Saving Seafood

North Carolina streamlines shellfish aquaculture permit process

July 31, 2019 — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recently signed into law Senate Bill 648, the Support Shellfish Aquaculture program, which establishes new large-scale leasing rules and a newly streamlined permitting process.

The “enterprise” areas proved to be one of the key reasons why this year’s effort on aquaculture was successful. The House passed Senate Bill 648, Support Shellfish Aquaculture, on June 12 in a 116-0 vote. In early May, the Senate approved the bill in a 47-0 vote, according to local press reports.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

5 shark attack survivors explain how they made it out alive

July 31, 2019 — A 19-year-old surfer who suffered a vicious shark bite last month was determined to face his fears as soon as his wounds healed.

Not only did Austin Reed return to the ocean just over a month after the attack, he went back to the exact site of the harrowing encounter, North Carolina’s Ocean Isle Beach.

“I went back to the spot where I got bit,” Reed told Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Wednesday. “I thought that was the best way to get closure.”

Reed was one of five shark attack survivors who shared their stories on TODAY Wednesday.

He was joined by Keane Webre-Hayes, who needed 1,000 stitches after being attacked in California while lobster diving; Tiffany Johnson, a mother of three whose right arm was amputated after she was bitten while snorkeling in the Bahamas; Lola Pollina, who was bitten at New York’s Fire Island last year; and Jonathan Hernandez, who was attacked last month while spearfishing in the Bahamas.

Read the full story at Today

Could tiny pieces of plastic in fish become a big problem for humans?

July 30, 2019 — Most of us would agree that plastic waste is a problem.

The sheer amount of plastic thrown away by humans is staggering and easy to see on roadsides, in landfills and oceans.

Plastic bags and water and soda bottles are easily identifiable forms of plastic trash but what happens when those items break down into what are called microplastics?

The short answer is that animals eat these plastic pieces less than five millimeters in size, and a research team at UNCW is studying how contaminants in the plastic might be transferred from prey to black sea bass.

“The goal is to assess how these black sea bass might be impacted by plastic pollution,” said Cheyenne Stienbarger, a masters student at UNCW who is part of the research team. “Black sea bass are a commercially and recreationally important species along the east coast, particularly in North Carolina. We’re really hoping to get a better understanding of how these fish might be impacted.”

Read the full story at WETC

North Carolina’s summer flounder deemed ‘overfished’

July 30, 2019 — One of the US state of North Carolina’s most valuable stocks has been deemed “overfished” and harvesters will likely face steep cuts to catch limits, Carolina Coast Online reported.

According to the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries, the most recent stock assessment for southern flounder shows that it is both “overfished” and undergoing “overfishing”, key designations that will trigger cuts.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

What can researchers learn by eavesdropping on fish?

July 17, 2019 — Oyster reef restoration provides important benefits, such as stabilizing shorelines, filtering water, and providing habitat for estuarine fish. However, quantifying fish use of restored oyster reefs can be difficult. Traditional sampling methods do not record all fish species and are often conducted only intermittently. As a result, fish diversity and resulting conservation and restoration decisions often rely on incomplete “snapshots” in time.

Luckily, many  and invertebrates make sounds to communicate, navigate, and feed, providing the opportunity to “listen in” to learn about what species are present, when they are present, and what behaviors they exhibit on restored reefs.

Passive acoustic recording offers a non-destructive method to gather data on species of ecological and economic importance that traditional sampling misses. This information is vital for understanding fish behavior, including when and where certain species are spawning—a key to conservation and for establishing targets for habitat restoration.

Researchers at NC State University monitored oyster cultch reefs for two years following restoration, using a combination of traditional net and trap fish sampling and underwater acoustic surveys. In North Carolina, oyster cultch reefs are constructed primarily to provide oysters for harvest, and the NC State team wanted to determine their value as fish habitat, which is currently unknown.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Coast Guard finds federal fisheries violations aboard 5 recreational fishing vessels

July 17, 2019 — PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The following was released by the U.S. Coast Guard, along with a correction from a previous release:

Correction: the vessels found to be in violation by not having their Federal Fisheries Permit were recreational and not commercial fishing vessels.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fritch found five recreational vessels fishing for highly migratory species without Federal Fisheries Permits, a violation discovered during the routine boarding process over the weekend near Oregon Inlet, N.C. 

