Saving Seafood

Game wardens, Coast Guard chase off illegal fishing boats

April 23, 2019 —  Texas game wardens and U.S. Coast Guard patrols chased eight “lanchas” fishing illegally in U.S. waters back into Mexico on Saturday, confiscating and removing 10 miles of illegal long-lines.

The Mexican fishermen were illegally setting long-lines in the Gulf of Mexico off Cameron County shores, and game wardens confiscated those and freed game fish including 40 sharks and king mackerel along with a single sea turtle.

Long-lining, which is banned in Texas waters, uses hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks attached to a single line. Texas waters stretch nine nautical miles from shore and, following a tip, the wardens and Coast Guard found the lanchas setting their lines a mile to a mile-and-a-half from shore in U.S. waters.

Game wardens found so many illegal long-lines had been set that they had to continue their mop-up operations Sunday.

Lanchas are speedy open boats favored by inshore fishermen and are usually 20 to 30 feet long and powered by outboard motors. The boats cross into U.S. waters and captains set long-lines and then head back to Mexican waters before returning five or six hours later to haul in their catch.

Read the full story at The Valley Morning Star

FLORIDA: Marco Rubio Reintroduces the Sustainable Shark and Fisheries Trade Act

April 9, 2019 — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has brought back his proposal for the U.S. Commerce Department to increase regulation on the international shark trade.

Last week, Rubio teamed up with Republican U.S. Sens.  Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, to bring back the “Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act.”

The bill “would require any country that seeks to export shark, ray, and skate to the US to first demonstrate it has a system of science-based management to prevent overfishing and a prohibition on the practice of shark finning” and ensure other nations “must also receive certification from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that its fisheries management policies are on par with US practices” and modifies the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act.

“U.S. shark populations are growing because of years of sustainable management, benefiting ocean ecosystems, as well as coastal economies via fishing, trade, and tourism,” Rubio said. “My bill would extend successful U.S. shark conservation and humane harvesting standards to our global trading partners, helping to protect international shark populations as well. In doing so, we can save millions of sharks from being finned at sea, and preserve the livelihoods of commercial fishermen in Florida and throughout the U.S. who continue to fish in accordance with strong federal and state fisheries management laws.”

Read the full story at the Sunshine State News

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod towns get funds for shark precautions

April 5, 2019 — Ahead of another influx of tourists that comes with summer on Cape Cod, state officials are showering six outer Cape towns with public safety funds following increased shark sightings and a deadly attack last September.

The Executive Office of Public Safety announced Tuesday that $383,000 was being allocated to help buy emergency call boxes in areas where cell service is limited, satellite phones for lifeguards, and all-terrain vehicles that can more quickly reach patients on the beach with specialized medical equipment.

In a press release that didn’t mention the word “shark,” officials said the funds were for “municipal preparedness and response programs.” Sen. Julian Cyr of Truro said called it a “good first step” coming ahead of summer and Rep. Sarah Peake of Provincetown said the funding arrived with “lightning speed.”

“Our administration is pleased to provide funds to address critical infrastructure equipment needs as it relates to the safety of all Massachusetts residents and visitors,” Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said in a statement. “We are grateful to our partners at the local level and in the Legislature for continuing to work together with us to address this important issue.”

Arthur Medici, 26, was killed by a great white shark while boogie boarding last September along a stretch of Cape Cod that’s been a tourist destination for decades, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each summer. It was the first fatal shark attack since 1936. State officials responded to the late-summer attack off Wellfleet by encouraging beachgoers to follow posted warnings and stay in shallow water. Since then, talks about public safety have picked up.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Rubio Reintroduces Bipartisan Bill to Promote U.S. Shark Conservation as a Global Model of Sustainability

April 3, 2019 — The following was released by the office of Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):

Today, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) reintroduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (S. 1008), bicameral legislation that recognizes the sustainable and economically-valuable fishing practices of U.S. shark fishermen and promotes U.S. standards for shark conservation and humane harvest abroad. U.S. Representative Daniel Webster (R-FL) has introduced similar legislation (H.R. 788) in the House.

“U.S. shark populations are growing because of years of sustainable management, benefitting ocean ecosystems, as well as coastal economies via fishing, trade, and tourism,” Rubio said. “My bill would extend successful U.S. shark conservation and humane harvesting standards to our global trading partners, helping to protect international shark populations as well. In doing so, we can save millions of sharks from being finned at sea, and preserve the livelihoods of commercial fishermen in Florida and throughout the U.S. who continue to fish in accordance with strong federal and state fisheries management laws.

“Our nation is a leader in sustainable fisheries management. While the practice of shark finning is already banned in U.S. waters, America does have a small population of fishermen who legally harvest whole sharks for their meat, oil, and other products. To address the global problem of shark finning, it is important for us to set an example for other nations by requiring their shark fisheries to be sustainably managed,” said Murkowski. “This legislation sets a strong policy example for other nations that wish to prevent shark finning in their waters, while protecting the rights of American fisherman that operate in legal and well-regulated shark fisheries, and supporting the efforts of shark conservationists. By supporting other nations as they work to eradicate the cruel practice of shark finning, we can find solutions to protect our fisheries, our communities, and marine ecosystems worldwide.”

Rubio first introduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act last Congress, and
the Senate Commerce Committee approved the legislation shortly after.

Specifically, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act would:

  • Create a shark conservation and trade fairness certification for nations wishing to import shark products to the U.S.;
  • Prohibit the importation of shark products originating from any nation without a certification, and the possession of such products in the U.S. with limited exceptions for law enforcement, subsistence harvest, education, conservation, or scientific research;
  • Update the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to reflect the U.S. commitment to promote international agreements that encourage the adoption of shark conservation and management measures and measures to prevent shark finning that are consistent with the International Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks;
  • Direct the Secretary of Commerce to include rays and skates into the seafood traceability program to ensure that shark products are not smuggled into the U.S. falsely labeled as rays and skates, two closely related groups.

 

Study maps where tunas, sharks and fishing ships meet

March 26, 2019 — Overfishing is rapidly pushing many of the world’s sharks and tunas toward extinction. The world’s fastest known shark, the shortfin mako, for example, was recently uplisted to endangered on the IUCN Red List, its decline mostly attributed to overfishing.

But researchers are only beginning to figure out where and when people fish them the most. Now, a new study has some answers.

By analyzing the trails of more than 900 fishing vessels and more than 800 sharks and tunas in the northeast Pacific, researchers have identified regions where the two tend to overlap. This information, researchers say, can be used to manage fisheries, especially in the high seas, the swaths of ocean that lie beyond the jurisdiction of individual countries.

“These fish [sharks and tunas] may travel thousands of miles every year, crossing international boundaries and management jurisdictions,” said Timothy White, lead author of the study and a graduate student in biology at Stanford University, California. “In order to sustainably manage them, we need to know where they migrate and where people fish them, but this info is surprisingly difficult to gather for sharks and tunas of the open ocean.”

Read the full story at Mongabay

Banning Shark Fin Sales Not Effective Conservation Tool, Sustainable Shark Alliance Tells Congress

March 26, 2019 — The following was released by the Sustainable Shark Alliance:

Banning the domestic sale of shark fins will be less effective for global shark conservation than legal, regulated shark fishing, according to testimony from the Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA), delivered today before a House panel.

Shaun Gehan, testifying on behalf of SSA before the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, voiced SSA’s opposition to H.R. 737, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act. Instead, SSA, which represents shark fishermen, dealers, and processors, expressed its support for H.R. 788, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act.

Mr. Gehan was quick to point out in his prepared remarks that opposition to H.R. 737 is not based on a difference of opinion on the troubling practice of shark finning, which he testified is an “abhorrent and unsustainable” practice that “wastes an important source of low-cost protein that can feed growing populations.” Rather, SSA opposes H.R. 737 because, by banning the sale of legally caught shark fins that are not inhumanely harvested, it will not effectively promote global shark conservation.

“Sustainably-sourced fins from our well-managed fishery will be replaced by those from bad actors. Only American fishermen, abiding by the world’s strictest shark conservation laws, and sharks in unmanaged waters will suffer,” he said.

NOAA has expressed similar concerns with the legislation. Last year, Alan Risenhoover, Director of NOAA’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries, told the same subcommittee that “we cannot support the Shark Fin Sale Elimination Act because the bill’s negative impact on U.S. fishermen would outweigh its minimal benefit to shark conservation,” adding, “this would hurt U.S. fishermen who currently harvest and sell sharks and shark fins in a sustainable manner under strict federal management.”

SSA supports H.R. 788, which “leverages the power of the U.S. market to ‘export’ the best management practices of our country.” Rather than banning the sale of all shark fins, H.R. 788 requires all shark products that are imported into the U.S. come from fisheries that meet the same high standards as U.S. fisheries. This means that not only must they come from sharks that are not finned, but that they must also come from shark fisheries that are managed sustainably.

H.R. 788 promotes high standards of shark conservation at a global level, while, just as importantly, preserves increasingly important American shark fisheries.

