Saving Seafood

Pacific fisheries commision targets centralized vessel monitoring at latest meet

June 28, 2019 — The upcoming meeting of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) in Tokyo from July 16-18 will discuss the centralization of vessel monitoring in the region, a statement from the organization said.

The environmental NGO Pew Charitable Trusts, which is set to attend the fifth annual meeting of the NPFC, has proposed the use of modern technology to combat illegal fishing as a key part of the meeting’s docket.

This includes the use of a centralized vessel monitoring system, a formal compliance monitoring scheme, and the requirement that all vessels fishing in the area must display the flag of a member nation.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

13 Environmental NGO’s Call For 100% Observer Coverage on Industrial Tuna Fishing Vessels

June 27, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A total of 13 environmental NGO’s – including Fishwise, International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), Monterey Bay Aquarium, PEW Charitable Trusts and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership – are joining forces to request that Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO) that regulate tuna fishing in the Indian, Pacific, Atlantic and Southern Oceans, require observer coverage on all industrial tuna fishing vessels.

According to these NGOs, many tuna fisheries lack independent monitoring of fishing activity. This means that illegal fishing, misreported or unreported catch, as well as bycatch of endangered, threatened and protected species, goes unseen. However, RFMOs could change that by requiring that these tuna fisheries have 100% observer coverage – whether it be human or electric.

“100% observer coverage can and must happen soon,” reads a press release from the organizations. “There are no longer credible reasons to delay. We are committed to working together to make 100% observer coverage a reality.”

As part of their effort, the NGOs are seeking support from fisheries organizations, conservation organizations, and foundations. Consumers can also join the fight by signing a petition posted on The Action Network.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

SAFMC Launches its First Citizen Science Pilot Project

June 20, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Estimating the number of fish harvested by offshore fishermen has consistently been a challenge for federal fishery managers. Gathering information about what fishermen release during a fishing trip is even more so. To help fill these data gaps, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has initiated its first Citizen Science pilot project, SAFMC Scamp Release. The project allows fishermen to use the mobile app, SAFMC Release, to provide information on released scamp grouper. The mobile app was developed by Harbor Light Software with the support of The Pew Charitable Trusts and Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program with the Citizen Science Association serving as a fiscal sponsor.

“Fishermen have consistently offered to help collect data, many offering their boats to act as research platforms for sampling and observations,” explained Council Chair Jessica McCawley. “The Council’s Citizen Science Program, developed over the last three years with the guidance of a wide array of stakeholders and partners, now allows for that information to be collected. We are very proud of this new program and hopeful that data collected in this first pilot project can be used in an upcoming stock assessment for scamp.” A stock assessment for scamp grouper is scheduled to begin later this year and completed in 2021.

The SAFMC Release app provides an easy-to-use platform for fishermen to collect data on scamp that are released, including information on length, depth, and location of released scamp, as well as release treatment and the condition of the fish when released. Information on released fish is a research priority identified by the Council and an important data component for stock assessments. Data collected by individual fishermen through the pilot project will be confidential. ­­­­

“We are now recruiting offshore fishermen that target snapper grouper species to participate in this initial pilot project,” said Julia Byrd, the Council’s Citizen Science Program Coordinator. “Timing is key – and we need fishermen to begin collecting data now,” said Byrd. “The ability to collect this data through the SAFMC Releaseapp offers a unique opportunity and we’re excited about the prospect to supplement data that will be used in future management of scamp.”

The aim of the Council’s Citizen Science Program is to engage fishermen, scientists and managers in co-creating projects that align with the Council’s research needs.This pilot project is designed to show that citizen science is a cost-effective way to supplement existing data collection efforts. Additional information about the SAFMC Scamp Release pilot project is available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/cit-sci/scamp-release/.

Fishermen interested in providing data through the SAFMC Scamp Release pilot project should contact Julia Byrd at julia.byrd@safmc.net or by calling 843/571-4366.

PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY: Abundant menhaden draw whales and endless dispute over its fishery

April 28, 2019 — Jeff Stewart, the longtime captain of the Cape May Whale Watcher, recalled last seeing whales in Delaware Bay off Cape May County in 1990. Now, as then, the whales follow and prey on bigger schools of menhaden — a footlong fish used for fish-oil supplements, aquaculture feed and bait.

