Saving Seafood

URI Leads Effort To Reform Commercial Fisheries in the Philippines

April 25, 2018 — Researchers at the University of Rhode Island are leading a new project in the Philippines to increase the number of fish in their waters.

The Philippines is one of the biggest fish producing nations in the world. The U.S., for example, depends on the country for crab and tuna.

However, the majority of their fishing grounds are overfished, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based environmental advocacy organization.

URI and other Filipino universities and organizations will be working throughout the next five years to develop better fishery management plans for municipalities.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Feds begin environmental review of Vineyard Wind

April 3, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The federal government is gathering public comments for an environmental report on the Vineyard Wind offshore wind proposal.

Five public meetings are scheduled this month in New Bedford, Vineyard Haven, Nantucket, Hyannis, and at the University of Rhode Island.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to prepare an environmental impact statement on Vineyard Wind’s construction and operations plan. Vineyard Wind, a partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, has proposed an 800-megawatt project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The project could include up to 106 wind turbines, beginning about 14 miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard.

A 30-day comment period runs through Monday, April 30.

Maine: Benchmark study of lobsters begins

February 13, 2018 — In 2015, data collected in a benchmark assessment of New England lobster stocks showed record-high abundance for the combined stocks of the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank and record lows for the lobster stock of southern New England.

Now, about three years later, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is beginning preparations for the next American lobster benchmark assessment that is expected to be completed around March 2020.

“We’re in the very early stages right now,” said Jeff Kipp, senior stock assessment scientist at the Arlington, Virginia-based ASMFC that regulates the Northeast lobster fishery. “The process will be mostly data-driven.”

Nothing is certain in the periodic assessments of various seafood species. But if some recent projections hold, the 2020 assessment could sketch a different picture from the 2015 assessment, possibly reflecting the declining abundance predicted by a recent Gulf of Maine Research Institute study.

The study, compiled with the University of Maine and NOAA Fisheries, forecast a 30-year decline in the Gulf of Maine lobster boom that began around 2010. The culprit? Increasingly warmer temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, which scientists have said is warming faster than 99.9 percent of the rest of the world’s ocean waters.

“In the Gulf of Maine, the lobster fishery is vulnerable to future temperature increases,” the authors of the study wrote. “The researchers’ population projections suggest that lobster productivity will decrease as temperatures continue to warm, but continued conservation efforts can mitigate the impacts of future warming.”

The findings of the GMRI study were strongly disputed by some Maine lobster dealers and the state’s Department of Marine Resources. The Maine DMR criticized the GMRI computer model used to arrive at the study’s conclusions, calling it “an unreliable tool on which to base management decisions.”

The benchmark assessment of the region’s lobster populations — which will include data on lobster landings, lobster growth and prevalent diseases among the population — could go a long way toward determining exactly what is happening to the region’s American lobster stocks.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

Rhode Island: Ocean State Officials Pledge to Halt Offshore Drilling

February 13, 2018 — NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — Rhode Island’s governor and members of Congress are calling for an all-out effort to oppose President Trump’s plan for offshore drilling along the Eastern seaboard. They warned of the environmental and economic risks to the state’s fishing and tourism industries. They urged the public to submit comments on the proposal to the Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) and to show their opposition at a scheduled Feb. 28 public workshop in Providence.

Referencing the six commercial fishermen in the audience at at Feb. 12 press event, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said he planned to advance a bill signed by all New England senators to ban offshore drilling off the New England coast. Whitehouse called the offshore drilling proposal a “dumb idea” and blamed the fossil-fuel industry for directing the Trump administration to enact it.

“This will not happen. Whatever it takes to prevent it, we will see takes place,” Whitehouse said.

Gov. Gina Raimondo promised to lobby governors of coastal states to pass resolutions opposing the offshore drilling plan.

“This is backwards. We ought to be moving forward for offshore wind farms, not backwards for offshore oil drilling,” she said.

Raimondo also restated her intent to have Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke follow through on his promise to meet her in Rhode Island and discuss the fossil-fuel project. Several East Coast governors called Zinke after he met with Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Scott apparently convinced Zinke to exempt his state from the offshore drilling plan. Although there is skepticism of the agreement after Zinke’s office backtracked somewhat on that promise and legal questions of such an exemption surfaced.

Whitehouse and Raimondo were asked whether a state or regional carbon tax would put economic pressure on Trump and the fossil-fuel industry. Both said they favor a national or multi-state fee on fossil fuels. However, Whitehouse said his carbon tax bill in the Senate won’t advance until the head of the Senate is a Democrat.

“The Republicans are keenly interested in trying to shovel this issue under the rug as much as they can to keep the fossil-fuel money flowing into their party. It’s a sad state of affairs,” Whitehouse said.

Raimondo said she favors advancing a carbon tax along with public pushback to offshore drilling.

Read the full story at ECORI

 

ASMFC Begins Preparations for American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment

January 30, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has initiated a benchmark stock assessment for American lobster (Homarus americanus) to be completed in the summer of 2020.  The goals of the assessment are to evaluate the health of stocks along the U.S. Atlantic coast and inform management of this species.  The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.

The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will contribute to the goals of the assessment.  This includes, but is not limited to, data on abundance (young-of-the-year, recruits, full recruits), biological samples (sex, maturity, weight, carapace length), life history information (growth, natural mortality, mating, shell disease), stock connectivity (tagging data), catch (harvest, fishing effort) and information regarding the environmental influence on lobster life history. For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format, with accompanying description of methods, to the Commission by April 13, 2018.

The Data Workshop will be conducted May 14-17, 2018 at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, 218 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI 02874. This workshop will review available data sources for American lobster and identify datasets to be incorporated in the stock assessment.

For those interested in submitting data and/or attending the American Lobster Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

 

‘Cod Is Dead’: New Netflix Series Details Challenges Facing U.S. Fishermen

January 5, 2018 (Saving Seafood) — The challenges facing American fishermen, ranging from declining quotas to disputed science to fleet consolidation, are highlighted in a new Netflix documentary series premiering today.

The new series, Rotten, “travels deep into the heart of the food supply chain to reveal unsavory truths and expose hidden forces that shape what we eat.” The series’ sixth and final episode, “Cod is Dead,” focuses on the domestic seafood industry, and the business and regulatory climate that has made it increasingly difficult for fishermen to make a living. Special focus is given to the ongoing fallout from the Carlos Rafael seafood fraud case and the continuing impact of the controversial catch share management system.

The episode interviews fishermen, scientists, environmentalists, and other stakeholders, with special emphasis placed on industry members in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The full list of interviewees is:

  • Steve Welch – Commercial Fishing Captain
  • Richard Canastra – Co-Owner, The Whaling City Seafood Display Auction
  • Peter Baker – Director, U.S. Ocean Conservation-Northeast, The Pew Charitable Trust
  • Ian Saunders – New Bedford Dock Worker
  • Dr. Jonathan Hare – Science and Research Director, Northeast Fisheries Science Center
  • Seth Macinko – Professor of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island
  • Aaron Williams – Commercial Fishing Captain
  • Scott Lang – Former Mayor of New Bedford/Lawyer
  • Jake Kritzer – Director of Fishery Diagnostics and Design, Environmental Defense Fund
  • Tor Bendikson – Vice President, Reidar’s Trawl Gear & Marine Supply
  • Arthur Bogason – Chairmen, Icelandic National Association of Small Boat Owners
  • Ragnar Arnason – Professor of Economics, University of Iceland
  • Charles Smith – U.S. Coast Guard
  • Tom Williams – Commercial Fishing Vessel Owner

Rotten is available now on Netflix

 

Rhode Island: Narragansett Bay’s Ecology Changes Worry Fishermen

December 11, 2017 — NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — Narragansett Bay has experienced dramatic changes during the past century, from being a dumping place for sewage and industrial pollutants to a near paradise for recreational swimming and boating. But changes continue to occur, whether from the warming climate, invasive species, fluctuating wastewater effluent, or other factors.

As University of Rhode Island oceanography professor Candace Oviatt recently told an audience of fishermen, scientists and students, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an average day on Narragansett Bay. The bay is always changing. Every year is different. Whether we like it or not, the bay is going to keep changing.”

Oviatt’s comments on Dec. 6 were part of a daylong symposium sponsored by Rhode Island Sea Grant and aimed at creating a dialogue between fishermen — many of whom are worried that the bay has gotten so clean that there is little food left for fish to eat — and scientists whose research tells a sometimes confusing story of how the bay’s changing ecology might give that erroneous impression.

While most of the scientists claim their research suggests that the biomass of fish and other creatures living in Narragansett Bay has changed little through the years, almost all said the composition of species that call the bay home has changed dramatically.

A weekly fish trawl survey in two locations in the bay conducted since 1959 illustrates those changes. According to Jeremy Collie, the URI oceanography professor who directs the trawl, in the early years of the survey most of the species collected in the nets were fish and invertebrates that live on or near the bottom, such as lobster, winter flounder, tautog, cunner and hake. Those species also happen to prefer cooler water.

