Saving Seafood

Careful What You Fish For: Is Local DC Rockfish Safe to Eat?

February 18, 2016 — For the very first time, D.C. officials are warning that one of the region’s staple fish is unsafe to eat.

Last week, the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment released a fish consumption advisory saying that local rockfish, also known as striped bass or striper, contained potentially dangerous levels of an industrial toxin called polychlorinated biphenyl. The lingering chemical was used decades ago in the manufacturing of electrical equipment, floor finish, motor oil, and more. Animals exposed to the toxin have developed cancer as well as a range of problems to the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems.

Carp and eel also made the do-not-eat list, while several other species of fish have been upgraded to safer levels. But the warning against rockfish, which can be found on many local menus, sent the most shockwaves across the local seafood industry.

Of course, D.C. has no commercial fisheries, so the warnings only apply to recreational anglers. Environmental agencies in Virginia and Maryland say rockfish caught in their states’ waters is still safe to eat. But given that rockfish are migratory fish that aren’t confined to District waters, should consumers be concerned?

The last time that DOEE issued a fish advisory was 1994, although it has done chemical testing sporadically over the years. The agency first found high PCB levels in rockfish in 2013. At the time, the department only tested a single rockfish.

“When they got the first results back and these numbers were so high, there were some folks in the room that were like, ‘Wait a minute. Surely this can’t be right. These numbers are way too high,’” says DOEE spokesperson Julia Christian.

DOEE decided to collect more samples. In April and May of 2015, the agency caught six more rockfish and found equally high levels of the toxin. The samples were relatively young, small fish from popular recreational areas near the upper Potomac River.

While six fish might not seem like much of a sample size, D.C. Water Quality Division Associate Director Collin Burell says it was enough for DOEE to warn against eating rockfish. “From a statistical standpoint, that is an adequate number,” he says.

Meanwhile, the D.C. report finds that other fish caught here are now safer to eat. In fact, the contaminant levels have gone down for some resident fish that spawn and live in D.C. waters. For example, it’s now considered safe for adults to eat up to three servings per month of D.C.-caught blue catfish, which was previously on the do-not-eat list.

These findings seem to imply that D.C. waters aren’t necessarily the source of the contaminant.

Read the full story at the Washington City Paper

Bill in Congress could hurt Connecticut Fishermen, and Fish

February 16, 2016 — WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)– A battle brewing in Washington could mean big changes for Connecticut fishermen. Those fishermen, and some environmental experts say that the proposal for changing who controls Block Island Sound could have dangerous effects.

Block Island Sound is between New York and Rhode Island, but it is used by Connecticut fishermen all the time. And it’s used as a breeding ground for a very important kind of fish. The change they’re talking about in Washington could be very bad for both.

When fishing boats head out for the day, the first three miles from shore is considered state waters, then the federal government takes over. So from 3 miles off the eastern end of Long Island, New York, there are several miles of federal water before you reach the 3 mile limit around Block Island, Rhode Island. That is important because Block Island Sound is a breeding ground for striped bass, a prized trophy fish, but it is illegal to fish for them in federal waters.

“Everybody would love to fish here, obviously,” said charter boat captain John Frione. He knows where he can and can’t fish, but a Long Island congressman worries some fishermen might accidentally drift into federal waters.

Read the full story at WTNH

Connecticut fighting move to give Long Island Sound waters to New York, Rhode Island

February 2, 2016 — WASHINGTON – Connecticut’s lawmakers and state officials are trying to derail a bill would take about 150 square miles of Long Island Sound waters from federal government control and give that authority to New York and Rhode Island, a move that could hurt the state’s fishing industry.

The bill would require Connecticut fishermen to obtain permission from the neighboring states to continue to fish those waters, known as an “exclusive economic zone,” or EEZ. Members of the state’s congressional delegation say that would be a costly and burdensome process.

“We believe that this misguided legislation was crafted strategically to benefit certain states while disproportionately harming the Connecticut fishing industry,” delegation members said in a letter to the leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee.

At issue is the “EEZ Clarification Act,” sponsored by New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, that would re-designate 150 square miles of federal EEZ waters in the vicinity of Block Island, between Montauk, N.Y., and Point Judith, R.I., as  New York and Rhode Island state waters.

At a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Zeldin said the strip of water known as the EEZ poses a threat to fishermen “who can go from fishing legally to breaking the law” by inadvertently straying into federal waters and facing fines.

“Law-abiding, responsible fishermen should not be punished for doing their job,” Zeldin said.

But a representative from the Fish and Wildlife Service and conservationist John McMurray, owner of One More Cast Charters, testified that stripping federal protections from the waters would hurt the Long Island Sound striped bass population.

Read the full story at The Connecticut Mirror

 

Case for Shad & Herring Rules Circles the Drain

January 7, 2015 — (CN) – The D.C. Circuit cut the line on a case accusing the government of failing to protect ocean fish that feed New York and New Jersey eagles and striped bass.

Led by the New Jersey-based Anglers Conservation Network and its founder, Capt. Paul Eidman, the case centers on four dwindling stocks of fish – alewife, blueback herring, American shad and hickory shad – that school in the Atlantic Ocean from New York to North Carolina.

As those fish migrate up rivers during their annual spawning in the spring, they are prey for bald eagles, ospreys and other birds, like cormorants and gulls, as well as for other fish at sea and for striped bass making their annual spawning run into many of the same rivers.

The case at hand contends that there are even fewer river herrings and shads available for bigger species on the food chain, thanks to a 2013 inaction by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, one of eight established by the 1976 Fishery Conservation Act, or Magnuson-Stevens Act.

That year, the council was considering adopting Amendment 15 to add river herring and shad to the 1983 Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan.

Rather than approving the amendment, however, the council voted 10-9 to table the issue for three years while a working group studied the fish further.

The plaintiffs say this decision violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act, but U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler dismissed the complaint on Sept. 30, 2014.

A three-judge panel with the D.C. Circuit affirmed Tuesday.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

 

Bay anchovies appear to be more important than menhaden in predators’ diets

December 7, 2015 — The Chesapeake Bay may be the best-studied estuary in the world, but a group of scientists attending a recent workshop were surprised about how little they knew about what predatory fish eat.

After all, menhaden — dubbed by some as the “most important fish in the sea” would also be the “most important” fish in the Bay, right?

Apparently not. That honor, were one species to be singled out, might belong to the tiny bay anchovy — a fish that rarely grows more than 3–4 inches in length and typically doesn’t live longer than a year.

“They’re the most abundant fish in the Bay,” said Ed Houde, a fisheries scientist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who helped organize the workshop. “They’re really important in the Bay’s food web.”

An analysis of 12 years of Baywide diet information for five major predators prepared for the workshop found that bay anchovy was a significant portion of the diet for four of those species. Menhaden was important for only one, striped bass, and even for them, bay anchovy were more important.

“Menhaden came out not as high on the list as people thought it was going to be,” Houde said. “It was an important prey, but it certainly wasn’t in the top three or four.”

Even more significantly, the analysis showed that the Bay’s food web is less of a fish-eat-fish world than popularly thought, even among many scientists. A host of unheralded species, from worms to clams to crustaceans, are major food sources for the Chesapeake’s predatory fish.

Read the full story at Bay Journal

 

Wellfleet, Mass. shellfisherman charged with illegal sales to restaurants

December 2, 2015 — WELLFLEET, Mass. — A Wellfleet man had his state commercial shellfishing license suspended and was charged with 45 violations of state shellfishing regulations after he allegedly was caught selling oysters to at least two Outer Cape restaurants without having a wholesale license.

The evidence also indicates that David Paine, 57, may not have complied with regulations that protect the public from infections from the bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Paine was arraigned in Orleans District Court on Monday on violations of state shellfishing regulations between July 2014 and June of this year. His girlfriend, Kristi Johns, 41, who is a co-owner of Paine’s aquaculture grant, was arraigned Oct. 26 on four counts of violating fisheries regulations in arranging for sales of the oysters to The Whitman House in Truro.

Neither Paine nor Johns could be reached for comment. The phone number listed to them has been disconnected.

According to a report by Massachusetts Environmental Police Officer Daniel McGonagle contained in court documents, Paine sold oysters directly to The Whitman House and The Lost Dog Pub in Orleans. McGonagle wrote in his report that on June 22, he and Environmental Police Sgt. Kevin Clayton were notified of a possible oyster violation by a state Department of Public Health inspector who was investigating The Whitman House for allegedly selling striped bass before the season opened and marketing it as pollock.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

NEW JERSEY: Fish cops issue striped bass warning

December 2, 2015 — Federal fishing officials are warning anglers and commercial fishermen it is illegal to catch striped bass in waters outside three miles.

The ban on catching stripers is in an area called the “Exclusive Economic Zone,” or EEZ, which runs from 3 to 200 miles offshore and is under federal jurisdiction. The ban, which dates back to 1990, is not in place in state waters that are inside three miles.

In recent years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard and state agencies to enforce the ban. NOAA Fisheries Special Agent Jeffrey Ray said in New Jersey the agency will be working with the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife to enforce the ban.

The effort runs from November through February and could include dockside or at-sea inspections as well as aerial reconnaissance.

“There’s a lot of striped bass activity and we want to make sure the information is out there that people cannot catch striped bass in the EEZ. There will be patrols in the EEZ,” said Ray.

In the past the efforts have included putting undercover agents posing as patrons on party and charter boats to make sure they stay within three miles. There have been dozens of cases brought against captains that fished in the EEZ, including one against a charter boat operator based in Avalon several years ago.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

 

Bills could make striped bass New Jersey’s state fish

November 19, 2015 — There is a movement to have striped bass designated as the official saltwater fish of the state of New Jersey. The two bills that could make that a reality are sitting in the both state houses waiting on a vote.

The Assembly bill (A4563) was introduced in June and the companion Senate bill (S3192) followed in October. Fishermen are now urging legislatures to pass them.

“There are several reasons do it,” said Ray Dziadul, the conservation officer for the Raritan Bay Anglers Club. “It is the premier fish that fishermen fish for. It generates a lot of money for our economy.”

Just as important to Dziadul said is the benefit it would provide for striped bass, which have been in a recent population dive according to fishery managers.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

NEW JERSEY: Massive school of fish fights off predators in Raritan Bay

November 16, 2015 — A group of New Jersey fishermen pulled their boat into a breathtaking scene last week and captured video of massive numbers of menhaden schooling to avoid the jaws of predator bluefish.

“My father and his friend have a combined 120 or so years of experience on the water and they had never seen anything like that,” said Nick Kita, 22, of Manville, who shot the video and posted it to Youtube. Kita also provided the video to NJ.com.

A professional photographer, Kita used both a submerged GoPro camera and an overhead drone to capture dramatic footage of the fish.

Read the full story at New Jersey Advance

 

VIRGINIA: Special Investigation: Big fight over little fish

November 12, 2015 — REEDVILLE, Va. – Small business owners along the Chesapeake Bay are concerned that commercial fishing by Omega Protein is hurting their livelihood. Both rely on catching menhaden, a small bony fish that is valuable to Omega for its oil and bone meal, as well as for bait to charter boat captains and crabbers.

Omega has fished for menhaden out of Reedville since the 1870’s. It hauls in millions of them each weekday during a fishing season that is quota-based and runs roughly from May to November.

10 On Your Side visited the Reedville operation and spoke with several employees about the company’s importance to the community. We also met with a charter boat captain who is convinced that Omega’s large hauls are hurting his business along with hundreds of others – marinas, crabbers, tackles shops, etc.

“Used to be these creeks would just be chocked full of menhaden flipping all over the surface,” said Chris Newsome, owner of Bay Fly Fishing in Gloucester. Newsome’s charter clients fish for striped bass, bluefish, speckled trout and redfish, and they feed on menhaden. “They’ve definitely become a lot harder to find over the years.”

Read the full story at WAVY