Saving Seafood

Western Pacific Council to Address Sea Turtle Interactions with Sustainably Caught Hawaii Swordfish Longline Fishery

April 2, 2019 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Hawaii longline swordfish fishery closed on March 19 after it interacted with the 17th loggerhead turtle for the year. All of the turtles were released alive. The fishery has 100 percent observer coverage, i.e., a federal observer is on every vessel on every trip to monitor protected species interactions. This observer coverage level is extraordinary and an order of magnitude higher than other competing fishing nations. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission requirement is only 5 percent coverage, which most other nations have not met. The United States also operates with measures to reduce and report bycatch at levels that other fishing nations do not implement.

”Closure of this healthy, underutilized fishery is not only an economic loss for the Hawaii fishery but also has no discernible stock conservation benefit for the Pacific,” notes Council Executive Director Kitty M. Simonds. ”The catch from the Hawaii fleet will be supplanted by the catch from foreign fleets that have far less monitoring and bycatch mitigation.”

The United States was usurped by Taiwan in the late 1990s as the second leading fishing nation to harvest North Pacific swordfish (Japan leads in landings) as US landings declined. The Hawaii fishery accounted for between 55 percent (2017 and 2008) to 34 percent (2012) of the US domestic swordfish landings.

  • The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Biological Opinion (BiOp) Review Advisory Panel meeting will review the BiOp for the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline fishery for swordfish on April 12 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time (HST).
  • The 177th Council meeting will be held April 12 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (HST). The Council will discuss the Draft BiOp for the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline fishery for swordfish as well as management of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle interactions in that fishery (final action).

Projections of the stock through 2026 along with recommendations by the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean determined that the stock is not fully utilized and could withstand a significant, yet sustainable increase in harvest. Such an increase in harvest of about 50 percent from recent catches to near maximum sustainable yield would maintain a healthy stock.

The North Pacific swordfish stock was assessed in 2018 and determined to be nearly double spawning stock biomass at maximum sustainable yield (87 percent over SSBMSY) with fishing mortality determined to be less than half of fishing mortality at maximum sustainable yield (45 percent of FMSY). Spawning stock biomass has increased nearly by 10,000 metric tons since 2000 and has not breached below its commonly used biological reference point (SSBMSY) in any year in the stock’s assessment timeline (1975-2016). The stock had only been considered to be experiencing overfishing (breaching FMSY) in 1993.

Lack of supply from the sustainable Hawaii shallow-set fishery may increase pressure on other swordfish stocks to meet market demands. This may have inadvertent consequences to stocks, such as those in the Atlantic, that are not as healthy as the North Pacific stock.

  • The BiOp Review Advisory Panel meeting will be held by teleconference and webinar. The host site is the Council office, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu. The teleconference number is US toll free (888) 482-3560 or international access +1 (647) 723-3959; the access code is 5228220. The webinar url is https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov.
  • The 177th Council meeting teleconference number is US toll free (888) 482-3560 or international access +1 (647) 723-3959; the access code is 5228220. The webinar url is https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov. Host sites are a) Council office, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu; b) Native American Samoa Advisory Council Office Conference Rm., Pava’ia’i Village, Pago Pago, American Samoa; c) Guam Hilton Resort and Spa, 202 Hilton Rd., Tumon Bay, Guam; and d) Department of Land and Natural Resources Conference Rm., Lower Base Dr., Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
  • For the agendas and background materials on the meetings, go to www.wpcouncil.org or contact the Council at info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov or (808) 522-8220.

The Council was established by Congress in 1976 and has authority over fisheries seaward of state waters of Hawai’i, Guam, American Samoa, the CNMI and the Pacific remote islands. Recommendations that are regulatory in nature are transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for approval and then implemented by that National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and enforced by NMFS and the US Coast Guard.

Read the full release here

Hawaiian longline fishery for swordfish closed due to turtle interactions

March 22, 2019 — The Hawaiian shallow-set longlines fishery for swordfish has been closed because a vessel caught a loggerhead turtle – the 17th this year, which reached the allowable limit for interactions with the species, set by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The interaction cap was reduced from 34 to 17 due to a court settlement in May of last year, though the North Pacific loggerhead population is increasing every year by 2.4 percent.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has been waiting for the NMFS to complete a new biological opinion for the fishery, so that the interaction cap for loggerhead turtles can be modified. On board every vessel of the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline fishery for swordfish, there is a federal observer tracking species interactions.

