Saving Seafood

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Approves $126,000 in New Research for 2022

January 3, 2022 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) has funded $126,000 in new marine science research for 2022. The funds, approved by the members of the Center’s Industry Advisory Board at its annual fall meeting, will support new, much-needed research on prominent fisheries such as thread herring, ocean quahogs, squid, and surfclams.

Part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, SCEMFIS connects marine scientists with members of the fishing industry to identify scientific priorities for better understanding commercially important fish species, and directs industry funding to projects that study them. Since its founding, SCEMFIS has promoted research that has increased our understanding of these species, and improved their management.

The following research projects were approved by SCEMFIS for 2022:

  • Biostatistical and fishery-dependent sampling of Atlantic thread herring and Atlantic chub mackerel in the mid-Atlantic region – As a result of climate change and the subsequent migration of fish stocks, a fishery for Atlantic thread herring is developing in the Mid-Atlantic. As part of that development, fisheries managers need better biological data on the species in order to manage it sustainably. This project, led by Dr. Robert Leaf (University of Southern Mississippi), will conduct a sampling survey of thread herring to collect data on the fish being harvested by the fishery, including factors such as age, length, and weight. ($69,336 in funding)
  • Ocean quahog population dynamics: project completion – SCEMFIS researchers have worked extensively at expanding our understanding of ocean quahog, especially work in charting the age frequencies for quahogs in the Northwest Atlantic, as well as measuring the uncertainty that comes with estimating the age-at-length of quahogs. This project, led by Dr. Eric Powell (University of Southern Mississippi), and Dr. Roger Mann (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), will complete the Center’s ongoing work on ocean quahog, finishing and publishing current unpublished research on quahog age frequencies. ($41,210 in funding)
  • Genetic and age structure of Southern surfclams – The surfclam fishery has recently resumed fishing in the waters off the coast of Virginia in a region where high bottom water temperatures have led to the deaths of most Atlantic surfclams during much of the 2010s. Increased survival recently may be due to recruitment of the Southern surfclam. To better understand how and why surfclams have returned to this area, this project, led Dr. Daphne Munroe (Rutgers University), will conduct genetic testing on a sample of clams from the area. The tests will help determine their relationship with the rest of the coastwide Atlantic surfclam stock. ($10,795 in funding)
  • Squid age estimation using CAT Scan technology – A recurring challenge in managing squid is the lack of demographic data available to estimate the ages of the squid in the population. This project, led by Dr. Roger Mann, (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), will evaluate the use of CAT scan technology as a tool to age squid. The scans will be used to measure the size of squid statoliths, which are the hard structures in squid heads that grow over time, and attempt to age the squid based on these measurements. ($5,000 in funding).

About SCEMFIS
SCEMFIS utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries. SCEMFIS develops methods, analytical and survey tools, datasets, and analytical approaches to improve sustainability of fisheries and reduce uncertainty in biomass 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 Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, University of Maryland, and University of Rhode Island.

The need for the diverse services that SCEMFIS can provide to industry continues to grow, which has prompted a steady increase in the number of 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 working groups. Targeted research leads to improvements in data collection, survey design, analytical tools, assessment models, and other needs to reduce uncertainty in stock status and improve reference point goals.

 

Clam industry growing as climate change warms New England’s waters

December 20, 2021 — Maine’s clam industry is growing as climate change warms the Gulf of Maine.

The Bangor Daily News reports northern quahogs are among the state’s fisheries that have seen increased harvest volumes and values over the past decade.

The average price of what are also known as hard clams has gone from 40 cents per pound in the 1990s to around $1.50 per pound in recent years, the newspaper reports.

Annual harvest totals have also increased since the early 2000s, reaching a record of more than two million pounds in 2019, according to the paper. The annual harvest value is around $2.6 million, up from just over $10,000 as recently as 2004.

Read the full story at WHDH

 

NOAA Fisheries Announces Final 2022 Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Specifications

November 5, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is setting 2022 commercial harvest quotas for Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs. The final quotas, which have remained unchanged since 2004, are:

• Atlantic surfclams: 3.4 million bushels

• Ocean quahogs: 5.36 million bushels

• Maine ocean quahogs: 100,000 Maine bushels

In addition, the Atlantic surfclam minimum size limit will be suspended for the 2022 fishing year, as it has been every year since 2005. There is currently no minimum size for ocean quahogs.

