Saving Seafood

North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy Open for Public Comment until December 4

October 25, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a joint draft strategy to protect and promote the recovery of North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy. The draft strategy is now available for public comment no later than December 4, 2022. It outlines how the agencies will collaborate and improve science and information to support the Administration’s goal of developing offshore wind while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use. The draft strategy will also provide offshore wind developers with guidance on mitigation measures that will assist them in navigating the regulatory process.

“As we face the ongoing challenges of climate change, this strategy provides a strong foundation to help us advance renewable energy while also working to protect and recover North Atlantic right whales, and the ecosystem they depend on,” said Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries and Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at NOAA. “Responsible development of renewable energy sources and protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales are priorities both agencies share.”

NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to protecting and recovering North Atlantic right whales. Their population includes fewer than 350 individuals and fewer than 70 reproductively active females and has been experiencing an Unusual Mortality Event since 2017. Climate change is affecting every aspect of right whales’ survival—changing their habitat, their migratory patterns, and the location and availability of their prey. It is even increasing their risk of becoming entangled in fishing gear or being struck by vessels.

Offshore wind development is also rapidly expanding along the Atlantic coast of the United States, especially from Massachusetts to North Carolina. North Atlantic right whales’ habitat and migration routes are primarily in Atlantic coastal waters on the continental shelf where offshore wind leases exist or are planned. Working together on this draft strategy leverages the resources and expertise of both agencies and allows the agencies. It will allow us to collect, apply, and use the best available scientific information to inform offshore wind management decisions.

“This draft strategy focuses on improving the science and integrating past, present, and future efforts related to North Atlantic right whales and offshore wind development,” said Dr. Jon Hare, the Director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and one of the lead authors of the draft strategy. “We also identify preliminary mitigation measures related to offshore wind energy project planning, leasing, and siting, site characterization,  and unexploded ordnance surveys, construction and operation, and project-specific monitoring, and are looking for public comment on these measures and on the strategy overall.”

The draft strategy also identifies project-specific and regional preliminary monitoring measures. These mitigation measures include the types of requirements that regulatory agencies and project proponents consider for individual projects, thereby assisting offshore wind developers to navigate the permitting process. The list of measures is not comprehensive and does not supersede measures that may be required by the agencies during regulatory processes such as construction and operations plan approvals, Endangered Species Act consultations, or incidental take authorizations.

Following review of public comments, the draft strategy will be finalized. The final strategy will be a living document, periodically evaluated and updated as new information becomes available.

View the draft strategy and information on how to submit comments

The ambitious deployment of offshore wind energy is a critical component of U.S. efforts to combat the climate crisis and build a clean energy economy. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to addressing the nation’s climate crisis by deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.

BOEM is the lead federal agency responsible for offshore energy exploration and development in the United States. To date, BOEM has leased approximately 1.7 million acres in the northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. Outer Continental Shelf for offshore wind development. There are 25 active leases in the Atlantic from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras.

NOAA Fisheries works with BOEM, other federal agencies, tribes, state agencies, and stakeholders to assess how offshore wind projects affect endangered and threatened species, marine mammals, fisheries, marine habitats, and fishing communities, and protect these important resources.

Interior, NOAA ink right whale and offshore wind strategy

October 25, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries and the Interior Department released a draft strategy Friday to protect the endangered right whale amid an imminent boom of offshore wind development.

The draft lays out a plan for both agencies to engage with the public and ocean users. It also spells out several primary goals for raising wind turbines while trying to recover the whale’s population, such as prioritizing mitigation, new research and monitoring, and improving communication.

“BOEM is deeply committed to ensuring responsible offshore wind energy development while protecting and promoting the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale,” said Amanda Lefton, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a subagency of Interior.

Read the full article at E&E News

MAINE: NOAA Sea Grant announces $2.1M to support Maine aquaculture

October 25, 2022 — Four projects that advance research into aquaculture, including sustainable aquaculture, in Maine will receive $2.1 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant, the agency announced in a press release. The projects are part of a larger $14 million NOAA Sea Grant investment to strengthen aquaculture across the United States.  

Investigators from the University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, UMaine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research and Maine Sea Grant will lead projects to develop feed for finfish, improve Atlantic sea scallop hatchery techniques, diversify lumpfish broodstock and advance the work of the Maine Aquaculture Hub.  

The finfish feed project at UMaine Aquaculture Research Institute will focus on food for farm-raised finfish larvae, which require microscopic feeds that are challenging to produce as zooplankton, which the larvae eat in the wild, is not economically feasible in finfish farms. So researchers will work with industry partners to produce and refine microparticulate larval feeds and evaluate the effects of diets on the growth and survival of California yellowtail and yellowtail amberjack. 

“We are trying to get away from living organisms as feeds and move toward formulated diets, as we do in other fields of agriculture, Matt Hawkyard, of UMaine Aquaculture Research Institute, said. “This project will allow us to develop feeding technologies that are practical and adaptable to industry use.” 

Read the full article at Mount Desert Islander

New US strategy for combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

October 22, 2022 — Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing is one of the greatest threats to ocean health and a significant cause of overfishing. It contributes to the collapse or decline of fisheries that are critical to the economic growth, food systems, and ecosystems of numerous countries around the world. It is also a global problem that disadvantages law-abiding fishers and seafood producers.

The U.S. Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act called for stronger federal collaboration to coordinate efforts to address this and other maritime related threats. Today, the Congressionally established U.S. Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing, composed of 21 member agencies, released its wide-reaching National Five-Year Strategy for Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing.

