Saving Seafood

Squid a possible culprit in Gulf of Maine shrimp’s demise

October 14, 2021 — Maine’s shrimp fishery has been closed for nearly a decade since the stock’s collapse in 2013. Scientists are now saying a species of squid that came into the Gulf of Maine during a historic ocean heatwave the year before may have been a “major player” in the shrimp’s downturn.

In 2012, the Gulf of Maine experienced some of its warmest temperatures in decades. Within a couple of years, the cold-water-loving northern shrimp had rapidly declined and the fishery, a small but valued source of income for fishermen in the offseason, closed.

Anne Richards, a biologist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and Margaret Hunter, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, studied the collapse and found that it coincided with an influx of longfin squid, a major shrimp predator.

The squid is a “voracious and opportunistic” predator that Richards and Hunter believe expanded in the gulf during the heatwave at the same time the shrimp population was struggling because of warmer water temperatures.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Northern Shrimp Population Collapse Linked to Warming Ocean Temperatures, Squid Predation

September 29, 2021 — An extreme heatwave in the Gulf of Maine in 2012 resulted in the warmest ocean temperatures in the region in decades. By 2013, the Atlantic northern shrimp population in the gulf had experienced a stock “collapse.” That is what fishery scientists call a rapid decrease in numbers that is not a natural fluctuation in stock size. Scientists studying the collapse have found that during this time, warmer temperatures were linked to increases in longfin squid, a major shrimp predator. They arrived in the Gulf of Maine sooner than usual and in more areas where shrimp occur.

”Our results suggest that longfin squid may have been a major player in the collapse of Gulf of Maine northern shrimp during an extreme heat wave event,” said Anne Richards, a biologist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Richards co-authored the study with Margaret Hunter from the Maine Department of Marine Resources Division of Biological Monitoring and Assessment. They recently published their conclusions in the online journal PLOS ONE.

Read the full story from NOAA

As climate change threatens Maine fisheries, it’s not all bad news for oysters

September 28, 2020 — Despite the threat climate change poses to longstanding Maine fisheries such as lobsters and softshell clams, and the harm it already has inflicted on northern shrimp and groundfish, there is one Maine fishery that has seen rapid growth in the past decade and is expected to continue expanding: oysters.

Eastern oysters are native to Maine, and have long been harvested as food along the coast, as evidenced by piles of ancient shell middens found along the banks of the tidal Damariscotta River. The river is where the current fishery was revived as an aquaculture enterprise in the 1980s, when growers seeded and harvested hundreds of thousands of pounds of both Eastern and European oysters each year.

Since then the industry has expanded along the Maine coast to Wells in York County and Steuben in Washington County to include nearly 100 commercial lease sites (more than two dozen of which are on the Damariscotta River) and millions of dollars in annual revenues. In 2019, oyster growers earned $7.6 million in gross revenues — more than three-and-a-half times what they took in in 2010 — making oysters one of the most valuable marine fisheries in the state.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

NOAA Fisheries Cancels Four Fisheries and Ecosystem Surveys for 2020

August 4, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Summer Ecosystem Monitoring, Northern Shrimp, Autumn Bottom-Trawl, and Summer/Fall Plankton surveys cancelled for 2020

Due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges those are creating for NOAA Fisheries, we are cancelling four research surveys off the East and Gulf Coast of the United States. The cancelled surveys include:

  • Autumn Bottom Trawl Survey (NEFSC)
  • Summer Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (NEFSC)
  • Northern Shrimp Survey (NEFSC)
  • Summer and Fall Plankton Survey (SEFSC)

These are difficult decisions for the agency as we strive to balance our need to maintain core mission responsibilities with the realities and impacts of the current health crisis. Since March, we have been rigorously analyzing various options for conducting surveys this year and are taking a survey-by-survey, risk-based approach. After much deliberation, we determined that we will not be able to move forward with these surveys while effectively minimizing risk and meeting core survey objectives.

The Cancelled Surveys

The Summer Ecosystem Monitoring Survey run out of the NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center captures seasonal changes in the ocean environment, information used for multiple scientific inquiries. Over its 33-year history, some seasons have been missed and the number of annual surveys has varied, and methods have been developed to bridge these data gaps.

The Northern Shrimp Survey is conducted aboard the R/V Gloria Michelle, a 72-foot ship maintained by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. A major use of survey data is setting shrimp fishery quotas. The shrimp fishery is closed through 2021.

The Autumn Bottom Trawl Survey, also run out of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, has been conducted since 1963.  It provides crucial resource and ecosystem data, especially for fishery stock assessments. A future bottom longline survey and new work on industry-based sources of data may help mitigate data gaps.

The Summer/Fall Plankton Survey, run out of NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center covers the entire continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico region from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida. It is the only fishery independent survey available to measure the spawning capacity of the adult population of Gulf of Mexico King Mackerel and an important supplemental survey for red snapper and several other reef fish.

The Summer Ecosystem Monitoring Survey run out of the NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center captures seasonal changes in the ocean environment, information used for multiple scientific inquiries. Over its 33-year history, some seasons have been missed and the number of annual surveys has varied, and methods have been developed to bridge these data gaps.

The Northern Shrimp Survey is conducted aboard the R/V Gloria Michelle, a 72-foot ship maintained by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. A major use of survey data is setting shrimp fishery quotas. The shrimp fishery is closed through 2021.

The Autumn Bottom Trawl Survey, also run out of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, has been conducted since 1963.  It provides crucial resource and ecosystem data, especially for fishery stock assessments. A future bottom longline survey and new work on industry-based sources of data may help mitigate data gaps.

The Summer/Fall Plankton Survey, run out of NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center covers the entire continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico region from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida. It is the only fishery independent survey available to measure the spawning capacity of the adult population of Gulf of Mexico King Mackerel and an important supplemental survey for red snapper and several other reef fish.

Next Steps

These cancellations follow similar difficult cancellation decisions of the ship-based work we had planned from April to July. NOAA Fisheries is continuing to assess the status of other surveys in all our regions. We are working through numerous survey scenarios relative to community pandemic safeguards and safe work practices so that we maximize the science available for fisheries management in this challenging year.

Shutdown of New England Shrimp Fishery to Continue in 2020

December 10, 2019 — New England’s shrimp fishing industry will remain shut down next year and likely beyond.

Interstate regulators met on Dec. 6 to consider the future of the industry, which has been shut down since 2013 and is under a moratorium until 2021. A regulatory panel with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission briefly discussed the possibility of reopening the fishery, but members said that might prevent the shrimp population from recovering.

The shrimp population in the Gulf of Maine is suffering due to the impacts of warming waters. Recent surveys show the species’ abundance at or near all-time lows, according to materials provided by the fisheries commission.

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

Regulators to consider coming shrimp season

December 4, 2019 — The fate of the shrimp fishery for the coming year, if any, will likely be determined Friday afternoon when the Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meets to review the 2019 Stock Assessment Update Report and updates from the section’s Summer Survey Work Group and the Northern Shrimp 2019 Summer Survey Results.

The meeting will be held by telephone and interested parties may listen to the proceedings by joining in the conference call or by signing in to a webinar to follow the meeting.

To no surprise, the news is not good for shrimp fishermen, or for Northern shrimp.

In 2018, ASMFC regulators extended an existing moratorium on commercial shrimp fishing through 2021. The three-year moratorium was established in response to continuing low numbers of shrimp in the water and to low levels of “recruitment,” a measure of the number of shrimp that survive long enough to enter the fishery.

According to the most recent stock assessment, in 2018 the northern shrimp resource in the Gulf of Maine was depleted, and the size of the spawning stock, shrimp old enough to reproduce, had remained “extremely low” since 2013.

The most recent analysis of 2019 data, prepared by the shrimp section’s technical committee last month, indicated no improvement. Indices measuring abundance — the weight of the entire shrimp population and spawning stock biomass, a measure of shrimp of reproductive age — were at the lowest levels since scientists began collecting data. The recruitment levels was the third lowest measured.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Webinar to discuss state of northern shrimp in US Gulf of Maine

December 3, 2019 — A panel within the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to hold a two-hour webinar beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday (Dec. 6) to discuss the state of northern shrimp in the New England region of the US, the Associated Press reports.

The shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013, and is in the middle of a moratorium that is scheduled to last until 2021, the wire service noted. The webinar is expected to deliver a stock assessment but not recommend any drastic changes, because the shrimp population is still suffering, a problem blamed in particular on warming Gulf of Maine waters.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Summer survey shows shrimp not rebuilding

November 20, 2019 — A year ago, fishery regulators that manage northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine closed the fishery for the 2019 season because the imperiled stock remained a prisoner to its own meager abundance and unrelenting inability to improve biomass and recruitment.

The closure — the sixth since the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission’s initial shuttering following the 2013 season — was not a surprise. What was surprising was that the commission opted to forgo a single-season closure and instead closed the northern shrimp, or Pandalus borealis, fishery for three seasons ending in 2021.

Things were that bad. Apparently, they haven’t gotten any better in the past year.

The commission’s northern shrimp section is set to convene Dec. 6 via webinar to discuss the 2019 data update to its benchmark stock assessment for northern shrimp.

Based on preliminary findings, it is not expected to be a cheery meeting.

On Tuesday, the ASFMC said preliminary findings from the 2019 northern shrimp stock summer survey —and the Maine-New Hampshire survey — show no improvement in the health of the stock and provide no compelling reason for its northern shrimp section to recommend changes to the current management plan of closures.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Meeting Scheduled

November 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Friday December 6, 2019
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The times listed are approximate; the order in which these items will be taken is subject to change; other items

may be added as necessary.

Webinar URL: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/651526893

Join the conference call:

Phone: 1-888-585-9008 followed by the Passcode: 635-498-111

  1. Welcome/Call to Order (S. Train) 1:00 p.m.
  2. Section Consent 1:00 p.m.
    1. Approval of Agenda
  3. Public Comment 1:05 p.m.
  4. Review 2019 Stock Assessment Update Report (M. Hunter) 1:15 p.m.
  5. Northern Shrimp Summer Survey Work Group Update 2:25 p.m.
  6. Other Business/Adjourn 3:00 p.m.