Saving Seafood

Large numbers of Guadalupe fur seals dying off California

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) — September 29, 2015 — ” Scientists are looking at ocean-warming trends to figure out why endangered Guadalupe fur seals are stranding themselves and dying in alarming numbers along the central California coast.

Approximately 80 emaciated fur seals have come ashore since January ” about eight times more than normal ” leading the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week to declare an “unusual mortality event” for the animals. The classification diverts additional resources to study the animals, which have been traditionally under-researched, officials said.

Researchers will try to determine if the die-off is a result of a disruption in the seal’s feeding patterns from a large-scale warming of the Pacific Ocean, Toby Garfield, an official with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center, said Tuesday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

ATLANTA: Georgia Aquarium Loses Legal Battle Over Beluga Whales

September 28, 2015 — ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Aquarium has lost a legal battle to import 18 beluga whales from Russia, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The aquarium sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in September 2013 after the federal agency refused to grant a permit to import the whales. U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg said in a 100-page ruling that the agency properly reviewed the aquarium’s permit application through the lens of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The 1972 law prohibits the capture of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens elsewhere and generally doesn’t allow the import of marine mammals, although there are some exceptions, including one that allows animals to be imported for public display.

Aquarium officials were reviewing the decision, spokeswoman Jessica Fontana said in an email.

The government agency, known as NOAA Fisheries, is pleased with the ruling, spokeswoman Connie Barclay said in an email.

The aquarium, which has said the whales are needed to strengthen the gene pool of whales in captivity in the U.S. and for research, argued the agency’s denial of its permit application was arbitrary and capricious.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Top fisheries regulator blends into the crowd at Working Waterfront Festival

September 27, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD — In the closing hours of a picture-perfect day for the New Bedford Waterfront Festival, about 15 pretty important people were meeting in a stuffy, windowless third-floor conference room up three flights of stairs at the State Pier building.

This was an invitation-only chance for some locals involved in the fishing industry to meet the woman who is in charge of fisheries regulation for the entire nation, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eileen Sobeck.

She was here at the invitation of Mayor Mitchell, and the arrangements were done pretty quietly. There was no announcement by the mayor’s office because, as he explained, this was an opportunity to open up some lines of communication between our fishing community and the persons in charge of regulating it.”

“It was civil and informative … a lot of progress was made that way,” Mitchell said after the meeting.

Former Mayor John Bullard was there because, as he is now regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries in the Northeast, Sobek is his boss. He deferred all questions to her.

Read the full story at New Bedford Standard- Times

Over 1,500 Coastal Residents Join Federal, State, and Congressional Leaders in Opposing Atlantic Marine Monument

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 25, 2015 – A letter delivered this week to the President and other top Federal officials has been signed by more than 1,500 fishermen and other residents from coastal communities opposing recent calls to create a marine national monument along America’s Atlantic Coast. The letter’s signers join a growing list of citizens, stakeholders, governors, Senators, Members of Congress, and local leaders speaking out publicly against the monument campaign. The letter’s signers call the measure an unnecessary use of Executive authority that undermines the public management of natural resources, which are being successfully managed through public processes.

READ THE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT AND TOP FEDERAL OFFICIALS

Saving Seafood has published the letter online today, which was produced jointly by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) and the Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC). In addition to President Obama, the letter was also delivered to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, and NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eileen Sobeck.

According to the letter, a recent campaign to designate an Atlantic marine national monument, specifically in the Cashes Ledge area of the Gulf of Maine and around the New England Canyons and Seamounts, circumvents and diminishes the public management procedures that currently manage these areas. In the view of the signers, a process that is open and collaborative, and considers the input of scientific experts, fishermen, and other stakeholders, is best way to successfully manage marine resources.

The signers also contend that these proposals do not properly take into account the existing protections already in place in many of these areas. They note that Cashes Ledge has been closed to most forms of commercial fishing for over a decade, and that the New England Fishery Management Council recently took steps to extend these protections into the future with the approval of Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2. The Council is set to further examine additional habitat protections for the region when it considers the Deep Sea Coral Amendment later this year. To the signers of the letter, these are clear signs that the current management process is working.

The letter joins increasingly vocal opposition to a national monument designation. Maine Governor Paul LePage, as well as Maine Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Bruce Poliquin, have all written to the Obama Administration opposing any monument in the Gulf of Maine. Sefatia Romeo Theken, the Mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, home to the nation’s oldest fishing port and its historic groundfish fishery, has also written a letter in opposition. Jon Mitchell, the Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s most valuable port and home to the Atlantic scallop fishery, is one of the signers of this week’s letter. Legislatively, Congressmen Don Young and Walter Jones recently introduced the Marine Access and State Transparency Act, which would prevent the President from declaring offshore national monuments.

 

Maine Sen. Collins, Rep. Poliquin write to NOAA on Marine Monument

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — September 24, 2015 — Maine Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Bruce Poliquin have written a letter to NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eileen Sobeck expressing concern over proposals to designate marine National Monuments in the Atlantic Ocean, and calling for a “thorough, open” public process before such a proposal is implemented.

The letter, dated September 14, notes that the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), which currently is responsible for managing many of the areas under discussion, “has been proactive in its stewardship” of the area, particularly the Cashes Ledge region of the Gulf of Maine. It notes that the “deliberative and democratic” process that consults “scientists, public officials, fishermen, regulators, and other stakeholders” has allowed Cashes Ledge to “flourish.”

