Saving Seafood

9th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments on Southeast king salmon troll fishery lawsuit

July 17, 2024 — A panel of federal judges will hear oral arguments on Thursday, July 18, in an appeal of a lower court ruling that threatened to halt the Southeast troll fishery for king salmon.

The Alaska Trollers Association, the State of Alaska, and other entities are appealing a Washington District Court ruling that found NOAA Fisheries violated endangered species and environmental laws. The ruling says they did so by allowing the Southeast trollers to harvest king salmon at rates that harmed a small population of endangered killer whales in Puget Sound, as well as well as several king salmon populations from the lower Columbia River.

That ruling would have effectively stopped Southeast trollers from fishing for kings — at least, until the National Marine Fisheries Service corrects its environmental analysis. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the lower court order in June of 2023, allowing the fishery to stay open — for now.

The Washington-based conservation group Wild Fish Conservancy filed the initial suit four years ago. The organization’s case rests on the idea that the trollers are intercepting salmon that would otherwise feed the Puget Sound killer whales. The Wild Fish Conservancy has since petitioned the federal government to give Endangered Species Act protections to king salmon across the entire Gulf of Alaska.

Read the full article at KFSK

After Environmental Disasters, NOAA Works to Restore Habitat for All

July 16, 2024 — Each July NOAA celebrates Habitat Month, a month-long ode to our habitat conservation efforts. In particular, the Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) aims to restore habitat for fisheries and wildlife which also supports recreation and tourism for people.

Since its inception more than 30 years ago, DARRP has assessed, restored, and protected coastal environments damaged by oil spills, hazardous waste releases, and vessel groundings. NOAA and other federal and state agencies, called trustees, have recovered more than $10.7 billion from polluters. With partners, we’ve used these funds to restore important habitats and natural resources nationwide.

When oil or hazardous waste spills into the environment, it harms habitats, and can limit outdoor recreational activities like fishing, boating, and swimming. Through DARRP, NOAA helps restore and reconnect all walks of life to these natural spaces. Read on to learn about four recent restoration projects.

Read the full artile at NOAA Fisheries 

FAO endorses new aquaculture guidelines at UN Committee on Fisheries meeting

July 16, 2024 — The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ Committee on Fisheries (COFI) has endorsed a new set of guidelines for aquaculture designed to develop a set of best practices for the industry worldwide.

The Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA) was designed with the aid of NOAA and other stakeholders and officially endorsed by COFI at the committee’s 36th session in Rome, Italy. The new guidelines come after the FAO’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report showed that fisheries and aquaculture production hit a new high of 223.2 million metric tons (MT) in 2022 – with aquaculture contributing over 57 percent of aquatic animal products for direct human consumption.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Completes Science Report

July 15, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, together with the Governor of Alaska are sharing the final report of the Congressionally mandated Alaska Salmon Research Task Force. It identifies potential impacts to salmon productivity, gaps in understanding of the Pacific salmon life cycle and recommended research priorities to support sustainable salmon management in Alaska.

Under the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act, NOAA Fisheries, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, in collaboration with the State of Alaska, was required to convene a task force to review existing Pacific salmon research in Alaska, identify applied research needed to better understand the increased variability and declining salmon returns in some regions of Alaska, and to support sustainable salmon runs in Alaska. NOAA Fisheries and the Governor of Alaska were also required to each appoint a representative to serve on the task force.

The Task Force was made up of a diverse group of Alaska salmon knowledge holders, including members from federal, state, tribal, university, industry, and non-governmental organizations. This report was written by the Task Force and its Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Working Group and reflects their views, opinions, and recommendations.

“The 19-member task force and its 44-member Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Working Group did an impressive job compiling and integrating diverse information and data from scientists and Indigenous and Local Knowledge holders to inform development of this important science plan,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator, NOAA Fisheries. “Thanks to their work, we have a meaningful strategy to better understand mechanisms driving Alaska salmon production to provide a path for mitigating negative impacts due to climate change and other factors.”

“Pacific salmon are essential to the cultural and socio-economic well being of Alaska, supporting commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries and rural communities across the state,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner, Doug Vincent-Lang. “I would like to commend the Task Force for identifying priority research to support sustainable salmon runs in Alaska.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

2024 Northeast Spring Ecosystem Monitoring Cruise Completed

July 15, 2024 — Our ecosystem monitoring cruises help researchers understand and predict changes in the Northeast shelf ecosystem and its fisheries. Our core sampling provides data that help us understand ocean acidification as well as changes in:

  • Distribution and abundance of zooplankton and larval fish
  • Temperature
  • Salinity

Researchers also record observations of seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. Egg data collected are important for managing Atlantic mackerel in U.S. and Canadian waters.

We sampled 131 stations from May 25–28 and June 3–14, 2024. We lost 4.5 operational days due to an unexpected mechanical issue with the fast rescue boat. We completed 79 percent of our planned research activities. We dropped stations in the most southern and northern portions of the cruise to allow for the most efficient cruise track.

The plankton we gather provide information about the food chain supporting fisheries and marine mammals. Scientists use our larval fish and egg samples to learn more about fish stock spawning and help estimate stock abundance. By measuring physical and chemical conditions like temperature and salinity, we can describe:

    • Ecosystem productivity
    • Fish spawning
    • Larval recruitment
    • Species distribution

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Impacts of ocean heat wave found off SF Bay Area coast

July 12, 2024 — The ocean is no place to escape a heat wave. According to a recent condition report from the Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries, the effects of a 2014 to 2016 marine heat wave had a cascading effect with impacts that echoed from deep sea krill to shoreline restaurants.

The domino effect began with the tiny shrimp-like critters that feed the biggest animals on earth, blue whales. Looking at data collected between 2010 and 2022, scientists with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration found that the heat wave caused a notable decline in nutritious krill, and a proportional increase in less nutritious, gelatinous zooplankton in the sanctuaries off the Northern California coast.

Read the full article at Chesapeake Bay Magazine 

ALASKA: Draft plan published for disbursement of $11.5 million in 2021 and 2022 ESSN disasters

July 12, 2024 — A draft spend plan was published Tuesday, July 9 by the State Department of Fish and Game for the allocation of around $11.5 million in federal funds in response to a disaster determination for the 2021 and 2022 Upper Cook Inlet east side setnet fisheries.

A public notice from the department says that the National Marine Fisheries Service allocated $11,484,675 to address losses from the 2021 and 2022 fisheries. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce made the disaster determination in April, responding to an October request from Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

The draft spend plan of those dollars by the department says that funds will be disbursed to achieve two objectives: to assist fishery participants harmed by the disasters and to improve fishery information to avoid or mitigate the impacts of future disasters.

The draft plan says that 62% of the money, around $7 million, will be dispersed to harvesters. Around $3 million will go to processors, $1 million to research, $300,000 to communities and $11,000 for program support.

Read the full article at the Peninsula Clarion 

Federal fishing monitoring program needs overhaul, GAO says

July 11, 2024 — Only days after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the federal government’s program placing human observers on commercial fishing boats, a federal watchdog said NOAA Fisheries should do a better job monitoring the industry.

A report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office said NOAA Fisheries — also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service — has failed to execute its program as Congress intended under law.

NOAA has long relied on independent observers to ensure compliance with regulations and collect data to guide fisheries management decisions. In recent years, as critical fish stocks have declined due to overfishing and climate change, regulators have placed greater emphasis in particular on reducing the accidental taking of unwanted species, which is called bycatch.

Such species — including marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and juvenile fish — are usually unnetted and released, but they can suffer injuries that lead to death.

GAO found that not all fisheries have sufficient observers and that NOAA Fisheries hasn’t gathered the information on what resources are needed for the programs or told Congress what is needed. In the Gulf of Mexico, only two percent of shrimp trawl fishing trips included an observer.

Read the full article at E&E News

Conservation groups sue NOAA over tope shark protections

July 11, 2024 — Conservations groups have sued NOAA Fisheries, claiming that the agency has failed to meet the legal deadline for determining whether tope sharks should be protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Defend Them All Foundation first filed a petition to have tope sharks ESA-listed in February 2022. NOAA Fisheries responded with a 90-day preliminary finding acknowledging that the sharks may warrant protections in April of that year, triggering a full investigation due February 2023. The agency has still not issued a determination.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Council appointments delayed until ‘later this summer’

July 3, 2024 — Alaskan and West Coast fishery stakeholders are still in the dark as to who will represent them on their regional fishery management councils.

The appointments of 22 new and returning members to six of eight of the nation’s councils were announced on June 28 by the US Dept. of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce appoints council seats from state governors’ lists of nominees. Each serves three-year terms.

“Appointments to the Pacific and North Pacific fishery management councils will be announced later this summer,” the Commerce press release said.

“My understanding is that the decision on those appointments have not yet been finalized,” said Julie Fair, Public Affairs Officer at NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office. “The appointments for Pacific and North Pacific Fishery Management Councils will be forthcoming later this summer, and we do not anticipate any lapse in voting during their September/October Council meetings,” Fair added. 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman