Turtles Archives - Page 9 of 10

Western Pacific Council Makes Recommendations to Keep US Pacific Island Fisheries Viable

October 26, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council concluded its two-day meeting in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) this week with recommendations regarding pelagic, international and American Samoa fisheries.

Council discussion centered around keeping healthy, sustainable U.S. Pacific Island fisheries viable amid an accumulation of U.S. regulations and international negotiations.

Billfish Conservation Act and Bigeye Tuna

The Council expressed dismay over the recent amendment to the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012, which bans the interstate commerce of billfish (excluding swordfish) landed by U.S. fishermen in Hawaii and the US Pacific Islands. The billfish stocks caught by Hawaii and U.S. Pacific Island fisheries are healthy, unlike the billfish in the Atlantic, the Western Pacific Council said in a press release.

The bill to amend the Act was introduced and promoted by Congressional delegates and sports fishing organizations from Florida. Recent guidelines from the National Marine Fisheries Service say the billfish landed in the US Territories and Hawaii are also prohibited from being sold in foreign markets. The Council directed staff to develop a list of questions and issues associated with amendment compliance and send them to NMFS for a response.

The Hawaii deep-set longline fishery catches billfish incidentally when targeting bigeye tuna. The amount of bigeye in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) the fishery may retain annually is developed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), an international regional fishery management organization to which the U.S. is a party.

The Council endorsed recent WCPFC’s Permanent Advisory Committee to advise the U.S. commissioners (PAC) majority recommendation to obtain a longline bigeye quota of 6,000 metric tons (mt) at the upcoming WCPFC meeting in December in Honolulu. This amount is slightly less than the amount of bigeye caught in the WCPO in 2016 by Hawaii longline vessels, including those vessels operating under agreements with U.S. Participating Territories. The Council said it will communicate this recommendation to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The Hawaii longline fleet is the sole fishery that utilizes the U.S. quota, which is currently set at 3,554 mt.

South Pacific Albacore

The Council also endorsed the PAC recommendation that the U.S. position generally be in support of adopting a South Pacific albacore target reference point. The reference point is a catch target that supports economically viable operations and healthy stock biomass. The American Samoa longline fishery, which harvests this stock, has been in decline since 2011. The Council asked NMFS to provide economic evaluations of the fleet’s performance at various target reference points in advance of WCPFC15.

Hawaii Longline Fishery

Among other pelagic and international fishery matters, the Council recommended initial action be taken that would require electronic reporting in the Hawaii longline fishery. The Council will ask NMFS to continue to develop electronic reporting in the Hawaii longline fishery and to work with Hawaii longline participants and Council staff to address several implementation issues and report back to the Council at its March 2019 meeting.

The Council intended to take action regarding the management of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles in the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery, which targets swordfish. However, action was postponed as a draft biological opinion due from NMFS on Oct. 1 has not been completed. The Council will reconvene its Scientific and Statistical Committee Working Group when the draft opinion is available. The Council may convene an interim Council meeting, if needed, to review the draft opinion and consider revisions to its June 2018 recommendations, including a possible specification of individual trip limits for leatherback sea turtle interactions.

American Samoa Fisheries

Regarding American Samoa fisheries, the Council recommended an annual catch limit (ACL) of 106,000 pounds for the American Samoa bottomfish species complex for fishing year 2019. The Council noted the next benchmark assessment, which is scheduled for review in February 2019, will provide new information to set the ACLs for fishing years 2020 to 2022. The Council also directed its staff to work with the Council’s American Samoa Advisory Panel to develop a plan for outreach and education, preferably in cooperation with Territory’s Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, to educate communities on various fisheries and fisheries-related issues.

The Council will reconvene at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 26, at the Hilton at Tumon, Guam.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

NOAA Funds Projects to Reduce Bycatch With Engineering

September 4, 2018 — A group of organizations is getting more than $2 million in grants to use engineering to try to reduce bycatch in fisheries.

Bycatch is the term for when fish and other animals are accidentally caught with gear that was seeking a different species. Bycatch poses problems for rare species of dolphins, turtles, sharks and other animals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is awarding more than $2.3 million to 14 projects as part of its 2018 Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.

One of the recipients is Duke University, which will test the applicability of sensory-based bycatch reduction technology. Duke’s project seeks to reduce sea turtle bycatch in North Carolina.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Levittown Man Trafficked More Than 3,500 Protected Turtles, Feds Say

July 11, 2018 — Federal prosecutors indicted a Levittown man Tuesday for allegedly trafficking protected diamondback terrapin turtles.

According to William McSwain, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, David Sommers, 62, of Levittown, was charged with smuggling the turtles and submitting false records for a shipment sent to Canada. The indictment included four violations of the Lacey Act for allegedly trafficking more than 3,500 turtles in interstate commerce.

Federal prosecutors said Sommers would capture the diamondback terrapins and their eggs from marshes in coastal New Jersey. The Levittown man would sell them illegally and had sent turtles across the border with Canada in 2014 in a package that he claimed contained a book.

Sommers is accused of violating the Lacey Act, a wildlife trafficking law, while transporting the turtles from New Jersey into Pennsylvania, according to prosecutors.

“Diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are a semi-aquatic species of turtle native to brackish waters in eastern and southern United States. They are not found in the wild in Pennsylvania but have a dwindling habitat range in neighboring New Jersey. The terrapins are prized in the reptile pet trade for their unique, diamond-shaped shell markings. The turtles are protected under New Jersey law and by an international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (“CITES”),” prosecutors said in a press release.

Read the full story at Levittown.com

WPRFMC Managers Recommend Changes to Swordfish Longline Fishery in Light of Turtle Interactions

June 14, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Federal fishery managers recommended measures to manage sea turtle interactions in the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery targeting swordfish this week in Hawaii.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recommended amending the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) for the Western Pacific Region to establish a framework that consists of:

a) annual fleet-wide limits on the number of North Pacific loggerhead and leatherback interactions. Once either of these interaction limits is reached, the fishery closes for the remainder of the year; and

b) individual trip interaction limits for loggerhead and leatherback turtles. When a vessel has reached the limit on a trip, the vessel would be required to return to port and may resume shallow-setting upon providing the required 72-hour notice to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for observer placement.

The North Pacific loggerhead population in Japan has been increasing at about 9 percent annually. Mike Seki, director of NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, characterized the population as “robust.”

NMFS has reinitiated formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the continued operation of the Hawaii shallow-set fishery. The Council anticipates NMFS will complete consultation and issue a new biological opinion for the fishery by Oct. 31, 2018.

Based upon the current NMFS biological evaluation to support this consultation, the Council anticipates the new opinion will authorize the take of no more than 37 North Pacific loggerheads and 21 leatherbacks. Accordingly, the Council recommended an annual fleet-wide limit of 37 North Pacific loggerheads and 21 leatherbacks, effective Jan. 1, 2019, and an individual trip limit of five North Pacific loggerhead turtles. The Council did not recommend specifying a leatherback turtle trip limit at this time. The effectiveness of the loggerhead turtle trip limit and potential need for leatherback turtle limit would be monitored annually, the Council said in a press release.

At the same time, the Council recommended a sea turtle interaction avoidance pilot program be established utilizing an industry-led fleet communication system. It also requested NMFS conduct further research on the sea turtle issue for this fishery, including research to minimize trailing gear on released loggerhead and leatherback turtles to further reduce post-hooking mortality rates.

Last week, the WPRFMC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee noted the Hawaii shallow-set fleet likely poses less biological risk to turtle populations than other fleets operating in the region, the SSC said in a statement. The industry and managers have recognized this in the past, when lawsuits forced the swordfish fishery to close completely or for part of the year.

The Hawaii Longline Association, NMFS and Turtle Island Restoration Network and other plaintiffs agreed to a settlement agreement in May to close the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery for the rest of this year.

Hawaii vessels must adhere to numerous regulatory measures, such as the interaction caps, mandatory observers on all trips to monitor protected species interactions, mandatory use of circle hooks and mackerel-type bait to reduce the risk of hooking sea turtles and mandatory equipment for and training in the safe release of live turtles — some other countries do not adhere to such strict regulatory measures.

The SSC also noted that North Pacific loggerhead nesting beach trends in Japan were much higher in the last decade than in previous years.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

North Carolina: Working group is confident it’s found ways to cut down on shrimp bycatch

May 15, 2018 — An industry work group will tell the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission on Thursday that it has found a way to modify nets to significantly reduce the bycatch of finfish and other species during shrimp trawling, one of the state’s largest fishing activities.

North Carolina has a long history of battling the bycatch of juvenile fish, sharks and turtles that a shrimp trawl can capture, in 1992 becoming the first state to require a bycatch reduction device. A 2009 study by N.C. Marine Fisheries biologist Kevin Brown found that more than 100 species were included in bycatch, with Atlantic croaker accounting for 25 percent and spot accounting for 7 percent.

“Bycatch has been an issue for a long time. It always seems like good things happen when people get together and start focusing on it,” said Scott Baker, a N.C. Sea Grant fisheries specialist who was part of the working group.

The Marine Fisheries Commission created the current 12-member working group — including six fishermen and four netmakers — in 2014 as part of its management plan for shrimp, giving them three years to find a way to reduce bycatch by an additional 40 percent beyond the federally mandated 30 percent. Now, the group will tell the commission, it has crafted four sets of gear that meet the target and is recommending the commission consider requiring shrimpers in the Pamlico Sound to use some of the devices.

“We’re basically twice (the reductions) the federal requirement are,” Brown said.

Read the full story at the Wilmington Star

NOAA Fisheries: Sea Turtle Safe Handling and Release Gear Workshops

May 3, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

NOAA Fisheries requires sea turtle safe handling and release gear be onboard federally-permitted commercial and for-hire vessels in the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery to increase fisherman and sea turtle safety if incidentally captured; there are also sea turtle handling protocols that describe the proper techniques for removing fishing gear.
NOAA Fisheries will be holding workshops and dockside outreach in the locations listed below.
During the outreach opportunities, NOAA Fisheries personnel will review the gear requirements and handling protocols.
For more information, contact Charlie Bergmann at (228) 238-4109 or charles.bergmann@noaa.gov.
Additional information on sea turtle safe handling and release gear and protocols are available at the following:

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_sa/turtle_sawfish_release/index.html.

Note: Workshops will take place May 7-15, 2018 in Florida. See the complete Fishery Bulletin from NOAA Fisheries for a list of dates, times, and locations for the workshops.

Lawsuit challenges fishing methods that could threaten right whales

April 27, 2018 — BOSTON — A noted environmental activist has gone to court to stop the use of vertical buoy fishing lines in Massachusetts waters to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

In a lawsuit filed in late February in U.S. District Court in Boston, Cambridge-based conservationist Richard Maximus Strahan names the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, the commissioners of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, as a representative of its 1,800 members.

The lawsuit is the third filed in federal court this year related to protecting North Atlantic right whales.

Strahan is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop lobstermen’s association members from further lobster pot and gill net commercial fishing operations that could result in the entanglement of any endangered whale or sea turtle, according to the amended complaint. In that same order, Strahan seeks to stop government defendants from licensing those types of commercial fisheries operations unless they can scientifically demonstrate that endangered whales and sea turtles would not be killed or injured.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

SAMFC: Proposed Changes to Sea Turtle Release Gear Types for For-Hire/Charter and Commercial Fishermen

April 23, 2018 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Written comments due by May 18, 2018

The Council is soliciting public comment on options for changes to current sea turtle release gear types for use in handling and releasing incidentally caught sea turtles. Vessels with Commercial or For-Hire South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Federal Permits are required to follow the sea turtle release gear requirements.

The proposed changes provide additional options for approved gear. The new gear would require less space on vessels while still providing the necessary function. These new gear types are only additional options, and not the only gear that industry may use to satisfy the current regulatory requirements.

Learn More

Additional information, including the Amendment 42 Scoping Document, Overview, and Video Presentation is available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/.

Comments may be submitted via the online public comment form available from the link above. Written comments are due by 5 p.m. on May 18, 2018.

See the Story Map for Amendment 42 for a quick overview of proposed options.

Scoping Meetings via Webinar Begin Today!

In addition to the information available online, the Council is offering two public scoping webinars, each beginning at 6:00 PM. Registration is required.

Monday, April 23

Tuesday, April 24

During the scoping meetings, Council staff will present an overview of the proposed changes and will be available for informal discussions and to answer questions via webinar. Members of the public will have an opportunity to go on record to record their comments for consideration by the Council.

Learn more about the SAFMC by visiting their site here.

Sharks, Dolphins, and Turtles are Turning Up in Strange Places Because of Climate Change

April 20, 2018 — Luke Halpin couldn’t believe his eyes. In the early morning hours from his spot on a research ship in the Pacific Ocean, he was seeing bottlenose dolphins. If Halpin had been on a ship off the coast of California, this wouldn’t be remarkable. But he was on a Canadian research vessel floating about 100 miles northwest of Vancouver. These dolphins had never been seen alive north of the waters off the coast of Washington state.

“My initial reaction was one of disbelief,” he told Newsweek. “But they’re an unmistakable species. They’re easy to identify.”

Halpin’s next reaction was to start counting and pull out his camera. In total, he spotted about 200 dolphins and 70 false killer whales—a very large group—that came within a few hundred feet of the ship. He and his colleagues published their observations in Marine Biodiversity Records on Thursday.

Read the full story at Newsweek

SAFMC Solicits Input on Proposed Changes to Sea Turtle Release Gear Requirements for For-Hire/Charter and Commercial Fishermen

April 20, 2018 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting public comment on options for changes to current turtle release gear requirements and protocol. Vessels with Commercial or For-Hire South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Federal Permits already have requirements for such gear.

The proposed changes in Amendment 42 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan provide additional options for approved gear. The new gear would require less space on vessels while still providing the necessary function.

Comments may be submitted via an online public comment form available from the link above. Written comments are due by May 18, 2018.

Scoping Meetings via Webinar

In addition to the information available online, the Council will offer two public scoping webinars, each beginning at 6:00 PM. Registration is required.

Monday, April 23

Tuesday, April 24

See the Story Map for Amendment 43 for a quick overview of proposed options. Contact Christina Wiegand at Christina.Wiegand@safmc.net or call the Council office at 843/224-7258 with any questions.