Saving Seafood

New device to be tested off Outer Banks could help save sharks from commercial fishing all over the world

October 17, 2019 — An Outer Banks fisherman next summer will test a device about the size of a spark plug that could save rare sharks.

The waterproof gadget with a transistor inside would be connected just above the hooks on a long line used for commercial harvesting of species such as tuna and swordfish. It would emit an electric pulse that drives sharks away from the baited hook.

“If this works it will be huge,” said Outer Banks fisherman Charlie Locke. “It could benefit fisheries all over the world.”

Sharks swarm the waters around the Outer Banks with many species spawning and giving birth here.

Hungry sharks gobble chunks from large tunas on commercial fishing lines. Charter boat anglers often reel in nothing but a fish head after a shark has bitten off the rest.

“We already know there is a healthy population here,” Locke said.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

NORTH CAROLINA: Proposal to regulate coastal fishing draws strong differences of opinion

October 17, 2019 — A proposed coastal fishing regulation designed to protect species is drawing sharp differences of opinion from some of those affected.

Some think the measure is necessary to prevent continued loss of important fish species.

Others think the measure won’t work as intended and could prove catastrophic for coastal fishing industries.

Tom Roller is a professional fishing guide in Beaufort who brings his clients to sounds, bays, inlets and creeks to cast for red drum, speckled sea trout, bluefish and Spanish mackerel.

But his bread and butter, he said, is Southern flounder.

“They are extremely important to my business, but we don’t catch Southerns like we used to because they aren’t here anymore,” he said. “They are an example of how to overfish something and not do anything.”

The recreational Southern flounder fishery is closed for the rest of the year since the catch exceeded its target defined by the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan.

Commercial landings of Southern flounder, according to the N.C. Wildlife Federation, have declined 88 percent over the past two decades. A landing is the amount of fish harvested at sea and brought to land.

Read the full story at the Carolina Public Press

Sea Grant Research Could Help Commercial Fishers Keep Sharks off Gear

October 4, 2019 — North Carolina Sea Grant is collaborating on a new project to keep sharks away from commercial fishing gear. A team from NC State University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Indiana University-South Bend are partnering with the private sector to pilot test a device that deters the predators.

“Several sharks are overfished or are experiencing overfishing on the U.S. East Coast,” says Sara Mirabilio, a fisheries extension specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant, a statewide program based at NC State University. “Populations of scalloped hammerhead, dusky, sandbar and blacknose sharks all could benefit from an effective deterrent from commercial fishing gear.” Most often, sharks are caught unintentionally in a fishery that is targeting other fish, she explains. This is referred to as bycatch.

The project is one of three announced today by the National Sea Grant College Program to better understand highly migratory species, such as sharks, along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Mirabilio and colleagues, including Richard Brill at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Peter Bushnell at Indiana University-South Bend, are testing a state-of-the-art electronic device that could help conserve species of sharks whose populations fishery managers are trying to rebuild. Unlike other fish, sharks possess an electrosensory system that equips them to detect close-range movements of predators or prey.

Read the full story at Island Free Press

NC Fisheries Woes Not Listed in NOAA Report

October 3, 2019 — The National Marine Fisheries Service in August released its 2018 annual report on the status of U.S. fisheries to Congress, and the good news is that the total number of stocks on the overfishing list remained near all-time lows and one previously overfished stock was rebuilt.

In addition, new information became available last year for several stocks, which resulted in first-time status determinations with only one of the stocks subject to overfishing as well as being overfished.

The bad news, though, is that, “The total number of stocks listed as overfished increased, due to a number of factors, including those outside the control of domestic fisheries management.”

More recently, North Carolina’s fisheries director said neither of the federal lists includes two of the state’s most important species in need of rebuilding.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

MAFMC Meeting October 7-10 in Durham, NC

October 1, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Briefing materials are now available for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s October 7-10 meeting at the Durham Convention Center (301 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC 27701, Telephone 919-956-9404).

Meeting Materials: A detailed agenda and briefing materials are available on the October 2019 Council Meeting page. Presentations and supplemental documents will be posted there as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments received by 5:00 p.m. on October 3, 2019 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using the online comment form.

