Saving Seafood

Megalodon teeth washing up along North Carolina beaches

November 2, 2015 — These days, we humans tend to freak out if a little ol’ great white shark gets too close to one of our beaches. Imagine being alive millions of years ago, and having to contend with megalodons, giant sharks that were longer than any of the ships Columbus took across the Atlantic.

Beachcombers along the North Carolina coast are getting a good idea of the size of these prehistoric fish that ruled the oceans between 2 million and 15 million years ago. Recent strong currents have unearthed fossilized megalodon teeth, and washed them up on the sand in North Topsail Beach and Surf City, according to local NBC affiliate WITN.

Read the full story at The Times-Picayune New Orleans

 

 

Cape Cod: Playing tag with sharks

November 1, 2015 — CHATHAM, Mass. — The summer crowds and traffic on Main Street were down to a trickle. Leaves sifted onto lawns, and the birdsongs and rattle and hum of insect life were stilled for another year.

As the Aleutian Dream nudged past rolling breakers at the mouth of Chatham Harbor, the ocean told another story. Rippling V’s of migrating waterfowl filled the skies. All around the vessel, spouts from fin whales on their way to the West Indies, pausing to gorge themselves on sand eels, burst into the air like escaping jets of steam. The inky black backs of minke whales, likewise headed for equatorial regions, jackknifed as they dived on the eels below.

Notably absent were the great white sharks that seemed omnipresent at summer’s end, closing town beaches from Orleans up to Wellfleet as they cruised close to shore, occasionally beaching themselves in their pursuit of seals in Harwich, Chatham and Wellfleet.

But tagging data going back to 2010 showed that most great whites were gone from the Cape by mid- to late October.

“It’s only the big slobs hanging out now,” joked state Division of Marine Fisheries shark scientist Greg Skomal. In the summer, average sizes hovered around the 12- to 13-foot mark, but most of the sharks they had encountered this fall were to 14 to 15 feet long.

Perched on a pulpit, a narrow catwalk jutting forward from the bow of the Aleutian Dream, Skomal eased his back onto the hard aluminum rail and stretched his legs, waiting for word from above. Despite the bright sunshine and blue skies, wispy high cirrus clouds foretold of the coming storm that likely would end what had been a record-breaking shark-tagging season.

Read the full story at Cape Cod Times

Cuba launches shark protection plan produced with US group

October 21, 2015 — HAVANA (AP) — Cuba announced Wednesday that it is launching a long-term plan to preserve its sharks in cooperation with a U.S. environmental group, part of a rapidly accelerating partnership between the two countries aimed at preserving their shared waters in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits.

Nearly a year after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced that they would end a half-century of official hostility and start moving toward normalization, the most visible progress has been in the realm of environmental protection.

The shark plan announced by Cuba after two years of work with the U.S -based Environmental Defense Fund commits Cuba to recording shark catches by fishing vessels and eventually implementing stricter rules that would limit shark fishing and protect shark nurseries.

Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Valparaiso, Chile this month that the U.S. and Cuba were signing an accord to work together on protecting marine preservation areas in far western Cuba located a relatively short distance from Texas and Florida across the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits.

In April, a research vessel operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration carried marine scientists from Cuba and other countries on a research cruise aimed at gathering information about the spawning of blue-fin tuna, a commercially valuable and highly threatened species.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard – Times

 

 

How Restaurants and Fisheries Are Saving Edible Seafood From the Trash

October 22, 2015 — As demand for seafood rises, chefs have their seafood supplier on speed dial. And while species like tuna, cod, and halibut are popular, these days, the daily catch on the blackboard might be something unfamiliar — squirrel fish or the banded rudderfish. Don’t be scared off. Most likely it’s bycatch or trash fish. While perfectly edible and quite tasty, these fish are so named because they might otherwise be thrown overboard or ground into fishmeal because they aren’t the intended catch on commercial fishing boats.

If they had a choice, fisherman would rather not have to deal with bycatch, but fishing nets aren’t particular about what they scoop up. Bottom trawlers have little discretion when they drag along the seafloor. Longlines with baited hooks extend for 50 miles or more, which attracts anything that swims by — including unwanted edible fish as well as sea turtles, sharks, and other sea mammals. Opportunistic seabirds flock to longlines in hopes of an easy meal, often getting snagged.

All in all, it’s an inefficient way catch fish, and even the fisherman dislike it. The most recent tally from Johns Hopkins University estimates that in United States-controlled waters, 573 million pounds of fish are lost due to fisherman bycatch every year. This pales in comparison to the even-more striking fact that 51-63 percent of seafood is wasted at the consumer level.

Read the full story at Eater

 

Official seeks ‘common sense ideas’ in dealing with sharks

October 20, 2015 — Though shark research is winding down as the cold weather moves in, Orleans Selectman John Hodgson already has his eyes on next year’s shark population.

Hodgson is calling for the creation of a nonprofit organization called Cape Cod Shark Watch that would bring together federal, state, and local officials to implement “common sense ideas” to keep people safe from sharks in the waters off Cape Cod.