Seeing whales closer to shore is one benefit of the renewed abundance of menhaden, also called mossbunker or just bunker for short. Another is jobs in the menhaden fishery, which used to have operations in Cape May and Monmouth counties. More menhaden theoretically also helps the whales, striped bass, ospreys, dolphins and such that eat them.

This success story began in 2013, when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission set its first catch limits for menhaden in the waters from Maine to Florida. The fish has done so well since then that the quotas have been raised every year, to 216,000 metric tons.

In December, one of the leading certification bodies for the Marine Stewardship Council recommended that the Atlantic menhaden fishery be certified as sustainable. SAI Global said the fishery scored 83 for sustainability of the stock, 86 for minimizing environmental impacts, and 92 for effective fisheries management — each higher than the average score of 80 required for sustainability certification.

A sustainable and growing menhaden fishery, though, isn’t enough for some. Since at least 1888, when the Rod and Reel Association claimed commercial menhaden boats were taking fish better left as food for species they liked to catch and eat, people have fought over the best use for menhaden.

In the fall of 2017, a coalition of environmental and sport fishing interests, partly led by a unit of the Pew Charitable Trusts, successfully lobbied the fisheries commission to switch to a unique new management approach for a fishery, one based on estimates of how the menhaden population affects other fish and wildlife that prey upon it.

Read the full opinion piece at the Press of Atlantic City

MSC grows its multi-stakeholder board with five new members

April 2, 2019 — Five new members have been appointed to the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Board of Trustees, the certification organization announced on 2 April.

The new board members hail from the retail, fishing, and conservation sectors, and include: David Lock, the chairman of Western Australian fishing company Mareterram Ltd.; Giles Bolton, the responsible sourcing director for Tesco plc; Maria Damanaki, the global managing director for oceans from The Nature Conservancy and the former European Union Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; Stefanie Moreland, the vice president of government relations, seafood sustainability, and corporate social sustainability from Trident Seafoods Corporation; and Amanda Nickson, the international fisheries director for The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Lock joined the MSC Board of Trustees back in November 2018, while Bolton and Moreland entered the fold in January 2019. Both Damanaki and Nickson are expected to take their seats in July.

The MSC’s Board consists of 15 members spanning industry, academia, conservation, retail, and other fields “carefully selected to ensure decision-making remains balanced and reflects different sectors and interests,” said the MSC.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NGOs: Chance for EU to hit 2020 overfishing targets lost for deep sea quotas

November 21, 2018 — The EU Council has agreed on the total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for certain deep-sea stocks in the EU and international waters in the North-East Atlantic, for 2019 and 2020.

The fish stocks concerned are deep sea sharks, black scabbardfish, alfonsino, roundnose grenadier, and red seabream.

“In view of the vulnerability of deep-sea species to human activity, and in order to prevent their over-exploitation, the Council decided to raise the TACs for the two stocks and to reduce the TACs for ten stocks as proposed by the Commission.”

It said it had decided to make cuts to fishing opportunities to protect the maritime environment and help the industry in the longer term.

It confirmed the Commission proposal to increase quotas for red seabream around the Azores and roundnose grenadier in South Western waters over the next two years, “in line with positive scientific advice”.

“Given the small number of fish being caught and in line with the scientific advice, the TAC management system for greater forkbeard in the North-East Atlantic, roundnose grenadier in the North Sea and black scabbardfish in the North Sea and Skagerrak was canceled. Fishing for orange roughy remains prohibited.”

Following finalization by the legal/linguistic experts, the agreement will be submitted for final adoption without discussion at a forthcoming Council meeting. The regulation will apply as from Jan. 1, 2019.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

ICCAT keeps bigeye catch limit, to conservationists’ dismay

November 20, 2018 — Conservationists left Croatia on Monday, 19 November, expressing disappointment that the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas did not pass any measure to protect the stock of bigeye tuna.

Instead, commission members ended their meeting in Croatia’s capital of Dubrovnik maintaining the status quo; a catch limit of 65,000 metric tons for the 2019 season, despite an ICCAT scientific committee reporting that the Atlantic bigeye is severely overfished.

