Saving Seafood

Supporting Endangered Atlantic Sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay

December 20, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Sturgeon are incredibly resilient fish. Fossil records of sturgeon date back to the Cretaceous period—more than 260 million years ago. Today, there are 25 different species of sturgeon worldwide. But due to overfishing, water pollution, vessel strikes, and lack of access to habitat they need, many sturgeon species have declined. Nine species of sturgeon are listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. They are considered one of the world’s most endangered groups of species.

There are five distinct population segments of Atlantic sturgeon in the United States. Four of these segments are considered endangered. The other is considered threatened.

One of the distinct population segments of this fish that is endangered is located in the Chesapeake Bay. To help the Chesapeake population rebound, NOAA is working with partners to:

  • Study their abundance, reproduction, and distribution
  • Identify and protect habitat they need during their life cycle
  • Minimize dangers they face, including from ship strikes
  • Introduce students to these fascinating fish

Telemetry Helps Track Fish Numbers, Movement

One way scientists learn more about Atlantic sturgeon is by tracking their movements using acoustic telemetry. Telemetry uses sound to relay information across open space. Scientists surgically insert special sound-emitting tags into fish. Then, receivers stationed in the water detect when those tagged fish swim near the receivers. Understanding sturgeon movement over time and space can help efforts to protect them.

“We tag sturgeon every year, and we’re trying to maintain about 100 active tags,” said Dr. Jason Kahn, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources, of an effort based in Virginia’s York River. “Generally that means tagging about 10 to 15 fish per year.”

The largest telemetry tags have batteries that last for about 10 years, but smaller tags may only last for a few months.

“There are two tags from 2013 that are still working. But we have retagged perhaps 10 or 12 fish when they got toward the end of one tag’s battery life, so that really extends the time we have information on individual fish,” Kahn noted.

Wind farm off New Jersey likely to ‘adversely affect’ but not kill whales, feds say

December 19, 2023 — The lone remaining offshore wind project in New Jersey with preliminary approval is likely to “adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals, but its construction, operation and eventual dismantling will not seriously harm or kill them, a federal scientific agency said.

In a biological opinion issued Monday night, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the Atlantic Shores project, to be built off the state’s southern coast, is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any species of endangered whales, sea turtles, or fish.

Nor is it anticipated to destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat, the agency said.

Jennifer Daniels, the company’s development director, called NOAA’s decision “the next step forward” for the project.

It’s “a testament to the five years and 40-plus environmental assessments completed to ensure we are delivering safe, reliable, renewable power in a way that prioritizes responsible ocean development,” Daniels wrote.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

NOAA Fisheries Releases 2023 Ecosystem Status Reports for Alaska

December 18, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has released the 2023 Ecosystem Status Reports for the eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. These synthesis reports provide current conditions and trends over time for key oceanographic, biological, and ecological indicators in three Alaska marine ecosystems.

These foundational data and information reports support federal commercial fish and crab fisheries management. Each year, scientists and fishery managers at NOAA, other U.S. federal and state agencies, academic institutions, tribes, and nonprofits, contribute to the reports.

For close to three decades, fishery managers have relied on these reports to better understand how commercial fish and crab populations are being affected by changes in the marine environment.

“Warming at rates four times faster than the rest of the ocean, Alaska’s Arctic ecosystems are a bellwether for climate change. Now more than ever having ecosystem and climate-related data and information is essential to support adaptive resource management and resilient commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries, and rural and coastal communities,” said Robert Foy, director, Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

This year, data from these reports provided broad, contextual ecosystem information for 45 stock assessments and specifically informed 16 stock-level risk assessments.

2023 Highlights Across Alaska

Looking across the three ecosystems this year, there are several notable indicators amidst continued variability in many marine conditions.

  • Ocean temperatures in both the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea have cooled relative to the recent marine heatwave conditions while the Aleutians remained warmer than average
  • Pacific ocean perch continue to be dominant groundfish in the Aleutian Islands, replacing pollock and Atka mackerel in the ecosystem while the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem is now characterized by increased populations of Pacific ocean perch and sablefish and reduced populations of Pacific cod, Pacific halibut, and arrowtooth flounder
  • There were some positive signs for Pacific cod recruitment in the Gulf of Alaska even though adult population abundance remains low
  • Notable indicators of ecosystem health and potential threats to wildlife and human health: Harmful algal blooms are becoming more prevalent in the northern Bering Sea and paralytic shellfish toxins in sampled blue mussels from four Aleutian Islands communities were 47 times above the regulatory limit

Welcome to the New Era of Shark Ageing

December 18, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

It’s the “age-old” story—count the rings in shark vertebrae to estimate the age of a shark, like counting the annual growth rings on a tree stump. Or so shark researchers thought, until 2018. That’s when NOAA shark researcher Lisa Natanson and her colleagues reported that the rings on shark vertebrae are not always deposited annually. Instead, they are driven by changes in length and girth over a shark’s lifetime, the rate of which can change over the years. This meant that the ageing keys for many shark species needed to be revised by developing and validating new methods to determine shark ages.

Enter Michelle Passerotti, a shark biologist in the Apex Predators Program at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Narragansett Laboratory. She is developing techniques to revamp shark ageing and correct age estimates where needed in a new era of ageing.

The first crucial step is making sure new methods will accurately predict shark ages by validating traditionally aged samples.

High-value US West Coast stocks may migrate out of reach due to climate change

December 17, 2023 — Recent NOAA research forecasts that three high-value groundfish species will migrate toward deeper offshore waters along the United States West Coast due to climate change in the near future, which will likely require fishery managers to adapt their strategies in response.

NOAA’s study, “Species redistribution creates unequal outcomes for multispecies fisheries under projected climate change” was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances in August 2023. It shows that sablefish, dover sole, and shortspine thornyhead are projected to migrate to deeper offshore waters, posing challenges for fishers that may need to travel longer distances and fish at greater depths or shift their operations completely to target more accessible species.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Fisheries Releases Report on Killer Whale Entanglements in Alaska from 1991–2022

December 17th, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has released a new technical memo, Killer Whale Entanglements in Alaska: Summary Report 1991–2022. It provides comprehensive detail of 37 reported killer whale entanglement cases in Alaska over the past three decades.

This technical memo has been in development since spring of 2023, prior to reports of summer 2023 killer whale takes.

The entanglement of killer whales in fishing gear or marine debris is a serious animal welfare issue and conservation concern. It affects both the marine mammals and the Alaska fishing industry. Killer whales feed on the bait or the catch of fishers, which makes them more susceptible to entanglements. They can become entangled in fishing gear, marine debris, or other materials, which can lead to injury or death. Marine mammal entanglements are also detrimental to the fishers who incur financial and material loss when their gear becomes lost or damaged by the interaction.

 

NOAA Fisheries issues disaster declaration for two California salmon fisheries

December 11, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries has determined a fishery took place in two California salmon fisheries, clearing the path for the fishing industry in those areas to receive financial relief. The U.S. Small Business Administration is also offering low-interest federal disaster loans to businesses affected by the closure.

In April 2023, California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis requested fishery disaster determinations for the Sacramento River Fall chinook fishery and the Klamath River fall chinook, ocean, and inland salmon fisheries.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Secretary of Commerce Allocates $8.2 Million for Pacific Salmon Fishery Disasters

December 11, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the allocation of $8.2 million appropriated by Congress for the 2021 and 2022 Yurok Tribe Chinook Salmon fishery disasters.

NOAA Fisheries used commercial fishery revenue loss as the basis to allocate the funding across the eligible fishery disasters. We also considered factors that cannot be accounted for in revenue loss data alone, such as subsistence uses. We increased the allocation to the Yurok Tribe to account for these important uses.

“We understand the importance of these funds to the affected communities,” said Kelly Denit, Director of NOAA’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries. “These funds will help them recover from the disaster and prevent similar fishery resource disasters in the future.”

NOAA Fisheries provides guidance on developing spend plans which can cover a range of activities to support disaster-affected communities. The allocated funds can be used to help:

  • Commercial fishermen
  • Recreational fishermen
  • Charter businesses
  • Shore-side infrastructure
  • Subsistence users

It can also help improve the fishing ecosystem and environment.

These funds can help address the factors contributing to the fishery resource disaster and minimizing future uninsured losses.

We will work with the Yurok Tribe on administering these disaster relief funds. Affected fishing communities and individuals should contact the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to learn more about the spend plan process.

Some of the affected fishing communities may also be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration or other federal agencies.

Conservation groups call on US to ban foreign seafood over whale and dolphin bycatch

December 8, 2023 — Conservation groups want NOAA Fisheries to ban imports from foreign fisheries that are not adequately working to prevent marine mammal bycatch.

“By continuing to allow imports that do not meet U.S. standards, [NOAA Fisheries] NMFS chooses business as usual over the survival of some of the most amazing species on the planet,” Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Attorney and Global Biodiversity Conservation Director Zak Smith said. “Because NMFS has failed to safeguard ocean biodiversity, future generations may never have the chance to protect invaluable marine life.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

A group of commercial fishermen have ended up before the Supreme Court

December 7, 2023 — For years, fishermen like Bill Bright and his colleague Wayne Reichle have been required to take federal observers on their boats when they set out into the North Atlantic in search of herring. Those observers are making sure fishermen are catching what they’re legally allowed, most of it in efforts to prevent overfishing.

But back in 2020, federal regulators moved to require herring fishermen to directly pay observers salaries, a move that could potentially cost herring fishermen up to $700 per day.

By some estimates, that could top 20% of revenue from a fisherman’s catch.

“From the beginning, the most important thing for us was the ability to continue fishing and continue operating the way we’ve operated for a number of years,” Wayne Reichle said.

As a result, Reichle, Bright and a half dozen other fishermen sued the federal government.

A case that has rippled so far beyond the shores of New Jersey that it has now ended up before the Supreme Court. Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc. v. Gina Raimondo is set to be argued before the court in January 2024.

“From the beginning, the most important thing for us was the ability to continue fishing and continue operating the way we’ve operated for a number of years. It’s about us being able to maintain our livelihoods and operations,” Reichle said.

Read the full story at KSBY