Saving Seafood

New striped bass regulations lower recreational catch in Virginia

August 29, 2019 — The Virginia Marine Resources Commission approved a set of emergency measures Aug. 27 to help protect the struggling striped bass population in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast. That includes lowering the number of “keepers” for recreational anglers from two to one fish per day.

The action will reduce the amount of striped bass lost to recreational fishing in Virginia by 24%, said Alex Aspinwall, a data analyst with the state commission.

Charter boat industry leaders said the change will devastate their business for striped bass, also known as rockfish. But the move’s backers said it and the other new measures are needed to keep fishery managers from having to enact the state’s first fishing moratorium on the species since 1990.

Read the full story at Bay Journal

Virginia anglers angry over new catch limits on striped bass, say tournaments are in jeopardy

August 28, 2019 — Anglers will be allowed to keep just one striped bass instead of two a day in the upcoming season, state fisheries officials decided Tuesday.

The move is meant to protect the species by keeping large breeding fish in the water, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said in a statement. But it could squash the charter fishing industry and a popular fall tournament scene that relied on big fish.

“It kills it,” said Mike Standing, who has run the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout for more than a decade. “It kills it all. We’ve been telling them for 10 years that there has been a problem with the population and they kept saying there wasn’t. Now they shut down the spring season and essentially shut down the fall.

“This is highly disappointing.”

Read the full story at The Virginia-Pilot

SARAH CONLEY: Dominion’s approach to offshore wind is cautious

August 12, 2019 — Virginia has a dependence on coal and other fossil fuels that has plagued our state for ages. Dominion Energy has played a role in fostering this damaging relationship, as has an administration that favors the convenience of fossil fuels. So I found the news regarding Dominion Energy’s wind turbines in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area to be striking and refreshing.

Dominion Energy’s decision to build an offshore wind farm near Virginia Beach demonstrates a much-needed normalization of and transition toward renewable energy. This project includes the construction of two turbines capable of producing 12 megawatts total. While some have criticized the project for being too small scale, Dominion has expressed its need to prove the concept before moving forward with a large-scale wind farm. The payoff for this project to move ahead would be immense for the Hampton Roads region and for Virginia’s role as a leader in alternative energy.

The vulnerability of Hampton Roads to the impacts of climate change adds elevated significance to this project, for which Dominion is partnering with Denmark’s wind giant Orsted. I am amazed at how quickly I have seen the severity of storms and sea-level rise in Virginia Beach within my own lifetime. Residents of coastal neighborhoods are seeing more and more flooding of homes and streets. Rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns are leading to record-breaking hurricanes, such as Irma, Harvey and Maria. Hampton Roads has the highest rate of sea-level rise on the East Coast, and in the top three nationally with New Orleans and Miami Beach. Ocean levels along Virginia are expected to rise 1.5 feet by 2050. There is no time to waste in acting against these consequences of fossil fuel dependence.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

ASMFC Approves Atlantic Cobia Amendment 1

August 9th, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Migratory Group Cobia (Atlantic cobia). Amendment 1 establishes management measures that transition the FMP from complementary management with the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils to sole management by the Commission. Amendment 1 to the FMP was initiated in anticipation of the Councils’ Regulatory Amendment 31 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagics (CMP) FMP, which was approved earlier this year and removed Atlantic cobia from the Councils’ oversight.

Amendment 1 changes several portions of the Commission’s FMP that were previously dependent on the CMP FMP and institutes a long-term strategy for managing in the absence of a federal plan. Several of these changes establish processes for the Commission to carry out management responsibilities previously performed by the South Atlantic Council, including the setting of harvest quotas and sector allocations, defining stock status criteria and recommending management measures to be implemented by NOAA Fisheries in federal waters. Additionally, Amendment 1 transitions responsibilities of monitoring and closing (if necessary) commercial harvest to the Commission.

Moving forward, the Commission will recommend to NOAA Fisheries that fishing in federal waters be regulated according to the state of landing. If a vessel has licenses for multiple states with open seasons, they must follow the most restrictive license’s regulations. If a vessel has licenses for multiple states, only one of which has an open season, they may fish under the regulations of the open state. Regulations resulting from this recommendation would only apply in federal waters. Fishermen would still be required to follow state possession or landing limits in state waters.

Amendment 1 establishes a harvest specification process, which allows the Board to specify a limited set of management measures for up to 3 years. One of the measures that may be set through this process is a coastwide harvest quota. However, until the first specification process occurs, after completion of the ongoing stock in 2020, the current coastwide quota (670,000 pounds) remains in effect.

The Amendment also changes the units used to measure and evaluate the recreational fishery from pounds numbers of fish. To accommodate this change, the recreational harvest quota in pounds (620,000) is converted to numbers (22,142 fish) and allocated among the states, resulting in the following state recreational harvest targets:

· Virginia: 8,724 fish
· North Carolina: 8,436 fish
· South Carolina: 2,679 fish
· Georgia: 2,081 fish
· 1% De Minimis Set Aside: 222 fish

States still may set their own seasons and vessel limits to achieve their respective targets.

Finally, Amendment 1 establishes a de minimis status for the commercial sector that exempts states with small commercial harvests from in-season monitoring requirements. States are required to implement measures of Amendment 1 by July 1, 2020. Amendment 1 will be available on the Commission’s website, http://www.asmfc.org/species/cobia, by the end of August.

For more information, please contact Dr. Michael Schmidtke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mschmidtke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Ocean Moment with Congressman Rob Wittman

August 9th, 2019 — When you hear from residents in your district or state about ocean-related issues, what concerns them most? Why do these issues matter so much to them?

The number one issue I hear from constituents on oceans/marine ecosystems issues is marine resource sustainability. As more and more folks enjoy recreational fishing, they have developed a greater interest in protecting fish stocks for themselves and generations to come. They have an interest in fisheries management, water quality, and access to marine resources. These issues matter because of the connection they feel to these marine ecosystems and the resources within; they enjoy the experience of pursuing the capture and catch and release of the finfish, shellfish, and crustacea.

We have worked hard to protect, preserve and enhance the marine resources folks hold dear. The Chesapeake Bay is the life-blood of our region’s economy, the home to countless species of fish and other wildlife, and a true natural treasure that needs to be maintained and protected. I grew up enjoying the natural wonders of the Bay and the watershed area and know countless people, including my son, who make their living on the water.

During my time in Congress, I’ve authored bipartisan legislation, now signed into law, The Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery Act. Aimed at preserving the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay, this legislation increases coordination and transparency within Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts. I’ve also worked with my colleagues to introduce The Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act. The program coordinates data collection and distributes grants to states for Bay restoration efforts, of which a majority goes to states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to help control pollution and manage runoff into the tributaries that feed into the Bay.

Read the full interview at Marine Fish Conservation Network

Scientists Are Trying to Keep Sharks From Commercial Lines

August 5, 2019 — Scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Wachapreague are doing research this summer that could result in a way for commercial fishermen to keep sharks from interfering with their fishing lines.

VIMS Eastern Shore Lab has the advantage of being right on the water and near the last undeveloped stretch of barrier islands on the East Coast.

“There is only one lab in all of Virginia that has running seawater, which you need to keep sharks,” said VIMS scientist Richard Brill.

That lab is in Wachapreague.

Read the full story at U.S. News

Prevailing winds blow toward Virginia’s use of offshore wind projects

July 11, 2019 — In about a year, Dominion Power will begin operating the first offshore wind turbines to be built in federal waters anywhere in the U.S.

Each capable of producing 6 megawatts, the two turbines will stand 600 feet above the ocean surface. The electricity they produce will be fed through an underwater cable to a substation being built in Virginia Beach. From there, it is directed to homes and businesses.

The project is a bold experiment that represents the future of clean energy here in Virginia, even if the turbines standing 27 miles offshore will remain out of sight and likely out of mind for most of us.

