Saving Seafood

ASMFC Finds the Commonwealth of Virginia Out of Compliance with Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden

October 31, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has found the Commonwealth of Virginia out of compliance with a mandatory management measure contained in Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Commission will notify the Secretary of Commerce of its finding. This action was taken pursuant to the provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act of 1993.

Specifically, the Commonwealth of Virginia has failed to effectively implement and enforce Section 4.3.7 Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap of Amendment 3. In order to come back into compliance, the Commonwealth must implement an annual total allowable harvest from the Chesapeake Bay by the reduction fishery of no more than 51,000 mt. The implementation of this measure is necessary to achieve the goals and objectives of Amendment 3 and maintain the Chesapeake Bay marine environment to assure the availability of the ecosystem’s resources on a long-term basis.

Upon notification by the Commission, the Secretary of Commerce has 30 days to review the recommendation and determine appropriate action, which may include a federal moratorium on fishing for or possessing Atlantic menhaden in the Commonwealth’s state waters.

For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Director, Interstate Fisheries Management Program, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

VIRGINIA: The Battle Over Menhaden Harvesting in the Bay

October 30, 2019 — Set along the northern-most section of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay is a town called Reedville, a fishing community established in the 1870’s. Though quaint and scenic, the heart pumping life into Reedville is a fish processing plant owned by Omega Protein.

Omega Protein harvests and processes a small, oily fish called menhaden for various commercial uses that include fish oil and fish meal, which is used as food ingredients and animal feed. It’s a good business for Reedville’s economy, but there are others who say this business is bad for the bay.

One of those people is Allen Girard of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a watchdog group that fights for the health and restoration of the bay.

“Menhaden are an incredible species,” says Girard. “A link in the food chain to the whole food web to the Chesapeake Bay.”

A close eye is kept on that link by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries.

“The menhaden issue is a very complex issue the commission is currently facing,” says Toni Kerns, ASMFC’s director of Interstate Fisheries Management Program and Policy Development.

The ASMFC is a group that, under federal law, manages and oversees coastal fisheries including the menhaden species. Essentially, the ASMFC has regulatory authority.

Read the full story at WBOC

Virginia Out of Compliance with Menhaden Cap

October 29, 2019 — The menhaden harvest limit decision-makers have found Virginia to be out of compliance with the Chesapeake Bay harvest cap.

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Menhaden Management Board voted overwhelmingly to take action against Virginia after Omega Protein, the Reedville-based producer of fish meal and fish oil, exceeded ASMFC’s harvest cap back in September.

Menhaden, an oily little fish, makes for big business, but it’s also a key piece of the Chesapeake Bay food chain, providing food for predators like striped bass.

The ASMFC set the Bay’s menhaden harvest cap at 51,000 metric tons back in 2017, but Virginia’s General Assembly, who control state menhaden management, refused to enact the new cap. So the state limit remains at 87,216 metric tons.

The ASMFC considered a non-compliance motion last year, for Virginia’s failure to adopt the cap, but postponed it because Omega Protein hadn’t actually exceeded 51,000 metric tons in recent years.

Read the full story at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

VIRGINIA: Can a few hundred mussels become millions in the Anacostia?

October 25, 2019 — Last fall, Jorge Bogantes Montero of the Anacostia Watershed Society helped to transfer tiny, hatchery-raised mussels into protective baskets in the Anacostia River. At the time, Montero said, he “didn’t have any expectations” that they would survive. But, under the careful watch of the watershed group and local school children who helped monitor their growth, nearly 92% of them did.

Now, the pilot project that started with 9,000 quarter-size mussels placed in a river no one was sure could sustain them has graduated to a much bigger one. In late September, the surviving mussels — some of which grew as much as 2 inches over the last year — were disseminated to several other locations in the river, from the marshes around Kingman Island to the faster-flowing waters near Yards Park.

Projects to circulate mussels through more of the Chesapeake Bay’s freshwater systems have been picking up steam as more people recognize the bivalves’ powerful water-filtering capacity.

Although most of the species used for restoration projects won’t show up on a local menu, they function like the Bay’s beloved oysters by providing food and filtration to local ecosystems.

“Mussels filter the water. They take nutrients and bacteria and sediment out,” said Jim Foster, president and CEO of the Anacostia Watershed Society. “We see this as an opportunity to help naturally clean up the river.”

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

Outer Banks fisherman will test device that could save sharks — by tickling them

October 18, 2019 — Fun fact: Sharks, unlike fish, can sense electrical stimuli, according to scientists.

Researchers in North Carolina are hoping to use that biological trait to their advantage with the help of a small electronic device designed to protect sharks from overfishing, N.C. State University announced in a press release this month.

The device, which “has shown promise in the laboratory,” is reportedly ready to start pilot testing off the Outer Banks.

