Conservation & Environment

MIAMI — July 24, 2014 — University of Miami Rosenstiel School and Abess Center-led study provides new information for shark conservation efforts.

A new study that examined the survival rates of 12 different shark species when captured as unintentional bycatch in commercial longline fishing operations found large differences in survival rates across the 12 species, with bigeye thresher, dusky, and scalloped hammerhead being the most vulnerable. The study, led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and UM Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, provides new information to consider for future conservation measures for sharks in the Northwest Atlantic.

The unintentional capture of a fish species when targeting another species, known as bycatch, is one of the largest threats facing many marine fish populations.

Researchers from UM and the National Marine Fisheries Service analyzed over 10 years of shark bycatch data from the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico tuna and swordfish longline fisheries to examine how survival rates of sharks were affected by fishing duration, hook depth, sea temperature, animal size and the target fish. Some species, such as the tiger shark, exhibited over 95% survival, whereas other species survival was significantly lower, in the 20-40% range, such as night shark and scalloped hammerheads.

Read the full story from AllatSea.net

 

July 23, 2014 — Next time you brush your teeth or exfoliate your face, spare a thought for Lake Erie.

Many toiletries contain barely visible plastic microbeads that scrub and polish – and make their way into lakes because they’re too small to be caught by most wastewater treatment plants.

Research in 2012 and 2013 has shown that the Great Lakes are full of them.

“One of the concerns is these plastic beads almost serve like sponges in the natural environment,” said Laura Haight, senior environmental associate at the New York Public Interest Research Group. “They will soak up toxic chemicals in the waterways (and) get ingested by fish … It is part of what’s contributing to making our fish unsafe to eat.”

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman took up the cause, releasing a report on the problem in May and promoting legislation to ban their use in the state.

That bill passed the Assembly, but died in the Senate in June. Illinois has passed a ban. And the four biggest personal product companies in this country have all pledged to eliminate microbeads from their products.

New York washes 19 tons of microbeads down the drain each year, based on average per-person use of products containing microbeads, according to the attorney general’s report.

Read the full story at the Utica Observer Dispatch‎

 

July 22, 2014 — Over the past century, Boston Harbor's average annual temperature has climbed three and a half degrees. Scientists say that this slow climb is creating significant changes in the ocean's ecosystem.

WGBH News' Stephanie Leydon reports, in part two of our FOCUS report on climate change, there is evidence that warming waters are impacting one of the region's most vital natural resources: seafood.

Read the full story and watch the video at WGBH

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) –- July 20, 2014 — Decades after gray seals were all but wiped out in New England waters, the population has rebounded so much that some frustrated residents are calling for a controlled hunt.

The once-thriving New England gray seal population was decimated by the mid-20th century because of hunting, with Massachusetts keeping a seal bounty on the books until the 1960s. But scientists say conservation efforts, an abundance of food and migration from Canada combined to revive the population.

Environmentalists cheer the resurgence, saying the gray seal boost is good for biodiversity and a boon for popular seal watch tours in coastal New England. But many fishermen say the seals interfere with fishing charters and steal catch. Beachgoers bemoan the 600-plus-pound seals taking over large stretches of shore, befouling beaches and attracting sharks, which feed on seals.

Some residents of Nantucket are so fed up over the huge seal population that now calls the affluent island home that they have suggested a controlled hunt, similar to the way states manage deer.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the CBS Boston

July 17, 2014 — The following was released by Seaweb and and Diversified Communications.:

Since 2006, SeaWeb's Seafood Champion Awards have recognized individuals and companies whose outstanding commitment to sustainability has led to positive change in the seafood industry. Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2015 Seafood Champion Awards, to be presented at the 11th SeaWeb Seafood Summit, Feb. 9 – 11, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, Louisiana.

We welcome nominations on behalf of individuals or organizations from across the seafood industry, including (but not limited to) fishing, aquaculture, seafood supply and distribution, retail, restaurant and food service sectors, as well as other stakeholders, such as conservation and social organizations, academia and the media.

Award Categories:
An award will be presented for each of the following four categories. You will be required to select one of these categories when completing the Nomination Form. A separate form will be required if submitting for more than one category.

Seafood Champion Award for Leadership
An individual or entity that displays leadership by organizing and convening seafood stakeholders to improve the sustainability of seafood or ocean health.

Seafood Champion Award for Innovation
An individual or entity that identifies and applies creative new solutions to address: ecological challenges; existing market needs; barriers to sustainability.

Seafood Champion Award for Vision
An individual or entity that establishes a clear and compelling vision of the future that inspires positive change for sustainable seafood in fields such as: technology; policy; products or market; conservation tools.

Seafood Champion Award for Advocacy
An individual or entity who positively influences public policy, uses the media to raise the profile sustainable seafood, or influences public discourse and engages key stakeholders by publicly championing advances in sustainable seafood.

Nomination Deadlines:

Nomination Forms must be submitted no later than: 11:59pm EDT, July 22, 2014.
Finalists will be announced: September 2, 2014 at the Seafood Expo Asia in Hong Kong
Winners will be announced: February 10, 2015 at the Seafood Summit in New Orleans, LA
Complete and submit your NOMINATION FORM HERE 

For more information including nomination guidelines, selection process and a list of past Award recipients, please visit: www.seafoodchampions.org 

Questions? Please contact us at: nominations@seafoodchampions.org

The Seafood Summit is produced jointly by SeaWeb and Diversified Communications.

 

NEW ORLEANS — July 17, 2014 — After being shucked, drowned in Tabasco and slurped by the dozen, the Louisiana oyster shell has finally found a way to return to its natural habitat.

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) has kicked off the state’s first formal oyster shell recycling program by collecting over 19,000 pounds of shells from New Orleans area restaurants during its initial weekend.

Empty shells also have a remarkable use.  They are some of the best material to create new beds for raising new oysters and restoring oyster reefs. According to the Oyster Recovery Partnership, each shell can be home to 10 new oysters when recycled and replanted.

The goal of the CRCL Oyster Shell Recycling Program is to reuse oyster shell from participating New Orleans restaurants to restore oyster reefs and shoreline habitat across coastal Louisiana. The program is being made possible by a $1 million philanthropic gift from Shell Oil Company.

The oyster recycling program creates a sustainable foundation that will continue to give back to the New Orleans community for years to come,” said Dwight Johnston, Shell Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment. “Responsible energy development to Shell means balancing our natural environment where we work, and this project allows us to develop new energy resources along the gulf coast while giving back to a state that has given us so much by strengthening and protecting Louisiana’s environment.”

“We are very excited to embark on this program, which will allow local restaurants and their patrons to play a part in helping preserve our coast,” said CRCL Restoration Director, Hilary Collis. “Not only are oysters a great part of our cuisine, oyster reefs are an essential part of our coast. This program will harness a resource that is largely lost to landfills and put it to use restoring our oyster reefs and helping protect our eroding shorelines.”

Al Sunseri, co-owner of New Orleans P & J Oyster Company, the oldest shucking houses in the country, is happy to see Shell Oil team with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana to retrieve the shells from the city’s oyster bars.

“I’m thrilled to see this program re-established years after Mr. Norbert Melan’s retirement from his trucking business,” said Sunseri. “Prior to his death, Mr. Melan transported fresh oyster shells from the downtown restaurants to oyster farmers for decades. P & J has played a major role by sending our shucked shells back to the estuary for more than 100 years, to be dried and planted by our oystermen partners prior to the spawning seasons. Those of us in the oyster community have just never gotten much credit, and very little compensation for the billions of tons of cultch we’ve replaced in Louisiana waters. Oystermen are the true pioneers when it comes to restoring our coast by giving back to Mother Nature.”

Read the full story at GulfSeafoodNews.com

 

July 15, 2014 — As the oceans warm because of climate change, tropical fish are moving into temperate waters, a new study reports.

Researchers writing in The Proceedings of the Royal Society B say that fish like the plant-eaters above threaten the kelp forests and the sea grass meadows that they graze on.

Significant damage has already been seen in the waters near southern Japan and in the Mediterranean.

 

Read the full story at The New York Times  

 

July 13, 2014 — Summer is here, and with it the number of people going to the ocean to swim, play and cool off skyrockets. These short few months are also the time of year when more shark sightings are reported, and shark hype and panic typically peaks as well.

When humans spend more time in and on the ocean waters, it is considered inevitable that the reports of shark sightings will rise. And while many of these reported sightings are never actually confirmed, the very suggestion of a shark close to shore is enough to send some people into panic mode.

Is there a reason to panic? Do beachgoers have to worry about the sharks that have always frequented the ocean waters? Are the Maine and New Hampshire coastal waters safe for swimmers? To find out, we asked University of New England Marine Biologist Dr. James Sulikowski and Andrew Pershing of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, along with local fishermen. Here's what they had to say:

What types of sharks are common in Maine and New Hampshire waters?

"Some of the common sharks we see in these waters are spiny dog fish, porbeagles, sand, tiger and basking," Sulikowski said.

Sulikowski is a shark expert and has spent several years studying and researching the sharks of the Maine waters.

Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald

PETERSBURG, Va. — July 11, 2014 — Work is underway to remove a dam on the Appomattox River that Virginia officials say will benefit native fish.

The state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said removal of the Harvell Dam in Petersburg is scheduled to begin next week.

Officials say the project will reopen 127 miles of upstream habitat for migratory fish, such as American and hickory shad, the American eel, and river herring.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Daily Journal

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — July 11, 2014 — The majority of the Atlantic mackerel fishery has jointly entered into reassessment against the MSC standard.

Over 700 mackerel fishing vessels, which represented around 83 percent of the 2013 ICES recommended quota will undergo MSC reassessment. The fishing boats range from small coastal handline vessels through to large ocean-going pelagic trawlers. Between them, in 2013 they caught 450,000 tonnes of mackerel.

The assessment includes: SPSG (Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group); DPPO (Danish Pelagic Producers Organization); IPSA (Irish Pelagic Sustainability Association); IPSG (Irish Pelagic Sustainability Group); NFA (Norges Fiskarlag/The Norwegian Fishermen’s Association); PFA (Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association – Netherlands); and the SPFPO  (Swedish Pelagic Federation Producers Organisation).

The multi-national fisheries have joined together as the Mackerel Industry Northern Sustainability Alliance (MINSA), a group formed to respond to the mackerel dispute in the North East Atlantic.
“This is a huge commitment by the MINSA group to embark on joint certification of the North East Atlantic’s most valuable fish stock," said Ian Gatt of Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group and MINSA coordinator. "Cooperation on this scale has never been seen before this side of the Atlantic but it’s a clear demonstration of our collective vision for a well-managed and sustainable mackerel fishery.  MINSA is delighted FCI is taking forward the assessment on behalf of the group given their strong track record in delivering pelagic fishery assessments.”    

The reason for the dispute is the continued overshoot of the Total Allowable Catch for the North East Atlantic mackerel stock, leading to the suspension of the MSC certificates of all North East Atlantic mackerel fisheries in April 2012.

According to the MSC, the move to enter their members’ vessels to reassessment in one audit underlines the fisheries confidence that the dispute will be resolved and echoes a similar move on Atlanto-Scandian herring in June.

“This international cooperation is a great response to a challenging situation,” said Camiel Derichs, MSC Director Europe, “By working together; they’re improving the management of the fishery and making real significant cost savings on their assessment against the MSC Standard. MINSA fisheries have been at the forefront of best practice for some time. It’s good to see them continuing that by coming together to enter their fisheries for reassessment. This reassessment is a strong demonstration of the fisheries’ confidence that the North East Atlantic mackerel situation

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.