Saving Seafood

ASMFC 2020 Spring Meeting Webinar Scheduled for May 5 & 6, 2020

April 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Due to concerns regarding the coronavirus and following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission cancelled its in-person Spring Meeting. Instead, a number of Boards will be meeting via webinar to either (1) take required actions to allow for the fishery to be prosecuted now and into next year or (2) take non-decisional actions that allow for the continued development of draft management documents. Specifically, the Atlantic Herring and Tautog Management Boards will consider management actions. The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program Coordinating Council will consider approval of its Funding Decision Document and request for proposals.  The Atlantic Menhaden and Atlantic Striped Bass Management Boards will be informational though the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board may provide feedback on next steps. The Bluefish and Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Boards will be meeting jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to review public comment on two scoping/public information documents, and provide further direction on the development of the respective Draft Amendments. Unless stated otherwise by the respective Board chairs, all votes will be recorded via roll call.

The agenda can be found below, attached, and on the ASMFC website at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2020-spring-meeting-webinar.

For management boards that are anticipated to take final actions, such as the Atlantic Herring and Tautog Boards, the public and stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide brief comments on actions for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period, as time allows. For all other meetings, the public should anticipate limited opportunity to provide comment via the webinar. When public comment is allowed, it will be at the discretion of the individual Board Chairs. As such, we strongly encourage members of the public to submit written comments in advance to be included in the meeting materials. Please see the revised Public Comment Guidelines (below) for more information about submitting public comment prior to the meeting.

For the remainder of Board actions previously scheduled to occur at the Spring Meeting, these actions have been deferred to the Summer Meeting or will be addressed via email. The types of issues that would be addressed via email include administrative items, such as FMP Reviews.

Details about the webinar and meeting process will be provided prior to the meeting.

Striped bass fishing cuts to hit Bay anglers harder than watermen

February 6, 2020 — Anglers in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries will be limited to landing just one striped bass a day under new rules approved this week by East Coast fishery managers.

The only exception is in Maryland, where state officials plan to let those who can afford to pay for charter fishing trips bring home two of the highly prized rockfish, as they are known in the Bay.

And there’s still more controversy about Maryland’s plan to stem the slide of the East Coast’s most popular finfish. The state has shortened but not closed its spring “trophy season,” when anglers can go after the biggest of the species, even though those happen to be the most productive spawners. And the state is planning to crack down on anglers who “target” rockfish for catch-and-release during times when it’s illegal to keep them.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Releases Evaluation and Summary of Latest Atlantic Menhaden Assessments

February 4, 2020 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

Dr. Steve Cadrin, Professor at the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and past President of the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, has completed an evaluation and summary of the latest Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) Atlantic menhaden stock assessments.  Dr. Cadrin’s evaluation and summary was commissioned by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS).  SEDAR completed two assessments in January, a traditional single-species benchmark assessment, and a first-of-its-kind ecological reference point assessment.

Read Dr. Cadrin’s evaluation here

Among other conclusions, Dr. Cadrin’s evaluation and summary finds that, according to the peer-reviewed assessments, the menhaden population is healthy, with menhaden fishing mortality remaining low. Atlantic menhaden was certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council in 2019. When comparing the two assessments, Dr. Cadrin notes that the single-species assessment “is the best scientific information available for fishery management.”

The evaluation and summary of the Atlantic menhaden assessments was one of the 2020 projects recently approved by SCeMFiS, which is part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program. The review was commissioned to provide a non-technical summary of the two 400+ page Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) menhaden assessments, so that menhaden fishery stakeholders would have, in an easily-comprehensible format, the information needed to support the best path to science-based management of the fishery.

Single-Species Assessment Remains Best, Most Reliable Information Available

Dr. Cadrin evaluated and summarized both the traditional, single-species menhaden stock assessment, as well as the new assessment that includes a multispecies focused analysis of menhaden and species which prey upon menhaden as part of their diet. This effort is a key part of the ASMFC’s efforts to transition to ecosystem-based fisheries management.

“The single-species assessment includes much more information on size and age composition, fishery selectivity, and recruitment variability than the multi-species models that were developed, but all models provide similar perceptions of menhaden stock trends since the 1990s,” writes Dr. Cadrin.

Other notable points by Dr. Cadrin include the improvements that the single-species assessment made in getting more accurate measurements of menhaden natural mortality, and the assessment’s conclusion that menhaden fishing mortality remains low, while the estimate of the current stock size is high.

Lower Menhaden Fishing Would Not Help Overfished Striped Bass

Dr. Cadrin’s evaluation and summary of the ecosystem-based assessment focuses in part on how it modeled the relationship between menhaden and striped bass. Most notably, he observes the assessment finds that, due to current overfishing and the overfished status of striped bass, decreasing the menhaden harvest would have little impact on striped bass stocks.

“At the current rate of fishing mortality on striped bass, there is little change in the long-term expectation for the striped bass stock from fishing menhaden at a lower rate than the single species target. Therefore, there appears to be negligible benefit to bass from fishing menhaden lower than the single species target,” Dr. Cadrin writes.

The assessments are the culmination of a two-year effort to gather and analyze available data for Atlantic menhaden from the fishery-independent sampling programs of the Atlantic states, commercial purse-seine reduction fishery, and commercial bait fishery.  All those who worked on the single-species assessment and the ground-breaking ecosystem assessment – the SEDAR 69 Panel, the Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee (TC), the Stock Assessment Subcommittee (SAS), the ASMFC Ecosystem Reference Points Work Group, the Center for Independent Experts (CIE), the technical reviewer and the review panel chair — deserve credit for the completion of this task.

Both assessments will be discussed at this week’s ASMFC meeting.

About SCeMFiS:
SCeMFiS utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries. SCeMFiS develops methods, analytical and survey tools, datasets, and analytical approaches to improve sustainability of fisheries and reduce uncertainty in biomass estimates. SCeMFiS university partners, University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution), and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, are the academic sites. Collaborating scientists who provide specific expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal research, come from a wide range of academic institutions including Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, University of Maryland, and University of Rhode Island.

The need for the diverse services that SCeMFiS can provide to industry continues to grow, which has prompted a steady increase in the number of fishing industry partners. These services include immediate access to science expertise for stock assessment issues, rapid response to research priorities, and representation on stock assessment working groups. Targeted research leads to improvements in data collection, survey design, analytical tools, assessment models, and other needs to reduce uncertainty in stock status and improve reference point goals.

Members of SCeMFiS include:

  • Atlantic Capes Fisheries………………………………. Massachusetts, New Jersey
  • Bumble Bee Seafoods…………………………………… New Jersey
  • Garden State Seafood Assn……………………….. New Jersey
  • LaMonica Fine Foods…………………………………….. New Jersey
  • Lund’s Fisheries……………………………………………….. Massachusetts, New Jersey
  • NFI Clam Committee
  • NFI Scientific Monitoring
  • Northeast Fisheries Science Center
  • Omega Protein………………………………………………….. Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia
  • Sea Watch International…………………………….. Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey
  • Surfside Seafood Products………………………… New Jersey

ERIC BURNLEY: Commercial fishermen do not affect recreational fishing

February 3, 2020 — There is a misconception among some recreational fishermen that commercial fishermen are to blame for all the ills we suffer with a lack of flounder, bluefish, trout, striped bass, or (you name it) . Sorry, Charlie, it just ain’t so.

There was a time when both commercial and recreational fishermen could take as many fish of any size as they wanted, and we did. I have seen coolers full of flounder come off the Point at Cape Hatteras with many of those fish well below 12 inches. Blues stacked up like cordwood at Indian River when the run was on, and trout deck loaded in Delaware Bay. At the same time, commercial fishermen were filling their nets with the same fish until the market value dropped to the point where it became a losing proposition to go after them.

I was a small part of the movement to put limits on both recreational and commercial fishermen here in Delaware and in Virginia. In Delaware, I was on the Delaware Wildlife Federation’s Advisory Council, and we met regularly with state officials to try to bring some order to the fishery. The late Buddy Hurlock and his wife Rose were the driving force behind this movement.

Read the full story at the Cape Gazette

Maryland, Virginia weigh cutting striped bass catches in 2020 as species declines

January 29, 2020 — Anglers who live for hooking a feisty striped bass are going to have fewer chances to do it in 2020 — and probably for at least a year or two afterward.

Prompted by a scientific finding that the East Coast’s most prized finfish are in trouble, Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River are all moving to adopt new catch restrictions aimed at stemming the species’ decline.

But many anglers are complaining about the complexity, fairness and even the adequacy of the cutbacks under consideration, which range from a quota tuck of less than 2% for commercial fishermen in Maryland to a 24% reduction in fish removed by recreational anglers in Virginia.

The two states are taking somewhat different tacks to comply with a directive from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates fishing for migratory species from Maine to Florida.

Read the full story at Delmarva Now

MD, VA mulling options to halt decline in striped bass population

January 22, 2020 — Anglers who live for hooking a feisty striped bass are going to have fewer chances to do it in 2020 — and probably for at least a year or two afterward.