For more details, read the final rule as published in the Federal Register and the bulletin.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Laura Hansen, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 978-281-9225

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

 

Notice to Fishermen: 2020 Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Cost Recovery Tag Fees

June 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are announcing the 2020 cost recovery per-tag fees for the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog individual transferable quota (ITQ) program.

2020 Cost Recovery Cage Tag Fees

Atlantic Surfclam: $0.62 per tag

Ocean Quahog: $0.36 per tag

The fee for each cage tag is calculated based on the number of ITQ cage tags that were used to land surfclams or ocean quahogs during the 2019 fishing year, and the costs associated with operating the program in 2019. The fees are then multiplied by the number of tags used during the 2020 fishing year to determine the final bill amount. These cost recovery fees are separate from, and in addition to, the price ITQ permit holders currently pay to the tag vendor to obtain cage tags each year.

Quota shareholders will soon receive bills based on these tags fees and the number of their cage tags that were used to land surfclams or ocean quahogs during 2020. The initial quota shareholder who first received the allocation of cage tags is responsible for the fee even if the tag is leased, sold, or otherwise used by someone else.

For more information read our bulletin.

Read the full release here

NCFC Members Urge BOEM to Include Commercial Fishermen in Windmill Siting Decisions in the New York Bight

August 17, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Late last month, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) submitted two letters asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to consider the economic importance of the commercial fishing industry before deciding where to site windmills in the New York Bight.

367 individuals signed a national letter calling on Secretary Zinke not to rush offshore energy development and to ensure projects are “sited, constructed, and operated using the best scientific information available.”

“The Interior Department should provide for intelligent and deliberate offshore renewable energy development, rather than fall prey to the gold rush mentality promoted by BOEM and financially-interested wind developers, most of which are foreign-owned,” the NCFC members wrote.

The signers also invoked President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to support working class Americans.

“When President Trump campaigned and was elected, he promised to look after America’s working middle class, of which we are all a part,” the letter stated. “You will not be honoring the President’s commitment if you allow BOEM to lease ocean areas first, and ask and answer the necessary questions later.”

Another 103 individuals and 32 vessels and businesses from Massachusetts signed a separate letter asking BOEM to reconsider its plan to develop four offshore wind farms in the New York Bight. They specifically cited the damage such development would cause to important Northeast fisheries such as the scallop fishery.

“This is an ill-conceived idea that will cause irreparable economic harm within the fishing communities along the entire East Coast,” the signers wrote. “The harm to Massachusetts will be especially significant, given that it is the center of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery and contains major surf clam and ocean quahog operations.”

The letter pointed out that, on average, nearly $54 million is generated by scallop landings annually from the areas under consideration in the New York Bight, according to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service. An additional $8 million is generated by surf clam and ocean quahog.

 

2018 will be good year for clam chowder, Bumble Bee, thanks to NOAA moves

January 9, 2018 — The makers and fans of New England clam chowder, including Bumble Bee Seafood, can feel confident that the kind of mollusk most often used to make the soup — ocean quahogs — will be in ample supply in 2018 thanks to two moves made recently by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Ocean conservationists, however, are not breaking out their party hats and noisemakers.

When John Bullard, NOAA’s northeast regional administrator, informed the New England Fishery Management Council last week that the agency will authorize the majority of NEFMC’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2 (OA2), many focused on the positive ramifications for scallop harvesters.

But NOAA’s approval of the council’s new plan for balancing the conservation of different sea life with the concerns of local fishermen also came with good news for harvesters of ocean quahogs and surf clams. Bullard informed NEFMC that his agency also agrees with its suggestion to provide a one-year exemption for clam harvesters to prohibitions against the controversial use of hydraulic dredging gear in the Great South Channel habitat management area (HMA), a deep-water passage that cuts between Nantucket and Georges Bank.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2016 Fishing Quotas for Atlantic Surfclams and Ocean Quahogs

September 21, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The commercial harvest quotas for Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs for the 2016 fishing year (Jan 1-Dec 31) will remain the same as the 2015 fishing year:

Surfclams: 3.4 million bushels

Ocean quahogs: 5.3 million bushels

Maine ocean quahogs: 100,000 Maine bushels

In addition, the Atlantic surfclam minimum size limit will be suspended for 2016, as it has for each of the past 10 years. There is currently no minimum size for ocean quahogs.

For more details, read the rule as filed in the Federal Register and the bulletin posted on our website.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

Atlantic surfclams being sorted on deck. Credit: NOAA