Though Orleans had no shark-related injuries among beachgoers this summer, Hodsgon said educating the public will be necessary to keep people safe as shark sightings increase.

Hodgson said in his proposal, which was released last week, that researchers have identified more than 100 great white sharks off the Cape coast this summer.

“This is not a swimming pool in Orleans, so it’s not just an Orleans problem. We’re talking about the Atlantic Ocean,” he said. “These sharks are not sitting at a toll booth, waiting to pass through and be acknowledged . . . We’re going to have to have a regional approach to this, especially on the communication side of things.”

Read the full story from the Boston Globe

Costa Rica government vows to no longer support international shark protections

October 14, 2015 — Environmental groups are outraged by new agreements between the Costa Rican government and the fishing industry which they say will roll back protections for endangered and threatened shark species.

The government says the new measures will guarantee that local fishermen can make a living.

According to a letter outlining the agreements, sent by Presidency Minister Sergio Alfaro to Costa Rican conservation groups, the government will no longer “propose or support” international protections for shark species considered of commercial interest and will urge international couriers that have banned the shipment of shark fins — like UPS and American Airlines — to resume carrying them.

Conservationists say airlines and other couriers are key pieces in the lucrative international shark fin trade, which has contributed to the sharp decline of several shark species.

Read the full story from The Tico Times

Directed Sustainable Fisheries, Inc. Distributes Fisheries Mgmt Events Calendar

October 13, 2015 — The following was released by Directed Sustainable Fisheries, Inc:

2015-2016 Fisheries Events Calendar Version 12

Commercial ACL Info http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/acl_monitoring/commercial_sa/index.html

Recreational ACL Info http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/acl_monitoring/recreational_sa/index.html

January 01, 2015

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Highly Migratory Species (HMS) shark quotas open, except Atlantic Large Coastal Shark quota opened July 01, 2015 and Porbeagle shark quota is closed in 2015

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/news/news_list/2014/12/120114_2015_final_shark_specs.html

January 01

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) Calendar and Closures

http://www.safmc.net/fish-id-and-regs/fishing-season-calendar-closures

January 01

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) Commercial Regulations Mixing Zones

http://www.gulfcouncil.org/fishing_regulations/CommercialRegulations.pdf See Page 3 (PDF Page 5)

October 13

Written Comments Due on ESA Petitions for Smooth Hammerhead and Bigeye Thresher sharks

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/08/11/2015-19550/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-smooth-hammerhead-shark

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/08/11/2015-19551/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-bigeye-thresher-shark-as

October 14-15

SAFMC Visioning Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina

http://safmc.net/Oct2015_VisioningWorkshop

October 20-22

SAFMC SSC Fall Meeting Date

http://www.safmc.net/Meetings/SSCMeetings

October 29

NMFS SERO Written Comment Due on Dolphin Allocation & Generic Amendment Proposed Rule

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/09/29/2015-24576/fisheries-of-the-caribbean-gulf-of-mexico-and-south-atlantic-snapper-grouper-fishery-and-golden-crab

November 03-04

SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Advisory Panel meeting in North Charleston, South Carolina

http://safmc.net/meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings

November 04

Written Nominations for HMS Shark SEDAR Pool requested by this date

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/news/news_list/2015/10/100215_sedar_pool_nominations.html

November 17-20

SEDAR 41 Red Snapper/Gray Triggerfish Assessment Workshop in Morehead City, North Carolina

http://sedarweb.org/sedar-41

December 07-11

SAFMC Meeting, Hilton Oceanfront Hotel, 2717 W. Fort Macon Rd, Atlantic Beach NC

http://safmc.net/sites/default/files/meetings/pdf/Council/2015/2015_SAFMC_MeetingDates.pdf

January 01, 2016

Many SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Species Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) Open http://safmc.net/

Most HMS Shark, Swordfish and Tuna Quotas Open http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/

January 19-22

SAFMC Citizen Science Workshop in Charleston, South Carolina

http://safmc.net/sites/default/files/meetings/pdf/SSC/2015/10_2015_SSC/A9_SA_CitSci_one-pager_062615.pdf

March 07-11

SAFMC Meeting in Jekyll Island, Georgia

http://www.safmc.net/meetings/council-meetings

March 15-18

SEDAR 41 Review Workshop Red Snapper & Gray Triggerfish in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina http://sedarweb.org/sedar-41

June 13-17

SAFMC Meeting in Cocoa Beach, Florida

http://www.safmc.net/meetings/council-meetings

View a PDF of the DSF events calendar

More sharks along East Coast: 2,800 tagged this spring

September 8, 2015 — If it seems like there were more sharks than usual near the coast this spring, that’s because there were. A team of federal researchers, part of the longest-running coastal shark research program along the East Coast, captured and tagged more than 2,800 sharks — the most in 29 years of population monitoring before the summer season got underway.