Webinar: Members of the public can listen to the meeting and view presentations live via webinar at the following link:

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming Meetings Affecting Federal Fisheries and Opportunities for Public Input

September 30, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold several meetings in the coming weeks on topics affecting federal fisheries management off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the east coast of Florida. Fishermen and others interested in offshore fisheries are encouraged to attend the meetings (in-person or via webinar) and provide their viewpoints and comments as the Council’s Mackerel Cobia Advisory Panel, Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel, and Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Advisory Panel meet to discuss issues, as well as the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee. Working groups for the Citizen Science Program and System Management Plan are also meeting.

All meetings are open to the public and available via webinar. Meeting materials, including agendas/overviews, public comment forms, briefing book materials, and presentations, are available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/ as noted below.

Read the meeting materials, provide comment, and mark your calendar to listen in!

Citizen Science Projects Advisory Committee
October 7-8, 2019
Webinar Only
Briefing book, webinar registration, and public comment form now available at:
https://safmc.net/citizen-science-program/

Mackerel Cobia Advisory Panel
October 7-8, 2019
Town and Country Inn
Charleston, SC
Briefing book, webinar registration, and public comment form now available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings/

System Management Plan Workgroup
October 8-9, 2019
Town and Country Inn
Charleston, SC
Briefing book, webinar registration, and public comment form now available at:
https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/other-meetings/.

Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel
October 9-11, 2019
Town and Country Inn
Charleston, SC
Briefing book, webinar registration, and public comment form now available at:
https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings/.

Scientific and Statistical Committee
October 15-17, 2019
Crowne Plaza Charleston Airport – Convention Center
Charleston, SC
https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/scientific-and-statistical-committee-meetings/.

Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Advisory Panel
October 22-24, 2019
FWC Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
St. Petersburg, FL
https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings/.

October 2019 MAFMC Meeting Agenda

September 12, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting to be held October 7-10, 2019 in Durham, NC. The meeting will be held at the The meeting will be held at the Durham Convention Center (301 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC 27701, Telephone 919-956-9404). Lodging for the meeting will be at the Durham Marriott Center City (201 Foster St, Durham, NC 27701, 919-768-6000).

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted on the Council website at http://ww.mafmc.org/briefing/october-2019.

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on September 25, 2019 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on October 3, 2019 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using an online comment form available at available at http://www.mafmc.org/public-comment.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/october2019.

Agenda: Click here for a detailed meeting agenda.

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

Hurricane Dorian lands a punch on Outer Banks

September 11, 2019 — Almost a year to the date after Hurricane Florence wreaked havoc in North Carolina’s fishing communities, Hurricane Dorian started its march toward the same target.

The week-long trek up the Southeast coastline had North Carolina’s fishermen pulling boats and removing gear from the waters. For most the effort paid off, with the aftermath proving to be little more than a cleanup and of course, precious time lost on the water.

Some were not as fortunate. Ocracoke Island, a barrier island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks near where Dorian made landfall Sept. 6, took the brunt and experienced catastrophic flooding with widespread destruction of property.

About 800 people, many commercial fishing families, rode out the storm on Ocracoke. Boats were lost, homes flooded, fish houses and waterfront restaurants destroyed.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Study details mislabeling of North Carolina shrimp

September 10, 2019 — A third of shrimp labeled “local” wild shrimp in North Carolina was actually imported farmed shrimp, a new study found.

A forensics sciences class at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill obtained shrimp samples from 60 grocery stores and seafood markets across the state, and found that 35 percent mislabeled local shrimp at least once. That is consistent with the mislabeling rate on shrimp nationwide, the students wrote in the article published on BioRxiv.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Dorian’s deluge: Carolinas batten down for battering

September 6, 2019 — The death toll in the Bahamas rose to 23 as the eye of Hurricane Dorian moved off of South Carolina’s Cape Romain, near Myrtle Beach. At 2 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, Sept. 5, the storm was headed NNE with sustained winds of about 110 miles per hour, according to NOAA.

The hurricane was expected to bring an intense storm surge with heavy rainfall, high winds and tornadoes to the Carolinas before moving up the coast to lash the Northeast with bands of rain throughout the weekend.

Dorian’s hit comes almost exactly one year after Hurricane Florence came ashore near Wilmington, N.C., close to the South Carolina border.

On Thursday, the storm had knocked out power for about 250,000 customers in South Carolina, and about 360,000 residents of the state had evacuated. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency for all 100 counties in his state. Fishermen throughout the Carolinas were busy removing gear from the water as Dorian beat down on the Bahamas over the weekend.

Read the full story at National Fisherman