Saving Seafood

Virginia dodges sanction on menhaden

February 13, 2019 — A threat to shut down Virginia’s menhaden fishery disappeared after an interstate commission decided it wouldn’t find the state out of a compliance with a new quota for the oily fish.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission cut the quota for menhaden caught in the Chesapeake Bay by purse-seine vessels by 42 percent back in 2017 — but the General Assembly balked this year and last at enacting that lower quota into state law.

This month, the commission indefinitely postponed taking any action to find Virginia out of compliance, a finding that could trigger a federal moratorium on the fishery.

Menhaden has made tiny Reedville the biggest U.S. fishing port, measured by pounds, outside Alaska. Reedville’s fleet of purse seine vessels — large former offshore oil service ships or former minesweepers — scoop up menhaden schools with giant nets, then deliver the fish to the Omega Proteins processing plant, where they’re turned into fish oil and animal feed.

The commission said that if the Reedville fleet catches more than 51,000 metric tons in the Bay — its current quota — it could still decide Virginia is out of compliance. But it noted that the Bay catch since 2012 has been below that level — Virginia’s noncompliance is strictly that it hasn’t enacted the commission’s cap into state law.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

 

Virginia’s Democrats in Congress call to stop seismic testing off coast

February 12, 2019 — In the latest effort to remove Virginia from offshore drilling plans, the state’s Democratic representatives in Congress are pushing federal officials to revoke seismic testing permits that include the waters off Hampton Roads.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the heads of the departments of Commerce and the Interior, the Virginia delegation said the Trump administration’s draft five-year energy plan “runs counter to the explicit wishes of coastal communities up and down the Atlantic that would be at risk from offshore drilling and exploration.”

The appeal was spearheaded by U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin of the 4th district, but the nine signatories include Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and Hampton Roads Congress members Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, 3rd district, and Elaine G. Luria, 2nd district.

The letter calls on the administration to rescind five Incidental Harassment Authorization permits issued last November by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and to remove Virginia’s offshore area from the president’s controversial 2019-2024 offshore energy plan.

With IHA permits, energy companies can conduct seismic surveys to see where and how much oil and gas is buried in the seabed.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

Menhaden Fishery Managers Won’t Pursue Punishment for Virginia

February 11, 2019 — Virginia’s menhaden fishery gets a major victory, as Atlantic fisheries managers decide not to hold the Commonwealth out of compliance with its most recent catch limits.

Back in fall of 2017, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to reduce the maximum allowable harvest on the Chesapeake Bay from 87,216 metric tons to 51,000 metric tons a year.

Virginia’s legislature failed to adopt the reduced catch limits, after the East Coast menhaden fishery’s biggest player, Omega Protein, argued the reduction was unnecessary. Under law, the U.S. Department of Commerce can put an immediate moratorium on a state that doesn’t comply with catch limits.

ASMFC won’t seek a moratorium from the Department of Commerce, announcing it has “indefinitely postponed” action to find Virginia out of compliance. ASMFC explains, the Virginia fishery has stayed within the limits of a precautionary “Bay Cap” that was imposed to protect the small, oily fish as an important link in the Chesapeake Bay food chain.

In a statement, ASMFC writes, “This action is contingent upon the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery not exceeding the cap. If the cap is exceeded, the Board can reconsider the issue of compliance. In making its decision, the Board took into account the fact that reduction fishery harvest within the Chesapeake Bay has been below the cap level since 2012, including 2018 harvest. “

Read the full story at Chesapeake Bay Magazine

Striped bass population in trouble, new study finds

February 8, 2019 — Striped bass, one of the most prized species in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic Coast, are being overfished according to a new assessment of the stock’s health — a finding that will likely trigger catch reductions for a species long touted as a fisheries management success.

The bleak preliminary findings of the assessment were presented to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a panel of fisheries managers, on Wednesday. The full analysis was not available. Its completion was delayed by the partial government shutdown, which sidelined biologists in the National Marine Fisheries Service who were working to complete the report.

But, noted Mike Armstrong of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, who also chairs the ASMFC’s Striped Bass Management Board, the final results “will likely be the same when [the report] comes out.”

The board asked its technical advisers to estimate the level of catch reductions needed to bring the stock above management targets at its May meeting, when the stock assessment is expected to be ready for approval.

“We know it is going to be pretty drastic,” said John Clark of the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, a member of the board.

The findings of the assessment were a bit of a surprise. Though the overall population was known to be declining, striped bass are often considered a signature success for fishery management.

The overharvest of striped bass, also called rockfish, sent their population to critically low levels in the early 1980s, eventually leading to a catch moratorium. The population rebounded, allowing catches to resume, and by 1997 the population recovered to an estimated 419 million fish aged one year or more.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

Omega Protein Applauds ASMFC Vote to Not Penalize Virginia for Failure to Adopt Chesapeake Bay Cap

February 8, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to indefinitely postpone a motion that would have found Virginia and its menhaden fishery out of compliance.

The issue of non-compliance stems from the fact that Virginia has not codified a reduced cap on Omega Protein’s menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay, which was slashed by 41 percent in 2017. Omega Protein claims the Bay Cap is not scientifically derived, but rather is a political compromise and a precautionary measure adopted by the Commission. The lack of scientific evidence supporting the cap has been well documented, according to the company.

