Saving Seafood

Tautai O Samoa joins with governor and others opposing proposed sanctuary designation

June 6, 2023 — Members of locally-based, Tautai O Samoa Longline and Fishing Association, have joined ASG officials and others in the community in voicing their opposition to the proposed sanctuary designation of the Pacific Remote Island Areas — a move that would expand Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument.

“The closure of these fishing grounds will cause a trickle-down effect and have an impact that reaches farther than the proposed Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument expansion,” wrote the group’s president Krista Haleck in a May 24 comment letter to the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“The actions and impacts cannot be looked at in isolation,” said Haleck, who pointed out that the expansion of the already expanded Marine National Monument throughout the Pacific “will be detrimental” to the US Purse Seine Fleet and negatively impact American Samoa’s economy including the American Samoa-based U.S Longline fishing fleet.

Read the full article at Samoa News

Courts threaten to sink federal fishery monitoring

June 5, 2023 — NOAA’s plans to force fishermen to pay for their own surveillance hit a brick wall in 2023, and the Supreme Court could force more big changes to how the federal government keeps tabs on the state of U.S. fisheries.

While the agency has long relied on human observers and electronic tracking devices, many in the fishing industry who regard the monitoring as too expensive and an invasion of their privacy have sought relief in the courts — and so far this year, they’re winning.

NOAA suffered a major blow in February when a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana threw out a rule that would have required charter boats in the Gulf of Mexico to be equipped with electronic monitors to report fish catches. Fishermen complained that the devices would cost them as much as $3,000 per boat.

Read the full article at E&E News

NOAA hearing underscored opposition to marine sanctuary plan

June 5, 2023 — The public hearing in American Samoa about U.S. plans to expand a Pacific marine sanctuary has failed to assuage fears of tuna cannery job losses and further economic decline in the territory, according to workers, business owners and political leaders.

After a decade of lobbying by the Hawaii-based Pacific Remote Islands Coalition, the U.S. government earlier this year said it could double the size of the protected area around uninhabited U.S. islands in the Pacific Ocean, making more ocean area off-limits to fishing fleets.

But the proposal has been greeted with dismay in American Samoa, where residents fear a heavy blow to the economically crucial tuna industry. Dozens of placard-wielding employees of the StarKist cannery in American Samoa protested outside a recent hearing held in Pago Pago by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees protected marine and coastal areas.

“I have seven children between the ages of two and 17, they are all in school, and I have been supporting my family working for StarKist Samoa,” Tanielu Malae, the sole breadwinner for his family, said at the May 25 hearing. “Do the people in Hawaii that made this proposal know what it is like for people like us that did not have proper education if we lose our jobs.”

American Samoa’s Lieutenant Governor, Talauega Eleasalo Ale, who said he was at the hearing as a resident rather than representing the territory’s government, made an emotional appeal to “brothers and sisters” in Hawaii.

Read the full article at Samoa News

River Herring are Using Habitat Reopened by Bloede Dam Removal

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

In 2018, NOAA and partners removed Bloede Dam from the Patapsco River, opening up miles of free-flowing habitat to migratory species. A recent study has shown river herring are using the habitat upstream of the former dam. This news highlights the importance of dam removals in NOAA’s work to support migratory fish.

NOAA and partners have been monitoring the Bloede Dam site since before its removal to see how reopening the river would affect fish migration. Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science have been using environmental DNA, or eDNA, to monitor for the presence of river herring. Fish and wildlife constantly shed scales, tissue, and other bits of genetic material into the surrounding environment. Researchers can collect a water sample, analyze the eDNA found in it, and identify which species have recently visited a location.

A recent study published in PLOS ONE found eDNA evidence of alewife and blueback herring (collectively known as river herring) using the reopened habitat. In the 4 years prior to the dam removal, no river herring eDNA was detected upstream of the Bloede Dam site. After its removal, eDNA from both species was detected in the reopened habitat. The likelihood of detecting the eDNA of alewife upstream of the Bloede Dam site increased from 0 to 5 percent, and from 0 to 13 percent for blueback herring. In addition to eDNA evidence, biologists with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources recorded two adult river herring—one alewife and one blueback herring—upstream of the Bloede Dam site in 2021.

NOAA to identify aquaculture opportunity area in Alaska

June 2, 2023 — NOAA is considering the creation of an aquaculture opportunity area in the U.S. state of Alaska, the agency announced 1 June.

Alaska could become the third region with an aquaculture opportunity area (AOA), joining Southern California and the Gulf of Mexico, though Alaska’s is likely to be declared in state waters, whilethe previous two AOAs are in federal waters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: NOAA initiates Aquaculture Opportunity Area efforts in Alaska

June 1, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA and partners in the State of Alaska are announcing plans to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in Alaska state waters. These areas will be selected through engagement with tribes and the public, a process that allows constituents to share their community, tribal and stewardship goals for sustainable aquaculture development in Alaska’s coastal and marine waters.