A National Monument designation in these areas, the letter states, “could well undermine the NEFMC’s longstanding, cooperative, and effective management systems and its years of hard work to develop balanced management plans in the region.” To prevent this, the letter calls for additional public hearings hosted by NOAA before any monument plan is implemented.

Read the letter here

 

VIDEO: Aquaculture Abounds this Week with New Video Premiere and U.S. Aquaculture Week

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 24, 2015 — Global experts agree: the marine ingredients used to sustain aquaculture are irreplaceable for their nutritive benefits for aquaculture species and the human consumers who eventually enjoy them as food. In conjunction with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) first-ever Aquaculture Week, Saving Seafood announces a new video showcasing the vital role that marine ingredients play in the expanding, sustainable aquaculture industry. Produced in partnership with the International Fish Meal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO) and Omega Protein, the video features interviews with aquaculture industry leaders and experts from both sides of the Atlantic.

“People talk about fish meal replacements; there really aren’t fish meal replacements, because no one ingredient is going to have everything that fish meal has,” explains Dr. Rick Barrows in the video. Dr. Barrows is a Fish Nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Fish Technology Center in Bozeman, Montana. Dr. Barrows, alongside Dr. Andrew Jackson, Technical Director of IFFO and recent recipient of the Seafood Champion Leadership Award at the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana, join a handful of other global aquaculture experts in the new video.

This week, NOAA is “celebrating the important role of aquaculture in providing a sustainable seafood supply, building economic opportunities and resilience in coastal communities, and conserving our natural resources,” just days ahead of IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, where attendees will view the premiere screening of “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients.” With today’s announcement, Saving Seafood includes a 30 second preview of the new video, and will release the full-length video to coincide with its showing at IFFO’s Annual Conference.

Saving Seafood is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry.

IFFO, the International Fish Meal and Fish Oil Organisation, is an international non-profit that represents and promotes the global fish meal, fish oil, and marine ingredients industry.

Omega Protein Corporation is a century old nutritional company that develops, produces and delivers healthy products throughout the world to improve the nutritional integrity of functional foods, dietary supplements and animal feeds.

Watch a preview of the new video here  

MASSACHUSETTS: Letter from Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — September 24, 2015 — Gloucester, Mass. Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken has written to top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in opposition to a recent proposal to designate Cashes Ledge, three deep sea canyons and four seamounts off the Atlantic Coast as national monuments. Gloucester, one of nation’s oldest fishing ports, is also noted for its relation to New England’s historic groundfish fishery.

Read the letter from Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken

 

DON CUDDY: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you’

September 24, 2105 — The Working Waterfront Festival takes place this weekend and features the traditional Blessing of the Fleet, to be held Sunday afternoon on the State Pier. This year, New Bedford welcomes NOAA’s Eileen Sobeck to the ceremony. Ms. Sobeck holds the title of Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, and in that capacity oversees the management and conservation of marine fisheries. According to the NOAA web site: “Her focus is on rebuilding the nation’s fisheries and the jobs and livelihoods that depend on them by promoting management approaches that will achieve both sustainable fisheries and vibrant coastal communities.”

It is difficult to reconcile such lofty goals with the harsh reality facing New England groundfishermen today. The National Marine Fisheries Service and its regional administrator John Bullard, in the face of widespread opposition, is intent on forcing fishing vessel owners to pick up the tab for the at-sea monitors that accompany them on fishing trips to estimate the catch and observe bycatch.

Last April, at the request of the New England Fishery Management Council, NOAA’s own social sciences branch conducted an evaluation of the impact the promotion of this particular management approach would have if industry funded. Here is a quote taken from the study’s findings: “Predictions for FY 2015 are that nearly 60% of the fleet could see negative returns to owner when full 2015 ASM costs are factored in.” The study also predicted that “industry funded ASM could result in restructuring of the fleet.”

Read the full story at New Bedford Standard-Times

Federal grants aim to help fishing industry businesses hurt by Sandy

September 22, 2015 — Local fishing industry businesses that took losses due to Super Storm Sandy will now have access to $3.6 million in grant funding being made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The grants are aimed at reimbursing sectors of New York’s fishing industry impacted by the October 2012 storm. Sectors include: bait and tackle; for-hire fishing boat operators; marinas; commercial harvesters; commercial seafood dealers, shippers or processors; and aquaculture facilities.

Fishing businesses in eligible counties must complete an application and provide documentation to demonstrate more than $5,000 in revenue or gross income loss as a result of Superstorm Sandy, and have at least $15,000 in annual earnings in one of the eligible fishery sectors. Businesses in Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties are eligible to apply.

Read the full story from Riverhead Local

NOAA Fisheries Announces Commercial Scup Quota Increase for 2015 Winter II (Nov 1-Dec 31)

September 18, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries announces that the commercial scup quota and the per trip possession limit for the 2015 Winter II quota period (November 1-December 31) is increased due to the rollover of unused quota from the Winter I period of 2,084,256 lbs.

The commercial scup possession limit for the upcoming Winter II season will be 18,000 lb, up from the initial 12,000 lbs, and is the maximum allowed in Winter II.

The commercial scup quota for Winter II has been revised up to 5,468,726 lbs from 3,384,700 lbs.

The commercial quota for scup is distributed through the coastal states from Maine to North Carolina, and is managed on a coastwide basis. Fishermen should keep in mind that when the state and Federal possession limits are different, you are required to abide by the more restrictive of the two.

Read the rule as filed in the Federal Register and the bulletin posted on our website.

Questions? Contact Reid Lichwell, Regional Office, at 978-281-9112 or Reid.Lichwell@noaa.gov.