In recent years, the species that prefer warmer waters and that live higher in the water column have dominated the trawl surveys, including butterfish, scup and squid.

Read the full story at ecoRI

 

Rhode Island: Fishermen: Bay cleanup might be doing harm

December 7, 2017 — NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — Narragansett Bay is cleaner and clearer than it’s been in decades.

But after huge strides in treating wastewater and controlling storm runoff, some are asking a question that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago about what is arguably Rhode Island’s most valuable natural resource:

Is the Bay too clean?

Fishermen are raising the issue after seeing steep declines in numbers of flounder, lobster and other species that were once so abundant that they formed the bedrock of their industry.

It has gotten bad enough that lobsterman Al Eagles says that he and others now call the Bay “Chernobyl,” a reference to the site of the devastating Soviet-era nuclear disaster.

“We have to ask ourselves, ’What is taking place in the Bay that has changed it from a resilient bay to a dead bay?” Eagles, who has fished for 45 years, said Wednesday at an annual marine affairs forum held at the University of Rhode Island.

Lanny Dellinger, board member of the Rhode Island Lobstermen’s Association, put the blame on a tightening of restrictions on wastewater treatment plants after the historic Greenwich Bay fish kill in 2003 that over the past 10 years or so has cut in half the amount of nutrients that flows into the Bay.

“It seemed to be happening in sequence with the timing of nitrogen reductions,” Dellinger said, pointing out that such nutrients are key to the growth of phytoplankton, a critical food source for marine life. “I used to see unbelievable amounts of life, but I started to see that change in the mid-2000s.”

The men spoke at the 16th annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography in Narragansett, an event aimed at fostering discussion and developing research projects. Bruce Corliss, dean of the school, said he chose to focus on questions about the Bay’s health after a conversation with Eagles.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

 

RHODE ISLAND: URI, Commercial Fisheries Center combine to create apprentice program in commercial fishing

August 21, 2017 — POINT JUDITH, R.I. — In early July, a group of apprentices joined a pilot program designed to train new commercial fishermen and women. When the program ended 20 days later, not a single apprentice had dropped out.

“We were very pleased with that,” said Barbara Somers, a research associate at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science who helped put the program together. “We started with 12 and we ended with 12.”

The program, funded by a $100,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was a joint initiative of URI and the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, a non-profit group representing nine fishing organizations. The goal was to produce skilled crews to replenish the declining ranks of the Rhode Island commercial fishery.

The course covered all aspects of fishing, from fish stock assessments to net-mending and engine repair. Most of the training took place on fishing vessels and at fishing-related businesses. Equipment and meals were provided, and everyone who completed the program received a $1,000 stipend. Participants were also introduced to Point Judith’s tightly-knit commercial fishing community, where many have already found jobs.

Marian Kach, 37, is one of two women who completed the program. She said she had learned about the course on Facebook and jumped at the opportunity.

“I’ve been into fishing for seven years, rod and reel, and I’ve always wanted to work on a dragger, but as a woman, it’s kind of hard to approach a bunch of people in a very different way of fishing, and I didn’t really know anybody down there,” she said.

Read the full story at the Westerly Sun

Recent Right Whale Deaths Have Scientists Worried

July 7, 2017 — The deaths of six North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence last month have raised alarms among whale biologists who fear for the future of one of the rarest whales on the planet.

Robert Kenney, a marine mammal expert at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, called the unexpected deaths “a major concern” because the population of right whales totals fewer than 500 animals and their numbers have been declining since 2011. The dead whales represent more than 1 percent of the population.

While the deaths raise many questions, one of the first, according to Kenney, is what were they doing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the first place?

“Right whales go to the same places to feed every year — the Great South Channel, the Bay of Fundy, the Nova Scotia shelf — feeding grounds they probably learned from their mothers in their first year of life,” said Kenney, who manages the sighting database for the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. “But recently they seem to be wandering farther afield. If there’s not enough food where they traditionally feed, they go to other places. That’s what we think is going on.”

What caused the deaths of the six whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence — the water body surrounded by Newfoundland, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — is uncertain. Preliminary results of necropsies on three of the animals showed evidence of blunt trauma from ship strikes on two of the whales and fishing gear entanglement on the third. But a news release from Canada’s Marine Animal Response Society said other problems that “may have predisposed these animals to this trauma cannot be ruled out at this stage.”

Read the full story at ecoRI News