Saving Seafood

Dr. Charles Littnan Appointed New Science and Research Director for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

June 13, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA announced the appointment of Dr. Charles Littnan as the new Science and Research Director for NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. He succeeds Dr. Mike Seki who retired from the agency in December 2022. Dr. Littnan will assume his new role on June 18, 2023.

Dr. Littnan is a marine biologist with 20 years’ experience in marine mammal and sea turtle science and research. He is known for leading innovative biological research and conservation management of large, complex, research programs related to marine mammals and sea turtles. He also has experience in staff supervision and development, program planning and implementation, and budget development and execution.

“We look forward to the opportunities ahead as Charles takes on the leadership of the Pacific Islands Science Center and its mission to conduct the research and monitoring programs that support the domestic and international conservation and management of living marine resources across the Pacific Islands,” said Dr. Cisco Werner, Chief Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries.

Bounded by the Hawaiian Archipelago in the north, American Samoa and U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas in the south, and the Mariana Archipelago in the west, the Pacific Islands region encompasses the largest geographical area within NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction. The U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone within the region includes more than 1.7 million square nautical miles of ocean, roughly equal to the total EEZ of the continental United States and Alaska.

The Center’s work is focused in the waters surrounding American Samoa, Guam, Hawaiʻi, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. Pacific Islands. The Center also conducts research on living marine resources in the high-seas areas of the central and western Pacific. These islands have a rich diversity of marine life that is vital to the culture and economic stability of the islands.

With regard to fisheries research and monitoring, the Center will conduct the research and analysis to maintain healthy stocks, eliminate overfishing, and rebuild overfished stocks important to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries.

In addition to fisheries research, Hawaiian monk seals, green sea turtles, spinner dolphins, false killer whales, and humpback whales, and Pacific corals are some of the protected species in the center’s research portfolio.

“I am incredibly excited to lead and work alongside everyone at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to support NOAA’s mission in the Pacific Islands region.  Our commitment to excellence in science and service will be our foundation as we address the complex challenges facing our oceans, our fisheries and the communities that depend on them,” said Dr. Littnan.

Dr. Littnan will work closely to ensure sustainable fisheries and protecting marine life is a joint effort between NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office and the Science Center. The center will continue to offer cutting-edge science to help inform management decisions to the region in an ever-changing environment. They work together to conserve and manage domestic and international marine resources in a vast geographical area.

Dr. Littnan holds a PhD in environmental science from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Ecology from Texas A&M University.

He lives in Honolulu where he enjoys spending as much time as possible with his wife and two children, especially at the beach.  Any remaining time is spent with friends, seeking rare whiskies, and enduring years of heartache as a Minnesota Vikings fan.

El Niño has officially begun. Here’s what that means for the U.S.

June 13, 2023 — El Niño is officially here, and that means things are about to get even hotter. The natural climate phenomenon is marked by warmer ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which drives hotter weather around the world.

“[El Niño] could lead to new records for temperatures,” says Michelle L’Heureux, a climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

The hottest years on record tend to happen during El Niño. It’s one of the most obvious ways that El Niño, which is a natural climate pattern, exacerbates the effects of climate change, which is caused by humans burning fossil fuels and releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Read the full article at NPR

NOAA to trollers: A revised environmental analysis could allow king fishing by August

June 13, 2023 — The National Marine Fisheries Service hasn’t ruled out the possibility of opening the summer troll season for king salmon in Southeast Alaska, despite a federal judge’s recent ruling to the contrary.

During a meeting held Wednesday (6-8-23) in Sitka, NOAA Fisheries Alaska regional administrator, Jon Kurland, told a roomful of trollers that the agency was working hard to correct the problems identified in a federal lawsuit brought by a conservation group in Washington state. If successful, Southeast trollers might be able to harvest king salmon this summer – if not on the traditional date of July 1, then possibly in August.

