Saving Seafood

Protecting ‘fisheries dependent communities’

September 11, 2023 — Leigh Belanger, the fisheries outreach coordinator for Businesses for Conservation and Climate Action (BCCA), sent out an email blast on Sept. 7, advising fishermen and other stakeholders that there is still time to comment on NMFS and NOAA’s proposed revision of the guidelines for National Standards 4, 8, and 9, which guide fisheries management.

According to a BCCA letter to NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – “Current fisheries management undermines ecosystem and community health, violates NOAA’s emergent commitment to equity and environmental justice, and favors short-term economics at the expense of resource and fishery dependent communities.”

Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association represents one of several fishermen’s organizations from all over the country that have signed onto the BCCA letter. “We want to integrate NOAA’s new commitment to equity and environmental justice into the National Standard guidelines,” says Behnken

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Issuing Biological Opinion on the Empire Wind Offshore Energy Project

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

Today, NOAA Fisheries is issuing the final Biological Opinion under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) considering the effects of the proposed Empire Wind offshore energy project off the coast of New York on threatened and endangered species.

The agency has concluded that the proposed action is likely to adversely affect, but is not likely to jeopardize, the continued existence of any species of ESA-listed whales, sea turtles, or Atlantic sturgeon or destroy or adversely modify any designated critical habitat. This conclusion was based on NOAA Fisheries evaluation of BOEM’s analysis of the effects of this project on endangered and threatened species, and in consideration of  the best scientific and commercial data available. 

The proposed project includes a number of measures designed to minimize, monitor, and report effects to ESA-listed species, and additional measures are included through the Biological Opinion’s Incidental Take Statement. No serious injury or mortality of any ESA-listed whale is anticipated as a result of the proposed project. All effects to North Atlantic right whales will be limited to temporary behavioral disturbance.

NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources is also proposing to issue regulations and an associated Letter of Authorization pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was evaluated through the Biological Opinion. A notice of the proposed regulations was published in April 2023.

Other authorizations or permits will be required from a number of other federal agencies. BOEM is the lead federal agency for approving the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the proposed Empire Wind offshore energy project.

We will continue working closely with BOEM and other federal agencies to ensure effects from the Empire Wind offshore energy project to NOAA Fisheries’ trust resources are minimized.

The Biological Opinion will be available online upon publication in our libraryin approximately 10 days.

Announcing the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program 2023 Awards

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

NOAA Fisheries has awarded approximately $2.5 million to 14 projects under the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. Five of these projects are in the Greater Atlantic Region. 

Bycatch reduction is a top priority for NOAA Fisheries, as outlined in our National Bycatch Reduction Strategy. Bycatch can contribute to overfishing, can threaten endangered and threatened species and protected marine mammals, and can close fisheries, significantly impacting U.S. economic growth. This year’s projects focus on several priority bycatch issues related to a variety of species, including whales, sea birds, sharks, striped bass, and salmon.

NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program has resulted in innovative technological solutions to some of the nation’s top bycatch challenges. NOAA Fisheries is proud to continue to partner with fishermen, fishery managers, industry, academia and the environmental community to avoid and minimize bycatch.

For descriptions of the funded projects please visit our website.

New NOAA report confirms widespread coral damage from Port Miami dredge

September 10, 2023 — Nearly a decade after dredging Port Miami left a swath of dead coral yet to be repaired, a new federal assessment confirms damage was far more widespread than originally reported.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report found dredging and rock chopping that pulverized the ocean bottom created a blizzard of silt that buried at least 278 acres around the reef, and likely far more. The report upholds previous findings and will be used to permit future dredging as well as long overdue repairs.

Those repairs, which should have started within a year of the dredge ending, could wind up costing Miami-Dade County hundreds of millions of dollars under a 2012 contract signed by the county.

Miami-Dade County officials said Thursday they were reviewing the report. Any estimate on costs to mitigate damage would be premature, they said.

In a statement, Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava said the county was working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on a mitigation plan to repair damage.

“I’m deeply concerned about the damage of coral colonies and committed to learning everything we can about what took place and where we go from here,” she said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday it was still looking into the matter.

Read the full article at WLRN

Fishing for the Future: Technology innovations redefine expectations across the commercial fishing industry

September 10, 2023 — Keeping up with today’s technological advancements can be overwhelming on multiple levels. Many commercial fishing operations haven’t prioritized the adoption of new tools or technologies on account of the disconnect between the capabilities of certain innovations that represent how actual fishermen will be able to use them. Why would someone who has worked in the same industry for decades change their day-to-day process and utilize a tool that doesn’t seem like it was created for them?

Despite this discrepancy, utilizing new technology can help save money, time, and increase safety. While some parts of the industry have switched to cutting-edge technology to better assist sustainability and safety on and off the water, many vessels still operate with inefficient tech products. Due to the different fisheries and geography, it is almost impossible to have innovations be a one-size-fits-all situation across the country.

In 2021, the Seafood Harvesters of America, along with NOAA Fisheries scientists, Alaska Ocean Cluster, and a few other organizations, held a survey called Technological Advancement in Our Fisheries: Innovation Priorities and a Path Forward to target members of the fishing Industry to help identify and better understand technology priorities and needs. By using the survey data, they were able to look for common needs across all regions and gear types that technology could address at this survey’s scale in hopes of guiding technology investments and developments in the commercial fishing industry. Hopefully, that will also be providing business opportunities for developing products that many in fishing communities could use.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA ‘National Seafood Strategy’ looks to climate change, aquaculture, fair trade

September 7, 2023 — The National Seafood Strategy report from National Oceanic and Atmospheric focuses on climate change, global market disruptions and new ocean uses like offshore wind energy.

The paper outlines four goals. At the top, it ranks “maintain or increase sustainable U.S. wild capture production.”

Climate shifts are forcing fish populations to gradually move – such as the decline in Mid-Atlantic lobster and northward shift of black sea bass into New England waters. Ocean “heat waves” of higher water temperatures and bigger storms “are affecting access to fishing opportunities, production of seafood, and fishing to support local dietary needs, cultural traditions and tribal treaty rights,” according to a NOAA summary of the plan.

The report ranks its second goal as increasing “sustainable U.S. aquaculture production.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Updates proposed for national standards for fisheries

September 7, 2023 — Comments are due by Sept. 12 on proposed updates to federal National Standards for commercial fisheries under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, specifically those standards addressing allocations, communities and bycatch.

The National Standards are guidelines for regional fishery management councils on how to interpret and balance the 10 standards as they develop fishery management plans.

The marine resource consulting firm Ocean Strategies said in a statement released on Tuesday that reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens legislation is long overdue and a gridlock in Congress is preventing stakeholders from offering critical, time sensitive input to federal fishery management through reauthorization of that legislation.

Read the full article at the Cordoba Times

New Research Predicts Effects of Marine Heatwaves on Top Ocean Predators

September 6, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Forecasts can now predict the location and onset of marine heatwaves that can disrupt marine ecosystems. Scientists say the next step is to forecast what happens to top predators that inhabit those ecosystems.

New research published in Nature Communications finds that the effects on marine predators such as sharks, tuna, and mammals vary widely and can redistribute species across international boundaries. Scientists predicted these shifts using species distribution models that account for changes in temperature and other environmental conditions.

“The goal is to provide forward-looking tools to help managers think ahead about how species could redistribute during heatwaves and how they may need to proactively adjust regulations to account for these shifts,” said Heather Welch, an affiliate researcher at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center, a project scientist at UC Santa Cruz and lead author of the new research. “Predators often support important commercial fisheries, so it’s important to understand how they respond to changes in their surroundings.”

Marine heatwaves have become a regular occurrence in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the West Coast in the last decade starting with a massive heatwave around 2014 to 2016. Some studies suggest they may become more common and severe with climate change. NOAA Fisheries is increasingly pursuing “climate-ready fisheries” by developing management strategies that can adjust to changes in ecosystems and their inhabitants.

NOAA report accuses nine nations, including China and Taiwan, of supporting illegal fishing

September 5, 2023 — The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released a report identifying several nations it alleges are engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing or that have not done enough to eliminate the use of forced labor within their domestic fleets.

Angola, Grenada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, The Gambia, and Vanuatu were all alleged to have participated in IUU fishing in 2020, 2021 and 2022, according to the report. Mexico, China, and Russia were given negative certifications for failing to remedy IUU fishing activities, which could lead to the U.S. denying those nations’ access to American ports and waters or import bans.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NOAA Fisheries releases national seafood strategy

September 5, 2023 — A national seafood strategy to guide how the federal government regulates the entire seafood sector, from wild-harvest fisheries and aquaculture to market access and building a stronger sector, has been released. NOAA Fisheries developed and released the plan in August as world oceans began experiencing marine heat waves and the Gulf of Maine recorded its warmest year in history.

Climate change is rapidly altering species location, size and composition, while extreme weather affects infrastructure that brings, for example, lobsters landed in Stonington to processors and markets not close to home.

Offshore wind development and its effects also factor, and concerns over what the report describes as “significant” labor shortages and aging infrastructures. So do the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular on supply chains that still limit access to some seafood varieties and decrease overall revenues.

The U.S. lands about 10 billion pounds of seafood each year, with a dockside value of $6.3 billion and $165 billion in sales, while supporting 1.2 million jobs, according to reports.

Read the full at Mount Desert Islander