Saving Seafood

Request for Comments: Proposed Rule to Modify Fishing Access in Eastern Gulf of Mexico Marine Protected Areas

March 2, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

  • NOAA Fisheries requests your comments on a proposed rule that would prohibit fishing year-round in the Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps Marine Protected Areas and prohibit the possession of Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) reef fish, with no exception for vessels in transit unless the vessel has an operating vessel monitoring system and a valid federal commercial Gulf reef fish permit.
  • These prohibitions do not apply to Atlantic highly migratory species.
  • Comments are due by April 1, 2021.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES:

  • The rule would prohibit all fishing, except for Highly Migratory Species, year-round in the Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps Marine Protected Areas.
  • The rule would prohibit the possession of Gulf reef fish year-round in these areas unless a vessel has a valid Federal commercial permit for Gulf reef fish, which requires an operating satellite-based vessel monitoring system, and is in transit with fishing gear are appropriately stowed.

Read the full release here

New study sheds light on the the dark side of Hong Kong’s most lucrative seafood trade

February 6, 2018 — Hong Kong is the global hub for the more than USD $1 billion Live Reef Food Fish Trade (LRFFT), much of it unreported and unregulated with serious consequences for vulnerable species, food security and livelihoods in Southeast Asia, according to a report released on February 1.

Published jointly by the Swire Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), ADM Capital Foundation and the WWF Coral Triangle Program, the report, Going, Going Gone: The Trade in Live Reef Food Fish, says popular wild-caught reef fish species could be gone from diners’ tables within our lifetime if we do not act now to stem this burgeoning and often illegal trade.

“The rate at which we are taking reef fish from our oceans, including juveniles, is simply not sustainable,” said Dr Yvonne Sadovy, a professor of biological sciences at HKU and lead author of the report. “The LRFFT is symptomatic of the pressure being put on these fish resources and the potentially devastating effects on livelihoods. As the epicentre of the LRFFT, it is critical Hong Kong takes steps to regulate before it is too late.”

Live seafood is part of the culinary tradition of southern China, with most species coming largely from the seas of Southeast Asia. Demand for these attractive and increasingly rare fish species, eaten mostly at banquets and as displays of wealth, has grown with expanding affluence in Mainland China.

Although the trade is not large by global fisheries standards, it is disproportionately valuable, estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 metric tonnes (mt) annually in the trade hub of Hong Kong, and valued in excess of USD 1 billion, according to the report. This does not count illegal trade. The trade supplies a luxury seafood market with high retail value fishes, with some species, such as Napoleon fish, fetching in excess of USD 600 per kg.

Read the full story at Phys.org

 

Florida gets $32M more in oil spill money

November 16, 2016 — PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Florida will receive $32 million for four projects aimed at restoring natural resources damaged by the 2010 oil spill, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced Tuesday.

The money is part of a $370 million announcement to finance 24 grants, the foundation’s fourth and largest round to date. Louisiana will receive $245 million, Alabama $63 million, Mississippi $16 million and Texas nearly $12 million.

NFWF was awarded a total of $2.5 billion over five years in settlements and penalties from BP to repair natural resources damaged during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, which is considered one of the largest environmental disasters in history. It began April 10, 2010, and lasted 87 days, releasing millions of barrels worth of oil into the Gulf.

In Florida, the latest round of grants will go toward conserving oyster reefs, building a sea turtle necropsy facility, better assessing stocks of Florida’s reef fish, and restoring shorebird and seabird populations.

Read the full story at the Panama City News Herald

Effects of rising ocean acidification on fisheries in spotlight

August 18, 2016 — A reef fish that can’t find its way home and whose erratic behaviour constantly puts it in danger might make a nice premise for a children’s movie, but oceans filled with Dory’s could spell disaster for their survival.

Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels means more is being absorbed in seawater, with some young fish’s nervous systems being affected.

Not with standing the wonderful diversity of marine wildlife around our shores, with 130 species commercially fished in New Zealand and worth $1.2 billion annually, finding out what’s in store for them in a warming world is important.

If snapper and others start showing Dory traits fishery’s could be affected.

With a budget of nearly $5 million over 4 years researchers at Niwa, Cawthron Institute in Nelson, University of Auckland, and Otago University under the Carim (Coastal Acidification: Rate, Impact and Management) programme will be looking at affects on phytoplankton, aquaculture species paua and greenshell mussels, and young snapper.

Read the full story at NZ Farmer

Biodiversity makes reef fish more resilient in the face of climate change, research confirms

May 17, 2016 — New research confirms that biodiversity can help reef fish weather the impacts of global warming.

Reef systems with greater numbers of fish species are not just more productive but also more resilient to rising sea-surface temperatures and the temperature swings associated with climate change, according to a new study led by researchers with the Smithsonian’s Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network.

After analyzing data from more than 4,500 fish surveys of reefs around the world to compare the effects of biodiversity and other environmental factors on global reef fish biomass, the authors of the study found that biodiversity, measured by the number of species (species diversity) and the variety of functional traits (functional diversity) within a reef system, was one of the strongest predictors of fish biomass, second only to mean sea-surface temperature.

A direct impact of the carbon emissions that continue to concentrate in Earth’s atmosphere is warmer, more acidic ocean waters, which has contributed to the bleaching of reefs around the world. Just last month, scientists announced that 99 percent of coral reefs surveyed in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have been hit by the global bleaching event that has already taken a toll on reefs at the Pacific islands of Hawaii, Vanuatu, American Samoa, and Fiji, as well as parts of the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, and the Indian Ocean.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Gulf Council to Convene Law Enforcement Tech Committee

March 2, 2016 — The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a meeting of its Law Enforcement Technical Committee (LETC), formerly known as the Law Enforcement Advisory Panel (LEAP). The LETC will meet jointly with the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Law Enforcement Committee (LEC). The meeting will convene Wednesday, March 16, 2016, from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn San Antonio Riverwalk Hotel, 217 N. St. Mary’s Street in San Antonio Texas.

The committees are scheduled to discuss enforcement implications of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama 9-mile Reef Fish Boundary and the Offshore Aquaculture Fishery Management Plan.

The committees will also review the following draft Council amendments:

  • Reef Fish Amendment 36A – Red Snapper IFQ Modifications
  • Draft Reef Fish Amendment 43 – Hogfish Stock Definition, Status Determination Criteria, and Annual Catch Limit
  • Framework Action Addressing Circle Hook Requirement when Fishing for Yellowtail Snapper
  • Shrimp Amendment 17B – Optimum Yield, Number of Permits, Permit Pool, and Transit Provisions
  • CMP Amendment 26 – Reallocation of King Mackerel

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

Electronic Reporting and Red Snapper Top Gulf Council Agenda

February 4, 2016 — The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recently met in Orange Beach, AL, home to miles and miles of sugar-white sand beaches, as well the largest charter-for-hire recreational fishing fleet in the U.S. equipped with electronic data collection, to discuss numerous fishery issues, including electronic reporting for for-hire vessels, regional management for recreational red snapper, and the shrimp permit moratorium.

Regional Management of Recreational Red Snapper, or Reef Fish Amendment 39, was at the top of the agenda for the 17 voting members of the Council which is comprised of the directors of the five Gulf state marine resource management agencies, or their designees, and 11 members nominated by the state governors and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. Amendment 39 would affect recreational fishing for red snapper in federal and state waters.

Amendment 39 was developed to divide the recreational red snapper quota among regions to allow region-specific management measures. After reviewing the Amendment and public hearing summaries, the Gulf states’ marine resource directors rejected the amendment leading the Council to postpone further discussion while they explore other options for recreational red snapper management.

Both charter-for-hire and commercial representatives sitting on the Council fought for the private recreational sector to establish a management plans to no avail.

“It is sad to see the five Gulf State directors fail to reach an agreement with each other and foster a real solution for private recreational anglers,” said Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) member Captain Troy Frady of Distraction Charters in Orange Beach. “If this amendment had not been abandoned, it would have created a path to provide much needed relief for private recreational angler’s short federal fishing season. Now, there is nothing meaningful in the works that is being done for recreational fishermen.”

Commercial fisherman and GSI Florida Board member David Krebs, president of Ariel Seafood, said that he also was disappointed in the Council and that the recreational representatives did not pursue working on the amendment to protect the recreational interests.

“We are once again seeing an assault on the commercial IFQ’s (Individual Fishing Quotas) filled with lies and mistruths,” he said. We are hoping the Council will appoint a recreational advisory panel to work through the details to give recreational fishermen some relief in flexibility and sustainability.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

Federal court rules against challenge to red snapper quotas

January 5, 2016 — A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday rejected a challenge to the Gulf Council’s red snapper fishing quotas for the next three years.

The plaintiffs, challenged the legality of Amendment 40 to the Gulf Council’s Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and the associated rule which sets fishing quotas and seasons for 2015-17.

The plaintiffs argued that under the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Gulf Council is prohibited from regulating charter fishing separately from recreational fishing. Also, that the Gulf Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service did not “assess, specify and analyze” the economic and social effects of Amendment 40, that the amendment makes an unfair and inequitable allocation of fishing resources and the Council improperly delegated authority to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Amendment 40 defines the partitioning of the recreational sector. All four arguments were struck down.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

Gulf Congressional Delegation Teams for Big Win for Gulf Reef Fish Accountability in 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act

December 19, 2015 — The Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act heading to the White House for a Presidential signature includes $10 million for Gulf of Mexico fisheries data collection, stock assessments and research due to the tireless efforts led by Alabama’s Senator Richard Shelby, Chairman of the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, and Florida’s 13th District Representative David Jolly, who sits on the House’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science.

Additionally, the bill directs NOAA to count fish on artificial reefs and offshore energy exploration infrastructure, and incorporate those counts into future stock assessments and management decisions for reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.  It provides continued support for electronic monitoring and reporting to collect real-time data that is more economical and efficient than current management processes. According to Senator Shelby, who authored the provisions for red snapper in the legislation, the 2016 omnibus provides up to $5 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant College program to support external research and development through its network of academic institutions for a red snapper tagging study in the Gulf of Mexico.  In addition, it provides $5 million for independent, non-NOAA stock assessments for Gulf reef fish, including red snapper.

“Commercial and recreational anglers across the Gulf Coast depend on the red snapper fishery, which is not only a key economic driver, but also integral to their way of life,” Senator Shelby told Gulf Seafood News. “That is why I pushed to include common-sense reforms in this year’s omnibus bill to ensure that both commercial and recreational fishermen have increased access to the red snapper population in the Gulf.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

Rep. Jolly teams with GSI’s Hogarth on Gulf Red Snapper Legislation

November 30, 2015 — One of the largest issues both commercial and recreational fishers face is getting both fishermen and regulators to have faith in the data, especially when it comes to Gulf of Mexico reef fish. Recently introduced legislation by Congressman David Jolly of Florida will hopefully lead to a more accurate count of red snapper and other reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jolly will allow for third-party data collection of fish populations to be used for federal stock assessments, which could ultimately lead to longer red snapper fishing seasons for the recreational sectors.

“Nobody trusts the data anymore,” said Dr. Bill Hogarth, Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography and a Board member of the Gulf Seafood Institute. “Fishermen are on the water everyday and they see what is happening. When you are doing a stock assessment now, you are working with data that is at least two years old. Things change. We have to get more real time data, and this legislation is a good start.”

Rep. Jolly’s bill designates $10 million annually for third-party data collection of Gulf Red Snapper and other Gulf reef species. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Regional Office located in St. Petersburg, Florida would manage the data collection program. A member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, Jolly was able to secure similar language in the fiscal year 2016 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Bill earlier this year.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute