Saving Seafood

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

Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside Proposals Due September 21st

July 29, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries, with assistance from the New England Fishery Management Council, is seeking proposals for the 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. 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 will be given to proposals that investigate research priorities identified by the Council. The priorities are listed in the Federal Funding Opportunity Announcement, along with application instructions.

Questions? Please contact Cheryl Corbett at cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov or 508-495-2070.

 

NOAA Fisheries Announces Common Pool Area Closure in Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic

July 28, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

We are closing the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder Trimester TAC Area to common pool vessels using trawl and sink gillnet gear for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31.

The area will reopen at the start of Trimester 2 on September 1.

We are required to close this area because the common pool fishery has caught over 90 percent of its Trimester 1 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Southern New England/ Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder.

Read the permit holder bulletin.

Questions? Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, at 978-281-9103 or allison.ferreira@noaa.gov.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Changes to Observer Waivers for Longfin Squid Fishery

July 20, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

Due to a change in one of the two observer programs (Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology or SBRM) that apply to the Longfin Squid Fishery, the observer waivers you receive through the Pre-Trip Notification System will no longer apply to SBRM observers when this change goes through.

The new waivers will say:

“You have been waived of observer requirements for [VESSEL NAME] departing [SAIL DATE and TIME], confirmation # [NUMBER] for your longfin squid trip notification through PTNS. However, you may be asked to take an observer through a selection notice or verbally by an approved observer service provider. If selected, you must carry an observer.”

The system will operate as usual after this change, but be aware that any waiver you get will only apply to observers from the butterfish mortality cap monitoring program. You may still be asked, either verbally or by a letter, to take an SBRM observer on a trip.

For more information on this change, please read our letter. Information about the Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Fishery Management Plan regulations is available on our website.

Pre-Trip Notification procedures remain the same. Notify us either by emailing nefsc.ptns@noaa.gov, logging into our website (https://fish.nefsc.noaa.gov/ptns/), or calling 855-FISHES-1 (855-347-4371).

Questions? 

Contact Amy Martins, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, at 508-495-2266 or Amy.Martins@noaa.gov.

Longfin squid

Independent coastal bait and tackle retailers contribute $2.3 billion to U.S. economy

July 27, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

In 2014, NOAA Fisheries conducted our first-ever survey of independent retailers that sell saltwater bait and tackle in coastal communities. We found that bait and tackle shops generated an estimated $854 million in sales of saltwater bait, tackle, and other fishing-related equipment. Collectively, these sales support $2.3 billion in total sales output, nearly $800 million in income, and support over 16,000 full and part-time jobs.

Before this study, we lacked baseline data to help describe the role independent bait and tackle retailers play in local economies. These results will inform decision-making on how proposed fishing regulations changes might affect our society and economy Please take a moment to review the full results and share the findings with others who may be interested.

Please contact the report’s lead author, Cliff Hutt (cliff.hutt@noaa.gov), if you have questions or need additional information about the study.

NOAA Earmarks $88,000 in Funding to Study Massive West Coast Algal Bloom that Shut Dungeness Fishery

July 23, 2015 — SEATTLE (AP) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is committing $88,000 to help Washington analyze a massive bloom of toxic algae off the coast that have closed some shellfish harvests.

The algae blooms have occurred along the West Coast from southern California to Alaska since May. Dangerous toxin levels prompted the closure of Dungeness crab fishing off the southern coast of Washington. Ocean beaches were also closed to recreational razor clamming.

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

 

NOAA begins fence-mending with Northeast fishermen

July 23, 2015 —  NOAA Fisheries this week undertook an effort to build trust and cooperation from the New England fishing industry by including the industry in upcoming groundfish stock assessments.

NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, based in Woods Hole, conducted meetings at five sites Wednesday, with web meeting access provided for several more sites up and down the New England coast.

The NOAA scientists made a presentation of the assessment process and some of the options that the New England Fishery Management Council’s Science Committee has for action on assessments.

According to the NOAA web site, those options range from the status quo to a complete review and rebuild of all the methods and computer models being used by the science center to guide NOAA’s annual quota decisions on 20 different groundfish stocks.

With very few fishermen fishing for groundfish, few were among the 20 or so participants, according to Don Cuddy, spokesman for the New Bedford-based Center for Sustainable Fisheries.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Success of scallops gives hope to fisheries managers

July 20, 2015 — Now, as part of its scallop population survey to plan the rotating closure of dredging grounds, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has found an underwater realm nearly the size of South Jersey with at least 10 billion sea scallops – and it’s just 50 miles off the Jersey Shore.

Scallop fishermen are hoping for a sustainable harvest of 50 million pounds a year for a decade. That would ensure one of the region’s most important non-tourism industries remains robust.

The management of the scallop fishery is a great example of what’s possible when public and private interests collaborate and natural resources cooperate. It should give fisheries managers the encouragement to persevere in restoring more challenged species such as summer flounder.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

Lobstering: Monitors more likely on boats with state, federal permits

July 16, 2015 — Federal plans to expand observer coverage on lobster boats from Maine to Maryland may have a hit a lull, but they are not going away, especially for lobstermen who hold both state lobster and federal access permits, according to the NOAA Fisheries official that oversees the program.

Amy Martins, manager of the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program, said Wednesday the number of calls to lobstermen to schedule observer trips have declined substantially in the past month primarily because of concerns lobstermen expressed at a contentious June 4 meeting at NOAA Fisheries’ regional headquarters in Gloucester.

“We heard concerns from the lobstermen that our observer program was calling too frequently and that we were perhaps overly aggressive,” Martins said. “We’ve also done quite a bit of work since that meeting that has allowed us to zone in a little more clearly on the specific parts of the fishery we want to monitor, the fleet-within-the-fleet, so to speak.”

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times