To get a feel for the impact of the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit on Southeast trollers, try sitting in a room filled with them: Grizzled oldsters, seasoned men and women hardened by life on the ocean, well-known fisheries advocates,  young families, and a baby or two.

John Kurland is the regional administrator for fisheries in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which – among other agencies – oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service.

That’s a lengthy title, but Kurland said that he is a neighbor, and he gets it.

“So first off, I know that there’s been just a huge amount of concern about the implications of this suit and the potential for the troll fishery not to be able to open,” Kurland told the room. “I live in Juneau, I have a sense of how important this fishery is for Southeast Alaska for a lot of small businesses, a lot of families, a lot of communities. It’s a big deal.”

Read the full article at Raven Radio

Feds want tougher rules to protect whales, frustrating boaters

June 10, 2023 — Proposed federal regulations would restrict more boaters over more water to try and protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Environmental advocates and boating industry representatives clashed over the draft rule in a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new rule would expand the category of boats that must comply with speed restrictions off the East Coast to reduce right whale strikes and deaths, and it would approximately double the total protected area in the North Atlantic. Scientists say the rule is critical to avoiding extinction, but boating industry stakeholders say the restrictions will cost them millions.

Read the full article at wbur

Inflation Reduction Act: A Historic Investment in America’s Climate Resilience

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

Climate change impacts every aspect of our mission—from managing fisheries and aquaculture, to conserving protected resources and vital habitats. Fisheries support more than 1.7 million jobs and $244 billion in economic activity in the United States every year. Preparing for changing oceans will help sustain valuable marine resources, fisheries, and coastal communities.

On June 6, 2023, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced historic funding for NOAA under the Inflation Reduction Act, highlighting plans to implement $3.3 billion in investments focused on ensuring America’s communities and economy are ready for and resilient to climate change. Through the IRA, and building on investments made under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, NOAA will continue its efforts to build a climate-ready nation. We will advance research, observations, modeling, predictions, and information dissemination and service delivery to address climate risks including wildfires, floods, drought, and extreme heat. NOAA will also invest in facilities, hurricane hunter aircraft, supercomputing capacity, and permitting efficiencies. IRA funding will empower NOAA to address the growing demand for climate information, services, and products.

NOAA Fisheries will receive an unprecedented investment in strengthening the agency’s core mission to provide science-based management and conservation of the nation’s marine resources as we confront climate change. Changing climate and oceans have significant impacts on valuable marine life and ecosystems. IRA funding will provide critical support for these resources, which will help strengthen the resilience of coastal communities that depend on them. We will be able to provide capacity on the ground for resource managers and stakeholders to assess and reduce climate impacts, increase resilience, and help adapt to changing conditions. Our IRA funds will also support facilities modernization, Arctic research, permitting efficiency, and habitat restoration.

The infusion of IRA funds allows NOAA Fisheries to advance several critical areas focused on tackling the impacts of climate. One of four new NOAA initiatives, Climate-Ready Fisheries will support the nation’s $370 billion fishing industry and the states, communities, and tribes that depend on it. In the face of rapidly changing oceans, NOAA Fisheries will use this historic investment to propel our entire stock assessment enterprise for fish and protected species forward. It will help build our capabilities to incorporate climate and ecosystem environmental data, providing real-time advice and long-range projections that inform and support management decisions for affected sectors and communities. We will invest in advanced technologies, data systems, and infrastructure to pilot projects that expand and modernize stock assessments to account for climate change. We will invest in cooperative partnerships with the fishing industry, academia, and state partners.

We will also invest in our critical partnerships with the regional fishery management councils. Action is needed to implement dynamic fishery management measures that are more timely in response to climate impacts and increase fishing community resiliency to fishery changes caused by anticipated climate impacts. The combination of programs funded by IRA will both improve our overall science and survey enterprise to better address ecosystem changes associated with climate change and make headway on scientific and management priorities.

