Saving Seafood

Dr. David Shiffman: The rare Trump appointment that is actually making scientists very happy

July 14, 2017 — The following is excerpted from an analysis piece written by Dr. David Shiffman, a fisheries scientist and Liber Ero Fellow based at Simon Fraser University, and was published in The Washington Post yesterday. The analysis referenced and linked to Saving Seafood’s previous coverage of widespread industry support for Chris Oliver’s appointment as NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator, found here:

[T]he appointment of fisheries biologist Chris Oliver to lead NOAA Fisheries — the agency within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that is charged with sustainable management of commercial fisheries worth more than $140 billion — represents a striking departure from the Trump administration’s scientific and environmental personnel and policy choices.

Oliver has worked as the executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council since 1990. He has won the praise of both conservation groups and industry.

The position he will assume is one of the most important science, environment and natural resource management positions in the federal government. Its responsibilities include not only fisheries management but also conservation of marine species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. NOAA Fisheries operates offices and research stations in 15 states and territories and employs more than 3,000 people.

Environmentalists and fishermen were following this appointment nervously. A mismanaged NOAA Fisheries could do severe and long-lasting environmental harm to U.S. marine and coastal waters, and economic harm to the millions of Americans who depend on those ecosystems.

The ocean conservation nonprofit sector, which has been strongly critical of the Trump administration, is praising this appointment. “Chris Oliver brings years of past experience working with fishermen, conservation groups and scientists, and a deep understanding of the practices and importance of science and ecosystem based management to the federal fisheries arena,” said Chris Dorsett, vice president of conservation policy at the Ocean Conservancy, a leading marine conservation nonprofit.

The seafood industry, which called for Oliver’s appointment in January in what was called “a nearly unprecedented display of unanimity,” is also pleased. “We are extremely supportive and excited about Chris’s appointment because he brings to NOAA Fisheries the skills and experience necessary to affect positive change during the challenging times that lie ahead,” said Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

“It isn’t often that the U.S. seafood industry unites together to support an appointment, but it was easy, thanks in large party to Chris’s experience and long-standing reputation as a fair, honest and successful leader in fisheries management,” she said.

“I am delighted that Chris has been well received by the fishing community in his new position,” said Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce, in a statement provided to the Post. “I have the utmost confidence that he will do a great job working with stakeholders to manage our nation’s vital fisheries – that’s why I recommended him to the president.”

Read the full story at The Washington Post

NEIL ANTHONY SIMS & BRIDGET OWEN: America needs a blue revolution

November 1, 2016 — America needs another revolution. We need a Blue Revolution, to start to grow fish in the open ocean, where they belong. And we should lead the world in this initiative. This is an economic opportunity: we must reverse our $12.9 billion seafood trade deficit. We have the technologies, we have the investment capital, and we need the jobs and the working waterfronts. It is also a moral obligation: over 90% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported. America controls the largest ocean expanse of any nation on earth, yet we import more seafood—by dollar value—than any other country. This means that if we quash the development of aquaculture in the U.S., then we are simply exporting the environmental footprint to other countries, where environmental standards may be more lax.

Leading conservation groups such as WWF, Conservation International and Ocean Conservancy now recognize the global imperative for expansion of aquaculture, and are actively working to encourage best practices. Yet Marianne Cufone, of the Recirculating Farms Coalition, (The Hill, October 17, 2016, 01:40 pm) asserts that the “Feds must end push for ocean aquaculture.”

Cufone and her fellow anti-aquaculture activists cling tenaciously to data that is two or three decades old, or cite no data at all, to support their position. This continues the pattern of deliberate distortion and misrepresentation of the impacts of ocean culture on the environment. Growing this industry is vitally important for the health of the planet, for the health of the oceans, and for the health of American consumers. Consider, please:

Planetary health: A 2012 study by Conservation International, titled ‘Blue Frontiers’, conducted a full Life-Cycle Analysis of all water, land and feed resource use, and impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, and concluded that aquaculture was, far and away, the least impactful of all animal protein production systems. We should therefore be growing more seafood to meet the increased demand for proteins. If the 3 billion people that are projected to rise into the middle class by 2050 are eating farmed fish, then the prospects for managing global climate change, and our other ecological challenges, are far brighter.

