Saving Seafood

NEFMC Discusses Scallops, Habitat, Climate Change, NTAP, Congressional Updates, and Ecosystem at April 2021 Meeting

April 16, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council met April 13-15, 2021 by webinar. Here are some highlights.

CLIMATE SCIENCE: The Council received a climate science presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center that covered: observed changes on the Northeast Continental Shelf related to temperature, currents, and pH; NOAA’s Climate Science Strategy; the Northeast Regional Action Plan; and more.

NRCC CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNING: The Northeast Region Coordinating Council (NRCC) is moving forward with an East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative. The NRCC consists of leadership from the Shown above, the U.S. Northeast Continental Shelf. A list of upcoming webinars in the NOAA Fisheries U.S. Northeast Climate-Fisheries Seminar Series is posted here. – NOAA Fisheries graphic New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The South Atlantic Council, although not an NRCC member, is participating in the climate change scenario planning initiative.

Read the full release here

Get your Maine scallops while the season lasts

April 16, 2021 — With just a couple weeks of April left, if you like Maine scallops, you had better take the opportunity to get them while you can. Otherwise, you’ll be waiting for the fishery to re-open in December. Unlike many other types of Maine seafood, scallops are only available seasonally. It’s a little confusing, though, because there are two different seasons. That’s because there are two parts of the fishery, one closer to shore and one further offshore. Scallops are a highly valuable species, so managing them well provides substantial income for the state’s economy

The state fishery, which opens in December, takes place inshore of the three-mile state water limit. It is managed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR). They issue licenses by lottery for two types of license – one for dragging, the primary means of harvesting, and one for divers who collect scallops by SCUBA. The season is slightly different for each type. The inshore fishery is divided into zones that are closed when harvesting limits are reached.

The federal fishery, which takes place out past three miles from shore, is managed by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC). That fishery requires a separate license and each permit is specific to a designated area. We are part of the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) area. The state scallop season is often the one people think of and associate with Maine fishermen, but around 40 Maine boats fish in the NGOM.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

F/V Heritage: Nordic Fisheries builds an innovative and nimble 85-foot scalloper

April 5, 2021 — You can tell a healthy fishery when people are building new boats for it, and the Atlantic scallop fishery fits solidly in that column. Nordic Fisheries, the company that Roy Enoksen started in 1968 with the purchase of the venerable Sea Trek, is now in the process of replacing much of its extensive fleet. The latest addition, the 85-foot F/V Heritage, came out of Junior Duckworth’s yard, Duckworth Steel Boats, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., in early February 2021.

Junior Duckworth watched boats being built as a kid.

“There was a yard near where I grew up where they were building wooden boats, steaming the ribs in and all that,” says Duckworth. But when he got out of the Army in 1965, he went to work building steel boats at a local yard. “I learned a lot, and worked my way up,” he says, and in 1978, he launched his own company.

Duckworth builds his steel boats the old-fashioned way, stick built, fitting and cutting each piece of plate onto the frames.

“It takes a little longer, but you don’t waste as much material,” he says. Maine-based naval architects Farrell & Norton send Duckworth a set of offsets, and he lofts them full-size in a roofed section of his yard. Duckworth takes the three-dimensional shapes of the frames off the two-dimensional loftings, the same as the wooden boatbuilders he watched as a kid. “I do it the way we’ve always done it. I’m too old to learn all the computer stuff,” says Duckworth, 78.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

April Edition of NOAA Navigator Now Available!

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

The NOAA Navigator is a bi-monthly informational insert that we publish in Commercial Fisheries News.

The April issue of the Navigator is now available. Articles in this edition include:

  • Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Season Reminder
  • Coonamessett River Restoration
  • Study on Ocean Acidification
  • Fisheries Stock Assessments Underway
  • Reporting and Permitting Updates

Questions?