NOAA Fisheries prioritized specific fisheries and species for IRA funding, including North Atlantic right whales, red snapper, and Pacific salmon. This prioritization was based factors including:

  • Urgency and emerging needs
  • Impact on the species and the coastal communities that depend on them
  • Areas where the agency can make investments to significantly advance climate resilience

We are eager to get to work and excited about what we hope to accomplish, but it will take time. We look forward to coordinating with our partners on these important efforts. Our next steps are to work on the implementation plans for each issue area and begin executing these plans between now and 2026. This funding will help the agency—and by extension the people and marine life that depend on us—develop and strengthen tools to confront the challenges associated with climate change.

Opinion: NOAA’s catch quotas rely on inaccurate data

June 9, 2023 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is convinced that fish stocks in New England are declining, and they’re regulating fishermen into oblivion as a result. 

There’s no evidence that they’re right. In fact, NOAA doesn’t have any reliable evidence at all. The agency has not completed a full survey of New England fish stocks in four years. The government’s recent attempts to jump start the process are floundering. 

I’m leading a new coalition of lobstermen, fishermen, and fishing-adjacent businesses called the New England Fishermen Stewardship Association (NEFSA). We launched this advocacy group, which is open to all industry stakeholders and friends of fishing and the marine environment, because federal regulators are grossly mismanaging our fisheries and pose a lethal threat to fishermen and the oceans. NOAA’s ham-handed effort to gauge the health of the biomass in New England is one such example. 

As National Fisherman readers probably know, NOAA sets quotas for particular species based on data it collects from its research vessels. NOAA’s research vessel for the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic is the Henry B. Bigelow, homeported in Newport, R.I. The ship is currently conducting the northeast spring bottom trawl survey. 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

AQUAA Act reintroduced in US Senate

June 8, 2023 — U.S. lawmakers are making yet another attempt to pass the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, a bill that would establish national standards for offshore aquaculture and streamline development.

First introduced in 2018, the legislation has gone through multiple iterations as lawmakers push for a comprehensive framework that encourages aquaculture operations in federal waters. The bill would make NOAA the lead federal agency on marine aquaculture, create a more uniform permitting system for offshore aquaculture in federal waters, and build a grant program to incentivize aquaculture innovation.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Enforcement Uncovers Multiple Illegal Seafood Export Operations

June 7, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On May 23, 2023, Jiu Fa Chen, was sentenced to 5 years probation and a $100,000 fine for falsely labeling and exporting foreign-bought spiny lobsters as “Products of the U.S.A.” Chen’s company, AIFA Seafood Incorporated, was sentenced to 5 years probation and a $250,000 fine. It is now subject to rigorous compliance measures for all future business activities. In addition, Elite Sky International Incorporated, was recently sentenced to a $250,000 fine and similar compliance measures. It was running the same illegal labeling scheme as AIFA Seafood.

“These individuals and companies intentionally misrepresented their lobster to be something that it’s not—a product of the United States,” said Manny Antonaras, Assistant Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division. “Fishermen and seafood producers who play by the rules deserve to be competitive in global markets. We work hard to help create an even playing field where domestic fishermen can market their American-caught products proudly around the world.”

AIFA Seafood’s illegal activity was first detected through compliance checks performed under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program. An additional anonymous letter detailed elaborate schemes to illegally import spiny lobster to the United States. They would then be illegally exported to China under the false “Product of the U.S.A.” label.

Through a joint undercover operation, we identified that AIFA Seafood had imported lobster from Haiti to its facilities in Florida. The imported lobster were repackaged into boxes labeled “Live Florida Spiny Lobster Product of USA” and illegally exported to China. In total, 5,900 pounds of lobster were illegally exported under this scheme with an estimated retail market value of over $206,500. The investigation uncovered a similar scheme by Elite Sky International to falsely label, and export more than 63,000 pounds of foreign lobster imports as products of the U.S.A. They also shipped more than 5,600 pounds of shark fins falsely labeled as “Frozen Fish.”