“Several sharks are overfished or are experiencing overfishing on the U.S. East Coast,” fisheries extension specialist Sara Mirabilio said in the release. “Populations of scalloped hammerhead, dusky, sandbar and blacknose sharks all could benefit from an effective deterrent from commercial fishing gear.”

The device could also help fishermen save time and money. Sharks like to chomp on fish while they’re hooked — leaving fishermen with just a head by the time the fish are reeled in, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

Capt. Charlie Locke, an Outer Banks fisherman, has partnered with researchers on the project.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

Student-developed app will help public remove derelict crab traps

October 16, 2019 — The following was released by William & Mary:

Kirk Havens of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science says a question regularly asked by community clean-up groups is whether they can remove derelict crab traps from the Chesapeake Bay. Research shows these “pots” both harm marine life and cut into watermen profits.

To date, the answer has been no — in Virginia, it requires special permission to recover derelict traps, even if they are clearly abandoned or illegally present during the fishery off-season. Scientists estimate that baywide, tens of thousands of traps are lost or abandoned each year.

Now, funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Covanta, and NOAA’s Marine Debris Program will allow Havens and colleagues to address the derelict-trap issue by working with local high school students to develop a “Crab Trap App” for the cell phones of trained and authorized users. The project will also re-animate an earlier program that paid watermen to find and remove derelict traps from crabbing “hot spots.”

“Having students, trained citizens, and conscientious watermen working together to address lost, abandoned, or discarded crab pots is a great way to help lessen the impact of these pots on the Chesapeake Bay,” says Havens, assistant director of VIMS’ Center for Coastal Resources Management. Joining him in planning and implementing the project are VIMS Asst. Professor Andrew Scheld; Research Associate Professor Donna Bilkovic, Kory Angstadt, Karen Duhring, Dave Stanhope, and Dave Weiss of CCRM; and Cara Simpson, a master’s student at W&M’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business.

Read the full release here

Dominion Energy takes a second swing at costly plan to upgrade Virginia power grid

October 1, 2019 — Dominion Energy has filed a plan with the state to spend $594 million over the next three years modernizing Virginia’s electrical grid, which it says would cost customers an average of a little more than $1 per month.

The State Corporation Commission (SCC) denied a similar plan earlier this year, saying the utility had not demonstrated that the costs were “reasonable and prudent.”

Dominion spent several months refining the plan, creating cost-benefit estimates and interviewing stakeholders about priorities. It submitted the new version, which is slightly less costly than the original, on Monday.

“We believe that these investments are very important for our customers and our commonwealth,” Ed Baine, Dominion senior vice president for electric distribution, said Monday in an interview.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

VIRGINIA: Decision to continue striped bass tournament is “huge.” The fish won’t be.

September 27, 2019 — Despite regulations that will take big fish out of the equation, the founder of the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout has decided to press on.

The 17th annual event will take place Dec. 5-7. Teams can depart from any Virginia port, but weigh-ins are held at King’s Creek Marina in Cape Charles on the lower Eastern Shore.

This week the Virginia Marine Resources Commission lowered the recreational take of striper from two fish to one. And instead of allowing trophy-sized fish to be caught, rockfish will now have to measure between 20 and 36 inches length.

That means all the top catches will be nearly the same size. The tournament will have to rely on scales that measure to one-hundreth of a pound to judge the winning fish.

Mike Standing, who started the shootout in Virginia Beach but moved it to Cape Charles a few years ago, said continuing his event is about more than competitive fishing.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

VIRGINIA: Four things to know about Dominion’s massive wind farm proposal

September 24, 2019 — Dominion Energy announced last week it filed plans to build what would be the United States’ largest offshore wind farm, capable of producing 2,600 megawatts of energy, or enough to power 650,000 homes.

The news was heralded by environmentalists as an important step in the state’s transition away from fossil fuels, one in line with Gov. Ralph Northam’s recent executive order pledging that Virginia’s electric grid would be carbon free by 2050.

But many question marks remain around the three-phase project, which Dominion says will be complete by 2026 and will cost an estimated $7.8 billion. Here’s four key things to know about the current state of wind energy in Virginia, what and how offshore wind is being developed elsewhere and what comes next.

1. Virginia has pledged to make its electric grid carbon free by 2050. But the state currently has no wind energy in its portfolio.

When it comes to words, Virginia has made a strong commitment to wind energy. The sweeping 2018 Grid Transformation and Security Act declared the development of 5,000 megawatts of solar and wind energy to be “in the public interest,” and Virginia’s 2018 Energy Plan recommended that Northam set a goal of developing 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2028. Northam’s Executive Order 43, which committed the state to a carbon-free grid by 2050, increased that goal to 2,500 megawatts of offshore resources and set a new deadline for its development of 2026.

Read the full story at The Virginia Mercury