Recreational fishing in federal waters without the appropriate permit violates the Magnuson-Stevens Act.  Fishermen found in violation of this act can be subject to fines up $3,750.

“Applying for and maintaining a Federal Fisheries Permit and abiding by appropriate catch limits facilitates NOAA’s ability to regulate overfishing keeping the species healthy,” said Lt. Brittany Fifer, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Rollin Fitch. “The Federal Fisheries Permit program levels the playing field for all fisherman.”

Information about fishing permits to include the acquisition process can be found on the National Marine Fisheries Service website. For any additional questions, please call 1-888-872-8862.

NORTH CAROLINA: Wind power ban dropped from wind power legislation

June 26, 2019 — A freeze on new wind turbines the Senate approved for wide swaths of the state is gone from a new proposal on regulating wind turbines.

House and Senate negotiators removed the moratorium the Senate approved in Senate bill 377 and added an addition to the state permitting process by requiring the state to ask for more information from military commanders.

Companies that want to erect wind turbines must already seek local, state and federal approval.

The bill approved by a House committee Tuesday was described as a compromise between the House and Senate. It is a drastic change from the ban on wind turbines Sen. Harry Brown, a Jacksonville Republican, first proposed. Brown has said wind farms pose a threat to military bases because they can interfere with flight training. Wind farms could weaken future campaigns to keep bases in the state when federal committees evaluate military installations for closure or consolidation, he argued.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

Record Number of Leatherback Turtles Tagged in North Carolina

June 24, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Despite challenging weather conditions, NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues captured and tagged a record 13 leatherback turtles May 14-22 off Beaufort, North Carolina, continuing a project begun in 2017 to assess the abundance, movements, behavior, and health status of these turtles. It is the second year this team has tagged leatherbacks off North Carolina, where the turtles aggregate in coastal waters during their northward spring migration.

Turtle researchers Heather Haas and Eric Matzen from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Woods Hole Laboratory joined NOAA Fisheries Southeast staffers, including team leader Chris Sasso, Larisa  Avens, Annie Gorgone, Blake Price, Jamie Clark and Joanne McNeil during the nine-day field operation.  A team of veterinarians led by Dr. Craig Harms from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine assessed health status, while Samir Patel and colleagues from the Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) brought several types of suction cup tags for testing. These tags record high-resolution video as well as environmental and movement information.

Research was coordinated with Dr. Matthew Godfrey of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, who assisted in the field work. Haas and Matzen brought the Woods Hole Laboratory’s research vessel Selkie and an inflatable Takacat raft to provide field support.

Read the full release here

Young fish might soon be the ones that get away from North Carolina fishermen

June 21, 2019 — Fishermen won’t be able to catch certain species of fish in North Carolina unless they meet minimum size standards set by state regulators under a proposal that cleared the House on Thursday.

House Bill 483, dubbed “Let Them Spawn,” directs the state Marine Fisheries Commission to set minimum sizes for spot, Atlantic croaker, kingfish, striped mullet, southern flounder and bluefish. The sizes will be based on biological data to ensure that 75 percent of juvenile fish in each species will be able to reach maturity and spawn at least once.

The issue pits recreational anglers against commercial fishermen and was debated for about two hours over two days before the House voted 58-47 on final approval – a preliminary vote Wednesday was even closer, at 58-54 – sending the measure to the Senate.

Read the full story at WRAL

Minimum-Size North Carolina Catch Rules Narrowly Clear House

June 20, 2019 — North Carolina‘s significant commercial and recreational marine fish species all would be subject to minimum-length catch thresholds in legislation that cleared one General Assembly chamber.

Thursday’s 58-47 House vote didn’t fall along party lines, as members were split on whether such restrictions would revive or decimate further declining fish stocks.

A 1997 law required state regulators to adopt fisheries management plans to discourage overfishing, but proposal supporters questioned their effectiveness. Bill sponsor Rep. Larry Yarborough of Person County called the minimum-size requirement a common-sense way to ensure more fish mature and reproduce.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News