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Coral Reef Die-Off Reaches Record Duration, Says New Research

February 26, 2016 — Rising global temperatures combined with an especially powerful El Niño are causing one of the biggest coral reef die-off events ever recorded.

The researchers, who are monitoring and forecasting offsite link the loss of corals from disease and heat stress due to record ocean temperatures, report that the global coral bleaching event that started in 2014 could extend well into 2017.

Approximately 500 million people worldwide depend upon reefs for food and to protect coastlines from storms and erosion. Coral reefs provide habitat, spawning and nursery grounds for economically important fish species; provide fishing, recreation, and tourism jobs and income to local economies; are a source of new medicines, and are hotspots of marine biodiversity. Reefs contribute approximately $29.8 billion to world economies each year. In the United States, NOAA Fisheries estimates the commercial value of U.S. fisheries from coral reefs is more than $100 million.

“We are currently experiencing the longest global coral bleaching event ever observed,” said Mark Eakin, NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch coordinator. “We may be looking at a 2- to 2½-year-long event. Some areas have already seen bleaching two years in a row.”

According to Eakin, the length of the event means corals in some parts of the world have no time to recover before they are hit by more bleaching. The current global bleaching event is hammering some reefs repeatedly.

Scientists first observed the current global coral bleaching event beginning in mid-2014, when bleaching began in the western Pacific Ocean. In October 2015, as the current El Niño was still strengthening, NOAA scientists declared the third global bleaching event on record was underway.

The NOAA coral scientists point out that reefs that bleached in 2015 in the Caribbean and Florida Keys have just started to recover, but may start bleaching all over again as early as July. Eakin also notes that in the Pacific, corals in Fiji’s nearshore waters are bleaching with lots of dead coral for the second consecutive year, and could be worse than last year.

Read the full story at Canada Journal

NORTH CAROLINA: Federal Closure Looms Over Cobia Season

February 25, 2016 — The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission voted in late February to reduce the daily creel limit for cobia from two fish to one in state waters, and fisheries officials are hoping to find more ways to delay a federal closure of the season that could come as soon as June 15.

Rereational fishermen caught almost a million pounds over their annual catch limit of 630,000 pounds in Atlantic Ocean waters north of the Florida-Georgia line last year, according to NOAA Fisheries, and federal regulations mandates a reduction in harvest this year.`

Dr. Louis Daniel, director of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, hopes that the creel-limit reduction, and perhaps an increase in the minimum size could allow North Carolina fishermen to have their season extended. States have an understanding with NOAA Fisheries and the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) that measures adopted to reduce state-by-state catches could result in a longer 2016 season.

At its Feb. 17-19 meeting in Wrightsville Beach, the Commission voted 7-0, with Sammy Corbett, the chairman, abstaining, to lower the daily creel limit from two fish to one, effective Feb. 27. The NCDMF has asked the ASFMC how long raising the size minimum from 32 to 36 or 40 inches might extend the season.

Read the full story at the North Carolina Sportsman

Fishing Monitor Program Suspended and Will Start Again March 1, When Boats Must Pay Costs

February 25, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries exhausted its budgeted money for at-sea monitoring of Northeast fishing sector groundfish boats on Feb. 16 and has suspended all required monitoring until the fishing industry assumes monitoring costs on March 1.

The details of the suspension, which has not been publicly announced by NOAA, were contained in a Feb. 19 declaration filed by NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard in the federal lawsuit New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel of Hampton filed against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Commerce and officials within those federal agencies.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, seeks to block NOAA from transferring to the fishing industry the responsibility of paying for contracted at-sea monitoring (ASM), charging it will economically destroy what is left of the Northeast groundfishing fleet.

Late last fall, NOAA said it anticipated retaining sufficient money to continue paying the ASM costs until March 1. That changed, according to Bullard’s declaration, on Feb. 16 when NOAA realized it had not sufficiently updated the weekly reports used to determine the number and cost of observed trips on sector groundfish boats.

