Saving Seafood

How many sea scallops are there and why does it matter?

November 3, 2020 — The following was released by UMass Dartmouth School of Marine Science & Technology:

A study conducted by Dr. Kevin Stokesbury is featured as the cover story in the November 2020 issue of the Ecological Society of America’s Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment journal (Volume 18, Issue 9). The study, titled “How many sea scallops are there and why does it matter?” focuses on the effects of climate change, oceanic conditions along the Atlantic Coast of North America that are changing, as well as surface water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, which have increased faster than 99% of the global oceans. The research examines the role of the sea scallop as a baseline sentinel species that can be used to measure the impacts of environmental change and anthropogenic developments.

“In Canada and the US, the Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) supports lucrative fisheries, which are founded on an extensive scientific framework focusing on stock assessment,” explains Dr. Stokesbury, professor of Fisheries Oceanography at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology. “The sea scallop is an ideal sentinel species, as it is highly sensitive to changes in marine conditions. We used a drop camera system to estimate the number and size of scallops, as well as the distribution of their reproductive potential, over 70,000 km2 of the continental shelf in 2016–2018, an area that nearly covers the entire range of this species. In total, we estimated that there were 34 billion individual scallops (95% confidence limits: 22–46 billion) within the species’ range.”

Highlights:

  • Estimates of the number of individuals of an abundant marine species are both unusual and scarce
  • A drop camera system was used to approximate the number and size of Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) over an area that encompassed virtually the species’ entire range
  • Photographic quadrats allow for estimation of the sea scallop’s spatial distribution at scales ranging from centimeters to thousands of kilometers, as well as its habitat productivity
  • The sea scallop is an ideal sentinel species to track ocean health and climate change impacts

Dr. N. David Bethoney, executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, collaborated with Dr. Stokesbury on this survey, which was made possible by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awards through the Scallop Research set-aside program, and the sea scallop fishery and supporting industries of Canada and the United States.

Read the full release here

UMass Dartmouth scientists to help guide offshore wind growth

May 27, 2020 — The Baker-Polito Administration announced UMass Dartmouth as one of four institutions selected as part of a Southern New England pilot regional fisheries studies project worth $1.1 million, according to an administration press release..

Scientists at UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) have been awarded $278,592 to conduct fisheries surveys as part of the Bureau of Ocean Science Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) Regional Fisheries Studies to Guide Offshore Wind Development.

The Baker-Polito Administration, in partnership with the State of Rhode Island and the BOEM, announced grants worth $1.1 million to four institutions to support regional fisheries studies that will collect data vital to the ongoing development of the offshore wind industry in North America, according to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs press release.

“Collaborating with our state and federal partners to support these studies will help us better manage fisheries and natural habitats while positioning the offshore wind industry to stimulate economic development and deliver clean, affordable energy to Massachusetts,” said Governor Charlie Baker.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Scallops sales to fund ocean research on East Coast

May 10, 2019 — The federal government says a program that sells scallops to pay for marine science will include a study of how shellfish harvesting impacts sea turtles in this year’s projects.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside will help pay for 13 projects in 2019 and 2020. Regulators use the program to set aside more than a million pounds of scallops, which generates millions of dollars for the science projects.

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

SMAST studies on wind and fisheries poised to begin

April 8, 2019 — Fisheries scientists at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology will begin a series of studies this spring to evaluate the effects of large-scale offshore wind farms on fish populations and habitat.

As part of an agreement with a wind farm developer, Vineyard Wind, SMAST scientists will monitor commercially fished species during construction of the company’s 84-turbine project south of Martha’s Vineyard. The school will also launch longer-term research to evaluate the regional fishery implications of offshore wind.

The research will begin later this spring, according to Vineyard Wind. SMAST has already conducted a Vineyard Wind-funded trial of video trawling in the wind energy area.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

JACK SPILLANE: A rogue agency gets set to shut down another New Bedford fishery

December 10, 2018 — Scott Lang has been around fisheries issues for a long time.

Both when he was mayor and afterwards.

In 2013, Lang helped organize the Center for Sustainable Fisheries as a grassroots lobbying group to try to make sure New Bedford fishermen were not totally forgotten by NOAA. He’s worked for the industry for a long time and seen a lot of arguments from both sides back-and-forth over the years.

But until last week, he said he had never seen NOAA make a decision to close a fishery with no science behind it. Not even questionable science, as for years NOAA has used for New England groundfishing limits in the opinion of many.

NOAA’s decision to close the Rose and Crown Zone and Zone D to surf clammers is based on anecdotal evidence related to UMass Dartmouth scientist Kevin Stokesbury’s research for the scallop industry, first done almost two decades ago.

The camera net device Stokesbury invented was for measuring scallop habitats but NOAA has used his science to measure clam beds. It’s not the same, Stokesbury told The Standard-Times. The images his survey produces are of the ocean floor about a kilometer apart and clammers often dredge in much shorter distances.

The clammers have offered to do surveys that will be more applicable to clam beds in the areas of Nantucket Shoals in question. They would need about three years to do that but they would have to keep fishing in the closed areas in order to pay for it.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Higher U.S./China tariffs could be ‘game changer,’ fishing industry fears

October 24, 2018 — It’s been a month since the Trump administration activated 10 percent tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports and that move has already affected the fishing industry from scallopers to lobstermen, especially Eastern Fisheries located along the New Bedford waterfront.

With the tariffs set to increase to 25 percent at the start of 2019, that could cause catastrophic effects throughout large fishing corporations, economists and companies told The Standard-Times.

“That’s a game changer,” Executive Vice President of Eastern Fisheries Joseph Furtado said. “I think we all feel that the 10 percent is more of a paper cut than it is anything else at this point. And we can work through it.

″…We don’t think the 10 percent is the end of the world, but the 25 percent, that is certainly a dynamic game changer and there’s a lot of variability in how that could all reposition itself.”

Generally, tariffs range from 5 percent to 8 percent, UMass Dartmouth economy professor Randy Hall said.

“There are very few industries that can absorb a 25 percent increase of cost,” Hall said.

Eastern Fisheries operates the largest scallop fleet in the industry and has facilities in the U.S., China, Europe and Japan.

Due to its size and international scale, it’s likely to be the only New Bedford company that’s affected by the tariffs, according to economists and Eastern Fisheries.

Prior to Sept. 24, Eastern would use its facilities in China to process a portion of its overall catch. It would then import the catch to other countries but also back into the United States without a tariff or tax.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

ROBERT E. JOHNSON: Creating a ‘blue economy’ on the South Coast

October 5, 2018 — From the earliest days of the whaling industry, the ocean has run through the veins of the South Coast economy. Before anybody knew the term, the “blue economy” sustained families and communities along the I-195 corridor.

According to the World Bank, the blue economy is “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.”

Today, the challenge for business, government, and academic leaders is to create a new blue economy ecosystem along the South Coast, one that sheds the natural tendency toward parochialism, and is driven by collaboration and innovation.

With its location and resources, the South Coast is uniquely positioned to drive this process. The stakes are high: the average median family income in New Bedford and Fall River (where most SouthCoast citizens live) is about half the state average of $70,000. The unemployment rate is chronically higher than the state average and the educational attainment level is lower. We have a moral obligation to confront that economic reality.

Last April, UMass Dartmouth and the National Council on Competitiveness brought 100 leaders together to discuss the possibilities. From Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito to Congressmen Bill Keating and Joe Kennedy, from General Dynamics to the MF Foley Fish Company, and from the New England Council to the Mass. Business Roundtable, there was a consensus that the SouthCoast has the DNA to build a job-creating, income-increasing “Blue Economy Corridor” from Rhode Island to the Cape Cod Canal.

Read the full story at the Boston Business Journal

MASSACHUSETTS: If you love the fishing industry, New Bedford center has a volunteer opportunity for you

October 3, 2018 — New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is recruiting new volunteers and will launch a volunteer training on Saturday, Oct. 20. A nonprofit, the center is dedicated to telling the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present and future through exhibits, programs and archives.

From 8:30 to 10 a.m., current and prospective volunteers are invited to attend an orientation session. The session will include an overview of the mission and activities of the center as well as an introduction to the commercial fishing industry. A light breakfast will be provided.

In the coming months, volunteers will be invited to participate in a series of insider tours to learn firsthand about the commercial fishing industry. Tours will include visits to the seafood auction, a processing plant, a gear shop, a shipyard, and the School of Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth, as well as waterfront and dockside vessel tours. Periodic talks will be presented by commercial fishermen, fisheries scientists, maritime authors and other industry experts.

To register for the training or more information, email operations manager Sarah Bowen at operations@fishingheritagecenter.org or call 508-993-8894.

Volunteer opportunities include welcoming visitors, staffing the reception area and gift shop, engaging visitors with the exhibits, assisting with educational programs, conducting research, and helping with special events.

For those with commercial fishing industry connections, opportunities will be available to share industry skills and knowledge with visitors by leading walking tours, speaking to school groups, and demonstrating skills such as net mending, knot tying, or model boat making.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fishing insider embraces new role as Vineyard Wind liaison

September 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — In 12 years, research biologist Crista Bank spent a lot of hours at sea aboard local fishing vessels, but never once heard wheelhouse chatter about the industrial-sized wind farms planned a dozen miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

“It wasn’t really a topic of discussion,” said Bank, the new fisheries liaison for offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind. “You would think it would be, something this huge on the horizon.”

Even for her, deep in research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science & Technology, the magnitude of what will be Vineyard Wind’s $2 billion, 106-turbine offshore construction project didn’t sink in until she happened to pass five turbines off Block Island two years ago.

“I saw them, and I was like, really?” Bank said of her reaction.

It may be that head-down, focused attitude of a researcher that allows Bank to empathize with what she says is a similar attitude of many fishermen — scallopers, lobstermen, pot fishermen, gill-netters, squid fishermen, small-mesh draggers, large draggers, inshore and offshore boat captains, charter boat captains, recreational and pelagic anglers — she knows and hopes to meet.

“I sort of see the fishermen’s perspective a lot more,” Bank said “I believe in offshore energy. I believe we need to do it. I have solar panels on my house. I’m totally for renewable energy.” But, Bank said, those turbines will be placed squarely where people make a living.

Bank might be best known now in the region for her fisheries research. But before that, she crewed aboard the tall ship Ernestina and was an onboard fishing vessel observer for the National Marine Fisheries Service. Bank considers New Bedford her home.

“Crista has an excellent track record in cooperative research with the fishing industry,” said Steven Lohrenz, dean of the UMass Dartmouth marine science school. Bank is knowledgeable about fisheries science and about the challenges being faced by fishermen, said Lohrenz, who first mentioned the Vineyard Wind job to Bank. Bank is also personable and a good communicator, he said.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

Vineyard Wind Appoints Crista Bank as Fisheries Liaison

July 30, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The following was released by Vineyard Wind:

Vineyard Wind today announced the appointment of Crista Bank as Fisheries Liaison. In this role, Bank will lead the project’s regional engagement with fishing industry representatives on Cape and Islands, the South Coast, Rhode Island, and along the East Coast.

A fisheries scientist, Bank brings extensive local, regional, national and international experience and deep knowledge of marine science and fisheries issues to her role at Vineyard Wind.

“We’re pleased to have Crista lead our efforts to address the important questions the fishing industry have raised about the impacts of offshore wind development on the marine environment and on sea life,” said Erich Stephens, Chief Development Officer with Vineyard Wind. “Crista will play a key role in ensuring that the first large-scale offshore wind project in the US helps establish a robust body of knowledge that will benefit the American offshore wind industry and the fishing community for decades to come.”

Most recently, Crista served as a fisheries biologist at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at UMass Dartmouth, working on collaborative research projects with commercial fishermen studying cod, monkfish, and halibut. Previously, she served on the Schooner Ernestina, the only surviving 19th century Gloucester-built fishing schooner and one of two remaining examples of the Fredonia-style schooners, where she earned her 100-ton United States Coast Guard Captain’s license. Bank also worked on board traditional sailing vessels across the world, including journeys to the Indian and Atlantic oceans. She started her career teaching marine science at outdoor experiential education programs in New England, Southern California, and the Florida Keys. Crista earned a bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology from UMass Dartmouth and a Master’s degree in Fisheries Oceanography from SMAST.

In May, Vineyard Wind was selected to negotiate long-term contracts with Massachusetts’ electric distribution companies (EDCs) for construction of an 800-megawatt (MW) wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard; the project will provide the amount of clean energy used by over 400,000 homes across Massachusetts Vineyard Wind remains on schedule to begin site construction in 2019 and become operational by 2021.

About Vineyard Wind

Vineyard Wind LLC is an offshore wind development company seeking to build the first large-scale offshore wind energy project in the US, to be located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is 50 percent owned by funds of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and 50 percent by Avangrid Renewables. For more information, visit www.vineyardwind.com.