“Bluntly, we’ve outkicked our coverage with this particular action,” said ASMFC Commissioner Robert Boyles, head of South Carolina’s Marine Resources Division, during the meeting. “The law doesn’t support a non-compliance finding here. That is the hard and fast fact.”

The menhaden fishery is currently being managed sustainably. In its most recent stock assessment in 2017, the Commission found that menhaden is not overfished, nor is it experiencing overfishing. The stock is healthy enough that the Commission raised the coastwide quota each year from 2015 to 2017.

Declaring a healthy fishery non-compliant would have been unprecedented, as noted by NOAA attorney Chip Lynch at the Commission’s August 2018 meeting on menhaden. At that meeting, Mr. Lynch said a non-compliance recommendation would be “the first time ever…that the federal government would receive a non-compliance referral for a fishery that is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. And there is record evidence from the leadership of the Commission that the measure is not related to conservation.”

“The Commission made the right decision today because the Bay Cap is not ‘necessary for the conservation of the fishery,’ as is required in a non-compliance finding,” said Ben Landry, Director of Public Affairs for Omega Protein. “The Commission’s decision to press pause on this motion signals their acknowledgement that the basis for the reduced Bay Cap was not going to meet federal standards.”

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

Potential changes coming for Maine’s lobster industry

February 8, 2019 — Multiple rule-changes could be coming for Maine’s lucrative lobster industry from both the state and federal governments in the coming year.

At the federal level, concerns over entanglements with the endangered North Atlantic right whale have led fisheries managers to begin discussing what steps need to be taken by the lobster industry to avoid whale deaths. Currently there are just over 400 right whales left in the world, and high death rates in 2016 and 2017 have led rule makers to consider changes to gear requirements.

At a meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council in Virginia, the lobster board voted unanimously to push forward a set of actions intended to reduce the amount of vertical lines from lobster traps in the water. Those changes could include lower limits on the number of traps that lobstermen are allowed to use, changes in gear configuration, and seasonal closures.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ASMFC Indefinitely Postpones Action on VA Compliance with Atlantic Menhaden Amendment 3 Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap

February 7, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board postponed indefinitely action to find the Commonwealth of Virginia out of compliance with the provisions of Amendment 3 to the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden, specifically the Commonwealth’s failure to implement the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap of 51,000 mt. This action is contingent upon the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery not exceeding the cap. If the cap is exceeded, the Board can reconsider the issue of compliance.

In making its decision, the Board took into account the fact that reduction fishery harvest within the Chesapeake Bay has been below the cap level since 2012, including 2018 harvest. During its deliberations, the Board commended Virginia Commissioners on their efforts to monitor landings and work with the Commonwealth’s General Assembly to seek full implementation of the provisions of Amendment 3. While the Bay cap was established as a precautionary measure given the importance of menhaden as a prey species, additional information stemming from the development of ecological-based reference points (ERPs) may be informative to the Bay cap issue. Accordingly, the Board will consider action to modify the Bay cap after it completes action on ERPs, anticipated for 2020.

March 2019 MAFMC Meeting Agenda

February 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting to be held March 6-7, 2019 at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront (3001 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451, Telephone 757-213-3000).

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted at http://ww.mafmc.org/briefing/march-2019 as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 20, 2019 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on February 28, 2019 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using an online comment form available at available at http://www.mafmc.org/public-comment.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/march2019.

Agenda: Click here for a detailed meeting agenda.

VIRGINIA: Watermen get say on how to tackle ‘ghost pots’ in the Chesapeake Bay

January 29, 2019 — “Ghost pots” remain a menace in the Chesapeake Bay, but how big a menace and what to do about them is anybody’s guess.

That could change now that the 1,056 hard crab fishermen licensed in Virginia are getting a chance to have their say.

Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are mailing surveys to watermen asking for their ideas on the countless crab pots that, for any number of reasons, end up haunting the bay, trapping and killing crabs and other hapless creatures that crawl or swim inside.

“This is really to try to find out, what do the watermen want, what do they think,” said Jim DelBene, the VIMS graduate student who developed the Derelict Blue Crab Pot Survey.

In doing so, he researched what other states with blue crab fisheries, from Connecticut through Texas, are doing to reduce ghost pots. He sought out experts at VIMS and at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and held focus groups for commercial watermen to help choose and frame the survey questions.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

The ocean is full of drifting DNA. The United States needs to collect it, researchers say

January 23, 2019 —  U.S. government agencies monitoring fisheries, endangered species, and environmental impacts ought to leverage the DNA present in every drop of seawater, say the organizers of a conference on marine environmental DNA (eDNA), held at Rockefeller University in New York City in November 2018. Biological surveys based on eDNA are reliable and poised to cut costs and save time, they argue in a report released last week.

The report calls for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other government agencies that survey marine life to add the technology to their standard palette of assessment techniques.

“We are exploring all pathways to get the critical information of what animals are where and how many there are,” says conference attendee Michael Weise, who manages the Office of Naval Research’s Marine Mammals and Biology program in Arlington, Virginia. “We are already developing our capabilities using eDNA and we will continue to push that forward. There are gaps and challenges, but I think they are surmountable in the near term.”

Read the full story at Science