Saving Seafood

Q&A: Fish and politics behind Antarctic marine reserve deal

October 28, 2016 — WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Nations from around the world on Friday reached an historic agreement to preserve an area of ocean near Antarctica that’s about twice the size of Texas. Here are some questions and answers about the deal:

Q: WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT THE AREA?

A: The marine protected area will be in the Ross Sea, considered to be one of the most pristine environments in the world. New Zealand officials say that at different times, the area is home to about one-third of the world’s Adelie penguins and 26 percent of the world’s emperor penguins. It also boasts thriving colonies of seabirds, seals and whales. Researchers say the region is important to study because it is almost untouched by humans, and should remain that way. Several countries fish in the region for lucrative Antarctic toothfish, which are often sold in stores and restaurants as Chilean sea bass.

Q: WHAT MAKES THIS AGREEMENT GROUNDBREAKING?

A: Individual nations across the globe have set aside dozens of marine reserves. But proponents say this is the first time that a bunch of nations have collaborated to protect an area on the high seas — the open ocean that falls outside the jurisdiction of any one nation. The deal was put together by New Zealand and the U.S.

Q: WHAT ARE THE DETAILS?

A: The reserve covers 1.6 million square kilometers (617,000 square miles), making it the world’s largest marine protected area. About 72 percent will be a no-take zone, where commercial fishing will be banned. In the remaining areas, limited fishing for toothfish or krill will be allowed, although fisher folk will be required to do extra monitoring and tagging so scientists can evaluate what’s happening to fish stocks. Researchers can apply to take limited numbers of fish from throughout the reserve.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

Study shows oyster reef restoration helps economy

October 26th, 2016 — A 54-acre oyster reef built in Matagorda Bay is benefiting more than sea life.

Half Moon Reef has become a fishing hot spot, adding $691,000 to the state’s domestic gross product each year and creating a dozen jobs, according to a Nature Conservancy study released this month.

About three years ago, the reef was dead. While there was some hard material left to build upon, there were no live oysters, said Mark Dumesnil, the associate director of coastal restoration in Texas for The Nature Conservancy.

The reef was once almost 500 acres, but dredging, major changes in hydrology that altered the amount of water entering Matagorda Bay and, possibly, a hurricane left the reef defunct.

In 2013, when Dumesnil and other researchers began their effort to bring the reef back to life, their main priority was to create a habitat for fish.

“It’s more than just the oysters,” he said. “My goal was to restore it for all of the ecosystem services.”

Oyster reefs can help clean water, provide habitat for a huge diversity of reef-dependent sea life and help reduce the amount and prevalence of harmful algal blooms by removing nitrogen from the water.

But soon Dumesnil was receiving phone calls and emails from fishing guides who were reaping benefits of their own. So, The Nature Conservancy teamed up with Texas Sea Grant to survey anglers and fishing guides to quantify the social and economic benefits of Half Moon Reef.

Read the full story at the Victoria Advocate 

Reports: Gulf population of menhaden, prey of game fish, thriving

October 26th, 2016 — A commission that assesses the health and viability of the menhaden population in the Gulf of Mexico says despite massive commercial hauls, the menhaden population is sound.

The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission calls it a stock assessment for menhaden.

Steven J. VanderKooy, a fisheries coordinator with the commission, which has an Ocean Springs, Mississippi office, told The Sun Herald despite the fact that millions of pounds are hauled in each year, they are thriving.

The fish is caught for cat food and fish oil supplements and is a favorite food of large game fish.

The assessment was completed as a cooperative effort of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Decatur Daily

Latest report says menhaden thriving in the Gulf

October 25th, 2016 — A commission that assesses the health and viability of the menhaden population in the Gulf released a report this week that says despite massive commercial hauls, the menhaden population is sound.

It’s called a stock assessment for menhaden — a fish caught for catfood and fish oil supplements and a favorite food of large game fish. If fact, there’s been controversy this year over how many redfish commercial menhaden boats in the Gulf should be allowed to keep in the bycatch while fishing for menhaden.

Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission evaluated the status of the Gulf menhaden in U.S. waters and concluded the “Gulf of Mexico’s menhaden stock is not experiencing overfishing,” said Steven J. VanderKooy, a fisheries coordinator with the commission, which has an Ocean Springs office.

The assessment was completed as a cooperative effort of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Menhaden catches support the second largest commercial fishery by weight in the United States. Menhaden are small filter feeders that don’t grow much longer than a foot and only live for three or four years.

Despite the fact that millions of pounds are hauled in each year, they are thriving, VanderKooy said. “They are really, really resilient. It’s a great fish and short-lived.”

Read the full story at the Sun Herald  

Gulf council seeking input from fishermen for coral reef protection

September 23, 2016 — Fishermen will be able to provide input for coral protection areas in the Gulf of Mexico at a workshop Monday hosted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott, 142 Library Drive, Houma.

The council’s scientists recommended protecting 47 areas in the Gulf, but with the help of the Coral Advisory Panel and Shrimp Advisory Panel, the number has been narrowed to 15 priority areas.

The meeting is to get feedback from fishermen who use bottom-contacting gear in federal waters in the Gulf before the council begins its public scoping process. Another meeting is to be held in Alabama.

“Most of the areas, no one fishes in, but there is one area off the boot of Louisiana and several off Texas and Florida where there is some fishing activity. They want to get feedback from fishermen to see how much impact it would have to fisheries,” said Julie Falgout, seafood industry liaison with Louisiana SeaGrant.

Generally, fishermen won’t trawl in areas where there are coral reefs as it would damage gear, Falgout said. But when a reef area is protected, there is an additional boundary area that surrounds the reef that may impact fishing.

“The council wants feedback from the fishermen to see if it’s going to be a big problem for a lot of fishermen or for one or two fishermen and see if they need to go back to the drawing board to rework the maps,” she said.

Read the full story at The Daily Comet

NOAA to hold public meetings on proposed sanctuary expansion

July 18, 2016 — BATON ROUGE, La. — Federal wildlife and fisheries regulators have scheduled two meetings in Louisiana to get feedback on their proposal to expand the boundaries of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will convene the public meetings on Tuesday, July 19, at the Hilton New Orleans Airport hotel in Kenner and on Thursday, July 21, at the Estuarine Habitats and Coastal Fisheries Center in Lafayette. Both meetings will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the LMT Online

ROB WALTON & FRED KRUPP: Restoring Fisheries, Scoring a Net Gain

July 11, 2016 — Tres Atkins followed his passion and made the biggest bet of his life: He became a commercial fisherman. In 2006, he bought a boat, moved to Galveston, Texas, and began fishing for red snapper. He also unwittingly joined the front lines of one of the most important conservation success stories in recent history—the turnaround of U.S. fisheries.

The future looked bleak when Mr. Atkins entered the fishing business. Decades of overfishing had sharply depleted the red snapper population, and attempts to address the problem had led to a tangle of federal regulations, including short fishing seasons and low quotas. That, plus depressed prices, made it hard to make ends meet. Yet a decade later, the Gulf of Mexico red snapper population is rebounding, and Mr. Atkins’s big bet has paid off. Having entered the fishery with a single boat, he now runs one of the largest family-owned fleets in the Gulf of Mexico, along with a wholesale seafood business.

His success is part of a larger story. The U.S. has reversed the seemingly intractable downward trend in fish stocks that began in the 1980s. A composite health index of federal fisheries is at an all-time high. American jobs supported by domestic fisheries now number 1.83 million, up 15% since 2011.

Not every fishery is thriving. The challenges facing some fishermen, including many small operators in New England, are real. But after years of alarming headlines, a national picture of success is emerging. What fueled the comeback?

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal

BILL COCHRANE: Snappers Wars not exactly what columnist argued

July 7, 2016 — In response to Charlie Everts’ guest column “Snapper fight about who owns the Gulf, its bounty” (The Daily News, June 30): His first statement is very telling. He says the snapper issue “pits commercial fishermen against recreational fishermen.” That’s true, but the snapper fishery is not set up that way, for this very reason.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, many, many years ago decided that, to be fair, the snapper should be divided equally between the commercials that supply Americans with fresh Gulf seafood, and boat owning recreational anglers. Simply put, the commercials have their fishery, and the recreationals have theirs. Both should mind their own business.

The National Marine Fisheries Service realized that there needed to be accountability on both sides. Since there were only about 100 commercial permits, they decided to stop issuing any more permits. Then they developed a system to manage the commercial fishery called Individual Fishing Quotas. This system tracks every commercial trip, maintains a real-time data system that counts each harvest, and gives law enforcement the ability of meeting each boat that unloads.

Of course, the recreational fishery in the Gulf consists of thousands and thousands of fishermen.

The recreational fishery is managed by daily bag limits and size limits. The federal daily limit is two snapper and minimum size of 16 inches.

As more and more recreational fishermen catch more and more snapper, the season gets shorter and shorter.

Read the full op-ed at The Daily Courier of Galveston County 

Shark finning law goes into effect

July 1, 2016 — Beginning Friday, the sale, purchase or possession with intent to sell shark fins in Texas will be a criminal offense that could result in jail time and a fine.

State Rep. Eddie Lucio III’s second attempt to strengthen the prohibition of the federally outlawed practice of shark finning was signed into law last year, making Texas the 10th state to target a black market trade that the Save our Seas Foundation estimates kills 73 million sharks annually. The conservation organization Oceana estimates that half of the shark-fin trade in the U.S. is funneled through Texas.

Finning is the wasteful practice of catching a shark, cutting off its fins, then discarding the dying fish. Officials say this is done mostly by profiteers taking advantage of a thriving Asian and domestic demand for shark-fin soup. Arguments heard when the bill was debated in Austin last year suggested the shark fin market in Texas has grown 240 percent since 2010, according to the Texas Legislature Online website.

Shark finning is illegal in many parts of the world, including the U.S. since 2000. But enforcement can be difficult. Curbing the practice demands a strenuous international effort, said special agent John O’Malley, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Corpus Christi.

Read the full story at the Corpus Christie Caller Times

LDWF Secretary opposes move to give Louisiana authority over red snapper

June 22, 2016 — Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Charlie Melancon stated Tuesday he is opposed to a push to transfer management authority of Gulf of Mexico red snapper from the federal government to the fisheries agencies of the five Gulf states.

Melancon said a bill proposed by Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge) that’s currently making its way through Congress would grant Gulf states management authority without providing necessary dollars.

“Without federal funding, Louisiana could potentially lack the proper resources to manage the red-snapper fishery,” Melancon said. “It would be fiscally irresponsible for the department to support any mandate that would result in an unknown amount of fiscal burden placed on the state of Louisiana for the management of a single species of fish.”

Previously, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida had joined Louisiana in calling for NOAA Fisheries to surrender management control of the popular reef fish. Critics say gross mismanagement of red snapper has led to reduced fishing opportunities for recreational anglers. This year’s federal red-snapper season for recreational anglers was initially set at nine days, but was extended to 11 days after tropical weather kept many anglers at the dock.

Read the full story at the New Orleans Times-Picayune