When seafood companies deliberately mislabel and misrepresent U.S. seafood exports, they disadvantage honest fishermen. The reporting and records requirements of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program are critical to protecting law-abiding fishermen and seafood producers’ competitiveness in global markets.

These cases were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. They were made possible through close collaboration between:

  • NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement
  • NOAA’s Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

To report suspected seafood violations, contact NOAA’s Law Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964.

2023-2024 Monkfish Research Set-Aside Project Recommendations

June 7, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The selected projects will investigate monkfish research priorities developed by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. NOAA Fisheries expects the awards to generate approximately $300,000 to fund the research projects.

In the Monkfish RSA program, researchers compete for funding through a federal grant competition managed by NOAA Fisheries. No federal funds support the research. Instead, the program awards RSA days at sea that are “set-aside” annually for use in compensation fishing to fund the program.

For more information about these awards and the Monkfish RSA Program, please contact Ryan Silva.

Both projects responded to one of the Councils’ highest monkfish RSA research priorities: Research to develop a standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) index for the commercial directed monkish gillnet fishery to be used for stock assessment purposes.

Due to the common goal for the projects, and intended application of the research results, NOAA Fisheries and the grant recipients will coordinate closely to help ensure efforts are complementary, and likely to support monkfish stock assessments.

Institution: Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Suffolk County

Principal Investigators and Collaborators: Emerson Hasbrouck and Scott Curatolo-Wagemann, CCE; Patrick J. Sullivan, Ph.D., Cornell University; Suresh A. Sethi, Ph.D., Alaska Pacific University; Bonnie Brady, Long Island Commercial Fishing Association.

Title: Addressing Monkfish Management Needs by Developing a Standardized Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) Time Series.

Project summary: This project will collect and analyze fishery dependent and independent data to inform the development and utilization of an integrated statistical estimation procedure that will determine a standardized CPUE time series. This can be used to estimate the relative abundance of the stock for improved monkfish stock assessment and management purposes.

Institution: Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, Inc.

Principal Investigators and Collaborators: Melissa Sanderson and Aubrey Church, CCFA; Steven Cadrin, Ph.D., UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science & Technology.

Title: Incorporating Fishermen’s Knowledge into a Standardized Catch Per Unit Effort Index for the Commercial Monkfish Gillnet Fishery.

Project summary: This project seeks to develop standardized CPUE indices for the commercial directed monkfish gillnet fishery for use in stock assessments. Investigators will work collaboratively with the commercial monkfish fishing industry throughout the region to elicit expertise on monkfish CPUE, obtain fishery dependent data, and develop CPUE standardization for contribution to upcoming monkfish stock assessments.

Reward Available for Information About Death of Juvenile Hawaiian Monk Seal at ʻŌhikilolo

June 7, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to a civil penalty or criminal conviction in the March 2023 death of juvenile Hawaiian monk seal RQ76, or Malama. The monk seal, which is protected under federal law, was found dead at ʻŌhikilolo, between Keaʻau Beach Park and Mākua Valley, on Oʻahu.

“We’re asking for help from anyone who may have seen or heard anything related to the killing of this endangered animal which is not only a violation of federal law but a hateful act against all the people who call Hawaiʻi their home,” said Frank Giaretto, Deputy Special Agent in Charge with NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, Pacific Islands Division.

Anyone with information should contact NOAA’s Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964. To report a dead, injured, or stranded marine mammal, call the Pacific Islands Region Marine Mammal Response Network at (888) 256-9840.

The monk seal was first investigated at the scene by our partners at the Hawai‘i Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement. Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response recovered RQ76 and transported the seal to a NOAA facility for post-mortem examination. Initial results indicated the seal died of severe blunt-force trauma. Furthermore, after consulting with national experts, the suspected cause of death was determined to most likely be an intentional killing.

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered seal species in the world. They are native to the Hawaiian archipelago—found nowhere else in the world—and are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and Hawai‘i law. The monk seal population has been in decline for six decades, but numbers have been increasing over the past 10 years due in part to NOAA’s and partners’ recovery efforts.