“Not only do shark harvests provide an important source of income for American fishermen and their communities, but growing shark populations are rapidly increasing natural mortality on such important food and game fish as red snapper and grouper species, not to mention increasing predation on whales and marine mammals,” Mr. Gehan said.

Unfortunately, the subcommittee did not consider H.R. 788 at today’s hearing, instead focusing on a bill that will harm many constituents in coastal communities without providing meaningful shark conservation. SSA urges the subcommittee to reconsider H.R. 788 as a better alternative.

About the Sustainable Shark Alliance

The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) is a coalition of shark fishermen and seafood dealers that advocates for sustainable U.S. shark fisheries and supports well-managed and healthy shark populations. The SSA stands behind U.S. shark fisheries as global leaders in successful shark management and conservation. The SSA is a member of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities.

How to keep conservation policies from backfiring in a globally connected world

March 13, 2019 — For many years environmentalists have urged the public to “think globally, act locally” — consider the health of the planet, then take action in your own community.

But this approach can have unintended consequences. In a recent study, I worked with colleagues from academia, government and the nonprofit world to gather examples of fishery, forestry, agriculture and biofuel policies that appeared successful locally, but on closer inspection actually created environmental problems elsewhere, or in some cases made them worse.

For example, in my field of fisheries ecology and management, one strategy for managing the problem of bycatch — when fishermen accidentally catch non-target species, such as sharks, sea turtles, and dolphins — is to reduce local catch limits. But when the United States curtailed Pacific swordfish catch between April 2001 and March 2004 to protect sea turtles, U.S. wholesalers imported more swordfish from other countries’ fleets operating in the Western and Central Pacific.

Read the full story at GreenBiz

The secret lives of New England sharks

February 28, 2019 — The New Bedford Science Café returns Wednesday March 6 with fisheries biologist Megan Winton, a PhD candidate at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), UMass-Dartmouth.

His presentation, “You’re gonna need a bigger dataset: How statistics are shedding light on the secret lives of sharks,” is slated for 6 to 8 p.m. at Greasy Luck, 791 Purchase St., New Bedford. Open to everyone. Free, except for beer and food.

Little is known about the great white sharks that swim in these waters. Sharks are notoriously difficult to study in the wild, especially as they migrate vast distances, are elusive and difficult to capture, a press release about the event states. But, as Winton will relate, that’s changing thanks to the rapid development of electronic tags that are capable of recording a tagged shark’s location, movement patterns, and local environment. Scientists now have unprecedented volumes of information to make sense of.

How does the collected data tell scientists what an animal is actually up to? What can be revealed about the broader population? Since 2015, Winton has been working with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy to unravel mysteries about great white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod. As a quantitative fisheries biologist, she employs both math and her knowledge of species biology to gain insights into fish populations. The science, in the long run, can lend to better ways of protecting sharks and improving safety for humans.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

FLORIDA: FWC meeting addressed sharks, snapper and nonnative species

February 22, 2019 — It was a busy two days at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in Gainesville.

By day’s end Thursday, the commission had approved changes to shark fishing regulations, no-take rules at a popular walk-in West Palm Beach dive site, hunting regulations, fishing regulations for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and spotted seatrout in southwest Florida’s most heavily affected red tide zone, and had instructed staff to develop plans on how to better control aquatic plants in Florida’s numerous lakes.

The FWC also took steps to stop illegal trapping of Florida’s native songbirds and took steps to further protect the state from high-risk invasive species.

Read the full story at Treasure Coast Newspapers

Suppliers Challenge Texas Law Targeting Shark Sales

February 20, 2019 — Sharks caught in U.S. waters are dressed in short order, fins are removed and carcasses are packed in trucks bound for Mexico. But an unconstitutional Texas law mandating sharks remain intact has cut off the Mexican market, shark-meat purveyors claim in a federal lawsuit.

Texas-based Ochoa Seafood Enterprises Inc. says in the complaint filed Tuesday in Houston federal court that its business depends on shark meat.

It gets 60 percent of its income from buying the meat from dealers in Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina and shipping all of it in refrigerated trucks through Texas to clients in Mexico City, where it’s filleted and put on grocery store shelves and restaurant menus.

But the company hit a snag last July when a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department agent contacted its owner and said an inspection of its refrigerated truck at the Mexico border had revealed it was shipping shark carcasses with the fins and tails removed in violation of Texas law.

Joined by its shark-meat supplier, Louisiana-based Venice Seafood LLC, and the trade group Sustainable Shark Alliance, Ochoa Seafood sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Executive Director Carter Smith.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service