Saving Seafood

Got brook trout? Then you’ve also got a healthy stream

November 2, 2016 — “A wild trout in its native habitat is a compact example of the Earth working well.” — Christopher Camuto

The brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is a small, brilliantly colored freshwater fish native to clear, cold streams and rivers in the headwaters of the Bay watershed. It’s also the state fish of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Brook trout are recognized by their dark green back covered with lighter, worm-shaped markings. These markings, resembling the pattern created when the sun shines through rippled water, help to camouflage brook trout from predators such as larger fish and herons and even fly fishers. Bluish sides are sprinkled with yellow spots and red spots surrounded by blue halos. The brook trout’s fins are starkly edged in white, which again is unique among other common trout.

These fish thrive in clear, silt-free, well-shaded freshwater streams with numerous pools and a substrate made of mixed gravel, cobble and sand. Because brook trout are not tolerant of water temperatures above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, they are rarely found in developed areas.

Brook trout are not picky eaters and eat a wide variety of food. Opportunistic feeders, they will eat whatever they can find, including: aquatic insects, like mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies; land insects that fall into the water, like ants and beetles; small crayfish; and even small fish and minnows, but only when they are easy to catch.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

Fisheries panel, after failed last try, agrees on increase in menhaden harvest

October 28th, 2016 — After failing two months ago to come up with a 2017 quota for commercial harvests of menhaden, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission this week finally settled on a number: 200,000 metric tons, a 6.45 percent increase from this year.

The commission struggled for 3-1/2 hours at its meeting in Alexandria in August to set next year’s quota, with a half-dozen proposals for various limits failing to win enough votes. On Wednesday in Bar Harbor, Maine, the commission’s menhaden management board settled on a number much quicker.

Still, the new limit was criticized by environmental groups, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Chris Moore, the foundation’s senior scientist in Virginia, said in a prepared statement that the fish – a staple in the diets of numerous marine creatures, from striped bass to whales – are “not abundant throughout their geographic range.”

Moore said that keeping the quota unchanged for the small, bony, oily fish “would have helped ensure a healthier menhaden population for all users.”

In most of the states from Maine to Florida under the commission’s watch, menhaden are harvested for bait.

Virginia is the exception. It’s the center of East Coast harvests, with next year’s quota allotting the state nearly 169,000 of the 200,000-ton limit. The overwhelming majority of Virginia’s catches will go to a plant in Reedville on the Northern Neck, where they’ll be reduced into products ranging from fish oil pills to cattle-feed supplements.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

Virginia’s 2017 Harvest of Atlantic Menhaden Will Increase

October 28th, 2016 — At a meeting in Maine this week, Atlantic coast fisheries managers agreed to increase the catch for menhaden, a fish considered crucial to birds, other fish and by commercial watermen to catch crabs. It’s also key to the remaining fish oil plant on the East Coast here in Virginia.

In August, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission members couldn’t decide how much harvest to allow. The tiny schools of fish travel from Florida to Maine., stopping to spawn in places like the Chesapeake Bay. On Wednesday, menhaden management board chair Robert Ballou  made it clear this time a decision would be made.

“Now, if any board member wishes to pursue a different course of action. That can happen and the process can go on and on and on. But my hope is that the board will see fit to proceed in the manner just described.”

Read the full story and listen to the audio at WVTF

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Shamefully Fundraises off of Inaccurate Menhaden Claims

October 28, 2016 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

A September 27 fundraising email from Rob Beach, the Director of Community Building and Digital Media at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, misrepresented accepted scientific conclusions about the health of the menhaden stock in the Chesapeake Bay in order to gain funding for the organization.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation repeatedly described menhaden in the Bay as being “under threat from industrial fishing.” The most recent science on Atlantic menhaden shows that this is wrong.

In 2012, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages Atlantic menhaden, released the species’ latest updated stock assessment. Due to problems with the assessment model, the assessment suggested the menhaden stock was being overfished, a conclusion that has subsequently been found to be incorrect. As a result of this flawed assessment, the ASMFC slashed the annual menhaden catch by 20% as a precautionary measure.

Between 2012 and 2015, the menhaden stock assessment model was thoroughly reevaluated and updated with new tools and information that was previously unavailable. Consequently, when the 2015 benchmark stock assessment was released, it had reached a far different conclusion. It found that menhaden are neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing. This is a pattern that held for decades: in the assessment’s analysis, menhaden have not been overfished for nearly a half-century. Furthermore, the assessment found fishing mortality to be at an all-time low. This is especially significant, as it means that the impact of the commercial menhaden fishery is at its lowest point, and that regulators are already successfully managing the fishery.

In an effort to purposely mislead, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation claims that increasing the menhaden quota would change that reality. The science tells a different story. Recently, the ASMFC ran a comprehensive series of simulations to test the potential impact of various quota raises. The Commission concluded that raising the quota as high as 40% has a 0% chance of leading to overfishing.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation staff regularly attends meetings of the ASMFC; in fact, the group’s Director of Fisheries, Bill Goldsborough, has served in various roles with the ASMFC for nearly 25 years. It is shameful this fundraising campaign knowingly perpetuates misconceptions and inaccuracies about the health of a significant Bay fishery. It is using false fear to spur contributions.

Fearmongering for financial gain should be beneath the dignity of an organization that claims to be dedicated to “science-based solutions.”

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of over 30 businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section and Advisory Panel to Meet November 10th to Set 2017 Fishery Specifications

October 27, 2016 — The following was released by the ASMFC:

Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section (Section) and Advisory Panel will meet on November 10, 2016 in Urban Forestry Center, 45 Elwyn Road, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; 603.431.6774. The Advisory Panel will meet in the morning (10-11:30 a.m.) to review the 2016 Stock Status Report and Technical Committee recommendations, and formulate recommendations to the Section for the 2017 fishing season. The Section will meet in the afternoon (1-3 p.m.) to set 2017 specifications after reviewing the 2016 Stock Status Report, as well as the recommendations from the Technical Committee and Advisory Panel.

For the past three fishing seasons (2014-2016), based on the status of the resource, which is considered at record low levels and experiencing poor recruitment since 2012, a moratorium has been in place for the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp fishery.

Both meetings are open to the public. The draft agendas for the meetings can be found athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/NoShrimp_Section_AP_Nov2016.pdf

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Announces Funding for Four New Research Projects Impacting Fisheries Management

October 26, 2016 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

WILLIAMSBURG, VA — The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) is sponsored by the Industry & University Cooperative Research Program (I/UCRC) of the National Science Foundation. I/UCRC programs bring participants from industry, government, and other organizations in need of science-based solutions into contact with academic scientists capable of providing that expertise. The SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board is composed of members from the shellfish industry, commercial and recreational finfish interests and government agencies such as the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The organizational structure provided by the Center permits members to control the science agenda in exchange for financial support. The SCeMFiS mission utilizes academic and fisheries resources to address urgent scientific problems limiting sustainable fisheries.

SCeMFiS develops methods, tools and analytical approaches to maximize sustainable fisheries and reduce uncertainty in abundance estimates. SCeMFiS university partners, University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution), and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary are the academic sites. Collaborating scientists who provide specific expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal research, come from a wide range of academic institutions including Cornell University, Rutgers University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and University of Washington.

The Industry Advisory Board (IAB) of SCeMFiS has allocated $139,000 in funding for three new research projects and a continuing involvement with the marine mammal assessment process during the Fall IAB Meeting held October 13-14, 2016 in Williamsburg, Virginia (see http://scemfis.org/research.html for a list of research projects underway). The new initiatives are:

  • Biostatistical and fishery-dependent sampling of Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias), Phase II,
  • A meta-analysis of the impact of forage fish abundance on predator productivity, and
  • Design of a cooperative winter pelagic survey for Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) in the Mid-Atlantic.

Currently, there is a growing need for the diverse services that SCeMFiS can provide to industry which has prompted a steady increase in their fishing industry partners. These services include immediate access to science expertise for stock assessment issues, rapid response to research priorities, and representation on stock assessment teams within the various fisheries management councils.

SCeMFiS members identify target species of interest, provide research leading to improvements in models and assessment designs to quantify stock status and develop reference points, determine economic and societal impacts of changes within the fishing industry, and fill critical knowledge gaps in fisheries science. The Center’s research projects are intended to validate and quantify benefits for a sustainable harvest of finfish and shellfish while trying to maintain ecological stability.

“Collaborative research that involves the industry, science and management community is our goal and is crucial to our collective success,” says Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association. Funding this October emphasizes research on forage fish. “The management of important forage fish species, like Atlantic menhaden and chub mackerel is challenged by concerns that managers are not leaving enough of these fish in the water to provide necessary ‘ecosystem services’.   We are supporting research that balances this view with the opportunity to manage forage fish species to the benefit of coastal communities and the Nation, on a sustainable basis. Providing for the future needs of humans in the system also demands rigorous scientific inquiry. One of SCeMFiS’ core missions is to reduce uncertainties in marine fisheries stock assessment in the region, which directly leads to ensuring robust sustainable fisheries.”, says Jeff Kaelin, SCeMFiS chair and government relations coordinator for Lund’s Fisheries, Inc., a family-owned, vertically-integrated seafood company located in Cape May, New Jersey.

What is the importance of SCeMFiS? Economics. The fishing industry needs urgent answers to maintain the livelihood of many port towns along the coast. However, Tom Murray of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science writes that this importance goes much further. He states, “Commercial fishery product landings begin the product development, processing and distribution changes which create additional economic value and impacts beyond the initial landed value and economic impact.” In other words, the fishing industry is the catalyst to generate economic value not only in fishing ports but throughout a range of economic sectors including transportation, food services, and supporting manufacturing and financial services. Science in support of sustainable fisheries is a critical component underpinning this economic engine.

The IAB will review each of their funded projects at its next meeting that will be held April 26-27, 2017 in Ocean Springs Mississippi at the Gulf Coast Research Lab, University of Southern Mississippi. Learn more about SCeMFiS at http://www.SCeMFiS.org.

See the full release here

Harvest of horseshoe crabs for medical use up for discussion

October 25, 2016 — Interstate fishing regulators who want to get a firmer handle on how many horseshoe crabs die as part of their harvest for biomedical use are meeting this week to discuss the issue.

The crabs are harvested for their blue blood, which is used to make sure medical products aren’t contaminated. Their blood contains a chemical that can be used to detect bacteria.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted this summer to propose taking into account the death toll associated with medical harvesting when determining how many horseshoe crabs can be harvested from the Delaware Bay.

The commission is meeting on Wednesday to discuss next steps.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

VIMS professor inducted into Fishing Hall of Fame

October 24th, 2016 — A Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor just joined Zane Grey, Ernest Hemingway and Izaak Walton as an inductee in the Fishing Hall of Fame of the International Game Fish Association.

John Graves is chancellor professor and chairman of fisheries science at VIMS in Gloucester Point. His induction this month is based largely on his billfish research, which has been “instrumental in the ongoing efforts to conserve game fish populations worldwide,” IGFA president Rob Kramer said in a statement.

“Anglers today owe him a great deal of gratitude,” Kramer said.

Billfish are large predatory fish notable for their prominent bills. Graves’ research led to the use of circle hooks for billfish, which VIMS says sharply increased the survival rate of marlin, swordfish and sailfish in the catch-and-release fishery.

His genetic research also enabled federal fisheries officials to distinguish between legally fished Pacific blue marlin and illegally fished Atlantic blue marlin.

Graves called his selection a “tribute to all fisheries scientists and fisheries managers.”

Read the full story at the Daily Press 

Out in the Atlantic, a canyon named Norfolk could be America’s next national marine sanctuary

October 17, 2016 — About 70 miles out in the Atlantic, a canyon begins. Down steep, craggy walls draped with corals it descends some 6,000 feet, a bridge between the continental shelf and the deep, deep ocean. Creatures move in swarms so thick along stretches of this oasis that cameras simply can’t peek through.

Yes, the Norfolk Canyon is grand.

Grand enough, some admirers say, that it should be given special status as a national marine sanctuary.

For more than a year, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center has been developing a case for making the canyon part of the sanctuary system. It has company: The National Aquarium in Baltimore and the New York Aquarium are working on nominations for ocean canyons off their states as well.

“These are incredibly special places, amazing places,” said Mark Swingle, the Virginia Aquarium’s director of research and conservation.

The Atlantic canyons, of which there are more than 50, large and small, are “biological hot spots,” he said. They’re havens, feeding grounds and nurseries for thousands of species of creatures, from worms burrowing in the deepest sediments to whales breaching on the choppy surface.

Swingle is leading the push for the Norfolk Canyon, the southernmost of the big ones. He said the Beach City Council will be asked soon to adopt a resolution of support, after which a nomination will be filed before year’s end with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

NEFMC to Screen Sustaining Sea Scallop Doc on September 21

September 19th, 2016 — The following was released by Coonamessett Farm Foundation: 

On Wednesday, September 21st at 5:30 pm there will be a reception followed by a showing of the short movie “Sustaining Sea Scallops”. The reception will begin at the end of the New England Fishery Management Council’s meeting that day at the DoubleTree Hilton in Danvers, MA and is hosted by the Fisheries Survival Fund. The Fisheries Survival Fund (“FSF”) is an organization whose participants include the bulk of the full-time, limited access scallop fleet located from Virginia to Massachusetts.

The sea scallop fishery is one of the most lucrative wild-harvest fisheries in the United States. But just 15 short years ago this key fishery was facing closures and on the verge of bankruptcy. SUSTAINING SEA SCALLOPS chronicles the dramatic rebound of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery highlighting the unique partnership that supports this sustainable fishery.

This 35-minute documentary follows fishermen and researchers from New Bedford, Massachusetts to Seaford, Virginia, as they collaborate on studies of gear design, deep sea habitats, and threatened sea turtles. Capturing in-depth footage of the offshore and onshore processes involved in the scalloping industry.

Including unprecedented footage of the marine environment using new underwater technologies that provides a breathtaking mosaic of sea scallops on the ocean floor and a close-up of a loggerhead sea turtle feeding on scallops.
With input from researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Coonamessett Farm Foundation the film explores a new method of fisheries management that focuses on gear innovations and improved survey strategies to maintain a healthy fishery.

A rare tale of renewal, SUSTAINING SEA SCALLOPS, illuminates a message of hope for other beleaguered fisheries offering cooperative research as a new model for sustainable fisheries.

Watch the movie trailer here