Saving Seafood

SMAST’s Kevin Stokesbury: On scallops, community collaboration, and a lifelong love of the ocean

August 14, 2023 — Growing up on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Kevin Stokesbury spent as much time as possible swimming, searching for sand shrimp, and soaking up the sun with his siblings.

Now as dean of the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at UMass Dartmouth, he’s finding practical applications for his passion with the sea. Stokesbury has played an integral role in revitalizing the scallop industry in New Bedford, inventing a drop camera in 1999 that snapped photos of scallops living on the seafloor, giving scientists and fishermen much more precise estimates of scallop numbers than previously available. The location map and information accompanying the photographs have proved vital.

Stokesbury’s invention has greatly boosted the local economy. Before the drop camera, scallop boats brought in an annual harvest valued around $89 million. In 2021, it was $670 million, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) commercial landings report.

Stokesbury has dedicated his career to fisheries sciences, specifically fisheries oceanography. His work involves studying sea scallops and looking at technological innovations to examine stock assessments and resources on the seafloor. He also researches groundfish and recently has been delving into the impacts of offshore wind turbines on fisheries and the environment.

As an undergraduate at Nova Scotia’s Acadia University, he studied marine biology before transitioning to marine ecology as a master’s student. In addition to his studies, Stokesbury ran his own diving company and worked with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Then, he relocated to the University of Laval to pursue a PhD in marine ecology.

In 2008, he was awarded the Friend of the Fishing Industry Award, which was read into the congressional record later that year. In 2013, he received the David H. Wallace Award from the National Shellfish Association, and in 2018 he was named The Standard-Times Southcoast Man of the Year. More recently, Stokesbury has been appointed to The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee for “Assessment and Advancement of Science in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Environmental Studies Program,” and he is the president-elect of the National Shellfisheries Association.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor Mitchell pushing NOAA to open new center in New Bedford

August 14, 2023 — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell is re-upping a pitch for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to open a site in the Whaling City.

The mayor recently co-signed a letter with more than 50 others, including business owners and local and state officials, to urge NOAA to consolidate its Northeast facilities in New Bedford.

In the letter addressed to NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, the mayor and others want the agency to consider opening sites in New Bedford “when facilities owned or operated in the Northeast by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service are scheduled to be rebuilt or re-leased.”

Read the full article at WPRI

NOAA testing ultraviolet lights as solution to seabird bycatch

August 12, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries believes new ultraviolet-phased lighting technology could help keep seabirds away from fishing vessels, and the agency is embarking on a several-year research effort to see if it lives up to its promise.

Tempted by the bait used to lure in fish, seabirds have long been attracted to commercial fishing operations. Unfortunately, it typically isn’t the free meal that it appears to be, with the birds becoming hooked or entangled in the gear. NOAA Fisheries has been successful in reducing seabird interactions with some gear, but those measures do not deter the animals from approaching and colliding with the vessels.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA unveils National Seafood Strategy

August 12, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries has issued the United States’ first National Seafood Strategy, a document intended to guide the federal government’s approach to supporting the seafood sector over the next five years.

“The strategy underscores NOAA’s strong commitment to seafood sector resilience and aligns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals for economic recovery, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience,” the agency said in its announcement. “The strategy also responds to the unprecedented challenges facing the U.S. seafood industry, including climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, new technologies, and other ocean uses, significant labor shortages, and aging infrastructure.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford said to be best place for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

August 10, 2023 — Is there a better place to site the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast operations than New Bedford?

Mayor Jon Mitchell doesn’t think so.

And he’s joined in that opinion by a “very broad coalition of business and civic leadership.”

Mitchell sent a letter co-signed by more than 50 business and civic leaders to NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad this month making a pitch to consolidate its Northeast facilities in New Bedford.

A similar letter was sent to NOAA in 2016, but recent developments warranted another entreaty.

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

NOAA Fisheries Releases National Seafood Strategy

August 10, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has released its first-ever National Seafood Strategy (PDF, 8 pages) after several rounds of stakeholder input and a public comment period earlier this year. The strategy underscores NOAA’s strong commitment to seafood sector resilience and aligns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals for economic recovery, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. Further, the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health points to the need for increased seafood consumption in the United States, which this strategy aims to address.

The strategy also responds to the unprecedented challenges facing the U.S. seafood industry, including climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, new technologies and other ocean uses, significant labor shortages, and aging infrastructure.

Our Vision for Resilience

The National Seafood Strategy outlines NOAA Fisheries’ direction for supporting a thriving domestic U.S. seafood economy. It describes our approach to enhancing the resilience of the seafood sector in the face of climate change and other stressors.

Our vision is to ensure that:

  • U.S. seafood continues to be produced sustainably
  • The U.S. seafood sector contributes to the nation’s climate-ready food production and to meeting critical domestic nutritional needs
  • U.S. seafood production increases to support jobs, the economy, and the competitiveness of the U.S. seafood sector
  • Supply chains and infrastructure are modernized with more value-added activity in the United States
  • Opportunities are expanded for a diverse and growing seafood workforce

We plan to achieve our vision by focusing on four goals:

  1. Maintain or increase sustainable U.S. wild capture production
  2. Increase sustainable U.S. aquaculture production
  3. Foster access to domestic and global markets for the U.S. seafood industry
  4. Strengthen the entire U.S. seafood sector

Public Input was Critical

Public comments and stakeholder input were integral to finalizing the strategy and helping guide the direction of our work to support the seafood sector. We received more than 150 separate comments, about a quarter of which were from organizations, including fishing, aquaculture, and seafood associations, non-profits, NGOs, aquariums, and state agencies. In addition, five regional fishery management councils provided comment letters. Many of the comments were used to strengthen and improve the strategy, particularly to clarify phrases or context, such as adding descriptions of other agency strategies and policies. One significant change from the draft is the addition of an Equity and Environmental Justice objective under Goal 4.

The National Seafood Strategy will reinforce NOAA Fisheries’ critical science and management support to the seafood sector. Stakeholders recognize that the science conducted by the agency to support management of wild capture fisheries and seafood farming is essential for the well-being of the U.S. seafood sector. The industry needs NOAA Fisheries and other federal agencies to provide more support for and attention to adaptation to climate change, changing markets, and new ocean uses; new domestic sources of seafood supply (wild capture and aquaculture); fair trade; workforce development; and recapitalizing and modernizing seafood infrastructure.

Some comments were beyond the scope of this strategy or more relevant to implementation actions for specific programs or regions. These types of comments will be considered as we develop the implementation plan, which is being developed by an internal working group comprising staff from headquarters, regional offices, and science centers.

OREGON: Significant marine heatwave brewing off Oregon coast

August 8, 2023 — Oceans around the world are hotter than ever before in the record-keeping era – and those high temps have now reached the Pacific Northwest.

Colin McCarthy, an atmospheric scientist and extreme weather influencer tweeted that “[o]ne of the most intense marine heatwaves on Earth has developed off the West Coast of the US, with water temperatures peaking nearly 5°C (9°F) above normal.”

The marine heatwave off the coasts of Oregon and Washington has reached “extreme” levels, an event that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ranks a Category 4 on a scale of 5.

Average ocean temperatures around the world reached 70 degrees in spring of 2023, the highest ever recorded.

In July, the Associated Press reported that sea surface temperatures rose above 100 degrees Fahrenheit at a spot off Florida’s southern tip.

Warming oceans cause stronger storms, rising sea levels and the loss of coral reefs and other marine life, according to according to the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information as reported by the AP.

Read the full article at Oregon Live

NOAA Fisheries Faces 2024 Budget Reductions

August 4, 2023 — The U.S. Senate is considering reducing the National Marine Fisheries Service’s budget request by about $42 million.

The potential reduction comes as part of an effort to limit discretionary spending tied to the passage of the debt-ceiling bill earlier this year. The House is looking to reduce NOAA Fisheries’ funding even more dramatically, but it has not yet released a detailed report.

The Senate Appropriations Committee released its Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill on July 13. That bill includes funding for the National Marine Fisheries Service, more commonly known as NOAA Fisheries.

Proposals to cut NOAA Fisheries’ budget have drawn concerns from Alaska lawmakers.

“I understand that negotiations on the debt limit have forced reductions in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s budget, but I have very real concerns about the impacts these cuts will have on Alaska’s fisheries,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski told KDM via email.

“We have the well-deserved reputation across the world as the gold standard of fisheries, and keeping that reputation requires strategic investments in things like stock assessment surveys, data collection and other resources essential to sustainable resource management. I’m committed to making sure Alaska’s fisheries have the resources to remain a world-leader.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Funding to Support Research on How Climate Change Is Affecting Fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay

August 3, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA is recommending $1.5 million to support six new projects that will explore the connections among climate change, habitat, and fisheries. Some of the funded projects will quantify how climate change is affecting the habitats different Chesapeake Bay species need. Other projects will develop ways to evaluate how successful nearshore habitat restoration supports fish species and communities in the face of climate change.

New 2023 Projects

We’re recommending funding for six new research projects:

Over the past 30 years, the average water temperature in the Chesapeake Bay has increased by 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Water temperature changes are expected to affect fish abundance, distributions, spawning areas, and migratory patterns.

Changes in precipitation patterns, including more frequent intense storms, will affect salinity levels. That will affect fish species distribution and diversity. NOAA buoys and satellites provide important data to help researchers track trends, but the effects of these trends are not yet well understood. That’s why we need more research on these topics.

Projects receiving these NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Fisheries Research Program grants were selected through a competitive process. The results of this research will help inform science-based management decisions that are part of protecting and restoring important habitat.

This research will also support our efforts to advance ecosystem-based fishery management. We used recommendations from fishery and resource managers to develop the request for proposals for these grants. We work to deliver the most up-to-date and relevant science to resource managers and decision makers.

At this point in the selection process, the application approval and obligation of funds is not final. Applications are being “recommended” for funding. This is not an authorization to start the project and is not a guarantee of funding.