Read the full article at PHYS.org

Special Issue Journal Focuses on Ecosystem Processes in the Gulf of Alaska

October 19, 2022 — Read the full release at NOAA Fisheries:

This special issue journal is titled Understanding Ecosystem Processes in the Gulf of Alaska: Volume 3, Deep-Sea Research II. It contains 13 papers ranging on topics such as oceanography, nearshore environments, fish communities, and fisheries management applications. More than 70 authors from 15 different agencies and organizations contributed to these publications, including many NOAA scientists from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

“It’s an especially exciting time for researchers investigating the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem,” according to Mandy Lindeberg, a NOAA Fisheries scientist and guest editor for the special issue. “The Gulf has recently experienced periods of unusually cool conditions contrasted with an extreme marine heatwave. These extreme conditions are sending ripple effects through the food web and make research and monitoring in the Gulf of Alaska anything but boring.”

Findings published in this issue provide considerable new insights into the processes at work in the Gulf of Alaska. They range, from oceanography and localized processes that provide food for commercially and ecologically important species, to animal responses to stressors like a marine heatwave. Highlighted below are just a few of these findings.

Oceanography and the Pacific Marine Heatwave

Oceanographic processes in the Gulf of Alaska are driven by winds, tides, and freshwater runoff, which in turn create eddies and mix water to enhance growth of phytoplankton. These processes fuel the Gulf’s food web, including ecologically important forage fish such as herring and commercially important groundfish such as Pacific cod.

The 2014–2019 Pacific marine heatwave caused major changes across the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem. Several papers in this volume address the Pacific marine heatwave and place its impacts in a broader context.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

 

FLORIDA: Gov. DeSantis requests federal support for Florida fisheries in aftermath of Hurricane Ian

October 17, 2022 — Gov. Ron DeSantis is requesting that the areas affected by Hurricane Ian be declared a federal fisheries disaster by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which would open up channels for more aide for those in the fishing industry.

DeSantis announced the request Saturday at a press conference providing updates on Hurricane Ian relief efforts, highlighting support for those who work on the water. If approved, NOAA will be able to provide more support to commercial fishermen, wholesale dealers, charter boat captains and fisheries, he said.

“Clearly a storm of this magnitude — this is appropriate for this declaration,” DeSantis said. “So once this is approved, then that provides these groups and people in the industry to work with NOAA to be able to get more support. So we’re happy to help facilitate that request.”

Read the full article at Florida Politics 

How NOAA Preserves the Habitat of Seafood in the Pacific Islands

October 14, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Did you know that in Hawaiʻi, state regulations specify that you can only keep the ulua (giant trevally) you catch if it’s at least 10 inches long? Or that federal regulations place annual catch limits for Pacific bigeye tuna in fisheries across American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and Hawaiʻi?

Regulatory conservation agencies use a number of tools like size and catch limits to make sure our seafood is around for future generations to enjoy. But these approaches mean little if the animals have no place to call home.

That’s why NOAA Fisheries works hard to also protect the habitat of the seafood species we eat. We’re engaged in numerous habitat management initiatives in the Pacific Islands region. Our work ranges from minimizing habitat impacts from federal projects to working with partners to actively maintain and restore habitat. Here are five examples of ways we’re preserving the habitat of our Pacific Islands seafood.

Read the full article NOAA Fisheries

MAINE: Maine lawmakers call for more hearings on whale rules

October 11, 2022 — Members of Maine’s congressional delegation are asking the federal government to hold more hearings on whale protection rules to gauge the impact on the state’s commercial fishing industry.

In a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine, said the federal agency’s decision to hold only one public hearing last week on the new regulations “unacceptable” and called for more engagement with the lobster industry.

The lawmakers wrote that the 90% risk reduction target fisheries regulators are pursuing over the next two years to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales would be a “death knell” for lobstermen.

Read the full article at Center Square

Fishing regulators fear wind turbines could threaten spawning area for Atlantic cod

October 11, 2022 — Scientists identified spawning cod in a large area currently leased for offshore wind development, prompting fisheries regulators to declare the habitat a “high priority” and raising concerns that some projects could derail the decade-long effort to rebuild the struggling commercial fishery.

The designation by the New England Fishery Management Council was submitted to the federal NOAA Fisheries in August and is now pending final approval. Those involved say it is the most declarative action taken by the regional council in its approach to the emerging wind energy industry, highlighting its “concern over potential adverse impacts from offshore wind development.”

“We want to make it very clear that there are important fishery resources in this area,” said council spokesperson Janice Plante. “We hope that it creates an extra layer of consideration as these projects go forward.”

The boundaries of the designation, which is called a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC), is roughly 3,000 square miles and spans all nine wind-energy lease areas in federal waters off Southern New England. It includes a buffer zone beyond the lease areas, “recognizing that some types of development activities can generate impacts at scales of tens of kilometers beyond the site of construction and operations.”

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

New Hampshire fishermen worried about new guidelines to protect right whales

October 10, 2022 — New Hampshire fishermen are raising concerns about additional restrictions they’ll be facing in order to protect the critically endangered right whale.

The president of the New Hampshire Fish Council said guidelines are being worked out between the industry and National Marine Fisheries Service, but he said there has never been a recorded incident between a right whale and a New Hampshire fisherman.

Fewer than 350 endangered North Atlantic right whales remain in existence. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has documented 54 incidents of deaths or serious injuries of right whales due to unusual circumstances from 2017-2022. Eleven deaths were confirmed to be from vessel strikes, and nine were entanglements, though none were documented in New Hampshire waters.

Read the full article at WBUR