Read the full opinion piece at The Hill

Eelgrass and Ocean Acidification: California Takes Action

October 4, 2016 — What do eelgrass, the California state legislature, crabbers, and Ocean Conservancy have in common? They are all part of the solution in California’s remarkable actions this past week to address the threats that ocean acidification presents to California’s healthy fisheries, marine habitat and coastal jobs.

Governor Jerry Brown just signed into law a pair of bills that will address the concerns over ocean acidification raised by oyster growers, crabbers and others who make a living off of the ocean.

The two pieces of state legislation were crafted by Assemblymember Das Williams and Senator Bill Monning, as tailored place-based solutions to what amounts to a global problem. SB 1363 will protect and restore eelgrass habitats, increasing carbon sequestration amongst the roots of this coastal vegetation.

Read the full story at the Ocean Conservancy

Mid-Atlantic Ocean Plan Requests Public Comments

July 21, 2016 — Coastal managers and policy advisers representing the six Mid-Atlantic states have issued a draft Mid-Atlantic Ocean Plan, a new approach to shaping management decisions regarding ocean resources in the region.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (RBP), with representatives from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, two federally recognized tribes, federal agencies and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, led the three-year, ocean planning process with input from thousands of marine stakeholders and released a draft plan on July 5.

The plan focuses on nine major areas of ocean use: national security, ocean energy, commercial and recreational fishing, ocean aquaculture, maritime commerce and navigation, sand management, non-consumptive recreation, tribal interests and uses, and critical undersea infrastructure. The plan is now open for a 60-day public comment period until Sept. 6.

“The plan provides a refreshing understanding of diverse ocean uses from an integrated point of view – that is the intertwined human, commercial and natural ecosystem upon which we all depend,” said Anne Merwin, director of ocean planning at Ocean Conservancy. “And remember, the plan is a living document that will mature as new data becomes available and needs change.”

Under the new plan, state and federal agencies have committed to using better data and working with local stakeholders such as fishermen, offshore wind developers, maritime interests, educators, tourism businesses and recreational organizations on planning and permitting projects that could impact important fisheries, habitats, cultural sites and commercial enterprises in the region.

Read the full story at The SandPaper

New Bedford Port Director, Ocean Conservancy Spokesperson Talk Northeast Ocean Planning

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – July 12, 2016 – On June 26, New Bedford, Massachusetts Port Director Ed Anthes-Washburn and Christine Hopper, Ocean Conservancy outreach specialist for coastal and marine spatial planning, appeared on WJFD-FM in New Bedford to discuss Northeast ocean planning.

In a conversation with Irene de Amaral, host of “Conversas que importam,” Anthes-Washburn and Hopper agreed that ocean planning is necessary to ensure current ocean users are consulted as new projects develop and to create a common set of data so different government agencies are working with the same information.

“The Ocean Conservancy has been great about having a big tent and bringing all the stakeholders in so that their input is heard and reflected in the decisions that happen on our oceans,” Anthes-Washburn said. “We want to make sure that all of the current uses and all of the future uses are worked out in a successful way, and I think ocean planning is a key tool to do that effectively.”

“It’s really just about bringing everyone around the table, having a good conversation, making sure that the best available data is out there, and that we’re all talking and communicating with each other so we can cumulatively make the best decisions for our ocean spaces,” Hopper said.

The Draft Northeast Ocean plan is available for public review and comment until July 25 at neoceanplanning.org.

Listen to the full discussion here

Northeast Ocean Plan proposed as guide for coastline and ocean management

May 26, 2016 — A regional planning group issued a sweeping ecosystem-based ocean draft plan Wednesday to guide federal agencies in New England.

The draft Northeast Ocean Plan has no regulatory power, but since it was developed by a group created by presidential order in 2010, the reams of science behind the plan will guide the federal agencies that help manage the coastline and oceans of New England, according to Betsy Nicholson, a member of the regional group that wrote the plan and regional director for coastal management for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The science is drawn from hundreds of data sources, and often packaged into easy-to-use interactive maps to understand the cumulative effect of disparate industries, such as looking at how marine mammal habitat intersects with regional shipping lanes or the location of marine industry job clusters or beach renourishment projects. Most of the data had existed before the plan’s release, Nicholson said, but not in one place, and not in such an easy to understand and use format.

“This is a huge benefit for people like fishermen, small tourism business owners and others,” said Anne Merwin, director of ocean planning at Ocean Conservancy. They “need to be out on the water, or in their shops, not tracking down the latest ocean development proposals.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald