Saving Seafood

NOAA announces nearly $240 million for new fish passage projects

May 21, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On Wednesday, May 22, NOAA Fisheries will share the 46 new fish passage projects recommended for funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. The nearly $240 million in funding will help facilitate efforts to restore access to healthy habitats through on-the-ground fish passage restoration projects and building the capacity of partners. Nearly half of the projects will be led by tribes and tribal organizations. The selected projects span the full range of fish passage types including dam removal, fish ladders, culvert improvements and in-stream fish passage improvements.

Funds will be available to recipients in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

WHAT

  • Media teleconference for credentialed reporters

WHEN

  • Wednesday, May 22; 2:00 p.m. ET

WHO

  • Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries
  • Carrie Selberg Robinson, Director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation
  • Tisa Shostik, Restoration Center Deputy Division Chief, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation

HOW

  • Credentialed reporters may dial in using the numbers below:
  • 888-390-3408 U.S./Canada (toll-free)
  • 1-517-308-9124 International (toll)
  • Verbal passcode: FISHERIES

Facing accuracy challenges, NOAA looks to improve its fisheries data collection strategy

May 20, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries is holding an online workshop to “re-envision” the nation’s state, regional and federal recreational fisheries data collection program and partnership, known as the Marine Recreational Information Program, or MRIP. The program has suffered significant data accuracy challenges over the years and NOAA Fisheries aims to improve it.

Commercial fishers record and report the fish they catch so commercial fishing data is accurate according to what is caught and where. Recreational fisheries do not record catch and effort, however, so NOAA Fisheries, through stock assessments and the MRIP program, estimate recreational catch and effort. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses the estimates to manage stocks and establish recreational harvest limits. Because the data are estimates, they are often inaccurate.

Read the full article at The Providence Journal 

Supporting the Long-Term Survival of Copper River Salmon and Alaska Native Traditions

May 20, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation is investing in the long-term survival of one of the world’s most prized fish: Alaska’s Copper River salmon. With gourmet chefs paying upwards of $90 per pound for the flavorful fish, Copper River salmon play a crucial role in the region’s economy. The salmon support a $20 million commercial fishing industry and provide millions more to local communities through related jobs. The fish are also the lifeblood of Alaska Natives, who rely on subsistence fishing to feed their families and maintain their ancestral traditions.

However, Copper River salmon numbers are declining. NOAA and its partners are addressing a significant threat to the fish by removing barriers that block access to spawning grounds and cold-water rearing habitat for juveniles.

In 2023, the Copper River Watershed Project completed a NOAA-funded project that opened up more than 70 stream miles to migratory salmon.

This summer, the Project will work with The Eyak Corporation to break ground on new fish passage projects. The $4.3 million in funding for these efforts comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

NOAA Fisheries recommends 22 projects to receive USD 5.5 million in species recovery grants

May 19, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has recommended awarding USD 5.5 million (EUR 5 million) in grant funding to 22 projects under a program designed to help various species in U.S. waters recover.

The recommendations are not final and will need to be reviewed by both the NOAA Grants Management Division and the U.S. Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Law Division before funding is distributed.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Enforcement Helps Protect Sea Turtles

May 19, 2024 — National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine National Monuments protect America’s most iconic natural and cultural marine resources. These areas are home to important habitats such as breeding and feeding grounds, coral reefs, kelp forests, and important artifacts.

“Ensuring compliance within the fishing community is integral to conserving our protected marine resources. Monitoring sea turtle conservation measures is a high priority,” said Manny Antonaras, Assistant Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division. “In the Southeast, we focus on protecting endangered sea turtles throughout our region, including marine sanctuaries, by monitoring for illegal fishing gear. We rely on our strong relationships with state and federal partners to aid in sea turtle focused patrols and operations such as our recent efforts.”

or the second consecutive year, NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement organized and led a joint operation aimed at protecting endangered sea turtles in and around the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This is a key protected area in the Southeast. The operation brought together federal and state partners from NOAA’s Gear Monitoring Team, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. U.S. Coast Guard personnel were new additions to this year’s training and helped expand enforcement presence during the operation. The goal was to enhance our turtle excluder device (TED) inspections that protect sea turtles and ensure commercial shrimp boats are fishing with allowable gear.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA wants smaller boats to slow down for whales. Fishermen say it’s foolish overreach

May 15, 2024 — It’s crunch time for a proposed amendment to a speed rule that would require even more boats to slow down to 10 knots over a much wider swath of the ocean to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The fate of the rule, which was initiated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration two years ago, now lies in an executive department within the White House called the Office of Information and Regulatory Review.

“It’s reached the final step of the rule-making process,” said John Depersenaire, director of government affairs and sustainability for Viking Yachts in New Gretna, builders of custom boats between 33 and 90 feet, which would be impacted by the rule.

The rule has pitted environmentalists against vessel owners and operators, marine trades and fishing ports who find the rule overreaching. NOAA received over 90,000 written comments during the public comment period.

Read the full article at the Asbury Park Press

Sharing Aquaculture Science Across Borders: 50 Years of American-Japanese Collaboration

May 15, 2024 — Food is a powerful means of sharing culture, and the United States and Japan share a love of delicious and sustainable farmed seafood. Since 1971, NOAA Fisheries and the Japanese Fisheries Research and Education Agency have collaborated through the U.S.-Japan Natural Resources Aquaculture Panel.

The panel’s principal aims are to cooperatively:

  • Develop and conserve natural resources
  • Share information and results of research activities
  • Provide a continuing forum for applied science and technology cooperation

“The two countries, Japan and the United States, have very different cultural backgrounds and for this very reason we can work together to solve problems from different perspectives, producing results that cannot be achieved in one country,” said Dr. Hideaki Aono, former Japan Panel Chair (2019–2024). “Since there has been more than 50 years of research exchange between two countries, the strong sense of trust facilitates sharing knowledge and technology.”

Science and Technology Exchange

The panel has evolved to adapt to emerging challenges and opportunities. NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture sponsors this bilateral in collaboration with aquaculture scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and national Sea Grant programs. The panel holds annual meetings where scientists share research results, new technology, and approaches for sustainable aquaculture.

Over the years, American and Japanese aquaculture experts have collaborated on:

  • Laboratory and field research
  • Exchanges of samples for research
  • Synthesizing hard-to-get data in the archives of each nation
  • Gathering statistics to chart the growth of the aquaculture industries in both the United States and Japan

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

SMAST faculty receive $4.9 million through sea scallop research program

May 12, 2024 — Faculty at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) have received a combined total of $4,898,059 in this year’s NOAA Fisheries Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program.

Through the Scallop RSA Program, the New England Fishery Management Council “sets aside” scallop poundage to generate funds for scallop research projects. RSA awards provide funding for research and compensation for fishing industry partners who harvest the scallops. These programs support research that informs fishery management decisions, and foster collaboration between the fishing industry and scientific community, leading to more informed and effective management of scallop resources.

Research projects are selected by NOAA on a competitive basis. For the 2024-2025 Scallop RSA Program, 3 of the 14 selected projects belong to SMAST researchers.

Commonwealth Professor Changsheng Chen is the principal investigator on a 2-year project titled, “Assessing Cumulative Impact of Offshore Wind Energy Development on Sea Scallop Laval Transport and Settlement in Southern New England Waters.” The project aims to further evaluate the cumulative impacts of wind turbine generators on scallop larval dispersion, transport, and recruitment.

Assistant Research Professor Adam J. Delargy and SMAST Dean Kevin D.E. Stokesbury are the principal investigators on a project titled “Intensive drop camera surveys of sea scallops in two key areas of Georges Bank,” which consists of drop camera surveys in two Nantucket Lightship SAMS zones and part of the Northern Edge Habitat Area of Particular Concern. Results will be used to estimate scallop biomass in support of the scallop harvest specification process.

Read the full article at UMass Dartmouth

Understanding the Best Conditions for Rice’s Whales

May 12, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has been on a quest to find what conditions make the best habitat for the endangered Rice’s whale. A team of scientists from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center published research findings in the journal Endangered Species Research that characterize their habitat. The findings were based on whale surveys and oceanographic data.

The study found the oceanographic conditions important for Rice’s whale habitat are primarily located along the outer edge of the continental shelf around the Gulf of Mexico. Here, conditions promote high food productivity and likely support optimal feeding habitat for the whales.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Live Long and Prosper! When it Comes to Shark Surveys, Longevity Matters

May 12, 2024 — There is a popular quotation among fisheries scientists by John Shepherd: “Counting fish is just like counting trees, except they’re invisible and they keep moving around.” It’s a great analogy, and a good illustration of why surveys are valuable for fisheries management. When scientists fish areas in a standardized way over many years, it gives us a way to keep a relative count of fish stocks over time, despite all the moving these “invisible” fish may do. When it comes to managing long-lived species like sharks, repeated surveying over the years can also be an opportunity to see repeat customers!

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries