Saving Seafood

West Coast rockfish population rebuild project a success, NOAA says

May 15, 2019 — West Coast fishing communities earned millions of dollars from a trial program allowing fishermen to cash in on rebounding rockfish populations, NOAA announced last month.

Exempted fishing permits (EFPs) were granted to a number of vessels under the trial period, which brought in almost 14 million pounds of fish, with the aim being taking some of the strain off overfished species such as salmon. The catch brought in USD 5.5 million (EUR 4.9 million) in additional revenue, according to Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species,” Steele said. “NOAA Fisheries stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fisheries Commission Looks to Manage Dropping Rockfish Population

May 6, 2019 — The goal is to save the striped bass population on the east coast.

But many watermen fear that further restrictions could affect their livelihoods.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Eastern Shore Director Alan Girard says the dropping rockfish population are in need of some regrowth.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is looking to manage that population through these regulations.

Read the full story at WBOC

Fishery commission takes step toward reducing striped bass harvest by 17% in Chesapeake, along Atlantic coast

May 1, 2019 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said Wednesday it will require new restrictions on striped bass next year, amid overfishing of the species known in the Chesapeake as rockfish.

The panel, which regulates a striped bass fishery that spans from Maine to North Carolina, launched a study of how a variety of conservation measures could reduce fish deaths by 17 percent. That includes reducing the number of fish that are caught and also the number that die from hook wounds after being caught and released.

Measures states from Maine to North Carolina will be asked to consider include:

  • New limits on the minimum size of fish that can legally be caught;
  • Possible new rules establishing “slot” limits on striped bass fishing, meaning only fish larger than an undetermined minimum size and smaller than 40 inches long can be legally caught;
  • Closure of some portions of striped bass fishing season; and,
  • Requirement that special equipment known as circle hooks be used coastwide while fishing with live bait. (The circle hooks already are required in Maryland.)

Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun

Federal fisheries managers will reduce striped bass catches

May 1, 2019 — After years of listening to anglers begging for a fix, federal fisheries managers on Tuesday decided to tighten regulations to help the striped bass population rebound.

In its 2018 stock assessment, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission declared the species as overfished. Virginia anglers reporting less fish in the Chesapeake Bay and none in the ocean have known this for a decade.

Now the ASMFC is looking for ways that states from North Carolina to Maine can help reduce mortality. Solutions will affect the number of fish taken by both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen.

Last week Virginia fisheries managers decided to do away with the annual spring trophy season, allowing anglers to take only two fish a day that fit into a 20- to 28-inch slot limit. That season runs from May 16 to June 15.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot 

Fisheries Managers Vote to Take Action on Rockfish Overfishing

May 1, 2019 — Changes are coming to the East Coast striped bass fishing rules in response to overfishing. But what changes, exactly? The public will have a chance to weigh in.

On Tuesday the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) unanimously approved a number of options to reduce striped bass fishing mortality along the Atlantic coast and in the Chesapeake Bay. The proposal, an addendum to the existing striper management plan, is necessary due to an alarming decline in the population of this iconic sport fish, as previously reported by Bay Bulletin’s Wild Chesapeake column.

Fisheries biologists have determined that rockfish are being over-fished, which triggers action to make coast-wide changes prior to the 2020 fishing season.

Read the full story at Chesapeake Bay Magazine 

THE BALTIMORE SUN: Maryland’s rockfish challenge

April 30, 2019 — Maryland rockfish — or striped bass as they are more widely known — are in sharp decline. As of 2017, total East Coast landings, commercial and recreational, were down by nearly 40 percent from 10 years prior. Female spawning stock is in similar decline, according to a recent assessment. Not since the 1980s when the fish was believed to be reaching a tipping point and a years-long moratorium on harvest was imposed to protect rockfish have state officials faced such a worrisome outlook.

On Tuesday, members of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will meet in Arlington, Va., and likely call for conservation measures to prevent further overfishing. States like Massachusetts and Connecticut have already endorsed such a move, as has Virginia, where last week the Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 7-0 to suspend that state’s “trophy” rockfish season (so-called because it’s the one time of year when fishermen can keep large, spawning-age rockfish of 36-inches or longer) just as it was set to open. That move was likely costly to charter boat captains in Virginia who are certain to lose customers, particularly given that its Chesapeake Bay neighbor has not taken similar action — Maryland’s trophy season opened April 20 and continues through mid-May.

Read the full opinion piece at The Baltimore Sun

VIRGINIA: Striped bass spring trophy season cancelled in the Chesapeake Bay

Apil 26, 2019 — In an attempt to get ahead of pending changes to striped bass regulations, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to cancel the upcoming spring trophy season in the Chesapeake Bay.

Anglers will still be able to catch and keep two rockfish measuring between 20 and 28 inches long from May 16 through June 15. All catches must be reported to the VMRC.

Late last year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission determined that the coastal striped bass population had been overfished and that overfishing was still taking place. The commission is expected to issue amendments to its regulations that will force states to cut back on their catches.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

Virginia Cancels Trophy Rockfish Season, Urges Other States to Follow

April 24, 2019 — It’s official- there won’t be a trophy rockfish season in Virginia this spring. Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) has voted unanimously to enact an emergency closure because of worrisome new research about the striped bass population on the Bay.

Bay Bulletin reported in early April that VMRC’s biologists called for the spring season to be canceled. And on Tuesday, the commission voted 7-0 to eliminate the spring striped bass trophy season in the Bay from May 1 through June 15, the Coast from May 1 through May 15, and the Virginia tributaries to the Potomac River from April 29 through May 15. Starting May 16 through June 15 fishermen will be able to catch and keep two striped bass from 20 to 28 inches.

The emergency action comes after recent scientific research showed the rockfish population “has been below the sustainable threshold for the past six years and overfishing has been occurring sine 2010.”

Read the full story at Chesapeake Bay Magazine 

Seafood subscription box sets up shop on the Oregon Coast

April 22, 2019 — The subscription box business model is on the rise, even on the South Coast, with Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, a sea-to-online store business.

Jayme Halasz and her family are getting hooked on their subscription.

“I love the idea of having super fresh seafood and i love the idea of it coming straight from the boat itself,” said Halasz

This is her first month after seeing it on Facebook, and she says she’ll order more.

This is the company’s first Coos Bay pick up location at Coos Head Food co-op.

Michael Baran and fellow program manager, Kean Fleming, say it’s a community supported fishery model, in business for 10 years and operating on a subscription basis for six years.

“You’re supporting a fishing heritage that’s existed for a long time and you’re directly supporting commercial fisherman,” said Baran.

Each pack even shows the angler and their vessel.

Customers can create an online account, log into the online store, select their fish and pick it up at a designated location near them.

The minimum buy-in is $100 that can be used on items like Rockfish to Pacific Halibut, ranging from $12-$30 per pound depending on fishing efforts.

Read the full story at KATU

VIRGINIA: Quick action urged to end striped bass overfishing

April 22, 2019 — Virginia and two New England states are urging other East Coast fishery managers to move quickly to curb striped bass catches in the wake of a new assessment that found the prized species was being overfished.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is poised to act as soon as Tuesday when it is scheduled to take up a staff recommendation for an emergency shutdown of the state’s spring striped bass trophy season, which targets the largest fish in the population.

Big striped bass, or rockfish, is a popular springtime catch for anglers. But the larger fish also happens to be the most productive egg bearers.

The action comes in the wake of a new stock assessment that found striped bass along the East Coast were in worse shape than previously thought and had been overfished for several years.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal