Saving Seafood

Climate change hurting New England cod population, study says

October 29, 2015 — The rapid warming of the waters off New England has contributed to the historic collapse of the region’s cod population and has hampered its ability to rebound, according to a study that for the first time links climate change to the iconic species’ plummeting numbers.

Between 2004 and 2013, the mean surface temperature of the Gulf of Maine — extending from Cape Cod to Cape Sable in Nova Scotia — rose a remarkable 4 degrees, which the researchers attributed to shifts in the ocean currents caused by global warming.

The study, which was released Thursday by the journal Science, offers the latest evidence of climate change — this time, affecting a species once so plentiful that fishermen used to joke that they could walk across the Atlantic on the backs of cod.

Fisheries management officials have sharply limited cod fishing in hopes of protecting the species, but they estimate the number of cod remain at as little as 3 percent of what would sustain a healthy population. The limits, in turn, have hurt fishermen.

“Managers [of the fishery] kept reducing quotas, but the cod population kept declining,” said Andrew Pershing, the study’s lead author and chief scientific officer of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland. “It turns out that warming waters were making the Gulf of Maine less hospitable for cod, and the management response was too slow to keep up with the changes.”

The institute had reported last year that the rise in temperatures in the Gulf of Maine exceeded those found in 99 percent of the world’s other large bodies of saltwater. The authors of Thursday’s study link the rapid warming to a northward shift in the Gulf Stream and changes to other major currents in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

They say the warmer water coursing into the Gulf of Maine has reduced the number of new cod and led to fewer fish surviving into adulthood. Cod prefer cold water, which is why they have thrived for centuries off New England.

The precise causes for the reduced spawning are unclear, the researchers said, but they’re likely to include a decline in the availability of food for young cod, increased stress, and more hospitable conditions for predators. Cod larvae are View Story eaten by many species, including dogfish and herring; larger cod are preyed upon by seals, whose numbers have increased markedly in the region.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

NOAA Awards $2.75 Million for Marine Mammal Rescue Efforts

September 10, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, NOAA Fisheries announced the award of $2.75 million in grant funding to partner organizations in 16 states to respond to and rehabilitate stranded marine mammals and collect data on their health. The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program provides funding to non-profit and for-profit organizations, academic institutions, and state agencies that are members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

“Prescott grants help our national marine stranding response teams continue to improve their techniques, and supports our efforts to establish links between the health of marine mammals, coastal communities and our coastal ecosystems,” said Dr. Teri Rowles, NOAA Fisheries lead marine mammal veterinarian and coordinator of the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. “The money supports vital information needed to protect and conserve whales, dolphins, seals, and sea lions.”

“Prescott grants tie directly to NOAA Fisheries’ core mission, which includes the conservation, protection and recovery of protected marine resources, including whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries. “Helping our stranding partners do their jobs on the front lines of response and rehabilitation fits in perfectly with our goals.”

The Stranding Network is comprised of trained professionals and volunteers from more than 100 organizations that partner with NOAA Fisheries to investigate marine mammal strandings, rehabilitate animals, and assist with research on marine mammal health issues. NOAA Fisheries relies on its long-standing partnership with stranding network members to obtain the vital research about marine mammal health needed to develop effective conservation programs for marine mammal populations in the wild.

Since the Prescott Grant Program’s inception in 2001, NOAA Fisheries has awarded 518 Prescott grants to members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network, totaling more than $45.5 million. Over the years, Prescott grants have enabled members to improve operations, such as expanding response coverage, enhancing response capabilities and data collection, and improving rehabilitation of marine mammals.

Prescott Grants are made under Title IV of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which authorizes NOAA Fisheries to fund eligible members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Network through grants and cooperative agreements.

Find more information about the Prescott Grant Program, details on each 2015 grant, eligibility requirements, and funding opportunities on our website.