SARASOTA, Fla. — October 31, 2013 — Sarasota Bay Watch has now released approximately 21 million scallop larvae this 2013 scallop restoration season. In addition the organization grew up over 100,000 scallops to an early juvenile stage.
Volunteers used a tubing pipe funnel device to deliver the juveniles directly into the sea grass to help avoid pin fish attacking them as they settled out of the water. The juveniles were released into the bay and should be bigger, stronger and brighter by now.
October 31, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries Service has announced more than $6 million in funding for habitat restoration projects in Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia to restore more than 11,000 acres of habitat, and open more than 200 stream miles for fish passage. These projects will benefit species like river herring and the tuna, bluefish, cod, birds and marine mammals that prey on them.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — October 29, 2013 — Concerned sardine numbers may be starting to collapse, conservation groups are calling on federal fishery managers to halt West Coast commercial sardine fishing to give the species a better chance to rebound.
"If they continue fishing them hard, they will go down a lot faster, and it will take them longer to recover," said Ben Enticknap of the conservation group Oceana, which wants a suspension through the first half of 2014.
The fishing industry counters that while there are signs sardines are going into a natural cycle of decline, fishery management has taken precautions to prevent overfishing, which was common in the past.
"Today's precautionary management framework cannot be compared to the historic fishery, which harvested as much as 50 percent of the standing stock," said Diane Pleschner-Steele, executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, which represents sardine fishermen and processors. She is also vice chairman of a committee that advises the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council on sardines and related species.
Read the full story from San Jose Mercury News
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Seafoodnews.com] — October 30, 2013 — Four conservation groups from the US and Canada have combined to lodge an official objection to the MSC's proposed re-certification of Alaskan salmon fisheries in Southeast Alaska.
Wild Fish Conservancy, from Washington State, along with the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, and Raincoast Conservation Foundation, based in British Columbia (BC), say that the MSC eco-label is turning a blind eye to serious overfishing in Southeast Alaska.
The groups maintain that Alaskan fishermen intercept too many salmon from endangered populations as the fish migrate through Alaskan waters on their way to spawning grounds in BC and the continental US. The official objection focused on the Southeast Alaska "unit of certification" where the groups would like the MSC to apply conditions that would address the overfishing of Chinook, sockeye, and chum salmon, and require fishermen to report the numbers of steelhead trout that they take as by-catch and keep or discard.
"The Alaskans are good at not overfishing their own wild salmon runs," said Kurt Beardslee of the Wild Fish Conservancy, "and we'd just like to see them extend the same conservation ethic to some of these salmon runs in BC, Washington, and Oregon that are in serious trouble."
The Chinook salmon fishery is considered the most problematic, for its impacts on endangered runs. The report that MSC has accepted from the certifying body acknowledges that over 96% of Chinook salmon caught in the Southeast Alaskan fishery originate from rivers outside Alaska.
"The Southeast Alaskan Chinook fishery is actually a fishery for non-Alaskan fish, and it harvests those fish at levels far surpassing what fisheries scientists consider a maximum sustainable yield," said Aaron Hill of Watershed Watch Salmon Society. "People who buy Alaskan Chinook (or king) salmon need to know that they could actually be buying a fish that was from an endangered run in BC, Washington, or Oregon," continued Hill.
"The third-party certifier hired by the fishing industry was essentially given permission by the MSC to pull some procedural sleight-of-hand," said Greg Knox of SkeenaWild. "MSC let them consider the various Chinook runs exploited by the fishery as large groups, rather than looking at the status of the individual runs. This allowed the certifier to ignore rampant overfishing of the endangered runs. They did it at the 11th hour, and without consulting stakeholders."
The groups contrast MSC's treatment of overfishing in Southeast Alaska with the Council's more prudent stance on the Prince William Sound fishery, which was withheld from receiving the coveted blue eco-label, due to the massive, risky ocean-ranching operations that dominate that region of Alaska.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
October 25, 2013 — The following was released by the Atlantic Salmon Federation:
Brunswick, ME (PRWEB) — October 25, 2013 — The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is pleased to receive $174,000 for the conservation organizations Maine Headwaters Project from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Center. The funds are being used to build two fishways on tributary streams as well as replacing two impassable road crossing culverts with fish-friendly bridges. Together, these projects are providing access to 5,400 lake acres and 69 river miles for Atlantic salmon and river herring such as alewives and blueback herring.
ASF is also proud to be a partner in an additional NOAA Fisheries grant towards restoration of the Penobscot River in the amount of $365,000. This will fund further removal of the Veazie Dam and environmental monitoring of the river. The Penobscot River Restoration Trust has raised $60 million to purchase and remove the Veazie and Great Works dams on the lower section of the Penobscot River and circumvent a third dam, the Howland. This project greatly improves access to more than 1,000 miles of habitat for wild Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish. NOAA has already invested roughly $21 million towards this multi-year project to open up the main stem of the Penobscot River.