Prompted by a scientific finding that the East Coast’s most prized finfish are in trouble, Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River are all moving to adopt new catch restrictions aimed at stemming the species’ decline.

But many anglers are complaining about the complexity, fairness and even the adequacy of the cutbacks under consideration, which range from a quota tuck of less than 2% for commercial fishermen in Maryland to a 24% reduction in fish removed by recreational anglers in Virginia.

The two states are taking somewhat different tacks to comply with a directive from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates fishing for migratory species from Maine to Florida. Last October, the interstate panel ordered an 18% decrease  in mortality of striped bass coastwide, including in the Chesapeake Bay, which serves as the main spawning ground and nursery for the species.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

New striped bass regulations prove costly to Virginia’s fishing businesses

January 3, 2020 — Fishing rods were rigged and ready to go on the back of the Top Dog as Capt. Neil Lessard peered out into a thick covering of fog.

He had been excited about having an afternoon fishing trip in the Chesapeake Bay, where he hoped to put customers onto the fighting end of some big striped bass.

But the trip had to be canceled because of the weather. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem. He’d have another charter the next day. But the way this season has gone for area captains, every last trip could be the difference between food on the table or going broke.

New striped bass regulations adopted by Virginia this fall aren’t just hurting charter captains. Marinas, bait and tackle shops, gas stations, and restaurants all are reporting lower than usual sales. Two of the three hotels around Cape Charles shut down weeks ago because of a lack of customers.

Federal fisheries managers earlier this year issued statements saying the population of striped bass along the East Coast and in the Chesapeake Bay had been declining for several years because of overfishing, and that drastic measures needed to be taken to prevent a total crash of the stock.

Read the full story at The Daily News

New Jersey submits striped bass measures to federal commission

December 10, 2019 — At the close of last month, New Jersey submitted a range of striped bass conservation equivalency measures to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC, for review.

Just what those options were, Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, didn’t disclose.

The ASMFC recommended states adopt a one-fish bag limit and a 28- to 35-inch recreational limit for ocean fisheries in order to reduce the coastwide harvest by 18 percent. This was on the ASFMC’s findings that striped bass are being overfished.

However, states are free to develop their own option as long as it achieves the required reduction.

Hajan said the ASMFC’s Striped Bass Technical Committee will review the measures and whatever options it approves will be made public and presented to N.J.’s Marine Fisheries Council.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Food security starts at sea

November 13, 2019 — By 2050, global food production must increase by 70 percent to keep up with population growth. The pressure to grow, harvest and create more protein from America’s resources will be immense. Yet, America owns vast wealth in and near our coastal communities that permeates across state lines. This wealth must be protected for businesses, community survival and our nation’s food security.

Every summer, the wealth of our fisheries is seen coast to coast. Wild salmon return to pristine Alaskan waters, striped bass reappear near New England’s shores, and red snapper congregate in the Gulf of Mexico. As leaders of the Seafood Harvesters of America and lifelong fishermen, we shared stories like these — the story of the American fisherman — during the summer’s Capitol Hill Ocean Week.

Like any robust American resource, fisheries connect businesses, communities and families across the nation around hard work and resiliency. Renewable and sustainably managed, it has the capacity to help feed us in perpetuity.
But does it?

In 2017, U.S. commercial fishermen landed an astounding 9.9 billion pounds of seafood. Americans love the idea of eating American seafood. We celebrate it on menus and grocery store banners, devour dramatic fishing documentaries, and honor its heritage in our coastal towns. As a nation we’ve prioritized sustainability through laws like the Magnuson Stevens Act, which is why 91 percent of America’s fishery stocks are not overfished today — and that number is only improving.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Striped bass fishers in New Jersey eyeing new regulations with caution

November 12, 2019 — George Bucci has been fishing the waters off New Jersey’s coast for about 30 years, and says the striped bass population has taken a sharp dive in recent years.

He remembers boom times after a moratorium on the fish ended in the late 1990s.

“I would go in the ocean in ’98 and just see miles and miles of striped bass,” Bucci said.

But overfishing has brought it back to critical levels.

“I almost strictly target striped bass,” said Bucci, 52, of Northfield. “In the last five years, I’ve seen the decline in the population. I wouldn’t call it a steady decline, I would call it a sharp decline. … The biomass has shrunk to the point where the juice isn’t worth the squeeze almost.”

The dwindling population led the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board in October to amend the rules for commercial and recreational fishers alike.

The commission, in amending the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic striped bass, is aiming for an 18% reduction in commercial removal of the popular fish from 2017 levels, according to a release from the organization.

Read the full story at The Press of Atlantic City