Kitty M. Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, wrote in a report earlier this week that the “pace with which MNFS PIRO [Pacific Islands Regional Office] responds to federal and legal procedures has left all of the region’s major fisheries at risk.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

A California battle over swordfish — and gill nets

March 19, 2019 — Conservationists are pushing a $1 million effort this summer to change the way swordfish are caught off the California coast by phasing out the use of gill nets. They are the mile-long nylon nets used to catch swordfish but that also ensnare other species, causing conservation organizations to seek an end to their use.

Commercial fishermen can use gill nets now, with a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. But a new California law will officially ban gill nets as of January 2023.

The law requires the department to establish a voluntary “permit transition program” that will reimburse fishermen for giving up the use of gill nets. The state has set aside $1 million in public money for the program and an additional $1 million will be sought in private donations.

The law requires the state to establish a volunteer “permit transition program” by March 31, 2020, which will serve as the mechanism for the reimbursement program.

“California is one of the last places globally that still allows these wasteful fishing nets to be used, so it’s high time the Golden State transitions to cleaner, more sustainable fishing gears to provide a domestic swordfish product to Californians and visitors alike who enjoy local seafood products, said Ashley Blacow-Draeger, a spokeswoman for the ocean-conservation organization Oceana.

Read the full story at Capitol Weekly

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

CALIFORNIA: Can sustainably caught swordfish make waves on the Central Coast?

December 31, 2018 — Will sustainably-caught swordfish receive a wave of support from Central Coast fishermen, consumers and restaurateurs?

Clean-fishing advocates sure hope so as efforts continue to phase out the use of drift gillnets — the mile-long, 100-foot-wide nets currently used to catch swordfish — which  commonly collect and kill protected species like whales, dolphins, and sea turtles.

On Sept. 28,  Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1017, which requires the state Department of Fish and Wildlife get funding for and enact a transition program that would help fishermen switch to alternative fishing gear.

Under the program, up to $10,000 would be offered for fisheries to turn in their drift gillnet permits, and transition to “clean-fishing” gear.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has until March of 2020 to roll out the drift gillnet “buyout.” However, the department still needs to raise $1 million to trigger the revocation of all drift gillnet permits. The money would have to come from federal funding or private donor sources.

Read the full story at the Monterey Herald

Streamlined West Coast HMS Reporting Benefits Science, Management—And Fishermen

December 19, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA:

Highly migratory species (HMS) like swordfish, many tunas, and thresher and mako sharks play a major role in both the commercial and recreational fisheries on the West Coast. They are vital to maintaining a balanced ocean ecosystem and generating millions of dollars from economic activities across a broad range of businesses—from marine supply and service providers, shipyards, and processors to hotels, restaurants, seafood retailers, and tackle shops.

But responsible, effective HMS management is as challenging as it is crucial. As the name suggests, these fish traverse thousands of miles of ocean each year. This poses a unique set of difficulties in assessing stock size and health, and strong cooperation is needed among scientists and managers across state, regional, and international boundaries.

Until recently, these challenges were made more daunting by outdated and inefficient data collection and reporting systems. For both recreational and commercial fisheries, data on HMS are derived from state landings information, logbooks, onboard and dockside sampling, observer reports, and other sources. The information was then sent to four different agencies working independently of one another. Creating comprehensive data for a stock assessment, management action, or treaty obligation was a time- and resource-consuming process.

Now thanks to funding from a competitive request for proposals—managed by the Fisheries Information System program in partnership with the National Observer Program and the National Catch Shares Program—West Coast HMS data management is coordinated through a single source, the eastern Pacific HMS professional specialty group. The results so far have been highly encouraging.

“The efficiencies and cost savings of the new system have only begun to be realized as duplicative reporting is eliminated and manual compilations of data in spreadsheets get replaced with automated, web-based reports,” said John Childers of the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

For fishermen, this translates to more timely data, which means better predictability in their fishing operations. “As we approach near real-time reporting of HMS catch, fishermen have the data they need to make decisions about when and where to fish before a quota has been reached and they have to shut down for the season,” Childers said.

Another significant benefit, enhanced through participation in Fisheries Information Systems  working groups, has been better communication among disciplines and partners—such as data managers, program managers, programmers, and other staff from the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and West Coast Regional Office, the Pacific Fisheries Information Network, and the West Coast states. Improved collaboration and information-sharing is one of the key goals of the FIS program.

Read the full release here

DON CUDDY: Seafood comes in many forms — how fresh is yours?

November 27, 2018 — We live, as we are often reminded, in the top grossing fishing port in the United States and have some of the planet’s most productive fishing grounds right off our shores. So for those among us who enjoy and appreciate the harvest of the sea, and its clean, healthy, wild-caught protein, there is no better place to live than New Bedford. Lately however I have begun to wonder just how many people around the SouthCoast are fish eaters and include our excellent seafood as a regular part of their diet? Apart from perhaps ordering fish and chips or fried scallops in a restaurant on a Friday night that is. That counts certainly but what I have in mind is selecting some seafood at the market and bringing it home.

I regularly enjoy eating all kinds of great seafood at my house. In the past couple of weeks, I have bought, prepared and eaten swordfish, yellowfin tuna, haddock, scallops and oysters, all of it fresh and of surpassing excellence. On the other hand I have read that the vast majority of seafood consumed in the USA is confined to just three varieties — shrimp, salmon and canned tuna. I’m not a fan of shrimp nowadays as most of it is imported, farmed in Southeast Asia under dubious conditions, and I find the end product to be devoid of flavor. Decades ago when I lived in Miami, I would catch shrimp, one at a time, using a dip net and lantern as they entered Biscayne Bay via Government Cut so I know what wild shrimp tastes like.

Salmon fares a little better chez moi although wild salmon runs have all but disappeared on the East Coast and the commonly used marketing term ‘Atlantic salmon’ means that it is raised in pens, predominantly in the Canadian Maritimes and Norway. Both of these items enjoy great popularity in the restaurant trade and you will frequently find salmon and shrimp on seafood menus where even such New England staples such as cod and haddock are absent. But even at the local fish counter there is a high probability that the cod and haddock on offer, while fresh, is not caught or landed here.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

ICCAT: BIGEYE IN THE CROSS-HAIRS

November 12, 2018 — Fisheries representatives and environmental activists from around the globe will convene through November 19 for the 21st Special Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

An international treaty organization, ICCAT is responsible for the conservation and management of tuna and tuna-like pelagic species (tuna, marlin, sharks, swordfish, etc.) found in the Atlantic Ocean.

Of all the discussion, debate and deliberation this week by the participating ICCAT nations, bigeye tuna decisions will have the biggest impact on Northeast canyon fishermen next season.

Based on a recent ICCAT scientific report, bigeye tuna is currently considered overfished and subject to overfishing. The major issue however is that the current international harvest cap of 65,000 tons set by ICCAT has been exceeded by approximately 20 thousand tons.

Read the full story at The Fisherman

Federal court rules against NOAA Fisheries over driftnet regulation reversal

October 30, 2018 — A federal judge last week ruled that NOAA Fisheries illegally withdrew a proposed rule that would have placed hard caps on bycatch of protected species caught in California’s swordfish drift gillnet fishery.

The decision by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in the Central District Court of California does not immediately put the caps in place. However, his order on Wednesday, 24 October, requires NOAA Fisheries to either reinstate the regulations or discuss any potential revisions with the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Two years ago, NOAA Fisheries published a proposed rule to limit the amount of bycatch in the driftnet fishery. Federal officials opened a public comment period on the recommendations approved by the PFMC. Under the plan, the fishery faced closure if four bottlenose dolphins or short-fin pilot whales suffered injuries or died as the result of an encounter with a net over a two-year period. Closure could have also happened if two fin, humpback, or sperm whales; or two leatherbacks, loggerhead, olive ridley, or green sea turtles were injured or killed in the same time span.

However, in June 2017, the agency opted to not enact the regulations, which prompted the lawsuit from Oceana the following month.

“The court’s ruling protects whales, sea turtles, and dolphins and affirms the importance of public process and the role of the Pacific Fishery Management Council in regulating West Coast fisheries,” said Mariel Combs, the NGO’s senior Pacific counsel.

California’s swordfish driftnet fishery is considered controversial because the gear often ensnares animals other than what’s targeted. According to Oceana, the mile-long nets are used by 20 vessels and those boats discarded more than 60-percent of their harvest over a 13-year span ending last year. The number of marine mammals killed in the fishery outnumber those killed by all the other Pacific and Alaska fisheries combined.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: Can Scituate’s last four fishermen stay afloat?

October 29, 2018 — SCITUATE — Frank Mirachi, a 75-year-old retired fisherman, still goes to town pier to look out over the water now and then. It’s still a nice view, he says, but it’s nowhere near the scene that existed 50 years ago, when 120-foot-long sword-fishing boats and dozens of commercial vessels fought for a spot at the dock.

“When I started, it was basically the Wild West, you could do anything you wanted, and people did,” Mirachi said. “You’d go out and there would be boats everywhere you looked — all fishing. . . I bet there were 100 jobs on this pier.”

Today, there are only four federally-permitted fishermen working in Scituate.

Read the full story at The Patriot Ledger