“We caught fish throughout the survey,” said Lisa Natanson, a scientist at the Narragansett Laboratory of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center and leader of the coastal shark survey. “Sandbar sharks were all along the coast, while most of the dusky sharks were off North Carolina. We captured a bull shark for the first time since 2001 and recaptured 10 sharks previously tagged by our program and two sharks tagged by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.”

No one is sure why the numbers were up. It could have been the fish were simply concentrated in the study area from Florida north to Delaware during the time the sampling occurred. That could have been driven by any number of factors ranging from water temperatures to availability of prey, said Shelley Dawicki, a spokeswoman for the science center.

Read the full story at Delaware Online

 

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for 9/7/15

September 9, 2015 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

NCFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MONDAY SEPT. 14

The NC Fisheries Association Board of Directors will meet Monday, Sept. 14 at the Washington Civic Center located at 110 Gladden St., Washington, N.C.  Meetings are open to all members.

ASMFC 74TH ANNUAL MEETING PRELIMINARY AGENDA

MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION SEA TURTLE COMMITTEE TO MEET

The Sea Turtle Advisory Committee to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington.  The committee is scheduled to review information from the division’s At-Sea Observer Program, including the number of large-mesh gill net fishing days in each management unit, and to give feedback on potential amendments to the state’s Sea Turtle and Atlantic Sturgeon incidental take permits.

For more information contact Chris Batsavage, Protected Resources Section chief, at 252-808-8009 or Chris.Batsavage@ncdenr.gov.

NMFS CUTS VERMILION SNAPPER COMMERCIAL DAILY TRIP LIMIT 

The daily trip limit for the commercial harvest of vermilion snapper in the South Atlantic is reduced from 1,000 pounds gutted weight to 500 pounds gutted weight, effective 12:01 a.m. (local time) Sept. 10, 2015. NOAA Fisheries has determined 75 percent of the July-December quota of 438,260 pounds whole weight will be landed by Sept. 10, 2015.  For more information see the news release.

PUBLIC INFORMATION DOCUMENT FOR AMENDMENT 1 TO THE INTERSTATE FMP FOR TAUTOG

REGULATION AND RULE CHANGES:

-South Atlantic Vermilion Snapper Commercial Trip Limits Change Effective Sept. 10

-South Atlantic Gag and Wreckfish Catch Limits Change Effective Sept. 11

-Atlantic Mackerel Slippage Consequences Measures Effective Sept. 11

-USCG Mandatory Dockside Inspections Required Effective Oct. 15

DEADLINES:

Sept. 10 – NMFS Updated Draft Acoustic Guidelines Comments

Sept. 14 – NMFS Generic Amendment to Snapper-Grouper, Golden Crab and Dolphin-Wahoo FMPs Comments

Sept. 17 – 2016 Commercial Atlantic Shark Season Comments

Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. – 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set Aside Applications

Sept. 25 – MAFMC Cooperative Research Proposals

Sept. 28 at 5 p.m. – MFC Kingfish and Interjusdiction FMP Update Comments

Oct. 2 – MFC Proposed Rules Comments

Oct. 2 – MAFMC Unmanaged Forage Species Scoping Comments

MEETINGS:

If you are aware of ANY meetings that should be of interest to commercial fishing that is not on this list, please contact us so we can include it here.

 

Sept. 9-10 – Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel Meeting, Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, 8777 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD and via webinar

Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. – NCFA Board of Directors Meeting, Washington Civic Center, 110 Gladden St., Washington

Sept. 14 at 6 p.m – Oyster and Hard Clam Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee Meeting, DENR Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington

Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m. – MAFMC Scoping Hearing for Unmanaged Forage Species,

DENR Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington

Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. – MFC Sea Turtle Advisory Committee Meeting, DENR Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, Washington

PROCLAMATIONS: 

SNAPPER-GROUPER COMPLEX – COMMERCIAL PURPOSES (GRAY TRIGGERFISH, VERMILION SNAPPER)

View a PDF of the release here

 

2015 Coastal Shark Survey Reveals Shark Populations Improving off U.S. East Coast

September 8, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:

The longest running coastal shark research survey along the East Coast has completed its 2015 field work, capturing and tagging more than 2,800 sharks, the most in the survey’s 29-year history. The results are very good news for shark populations.

“We caught fish throughout the survey,” said Lisa Natanson, a scientist at the Narragansett Laboratory of  NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and leader of the coastal shark survey.

“Sandbar sharks were all along the coast, while most of the dusky sharks were off North Carolina. We captured a bull shark for the first time since 2001, and recaptured 10 sharks previously tagged by our program and two sharks tagged by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.”

The survey began in 1986 and is conducted every two to three years. It covers coastal waters from Florida, where coastal shark species concentrate during the winter and spring, north to Delaware, where many shark species migrate during spring and summer as more northerly waters warm. Following this migratory route, at this time of year, makes it easier to survey the whole population.

Read the whole story, see images on our website, and find out about the research team’s daring rescue off North Carolina!