Saving Seafood

A hammerhead shark death could spark change

April 16, 2018 — Of the instantly recognizable organisms in the animal kingdom, the hammerhead shark is probably among the top three.

That distinctive skull design, molded by 400 million years of evolution, gives the large coastal shark its perfectly suited name. But many a tarpon fishing guide in Florida can also instantly identify a hammerhead shark by its tall sickle-shaped dorsal fin, and the feeling of dread that follows knowing another angler’s trophy catch may fall prey to it.

A large hammerhead appears menacing. It seems intent on causing harm. Those soul-piercing eyes on either end of its skull, connected to a specialized nervous system which allows it to see and hunt successfully, give it a face only a hammerhead mother could love. Its very sight strikes fear into the hearts of many whether they are beachgoers or boaters.

But the hammerhead’s looks could not be more deceiving. It is one of the most gentle, docile and mislabeled animals on this planet. In fact, of all the human shark bites recorded in history, according to the International Shark Attack File, only 17 unprovoked bites have been attributed to the hammerhead, and none were fatal. Truth be told, what should fear a large hammerhead shark most are stingrays, blacktip sharks and tarpon (especially the ones swimming near Boca Grande Pass).

Read the full story at the TC Palm

 

Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Marine Conservation and Shark Fishery Regulations

April 16, 2018 — WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. in 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will hold a legislative hearing on three bills.  The purpose of the hearing is to amend marine conservation efforts and maintain sustainable shark fishery regulations.

  • H.R. 4528 (Rep. Darren Soto of Florida), To make technical amendments to certain marine fish conservation statutes, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 5248 (Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida), To amend and enhance the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to improve the conservation of sharks. Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act.
  • ​H.R. 1456 (Rep. Edward R. Royce of California), To prohibit the sale of shark fins, and for other purposes. Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2017.

WITNESSES:

Mr. Christopher Oliver, Assistant Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service

Mr. Robert Heuter, Ph.D., Director, Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory

Mr. John Polston, Owner, King’s Seafood

Mr. Vance Kondon, Assistant Manager and PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Rainbow Reef Dive Center

Mr. Glenn Parsons, Ph.D., Biology Professor, University of Mississippi

WHAT:

Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans legislative hearing 

WHEN:

Tuesday, April 18, 1:00 p.m.

WHERE:

1324 Longworth House Office Building 

Visit the Committee Calendar for additional information once it is made available. The meeting is open to the public and a video feed will stream live at House Committee on Natural Resources.

 

Swarms of Huge Sharks Discovered, Baffling Experts

April 13, 2018 — Swarms of up to over a thousand basking sharks have been spotted along the northeastern U.S., puzzling experts who study the normally solitary species.

Aerial surveys meant to locate endangered North Atlantic right whales in recent decades have revealed massive groups of the world’s second-largest fish. Found worldwide, these slow-moving filter feeders pose no threat to humans.

As big as basking sharks are—at 32 feet long outsized only by the whale shark—the deep-sea dwellers can be tricky to track down.

And without those opportunistic sightings, “that data was hiding away,” says Leah Crowe, leader of a recent study on the phenomenon and a field biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. “Our goal is not to do that with our research.” (Read about a huge basking shark caught off Australia.)

In the study, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, Crowe and colleagues documented 10 sightings of large groups of basking sharks between 1980 and 2013 along the coast of Nova Scotia to Long Island.

Read the full story at National Geographic

 

Jessica Hathaway: Not just another shark story

April 6, 2018 — If there’s one trend I can appreciate coming out of the Trump administration, it’s increasing the standards for imported seafood. I’m not alone in having long wished for — if nothing else — a way to educate consumers on the difference between most imports and seafood harvested in our waters.

Reports on global fisheries are often misconstrued as applying equally to U.S. fishermen, fleets and practices as they do to foreign industry players. This misconception only works against our highly regulated industry. Our fleets reach much higher standards than the average global seafood supplier. Yet, they have few advocates, no national marketing campaign and little access to expensive lobbyists.

American fleets that target sharks have been on the verge of a complete ban for several years, thanks to a bill that would have made the trade of shark fins illegal in this country. Like many similar efforts, this bill had its roots in a justified and honorable cause — to prevent shark finning. But this problem with the global shark trade is not perpetuated by our fishermen or our policies. So how does it make sense to write policies that restrict our own trade and industry rather than getting to the root of the cause?

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Sustainable shark bill nets solutions for overfishing

April 2, 2018 — A new bipartisan bill introduced in U.S. Congress this month encourages a science-based approach to significantly reduce the overfishing and unsustainable trade of sharks, rays and skates around the world and prevent shark finning.

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2018 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Daniel Webster, R-FL, and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA, along with co-sponsors Rep. Bill Posey, R-FL, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-MO, and Rep. Walter Jones, R-NC.

The Act would require that shark, ray and skate parts and products imported into the U.S. be permitted only from countries certified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as having in place and enforcing management and conservation policies for these species comparable to the U.S., including science-based measures to prevent overfishing and provide for recovery of shark stocks. A comparable prohibition on shark finning — the wasteful and inhumane practice of cutting off a shark’s fins and discarding the carcass at sea — would also be required.

Scientists recognize more than 1,250 species of cartilaginous fishes — sharks and related skates and rays. Of these, as many as one-quarter are estimated to be threatened with extinction, and the conservation status of nearly half is poorly known. These fishes play important ecological roles in their marine and freshwater ecosystems, and many species are culturally and economically important. These fishes are particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation — most grow slowly, mature late and produce few young. Overfishing, through targeted fisheries and incidental catch, is the primary threat to sharks and their relatives, which are harvested for fins, meat, oil, cartilage and other products.

Mote Marine Laboratory Senior Scientist Dr. Robert Hueter served as a scientific reviewer for the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act text, providing feedback based on published research and his decades of experience as a shark scientist to inform policymakers who ultimately determined the content of the legislation.

Read the full story at Longboat Key News

 

Mote Scientist Contributes to Shark Trade Bill

March 27, 2018 — A new bipartisan bill introduced in U.S. Congress this month encourages a science-based approach to significantly reduce the overfishing and unsustainable trade of sharks, rays and skates around the world and prevent shark finning.

Mote Marine Laboratory Senior Scientist Dr. Robert Hueter served as a scientific reviewer for the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act text, providing feedback based on published research and his decades of experience as a shark scientist to inform policymakers who ultimately determined the content of the legislation.

Read the full story at Sarasota Magazine

 

Sustainable Shark Trade Bill Offers Science-Based Solution for Overfishing, Finning

March 26, 2018 — A new bipartisan bill introduced in U.S. Congress this month encourages a science-based approach to significantly reduce the overfishing and unsustainable trade of sharks, rays and skates around the world and prevent shark finning.

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2018 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Daniel Webster, R-FL, and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA, along with co-sponsors Rep. Bill Posey, R-FL, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-MO, and Rep. Walter Jones, R-NC.

The Act would require that shark, ray and skate parts and products imported into the U.S. be permitted only from countries certified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as having in place and enforcing management and conservation policies for these species comparable to the U.S., including science-based measures to prevent overfishing and provide for recovery of shark stocks. A comparable prohibition on shark finning — the wasteful and inhumane practice of cutting off a shark’s fins and discarding the carcass at sea — would also be required.

Scientists recognize more than 1,250 species of cartilaginous fishes — sharks and related skates and rays. Of these, as many as one-quarter are estimated to be threatened with extinction, and the conservation status of nearly half is poorly known. These fishes play important ecological roles in their marine and freshwater ecosystems, and many species are culturally and economically important. These fishes are particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation — most grow slowly, mature late and produce few young. Overfishing, through targeted fisheries and incidental catch, is the primary threat to sharks and their relatives, which are harvested for fins, meat, oil, cartilage and other products.

Mote Marine Laboratory Senior Scientist Dr. Robert Hueter served as a scientific reviewer for the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act text, providing feedback based on published research and his decades of experience as a shark scientist to inform policymakers who ultimately determined the content of the legislation.

The new Act is supported by more than 40 organizations involved in conservation and science as well as commercial fishing.

Mote — an independent, nonprofit research institution that shares its scientific data with societal decision makers at all levels — provided a letter of support for the Act, encouraging the use of science-based sustainability goals for all imported shark, skate and ray products.

“The U.S. has a Seafood Import Monitoring Program and other measures to screen out shark products imported from illegal, unregulated or unreported international fisheries, but that does not guarantee those fisheries are sustainable,” Hueter said. “For instance, a fishery could be regulated but deficient in law enforcement or scientific monitoring. As a researcher, I see the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act as an opportunity for the U.S. to help incentivize the international community towards sustainable shark fisheries, and to reward those already demonstrating sustainability. We at Mote look forward to continued, independent fisheries research with international partners to inform such progress.”

Hueter noted that the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act was inspired by years of international public outcry to stop shark finning. Finning is banned in the U.S., where shark fisheries management is generally deemed strong by the research community.

A separate bill introduced in 2017, the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, sought to ban all shark fin trade within the U.S., including fins obtained legally and sustainably from the U.S. fishery.

“The earlier bill fueled a productive conversation about the threats to sharks worldwide in directed and bycatch fisheries,” Hueter said. “The new bill, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, builds upon that conversation and broadens protection to the sharks’ relatives, the skates and rays, and also includes restrictions on the trade of all shark and ray products, not just the fins.”

Global trade in shark and ray parts and products is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, approaching $1 billion today, the Wildlife Conservation Society reports. Those estimates are likely under-reported and don’t include domestic use of shark and ray products. Shark-focused tourism is also estimated to value $314 million annually.

Read the full story at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium

 

Shark trade bill gains industry, conservationist support

March 22, 2018 — A new bipartisan bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives on 13 March would require new certifications for countries importing shark, ray, and skate parts and products to the United States.

H.R. 5248, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, would require all countries importing products related to sharks, rays, and skates obtain certification by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Certification would require evidence that the country has conservation policies, management, and enforcement in place that is comparable to similar programs in the U.S.

The bill was introduced to the house by Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) along with co-sponsors Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), and Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL). The goal, according to Webster and Lieu, is to promote the science-based regulations the U.S. has had in place for years while leveling the playing field between U.S. fisherman and their overseas competition.

“Fishing is a long-standing profession and treasured American pastime, and particularly important in Florida,” Webster said.  “This bill recognizes the sacrifices American fishermen have made to rebuild and sustain our shark populations. It encourages other nations wishing to export shark products to the United States to the same high standards for shark, skate, and ray conservation and management we apply to fishermen here.”

The bill has already garnered supporters from within the industry. Bob Jones, the executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, said the bill represents “A better way forward.”

“This legislation goes a long way toward combating the threats facing global shark stocks by promoting the successful model of American shark management,” he said.

Other industry supporters include the Garden State Seafood Association, Directed Sustainable Fisheries, and the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

Conservation groups also support the bill. A coalition of more than 40 organizations including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, have begun a campaign to support the passage of the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Dan Webster Champions Sustainable Shark and Fisheries Trade Act

March 21, 2018 — U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Fla., is leading three other members of the Florida delegation in wanting the U.S. Commerce Department to increase regulation on the international shark trade.

Last week, Webster, who is the vice chairman on the U.S. House Water Power and Oceans Subcommittee, unveiled the “Sustainable Shark and Fisheries Trade Act” which modifies the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act. The proposal has support from both sides of the aisle with three members of the Florida delegation–Republican U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Bill Posey and Democrat U.S. Rep. Darren Soto–cosponsoring the proposal.

Webster’s office noted “the bill preserves U.S. commercial fishing jobs, a key component of our state and nation’s economy” and, taking a page from the World Trade Organization’s process for certifying importing shrimp, would have the U.S. Secretary of Commerce establish a three year certifying process for nations exporting shark products to the U.S.

Read the full story at Sunshine State News

 

Shark bill could resolve debate over domestic fin market

March 20, 2018 — It’s fair to say that if the press release is coming from Oceana, it’s not going to have anything nice to say about the fishing industry. This is an outfit that seems to glory in perpetuating the misconception that reports on global fisheries apply equally to U.S. fishermen, fleets and practices as they do to foreign industry players.

That’s why when I saw Oceana had collaborated in the launch of Global Fishing Watch, I knew something outside of the worthy mission of combating IUU fishing was likely to come of it. We saw that in late February with the release of an article in Science that based its data on Global Fishing Watch.

Granted, if you look at the maps of aggregate data, you’ll see that U.S. coastal waters are not covered with the traffic Oceana deems damning. But not many average readers have time to dig that far or ask these kinds of questions about data sets. They see the headlines and condemn all fishing en masse.

The misconception that our fishing industry is just a small part of a globally mismanaged fishing industry is a perpetual grind against our highly regulated U.S. fleets.

Fishing is the seventh most regulated industry in the country, just barely outranking fishing is commercial air travel. And right behind it? Oil and gas extraction.

“I fish in North Carolina, and I’m regulated by the South Atlantic council, the Mid-Atlantic council, NMFS, the Atlantic States [Marine Fisheries Commission] and the state of North Carolina,” said Dewey Hemilright, a 2012 NF Highliner from Wanchese, N.C., and a supporter of a new bill that would preserve U.S. shark fishing.

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2018 (H.R. 524) is a bipartisan bill that aims to create a formal and transparent certification program for countries seeking to import shark products into the United States. Foreign nations would apply for certification from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce confirming that they have an effective prohibition on shark finning and have shark management policies comparable to ours.

Read the full story at the National Fisherman