercial fishing boat. Once a boat harvests its cod allocation, it will be prohibited from fishing for the duration of the fishing year even if it has significant allocation of other species.

Read the full opinion piece at the Portland Press Herald

Atlantic Red Snapper Fishing Season Closed for 2016

June 2, 2016 — June 1 marks the opening of red snapper season in Gulf of Mexico federal waters (extending beyond 9 nautical miles from land), but our east-coast brethren have to sit this one out. Based on data collected by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, a branch of NOAA Fisheries, too many red snapper were harvested from this region in 2015, so there will be no 2016 recreational or commercial season.

One of eight regional councils created under what is now the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, SAFMC is responsible for conservation and management of fish stocks within the federal 200-mile limit off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and east Florida to Key West. Red snapper, a historically overfished species, has been one of the council’s top concerns since the 1980s.

Read the full story at Outdoor Life

Lab In A Can To Help Identify Toxic Algae Off Washington Coast

After a massive toxic algae bloom closed lucrative shellfish fisheries off the West Coast last year, scientists are turning to a new tool that could provide an early warning of future problems.

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington last week deployed the so-called ocean robot about 50 feet into waters off the coast of La Push, Washington, near a known hotspot for toxic algae blooms.

The tool, dubbed “a laboratory in a can,” will remain in the water until mid-July, providing real-time measurements about the concentrations of six species of microscopic algae and toxins they produce, including domoic acid.

The instrument is equipped with sensors and cellular modems that will allow it to take water samples and send that information to shore three times a week for the next several weeks. Scientists plan to deploy it again in the fall, another critical time for harmful algae blooms.

Last year, dangerous levels of domoic acid were found in shellfish and prompted California, Washington and Oregon to delay its coastal Dungeness crabbing season. Washington and Oregon also canceled razor clam digs for much of the year.

Read the full story at OPB

The Gulf War

May 31, 2016 — Katie’s Seafood Market is a corrugated-metal building on the Galveston waterfront with a wooden ship wheel hanging from its ceiling and an 89-pound snapper mounted near the entrance. A small retail area faces the street, but most of the action happens on the dockside, which opens onto a channel leading to the Gulf of Mexico.

It was there, last November, that William “Bubba” Cochrane could be found supervising the unloading of 11,000 pounds of red snapper from his boat the Chelsea Ann. A beefy man with a gray-flecked beard, Cochrane recorded weights on a clipboard as large blue vats filled with fish. Outside, his twelve-year-old son and deckhand, Conner, moved around the boat in orange bib pants. “Kids in school say, ‘I want to be a video-game designer,’ ” Conner said. “I’m the only one who has ever said, ‘I want to be a fisherman.’ ”

That would have been a ludicrous ambition a decade ago. When Cochrane started fishing for a living in the early nineties, the Gulf population of red snapper—mild and buttery, easy to catch, with pink-orange scales that stand out on market shelves—had bottomed out following a forty-year decline. Potential egg production, a key measure of population health, had fallen to 2.6 percent of its natural level, one tenth of what scientists consider sustainable.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), scrambled to find solutions. For years commercial fishing was limited to the first ten days of the month during the spring and fall seasons. This led to a mad race—a “derby” in industry parlance—as every vessel barreled into the Gulf at once. “If it was blowing a gale on the first, you had to go,” Cochrane says. “You’ve got bills to pay and a boat loan.”

Under those conditions, fishermen didn’t have time to find the perfect fishing spot. “If I’ve got to kill two hundred pounds of undersized fish to catch fifty pounds of legal fish, I’ll do it,” he says of the attitude during those years. “A few discards, you try not to think about it.”

Derbies didn’t just stress the fishers; they also failed as a conservation tool. Most years, the commercial sector exceeded its allocation. The stock improved, but not by much.

Read the full story at Texas Monthly