Alaska will join Southern California and the Gulf of Mexico as the third region in which NOAA is working with partners to identify AOAs. The multi-year process to identify AOAs will be conducted in partnership with the State of Alaska and follows a comment period during which NOAA received public support for aquaculture from Alaska Native organizations, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, members of Alaska’s legislature as well as industry and research institutions.

“With more coastline than all of the Lower 48 states combined, Alaska is uniquely positioned to benefit from a growing marine aquaculture industry,” said NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit. “Aquaculture Opportunity Area identification efforts use the best available science, Indigenous Knowledge and collaboration with local communities to foster shellfish and seaweed aquaculture — benefiting Alaska’s Blue Economy.”

In 2022, aquaculture production sales in Alaska totaled $1.9 million, and the state is experiencing an increase in aquaculture permit applications. Aquaculture in AOAs will support environmental, economic and social sustainability.

The identification process for AOAs announced today is focused in Alaska state waters and will not include federal waters. NOAA will only consider marine invertebrates — like shellfish and sea cucumbers — and seaweed farming when identifying AOAs in Alaska. Finfish farming in Alaska state waters is prohibited by law.

“I appreciate NOAA’s decision to begin working with the State to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in Alaska,” said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. “My Administration continues to work closely to promote the responsible development of aquaculture in our pristine coastal waters. This sector has huge growth potential and will provide yet another example of Alaskan leadership in the seafood industry. Our state was predicated on resource development and state management of our fisheries. To that end, I welcome this help from NOAA.”

The State of Alaska serves as a crucial NOAA partner in the design and identification of appropriate locations for AOAs and commercial aquaculture. Identification of these areas will also be shaped through a public process that provides multiple opportunities for the public to share their tribal, community and stewardship goals. NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science will provide support for AOA planning in Alaska through ecosystem modeling to help determine the best size and location for AOAs.

“Marine aquaculture is part of the NOAA Fisheries’ strategy for economic and environmental resilience in coastal communities and supports healthy oceans,” said Danielle Blacklock, director of NOAA’s Office of Aquaculture. “In a changing climate, aquaculture is a critical component of sustainable food systems, marine habitats and coastal economies.”

Identifying AOAs is helpful for prospective aquaculture growers to consider site selection and environmental analysis, but does not serve as a preapproval in the process. Prospective aquaculture growers will still have to go through comprehensive state and federal permitting processes.

NOAA Fisheries will solicit public comments as the identification process for AOAs moves forward.

Pros and Cons at the NOAA Public Scope Meeting in Am Samoa

May 31, 2023 —  Standing room only crowd attended Thursday’s NOAA hearing on the proposed expansion of the Pacific Remote Island Area (PRIA) and while a few speakers supported the proposal for the sake of conservation, many speakers came out against it saying it would have a negative impact on the cannery and therefore the territory’s economy. Here is a sampling of the comments.

Longtime fisherman and boat builder Maselino Ioane spoke in support of the proposal to designate submerged lands and waters surrounding the Pacific Remote Islands to the full extent of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as a new national marine sanctuary at the public scoping meeting on Wednesday, May 224, 2023 at the Tauese PF Sunia Ocean Center.

A member of the alia association, Ioane said there were more than 50 alia boats back in the 80s but that number had dropped drastically when purse seiners started fishing in American Samoa fishing grounds. He said the methods used by these vessels harm not only the small fish but also big fishes and other marine life.

Read the full article at Samoa News

NOAA Fisheries recommends 40 projects for USD 11 million in grant funding

May 30, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries has recommended 40 projects to receive USD 11 million (EUR 10.3 million) in grant funding.

“These grant awards support the promotion and marketing of U.S. fisheries which supports U.S. fishing and aquaculture industries and our nation’s working waterfronts,” NOAA Fisheries Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations Jim Landon said in a statement.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FLORDIA: Post-Hurricane Ian: Funding Rejected for Florida Fishermen

May 26, 2023 — Florida fishermen all around the state are on the edge of their seats, hoping to gain some good news about the fishing industry’s future. Those in Lee County are furious that the federal agency NOAA Fisheries has rejected DeSantis’ fishery disaster request.

In late September 2022, Hurricane Ian destroyed nearly all of Lee County, which led to mass destruction of the fishing industry within and around Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, and Pine Island Sound. The western side of Florida has been devastated by the damage that Ian had caused. On October 15, 2022, Governor DeSantis was joined by fishing captains from southwest Florida to show his support for the fishing industry’s road to recovery.

To get the fishing industry back on its feet, DeSantis requested the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to issue a federal fisheries disaster. The request would have provided federal funding to allow offshore, nearshore, and inshore fisheries to rebuild. “Florida’s fisheries are vitally important to the State’s economy through their impact on commercial and recreational fishing and tourism,” DeSantis stated in his official request.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US senators say SIMP expansion is too narrow

May 26, 2023 — A half-dozen U.S. senators say that NOAA’s plan to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) doesn’t go nearly far enough and are asking the agency to revise its proposal.

“The proposed rule is far too narrow in scope,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to U.S. regulators. “As SIMP currently only requires catch documentation and traceability for approximately 45 percent of seafood imports, there is a need to include all imported seafood according to the U.S. government’s intent.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource