Saving Seafood

Dungeness crab season cancelled for remainder of 2024 in California, Washington

December 10, 2024 — Fisheries regulators on the West Coast are further delaying the opening of their states’ respective commercial Dungeness crab seasons due to the presence of humpback whales and low meat quality, with all but a small portion of Oregon’s coast unlikely to open before the end of the year.

On 6 December, the state of California announced it was delaying the start of the commercial crab season for a third time this year, citing the continued presence of blue and humpback whales in the area. The season was initially slated to open on 15 November.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scientists make stunning breakthrough that could solve major problem plaguing our oceans — and the solution lies in whale feces

December 6, 2024 — A small team of environmental and ocean scientists in Australia, known as Whale X, may have discovered a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere efficiently, Hakai Magazine reported. The key to their solution is replicating whale poo.

Whale feces are high in essential nutrients that support the growth of phytoplanktons — a microscopic marine algae that feeds the rest of the ocean food chain.

Phytoplanktons also efficiently capture carbon dioxide, as land plants do, clearing the atmosphere of planet-warming gases. Per Hakai, phytoplanktons absorb “roughly 22 megatonnes (22,000,000 tons) of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year — the amount emitted by about 4.8 million vehicles.”

To put this all into perspective, the most efficient carbon-absorbing tree species — the oak tree — captures only 12 tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to the United States National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at The Cool Down

Conservation groups call on US to ban foreign seafood over whale and dolphin bycatch

December 8, 2023 — Conservation groups want NOAA Fisheries to ban imports from foreign fisheries that are not adequately working to prevent marine mammal bycatch.

“By continuing to allow imports that do not meet U.S. standards, [NOAA Fisheries] NMFS chooses business as usual over the survival of some of the most amazing species on the planet,” Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Senior Attorney and Global Biodiversity Conservation Director Zak Smith said. “Because NMFS has failed to safeguard ocean biodiversity, future generations may never have the chance to protect invaluable marine life.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa claims ENGO hypocrisy on offshore wind and whales

May 19, 2023 — The following transcript is excerpted from an interview by New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa on Fox & Friends:

Fox & Friends: GOP lawmakers in New Jersey want an immediate stop to offshore wind projects over growing concern about a spike in whale deaths. Since December alone, 32 dead whales have washed up on beaches along the East Coast. Republican state senators are asking for a 30 to 60 day pause on construction to see if it helps. Michael Testa is one of them and he joins us now.

So who exactly are the groups or the people who would be opposing a 30 to 60 day, very sensible pause to see what’s going on with the whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, it seems to be Ørsted, who’s the company that wants to have the wind farms, as well as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, which makes absolutely no sense to me because I always thought that those were the groups that were there to protect the whales and to create bumper stickers that say ‘save the whales.’ And I think that they’re being completely intellectually disingenuous here. We know that if this were an exploration for offshore oil drilling, that if one whale carcass were to wash up on one of New Jersey’s shores, they would be surrounding that carcass holding hands with, you know, tears streaming down their face, singing Kumbaya.

Fox & Friends: What is their explanation for not wanting to see an environmental impact on whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, their explanation is the reason that the whales and dolphins are washing up on our shores in record numbers is due to climate change. That’s why we need to rush to erect these massive wind farms, which, you know, quite frankly, a lot of people have now testified and believe are contributing to whales washing up on our shores in record numbers. But it’s always their cry. This is their mantra. This is climate change. And if you ever question their green energy agenda, you’re labelled a science denier, a climate change denier.

We also have to really question what the environmental impact is going to be to our commercial fishing industry as well as our recreational fishing industry and look, Cape May County, Atlantic County, Ocean County and Monmouth County, tourism is the lifeblood of their summer economy.What are these wind farms going to do if whales and dolphins continue to wash up on our shores?

We also don’t know what the erection of these massive wind farms [is] going to do to our ocean floor and what type of environmental long term environmental impact that is going to have on our oyster business, scallop business.

Watch the full interview here

Tracking endangered North Atlantic right whales

April 28, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries is working with partner agencies and organizations to rebuild and conserve the remaining North Atlantic right whale population.

Now estimated to number only around 340 animals, they are one of the world’s most endangered species. NOAA says that tracking and monitoring the right whale population and the health of these mammals is crucial to their recovery efforts.

Right whales can be observed from a boat, on shore, and from the air, but researchers have varieties of technology and methods to be able to monitor these mammals underwater.

By attaching tracking devices to right whales, scientists and researchers can learn more about the time that these animals spend out of sight.

The tracking devices are known as tags that can be attached to a whale through a suction cup or implantable darts. NOAA shares that these tags document the animal’s location, behavior, movement, swim speed, habitat uses, dive depth, and health.

