Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule to Modify Lobster Area 4 Seasonal Closure

August 5, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing a modification to the Lobster Conservation Management Area 4 seasonal closure at the recommendation of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which leads the management for American lobster.

Under the proposed rule, the Area 4 closure would be changed from February 1-March 31 to April 30-May 31.

This measure is designed to better reduce fishing effort on the Southern New England lobster stock, which is in poor condition. This area closure shift has already been implemented by states adjacent to Area 4.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register.

The comment period is open through September 4. Submit your comments online through Regulations.gov or by mailing your comments to:

John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator
NMFS,Greater Atlantic Regional Office
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930

Please mark the outside of the envelope: Comments on American Lobster Proposed Rule.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Revision of Maine State Waters Scallop Exemption Program

August 5, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries announces a proposed rule that would allow vessels with both Maine commercial licenses and Federal Northern Gulf of Maine scallop permits to continue fishing in Maine’s state waters once the Federal total allowable catch in this area is harvested.

Maine requested this exemption as part of the Scallop State Water Exemption Program, which allows Federal permit holders to fish in the state waters scallop fishery on a more equitable basis where Federal and state laws are inconsistent.

The Program specifies that a state with a scallop fishery may be eligible for state waters exemptions from specific regulations if it has a scallop conservation program that does not jeopardize the objectives of the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP.

We have determined that Maine qualifies for this exemption, and that allowing this exemption would have no impact on the effectiveness of Federal management measures for the scallop fishery overall in this area.

Maine requested this exemption only for Northern Gulf of Maine permit holders. Limited access, individual fishing quota, and incidental scallop vessels would still be required to stop fishing for scallops in state waters of the Northern Gulf of Maine if the Federal catch allocation is reached.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, which is open for public comment through September 4.

Submit your comments online through Regulations.gov or by mail to:

John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator
NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Office
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930

Please mark the outside of the envelope: Comments on Atlantic Sea Scallop Proposed Rule.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

NOAA: At Sea Monitors Remain on Board, Likely at Cost to New England Groundfishermen

August 3, 2015 — NOAA Fisheries has denied the request by the New England Fishery Management Council in June to use emergency measures to immediately suspend at-sea monitoring for vessels in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s decision, which was not unexpected, signals the federal agency intends to proceed with its plan to shift the costs of at-sea monitoring — currently absorbed by NOAA — onto the groundfish permit holders later this month. It is estimated that will cost each boat an additional $700 to $800 each time a monitor is on board.

In a letter dated July 30, NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard said the council’s request did not meet any of the criteria for emergency action.

“This was a foreseeable problem that does not justify an emergency action,” Bullard wrote to Tom Nies, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council.

Bullard also discounted the safety element included in the underlying rationale for the council’s request, which asserted that shifting funding responsibility in mid-season could create safety issues by motivating fishermen to condense their fishing into the period when NOAA was paying for monitoring.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

MASSACHUSETTS: MEETING TO DISCUSS GROUNDFISH DISASTER AID

August 2, 2015 — GLOUCESTER — Two bins down, one to go.

The distribution of the nearly $33 million in federal groundfish disaster aid has moved through the first two phases — or bins, in the parlance of NOAA Fisheries and the respective state fisheries directors — in the past year-and-a-half.

Bin 3? That’s become something of a stickier wicket.

NOAA and the fishery directors for the five coastal New England states and New York initially agreed on a formula that would use the $10 million in the third bin to address long-term issues of the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery, including a potential vessel buyout and/or permit buyback plan.

Those plans dissolved in the spring when the respective regulators and stakeholders couldn’t agree on the inordinately complex equation for developing long-term solutions for the fishery declared a federal disaster in 2012.

Now, the money has been returned to Bin 2, which means each of the six states will individually decide how to best spend their allotment from the $10 million.

Tonight, the Gloucester Fishing Commission will take a stab at coming up with what it believes to be the best option for the nearly $7 million earmarked for Massachusetts.

Read the full story at The Salem News

 

New Voluntary Right Whale Speed Restriction Zone

July 29, 2015 — NOAA Fisheries announces that a voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area – DMA) has been established 13 Nautical Miles East-Southeast of Boston to protect an aggregation of 3 right whales sighted in this area on August 1.

This DMA is in effect immediately and remains in effect through August 16. Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

This DMA is bounded by the following coordinates:

 

42 38 N

41 58 N

071 15 W

070 21 W

Public invited to join NOAA on deep sea expedition of Pacific marine protected areas

July 30, 2015 — NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin two months of dives using unmanned remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, to explore marine protected areas in the central Pacific Ocean. Starting on Aug. 1, anyone with an internet connection can virtually explore the deep sea with scientists and researchers from their computer or mobile device.

The ship and its crew will investigate deeper waters in and around Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

“These areas represent some of the last relatively pristine marine ecosystems on the planet,” said Holly Bamford, assistant NOAA administrator for the National Ocean Service performing the duties of the assistant secretary of commerce for conservation and management. “NOAA explores these regions because the data and information we gather helps scientists and resource managers better understand and protect these biological, geological and cultural resources that we are already aware of and those we will discover in the future.”

The expedition team will explore the seafloor at depths of 1,300 to 16,250 feet (400 to 5,000 meters) with two ROVs, which are tethered toOkeanos Explorer. The vehicles are outfitted with multiple high-definition cameras to capture imagery which the ship will transmit back to shore. Scientists will participate virtually, guiding the expedition from shore, while the public can tune in and view the exploration in real time at oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

The work around Johnston Atoll will be the largest scientific effort conducted there since President Obama expanded the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in September 2014.