Gov. Ralph Northam joined Dominion representatives on July 1 to announce the start of construction on the substation. Work on the turbines is scheduled to begin early next year.

With this project, Virginia joins several other states along the Eastern seaboard that are exploring offshore wind projects.

Five wind turbines are already up and running in Rhode Island’s state waters. Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Delaware and Connecticut also are in the early stages of similar projects.

The turbines are a test of sorts, and Dominion may choose to build more if the results are positive. The utility leases 112,800 acres from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, enough space to host nearly 170 turbines with the capacity to produce as much as 2,000 megawatts.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

Virginia starts construction of first offshore wind farm

July 8, 2019 — Virginia Governor Ralph Northam picked up a shovel July 1 to take part in a ceremonial ground breaking marking the start of construction of the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) demonstration project, consisting of two six-megawatt wind turbines located approximately 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.

This is the first offshore wind project to be installed in federal waters. Dominion Energy is partnering with Ørsted to build the project on 2,135 acres leased by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME).

“The Virginia offshore wind demonstration project is another powerful example of the Commonwealth’s position as a leader in renewable energy,” said Governor Northam. “As the first deployment of commercial-scale offshore wind turbines in federal waters, I am thrilled that Virginia’s project will help determine best practices for future offshore wind construction along the East Coast.”

Read the full story at MarineLog

America’s Second Offshore Wind Farm Is Now Under Construction

July 2, 2019 — Dominion Energy Inc. began work to install cables for a wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia, marking the start of construction on the second such facility off the U.S. coast.

The Richmond, Virginia-based utility owner is working with Denmark’s Orsted A/S to install the two 6-megawatt turbines 27 miles (43 kilometers) east of Virginia Beach. They’re expected to start producing power for up to 3,000 homes next year, according to a statement Monday.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

A ‘long, creeping change’: As climate warms, Virginia fisheries struggle to adapt

June 24, 2019 — George Washington had few dietary preferences, save one: he was “excessively fond” of fish.

Luckily for the president, his perch at Mount Vernon afforded him an easy opportunity to indulge.

The Potomac, he recorded in 1793, was “well-stocked with various kinds of fish in all Seasons of the year, and in the Spring with Shad, Herring, Bass, Carp, Perch, Sturgeon, etc. in great abundance. … The whole shore, in fact, is one entire fishery.”

Today, Mount Vernon still overlooks the Potomac, but the species that call Virginia waters home are increasingly different due to something Washington couldn’t have foreseen: climate change.

“It’s hard to manage fisheries to begin with, [and] in the past we’ve always considered the climate stable,” said Patrick Geer, deputy chief of fisheries management for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. “But now that theory of a stable climate and environment has been taken out.”

As global air temperatures warm, so too do global waters. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the temperature of the ocean’s surface has risen an average of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit every decade since the beginning of the 20th century. And the Chesapeake Bay is estimated to be warming even faster, at an average rate of 1.2 degrees every decade since the 1980s.

Increasingly, that is making environments inhospitable for fish. In reaction, populations on the East Coast are shifting northward and eastward, leaving commercial fishermen and states who have long relied on their presence with lighter nets — and fears of lighter coffers.

Some of those fears are justified. The classic cautionary tale is that of New England’s northern shrimp fishery, which crashed precipitously around 2012 and was closed in 2014 by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the governmental body that oversees the management of fisheries in state waters from Maine to Florida. In February 2018, the ASMFC extended the moratorium to 2021 in an announcement that linked the collapse to warming ocean temperatures and broached the possibility of a future in which “the stock has no ability to recover.”

Such regional collapses may become more frequent in coming years, while at the same creating more favorable environments for other species.

“In any one region, some species will experience improving environmental conditions that may result in increased available habitat and increased species productivity, while other species will experience the opposite and perhaps decline in abundance,” the National Marine Fisheries Service declared in its 2015 Climate Science Strategy.

Or, as Geer put it, “For any given area and for any given species, there will be winners and losers.”

Read the full story at The Virginia Mercury