Saving Seafood

Federal Report Confirms Offshore Wind Effect on Whales Produces ‘Temporary Behavioral Changes’

September 20, 2023 — With offshore wind projects being blamed for the increase in deaths in whale species in New Jersey and along the East Coast in 2023, the NOAA has issued a final determination on the effects of sonar mapping and wind farms on marine wildlife.

This week, the federal agency issued a ruling on a Virginia offshore wind project. The opinion says effects the wind farm projects has on whales is only ‘temporary behavioral changes’, adding that the uptick in whale deaths is unrelated to projects being touted by the Biden administration.

Read the full article at Shore News Network

VIRGINIA: Virginia looks to expand blue catfish fishery and processing

September 17, 2023 — The Virginia General Assembly approved USD 250,000 (EUR 232,000) on 6 September to support and encourage blue catfish processing, flash freezing, harvesting and infrastructure projects in an effort to enhance the growth of a blue catfish fishery in the U.S. state.

It voted down a proposal to invest USD 2 million (EUR 1.9 million) grant program to establish the Catfish Industries Development Program, but instead voted to start off with a smaller initiative funded with state seed money. Before it becomes law, however, Virginia Governor George Youngkin must sign off on the budget, which he is expected to do.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

VIRGINIA: Virginia looks to expand blue catfish fishery and processing

September 10, 2o23 — The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Customer Services (VDACS) – International Marketing Division sponsored a seafood promotional event bringing in international chefs, food critics and writers to visit a blue catfish processing plant on Aug. 30 in Hampton, Va.

The group toured the processing plant of L. D. Amory Company Inc. one of only three blue catfish processing plants in the state.  Meade Amory of Armory Seafood explained to the group that during the 1970s and ‘80s blue catfish were introduced to the James, Rappahannock and York river basins as a new recreational fish by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Blue cats are native to Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers.

The catfish quickly spread throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed into nearly every major tributary and are now being seen in North Carolina waters too, says Amory.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: Virginia AG asks for dismissal of suit over menhaden fishing in the Chesapeake Bay

August 29, 2023 — The Virginia Office of the Attorney General is asking a Richmond judge to throw out a lawsuit from recreational fishers that says state regulators illegally increased menhaden catch limits.

The increase, the recreational fishers say, is having a negative impact on the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

”This Court cannot issue the requested relief when that relief would result in a violation of another law,” wrote the Office of the Attorney General.

The Chesapeake Legal Alliance filed the lawsuit in May on behalf of the Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization, a group that fishes in both Virginia and Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The group says the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which has overseen the Virginia menhaden fishery since 2020, increased the allowable catch limit outside the Oct. 1–Dec. 31 period when state law allows changes to fishery regulations.

The Office of the Attorney General, which is representing the VMRC, said Virginia had to increase the catch limit to comply with new limits set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which oversees fisheries on the East Coast. The ASMFC sets a coastwide catch limit for menhaden and then allocates a portion of it to each state. In Virginia, that quota is overseen by the VMRC.

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

New fish spill cleanup boats on Chesapeake Bay

August 23, 2023 — Omega Protein’s last menhaden net tear on Chesapeake Bay has led to the firm designing and building a new clean-up vessel called a “skimmer boat.” It is designed to rapidly pick up dead fish on and below the surface of the water.

The 20’ x 8’ aluminum garvey-style boat was designed and built by Lambert Walker of Reedville, Va., who retired from Omega in 2013. Walker was asked to come out of retirement to build a new boat. Before he had retired, he had built a similar boat for the same type of use.

Walker, 72, says he is “just an old welder.”  He is an old welder and much more.  Walker started working in the companies’ metal shop in 1973, when Omega Protein was then known as Zapata Haynie Corporation.

His boatbuilding skills and knowledge have come from 40 years of building aluminum purse seine boats and handling maintenance needs on the companies’ equipment and on Omega’s steel hull fishing vessels.

“I just took out my scale rule, drew it up and welded it together,” he says modestly. “It is a nice little boat, and it will meet the need when it is necessary.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Wittman leads House members in legislation to protect Chesapeake Bay

July 23, 2023 — The Chesapeake Bay SEEE Act would help protect the watershed, improve ecosystem management and increase environmental stewardship opportunities.

Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia, U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland, Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia and Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia reintroduced the Chesapeake Bay Science, Education and Ecosystem Enhancement (SEEE) Act today.

“The Chesapeake Bay is integral to our way of life in Virginia’s 1st District and conserving our coastal and marine ecosystems has remained one of my top priorities,” Wittman, co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force, said. “I am proud to join my colleagues in this effort to expand environmental education opportunities, boost state and local restoration efforts and provide NOAA with the resources it needs to protect this national treasure.”

Read the full article at Augusta Free Press

VIRGINIA: Omega Protein adds vessel to clean up net spills

July 9, 2023 — Menhaden fishing company Omega Protein has added a new vessel to its fleet in response to net spills last year that resulted in thousands of dead fish washing ashore on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

This season, the reduction fishery company is using the new 85-foot vessel called the Hopeful Harvest and two 20-foot skimmers to catch any fish lost due to a net spill during catching operations.

The Hopeful Harvest vessel will be docked while the company’s fishing vessels are out making their catches, explained company spokesperson Ben Landry. The vessel will be deployed when needed, with the skimmers being used to scoop up any dead fish and transfer them to Hopeful Harvest.

Because it takes dead fish that have sunk into the water as a result of a net spill about 24 hours to surface, the vessel should be able to collect any spilled fish before they reach the shore, Landry said.

“We’re excited to have a resource that we’ve wanted for a long time,” said Landry. “We’ve kind of tinkered with that idea for a while,” he added, saying high-profile spills last year spurred Omega Protein to conclude “it’s probably good to put a fast-forward on those plans.”

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

VIRGINIA: Virginia menhaden fishermen test new spill response boats

June 28, 2023 — Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishermen tested a new response team and recovery vessel to handle fish spills when nets tear during purse seining operations, according to Ocean Harvesters, fishing partners of Omega Protein.

Working in cooperation with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), Ocean Harvesters tested the vessel Hopeful Harvest and two smaller skimmer boats that can recover spilled fish from the surface before they can drift toward shorelines. The recovery vessel will begin operating in the bay during the upcoming fishing season, the company says.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Seafood Watch draft report hits Chespeake Bay oysters with “avoid” rating

June 1, 2023 — A Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program draft assessment downgrades the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) caught in the Chesapeake Bay “avoid,” drawing criticism from scientists, officials, conservationists, and fishers.

The draft report  rated wild-caught oysters in the U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia harvested both with hand implements and towed dredges as seafood to avoid, citing a “high concern” for the status of the stock and of the management of the fishery.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

VIMS to expand restoration of seagrass, bay scallops on Eastern Shore

May 23, 2023 — A team led by researchers at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science will use a $2.25 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to expand their already successful efforts to restore seagrass and scallops to the seaside bays of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

During the four-year project, led by Christopher Patrick and Richard Snyder of VIMS, scientists from the institute and its Eastern Shore Lab will join with staff and volunteers from The Nature Conservancy to plant at least 60 acres of eelgrass and release more than 6 million bay scallops into the shallow waters of Burtons Bay, a large coastal embayment about midway up Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Project funding comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act and will be administered by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management program.

Read the full article at William & Mary News