Saving Seafood

Federal regulators: Don’t even think about fishing for these forage species

April 7, 2016 — No one’s fishing in large numbers for lanternfish, bristlemouth, pelagic squid or a handful of other forage-fish species targeted for protection in California by federal regulators this week.

And no one will be fishing for them anytime soon, under the new rule, which has been the subject of debate among fishers and environmentalists for more than five years. It aims to proactively protect the Pacific Ocean ecosystem by banning commercial fishing of round and thread herring, Pacific saury and sand lance, and certain smelts across the West Coast that are preferred meals of predators commonly fished here.

“The fishery management council wasn’t interested in being surprised by a potential new fishery,” said Yvonne deReynier, a NOAA spokeswoman. “Because of this rule, now people can’t just decide they want to go fishing without checking in and getting permission from fishery management. This is a big-picture concern of our council. The council wants to ensure there are going to be enough prey for mid- and higher-level trophic species that feed on these.”

Before the rule was finalized Monday, new forage-fish commercial fisheries could start relatively easily. Now they can’t begin without extensive study, regulation and permission by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to ensure they’re not overfished or otherwise harmed.

Read the full story at The Long Beach Press-Telegram

New NOAA rules governing bycatch in Atlantic herring fishery start May 4

April 7, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has approved adjustments to its Atlantic herring fishery management plan that aim to minimize bycatch.

The new rules require vessels to report slippage – catch discarded prior to official sampling by an approved observer – to be reported in each ship’s daily herring catch report.

In addition, vessels must either return to port or move 15 nautical miles away from the location where the slippage occurred, depending on whether the event is deemed a precautionary measure performed for reasons of safety or whether it is considered an avoidable accident. If the latter is the case, the vessel at fault must return to port, and if the slippage is deemed accidental, the vessel still must move and may not fish in that area for the duration of its journey.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALABAMA: Red snapper season could be an all-time low

April 7, 2016 — Alabama anglers could be faced with the most restrictive red snapper quota ever in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly just six days, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne said Wednesday.

Byrne, R-Fairhope, is a frequent critic of the federal government’s handling of regulations for the annual snapper season for commercial and recreational fishing. Deep-sea fishing is a multimillion-dollar tourism draw in Alabama, and the coastal region touts itself as the top snapper spot in the world.

This year’s limits are set to be revealed in coming weeks. Byrne, however, warned that they may be even lower than those prompting public protest in 2014 and 2015.

Based on estimates from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Fisheries Service, this year’s season for recreational fishing will be capped at “six to nine days,” Byrne said. The 2015 season was 10 days, up one day from 2014’s record low of nine.

The commercial charter/for-hire season will be from 30-56 days, Byrne added. The 2015 season was 44 days.

“It’s very disappointing,” Byrne said. “It’s very much like what we had last summer. … This derby season is not good for anybody and it could be dangerous.”

Read the full story at Al.com

Seafood coalition skeptical of proposed new rules

April 6, 2016 — The Northeast Seafood Coalition has submitted public comments for the proposed rules for the Northeast Fishery Management Plan that reiterate its lack of confidence in NOAA’s current system of scientific assessments for groundfish.

The comments from the Gloucester-based NSC, submitted to NOAA Fisheries before Tuesday’s deadline, question the reported status of the witch flounder stock and sets the fishing advocacy group in opposition to the proposed allowable biological catch limit of 460 metric tons or the 2016 fishing season.

“NSC expressed concern with the reported status of witch flounder during the public process,” the coalition said in its comments, which also reference the group’s “expressed concern that catch rates within the fishery are completely inconsistent with the reported stock status from the assessment.”

That concern with the methodology and accuracy of the stock assessments by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a familiar refrain throughout the NSC comments.

“NSC has been an active participant over the years in the scientific assessments for groundfish stocks,” it said in its comments. “Direct engagement in the process, however, has made NSC leadership grow more leery of groundfish assessments.”

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

NMFS Partially Approves Herring Framework Adjustment 4: Empty Fish Hold Provision Not Adopted

April 6, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) partially approved Framework Adjustment 4 to the Federal Herring Fishery Management Plan—the final rule published today, April 4th. The empty fish hold provision, which was recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council and provisionally adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) in Amendment 3 to the Interstate FMP, was not approved. The justification for not approving this provision is provided in the following excerpts from the final rule. The final rule can be found at: https://federalregister.gov/a/2016-07583.

NMFS could not approve the empty fish hold provision because “…there is insufficient support in the record to conclude that herring vessels are harvesting excess fish and discarding unsold fish at sea. The costs associated with a herring trip, including fuel, crew wages, and insurance, are substantial, so it is unlikely that vessel operators are making herring trips to harvest fish that will ultimately be discarded.”