“On or about Feb. 16, the (Northeast Fisheries) Science Center became aware for the first time that recent updates did not include information for all completed trips … and that committed government funds to pay for ASMs had been exhausted,” Bullard wrote in his declaration.

NOAA Fisheries, he said, then decided to cease until March 1 the requirement and deployment of monitors on sector trips selected for coverage.

“Due to a lack of funds, those trips have been issued waivers from the requirement to take on ASM,” Bullard wrote. “This decision is based on our commitment that sectors be provided adequate notice of the onset of industry funding so that necessary accommodations, planning and contracting can occur.”

Bullard stated the agency is confident the temporary suspension of observer coverage will not jeopardize NOAA Fisheries’ ability to estimate discards by sector vessels — one of the primary tasks of the ASM program.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

LOUISIANA: Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance fights NOAA over aqua farms

NEW ORLEANS, La. — February 25, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) decision to approve industrial offshore fish farming last month in federally protected waters in the Gulf of Mexico is a strong concern in a “delicate and restricted estuarine system,” according to a leading non-profit fisherman’s organization.

Eric Brazer, deputy director at the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, told the Louisiana Record that there are strong concerns with constructing an aquaculture facility of unprecedented size.

“We’ve already seen the catastrophic damage of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in this sensitive ecosystem,” Brazer said. “It will likely take generations to understand the true ecological and economic cost, the latter of which is already on the order of billions of dollars.”

Finalized in January, the plan for the aqua farms will permit up to 20 industrial facilities, which will see approximately 64 million pounds of fish produced every year in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the same amount of wild fish currently caught in the Gulf of Mexico annually, meaning that farmed fish would double offerings and flood the market.

Brazer said that it will be future generations who suffer as a result.

“It is our commercial fishing and charter businesses in the Gulf of Mexico, and those of the next generation, that will be the ones carrying the entire burden of risk that comes out of this new aquaculture industry,” he said.

A suit was filed against NOAA by a number of Gulf fishing groups, including Brazer’s organization, in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Louisiana on Feb. 12. The suit alleges that NOAA has no authority to undertake the offshore fish farming, and that allowing aqua farms is a threat to native and endangered species, the ecosystem, and the fish we eat.

Read the full story from the Louisiana Record

Groundfishermen worry looming $600 cost shift could hurt industry

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — February 24, 2016 — New England fishermen say that they have already been gutted by limits set by the National Marine Fisheries Service over how much of certain species of groundfish remain off our shores. Now, a looming cost shift is threatening the industry entirely.

Back in 2000, there were about 100 groundfishermen in New Hampshire, using small commercial boats catching the cod, haddock and flounder that we equate with New England seafood.

In 2016, most have switched over to lobster and scallops. Many of them were forced out by limits and quotas.

David Goethel is one of only nine groundfishermen left in the state. But he’s worried something else could wipe out groundfishing completely.

“I lost 95 percent of my cod quota in the last four years and I’m fishing for things that are less value and then I’m going to have to pay for these monitors on top of that. It simply does not add up,” said Goethel.

Read the full story from WMUR

The Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island announces new Executive Director, Amy MacKown

February 25, 2016 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island:

Hailing from Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region, Amy came to Rhode Island after traveling the National Wildlife Refuges of the Mid-Atlantic and New England conducting salt marsh ecology research with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She then served as a Fisheries Specialist with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management where she worked closely with the commercial fishing industry.

Throughout her career Amy has been a supporter of sustainable fisheries—a mentality solidified while participating in a fellowship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where she worked on oil spill restoration initiatives geared at protecting the health of Atlantic fisheries.

Amy holds a masters in Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland and a graduate certificate in Ecological Economics. In 2015 she was presented the Promoting Our Natural Resources Award by the U.S. Department of the Interior in recognition of her work in the National Wildlife Refuges of New England and the Mid-Atlantic.

The Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island is home to nonprofit commercial fishing organizations, and serves as a headquarters for bringing fishermen, scientists, managers, and elected officials together to discuss issues. The Center was founded in 2004 to improve fisheries and understanding of the marine environment through education, collaborative research, and cooperation.