Some of the tags can record audio and capture ocean temperatures. The collected data provides insights on an animals movement and behavorial habits that are critical for addressing their conservation challenges.

The tags used for whales are lightweight and relatively small and range from the size of a cell phone to a book. The devices are tested rigorously before being approved for use in the field.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Does offshore wind have a whale problem?

February 28, 2023 — Since Dec. 1, there have been 18 reports of dead whales washing ashore along the Atlantic Coast, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

With each dead whale washing ashore, the blood pressure of offshore wind critics has risen.  They believe the survey and construction work associated with building new offshore wind farms in the New England and New York regions may have contributed to the whale deaths.

Government officials say there is no relationship between offshore wind and whale deaths. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website maintains a section where it reports on the number of whales washing ashore since “unusual mortality events” started being tracked in 2016.

Since 2016, a total of 184 humpback whales have washed ashore.  A peak of 34 whale deaths was recorded in 2017.  Last year, there were 19 whale deaths. But so far this year, there have been 10 deaths recorded.  Five East Coast states – Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina – account for 81% of all whale deaths.  Four are sites of offshore wind work.

Read the full article at WorkBoat

Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push

January 26, 2023 — The school-bus-size humpback whale that washed ashore on a narrow beach in Brigantine, N.J., this month weighed in at 12 tons and took a heavy emotional toll on coastal towns helplessly witnessing a spate of such deaths.

The humpback was one of nine large whales to get stranded over six weeks on or near beaches in the Northeast, not far from where developers of hundreds of offshore wind turbines are engaged in a flurry of preconstruction activity. The deaths have prompted pushback against the projects even though government scientists say they are unrelated.

It’s the latest in a string of threats to a fledgling offshore wind industry that climate advocates say is central to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Surging costs from inflation and labor shortages have developers saying their projects may not be profitable. A raft of lawsuits and pending federal restrictions to protect sensitive wildlife could further add to costs. The uncertainty has clouded bright expectations for massive growth in U.S. offshore wind, which the Biden administration and several state governments have bet big on in their climate plans.

Read the full article at The Washington Post

MAINE: Maine politicians blast ‘unfair’ court decision targeting lobster gear

July 14, 2022 — A federal circuit court has reinstated a ban on lobster fishing gear in a nearly 1,000-square-mile area off New England to try to protect endangered whales.

The National Marine Fisheries Service issued new regulations last year that prohibited lobster fishing with vertical buoy lines in part of the fall and winter in the area, which is in federal waters off Maine’s coast. The ruling was intended to prevent North Atlantic right whales, which number less than 340, from becoming entangled in the lines.

The circuit court sent the case back to the district court level, but noted in its ruling that it does not think the lobster fishing groups that sued to stop the regulations are likely to succeed because Congress has clearly instructed the fisheries service to protect the whales.

Commercial fishing groups have filed lawsuits about new rules designed to protect the whales because of concerns that the regulations will make it impossible to sustain the lobster fishing industry. The industry, based mostly in Maine, is one of the most valuable in the U.S., worth more than $500 million at the docks in 2020, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Conservation groups have called for tighter laws. Tuesday’s ruling is “a lifesaving decision for these beautiful, vulnerable whales,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity who argued the case at the circuit court.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Council Discusses Climate Change, Research Priorities, EBFM, Sturgeon, Right Whales, and Equity & Environmental Justice

July 14, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council met June 28-30, 2022 and received numerous updates over the course of its three-day hybrid meeting in Portland, Maine. Here are a few of the highlights.

CLIMATE CHANGE: The Council received a presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center on the Draft Northeast Climate Regional Action Plan, which is out for public comment through July 29, 2022. Version 1 of the plan was in place from 2016 to 2021. The current draft – Version 2 – will be used by NOAA Fisheries to implement the agency’s Climate Science Strategy in 2022-2024. The document contains information on warming ocean temperatures (see graphic at right) and much more. The Council received input from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) on the draft action plan and will be submitting its own written comments in advance of the deadline.

The Council also received a progress report on the East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning initiative. The overarching questions are:

• How might climate change affect stock availability and distribution, as well as other aspects of East Coast marine fisheries, over the next 20 years; and

• What does this mean for effective future governance and management across multiple jurisdictions? What tools are needed to provide flexible and robust management strategies to address uncertainty in an era of climate change?

The Core Team working on this initiative hosted a June 21-23, 2022 Scenario Creation Workshop where participants developed scenarios or stories describing eight alternative futures under climate change. Next, the Core Team will review and edit inputs from the workshop to create a draft set of scenarios for further discussion and feedback during three scenario deepening webinars in mid-August. These webinars will be open to the public. The Council will have an in-depth discussion of the scenarios during its September 27-29, 2022 meeting and provide feedback to the Core Team on next steps.

Read the full release here