In addition, NMFS determined “Framework 4’s proposed waiver provides no way of verifying the amount of fish reported relative to the amount of fish left in the hold. Therefore, NMFS does not believe that this measure contains a viable mechanism to verify whether harvested fish that are left in the hold were reported by the vessel.”

Ultimately, “Because the measure lacks a mechanism to verify or correct the amount of fish reported on the VTR, the measure is unlikely to improve catch monitoring in the herring fishery. In contrast, the compliance and enforcement costs associated with the measure may be high.”

As stated in Amendment 3, implementation of the empty fish hold provision is contingent on federal adoption. Since NMFS did not approve this provision, ASMFC will maintain status quo measures on this issue. Under status quo there is no requirement to empty vessel holds of fish prior to a fishing trip departure. Amendment 3 was updated to reflect this information and can be obtained at: http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//57042f26Amendment3_RevisedApril2016.pdf.

Conservation efforts show results as status of eight green sea turtle species changes

April 6, 2016 — The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has changed the status of some green sea turtle species from endangered to threatened in its latest report. Credit should be given to conservation efforts carried out by different wildlife preservation organizations across the world. Work of law enforcers and agencies has also been praised by the latest report.

On Tuesday, the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) have changed the status for few species which have seen recovery in their population. Experts said that there are many types of green sea turtles and the legislation is applicable on the ones found in the United States and Mexico.

During the conservation efforts and project, the conservators divided the species in 11 segments. Out of them, three remain as endangered and the other eight have been changed to threatened species. With the division, specialists will be able to keep a track on the turtles’ development and to come up with better conservation strategies.

Though threatened is not the best scenario, it is the first step in the right direction. Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries, said, “Successful conservation and management efforts developed in Florida and along the Pacific coast of Mexico are a roadmap for further recovery strategies of green turtle populations around the world”.

Read the full story at Mainer News Online

MASSACHUSETTS: Push on to move science center to fishing hub of New Bedford

April 5, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The federal government is considering renovating one of the oldest and most influential marine science centers in the country, prompting some to lobby for the facility to relocate across the bay to New Bedford, the nation’s commercial fishing hub.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has been in the Falmouth village of Woods Hole since 1871. The current home was built in the 1960s and is surrounded by younger scientific organizations.

New Bedford is about 15 miles northwest of Woods Hole across Buzzards Bay but about 40 miles when traveling by land.

The federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is considering a renovation plan for the science center, which is aging, crowded and short on laboratory space. A consortium of local and state officials from the New Bedford area is lobbying for the center to move to the historic city, which is the country’s top ranking fishing port in dollar value.

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

NOAA accepting final comments on new illegal seafood rules

April 5, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Federal fishing regulators who are hoping to crack down on illegal fishing imports are closing the public comment period on proposed new rules.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has supported changes that would create a new system to collect data about commercial fishing catch. The new rules would also track trips ashore and the chain of custody of fish and fish products imported into the U.S.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Fishermen look to replace human monitors with cameras

April 4, 2016 — The program, slated to begin next month, will include about 20 boats, roughly 10 percent of the region’s active groundfishing fleet, and will require fishermen to use sophisticated software, maintain cameras through the harsh conditions at sea, and submit to constant electronic scrutiny.

That has made some fishermen, who say their boats are like homes, uneasy.

They worry about losing their privacy and whether the footage could become public.

“Our bathrooms are buckets out on deck. I do not want some person counting how much toilet paper I use when I go to the head,” said David Goethel, who fishes cod out of Hampton, N.H.

Goethel sued NOAA last year for requiring fishermen to assume the costs of the observer program, which he said were too expensive and would put many of his colleagues out of business. The agency had previously covered the costs, but officials said they could no longer afford to subsidize the $3 million program.

See the full story at the Boston Globe

At-sea monitoring fees are the latest threat to New Hampshire’s dwindling fishing industry

April 1, 2016 — Working as both a biologist and a fisherman, David Goethel brings a unique perspective to the state and federal fishery management boards he’s an adviser on. 

“I’ve spent all my life acting as a translator because they speak all different languages,” says Goethel, who worked as a research biologist at the New England Aquarium before he became the owner and operator of the Ellen Diane, a 44-foot fishing trawler based out of Hampton. 

But the most recent disconnect between the factions has resulted in Goethel and other groundfishermen filing a federal lawsuit. 

After delaying the regulation for years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now requiring groundfishermen to pay for the at-sea monitoring program — at a cost of an average $710 per trip, conducted at random. The monitoring is done to ensure that the fishermen adhere to groundfish catch quotas set in May 2010 by the New England Fishery Management Council, under NOAA. (Groundfish include cod, haddock and other common bottom-dwelling species.) 

Read the full story at the New Hampshire Business Review