Saving Seafood

Maine fishermen say there’s plenty of cod. Scientists might give them the chance to prove it.

January 16, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Seeking to end a long-running disagreement about exactly how many cod are left in the Gulf of Maine, federal scientists plan to outfit commercial fishermen with equipment used to establish groundfish quotas.

The fishermen tend to argue that there are more cod than the government realizes; therefore, the number they may legally catch should be higher. Government scientists counter that fishermen’s natural tendency to fish where they are most likely to catch large numbers leads them to overestimate the cod population in the entire Gulf of Maine.

By next year, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center hopes to begin outfitting commercial boats with surveying equipment and paying fishermen to pull in catches that will supplement the regular trawl surveys conducted by government scientists, according to Russell Brown, who heads the center’s population dynamics branch. The gathered data will be fed into the complex process used to set catch quotas.

It’s a collaboration that Brown hopes will give regulators a more detailed picture of the fish population and build trust among fishermen, who in turn see it as an opportunity to show the scientists what’s really going on.

For years, fishermen and scientists have clashed over how to properly estimate fish populations and set the catch quotas that rule the livelihoods of Maine fishermen. Fishermen suggest that scientists are missing fish and setting the quotas too low, while scientists say fishermen are missing the big picture. But both groups believe collaboration would be a positive step toward better protecting Maine’s fishing industry and environment, even as ocean waters warm.

“It’s really perplexing that you’ve got a set of federal scientists who are sampling the ocean methodically and coming up with a very different picture than the fishermen about what’s going on out in the Gulf of Maine,” Jonathan Labaree of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute said.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Local Fishermen Urged to Complete NOAA Fisheries Survey

December 14, 2016 –HYANNIS, Mass. — In August, approximately 2,500 vessel owners in the Northeast were asked to provide data on 2015 business costs, in an effort for NOAA Fisheries to have a better understanding on how management actions impact the bottom line of fishing businesses, and the deadline to complete these surveys is rapidly approaching.

While completing the survey is voluntary, NOAA Fisheries is hoping for a strong response.

“Every response is important if we are to end up with sufficient data to reflect costs,” said Tammy Murphy, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center economist.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Announces Funding for Four New Research Projects Impacting Fisheries Management

October 26, 2016 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

WILLIAMSBURG, VA — The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) is sponsored by the Industry & University Cooperative Research Program (I/UCRC) of the National Science Foundation. I/UCRC programs bring participants from industry, government, and other organizations in need of science-based solutions into contact with academic scientists capable of providing that expertise. The SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board is composed of members from the shellfish industry, commercial and recreational finfish interests and government agencies such as the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The organizational structure provided by the Center permits members to control the science agenda in exchange for financial support. The SCeMFiS mission utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries.

SCeMFiS develops methods, tools and analytical approaches to maximize sustainable fisheries and reduce uncertainty in abundance estimates. SCeMFiS university partners, University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution), and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary are the academic sites. Collaborating scientists who provide specific expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal research, come from a wide range of academic institutions including Cornell University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and University of Washington.

The Industry Advisory Board (IAB) of SCeMFiS has allocated $139,000 in funding for three new research projects and a continuing involvement with the marine mammal assessment process during the Fall IAB Meeting held October 13-14, 2016 in Williamsburg, Virginia (see http://scemfis.org/research.html for a list of research projects underway). The new initiatives are:

  • Biostatistical and fishery-dependent sampling of Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias), Phase II,
  • A meta-analysis of the impact of forage fish abundance on predator productivity, and
  • Design of a cooperative winter pelagic survey for Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in the Mid-Atlantic.

Currently, there is a growing need for the diverse services that SCeMFiS can provide to industry which has prompted a steady increase in their fishing industry partners. These services include immediate access to science expertise for stock assessment issues, rapid response to research priorities, and representation on stock assessment teams within the various fisheries management councils.

SCeMFiS members identify target species of interest, provide research leading to improvements in models and assessment designs to quantify stock status and develop reference points, determine economic and societal impacts of changes within the fishing industry, and fill critical knowledge gaps in fisheries science. The Center’s research projects are intended to validate and quantify benefits for a sustainable harvest of finfish and shellfish while trying to maintain ecological stability.

“Collaborative research that involves the industry, science and management community is our goal and is crucial to our collective success,” says Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association. Funding this October emphasizes research on forage fish. “The management of important forage fish species, like Atlantic menhaden and chub mackerel is challenged by concerns that managers are not leaving enough of these fish in the water to provide necessary ‘ecosystem services’.   We are supporting research that balances this view with the opportunity to manage forage fish species to the benefit of coastal communities and the Nation, on a sustainable basis. Providing for the future needs of humans in the system also demands rigorous scientific inquiry. One of SCeMFiS’ core missions is to reduce uncertainties in marine fisheries stock assessment in the region, which directly leads to ensuring robust sustainable fisheries.”, says Jeff Kaelin, SCeMFiS chair and government relations coordinator for Lund’s Fisheries, Inc., a family-owned, vertically-integrated seafood company located in Cape May, New Jersey.

What is the importance of SCeMFiS? Economics. The fishing industry needs urgent answers to maintain the livelihood of many port towns along the coast. However, Tom Murray of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science writes that this importance goes much further. He states, “Commercial fishery product landings begin the product development, processing and distribution changes which create additional economic value and impacts beyond the initial landed value and economic impact.” In other words, the fishing industry is the catalyst to generate economic value not only in fishing ports but throughout a range of economic sectors including transportation, food services, and supporting manufacturing and financial services. Science in support of sustainable fisheries is a critical component underpinning this economic engine.

The IAB will review each of their funded projects at its next meeting that will be held April 26-27, 2017 in Ocean Springs Mississippi at the Gulf Coast Research Lab, University of Southern Mississippi. Learn more about SCeMFiS at http://www.SCeMFiS.org.

See the full release here

ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Approves 2017 Fishery Specifications

October 26th, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved a spiny dogfish commercial quota of 39,099,717 pounds for the 2017 fishing season (May 1, 2017 – April 30, 2018). The Board maintained a 6,000 pound commercial trip limit in state waters (0-3 miles from shore) in the northern region (Maine through Connecticut). States in the southern region (New York to North Carolina) have the ability to set state-specific trip limits based on the needs of their fisheries. 

The quota and northern region trip limit are consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Although the spiny dogfish commercial quota represents a slight decrease from the previous year, the 2015 assessment update projects spawning stock biomass to increase starting in 2019. Therefore, the commercial quota is expected to increase in the next specifications cycle if the projection is supported by catches in the Northeast Fisheries Science Center spring survey.

The 2017 spiny dogfish commercial quota allocations (in pounds) for the northern region and the states of New York through North Carolina are described below. Any overages from the 2016 season will be deducted from that region’s or state’s 2017 quota allocation. 

For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.orgor 703.842.0740.

DON CUDDY: A clean sweep on the ocean floor

October 4th, 2016 — Most of the reporting in the media about commercial fishing and declining stocks in the Northeast dwells on how dire the situation has become with the fault generally attributed to fishermen and “overfishing.”

The view on the waterfront is very different, however. Fishermen have long maintained that there is a huge disconnect between what they see on the water and the conclusions derived from the surveys and stock assessments made by the National Oceanaic and Atmospheric Administration. Their claims have been dismissed as self-serving. Now it seems the fishermen have a strong case. On a recent bottom trawl survey, a typical industry net caught four times as many flatfish as the rig used on the government trawl surveys.

For years, fishermen have clamored for more collaborative research using industry vessels. They were largely ignored. But in August, Dr. Bill Karp, director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, revealed a plan for NOAA Fisheries to shift all or part of its trawl surveys from its research vessel, the Henry B. Bigelow, to commercial fishing boats. At the same time, from Aug. 7-21 the Point Judith fishing vessel Karen Elizabeth was at sea conducting a twin-trawl survey on behalf of the Science Center with a team of scientists working alongside the crew.

The boat was rigged to tow two nets simultaneously, each of the type used on the Bigelow, with one significant difference. One net was fitted with a rockhopper and the other had a chain sweep. Because different fish species behave differently, fishermen use a chain sweep, attached to the leading edge of the net and in contact with the sea floor, when targeting flatfish such as witch flounder. These fish hide in the sediment on soft bottom to evade predators. You will hear fishermen refer to fishing boats with rockhoppers as “hard bottom boats” because those boats typically go after other species such as cod and haddock which tend to be found over rocky or gravel bottom.

The Bigelow uses a rockhopper on every tow, despite surveying in our multispecies fishery. That is because this gear allows nets to be towed across a variety of habitats. A net equipped with a chain sweep is prone to snag on a rocky bottom. Its exclusive use of a rockhopper has been a point of contention with the fishermen since the Bigelow commenced operations in these waters. Fishermen openly questioned its accuracy in estimating flatfish abundance. The survey work on the Karen Elizabeth has provided the evidence that their skepticism is well founded. Here are some relevant quotes taken from the Science Center’s own paper, authored by the scientists who were on the Karen Elizabeth to conduct the study:

“On average, catch rates in the experimental chain sweep gear were about 4-fold the catch rates of the rockhopper sweep gear used on the standard survey.”

Read the full opinion piece at The New Bedford Standard-Times 

New England Fishery Management Council seeks at-large Research Steering Committee members

September 29, 2016 — The following was released by the NEFMC:

The New England Fishery Management Council is seeking at-large members to serve on its Research Steering Committee.  The committee’s primary mission is to foster collaborations between fishermen and scientists and advise the Council on research priorities aimed at achieving collaborative outcomes.  The committee also reviews final reports to ensure that research projects have had adequate technical review and to discuss how information gained from the research may be used in management.

When fully populated, the Research Steering Committee is made up of:  four voting Council members who are appointed annually; one Northeast Fisheries Science Center representative; one National Marine Fisheries Service representative from the Greater Atlantic Region Fisheries Office; and eight at-large members.

The Council specifically is seeking applicants for the eight at-large seats, which are broken down as follows:

  • Two fishery scientists;
  • Four fishermen;
  • One representative from the conservation community; and
  • One representative from academia.

The solicitation announcement states, “The Council Chairman will appoint Research Steering Committee members on the basis of their experience and expertise concerning fishing, fisheries science and research, and/or fisheries policy.”

The committee meets roughly three times per year.  Expenses for travel, meals, and lodging will be paid for in accordance with the Council’s travel policy.

NOAA ship back after extensive trip

September 6, 2016 — NEWPORT, RI — Research scientists recently had the first confirmed sighting of a True’s beaked whale that was combined with a verified recording of the whale’s sounds.

“The whales are very far offshore and can spend one to three hours below the surface without coming up,” said Debra Palka, a research biologist with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass. “The whales are not seen very often.”

Palka was among a team of scientists that just completed a 54-day trip at sea aboard the 209-foot National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel Henry B. Bigelow, which was welcomed back home Friday at a ceremony that featured U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Rear Adm. Anita Lopez, deputy director for operations in NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations; and Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Taylor, Bigelow’s commanding officer, as the speakers.

Reed announced in April that Bigelow’s new home port would be Newport, moving here permanently from Woods Hole. He lobbied for several years to have the ship here because the waterfront at Naval Station Newport is an integral part of operations for both NOAA and Coast Guard vessels, he said.

Read the full story at The Westerly Sun

Bottom trawlers sought for NOAA surveys

September 2, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries is looking for a few good boats.

The federal fishing regulator’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole seeks one to three commercial fishing boats to participate in the agency’s bottom trawl survey in the waters of the mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the Atlantic Ocean.

The use of the commercial vessels to help supplement — or in some cases, supplant — the work of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s survey vessel, the FSV Henry B. Bigelow, is one of the first steps in NOAA’s recently announced plan to incorporate more commercial boats in the trawl survey.

NOAA announced on Aug. 3 that it plans to shift “part or all” of its spring and fall trawl surveys to fishing industry boats over the next five years in an attempt to get more consistent and expansive coverage and to bridge the current gap between what fishermen say they are seeing on the water and what NOAA is reporting from its trawl surveys.

“The goal is to build trust in the best science through cooperative and collaborative research and improving both the communication and transparency with the fishing industry,” Bill Karp, the director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said at the announcement.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Sharing survey work signals positive shift in government, fishermen relationship

August 9, 2016 — The announcement from NOAA on Tuesday that they will begin to transition the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s bottom trawl surveys from their research ship, the Henry B. Bigelow, to fishing industry vessels is a cause for celebration on the waterfront and represents a real opportunity to get the fishing industry in New England out of disaster mode. It is a bold decision but it is undoubtedly the correct one and, from an industry perspective, one that is long overdue.

Science Center director Dr. Bill Karp deserves enormous credit for setting this process in motion. It is a clear signal that NOAA wants to build trust and transparency, qualities that have not always been in evidence in its long and difficult relationship with the commercial fishing industry in New England.

The problems facing our fisheries are well documented. But amidst all the controversy, litigation and hard feelings surrounding fishery management, there is general agreement on one point: the need for better fishery science, to enable timelier, more accurate and more useful stock assessments. Maintaining healthy, sustainable fish stocks to support a robust commercial fishing industry are goals shared by all. Of course fishermen should be actively involved in the collection of survey data since the results determine how much fish they are permitted to catch.

We hear a great deal in the media about overfishing but the value of groundfish landings has declined by almost 50 percent since 2011. Yet the catch for several of our stocks is less than 50 percent of the quota because of regulatory constraints and catch limits that do not reflect what fishermen see out on the water. It is a fact that more fish are dying of old age in our waters than are coming ashore, largely as a result of scientific uncertainty. Fishermen continue to pay a heavy price for such uncertainty and many understandably feel as though they have become merely objects of regulation.

Read the full op-ed at the New Bedford Standard-Times

‘Sea change:’ NOAA to shift fish surveys to commercial boats

August 3, 2016 — In what one advocate called “a potential sea change” for the commercial fishing industry, NOAA Fisheries announced intentions Tuesday to shift all or part of long-controversial stock surveys from its Bigelow research vessel to commercial boats, saying a transition over the next five years could bring “greater shared confidence” in survey results.

“We have to learn to work better with the (commercial fishing) industry — we have to open up better lines of communication,” Dr. Bill Karp, director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, said of the transition.

How fish stocks are measured has been one of the biggest points of contention for years between governmental regulators and commercial fishermen, as survey results affect seasonal catch limits, quotas for various species and more. The latest questions about NOAA’s Henry R. Bigelow research ship arose this spring, for example, when maintenance problems delayed NOAA’s spring survey from April to June.

Don Cuddy, program director for the Center for Sustainable Fisheries in New Bedford, said fishermen also have felt the Bigelow is unable to accurately count “flatfish,” such as yellowtail flounder, because of the type of gear it tows.

“Yellowtail flounder are critical to the scallop industry as well as the groundfish,” Cuddy said, explaining that low quotas for yellowtail can force scallopers to prematurely stop operations, if they incidentally snag too many yellowtail as a bycatch.

Cuddy said enabling commercial boats to participate in NOAA surveys — and placing government scientists on the same boats as fishermen — could help “close the credibility gap” that has long surrounded survey results.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times