“These places provide invaluable habitat for corals, birds and many other species — that’s one of the reasons they’ve been protected — but we don’t know much about what’s in the deep-sea areas,” said Samantha Brooke, manager for NOAA’s Marine National Monument Program in the NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full release at NOAA

2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Funding Opportunity – Proposals Due September 21, 2015

July 31, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

NMFS, with assistance from the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), is soliciting proposals for 2016 – 2018 that address Atlantic Herring RSA research priorities. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, proceeds generated from the sale of RSA quota will be used to fund research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.

Projects funded under the Atlantic Herring RSA Program must enhance the knowledge of Atlantic herring fishery resources or contribute to the body of information on which Council management decisions are made. Priority shall be given to funding research proposals in the following areas identified as research priorities by the Council for the 2016-2018 fishing years.

2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Research Priorities – priorities are not listed in order of importance.

1. Atlantic herring portside sampling – Develop and/or demonstrate a portside sampling program.

2. River herring bycatch avoidance – Develop and/or demonstrate methods that will enable river herring bycatch avoidance in the Atlantic herring fishery.

3. Electronic monitoring – Investigate the feasibility of electronic video monitoring in the Atlantic herring fishery as a means to document vessel fishing and catch processing operations.

4. Stock Structure / Spatial Management

a. Investigate mixing of the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank Atlantic herring resource with the Scotian shelf Atlantic herring resource.

b. Investigate whether Atlantic herring form contingents, and if schools segregate based on size, age, and spawning location.

c. Evaluate assumptions for developing spatial allocations (sub-ACLs) based on different stock structure models.

5. Availability and Detectability of Atlantic herring in Surveys and the Fishery

a. Investigate whether predation potential (e.g., cod) or school size affects the location of Atlantic herring in the water column.

b. Investigate whether the distribution of thermal habitat affects the availability of Atlantic herring to the survey or to the fishery.

6. Fishery acoustic indices – Develop and/or conduct a fishery-independent abundance survey using commercial vessels and fishery acoustics.

7. Volume to Weight Conversion

a. Investigate sources and magnitude of variability of herring catch volume to weight conversions made by vessel captains and dealers.

b. Investigate density-dependent growth /trade-off with reproduction and the potential effect on volume to weight conversions.

For instructions on submitting proposals, please see the attached Federal Funding Opportunity, or search www.grants.gov for funding opportunity NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016-2004537.  Complete proposals/applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. EDT on 9/21/2015.

Please forward to any interested parties. For questions, please contact Cheryl Corbett at cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov or 508-495-2070.

 

MID-ATLANTIC SCALLOP ACCESS AREA CLOSES AUGUST 4 FOR LIMITED ACCESS GENERAL CATEGORY FLEET

July 31, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota scallop fleet on Tuesday, August 4. The fleet has used its 2015 fishing year allocation of 2,065 trips into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.
Under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, once this fleet reaches the Mid-Atlantic Access Area trip limit, we are required to close the area to the fleet for the remainder of the 2015  fishing year (through February 29, 2016) to prevent overharvest.
Vessels that complied with the observer notification requirements, declared a trip into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and crossed the VMS demarcation line before 12:01 am on August 4, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.
Read the Federal Register notice as filed on July 31, or get more information from the permit holder bulletin.
Questions about this action? 
Contact Shannah Jaburek, Regional Office, at 978-282-8456 or Shannah.Jaburek@noaa.gov.

OCEANA AGAIN SUES NOAA OVER BYCATCH MONITORING

July 29, 2015– WASHINGTON — Oceana, the maritime environmental group that successfully sued NOAA Fisheries in 2011 over its bycatch rules, is challenging the federal regulator of the nation’s fisheries over its newest bycatch rule for the Northeast region.

Oceana again sued NOAA Fisheries on Wednesday, claiming the current bycatch reporting rule finalized last month for the region — in part, as a response to Oceana’s earlier legal victory — is underfunded, uniformly inadequate for providing accurate information and in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The 43-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., claims the new bycatch rule “leaves loopholes that would guarantee that observer coverage will never meet its performance standards, ultimately failing to fix current insufficiently low levels of monitoring in the region,” Oceana said.

The group’s lawsuit said NOAA’s new Statistical Bycatch Reporting Method (SBRM) “fails to address the fundamental legal flaws” identified in its previous lawsuit and “effectively doubles down on the Fisheries Service’s decade-long practice of under-funding and marginalizing its bycatch monitoring systems.”

That under-funding, Oceana said, impedes NOAA Fisheries’ ability to generate statistically reliable data needed to assess the impact of bycatch on individual fisheries.

The lawsuit draws a direct connection between faulty bycatch monitoring and overfishing. It specifically targets NOAA Fisheries’ bycatch monitoring performance in New England and among the Northeast multispecies groundfish fleet.

“New England in particular has been plagued for decades by lax monitoring and overfishing,” said Oceana Assistant General Counsel Eric Bilsky. “The failure to monitor catch and enforce catch limits is in part responsible for the collapse of the New England groundfish fishery, including the historically important Atlantic cod populations of the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

Hawaii’s longline fishermen on course to hit bigeye limit

HONOLULU (AP) — July 28, 2015 — Hawaii’s longline fishermen are on course to hit their annual bigeye tuna catch limit next week, which means they will have to stop catching bigeye in their most productive fishing grounds west of Hawaii on Aug. 5.

Hawaii fishermen will still be able to catch bigeye in eastern waters regulated by a different fisheries commission.

Last year fishermen continued catching bigeye after they hit their quota in November because federal authorities drafted rules allowing them to attribute some catch to U.S. territories.

But Mike Tosatto, Pacific Islands regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service, said officials haven’t yet had time to draft similar rules for 2015.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Times