These NOAA grants are part of more than $6 million in funding for habitat restoration projects in Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia to restore more than 11,000 acres of habitat, and open more than 200 stream miles for fish passage. Increasingly, federal and state resource agencies in Maine have placed a higher priority on sh passage and today the majority of ASFs projects have a team approach involving multiple agencies and partners like NOAA Fisheries.
In the United States, Atlantic salmon have been reduced from an estimated historic population of 500,000 adults to fewer than 1,500 in recent years. ASF is working diligently to increase Maines wild salmon population.
With this generous grant, we will be able to further open up access to critical habitat in Maines salmon watersheds, said Andrew Goode, Vice President of ASFs U.S. programs.
In the past decade, ASFs Maine Headwaters Project has opened up access to 291 miles of streams for salmon and other migratory fish and has restored full access to 15,000 acres of pond and lake spawning habitat for alewives. This NOAA grant has helped to leverage more than $600,000 in public and private funding, raised by ASF, to complete these most recent fish passage projects, said Goode.
Some of ASFs most recent Maine Headwaters Projects include:
– 2013 Coleman Pond Fishway, Ducktrap River
– 2013 Pokey Dam Fishway, East Machias River
– 2013 Davis Pond Fishway, Penobscot River Watershed
– 2012-13 East Branch Culvert Replacements Phase 1&2, Penobscot River watershed
– 2012 Pushaw Lake Fishway, Penobscot River watershed
– 2012 Mattamiscontis Fishway, Penobscot River watershed
ASFs approach is to work collaboratively with willing dam owners and land stewards to craft a solution that ts their needs, while allowing for restoration of Atlantic salmon and other migratory sh, said Goode. This work often starts with community outreach and education, followed by conceptual and nal engineering designs, permitting, construction and post-project monitoring. On average these projects take 2-3 years to complete at a cost of $50,000 to $350,000.
The Atlantic Salmon Federation is dedicated to the conservation, protection and restoration of wild Atlantic salmon and the ecosystems on which their well-being and survival depend. ASF has a network of seven regional councils (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Maine and Western New England). The regional councils cover the freshwater range of the Atlantic salmon in Canada and the United States.
Read the release here
October 27, 2013 — Friday marked the first time in 180 years when water from the Penobscot River flowed through a section where the Coffer Dam used to be, behind the now removed Veazie Dam. Volunteers worked on the shores to help save stranded, dewatered mussels.
The removals of the Coffer Dam, Great Works Dam and, most recently, the Veazie Dam have set into motion the restoration of the Penobscot River. The project began in 2009 when baseline assessments commenced and is set to be completed in 2014.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) invested $7.3 million through an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to jumpstart the river restoration.
The Veazie Dam removal will help restore about 225 acres of in-stream habitats, 65 acres of streamside habitat and will reestablish the connection and function of 188,000 acres of wetland habitats, according to the Bangor Daily News.
By the spring, 11 species of fish will be able to swim upstream for the first time in 180 years, according to Josh Royte, Maine’s senior conservation planner at the Nature Conservancy.
“Ecologically, there will be this burst of energy,” Royte said, also saying that the health of the river system directly impacts the people living around it.
This is especially true for the Penobscot Nation, whose tribal fishing rights, established in a treaty, have been squandered due to the lack of fish in the river.
Read the full story at The Maine Campus
October 25, 2013 — The following was released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
As the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy approaches, Secretary of Interior Jewell announced yesterday (http://www.fws.gov/hurricne/sandy) that Massachusetts will receive $10.4 million to support four projects in the towns of Harwich, Chatham, Yarmouth, Dartmouth, and Taunton that are designed to enhance the resiliency of the coastal region to withstand future storms.
The projects are among 45 totaling $162 million approved under the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act. The funding will enable communities to restore marshes, wetlands and beaches, rebuild shorelines, and research the effects and mitigation options of storm surge impacts.
"This funding will go a long way in furthering the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's ongoing work with the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration to support local conservation partnerships to keep our coastal areas resilient against storms and a changing climate. These projects will provide clean water and healthy habitats for both people and wildlife" said Wendy Weber, Northeast Regional Director of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Climate change adaptation is one of our top priorities. This substantial infusion of federal funding will aid in our ongoing efforts to protect our coast from devastating impacts of a massive weather event," said Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rick Sullivan. "These projects will also create jobs, providing an economic boost to our local communities."
“Our Division of Ecological Restoration works very closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore and protect wetlands, rivers and other natural areas across the Commonwealth,” said Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Commissioner Mary Griffin. “We are thrilled to once again work with the USFWS, local communities and other partners on these important restoration projects that will greatly benefit fish and wildlife habitats and the people that live and work in these areas.”
Projects receiving funds in Massachusetts include:
– Muddy Creek Wetland Restoration Project, Harwich and Chatham, MA – Award: $3,762,000 Summary: The Muddy Creek project site is a tidally-restricted estuary with fringing degraded tidal marshes. The objective is to restore natural tidal flow to the Muddy Creek system by replacing outdated culverts that restrict flow with a new 94-foot span bridge and open channel thereby enhancing coastal system resiliency through the restoration 55 acres of estuarine and subtidal wetlands, improving water quality, and the restoring passage for migratory fish.
– Parkers River Restoration Project, Yarmouth, MA – Award: $3,718,000 Summary: The Parkers River Restoration Project will restore natural tidal hydrology to a 219-acre estuarine system (tidal river and coastal salt pond) through replacement of a degraded and tidally-restrictive bridge with a larger span structure, and enhance migratory fish passage through replacement of two underperforming fish passage structures. The project will correct a severe tidal restriction under a state road in order to restore 60 acres of salt marsh, improve 93 acres of fish and shellfish habitat in tidally-influenced Seine Pond, and improve fish passage to the 63 acres of spawning habitat and approximately 5,500 linear feet of stream habitat.
– Round Hill Salt Marsh Restoration Project, Darmouth, MA – Award: $2,277,000 Summary: This project will directly restore 11.6 acres of salt marsh functions and values lost for nearly 100 years due to historic filling of the former coastal salt marsh. Additionally, enhancement of the 70-acre Meadow Shores coastal wetland and barrier beach system will mitigate coastal flooding through enhanced drainage and improved tidal dynamics. The project will involve the removal of up to 75,000 cubic yards of fill material and will also include revegetation of the marsh surface and the replacement of an undersized culvert with a larger culvert for unimpeded tidal exchange within the restored marsh.
– Whittenton and West Britannia Dam Removals, Mill River, Taunton, MA – Award: $650,000 Summary: The Mill River projects will remove two aging mill dams in Taunton, MA and increase the resiliency of natural and human infrastructure. The project will reduce the probability of flooding and eliminate the potential for catastrophic dam breaches posed by these obsolete dams and open up 30 miles of high quality habitat for river herring and American eel.
For more information on the Massachusetts funding provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, please contact Eric Derleth, New England Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 70 Commercial Street, Concord, New Hampshire 03301. Telephone: (603) 223-2541, Fax: (603) 223-2541 or email at eric_derleth@fws.gov.
October 24, 2013 — Alewife and blueback herring are two species that are collectively known as river herring. Coast-wide the relative abundance of the alewife population appears to be increasing while the blueback herring population appears to be stable. On a local scale, we’ve seen large increases in river herring abundance on some rivers. This is due to ongoing restoration and conservation efforts along the east coast.
On August 9 we determined that neither species is threatened or endangered so listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act is not warranted at this time. However, we still have concerns about the status and threats to these species. As a result, both species are still included on our Species of Concern list. Additional data are needed to help us better understand the abundance of specific stocks throughout each species’ range. We also need to learn more about the genetic structure of both species, the population level effects of remaining dams, the ocean migratory phase of these species, and the effects of climate change on both species in their freshwater habitats.
More recently, during their October council meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council announced plans to form an Interagency Working Group to address threats on River Herring and Shad. This is welcome news and a wonderful complement to our own efforts in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Having these dedicated resources will improve the chances of successfully restoring these species. We plan to continue to work with our federal partners to maximize limited resources and identify ways to complement each other's ongoing efforts.
To develop a river herring conservation plan we plan to work collaboratively with our federal, state, Tribal, academic and environmental community partners to collect additional data and information to fill in key data gaps. We also plan to revisit the listing determination within the next five years based on any new information we collect.
Conservation Plan Development
We provided funding to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to assist us in developing a long-term and dynamic conservation plan. Through the plan, we will establish key conservation efforts to benefit river herring throughout their entire range, as well as identify and fund some priority research needs. A Technical Expert Working Group will be convened to help with plan development.
With input from the working group, we will consider previously identified threats and research and conservation efforts and describe a coordinated and prioritized coastwide approach to address data gaps. We will attempt to quantify the impact of ongoing restoration and conservation efforts. We will also consider the benefits of new fisheries management measures being considered such as catch caps in two federal fisheries. We will review any new information produced from ongoing scientific studies on genetic analyses, ocean migration patterns, and climate change impacts completed in the next several years. And, we will assess whether higher counts of river herring in many rivers along the coast in the last two years represent sustained trends.
The end products of this work will be to identify significant threats to river herring and then create a list of conservation actions to help improve the health of both species populations throughout their entire range. Working with our partners and using the funds we have already made available, we will implement some of these conservation actions and fund critical research as resources permit. The working group will further assist us by monitoring and tracking progress of conservation efforts and recommending changes, new actions, and activities as needed.
At the same time, we will continue our restoration work to improve access to spawning habitats in rivers, streams, and lakes, which is critical for migratory, anadromous (spend portions of their lives in fresh and salt water) fish, like river herring.
Ongoing Habitat Restoration and Conservation Success
After access to fish ladders at two dams on the St. Croix River in Maine was restricted in 1995 and alewife couldn't reach nearly 98 percent of their historic spawning grounds, alewife populations plummeted—from 2.6 million in 1987 to 900 in 2002. With the removal of a wooden obstruction at the Grand Falls Dam in June 2013, herring will now be able to reach more than 50 percent of upstream lake habitat. The St. Croix River, which forms the border between Maine and New Brunswick, has the potential to become one of the largest alewife runs in the United States. This will benefit the Passamaquoddy people, Maine’s commercial fishing industry and fish and wildlife throughout the Gulf of Maine.
On the Penobscot River removal of two dams and installation of a fish passageway on a third dam is also expected to improve access. Fish will be able to reach the upstream river network and 39 lakes that once supported alewife. In total, about 93 percent of the historic habitat for blueback herring and around 31 percent of the historic habitat for alewife will become accessible, provided they can successfully pass remaining mainstem dams. In addition, NOAA Fisheries staff are continuing to work on integrated efforts to further increase access to the many key lake habitats for alewife on the Penobscot.
While large-scale projects have tremendous potential, some small-scale projects are already showing results! For instance, on the Acushnet River in Massachusetts, dams were removed or modified and nature-like fishways were constructed. The river herring return has gone from less than 300 fish in 2006 to over 6,000 herring in 2013. Removal of two dams in Sedgeunkedunk Stream in Maine allowed a small (few hundred) but growing river herring population to re-colonize Fields Pond within just one year of the dam removals. The re-colonization of Fields Pond occurred without any stocking. In 2010, a culvert located in East Lyme, CT which connects Bride Brook to Long Island Sound was enlarged. Recent numbers, including those for 2013 where they documented the run at over 360,000 fish, are significantly higher than the larger runs documented in the mid-1970s, which numbered around 125,000.
River herring species are critical to fully functioning marine, estuarine, and freshwater ecosystems. We will remain engaged, together with our partners in restoration and conservation work so that river herring populations can continue to grow.
For more information on the listing determination, conservation plan development or technical expert working group, call Kim Damon-Randall, Protected Resources Division, at (978) 282-8485 or e-mail her at Kimberly.Damon-Randall@noaa.gov.
Information and updates also are available online here.
October 24, 2013 — The United States is a recognized global leader in responsibly managed fisheries and sustainable seafood. And you can help too!
This video introduces consumers to FishWatch.gov, which provides easy-to-understand, science-based facts to help users make smart, sustainable seafood choices.
Through this video, you’ll learn more about “sustainability” and what NOAA is doing to ensure that our seafood is caught and farmed responsibly with consideration for the health of a species, the environment, and the livelihoods of the people that depend on them.
Have you ever thought about where that piece of salmon on your plate came from? It could have been caught in a wild fishery or harvested from an aquaculture operation. Maybe it’s from the United States, or maybe it was imported from another country, like Canada or Chile?
It’s important to know the source of your seafood because not all of them measure up the same. Some seafood is wild-caught or farm-raised under regulations that protect the health of the marine ecosystem, the animals that live within it, and the consumers that eat it—however, some seafood is not. If it’s harvested in the United States, it is inherently sustainable as a result of the rigorous U.S. fishery management process that ensures that fisheries are continuously monitored, improved, and sustainable. Imported seafood can also be safe and sustainable, but comes from a variety of sources and may not be produced to the same standards as U.S. seafood. In the United States, our standard is sustainability. By buying seafood from reputable sources, you can help to conserve our ocean resources and support the economies and communities that ensure our seafood supply is safe and sustainable.
Watch the video and read the story from NOAA FishWatch.gov
October 24, 2013 — The eastern population of the Steller sea lion will be taken off the threatened species list, a federal agency announced Wednesday.
The sea lions, whose range stretches from Alaska's Panhandle to California's Channel Islands, are the first animal to be delisted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 19 years.
The last animal delisted was the eastern North Pacific gray whale, which was taken off the threatened list in 1994, NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.
The agency earlier this year recommended delisting the eastern population of the Steller sea lions, an action sought by the states of Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Commercial fishermen also protested fishing regulations because of the listing.
"We're delighted to see the recovery of the eastern population of Steller sea lions," Jim Balsiger, administrator of NOAA Fisheries' Alaska Region, said in a statement announcing the delisting. "We'll be working with the states and other partners to monitor this population to ensure its continued health."
Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News