Saving Seafood

Virginia Marine Resources Commission cuts crab season, scales back bushel limits

June 29, 2017 — Virginia crabbers will come up a bit short this fall after state fisheries managers opted Tuesday to close the season earlier than last year and scale back bushel limits to address an alarming drop in juvenile crab numbers in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 6-1 in a public hearing to close the crab pot season on Nov. 30 and re-open it March 17 next year. This timeline aligns with a typical crabbing season, but will add up to 16 fewer crabbing days for watermen who’ve been working an extended season because of last year’s ideal stock numbers. Commissioners closed the season on Dec. 15 last year and opened it March 1 this year.

The commission also voted to reduce bushel limits for the entire month of November. Those reductions usually don’t begin until mid-November.

The move comes after a Blue Crab Advisory Report released Monday by the Chesapeake Bay Program showed that juvenile crab numbers had plummeted 54 percent over last year, dragging down the overall blue crab population by almost 18 percent, from 553 million to 455 million. That drop is despite surging numbers in spawning females.

Robert O’Reilly, chief of VMRC’s fisheries division, urged the commission to act to help the stock rebuild.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

ASMFC 2017 Summer Meeting Preliminary Agenda & Public Comment Guidelines

June 28, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Please find attached and below the preliminary agenda and public comment guidelines for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Meeting, August 1-3, 2017 in Alexandria, VA. The agenda is also available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2017-summer-meeting. Also included in the attachment are the travel authorization form, travel reimbursement guidelines and directions to the hotel.  Materials will be available on July 19, 2017 on the Commission website at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2017-summer-meeting.

A block of rooms is being held at The Westin Alexandria, 400 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA  22314. Cindy Robertson will make Commissioner/Proxy reservations and will contact you regarding the details of your accommodations. Please notify Cindy of any changes to your travel plans that will impact your hotel reservations, otherwise you will incur no-show penalties. We greatly appreciate your cooperation. 

For all other attendees, please reserve online or call The Westin Alexandria at 866.837.4210 as soon as possible and mention the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to obtain the group room rate of $174.00 plus tax single/dbl. Please be aware that you must guarantee your room reservation with a major credit card or one night’s advance payment. Hotel reservations must be made by Wednesday, July 5, 2017.  Room availability will not be guaranteed beyond this date.  If you are being reimbursed by ASMFC for your travel, please make your reservation directly with the hotel. Reservations made through travel websites do not apply toward our minimum number of required reservations with the hotel. Cancellations at The Westin must be made prior to 48 hours of arrival to avoid penalty. If you have any problems at all regarding accommodations please contact Cindy at 703.842.0740 or at crobertson@asmfc.org. For those driving to the meeting, the Colonial Parking Garage, 551 John Carlyle St. near the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Open 24hrs). The $10 daily rate there is a substantial savings over parking at the Westin.

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

Summer Meeting

August 1-3, 2017

The Westin Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia 

Preliminary Agenda

The agenda is subject to change. Bulleted items represent the anticipated major issues to be discussed or acted upon at the meeting. The final agenda will include additional items and may revise the bulleted items provided below. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. Interested parties should anticipate Boards starting earlier or later than indicated herein.

Tuesday, August 1

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.                         Executive Committee

(A portion of this meeting may be a closed session for Committee members and Commissioners only)

  • Discuss Council/Commission Line in NOAA Budget
  • Discuss Executive Director’s Contract Renewal

9:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.              South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board

  • Review and Consider Cobia Draft Fishery Management Plan for Public Comment
  • Review and Consider Spot Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report for Management use
  • Technical Committee Update of Traffic Light Analysis for Atlantic Croaker and Exploratory Analyses for Incorporation of Shrimp Trawl Bycatch Index

1:45 – 2:45 p.m.                        Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program Coordinating Council

  • Program Update
  • Review and Consider Approval of Marine Recreational Information Program Recreational Implementation Plan
  • Recreational Data Collection: Changes on the Horizon

3:00 – 6:00 p.m.                        American Lobster Management Board

  • Consider American Lobster Draft Addendum XXV for Final Approval
  • American Lobster Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Subcommittee Report
  • Review Draft Addendum XXVI
  • Report on State and Federal Inconsistencies in Lobster Conservation Management Area 4 Season Closure
  • Law Enforcement Committee Report on American Lobster Chain of Custody

Wednesday, August 2

8:00 – 10:00 a.m.                      Shad and River Herring Management Board

  • Review River Herring Stock Assessment Update
  • Review and Consider Approval of Shad and River Herring Sustainable Fishery Management Plans (SFMP)
  • Technical Committee Report
    • South Carolina: Updated River Herring SFMP
    • Florida: Updated Shad SFMP
  • Consider Approval of 2017 FMP Review and State Compliance Reports

10:15 – 11:15 a.m.                   American Eel Management Board

  •  Update on North Carolina Aquaculture Program in 2017
  • Consider Approval of 2016 FMP Review and State Compliance Reports

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.          Atlantic Menhaden Management Board

  • Review 2017 Stock Assessment Update

1:30 – 5:45 p.m.                        Atlantic Menhaden Management Board (continued)

  • Biological Ecological Reference Point Work Group Review of Hilborn, et al (2017) Paper
  • Review and Consider Approval of Draft Amendment 3 for Public Comment
  •  Set 2018 Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Specifications

Thursday, August 3

8:00 – 11:30 a.m.                      Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board

  • Executive Committee Report
  • State Director Meeting Overview
  • Consider New Jersey Appeal of Addendum XXVIII to the Summer Flounder FMP
  • Annual Report on the Performance of the Stocks
    • Review 2017 Atlantic Sturgeon Benchmark Stock Assessment Update
  • Consider Standard Operating Policies and Procedures for Standard Meeting Practices
  • Discuss New England Fishery Management Council Participation on the Atlantic Herring Section
  • Review Reports from the Assessment Science Committee, Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership, Habitat Committee, Artificial Reef Committee, Law Enforcement Committee, and Northeast and Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Programs

11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.            Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

  • Update on Summer Flounder Recreational Working Group
  • Review of 2017 Black Sea Bass Recreational Measures
  • Consider Approval of 2017 FMP Review and State Compliance Reports

2:00 – 4:30 p.m.                        Tautog Management Board

  • Consider Amendment 1 for Final Approval 

Public Comment Guidelines

With the intent of developing policies in the Commission’s procedures for public participation that result in a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings: 

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will use a speaker sign-up list in deciding how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak. 

For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances. 

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action). 

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of a meeting week will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on the Tuesday immediately preceding the scheduled ASMFC Meeting (in this case, the Tuesday deadline will be July 25, 2017) will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting and a limited number of copies will be provided at the meeting.
  3. Following the Tuesday, July 25, 2017 5:00 PM deadline, the commenter will be responsible for distributing the information to the management board prior to the board meeting or providing enough copies for the management board consideration at the meeting (a minimum of 50 copies).

The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.  As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail, fax, and email.

LYNTON S. LAND: Bay fishery to keep deteriorating unless nutrients from land are addressed

June 28, 2017 — The March Bay Journal 2017 commentary, Don’t let menhaden become a case of could have, should have, would have, laments the decline in Bay menhaden populations and blames the reduced number of predatory “sport” fish on Omega Protein’s harvest.

The Atlantic States Marine fisheries Commission is quite clear this year that “Atlantic menhaden are neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing” (asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden).

In Maryland, juvenile menhaden are sampled annually through the Estuarine Juvenile Finfish Survey. The index of juvenile menhaden has been low since 1992, and “environmental conditions seem to be a major factor driving recruitment.” (dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Documents/Section_4_Atlantic_Menhaden.pdf).

Something other than overfishing must contribute to, or even be responsible for, reduced Bay menhaden populations. I contend that the primary cause of depleted finfish stocks, including bottom-feeding fish like croaker that do not eat menhaden, and the menhaden themselves, is poor water quality, not overfishing.

As a child in the late 1940s, I recall visiting my uncle’s cottage on the water near Solomons Island, MD, where we caught large bluefish and rockfish. He would give me a quarter to pull up eelgrass from under his boat so the propeller wouldn’t chop it up and foul the engine’s water pump. Dense meadows of grass were obvious beneath the clear water. I doubt there is much eelgrass anywhere near Solomons Island today and Bernie Fowler’s “Wade-In” documents turbidity and the fact that there has been no recent improvement.

I moved to Virginia’s Northern Neck on the Little Wicomico River, near Smith Point, in 1998. At that time, I could exit the jetties and turn to the southeast into about 30 feet of water and easily catch large croaker, as well as spot, trout and flounder. I haven’t caught fish there, nor seen them on the depth sounder, in many years.

The pound nets nearby still catch menhaden for crab bait, although they are smaller than fish in the past. They no longer catch many “food fish.”

In about 2000, big Omega trawlers fishing for menhaden were common up to the Maryland-Virginia line. Now, I never see the trawlers and most of the plentiful menhaden are being caught outside the Bay, where the population is robust. In late summer, schools of Spanish mackerel and bluefish once chased bait on the bar west of Smith Point Light. Casting into the schools, as they were being worked by birds, or trolling beside them, was great fun and very productive. No more.

Spanish mackerel, my favorite fish, are no longer abundant and I rarely see birds actively working the water. Trolling for big rockfish was almost always successful a decade ago. Lately it is more often unsuccessful, although a few are still being caught.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bay Journal

VIRGINIA: Crabbers could see harvest limits as blue crab numbers drop

June 27, 2017 — A 54 percent drop in juvenile crab numbers over last year means Virginia watermen could soon see tighter harvest limits for the commercial fishery.

In a Blue Crab Advisory Report released Monday, the Chesapeake Bay Program is encouraging jurisdictions to take a “risk-averse” approach and consider scaling back the fall fishery so young crabs have a chance to grow and spawn next year.

The recommendation comes as the estimate for adult female crabs this year actually increased by 30 percent over last year, to 254 million. That’s higher than the target of 215 million considered a healthy female population.

But plummeting juvenile numbers dragged down the overall blue crab population by almost 18 percent, from 553 million last year to 455 million this year.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission could make a decision on the matter as early as Tuesday afternoon at a public hearing at its offices in Newport News. VMRC manages all commercial fisheries for the state except for Atlantic menhaden, which is managed by the General Assembly.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Workshop Scheduled for September 26-29, 2017 in Arlington, VA

June 21, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Workshop will be conducted September 26-29, 2017 at the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The Data Workshop is the first in a series of workshops to develop the next striped bass benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the condition of Atlantic striped bass stocks from Maine to North Carolina and inform management of those stocks. The workshop will review all available data sources for Atlantic striped bass and identify data sets that will be incorporated in the stock assessment.  The Workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room.  

For data sets to be considered at the workshop, data must be sent in with accompanying methods description to Dr. Katie Drew (kdrew@asmfc.org) by September 1, 2017. Data sources include, but are not limited to, data on recreational and commercial landings and discards, catch per unit effort, biological samples (age, length, and/or sex), and life history information (growth, maturity, fecundity, spawning stock biomass weights, natural mortality).  All available data will be reviewed and vetted by members of the Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment. 

It is anticipated that there will be two Stock Assessment Workshops – one in late 2017 and another in the summer of 2018. The benchmark stock assessment will be peer reviewed in the winter of 2018. The details of the assessment workshops and peer review will be released as they become available.

For more information on submitting data, including the appropriate format, and/or attending the Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.  

In the Mid-Atlantic, nobody fishes more than New Jersey

June 9, 2017 — New Jersey is the leader in the Mid-Atlantic region when it comes to saltwater recreational fishing, according to the findings of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report.

No fishermen take more trips, buy more fishing tackle or work in the industry more than fishermen do in the Garden State.

The Mid-Atlantic States in the report include Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

The report, titled Fisheries Economics of the U.S., 2015, was released in May.

Based on the report’s 2015 numbers, New Jersey’s saltwater recreational fishing industry generated the most jobs 16,100 jobs, sales at $1.8 million and took the most fishing trips at 4.3 million.

New York was next with 7,800 jobs, $874 million in sales and 3.2 million trips.

Nationally, New Jersey’s saltwater recreational fishing industry ranked 3rd in jobs created behind Florida and California, 4th in sales behind Florida, California and Texas and 3rd in trips taken behind Florida and North Carolina.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Trump administration pledges to do more with less for U.S. aquaculture

June 5, 2017 — “Aquaculture is not the future of oyster harvests. It’s the present,” said Mark Luckenbach – Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Luckenbach, based at the VIMS lab at Wachapreague, told me those words 11 years ago, when I wrote my first story about oyster aquaculture. Since then, I’ve written more than 100 stories on the topic, and someday, I hope, I’ll write a book. One thing is sure: the present has taken a long time to arrive – not just in the Chesapeake Bay, but all over the country.

Eighty to 90 percent of the seafood eaten in the United States is imported, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In Baltimore, where I live, the crabmeat at my local grocery store is not from the Chesapeake Bay. The salmon is not from this country. And striped bass? Never seen it there, though I live just an hour from where one could catch some of the nicest rockfish you could find anywhere.

NOAA officials want to change what they’re calling a $14 billion seafood trade deficit. At a webinar last week, agency officials said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees NOAA, is committed to “eliminating barriers” to growing aquaculture here in the United States.

In Maryland, we know well some of these barriers as they relate to growing oysters. Would-be growers have spent years awaiting permission to put oysters in the water, even though the bivalves filter the water, increase biodiversity, and even spur recruitment for the Bay’s long-troubled wild oyster population, which is less than 1 percent of historic levels.

On a conference call during the webinar, federal officials touted Maryland’s permit innovations as a success. (They didn’t mention that oyster farmers have blamed NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service for some of those delays, relating to the possible impact of oyster farming on endangered marine turtles.) Maryland worked with the Baltimore District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to streamline the permit process. State and federal officials, as well as oyster farmers, report it is working more smoothly now. (NOAA officials said they had an “ombudsman” role in the process.)

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

MAFMC June 2017 Council Meeting in Norfolk, VA

May 16, 2017 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted at http://www.mafmc.org/briefing/june-2017 as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by Wednesday, May 24, 2017 to be included in the Council meeting briefing book. Comments received after this deadline but before close of business on Thursday, June 1, 2017 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. Comments submitted via the online form will be automatically posted to the website and available for Council consideration. Late comments will no longer be distributed to Council members via email.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/june2017.

Agenda

PDF Version

Tuesday, June 6th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. SARC Presentation – Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Assessments, Jim Weinberg – NEFSC

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Specifications

  • Develop recommendations for 2018- 2020 specifications

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Surfclam/Ocean Quahog Excessive Shares Amendment

  • Approve scoping document

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lobster Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology Framework, GARFO Staff

  • Discuss alternatives

1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Risk Policy Framework – First Meeting

  • Review and approve options for potential revision to current MAFMC Risk Policy and ABC Control Rules

2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Climate Velocity Over the 21st Century and Its Implications for Fisheries Management in the Northeast U.S., James Morley – Rutgers

  • Review climate-velocity-driven species distribution projections for 2020 through 2100.
  • Identify potential propriety species for adaptation of fisheries management to climate change

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cooperative Research in the Mid-Atlantic

  • Review of NEFSC Cooperative Research and response to MAFMC request, Jon Hare – NEFSC
  • Mid-Atlantic Council approach to collaborative research

Wednesday, June 7th

9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Committee, Meeting as a Committee of the Whole – Specifications

  • Review fishery performance and make recommendations for 2018-2020 specifications, including butterfish cap

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Shad/River Herring (RH/S) Committee, Meeting as a Committee of the Whole

  • Review RH/S cap operation and RH/S progress update
  • Make recommendations for RH/S cap amount modification if necessary

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Committee, Meeting as a Committee of the Whole – Squid Amendment

  • Review alternatives, public comments, and staff recommendations
  • Select preferred alternatives and adopt amendment

3:30 p.m. Council Convenes

3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Law Enforcement Reports

  • NOAA Office of Law Enforcement
  • S. Coast Guard

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Data Modernization in the Northeast Region, Barry Clifford – NMFS and Mike Cahall – ACCSP

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Habitat Update

  • EFH review progress
  • Mid-Atlantic fish habitat assessment project

Thursday, June 8th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Business Session

  • Committee Report
    • SSC Committee
  • Executive Director’s Report, Chris Moore
    • Review and approve SOPP revision regarding paid parental leave
  • Science Report,Rich Seagraves
  • Organization Reports
    • NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office
    • NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
    • NOAA Office of General Counsel
    • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • Liaison Reports
    • New England Council
    • South Atlantic Council
    • Regional Planning Body
  • Continuing and New Business

NEW JERSEY: ‘Perfect Storm’ ship sunk, becomes part of artificial reef

May 12, 2017 — The ship made famous in the book and subsequent film “The Perfect Storm” has been intentionally sunk off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts so it can become part of an artificial reef.

The sinking of the Tamaroa, a 205-foot Coast Guard vessel, took place Wednesday morning. The sinking initially was scheduled to occur several months ago, but was repeatedly delayed by rough seas and other related issues.

The vessel was sent down about 33 nautical miles (61 kilometers) off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey. It was deployed in water more than 120 feet (36.5 meters) deep after patches were removed from holes that were pre-cut into its hull, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The pre-cut holes were part of the extensive work that had to be done before the ship could be sunk, including the removal of interior paneling and insulation as well as emptying and cleaning the vessel of all fuel and fluids.

The ship turned on its side as it slowly went down in the calm water, then turned straight up as the bulk of the vessel went under water. It then disappeared from view as a person on board a neighboring vessel thanked the Tamaroa for its long service.

A tugboat had started hauling the Tamaroa from a Norfolk, Virginia, shipyard on Monday afternoon and it slowly made its way up the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday without any issues.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Daily Times 

VIRGINIA: Fleet receives blessings

May 11, 2017 — This weekend’s dismal weather cleared up just in time for the 47th annual Blessing of the Fleet on Sunday, May 7 at the Reedville Stack. Though it was a bit windy the sun was shining brightly and the cooler weather gave way to warmth. There was an immense crowd of people in attendance including congressmen Rob Wittman and his family. The day began with a parade of boats including the Elva C., the Chesapeake Breeze, and Smith Point Sea Rescue I, other boaters from across the area representing both commercial fisherman and recreational boaters were in attendance as well. The air was filled with music as the Kilmarnock Pipe Band performed traditional bagpipe tunes.

To officially start the ceremony, American Legion Post 117 presented the colors and singer Courtney Kline dazzled the crowd with her flawless rendition of the National Anthem. The crowd then joined in singing America the Beautiful.

Vice president of operations at Omega protein, Monty Diehl was first to speak and welcomed and thanked the crowd and the speakers for attending the event.

Read the full story at the Northumberland Echo