Read the release at the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island

Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance fights NOAA over aqua farms

February 25, 2016 — NEW ORLEANS — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) decision to approve industrial offshore fish farming last month in federally protected waters in the Gulf of Mexico is a strong concern in a “delicate and restricted estuarine system,” according to a leading non-profit fisherman’s organization.

Brazer said that it will be future generations who suffer as a result.

“Unlike the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which cover 41 million and 64 million square miles, respectively, the 600,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico are nearly completely surrounded by land,” Brazer said. “The Gulf effectively acts like a closed system with finite limits on nutrient loading and effluent.”

For 365 days of the year, commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico make sacrifices in order to build a sustainable fishery that can deliver Gulf red snapper to American seafood consumers. Collectively, the fishermen have invested millions of dollars into the fishing and seafood supply businesses, Brazer said.

Read the full story at the Louisiana Record

New Hampshire Sen. Ayotte Questions NOAA on At-Sea Monitoring and National Standard Eight

February 24, 2016 — The following was released by the Office of Senator Kelly Ayotte:

This week during a Senate Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte questioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs Samuel Rauch on the administration’s recent announcement that it would require New England fishermen to pay for its at-sea monitoring (ASM) program beginning March 1, 2016.

“I look at your budget: $5.4 billion for 2015, and you can’t find $3.78 million to fund at-sea monitoring, which is consistent with what many of us have written in the 2015 appropriations bill for NOAA,” asked Ayotte. “I can’t believe that we have a system where we’re going to put iconic fishermen out of business. The large folks – they’re going to be fine. The small fishermen – they’re done.”

Ayotte has long been a strong and consistent voice for New Hampshire’s small boat fishermen in fighting against onerous federal regulations. In September, she introduced legislation to terminate NOAA’s independent third-party ASM program unless NOAA fully funds the program using dollars within the its existing budget. Ayotte and Senator Jeanne Shaheen also previously called for a full investigation into NOAA’s ASM program for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery, which includes New Hampshire’s coastal region.

Also in September, Ayotte hosted a roundtable discussion in Portsmouth with NOAA officials, fishermen, and business leaders to discuss concerns regarding fishing regulations, federal catch-share limits, NOAA’s process for determining fish stocks, the implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and the imposition of fees for at-sea monitors on commercial fishing vessels.

Read the release from the office of Senator Kelly Ayotte

NOAA: Latest Bycatch Estimates for Select U.S. Commercial Fisheries Now Available

February 23, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries new bycatch estimates show the amount of bycatch in the United States varies widely by fishery and type of fishing gear.

As we’ve been highlighting with various announcements over the last couple of weeks, bycatch comes in many forms and affects people in myriad ways. We track bycatch to understand where it may be a problem so we can develop solutions to address it.

Today, we released the second update to the first edition of U.S. National Bycatch Report. It provides fishery managers and stock assessment scientists with the most current bycatch estimates for fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds in major U.S. commercial fisheries using data from 2011-2013.

The updated report identifies positive trends in bycatch levels for many important U.S. fisheries and species. It also recognizes areas for improvement in the estimation of bycatch and opportunities to reduce bycatch in various fisheries.

NOAA Fisheries is committed to finding cooperative solutions to reduce bycatch and ensure our nation’s fisheries remain sustainable. It all begins with good estimates of bycatch.

Learn more about how we are tackling bycatch.

Feds Say Money For Fishing Monitors Will Run Out by March 1

February 23, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal fishing regulators say they have notified some New England fishermen that they will have to pay the cost of at-sea monitors starting March 1.

Monitors collect data to help determine future fishing quotas and their services can cost more than $700 per day. Fishermen of important commercial species such as cod and haddock will have to start paying the cost of the monitors under new rules.

The rule change has prompted criticism from fishermen who say they can’t afford more costs. The cost shift comes as New England cod fishermen are already struggling with a declining fish population and tough quotas.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WCSH