Contact Kate Swails, Regional Office, 978-282-8481

NOAA Implements Default Management Measures for Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishing on April 1

March 26, 2021 — Starting on April 1, 2021, NOAA Fisheries announced it will implement default management measures for the scallop fishery until it can implement final specifications in Framework Adjustment 33 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

NOAA said the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) voted on final 2021 allocations in Framework Adjustment 33 on January 27. If approved, scallop allocations will be adjusted according to Framework 33.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishing Year 2021 Default Management Measures Begin April 1

March 24, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Effective April 1

Beginning April 1, 2021, we are implementing default management measures for the scallop fishery until we can implement final specifications in Framework Adjustment 33 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (if approved).

The New England Fishery Management Council voted on final 2021 allocations in Framework Adjustment 33 on January 27, 2021, and, if we approve the action, we will adjust scallop allocations according to Framework 33. We have noted these Framework 33 allocations and the default measures in our recent bulletin so you can consider these adjustments when planning your fishing activity between April 1 and the implementation of Framework 33.

Questions?

Industry: Contact Travis Ford, Sustainable Fisheries, 978-281-9233

Media: Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175

NMFS selects 13 Northeast scallop research projects worth $12.5 million

March 16, 2021 — Sea scallop surveys, bycatch reduction and sea turtle interactions are on a list for the 2021-22 Northeast research set-aside program for scallop science.

Set up by the New England Fishery Management Council in 1999, the cooperative science effort between researchers and fishermen was one  outcome of the scallop fishery crisis when abundance declined in the mid-1990s. Two decades later, scallops are the richest East Coast fishery, with a system of rotating area management and close collaboration between NMFS, academic researchers and the industry.

The set-aside program is a wish list of research needs from the council and carves out a small part of the fishery’s landings – valued around $570 million in 2019 – allocating it to boats carrying out the projects. For the 2021-2022 program that will be about $12.5 million in scallops brought to the docks, with $3 million from those paying for the science work and $9.5 million for the fishermen, according to a summary from NMFS.

“The RSA program improves our scientific understanding of sea scallops and monkfish, which directly contributes to their sustainable management,” Jon Hare, director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said in a statement outlining the plan.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Scallop Research Set-Aside Program Supports 13 Projects for 2021-2022; Focus on Surveys, Bycatch Reduction, Turtles

March 15, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 13 new projects under the 2021- 2022 award cycle. The awards are expected to generate approximately $12.5 million, including $3 million to fund the research and $9.5 million to compensate industry partners who harvest the set-aside scallops. The selected projects address scallop research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council during its June 2020 meeting. The projects focus on resource surveys, bycatch reduction, seed scallop habitat, loggerhead turtles, and data collection by fishermen.

The awards were announced on March 15, 2021 by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, which both are part of NOAA Fisheries. The Council and NOAA Fisheries work together to support the research set-aside program. The Council sets priorities, and NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

RSA-funded scallop surveys have become increasingly important in:

  • Providing information that directly helps scientists determine the status and distribution of the resource; and
  • Guiding the Council in management decision-making.

Read the full release here

2021-2022 Sea Scallop RSA Projects Selected

March 15, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has selected 13 projects for 2021-2022 awards through the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The selected projects focus on research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council, which established the Sea Scallop RSA Program in 1999. The council sets priorities, and NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

NOAA Fisheries expects to make final awards later this month. A list of selected projects and more can be accessed here.

Questions?

Contact Cheryl Corbett, Northeast Fisheries Science Center Cooperative Projects Coordinator

Scallop closures announced

March 10, 2021 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources has instituted an emergency scallop fishing closure in the St. Croix River in Zone 3; and expanded existing closures in Frenchman Bay, Swan’s Island and Isle au Haut rotational areas.

“The department is concerned that continued harvesting for the remainder of the 2020-21 fishing season in these areas will reduce scallop broodstock further, as well as jeopardize sublegal scallops that were observed in the 2020 spring scallop survey that is essential to the ongoing recruitment, regrowth and recovery of the scallop resource,” according to the notice of emergency rulemaking. “An immediate conservation closure is necessary to reduce the risk of unusual damage and imminent depletion of the scallop resource in these four scallop resource areas.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American