Saving Seafood

2020-2021 Scallop RSA Competition Underway; September 20 Deadline for Project Proposals

July 25, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The federal competition for 2020-2021 awards through the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program is now open. The deadline for submitting full proposals is Friday, September 20, 2019 at 5 p.m.

The New England Fishery Management Council established the Scallop RSA Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Council sets research priorities for this program, while the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) administers the RSA competition, oversees award projects, and monitors set-aside harvest activities through the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO).

Read the full release here

Highlighting the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program for Shark Week

July 23, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Apex Predators Program studies the life history and ecology of sharks in the marine and coastal waters of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. In 1962, they began the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program with about 100 volunteer recreational and commercial fishermen, scientists, and fisheries observers. Today they have more than 7000 volunteers contributing data to the Tagging Program.

More than 295,000 sharks, comprising more than 50 species, have been tagged to date. The data from tagging and recapture events have been instrumental in shaping what we know about shark migration and distribution. It also helped to define the essential fish habitat for 38 federally managed shark species. It continues to be used for defining and updating areas designated as essential for shark survival.

Blue sharks (Prionace glauca) are a common pelagic species found in New England waters. More than 122,000 blue sharks have been tagged to date and they’re the most tagged species of shark in our Tagging Program’s database. In fact, they account for 42% of all the tagged sharks recorded in our database and of the more than 122,000 tagged blue sharks, 7% of them have been recaptured at least once.

Read the full release here

Six Right Whale Deaths In One Month: ‘Panicking Seems Appropriate’

July 3, 2019 — Five North Atlantic right whales have been found dead in the past week, and six in the last month. With just over 400 remaining and calving rates low, that’s a death toll the critically endangered population can’t afford.

“Panicking seems appropriate, yes,” said Peter Corkeron, who leads the large whale research program at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

The whales’ death toll is similar to that of the summer of 2017, when there was one death in early June, and then, later in the month, five deaths in the span of a week, all in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That summer went on to become catastrophic for the whales, with a total of 12 documented fatalities in Canadian waters and another six in U.S. waters.

There are notable differences, as well, though. In 2017, some whales were hit by ships, but many of the deaths were due to whales getting tangled in fishing gear. This year, ship strikes seem to be the primary problem.

Large numbers of North Atlantic right whales have been sighted in the western Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent summers. Corkeron says that may be because of a subtle shift in where the animals are spending their time. Right whales have only started showing up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in significant numbers in the past few years, a change in their migration patterns that researchers attribute to climate change.

Read the full story at WGBH

New Indicators Could Help Manage Global Overfishing

June 27, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The smallest plants and creatures in the ocean power entire food webs, including the fish that much of the world’s population depends on for food, work and cultural identity.

In a paper published in Science Advances, NOAA Fisheries researcher Jason Link and colleague Reg Watson from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies suggest that scientists and resource managers need to focus on whole ecosystems rather than solely on individual populations. Population-by-population fishery management is more common around the world, but a new approach could help avoid damaging overfishing and the insecurity that brings to fishing economies.

“In simple terms, to successfully manage fisheries in an ecosystem, the rate of removal for all fishes combined must be equal to or less than the rate of renewal for all those fish,” said Link, the senior scientist for ecosystem management at NOAA Fisheries and a former fisheries scientist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

The authors suggest using large-scale ecosystem indices as a way to determine when ecosystem overfishing is occurring. They propose three indices, each based on widely available catch and satellite data, to link fisheries landings to primary production and energy transfer up the marine food chain. Specific thresholds developed for each index make it possible, they say, to determine if ecosystem overfishing is occurring. By their definition, ecosystem overfishing occurs when the total catch of all fish is declining, the total catch rate or fishing effort required to get that catch is also declining, and the total landings relative to the production in that ecosystem exceed suitable limits.

Read the full release here

New England Coastal Waters Warming More Than Anywhere Else In U.S.

June 27, 2019 — Waters off the coast of New England have warmed up more than any other coastal areas in the United States — up to 3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1901. That’s according to a new analysis of recently collected federal ocean data by the independent research nonprofit Climate Central.

Their report also notes that fresh and salt waters across the United States are warming 40% faster than expected.

In New England, this means changes for the fishing industry: Cold water fish are moving to deeper waters, and species from warmer climates are moving in, according to research fishery biologist Vincent Saba of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

“We’ve seen dramatic shifts in where fishermen are catching species today, versus where they were being caught say 15 or 20 years ago,” Saba says.

Read the full story at WBUR

2019 Northeast Sea Scallop Survey Finishes

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

The 2019 Northeast sea scallop survey got underway May 15 aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp, first covering stations in the Mid-Atlantic and then on Georges Bank. Operations concluded on June 14.

This survey occurs annually. It uses both a dredge to collect physical samples of sea life and their habitat, and a towed vehicle known as the HabCam. The HabCam is fitted with a number of sampling instruments, including cameras that photograph the ocean bottom. This dual sampling method enriches data available to researchers and helps ensure that information can be collected even if one of the systems fails during survey operations.

2019 NEFSC Sampling Effort

Most of the dredge operations occurred on Georges Bank. Planned dredge stations were completed throughout the Georges Bank area, and additional stations were added in the Great South Channel. Only two dredge stations were planned for the Mid-Atlantic area. These were completed.

HabCam coverage in the Mid-Atlantic was the most comprehensive achieved by the Center survey to date.

On Georges Bank, only the Southern Flank tracks and a small part of the northern Great South Channel were covered—about 30 percent of planned HabCam tracks for Georges Bank. HabCam tracks planned for the Northeast Edge and most of Great South Channel were not completed owing to operational issues with the HabCam vehicle and two days of unworkable weather.

“The sea scallop fishery is among the most valuable in the region, and people who rely on it also rely on us to provide the best possible data,” said Jon Hare, director of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center. “We were able to conduct additional dredge samples in the areas of Georges Bank that HabCam did not cover, and the team on the vessel did an excellent job adapting to the situation.”

Read the full release here

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

HabCam loss during Northeast scallop survey raises concerns about survey management

June 18, 2019 — The loss of the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center “HabCam” (short for Habitat Mapping Camera) during a recent scallop survey has raised concerns from some groups about the transparency of the survey process.

The sea scallop survey of the U.S. Northeast scallop fishery performed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center uses a combination of dredging and the HabCam to determine the densities of scallops at survey stations in the areas that are typically fished. Data from both the camera and the dredge, as well as data from a number of other surveys performed by colleges and other institutions,  are used to create a model that the various government organizations managing the resource – including the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) – use to set quotas for the coming year.

The HabCam is towed behind the research vessel on a long tether and is used to take detailed photos of the sea floor in order to get ideas on how dense and mature the scallop population is. According to the science center, during a survey of the Great South Channel on 6 June the HabCam struck an uncharted object in 130 feet of water, severing the tow cable.

“The weak link in the tow cable broke, as intended when tension is too great,” the science center wrote in a release. “This limits damage to both the instrument and the ship’s tow winch. The HabCam was separated from the ship, but a sound-emitting locator attached to it signaled its location.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Northeast Sea Scallop Survey Concludes This Weekend

June 14, 2019 — The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 2019 Northeast sea scallop survey is expected to be completed this weekend.

The survey, which is conducted from the Mid-Atlantic to Georges Bank, aims to determine the distribution and abundance of scallops and associated fauna using a dredge, and a stereo-optic towed camera array.

The scallop fishery is one of the nation’s most valuable.

The survey was recently impacted as the HabCAM hit a large rock breaking the tow cable.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

New Stock Assessment Process Underway in the Northeast

June 14, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

After more than two years of development and planning, a better and more collaborative fishery stock assessment process is debuting in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. The new process puts stock assessments on a regular schedule.  It also makes assessments more flexible, with more opportunities for research.  It allows more input from industry, and will help continue to provide the best possible scientific advice to managers to ensure the long-term health of fisheries.

As Mike Simpkins, chief of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division says, “Longer term assessment planning gives us more opportunities to communicate with our partners, both external researchers and industry.” Simpkins’ division leads fishery stock assessments for NOAA Fisheries in the Northeast.

Whats New?

The improved process has two types of assessments: management and research. The former updates or enhances current assessments, the latter is more comprehensive and can involve new research and extensive changes in the assessment. Both types will be reviewed by an independent panel of experts to ensure that they deliver high-quality science.

By agreeing years, rather than months, ahead on a long-term schedule of assessments, there is now time to develop research specifically for that assessment, and to involve more external researchers and fishermen in that work.  There is also more flexibility to include new information during management assessments.

Read the full release here