Grantly Galland, a global tuna conservation for The Pew Charitable Trusts, said it was a difficult eight days.

“Everyone is to blame for this one,” he told SeafoodSource. “Each individual member is more concerned about its own priorities than finding consensus on a real recovery plan.”

The current biomass is currently at 20 percent of its historical peak, Galland said. In order to generate the maximum sustainable yield, the biomass needs to be at least at 59 percent.

Because of the inaction, Galland fears the bigeye tuna issue will only get exponentially worse. Pew said the current catch rate means the stock is 60 times more likely to collapse instead of rebuild in the next 15 years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

US, others make commitments for sustainability at Our Ocean

November 8, 2018 — At the Our Ocean 2018 conference held last week in Indonesia, the United States pledged its support for 15 initiatives that would affect fishing communities across the globe.

In addition, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Indonesian Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti during the two-day conference in Bali to reaffirm their nations’ commitment to encourage sustainable fisheries management worldwide.

Kerry, who also served as a conference presenter, commended Indonesia for its role in combating illegal fishing.

“I believe there is big crime committed in relation to [illegal, unreported and unregulated] fishing and this should be addressed by countries around the world,” he said. “To ensure sustainability, one of the ways is to maintain the volume of catch, making sure there is no overfishing.”

Another way the U.S. will work to combat illegal fishing is by working with The Waitt Foundation to hold a February 2019 summit in San Diego, California, U.S.A. with leaders from other countries to identify pilot projects that can be implemented online.

Peter Horn, who heads the Ending Illegal Fishing Project for The Pew Charitable Trusts, said he’s looking forward to the summit.

“We welcome the broadening of the debate of the governance issues behind current levels of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, and its second and third order consequences,” he told SeafoodSource in an email. “IUU fishing is often seen as purely an environmental crime with any absence of compliance with the rules countering it a management issue rather than what it really is: The tip of an iceberg of criminality which is directly linked to maritime safety and security.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

‘Historic’ Agreement Bans Commercial Fishing Across a Vast Swath of the Arctic

October 4, 2018 — As the Arctic’s mantle of protective sea ice grows smaller and sadder by the year, new waters are opening up, setting the stage for industry and tourism to take off. But a vast swath of those chilly seas will soon be off-limits to at least one human enterprise: commercial-scale fishing.

On Wednesday, nine nations and the European Union signed an agreement to place a moratorium on unregulated commercial fishing across 1.1 million square miles of the central Arctic Ocean. These waters are becoming increasingly accessible as Arctic sea ice melts, and conservationists have been pushing for more protections so that exposed and potentially fragile ecosystems can be properly studied before we screw them up beyond repair.

Apparently, Arctic nations and those looking to exploit the ocean’s riches in the future—a list that includes the U.S., Russia, Canada, China, and Japan—are listening. The moratorium, which builds off protections the U.S. put in place in 2009, will be in effect for 16 years unless a science-based management plan can be established sooner, according to a press release from Pew Charitable Trusts. There’s also the potential to extend the fishing ban for additional five year increments depending on the results of a new research and monitoring program, which will focus on how the central Arctic Ocean ecosystem is changing and how best to manage any emerging fisheries.

Read the full story at Earther

Pew: Atlantic bluefin not ready for MSC certification

August 31, 2018 — The Pew Charitable Trusts has come out in opposition to a Japanese company’s attempt to get its Atlantic bluefin tuna longline fishery certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Last week, the council announced Usufuku Honten Co. Ltd. began the assessment process for the voluntary certification. It marked the first bluefin fishery to be assessed. Control Union Pesca Ltd. will perform the independent review, focusing on the Dai-ichi Shofuku-maru. The ship, which stays in the Atlantic Ocean all year, catches bluefin in October and November annually.

MSC certification is being sought because its process is designed to acknowledge fisheries that meet sustainable fishing management standards, Usufuku Honten said. The council, founded in 1997, has certified 296 fisheries located in 35 countries through its first 20 years of existence. That represents about one-eighth of the worldwide marine harvest. More than 38,000 groceries, restaurants, hotels, and other sites have also been certified to see the more than 25,000 products that come adorned with MSC’s blue label.

Read the full story at Seafood Source