Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries issues the final rule that implements Federal management of the salmon fishery in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area

April 29, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

NOAA Fisheries is announcing the publication of the final rule that implements Federal management of commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Area. All requirements under this final rule are effective 30 days after publication. More information is available on the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region website.

Federal management results in new requirements for commercial drift gillnet vessels fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area. Commercial fishing vessels must obtain a Federal permit, maintain a fishing logbook, have a vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed on their vessels, and comply with all other Federal regulations laid out in the final rule.

Additionally, processors and buyers receiving deliveries of salmon commercially caught in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area must obtain a Federal permit, report deliveries using the eLandings system, and comply with all other Federal regulations laid out in the final rule.

Recreational anglers and charter operators fishing for salmon in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area must check regulations established for Federal waters to ensure they are in compliance with bag and possession limits.

To assist stakeholders in complying with these new regulations, NOAA Fisheries will hold two in person public meetings and one webinar at the following times and locations.

  • May 15, 2024: Kenai, Alaska – 5:30 to 7:30pm
    • Quality Inn – Conference room
    • 10352 Kenai Spur Highway
  • May 16, 2024: Homer, Alaska – 5:30 to 7:30pm
    • Best Western Bidarka Inn – Upstairs conference room
    • 575 Sterling Highway
  • May 22, 2024: Online Webinar – 10:00am to 12:00pm

NOAA Fisheries developed this action to address a Ninth Circuit court ruling requiring Federal management of salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area in accordance with the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and a District Court ruling requiring publication of a final rule for the management of the Cook Inlet EEZ Area by May 1, 2024.

NOAA Fisheries developed this action after considering input from affected tribal communities and stakeholders. It adheres to all Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements. NOAA Fisheries made several changes in this final rule as a result of public comment on the proposed rule. Most notably, the number of commercial fishing periods is adjusted to one per week between July 16 and July 31. Because some salmon stocks in Cook Inlet have continued to miss spawning escapement goals with only one commercial fishing period per week from July 16 to July 31, NOAA Fisheries determined that additional fishing periods would likely result in conservation concerns and early fishery closures. The rest of the commercial salmon fishing season in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area remains at two scheduled fishing periods per week.

This action will be effective for the 2024 salmon fishing season in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area which for commercial fishing begins on June 20, 2024 at 7:00am Alaska local time.

Alaska asks judge to toss critical habitat for threatened seals

April 28, 2024 — Alaska’s fight against burdensome seal protections continued Thursday, when attorneys for the state and federal government debated whether the feds properly allocated a vast coastal area under the Endangered Species Act.

In April 2022, the National Marine Fisheries Service — also known as NOAA Fisheries — designated critical habitat off the coast of Alaska for Arctic ringed seals and the Beringia distinct population segment of bearded seals as required by the Endangered Species Act. The move came 10 years after the agency listed both species as “threatened” under the act, as actions to designate critical habitat for the seals were deferred when NOAA’s proposed listings were challenged in court.

NOAA’s legal challenges led to a settlement that allowed the agency to complete a final determination of critical habitat in 2022. But now that NOAA has designated critical habitat — 257,000 square miles for the ringed seal and 273,000 square miles for the bearded seals — Alaska claims too much land was designated and that the species are not even threatened.

“By comparison, the state of Texas contains 268,000 square miles while California contains 163,000 square miles,” Alaska wrote in its 2023 complaint. “All of this critical habitat is occupied by members of the two seal species, which are among the most common marine mammals found in the Arctic region.”

The following was released by Courthouse News Service

Groups urge judge to freeze New England offshore wind project

April 25, 2024 — Rhode Island homeowners are leading calls for a federal judge to freeze construction of an offshore wind farm in New England, after the Biden administration reopened analysis of how the project could harm endangered whales and sea turtles.

Green Oceans and other advocacy groups urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop ongoing seabed construction of Revolution Wind to prevent further harm to several at-risk species, including the North Atlantic right whale and loggerhead sea turtle.

“Construction must be halted until [NOAA Fisheries] is able to review and analyze the impacts to the endangered whales and other marine mammals and NMFS should require more stringent mitigation measures to protect these animals that are dying at rapid rates,” the groups said in an April 18 filing.

Read the full article at E&E News

Feds’ plan to rebuild Pacific sardine numbers insufficient, judge finds

April 24, 2024 — A federal judge ruled this week in favor of environmentalists who say federal agencies did not properly implement a plan to prevent overfishing of the dwindling Pacific sardine population threatened on the West Coast for decades.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia DeMarchi this week partially granted a March 2023 motion for summary judgment in favor of environmentalists, saying the feds did not properly execute a plan to rebuild the Pacific sardine population and prevent overfishing by the legal deadline. However, the feds prevailed on several claims challenging how officials analyzed potential impacts on the fish population.

Oceana, a nonprofit ocean conservation and advocacy organization, challenged U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s plan to improve numbers of the small, oily fish that are a schooling feast for many ocean creatures, including protected species of salmon, tuna, sharks, sea birds, seals and sea lions.

Oceana claims that the government’s plan to increase numbers of the Pacific sardine violates the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act because officials failed to set a reasonable rebuilding target or demonstrate how the plan will prevent overfishing of the sardines.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

NOAA Fisheries closes Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area

April 23, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries announced on Friday, April 20, that no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations may fish for, possess or land scallops in or from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

The scallop regulations require that this area be closed once it is projected that 100 percent of the 2024 Northern Gulf of Maine Set-Aside will be taken. The closure will be in effect until the end of the fishing year, March 31, 2025.

Read the full article at The Ellsworth American

ALASKA: NOAA denies emergency petition to zero out Alaska pollock fishery’s permitted king salmon bycatch

April 22, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has denied a request for emergency action to institute a cap of zero on Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery, which would have closed the fishery for the first half of 2024.

Group’s representing Alaska’s commercial and recreational salmon fisheries and Native Alaskan groups have clashed with the Alaska pollock sector over the cause of smaller Chinook salmon runs and actions that can be taken to reverse the decline.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Commerce Secretary Announces Fishery Resource Disaster Determinations for Multiple Salmon Fisheries in Washington and Alaska

April 22, 2024 — The Secretary of Commerce determined that a commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster occurred in these 2021 and 2022 salmon fisheries:

The determination is in response to requests from the late Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Chairman Jeromy Sullivan and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy.

Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, working with NOAA Fisheries, evaluates each fishery resource disaster request based primarily on data submitted by the requesting official. A fishery resource disaster determination must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. For example, there must be economic impacts and an unexpected large decrease in fish stock biomass or other change. These impacts result in significant loss of access to the fishery resource resulting from specific allowable causes due to the fishery resource disaster event.

This positive determination makes these fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA Fisher. Fishery participants may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration. The Department of Commerce has fishery disaster assistance funding available and soon will determine the appropriate allocation for these disasters.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

U.S. Department of Commerce allocates $206K in funding for Puget Sound fishery disaster

April 17, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced today the allocation of $206,000 to address a fishery resource disaster that occurred in the 2020 Squaxin Island Tribe’s Puget Sound fall chum salmon fishery. 

“This funding will help to address the impact of a fishery disaster which has a tremendous impact on the lives and livelihoods of members of the Squaxin Island Tribe and their community,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “With climate change further stressing our fisheries and ecosystems, it is essential that we work together to mitigate the impacts of disasters, restore fisheries and help prevent future disasters.”

Congress provided fishery resource disaster assistance funding in the 2022 and 2023 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Acts. NOAA Fisheries determined that this fishery is eligible to receive a funding allocation from those appropriations. These funds will improve the impacted fisheries’ long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Funds can assist the impacted fishing communities including commercial and recreational fishery participants, charter fishing businesses, and subsistence users.

NOAA Fisheries used commercial revenue loss information to allocate funding to this disaster. The agency also considered the Squaxin Island Tribe’s traditional uses of the fisheries resources that cannot be accounted for in commercial revenue loss alone.

“At NOAA Fisheries, we acknowledge the profound repercussions of this fishery disaster on the Squaxin Island Tribal community, its economy, and vital ceremonial and subsistence practices,” said Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “Our aspiration is that the dedicated resources can effectively bolster the ongoing recovery initiatives.”

In the coming months, NOAA Fisheries will work with the Squaxin Island Tribe to administer these disaster relief funds. Activities that can be considered for funding include fishery-related infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, vessel and fishing permit buybacks, job retraining, and more. Fishing communities and individuals affected by this disaster should work with the Squaxin Island Tribe, as appropriate. Some fishery-related businesses affected by the fishery disasters may also be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration.

See a summary of fishery disaster determinations, including this announcement, and learn more about fishery disaster assistance.

A timeline of the whales that have died off Virginia, NC coast this year

April 17, 2024 — In under two months, eight whales have died in and around the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.

This tragic trend may be the result of human impact, according to experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

However, some activists argue that offshore wind farms are to blame.

Whatever the cause, here is a timeline of whales that have died off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts this year:

March 3: Two dead whales are spotted in Virginia Beach, and were later determined to have entanglement scars

Read the full article at WTKR

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Species most vulnerable to climate change

April 14, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries’ two new assessments of climate vulnerability for fish species and invertebrates in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic were shared at the end of 2023. While all the species assessed are projected to face significant exposure to climate-driven changes, some are expected to be much more susceptible than others.

John Quinlan, the lead author of the Gulf of Mexico assessment, shared, “These areas are projected to become substantially warmer, saltier, more acidic, and less oxygenated. This means that multiple stressors could operate across the Southeast, and we’ll need to be aware as the system shifts.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman