Fishing Industry Alerts

New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell urged the NEFMC to "forestall or mitigate"  upcoming cuts in the Annual Catch Limits (ACL) for the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish Fishery.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Sept. 26, 2012 — In a letter delivered today to the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell urged the Council to "forestall or mitigate"  upcoming cuts in the Annual Catch Limits (ACL) for the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish Fishery, and to consider implementing measures mitigating the effects of reduced ACLs. Based on estimates released this August by NOAA and the Council, ACLs in the fishery are estimated to face reductions between 45 and 73 percent.
 
In his letter, Mayor Mitchell asked, "that you [the NEFMC] keep the economic and social ramifications at the forefront of your discussions, and that you consider whether proposed measures that curb fishing are justified by science." In particular, the letter states that there is, "growing lack of confidence" in the results of regional stock assessments, especially Gulf of Maine cod and yellowtail flounder. Mitchell specifically referenced a number of discrepancies surrounding these stock assessments, including that improper gear type and vessels had been used to conduct assessments, and that there were uncertainties in chosen stock assessment models and unexplained inconsistencies in stock assessment results. He notes that these issues have undermined confidence in the assessments among members of the scientific and fishing communities. In light of these uncertainties and the far-reaching consequences of possible ACL cuts, the Mayor encouraged the Council to act with caution when considering management decisions.

The mayor said he was pleased that at its August 24, 2012 meeting, the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) "discussed the concerns with the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder model and decided to recommend a range of catch options up of to 1,150 metric tons (the FY 2012 catch limit)." He stated that by "including this upper range of 1,150 metric tons for FY 2013, the SSC recognized the prudence of proceeding cautiously in the face of uncertainty in the underlying model and the impact of its decisions on fishing communities."

The letter also informed the Council of the potentially dire economic consequences of the projected steep ACL cuts. Groundfish are responsible for $20 million in revenue for the Port of New Bedford, and one species  of groundfish, yellowtail flounder, is important as bycatch to the scallop fishery, which brings in $400 million in revenue annually. Noting the recent fisheries disaster declaration by the Department of Commerce for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery, Mayor Mitchell writes, "even if Congress appropriates $100 million in aid for the New England groundfish fishery, the forecasted cuts would undoubtedly deal a devastating economic blow to New Bedford and permanently eliminate hundreds, if not thousands of jobs." He reminded the Council of the social dislocation projected ACL cuts would cause, writing, "if the fisheries in New Bedford are shut down, they will not come back."
 

Read the letter from Mayor Mitchell to the NEFMC here

 

 

NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard has decided to shift the gillnet fishery closure to protect harbor porpoise in the coastal Gulf of Maine now scheduled for October and November to February and March.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Sept. 26, 2012 — The announcement will be made today, at 1:15 p.m. at the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) Meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
 
The Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC) in August had requested the timeframe shift along with a a southern boundary change of 42° 24'.  Regional Administrator Bullard agreed to the timeshift, but not to the boundary change.
 
The request by the NSC was initially denied by NOAA.  Regional Adminstrator Bullard met last Friday with industry representatives, fishermen and staff members from the offices of regional elected officials, who asked that the decision be reconsidered.
 
The NEFMC meeting can be heard live by registering here.
 
 
Statement from John Bullard on Decision to Temporarily Shift the Gillnet Fishery Closure to Protect Harbor Porpoise to February 2013
 
 
To provide greater protection to harbor porpoise, I have decided that NOAA is going to take steps to shift, for one year, the gillnet fishery closure in the coastal Gulf of Maine slated for October and November to February and March. The closure will be implemented on February 1, 2013. The location and duration of the closure will remain the same.
Since 2010 harbor porpoise bycatch appears to be higher during February and March when compared to historical bycatch, which was highest in October and November. Adjusting the closure to begin in February should result in fewer harbor porpoise entanglements in commercial gillnet gear, if fishing behavior is consistent with recent years.
 
With the closure scheduled to begin soon, I felt it was imperative that we act quickly to evaluate this new information given the benefits to both harbor porpoise and fishermen. Normally we would have waited to share this information with the team of fishermen, environmentalists, scientists and managers who developed the original harbor porpoise/gillnet fishery plan when they meet in late October. My decision in no way reflects a lack of appreciation for the partnership we have with this team. We very much value this partnership and will continue to rely on their collective knowledge and expertise to identify long-term solutions to reduce fishery/harbor porpoise interactions. Our goal, like that of the team, is to protect harbor porpoise, and this action helps accomplish that goal.
 
I want to express my appreciation to the members of the Northeast Seafood Coalition for their offer to do more to help reduce harbor porpoise entanglements during October and November. It is critical that gillnet fishermen use the appropriate number of pingers (acoustic deterrent devices developed by fishermen) and ensure that they are properly working in all required areas. Proper pinger use is especially important in the Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Bank Management Areas beginning October 1 (a month earlier than otherwise required).
 
By using pingers effectively in the past, fishermen were able to reduce harbor porpoise entanglements from a high of nearly 1500 animals per year to 310 animals per year. We need that same amount of focused attention to reduce harbor porpoise entanglements now.
 
Working together, we can protect harbor porpoise and keep fishermen on the water.

 

NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard met with representatives of Atlantic coast fisheries and elected officials last Friday in Gloucester. He ended the meeting agreeing to to review the "consequence closure" decision based on new information provided to him during the meeting.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Sept 25, 2012 – Recently-appointed NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard met with representatives of various Atlantic coast fisheries and elected officials last Friday in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began the meeting stating that his staff had put "hundreds of hours" into studying a request by the Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC) to modify a "consequence closure" for one year before denying it, but ended the meeting agreeing to go back to the NMFS offices to review the decision based on new information provided to him during the meeting.
 
Last April, NOAA announced that because the number of harbor porpoise takes had exceeded a designated threshold, areas in the Gulf of Maine would be closed to gillnet fishing for the months of October and November to prevent the accidental deaths of harbor porpoises. NSC asked that the dates be amended to February 15 – March 31, 2013, and proposed a southern boundary change by using the authority granted to the Assistant Administrator in the Take Reduction Plan.

Mr. Bullard has stated that he will announce whether he has decided to change NOAA's position tomorrow at 1:15 pm at a New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In their letter denying NSC's request, NOAA stated, "we found a negligible conservation gain for harbor porpoises and little economic benefit for the fishermen that would be affected by the closure." Industry leaders and representatives of elected officials who attended the meeting argued that since NOAA clearly stated that the industry proposal would not hurt harbor porpoises, and would have some benefit to fishermen, the request should have been granted.

"NOAA agreed that our proposal is at least conservation neutral," stated NSC's Executive Director, Jackie Odell. "Where we differ, is we think our proposal will have a significant economic benefit and they think it will have 'little economic benefit.' Our member fishermen have told us an October / November closure will be devastating. Shouldn't fishermen be able to decide their economic future for themselves?"

During the meeting, Emilie Litsinger of the Environmental Defense Fund read a statement supporting the NSC, "…this proposal appears to be a win-win solution for fishermen and harbor porpoise. … Changing the consequence closure to February and March will have a conservation neutral effect on harbor porpoise interactions, while lessening the economic impact on the fishermen." EDF also suggested, "increased observer coverage to help document porpoise interactions for these four months [to inform] future management actions." 

In a statement released after the meeting, the NSC said, "During a tumultuous time such as this–when the Northeast groundfish fishing industry has been declared a fishery failure–all parties need to engage in a dialogue to find mutually beneficial solutions that will keep all aspects of the fishery alive."

During the meeting, a NOAA staff member identified by Mr. Bullard as an expert on the harbor porpoise issue stated that, in order to accept the proposal, NOAA would have to revisit the time-consuming rule making process, and to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) they would "have to go in and do an environmental assessment." However, NSC representatives pointed out that the Take Reduction Plan gives the agency authority to modify the closure with a simple notice in the Federal Register, which takes only a few days.

The same NOAA staff member also commented, "If we felt there was a conservation neutrality to [the proposal] or a gain to it, the regulation does provide [authority to change the plan]. [SB1] I think that is the discrepancy."[SB2]

An NSC representative felt the NOAA staff person's statement was in conflict with NOAA's written response to NSC. "You are rewriting the facts, your letter states unequivocally, 'we found a negligible conservation gain,'" the representative said.

In defending the autumn closure, the official explained, "The October/November timeframe was chosen because those are the heavily fished months… In February and March you have less effort." An industry attorney pointed out that fishing effort is usually less in February and March because the fleet is active in the fall.  With a closure in October and November, fishing effort would likely move to the late winter and spring.

[SB3] NMFS regulations require gillnet fishermen to deploy "pingers", devices that regularly emit an audible "ping" to deter harbor porpoise from gear interactions. According to NMFS observer data, the fleet was 82.5 percent compliant with having the correct number of pingers, based on 883 observed hauls. The fleet was 92.4 percent compliant for pinger functionality based on 428 pingers tested. However, determining the functionality of pingers in the field can be difficult for both fishermen and NMFS enforcement.  To further advance pinger compliance, the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund has worked with the Australian manufacturer Future Oceans to ensure they have the manufacturing capability to deliver new technology pingers with LED indicators.  The LEDs will enable fishermen to instantly know if the pinger is functioning properly.

During the meeting, the fishermen offered to deploy twice the number of traditional pingers currently required starting October 1, and beginning in November (as soon as they can be delivered) to replace the old pingers with the required number of new generation "LED pingers" which provide a visual confirmation of pinger functionality. The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund has offered to make new-technology LED pingers available to fishermen through favorable equipment leasing terms to enable fishermen to remain in compliance without the financial stresses of an up-front capital investment.

In a prepared statement the NSC expressed appreciation to Mr. Bullard for his "willingness to reconsider his decision based on all the new information presented to him in the meeting" The coalition also expressed appreciation to U.S. Senators Kerry, Brown, Shaheen, Ayote, Snowe, and Collins; to Congressmen Frank, Tierney, Keating, Guinta, and Michaud; to Congresswoman Pingree, Massachusetts State Senator Tarr, and the Gloucester Fisheries Commission.

 
Read the original request from the NSC to the NEFMC 
 
 Read the letter of support from 12 members of the US House and Senate

 

 

September 26, 2012 — NOAA officials offered a workshop sometime next year to examine the chronic problems present in a number of fisheries assessments, but offered no immediate remedies to the scientific and management issues raised by FSF.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Sept. 25, 2012 — Responding to a request by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) to reject the most recent yellowtail flounder stock assessment and adopt alternative measures for setting yellowtail quotas, NOAA officials offered a workshop sometime next year to examine the chronic problems present in a number of fisheries assessments, but offered no immediate remedies to the scientific and management issues raised by FSF.  The 2013 quota is expected to be as much as 50 percent less than the quota for 2012. The letter, sent signed by Deputy Science and Research Director Russell Brown for Acting Science and Research Director William Karp, was sent last month.
 
FSF did not immediately release the response. "We had several conversations with Director Karp, and hoped to negotiate an outcome resulting in action sooner than next year." said FSF attorney Drew Minkiewicz. "Ultimately, that proved impossible."
 
In their original letter, issued in July, the FSF sought to have the National Marine Fisheries Service declare that the most recent yellowtail stock assessment, "is not viable for use as a basis for catch advice," and that alternatives to the assessment, based on data from surveys and catch indices, be devised to set yellowtail quotas. While recognizing the flawed nature of the assessment, the Science Center did not state whether or not the assessment would be rejected, only that, "the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) will take these uncertainties into account when recommending catch limits for 2013." The FSF had noted in its letter that the Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee (TRAC) concluded that the assessment should not be the basis for setting catch limits, instead relying on an adjusted model to make its recommendations.
 
What the letter from the Northeast Science Center did propose was holding a national workshop sometime in 2013 to address the strong retrospective patterns that have emerged in several stock assessments nationwide. The retrospective pattern, which occurs when data from a new assessment contradicts the estimates of the previous assessment, is one of the FSF's primary concerns with the yellowtail assessment, and one of the reasons it contends that the assessment in unusable for management purposes. Because the workshop would not convene until 2013, it would not be able to affect the quota for the 2013 fishing year, the original focus of the FSF's request.
 
The Science Center acknowledged that yellowtail flounder are in the midst of a period of poor recruitment, which, along with fishing pressure, has led to a decline in their numbers. He promised further research into the causes of the decline, including "possible linkages with climate change and other environmental factors," and expressed interest in cooperative research with the FSF.
 
Read the response from the NOAA Science Center here

 

 

On September 13, The New England Fishery Management Council's (NEFMC) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) approved projections made by the Council's Scallop Plan Development Team to set the annual catch limit (ACL) for scallops in fishing year 2013 at 21,000 metric tons.

September 25, 2012 — While this value is less than the previous year's 27,000 metric ton ACL, the basis for this reduction is founded in a series of scientific survey data including that conducted via cooperative research with industry "research set aside" funds. This array of information sources distinguishes the scallop fishery from many other Atlantic fisheries.

Three independent surveys were conducted in order to assess scallop biomass: a drop camera survey conducted by the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts; another from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Northeast Fisheries Science Center, which combined dredge survey data with a HabCam survey also conducted by the Science Center; and dredge survey data from a Virginia Institute of Marine Science study. These surveys examined parts or all of the same stock, but relied on different methodologies. Nonetheless, they produced nearly comparable findings.

Scallop abundance has remained at historically high levels the past three years, but many within the species are currently juvenile, necessitating the lower catch limit until the many new "recruits" in the mid-Atlantic are able to grow.

Although industry members understand how the 21,000 metric ton limit was derived, there is widespread concern that current regulations may prevent the scallop fishery from landing the full 21,000 metric tons allocated to it by the NEFMC.

Unless things change, the scallop industry will only be able to catch 17,000 metric tons of the 21,000 metric tons allotted to them by the SSC because 30% of the scallop's exploitable biomass is locked up in "Essential Fish Habitat" (EFH) closures, whose merit is a matter of dispute. 

The Council originally established closures nearly 15 years ago as a means to reduce fishing mortality on groundfish. In the intervening years, habitat-related closures were overlaid on these groundfish mortality closures. But research conducted by the Council, in relation to the EFH Omnibus Amendment 2, which was established to review and revise EFH provisions, found that some of these closures are not optimally located for purposes of habitat protection.

Unless access to these areas is granted, the scallop industry will be unable to harvest 4,000 metric tons, or $75 million dollars worth of scallops, that could otherwise be harvested in a sustainable and responsible manner. As a point of comparison, to make clear the magnitude of the value of these potential landings to the Atlantic coast economy, the value of landings for the entire Northeast multispecies groundfish industry in 2010 was approximately $90 million.

An amendment to reassess these habitat areas is in its eighth year of consideration. It is essential that the Council take final action on this long-delayed amendment at its February meeting, as well as adjusting the ground-related element of these closures.  

Read a PDF of the issue brief here

 

 

Sen. John Kerry, in a letter to Samuel D. Rauch, NOAA's Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, called on him to organize a meeting with scientists from NOAA and Northeast experts and fisherman to discuss groundfish stock assessments.

The following was released by the office of  Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.):

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sept. 24, 2012 — Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), in a letter sent today to Samuel D. Rauch, Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the National Marine Fisheries Service, called on him to organize a meeting with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Northeast experts and fisherman to discuss groundfish stock assessments.

"I can't stress enough how important it is that fishermen who fish our waters every day are at the table for the discussions that shape rules that shape their economic fortunes," said Sen. Kerry. "Northeast fishermen have a vested interest in making the system work. The jobs of more than 77,000 folks in Massachusetts depend on the fishing industry and my job is to make the rules of the road work for them from start to finish."

By engaging local scientists, members of the New England Fisheries Management Council and our fishermen to discuss the complexities of accurately assessing stocks, regulators will gain a more complete picture of the realities of the fishing industry in Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine. In his letter to Rauch, Kerry explained:

"It is critical that NOAA provide fishermen and others the opportunity to engage in the process, provide feedback, and share ideas about existing methods used by NOAA and other federal agencies and how they can be improved."

Senator Kerry is working to ensure that fishermen and industry stakeholders have a voice in any further actions regulators take to reduce catch limits in Northeast fisheries. Groundfish stock assessments are a key factor in changes to Adjusted Catch Limits, and the accuracy of those assessments is critical to the future of the fishing industry in Massachusetts and the jobs it supports.

The full text of Senator Kerry's letter is below:

September 24, 2012

Mr. Samuel D. Rauch
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
National Marine Fisheries Service
Room 14636
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

Dear Acting Assistant Administrator Rauch:

I am writing to you to follow up on our recent meeting concerning fishery science.  While the recent securing of a disaster declaration will provide much needed assistance at this difficult time, it is not a solution to the many and complex underlying causes of the problem. As you know, fishermen and fishing-related businesses in coastal communities around New England are bracing for additional limits on fishing in both Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine due to a recent National Marine Fisheries Service interim report, which showed dramatic declines in the six major groundfish stocks in the New England fishery and included potential changes in the Adjusted Catch Limits (ACL) as a result of these declines.

The severity of the potential consequences of these proposed cuts demands that every possible step is taken to ensure that the data and methodology used to set catch limits is as robust and accurate as possible, with buy-in from the people whose livelihoods are most impacted by the results. I strongly believe that credible science is the keystone of a sustainable and successful fishery and for this reason, I am requesting that you organize a meeting within the next month with NOAA scientists, local scientists, members of the New England Fisheries Management Council, and our fishermen and industry participants to collaboratively discuss and review the complex stock assessment process.

I am hopeful this meeting will be an important first step forward in improving fisheries science in New England and in improving NOAA's engagement with stakeholders.  It is critical that NOAA provide fishermen and others the opportunity to engage in the process, provide feedback, and share ideas about existing methods used by NOAA and other federal agencies and how they can be improved.  This meeting and this type of close collaboration is needed so that fishermen have science they can trust and rely on.  This is vital to the future of the New England fishery.

Thank you for your consideration and for your ongoing efforts to work with me to ensure a sustainable and successful groundfish fishery in New England.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry

 

 

The scallop fishery has reached 81 percent of its yearly yellowtail flounder by-catch allocation, with only 54 percent of access area trips to Closed Area II taken, according to an alert issued yesterday to the New England scallop fleet by SMAST

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Sept. 20, 2012 – To avoid reaching the yellowtail limit prematurely, the Fisheries Survival Fund, an industry group that includes the majority of full-time, limited-access scallop permit holders, urged scallopers to avoid yellowtail by-catch by utilizing SMAST’s by-catch avoidance program. 

The program, a voluntary initiative between SMAST and the industry, tracks the amount of yellowtail by-catch reported in the scallop closed areas: Closed Area 1, Closed Area 2, and Nantucket Lightship. SMAST collects by-catch data reported by fishermen, and releases the information on sections of the closed areas where yellowtail by-catch is high, allowing fishermen to avoid these locations. Through cooperation with SMAST on the by-catch avoidance program, the scallop fleet is able to responsibly harvest all of its available scallop catch, while also helping to conserve the yellowtail flounder population.

Cate O’Keefe, a research technician and graduate student at SMAST, summarized the situation: "By-catch has remained consistently higher in the central portion of Closed Area II and low in the eastern portion. Scallop catch rates in Closed Area 2, as reported through the by-catch avoidance system, have not varied greatly throughout the area, indicating that areas with low by-catch have similar scallop catch rates as areas with high by-catch rates."

To view SMAST’s yellowtail advisory, which contains a graphical summary of the closed areas and areas of high yellowtail by-catch, click here

 

 

 

 

For the 12th consecutive year, New Bedford, Mass. had the highest valued catch, due mostly to the sea scallop fishery. The Alaska port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska led the nation with the highest amount of fish landed – primarily pollock – for the 15th consecutive year.

WASHINGTON — September 19, 2012 — Scallops are a bright spot in New England fishery: despite fishermen staying within catch limits, several key groundfish stocks have declined unexpectedly, leading the Department of Commerce to declare a disaster for groundfish fishermen on Sept. 13. Similar announcements were made that day for chinook salmon in Alaska's Yukon and Kuskokwin rivers and Cook Inlet, and for the oyster and blue crab fisheries in Mississippi.

The following was released by NOAA:

U.S seafood landings reached a 17-year high in 2011, thanks in part to rebuilding fish populations, and the value of landings also increased, according to a new report released today by NOAA.

According to the report, Fisheries of the United States 2011, U.S. commercial fishermen landed 10.1 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2011, valued at $5.3 billion, an increase over 2010 of 1.9 billion pounds and more than $784 million. Much of the increase is due to higher catches of Gulf menhaden, Alaska pollock, and Pacific hake, also known as whiting.

"Commercial and recreational fishing are integral to the nation's social and economic fabric," said Sam Rauch, deputy assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service. "To see landings and value climb again this year shows we're moving in the right direction and that the fishing industry is strengthening as fish populations rebuild. Our goal is to support a thriving, sustainable seafood industry that is competitive in the global marketplace, and to enjoy the benefits of recreational fishing in our own waters."

More than 10 million recreational saltwater anglers in the United States took 69 million marine fishing trips in 2011 and caught 345 million fish, releasing nearly 60 percent of them alive. Spotted sea trout remained the top catch for recreational anglers, with 41 million caught in 2011. Atlantic croaker, sand sea trout, spot, and kingfishes were the other most common catches for saltwater anglers last year.

Today's report shows that the Alaska port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska led the nation with the highest amount of fish landed – primarily pollock – for the 15th consecutive year. For the 12th consecutive year, New Bedford, Mass. had the highest valued catch, due mostly to the sea scallop fishery. However, scallops are a bright spot in New England fishery: despite fishermen staying within catch limits, several key groundfish stocks have declined unexpectedly, leading the Department of Commerce to declare a disaster for groundfish fishermen on Sept. 13. Similar announcements were made that day for chinook salmon in Alaska's Yukon and Kuskokwin rivers and Cook Inlet, and for the oyster and blue crab fisheries in Mississippi.

Catches throughout the Gulf of Mexico rebounded in 2011 to the highest volume since 1999, following a curtailed 2010 season due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The full fishing season in 2011 produced commercial landings of Gulf menhaden that were 66 percent higher than 2010 landings, with Gulf fishermen bringing in more than 1.6 billion pounds of menhaden valued at $110 million. Gulf shrimp landings rose 20 percent, from 176 million pounds valued at $338 million in 2010 to 212 million pounds valued at $418 million in 2011.

The report also shows that the average American ate 15 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2011, less than the 2010 figure of 15.8 pounds. Altogether, Americans consumed 4.7 billion pounds of seafood, making the U.S. second only to China in seafood consumption.

In 2011, about 91 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. was imported, up five percent from 2010. However, a portion of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing and then re-imported to the U.S. The top three imports are shrimp, canned tuna, and tilapia fillet.

Almost half of imported seafood comes from aquaculture, or farmed seafood. America's aquaculture industry currently meets less than five percent of U.S. seafood demand, producing primarily oysters, clams, mussels, and some finfish, including salmon.

"By promoting sustainable domestic aquaculture to complement rebuilt wild fisheries, we can create more jobs and provide additional local sources of seafood that meet the highest standards for environmental protection and food safety," said Rauch. 
 
Read the Fisheries of the United States 2011 report here  
 
Read the NOAA fact sheet on the report here
 
Read the official NOAA press release on the report here

 

 

Harshbarger will conduct an independent assessment of the governance, policies and operations of the five year old organization.

GLOUCESTER, Mass. – September 18, 2012 — The following was released by the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund:

The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund has retained Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts Attorney General and national president of Common Cause, to conduct an independent assessment of the governance, policies and operations of the five year old organization. 

The nonprofit Fund, which since its founding in 2007 has worked diligently to safeguard and enhance the economic engine of Gloucester and Cape Ann, asked Harshbarger to perform a rigorous, independent review to fully address questions and insinuation raised regarding potential conflicts of interest or an appearance of a conflict, among its board and leadership and the Fund's relationships with other like-minded organizations.

Harshbarger and his team at Proskauer, which specializes in such independent reviews of nonprofit organizations, were chosen by the fund after they received a letter from state Senator Bruce Tarr and state Representative Ann Margaret Ferrante concerning alleged complaints by "some in the industry."

"We are going to get to the bottom of these vague but serious allegations made by some in the community about the governance of the Fund and the perceptions they have created," said Harshbarger, senior counsel to Proskauer, the global law firm with offices in Boston. "We will work with the Board to analyze their governance to ensure they have the strongest possible structure, best practices and policies, consistent with their role and mission and ensure the Board and the Fund function effectively with best practice conflict policies, including the least possible appearance of conflict."

Fund board member Dale Brown, said. "We look forward to working with such a noted and respected expert in this field and to moving forward with a better public understanding of the operations of the Fund."

As part of his independent review, Harshbarger has already begun analyzing internal operations of the Fund and interviewing Board members. The review will also include interviews with community leaders and others in the fishing community.

The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund was created in 2007 to oversee a fishing permit bank to benefit the historic and vital economic mainstay for Gloucester and Cape Ann. The proponents for two offshore liquefied natural gas terminals were directed by the Commonwealth to fund the novel community permit bank concept with $6 million each ($12 million total) as a condition of the necessary Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection permits.

 

 

During the first six months of 2012, sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem were the highest ever recorded, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC).

WOODS HOLE, Mass. — September 18, 2012 — Above-average temperatures were found in all parts of the ecosystem, from the ocean bottom to the sea surface and across the region, and the above average temperatures extended beyond the shelf break front to the Gulf Stream.
 
"A pronounced warming event occurred on the Northeast Shelf this spring, and this will have a profound impact throughout the ecosystem," said Kevin Friedland, a scientist in the NEFSC's Ecosystem Assessment Program. "Changes in ocean temperatures and the timing of the spring plankton bloom could affect the biological clocks of many marine species, which spawn at specific times of the year based on environmental cues like water temperature."

Friedland said the average sea surface temperature (SST) exceeded 10.5 degrees C (51°F) during the first half of 2012, exceeding the previous record high in 1951. Average SST has typically been lower than 9 degrees C (48°F) over the past three decades. Sea surface temperature in the region is based on both contemporary satellite remote-sensing data and long-term ship-board measurements, with historical SST conditions based on ship-board measurements dating back to 1854.

Atlantic cod distribution in the Gulf of Maine continues a northeasterly shift, with the spring 2012 data consistent with a response to ecosystem warming. Warming ocean temperatures and the resulting impact on the distribution of 36 fish stocks was reported by the Center in a 2009 study published in Marine Ecology Progress Series. That study analyzed annual NEFSC spring survey data from 1968 to 2007 and other information and found that about half of the 36 fish stocks studied in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the past four decades, with some disappearing from US waters as they move farther offshore.
 
 
Read the full article from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center