Saving Seafood

Off the African Coast, a Struggle to Revive a Battered Fishery

August 9, 2018 — Located 1,200 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, Mauritius — population 1.35 million — was once a tropical marine paradise with miles of lagoons filled with healthy coral reefs, a largely undeveloped shoreline, and hundreds of fish species that supported a thriving artisanal fishery. But overfishing, rapid population growth, coastal development, and, most recently, severe coral bleaching have taken a major toll on the marine life of this Indian Ocean island.

In their documentary film, “Vey Nou Lagoon” — the third-place winner of the Yale Environment 360 Video Contest — videographer Vanina Harel and conservationist Zara Currimjee tell the story of the fishermen, scientists, and government officials who are battling to turn around the situation on Mauritius. Focusing on several of Mauritius’ fishermen, the film describes how the creation of marine protected areas and the introduction of stricter fishing regulations have begun to have a positive impact.

But, as the film makes clear, there is still a long way to go. “People do whatever they want — they feel entitled,” says Fi Myrthe, an oysterwoman, of the continuing scramble for depleted fisheries resources on Mauritius. “There is such a lack of education.”

Read the full story at Yale Environment 360

With fewer types of fish to catch, Maine fishermen may be losing their knowledge of the sea

August 3, 2018 –Maine fishermen have a long history of being involved in fisheries management. Communication between harvesters and policymakers has been instrumental in the development of rules and regulations that have helped to sustain the region’s coastal fisheries—from clams to alewives to lobsters.

In part, this success results from the deep understanding of the natural environment held by . “Local ecological ” is a term used to describe the collective perceptions held by a particular group about their environment, resulting from the transmission of cultural knowledge from one generation to the next, combined with regular and persistent interactions between people and the environment.

Fishermen’s experience-derived “local ecological knowledge” can be equally valuable as data gained through modern scientific methods for informing resource management and building community resilience. Yet the very experience that forms the basis for fishermen’s knowledge is being eroded by increasing specialization in Maine’s fisheries, with more harvesters focusing on one or two target species. As fishermen focus on fewer types of fish, they have less access to the environment. Does this mean they are losing environmental knowledge, too?

Joshua Stoll, University of Maine assistant research professor of marine policy and cooperating scientist at the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, worked with Emily Farr, a recent graduate of Yale University, and assistant professor Christine Beitl of the Department of Anthropology to study how fishermen’s changing access to fish species over time (which Stoll documented in earlier research) has affected their knowledge of the . Marina Cucuzza, a student in the UMaine marine science and marine policy dual degree graduate program, assisted with some of the interviews.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

How Seaweed Could Protect Your Oysters

September 14, 2016 — When you’re sitting at a raw bar feasting on oysters, the environment may be the furthest thing from your mind. But Washington state’s shellfish industry is threatened by a global problem – ocean acidification.

The oceans absorb about half of all human emissions of carbon dioxide. That extra carbon makes the water more acidic and interferes with the ability of clams, mussels, and oysters to build strong shells.

For help keeping the fishery productive, researchers are turning to an unexpected ally: a fast-growing type of seaweed called kelp.

Kelp absorbs carbon during photosynthesis. So Jan Newton of the University of Washington says scientists believe that growing and then removing kelp before it decays may take enough carbon out of the water to provide a better environment for shellfish. However …

Newton: “The oceans are extremely large, and this effect will be very much a localized effect.”

To test the approach, scientists began planting floating beds of kelp offshore this past spring. And over the next two years, Newton and her colleagues will monitor CO2 levels in the surrounding waters.

Read the full story from Yale University

Changing Migration Patterns Upend East Coast Fishing Industry

May 11, 2016 — Summer flounder that once amassed in North Carolina have gradually shifted about 140 miles to New Jersey—one facet of the northward migration of fish species that is upending traditional fishing patterns.

The move north has sparked debate among regulators over how to respond to changing natural resources that could affect commercial fisheries across the eastern seaboard.

For the first time, a group of researchers backed by the federal government is trying to ascertain what the northward movement means for fishermen’s income and way of life.

“Some fisherman will end up losing out and some will win big,” said Malin Pinsky, an assistant professor of ecology and evolution at Rutgers University, who is part of a team of scientists from Rutgers, Princeton University and Yale University studying the phenomenon.

Funded through a piece of a $1.4 million National Science Foundation grant, the team of scientists is examining how shifting patterns of where fish congregate is affecting commercial anglers and how they are changing their practices. They are also studying what kind of regulations may be needed to adapt to these changing realities.

For Lund’s Fisheries, for example, the northward creep has forced the company’s boats to catch the flounder in New Jersey and then spend time traveling to North Carolina, where regulations allow them to bring them on shore in more abundant quantities. When the boats travel south, the fishery can’t catch sea bass, scup and other species they may have reeled in at the same time in waters off New Jersey.

“It does cause us to drive fish around the ocean longer than we have historically. That gets factored into the cost of doing business,” said Jeff Kaelin, an executive at the company, which has facilities in Cape May, N.J., and North Carolina.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal