Saving Seafood

Genes Reveal How Some Rockfish Live Up to 200 Years

November 12, 2021 — Few groups of animals encapsulate the extremes of longevity more than fish. While coral reef pygmy govies survive for less than ten weeks, Greenland sharks can endure more than 500 years. So when a team of biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to explore the genetics of aging, they grabbed their fishing gear.

Their preferred catch was rockfish. Found in coastal waters from California to Japan, rockfish are a colorful group of more than 120 species in the genus Sebastes. Some of these closely related species live for only a decade. Others, such as the rougheye rockfish, can live for more than 200 years.

Read the full story at Scientific American

 

Fishery managers set deadline on rockfish rebuild

October 27, 2021 — At its 2021 Annual Meeting last week, the Atlantic Striped Bass Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) took a positive step toward rebuilding our beloved rockfish stock from its currently depleted condition.

The move came in response to news from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR) that its 2021 Juvenile Striped Bass Index was 3.2, well below the annual average of 11.4 for the third consecutive year. In fact, it
has been below average for ten of the past 16 years. Virginia’s index of 6.30 was closer to, but still below, its long-term average of 7.77.

Concern about rockfish has been building for at least five years, and ASMFC’s Striped Bass Board initiated development of a new amendment (number 7, but the first since 2003) to the fishery management plan last winter. The Board’s May meeting sketched out six priorities for the Commission’s Plan Development Team to build into the amendment. The team submitted its draft for Board approval at last week’s meeting.

Read the full story at Chesapeake Bay Magazine

 

Key Southern California Rockfish Species Survive Capture Over the Longer-term Following Release

October 26, 2021 — Deep-water rockfish reeled quickly to the surface often emerge from the water with eyes and organs bulging like alien beings—due to the sudden change in pressure—a condition known as barotrauma.

Now new research shows that if fishermen return fish to their natural depths quickly, their bodies return to normal and they can survive any ill effects. The research focused on cowcod and bocaccio, two historically overfished rockfish species caught off the coast of Southern California. They were returned to the depths using special descending devices that are now standard for many recreational fishermen.

Prior to this research and the use of descending devices, it was widely assumed that deep-dwelling rockfish could not survive catch and release due to their extensive barotrauma injuries. “We now know that these deep-dwelling rockfish species can survive,” said Nick Wegner, a research scientist at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the new research. “That is good news for the fish, and good news for the fishermen who go to the trouble of trying to release them properly.”

The research was published in ICES Journal of Marine Science. Scientists used acoustic transmitters to track released cowcod and bocaccio for up to a year on an underwater seamount approximately 40 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. They were captured at depths of 75 to 183 meters, or about 250 to 600 feet. By tracking the fish for extended periods, researchers found that most fish survived beyond 30 days. Of those fish that died, 40 percent died beyond the typical 2-day tracking window used in many fish survivorship studies.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

Local Divers Plunge into Puget Sound to Count Endangered Rockfish

June 17, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Counting fish can be difficult. Fish move, hide, and reproduce; they eat and are eaten. Many have evolved coloration patterns and body shapes that help them avoid being seen. The small size of young fish makes them especially hard to see. They may show up at inconsistent times and places, or not at all, depending on unpredictable environmental conditions.

This was the quandary rockfish experts faced in 2017. The federal recovery plan for bocaccio and yelloweye rockfish in Puget Sound called for annual surveys of the endangered rockfish produced that year, also known as young-of-the-year fish.

Very little is known about how young fish join rockfish populations in Puget Sound, a process called recruitment. Sometimes few fish recruit into the population, despite adequate abundance of reproductive adults. When climatic and oceanographic conditions align, however, rockfish recruits arrive in near-shore habitats in great abundance. Understanding the conditions that lead to these boom years is key to developing management actions to protect and recover rockfish in the region.

That still left the difficult question of how to count tiny (less than 10 centimeters long) rockfish recruits throughout Puget Sound. The best option for NOAA was a collaborative effort with partners throughout the region, including community scientists who are also scuba divers. Scuba diving offers the opportunity to observe fish directly, including taking photos, with minimal disturbance or disruption of their behavior, and no mortality.

Read the full release here

New rockfish moratorium possible warns architect of ban that saved species 36 years ago

June 10, 2021 — The architect of a historic fishing moratorium that saved the rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay nearly 36 years ago is warning that it could happen again.

Former Maryland State Senator Gerald Winegrad told WUSA9 Wednesday that efforts to stop an alarming slide in the population of rockfish are not working and action has to be taken now.

It is a drastic prediction, because the iconic Chesapeake Bay species amount to a half-billion-dollar industry in the Eastern U.S., according to one study for a recreational fishing organization.

“It’s a potential if we wait two, three, or four years to really start cracking down on the harvest,” Winegrad said. “It is a potential that we would be forced into such a drastic measure.”

“Back in the 1980’s we were experiencing similar declines,” he added.

The famous five-year rockfish moratorium engineered by Winegrad and supporters in 1985 is credited with saving the species from complete collapse.

Read the full story at WUSA 9

The U.S. government is buying $40 million worth of pistachios and $70 million of seafood

May 21, 2021 — Pistachios are my favorite nut. I can house a whole bag of those in no time at all. Apparently the American government is into them too, because they’re not buying just a bunch, but a massive amount. During times of crop and product surpluses, the USDA will buy up extra to keep America’s food banks stocked; in 2016, it bought $20 million in cheese. Now, Food & Wine reports, the government is buying up millions of dollars of pistachios, among other delicious bounties.

It’s obvious that COVID-19 has mucked up all sorts of farming supply issues, and plenty of Americans are having a hard time getting by. So the USDA is currently making big buys to help those that produce food and those who need it. Last week the Biden administration announced that the USDA would be purchasing $159.4 million worth of seafood, fruits, legumes, and nuts. Of that, $70.9 million will be spent on seafood, the largest government seafood purchase ever.

“The impacts of COVID-19 reverberated from our farms to our oceans,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “U.S. fisheries and the American seafood industry were dealt a heavy blow…. These healthy, nutritious food purchases will benefit food banks and non-profits helping those struggling with food hardship as the Biden Administration works to get the economy back on track for American families.”

Read the full story at The Takeout

MIKE SPINNEY: The gradual and sudden decline of striped bass

May 19, 2021 — Striped bass, also known as rockfish, are arguably the most economically important finfish on the Atlantic seaboard. According to a 2005 economic study by Southwick Associates, commercial and recreational fishing for stripers generated more than $6.8 billion in total economic activity, supporting more than 68,000 jobs. At the time, striped bass were abundant in the Chesapeake Bay and throughout their migratory range, from North Carolina to Maine.

Twenty years earlier, striped bass were practically nonexistent. Scooped up in commercial nets and plucked by rod and reel by a growing number of recreational anglers throughout the 1970s, stripers had been fished to the brink of oblivion when a moratorium was enacted in 1985. Remarkably, once left alone to reproduce in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, as well as the Hudson River, the fish were spawning in record numbers. In 1995, five years after the moratorium was lifted, the species was declared “fully recovered” by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the interstate body tasked with managing them.

The rebound was touted as a success. Rockfish became a symbol of the ASMFC’s fisheries management prowess. But almost as soon as the commission resumed the task of allotting states their portion of the striped bass pie, things started to go downhill until, in 2019, the commission declared striped bass overfished.

Read the full opinion piece at the Chesapeake Bay Journal

Using Science to Support the Chesapeake Bay’s Rockfish Population

April 29, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Heading out on the Chesapeake Bay for trophy rockfish season is a treasured rite of spring for recreational anglers. In the Chesapeake, fishermen often call striped bass “rockfish” because these fish often hang out near oyster reef “rocks.”

But this year, the spring season will be a bit diminished in the Chesapeake with a later start, and fewer days, that has been the case in the past. Changes implemented by Maryland and Virginia in 2019 will continue in 2021. This is part of a broader effort to help the striped bass population rebound.

Reports from anglers and fishermen and scientific data both indicate that the population is declining. Analyses by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission show that the striped bass population along the Atlantic Coast is decreasing. Every year, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reports on the species by tracking an index of juvenile striped bass. The survey was started in 1954. Since then, the average index is 11.5 (arithmetic mean catch per haul); the index in fall 2020 was 2.5. In the last decade, six years have been below average. That means there are fewer fish to grow into the spawning stock.

Read the full release here

Maryland Rockfish Limits Set, Including July Closure

March 30, 2021 — After proposals and public comment, we now know what rockfish limits will look like in Maryland this season.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued striped bass harvest regulations for recreational anglers and charter boat clients for the summer and fall fishery, May 16–Dec. 10, 2021. This year will be a split season, closing Maryland waters to all striper fishing July 16–31. No private anglers or charter boat guests and crews may target striped bass, even catch-and-release, during those two weeks.

DNR designed this seasonal closure to avoid the period when water quality and high temperatures are most stressful and harmful to striped bass in the upper Bay, according to DNR’s own data. Virginia and D.C. also have seasonal closures: Virginia closes its striped bass season for the lower Chesapeake from June 15 to October 4, while the Potomac River is closed to all targeting of striped bass fishing from July 7 through August 20.

Outside of the Maryland summer closure period, private recreational anglers may keep one striped bass per day, with a minimum size of 19 inches. Charter boat clients may keep two stripers per day, with a minimum size of 19 inches, provided the boat’s captain participates in DNR’s daily electronic reporting system. During any chartered fishing trip, neither the captain nor mate may land or possess rockfish for personal consumption.

Read the full story at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

Have Questions on NPFMC Requests for Emergency Actions? NOAA Fisheries Offers Q&As

February 23, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On February 10, 2021, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council made four recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for emergency or expedited changes to Federal fishing regulations.

The Council’s four motions would:

Allow the temporary transfer of catcher vessel halibut and sablefish IFQ for all individual quota share holders for the 2021 fishing season.

  • Move the start date of the 2021 Central Gulf Rockfish Program fishery from May 1 to April 1.
  • Remove vessel use cap regulations for IFQ halibut harvested in IPHC regulatory Areas 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D for the 2021 IFQ fishing season.
  • Suspend the residency requirements applicable to the Adak Community Quota Entity Program for 2021.

NOAA Fisheries will analyze the Council’s recommendations and, if approved by the Secretary of Commerce, will publish a rule in the Federal Register. This process typically takes five to six weeks but the exact timing may vary for each action.

As we have received numerous inquiries from participants in these Alaska fisheries, we have developed a Questions and Answers webpage to answer the most frequently asked questions on the recommended emergency or expedited regulations.

For additional information or questions about permits or transfer applications, please contact the Restricted Access Management Program at: (800) 304-4846 option #2 or (907) 586-7474 or by email at RAM.Alaska@noaa.gov.

For additional information or questions about regulations and the rulemaking process, please contact the Sustainable Fisheries Division at 907-586-7228.

Read the full release here