Alerts

The advice encourages pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers to eat more fish that are lower in mercury.

WASHINGTON — June 10, 2014 — The following was released by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued updated draft advice on fish consumption. The two agencies have concluded pregnant and breastfeeding women, those who might become pregnant, and young children should eat more fish that is lower in mercury in order to gain important developmental and health benefits. The updated draft advice is consistent with recommendations in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Previously, the FDA and the EPA recommended maximum amounts of fish that these population groups should consume, but did not promote a minimum amount. Over the past decade, however, emerging science has underscored the importance of appropriate amounts of fish in the diets of pregnant and breastfeeding women, and young children.

"For years many women have limited or avoided eating fish during pregnancy or feeding fish to their young children," said Stephen Ostroff, M.D., the FDA's acting chief scientist. "But emerging science now tells us that limiting or avoiding fish during pregnancy and early childhood can mean missing out on important nutrients that can have a positive impact on growth and development as well as on general health."

An FDA analysis of seafood consumption data from over 1,000 pregnant women in the United States found that 21 percent of them ate no fish in the previous month, and those who ate fish ate far less than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends-with 50 percent eating fewer than 2 ounces a week, and 75 percent eating fewer than 4 ounces a week. The updated draft advice recommends pregnant women eat at least 8 ounces and up to 12 ounces (2-3 servings) per week of a variety of fish that are lower in mercury to support fetal growth and development.

"Eating fish with lower levels of mercury provides numerous health and dietary benefits," said Nancy Stoner, the EPA's acting assistant administrator for the Office of Water. "This updated advice will help pregnant women and mothers make informed decisions about the right amount and right kinds of fish to eat during important times in their lives and their children's lives."

The updated draft advice cautions pregnant or breastfeeding women to avoid four types of fish that are associated with high mercury levels: tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico; shark; swordfish; and king mackerel. In addition, the updated draft advice recommends limiting consumption of white (albacore) tuna to 6 ounces a week.

Choices lower in mercury include some of the most commonly eaten fish, such as shrimp, pollock, salmon, canned light tuna, tilapia, catfish and cod.

When eating fish caught from local streams, rivers and lakes, follow fish advisories from local authorities. If advice isn't available, limit your total intake of such fish to 6 ounces a week and 1-3 ounces for children.

Before issuing final advice, the agencies will consider public comments, and also intend to seek the advice of the FDA's Risk Communication Advisory Committee and conduct a series of focus groups.

The public can provide comment on the draft advice and the supplemental questions and answers by submitting comments to the Federal Register docket or by participating in any public meetings that may be held. The comment period will be open until 30 days after the last transcript from the advisory committee meeting and any other public meetings becomes available. The dates of any public meetings, as well as when the public comment period will close, will be published in future Federal Register notices at www.federalregister.gov.

For more information:

– Draft advice on fish consumption, and supplemental questions and answers about the draft advice:  Fish: What Pregnant Women and Parents Should Know

– Federal Register Notice of Availability: Advice About Eating Fish; Draft Update

– 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

– FDA Consumer Update: New Advice: Some Women and Children Should Eat More Fish

– EPA information on wild-caught fish

– FDA Audio Clips

– EPA Audio Clips

To comment on the draft advice on fish consumption:

– Read the draft advice.

– Starting Wednesday, June 11, 2014, submit comments through the Federal Register docket at FederalRegister.gov.

Read more from the FDA here  
 
Read more on this new announcement from U.S. News and World Report 

 

Thirty-one researchers from fourteen different organizations have been awarded 2014/2015 research grants focused on Atlantic sea scallops.

June 9, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA, announcing the selections for Scallop Research Set-Aside Awards for 2014-2015:

Thirty-one researchers from fourteen different organizations have been awarded 2014/2015 research grants focused on Atlantic sea scallops, the nation's highest-valued single species commercial fishery. The researchers will be working as principal and co-principal investigators on sixteen projects worth just over $16.5 million. These awards are funded entirely by proceeds from selling a portion of the annual sea scallop quota "set aside" for this purpose.

Award recipients are located in Massachusetts, Maine, Delaware, and Virginia and include universities, non-profit research and education foundations, a fish hatchery, commercial fishing vessels and businesses, and a state fisheries agency.

Research set-aside (RSA) programs are unique to federal fisheries in the northeast region, which includes the mid-Atlantic. Under RSAs, no federal funds are provided to support the research; rather, funding is provided by granting the awardees Set-Aside allocations for certain quota managed or days-at-sea (DAS) managed fisheries. The allocations are then harvested and sold or auctioned to provide funds for the research. Current RSAs include programs for Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring, monkfish, and mid-Atlantic multispecies which include Atlantic mackerel, black sea bass, bluefish, butterfish, Illex squid, Loligo squid, scup, summer flounder, and tilefish.

Special committees of the regional federal fishery management councils set the research priorities and funds are competitively awarded.  NOAA Fisheries manages the competition, award, and reporting process but does not retain or use any research set-aside funds. The research results will be used to improve sea scallop recruitment and mortality, assess the impacts of future ocean acidification and warming on scallop shells and meat weights, assess the abundance and distribution of scallops in several areas, develop fishing gear that reduces bycatch of flatfish and sea turtles, and utilize new technologies for better sampling and monitoring of sea scallop populations and their habitats.

Researchers at the Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) in East Falmouth, Mass. will continue their work testing gear to reduce flatfish bycatch, and test the energy efficiency of towing the frame to determine the economic impact of design changes. Researchers will also continue monitoring the enhanced scallop seedbed established in 2013 and transplant scallop seed from a recent high density bed to the experimental seed bed to demonstrate the feasibility of a seeding program to enhance and stabilize scallop recruitment on Georges Bank, while documenting the factors that affect seed survival.

Another project will use a remotely-operated vehicle, dredge-mounted cameras and a camera trolley to examine the dredge path of a 4.57-meter-wide Coonamessett Farm turtle deflector dredge; tows will be made on commercial scallop grounds in Georges Bank, Southern New England and Mid-Atlantic Bight regions to determine the quantity and condition of scallops left in the dredge path.

Building on the success of prior CFF turtle behavioral research, investigators will tag juvenile loggerhead turtles with water-activated satellite tags in an effort to understand the impacts of the sea scallop fishery on loggerhead sea turtles.

Northeastern University researchers will study the impacts of future carbon dioxide-induced ocean acidification and warming on the calcification rate, shell properties, and meat weight of Northwest Atlantic sea scallops through controlled laboratory experiments and targeted field studies. The research is intended to produce the first spatial resolution maps of seawater carbonate chemistry and temperature, revealing which areas of Georges Bank are most vulnerable to future ocean acidification and warming.

Researchers from the Maine Department of Marine Resources will work with University of Maine staff to assess sea scallop distribution and abundance in federal and adjacent state waters of the Gulf of Maine. They will test dredge-bag designs for a new low-profile scallop dredge frame and use the survey information to optimize a long-term fishery-independent monitoring program.

University of Delaware researchers will work with colleagues at the Virginia Institute for Marine Science and a commercial vessel to estimate the rate of incidental mortality of sea scallops exposed to commercial dredging.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School of Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) will continue a project using the SMAST Bycatch Avoidance System, expand the system to open areas in Southern New England, and include windowpane flounder bycatch. Other projects will survey open areas of Georges Bank and a "sliver" of Closed Area 1 to produce biomass estimates for future management plans, and use visual observations of scallops at a seafood display auction and vessel captains' knowledge to identify gray meats in time and space. Laboratory experiments will test the ability of gray meat scallops to recover to white meat quality. The project will produce a map of gray meat outbreaks to provide fishermen with a product to avoid poor quality scallops, and provide management with information to assess the vulnerability of stocks and develop methods to manage the condition.

Scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science will provide a detailed assessment of the abundance and distribution of both adult and pre-recruit sea scallops in the Long Island, Southern New England area. Linking this effort to an existing VIMS survey in the Mid-Atlantic area south of Hudson Canyon will provide managers with a comprehensive dredge survey of the entire region. A second project will estimate sea scallop discard mortality rate in the commercial dredge fishery.

For more information on individual project awards, RSAs, and the Northeast Cooperative Research Program, please visit our website at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/coopresearch/

 

Fishing Supports 1.3 Million U.S. Jobs & Contributes to an America that Works

WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 29, 2014 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources:

Today the House Natural Resources Committee approved H.R. 4742, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act by a bipartisan vote of 24-17. This legislation would renew and amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (last reauthorized in 2006 and expired in 2013) to ensure that this  fundamentally sound legislation works in the best interest of both fish and fishermen.

“Congress should be focused on policies that promote an America that works – and when over a million Americans’ jobs are tied to fishing, whether commercial or recreational fishing, renewing and improving the Magnuson-Stevens Act should be a priority. The goal of HR 4742 is to strengthen and improve the Act through common sense reforms that increase management flexibility based on science, ensure greater government transparency, promote responsible fishing and prevent overfishing, improve fish data collection, and provide predictability and certainty for American jobs and local communities whose economic livelihoods depend on fishing,”said Chairman Hastings. “I continue to be open to working with the Ranking Member, members of the Committee on both sides of the aisle, and with Members from New England and the Gulf who are struggling with real fishing challenges.”

Since 2011, the Committee has held ten hearings and heard from almost 100 witnesses relating to the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act about how this Act can be improved. H.R. 4742 is the culmination of all these recommendations that ultimately strengthen and improve the Magnuson-Stevens Act to ensure that there is a proper balance between the biological needs of fish and the economic needs of fishermen.

Specifically, this bill makes the following improvements to the Act:

– Provides science-based flexibility measures for fishery managers when rebuilding depleted fisheries

– Provides common sense flexibility measures for fishery managers when setting annual catch limits

– Provides more transparency for fishermen and others in both science and management

– Provides a schedule for obtaining better fishery dependent and fishery independent data especially for data poor fisheries and provides greater protection for confidential information submitted to regulatory agencies

– Encourages and promotes cooperative research projects where scientists work with fishermen to develop sound scientific information

– Allows fishery managers to take environmental conditions and economic impacts of their decisions into account when establishing harvest levels
 
– Allows fishermen in regions where catch share programs have been controversial to have a say in whether a new catch share program will be implemented and to be provided better information when considering such a program
 
– Requires NOAA to provide better accountability on how fees are collected and used
 
– Clarifies the role of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in relationship to other Federal statutes
 
– Authorizes appropriations for an additional five fiscal years at current funding level

For more information on the Committee’s efforts to ensure that the Magnuson-Stevens Act is working in the best interests of fish and fishermen, please click here.

 View a PDF of this press release

 

These funds are a portion of the $75 million allocated by U.S. Congress as part of its Fiscal 2014 budget to help with six declared fishery disasters.

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — May 28, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

The state fishery directors from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, in partnership with NOAA, today announced a proposed framework for the distribution of $32.8 million in federal disaster monies to the New England groundfish industry.

These funds are a portion of the $75 million allocated by U.S. Congress as part of its Fiscal 2014 budget to help with six declared fishery disasters. In 2012, the Secretary of Commerce declared one of these fishery disasters to be the result of significant quota cuts anticipated for key New England groundfish stocks in the 2013 fishing year. Under federal fisheries law, the Commerce Secretary can declare a fishery disaster, which makes it possible for Congress to appropriate funds to provide economic assistance to fishing businesses and communities, including fishermen, affected by a disaster and to support other activities addressing the disaster.  

In the consensus framework for the groundfish fishery, the six states would apportion available monies between three themes (roughly $11 million in each): one-third to be used for direct assistance, one-third to be split among the states and used at their discretion, and one-third to be used in developing a federally funded buyout or industry-funded buyback. Click here to view breakdown of monies by state.

– Direct Assistance: Using an industry recommended allocation, direct assistance will be distributed equally to 336 holders of permits in the Northeast multispecies fishery who landed at least 5,000 pounds of groundfish in any one of the past four years (2010-2013). Qualified permit holders from each of the affected states would each receive a check for $32,463;   



- State-Specific Grants: States will split a second third of the total available monies based on an agreed-to formula that considers groundfish revenue losses affecting each state in recent years, with a slight adjustment to ensure that no state receives less than $250,000. Subject to NOAA approval of spend plans, states will have some flexibility to determine the most appropriate way to address the unique and varied needs of their fishing communities. For instance, states can opt to use monies to assist recreational fishermen, commercial vessel crew members, shore-based infrastructure, or cooperative research; 



- Vessel buyout/buyback: NOAA, state directors, and the fishing industry will use the remaining monies to develop either a government funded buyout program or an industry-funded buyback program. This aspect of the framework is expected to take longer to develop so funds would be held in reserve until needed.

NOAA plans to work closely with the states to complete required reviews of state grant applications and spend plans for both the direct assistance grants and the state grants to distribute this portion of the funds as quickly as possible. Typically, there is a two- to three-month review to ensure statutory and grant requirements are addressed before the funds can be made available to the recipient.  For these two components of the framework, states would receive a combined allocation of:

Connecticut:         $250,000

Massachusetts:    $14,512,618

Maine:                  $2,260,034

New Hampshire:  $2,039,825

New York:            $814,012

Rhode Island:      $1,938,617

"Each state situation is unique, and it was challenging to identify an approach that could work for all," said John Bullard, regional administrator, NOAA Fisheries. "But after considerable discussion and outreach, I think we came up with a framework that has something in it for everybody and will enable us to get some monies into the hands of fishermen and others affected as quickly as possible. That way we can continue to work together on the more long-term efforts to help ensure the future of both the fishing industry and the resource."

"Governor Patrick has passionately advocated for the Commonwealth's fishing industry, an critical part of Massachusetts' economic vitality and heritage," said Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rick Sullivan. "We must protect the sustainability of our fishermen, and this financial assistance will help our fishing industry survive until the resource recovers and federal harvest regulations can be relaxed."

"I am pleased that we have been able to develop a spending plan for the groundfish disaster relief funds appropriated by Congress that helps address both the immediate needs and the long term viability of our small boat groundfish fleet," said Douglas Grout, chief, Marine Fisheries Division, New Hampshire Fish & Game Department.

"The agreement reached by the State directors is a compromise, and I am glad that it incorporates parts of the broadly supported industry proposal.  In particular, setting some of the money aside will give the industry an opportunity to consider how they could use a portion of this federal relief to provide some long-term economic benefit to the fleet, which was a priority for Maine fishermen," Patrick Keliher, commissioner, Maine Department of Marine Resources.  

Read the press release at NOAA Fisheries

By minimizing these past successes and dwelling on alleged failures, Oceana's report and much of the subsequent media coverage do not accurately represent the current state of bycatch management.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — May 21, 2014 — Environmental special interest group Oceana made headlines last March with its bycatch report, "Wasted Catch: Unsolved Problems in U.S. Fisheries." Since the report's release, mainstream media publications and other environmental organizations, like the Pew Charitable Trusts, have further presented one-sided coverage of issues regarding bycatch in the United States — often providing little or no information about the significant and successful efforts taken by many commercial fisheries to curb unintended catch. These omissions of facts are misleading, ultimately providing the public a skewed perspective on U.S. fisheries management.
 
In their report, Oceana consistently presented the data in a way that magnifies alleged problems with bycatch, while minimizing references to successful and ongoing efforts to address unintended bycatch. The result is a distorted picture of the current state of U.S. fisheries as a whole, and bycatch issues in particular. Not surprisingly, Oceana quickly began heavily promoting this picture as part of its fundraising campaign, referring hyperbolically to "badly managed fisheries" and "badly enforced regulations." In a recent article appearing in various online publications, "The ABC's of Ecosystem-Based Management, Part III," Lee Crockett, Director of U.S. Oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts, makes similarly strong allegations, equating fishery bycatch to "needless incidental killing of untold seabirds, whales, and other marine life." A closer examination of such findings, and omissions, reveals that the situation is more complicated and less dire than these groups' misleading reports have led readers, radio listeners, and television viewers to believe.
 
Bycatch Prevention Efforts
 
Prior to the release of Oceana's report and continuing today, fishermen, regulators, and scientists are working together, as they have for years, to address these issues and improve bycatch reduction technologies.
 
As highlighted in a previous Saving Seafood report, several prominent U.S. fisheries have made great strides in controlling their bycatch through innovative new gear modifications and cooperative efforts with scientists and fisheries managers. The Atlantic sea scallop fishery, one of the most valuable in the nation, has partnered in the last decade with the Coonamessett Farm Foundation to design new gear that helps prevent endangered sea turtles from interacting with, and being injured by, scallop gear. These turtle excluder devices, which have been required on all scallop vessels since 2013, have successfully helped the scallop fleet reduce its turtle bycatch.
 
They have also actively participated in one of the most successful initiatives at bycatch reduction: the Yellowtail Flounder Bycatch Avoidance Program run by the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The program identifies areas where yellowtail flounder, a common source of scallop bycatch, have been sighted, and helps the rest of the fleet avoid them. Almost 75 percent of the scallop fleet participates in the program, which has resulted in the fishery not exceeding its annual allocation of yellowtail flounder since its inception. While these are major conservation success stories, they were buried deep within Oceana's report, and far from showcased.
 
Other successful bycatch reduction efforts looked over in Oceana's report and the resulting media coverage include efforts by long-line fisheries, such as the swordfish fishery to reduce deaths to marine mammals and turtles by deploying circle hooks, and the use by gillnet fisheries of devices meant to deter marine mammals from interacting with their nets. The report also fails to mention fisheries with generally low bycatch rates, like purse seine fisheries.
 
Federal efforts, like cooperative research endeavors joining fisheries managers and the marine science community, have also contributed to advancing state-of-the-art bycatch prevention methods. One prominent example is the Ruhle trawl. Developed as part of a cooperative research effort between NOAA and the University of Rhode Island, the trawl reduces bycatch in the groundfish fishery by minimizing the amount of overfished and non-targeted species caught by groundfish vessels, allowing fishermen to continue to catch healthier groundfish species.
 
The Ruhle trawl is but one of the many technological innovations that are leading to decreases in bycatch. In a recent article in the Providence Business Journal highlighting innovations by Reidar's Trawl Gear and Marine Supply in Massachusetts, Chief Operating Officer Tor Bendiksen said, "We design gear that specifically targets selected species. For instance, I design gear to catch haddock, which are abundant now. You don't want to catch flounder with the haddock, so with our gear, you don't even bring the flounder into the net."   

The successful development and deployment of devices like the turtle excluders and acoustic sound technology have reduced the number of interactions between fishing vessels and protected endangered species like turtles and marine mammals, according to the 2011 National Bycatch Report. NOAA has also, since 2008, funded the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP), pioneering research efforts to develop gear that minimize bycatch, with $2.5 million allocated to the program in 2012 alone, according to figures released by the agency. Through its support of various research programs, including previous support for the World Wildlife Fund's Smart Gear Competition, the BREP has helped NOAA work with fishermen to advance its bycatch prevention goals.
 
Bycatch Success Stories
 
Oceana's report also obscures the fact that many fisheries have made great strides in reducing their levels of bycatch, and that current bycatch figures are not necessarily indications that a fishery is being operated in an unsustainable fashion. Returning to the example of the Northeast fishery, groundfish vessels in particular have seen recent success in keeping the bycatch of groundfish species relatively low. For the 2012 Fishing Year, total groundfish bycatch for the Northeast multispecies fishery was around 8 percent, according to figures released by NOAA, and fishermen in the Northeast did not exceed their yearly allocations for most groundfish species.
 
But bycatch rates alone are not sufficient to paint a true picture of a fishery's impact on the environment. What species are being caught as bycatch and why they are being caught are factors as important as how many of them are being caught. Oceana's report clouds these distinctions to seemingly advance an agenda, all to the detriment of an informed analysis on bycatch-related matters. In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, for instance, Oceana records dogfish as one of the largest sources of bycatch. But, after years of strict catch limits and other management measures, dogfish is both not overfished and is also one of the most abundant species in these areas. As a result, dogfish bycatch is virtually unavoidable for any vessel targeting groundfish. High rates of dogfish bycatch do not demonstrate that the fishery is being wasteful, but simply that fishermen are frequently encountering an abundant and ubiquitous species.
 
The same principal applies, to a lesser extent, to skate. By far the single largest source of bycatch for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, most species of skate are both frequently caught and relatively healthy. While one species is currently considered overfished according to recent estimates from the New England Fishery Management Council, most of the species in the skate complex are not overfished. Much like discards of dogfish, the fact that fishing vessels frequently encounter and discard skate should not by itself be used as definitive proof that fishermen are operating a "dirty" fishery. Oceana's coverage of these related fisheries does not account for these details.
 
Bycatch: Discards vs. Mortality
 
The Oceana report's primary focus on alleged issues relating to bycatch hinges on the problematic assumption that most, if not all, recorded bycatch is fish that are "thrown overboard dead or dying." This image has been repeated over and over in subsequent media coverage. But while there is certainly mortality associated with bycatch, the related figures vary between species and fisheries, and are often nowhere near 100 percent. Oceana cites extensively the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) 2013 update to its earlier National Bycatch Report. That report explicitly states that while discard estimates for the Northeast "did not account for potential survival of organisms returned to the water," the stock assessments that monitor these species do factor in survival in their estimates. Taking this into consideration exposes a very different picture of some of these supposedly "wasteful" fisheries highlighted in Oceana's report.
 
For example, Oceana disparages the Northeast bottom trawl fishery. The two largest species of bycatch for this fishery, by far, are skate and dogfish. But neither species has a discard mortality rate approaching 100 percent. For dogfish, mortality is estimated at half of that, around 50 percent for trawl vessels. For the several species of skate, discard mortality is estimated at anywhere from 60 percent (for smooth skate) to 9 percent (for winter skate).
 
Discard survival rates are a vitally important nuance to consider in order to properly evaluate the sustainability of Northeast bottom trawls, but Oceana's assessment of this fishery fails to do so. If half or more of the two largest sources of discards in the Northeast trawl fishery survive after being discarded, then the fishery is wasting far less than the 50 million pounds reported by Oceana, and is less "dirty" than its attention-grabbing headline lets on.
 
Instances in which bycatch and mortality are conflated and used interchangeably appear several times in the report. When dealing with interactions between gillnet vessels in New England and the Mid-Atlantic and endangered species like sturgeon, for example, Oceana reports "more than 1,200 mortalities" for sturgeon. But this assumes that every one of the 1,200 recorded interactions between sturgeon and gillnets results in a fatality. Like the assumption of 100 percent bycatch mortality, this is incorrect. Based on federal estimates, sturgeon mortality for gillnet gear is 20 percent, meaning a much smaller percentage of those 1,200 gear interactions results in death than Oceana indicates.
 
The Future of Bycatch
 
The trend in U.S. fisheries management is clearly moving in the direction of greater awareness of bycatch-related issues, and increased cooperation among fishermen, scientists, and managers to develop new solutions to these problems. New technologies and new management efforts have already led to measurable improvements in several fisheries, and current initiatives are building on those successes. By minimizing these past successes and dwelling on alleged failures, Oceana's report and much of the subsequent media coverage do not accurately represent the current state of bycatch management, and shortchanges the tremendous efforts taken by American fishermen, regulators, and scientists to make those successes possible.
 
References
 
Bell, Tom. March 31, 2014. "Dogfish 'everywhere' in Gulf of Maine, but sales go nowhere." Portland Press Herald
 
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 2013. Memorandum from Jim Armstrong to the Joint Spiny Dogfish Committee, "Summary of Spiny Dogfish Monitoring Committee Management Measure Recommendations for 2014," dated September 23, 2013
 
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2011. U.S. National Bycatch Report [W.A. Karp, L.L. Desfosse, S.G. Brooke, Editors]. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-117C
 
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2013. U.S. National Bycatch Report First Edition Update 1 [L.R. Benaka, C. Rilling, E.E. Seney, H. Winarsoo, Editors]. U.S. Department of Commerce
 
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2013. Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program 2012 Annual Report to Congress. U.S. Department of Commerce
 
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2013. Commercial Summary Table (Sector and Common Pool) Catch Monitoring [Fishing Year 2012].
 
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2013. Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation Biological Opinion.
 
New England Fishery Management Council. 2012. 2012 Annual Monitoring Report, Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan
 
New England Fishery Management Council. 2013. Memorandum from the Science and Statistical Committee to Tom Nies, "Skate ABC and discard mortality rates," dated December 2, 2013
 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center. 2006. 43rd Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (43rd SAW) 43rd SAW Assessment Report. Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 06-25
 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center. 2013. A Brief Description of Northeast Region Fish and Invertebrate Discard Estimation for the 2013 Update to the National Bycatch Report [J. Blaylock, S.E. Wigley, P.J. Rago, M. Mood, M.C. Palmer]. Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document 13-05
 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center. 2013. Update on the status of spiny dogfish and initial evaluation of alternative harvest strategies. Report to MAFMC SSC September 12, 2013

 

FAO has released its latest "State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture" report, covering 2012,  and there are a number of positive news items.

SEAFOODNEWS.COM — May 20, 2014 –FAO has released its latest "State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture" report, covering 2012, and there are a number of positive news items. First and foremost, 70% of wild capture fisheries are now being fished within biologically sustainable limits.

This is a "reversal in trend observed during the past few years, a positive sign in the right direction," says the FAO. Global capture fisheries remained stable at 80 million tons.

Secondly, the aquaculture production continues to surge. Global aquaculture production marked a record high of more than 90 million tonnes in 2012, including almost 24 million tonnes of aquatic plants. China accounted for over 60 percent of the total share.

Other positive trends were the increase in employment in fisheries and aquaculture, the greater share o trade coming from developing countries, and the fact that seafood now accounts for 17% of global protein consumption.

The report also emphasizes the importance and positive role of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries which, since its adoption almost two decades ago, remains key to achieving sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.

More people than ever before rely on fisheries and aquaculture for food and as a source of income says the new FAO report published today.

According to the latest edition of FAO's The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, global fisheries and aquaculture production totaled 158 million tonnes in 2012 – around 10 million tonnes more than 2010.

The rapid expansion of aquaculture, including the activities of small-scale farmers, is driving this growth in production.

Fish farming holds tremendous promise in responding to surging demand for food which is taking place due to global population growth, the report says.

At the same time, the planet's oceans – if sustainably managed – have an important role to play in providing jobs and feeding the world, according to FAO's report.

"The health of our planet as well as our own health and future food security all hinge on how we treat the blue world," FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said.

"We need to ensure that environmental well-being is compatible with human well-being in order to make long-term sustainable prosperity a reality for all. For this reason, FAO is committed to promoting 'Blue Growth,' which is based on the sustainable and responsible management of our aquatic resources."

The renewed focus on the so-called "blue world" comes as the share of fisheries production used by humans for food has increased from about 70 percent in the 1980s to a record high of more than 85 percent (136 million tonnes) in 2012.

At the same time per capita fish consumption has soared from 10 kg in the 1960s to more than 19 kg in 2012.

The new report also says fish now accounts for almost 17 percent of the global population's intake of protein — in some coastal and island countries it can top 70 percent.

FAO estimates that fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of 10-12 percent of the world's population.

Since 1990 employment in the sector has grown at a faster rate than the world's population and in 2012 provided jobs for some 60 million people engaged in capture fisheries and aquaculture. Of these, 84 percent were employed in Asia, followed by Africa with about 10 percent.

Global marine capture fishery production was stable at about 80 million tonnes in 2012, the new report indicates.

Currently, under 30 percent of the wild fish stocks regularly monitored by FAO are overfished – a reversal in trend observed during the past few years, a positive sign in the right direction.

Just over 70 percent are being fished within biologically sustainable levels. Of these, fully fished stocks – meaning those at or very close to their maximum sustainable production – account for over 60 percent and underfished stocks about 10 percent.

Global aquaculture production marked a record high of more than 90 million tonnes in 2012, including almost 24 million tonnes of aquatic plants. China accounted for over 60 percent of the total share.

Aquaculture's expansion helps improve the diets of many people, especially in poor rural areas where the presence of essential nutrients in food is often scarce.

However, the report warns that to continue to grow sustainably, aquaculture needs to become less dependent on wild fish for feeds and introduce greater diversity in farmed culture species and practices.

For example, small-sized species can be an excellent source of essential minerals when consumed whole. However, consumer preferences and other factors have seen a switch towards larger farmed species whose bones and heads are often discarded.

The role of fish is set to feature prominently at the Second International Conference on Nutrition jointly organized by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) for 19-21 November 2014 in Rome.

Fish remains among the most traded food commodities worldwide, worth almost $130 billion in 2012 – a figure which likely will continue to increase.

An important trend sees developing countries boosting their share in the fishery trade – 54 percent of total fishery exports by value in 2012 and more than 60 percent by quantity (live weight).

This means fisheries and fish farming are playing an increasingly critical role for many local economies. Some 90 percent of fishers are small scale and it is estimated that, overall, 15 percent are women. In secondary activities such as processing, this figure can be as high as 90 percent.

FAO, through the 2014 International Year of Family Farming, is raising the profile of smallholder activities – including fisheries and aquaculture – with an emphasis on improving access to finance and markets, securing tenure rights and protecting the environment.

An estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food are lost per year – to about one-third of all food produced. This figure includes post-harvest fish losses, which tend to be greater in small-scale fisheries.

In small-scale fisheries, quality losses are often far more significant than physical losses. Improved handling, processing and value-addition methods could address the technical aspects of this issue, but it is also vital to extend good practices, build partnerships, raise awareness, and develop capacity and relevant policies and strategies.

The report also notes that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing remains a major threat to marine ecosystems and also impacts negatively on livelihoods, local economies and food supplies.

Food chain traceability is increasingly a requirement in major fish markets, especially in the wake of recent scandals involving the mislabeling of food products.

FAO provides technical guidelines on certification and ecolabeling which can help producers demonstrate that fish has been caught legally from a sustainably managed fishery or produced in properly run aquaculture facility.

In particular, the report stresses the importance of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries which, since its adoption almost two decades ago, remains key to achieving sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.

The Code promotes the responsible use of aquatic resources and habitat conservation to help boost the sector's contribution to food security, poverty alleviation and human well-being.

FAO is also promoting "Blue Growth" as a framework for ensuring sustainable and socioeconomically-sensitive management of oceans and wetlands.

At the Global Oceans Action Summit on Food Security and Blue Growth held last month in The Hague, Netherlands, governments and other participants committed to actions focused on tackling climate change, overfishing, habitat loss and pollution in a bid to restore productive, resilient oceans.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Read the UN FAO's press release here 

 

With the current burden of reducing coastwide harvests being implemented unequally among ASMFC member states, a fair and effective enforcement strategy for Fishing Year 2014 is badly needed.

The following opinion piece originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Opinion] by Ben Landry May 14, 2014

Ben Landry is Director of Public Affairs for Omega Protein Corporation.  He wrote this opinion piece prior to the ASMFC spring meetings.

In December 2012, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) adopted historic regulations for the commercial Atlantic menhaden fishery, requiring a 20 percent reduction in coastwide harvests. At the time, most member states strongly supported the cuts, and few states besides Virginia offered vocal opposition.

But a year after the harvest cuts officially went into effect, issues of enforcement abound, and questions of fairness and transparency overshadow the initial push by many states for these controversial cuts. From instances of states flatly refusing to enforce their new, lowered allocations to eyebrow raising, state-specific regulatory changes, the current state of commercial Atlantic menhaden management is far from clear.

Total coastwide menhaden landings remain within the new Total Allowable Catch (TAC) set by the ASMFC, but state-specific allocations have been far exceeded in a number of instances, and in several cases, some states appear to have taken little if any effort to enforce the same regulations for which they voted in 2012.

New York, Maryland, Delaware, the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Florida and Rhode Island all exceeded their TACs, which are based on a 20 percent reduction of the three-year average of menhaden landings in each state's waters from 2009-2011.

Some of these overages were more significant than others: New York exceeded its quota by over 400 percent, the largest overage in percentage terms, while Maryland caught over its quota by 35 percent, which, at around 1.8 million pounds, is the largest in absolute terms. In some cases, states exceeded their quota because their initial allocation was very low, but other states, particularly Maryland and New York, adopted policies during last year's fishing season that directly resulted in an allocation overage.

New York State announced last year, for example, that it would not enforce its 200,000-pound catch limit on menhaden. According to a report from Newsday, officials there cited a lack of confidence in the fisheries data that was used to set the allocations as the reason for ignoring the new limits. This decision ultimately allowed New York fishermen to catch over 1 million pounds of menhaden in 2014. That amount totals four times the level set by the ASMFC in accordance with the cuts that New York strongly supported and for which its ASMFC representatives voted in December 2012.

Of the ASMFC member states, Maryland was the most vocally supportive of coastwide menhaden harvest cuts. However, Maryland was able to avoid any real reduction in its landings by taking advantage of regulatory loopholes. Specifically, the state lobbied for, and the ASMFC approved, a provision allowing menhaden to be caught beyond a state's allotted quota, as long as it was considered bycatch. Under this new rule, the state's pound net fishermen can catch up to 6,000 pounds of menhaden per day as bycatch, or 12,000 pounds if two fishermen with appropriate permits are working aboard the same vessel.

Maryland shut down its directed fishery early in the season. But despite running a nominally bycatch-only fishery for most of the year, Maryland still substantially exceeded its quota. The state appears to have taken few steps to limit or control the large amount of menhaden caught and landed as bycatch, as that ultimately accounted for more than half of Maryland's total landings.

By year's end, Maryland's total 2013 landings were actually around 12 percent higher than its 2009-2011 average. So, rather than a documented, observable 20 percent decrease in landings, as mandated by the same regulations for which Maryland championed in 2012, the state actually saw its landings increase. By far, Maryland recorded the largest bycatch of any statewide Atlantic menhaden fishery.

Virginia is the only jurisdiction in the Chesapeake Bay to see its landings decrease in accordance with ASMFC regulations, with both Maryland and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission exceeding their TAC. Virginia is home to what is by far the largest menhaden fishery on the East Coast, and was allocated 80 percent of the overall coastwide TAC. But Virginia caught less than its allotted 321 million pounds, representing an estimated 20 percent decrease from its 2009-2011 average landings.

New Jersey, the state with the second largest allocation and home to one of the East Coast's largest menhaden bait fisheries, was also able to successfully manage its quota. With the second largest share of the coastwide TAC, behind only Virginia, New Jersey also achieved a 20 percent reduction over its 2009-2011 average.

Other states with relatively smaller quotas, like North Carolina and Connecticut, recorded landings so far below their allocations that they are largely to thank for an intact coastwide TAC. But on a state-specific level, numerous examples demonstrate a fundamental and troubling disconnect between the regulatory processes of discussing and enacting harvest cuts and actually enforcing and abiding by them.

Going into this week's ASMFC Spring meeting, the Commission is tasked with ensuring that regulations such as those restricting commercial menhaden harvests are applied and enforced equitably amongst all member states. With the current burden of reducing coastwide harvests being implemented unequally among ASMFC member states, a fair and effective enforcement strategy for Fishing Year 2014 is badly needed.

Saving Seafood has analyzed 2013 menhaden landings data and produced a table approximating the year's landings and indicating which states have exceeded and have not exceeded their quota. View the table here.

 

This approach would still ensure overall fishery accountability is maintained, but would minimize the disruption to sectors that may have used or planned on using carryover before the Court decision.

WASHINGTON — May 7, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
 
We plan to revise our approach on fishing year (FY) 2013 carryover accounting. The revised approach would differ from our April 16, 2014, announcement in response to the U.S. District Court ruling in Conservation Law Foundation v. Pritzker, et al. Our revised approach would use a second tier of catch evaluation at the sector level before imposing accountability for carryover use. This approach would still ensure overall fishery accountability is maintained, but would minimize the disruption to sectors that may have used or planned on using carryover before the Court decision. 

Click here for more information

Congressman Walter Jones (R-N.C.) one of the most prominent and vocal voices for East Coast fisheries in Congress, has defeated his primary challenger, Taylor Griffin, 53 percent to 44 percent in a race that has been called by the Associated Press by with 71 percent of precincts reporting.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) May 6, 2014 — Mr. Jones, 71, is an anti-war Republican who has often bucked conservative Republicans. His disctict covers the Outer Banks of North Carolina including the fishing stronghold of Wanchese. His failed opponent, Mr. Griffin, is a former Bush Administration staffer who worked for the late North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. In 1997, Senator Helms used his position as Foreign Relations Committee Chairman to block the ambassadorial nomination of Massachusetts' Governor Bill Weld. In 1995, Gov. Weld asked the White House to declare the Massachusetts fishing industry a natural disaster, and to authorize Federal aid. Senator Helms objected to Gov. Weld's tolerant views on social issues such as medicinal marijuana and gay rights.

Early in his campaign, Mr. Griffin attempted to bolster his ties to Mr. Jones' coastal pro-fishing constituency while emphasizing cultural conservatism stating "I was born in Raleigh and raised in Eastern North Carolina. It was here I learned to run a boat before I could drive a car. It was here I learned to troll for Spanish Mackerel off Shackleford Banks. It was here that my granddad gave me my first real gun and taught me how to shoot. But most importantly, I was raised here in Eastern North Carolina to love my faith, my family, my state and my country. And it was here I learned the conservative principles and values that made this nation great. …"

Mr. Jones has been a longtime supporter of fisheries issues.  He joined forces with former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank to oppose overzealous actions by NOAA Fisheries law enforcement and to question the imposition of catch share programs in East Coast fisheries.  It was through the direct involvement of Mr. Jones that the most egregious wrongdoing by NOAA law enforcement – eventually corroborated by an investigation by the Department of Commerce Inspector General and a cabinet-level appointed Special Master – was brought to the attention of national television network news.

Mr. Griffin received a number of endorsements and assistance from conservative PACs, former Bush administration officials, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and various Tea Party groups.