Saving Seafood

Conservation & Environment

Northeast Fisheries, Ecosystems Continue To Depart From Historical Norms

May 19, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The fisheries of the Northeast span from Northern Maine down to the tip of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras. These centuries-old fisheries harbor stories of trials and tribulations, perfect storms, and generations of tradition. It wouldn’t be out of line to describe these fisheries and the people involved as strong, hardworking, and able to weather any challenge that history has thrown at them. However, the continued effects of climate change pose another threat to these storied fisheries and the ecosystems that support them. NOAA’s 2023 State of the Ecosystem reports show that environmental conditions continue to push historical boundaries, altering the ecosystems, their inhabitants, and their productivity. Results from these reports will be discussed in-depth during a public OneNOAA Seminar on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 12pm ET.

The annual State of the Ecosystem reports are presented as two reports, focusing on the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. They describe changes in physical, chemical, biological, and socioeconomic indicators that, when compiled, help describe the health of the Northeast ecosystem over time. These measurable characteristics of the environment are selected using NOAA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment framework. As part of the assessment process, NOAA scientists and collaborators work closely with stakeholders in their respective communities to identify components of the ecosystem that are important for monitoring the health of the ecosystem as well as the human communities that rely on these systems. Results from the annual State of the Ecosystem reports are presented to the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils to inform management groups about important trends and changes in the ecosystem and move towards the usage of ecosystem-wide science in making management decisions, a holistic approach known as ecosystem-based fishery management.

 

SFP’s 2022 reduction fisheries report warns of stagnation in sustainability improvements

May 19, 2023 — The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s 2022 reduction fisheries assessment has raised concerns over the continued stagnation of movement on sustainability in the sector since 2018.

Published on 19 April, the report is the 13th edition of SFP’s assessment of the world’s reduction fisheries, which are fisheries that focus on stocks used mainly for fishmeal and fish oil. SFP released the 2022 report in two parts to better align with the release of key stock assessments and management measurements for the 19 fisheries studied.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa claims ENGO hypocrisy on offshore wind and whales

May 19, 2023 — The following transcript is excerpted from an interview by New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa on Fox & Friends:

Fox & Friends: GOP lawmakers in New Jersey want an immediate stop to offshore wind projects over growing concern about a spike in whale deaths. Since December alone, 32 dead whales have washed up on beaches along the East Coast. Republican state senators are asking for a 30 to 60 day pause on construction to see if it helps. Michael Testa is one of them and he joins us now.

So who exactly are the groups or the people who would be opposing a 30 to 60 day, very sensible pause to see what’s going on with the whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, it seems to be Ørsted, who’s the company that wants to have the wind farms, as well as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, which makes absolutely no sense to me because I always thought that those were the groups that were there to protect the whales and to create bumper stickers that say ‘save the whales.’ And I think that they’re being completely intellectually disingenuous here. We know that if this were an exploration for offshore oil drilling, that if one whale carcass were to wash up on one of New Jersey’s shores, they would be surrounding that carcass holding hands with, you know, tears streaming down their face, singing Kumbaya.

Fox & Friends: What is their explanation for not wanting to see an environmental impact on whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, their explanation is the reason that the whales and dolphins are washing up on our shores in record numbers is due to climate change. That’s why we need to rush to erect these massive wind farms, which, you know, quite frankly, a lot of people have now testified and believe are contributing to whales washing up on our shores in record numbers. But it’s always their cry. This is their mantra. This is climate change. And if you ever question their green energy agenda, you’re labelled a science denier, a climate change denier.

We also have to really question what the environmental impact is going to be to our commercial fishing industry as well as our recreational fishing industry and look, Cape May County, Atlantic County, Ocean County and Monmouth County, tourism is the lifeblood of their summer economy.What are these wind farms going to do if whales and dolphins continue to wash up on our shores?

We also don’t know what the erection of these massive wind farms [is] going to do to our ocean floor and what type of environmental long term environmental impact that is going to have on our oyster business, scallop business.

Watch the full interview here

Goodbye, fish and chips? New England haddock imperiled by overfishing

May 17, 2023 — A staple seafood species caught by East Coast fishers for centuries is experiencing overfishing, and regulators have cut catch quotas by more than 80% to prevent the fish’s population from collapse.

Haddock are one of the most popular Atlantic fish, and a favorite for fish and chips and other New England seafood dishes.

But fewer haddock will be caught in New England this year after regulators cut fishing quotas. A recent scientific assessment found that the Gulf of Maine haddock stock declined unexpectedly, and that meant the catch quotas for the fish were unsustainably high, federal fishing managers said.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Redfish, bluefish, no fish: Climate change threatens traditional fishing waters

May 17, 2023 — The chances of climate change causing significant disruption to saltwater fisheries are pretty high, according to a NOAA Fisheries climate vulnerability assessment that’s on its way to finalization.

All of the species examined, with the exception of the Atlantic sturgeon, are at a very high level of exposure to elements of climate change and many have a high sensitivity to those changes, like the gag grouper, goliath grouper, horseshoe crab, and each of the brown, pink and white shrimp species.

Red snapper, notably, has a moderate sensitivity.

“This is the most significant thing — these are the potential for species distributions to change by low, moderate, high and very high (probabilities),” said Roger Pugliese, a habitat and ecosystem scientist with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC).

He presented at the SAFMC Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Advisory Panel (AP) meetings this week.

Read the full article at Florida Politics

Shell or High Water: Rebuilding Oyster Reefs Is a Climate Solution

May 16, 2023 — On a recent spring evening at Crave Fishbar in New York City, the oysters resting on beds of ice hailed from Long Island, Virginia, Washington, Cape Cod, and British Columbia. But once they’d been slurped, all of their shells went to a single place­: New York Harbor.

As a participant in the Billion Oyster Project, Crave Fishbar is in its eighth year of collecting shells to help restore the oyster reefs in New York Harbor. The restaurant’s servers, who include many aspiring actors, tell the origin stories of the daily array of oyster options—the better the story, the greater the popularity of that brand, said Jeremy Benson, general manager of the Upper West Side location.

But the best story the team tells is that of the Billion Oyster Project, a nonprofit founded in 2014 that has organized 15,000 volunteers and 60 restaurants to restore oysters at 15 reef sites across New York’s five boroughs.

The effort seeks to bring back the harbor’s oyster population—which was destroyed by overharvesting and pollution in less than 100 years—by collecting used shells, installing them in critical locations, and “seeding” baby oysters on top to form reefs.

In addition to donating shells, Crave Fishbar employees have learned about the bivalve’s ability to clean the water and make shorelines more resilient to climate change. Every year, they join other volunteers who remove plastic forks from shell piles, clean cured shell, and load cages destined for the harbor, a body of water that The New York Times has described as “once an open sewer.”

Read the full article at Civil Eats

MSC commits to expansion, advocates nonprofit model for sustainability certifications

May 16, 2023 — At its Seafood Futures Forum on 25 April at the 2023 Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) executive said they will continue for more fisheries certificaiton and wider acceptance and uptake of sustainable seafood.

The event featured MSC Chief Executive Rupert Howes, MSC Chief Program Officer Nicolas Guichoux, and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Fisheries and Aquaculture Division Director Manuel Barange, and was attended by more than 300 seafood industry stakeholders.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FiTI ranks US as global leader in fisheries transparency

May 14, 2023 — The Fishery Transparency Initiative (FiTI), a global partnership aiming to increase transparency and participation in marine sustainable management among fisheries, released an assessment on 28 February labeling the U.S. as a global leader in fisheries transparency.

FiTI published the report, “Taking Stock: Online Transparency of Fisheries Management Information for the United States of America,” as part of its Taking Stock assessment series, which provides countries with an investigative analysis highlighting where their fishery transparency efforts currently stand.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Almost 20 years on, GlobalGAP continues to evolve its aquaculture standards

May 11, 2023 — International sustainability certification standard GlobalG.A.P. is one year away from the 20th anniversary of the release of its first aquaculture standard.

GlobalG.A.P.’s new aquaculture standard, its sixth version, was released in 2022 and came with several new forward-thinking ideas on applying the certification to aquaculture and feed. During a press conference at Seafood Expo Global – which took place from 25 to 27 April in Barcelona, Spain – GlobalG.A.P. Managing Director Kristian Moeller and a panel of guests from the seafood industry reviewed the new standards and how they continue to evolve.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Hawaiian Monk Seal Population Rounds Out a Decade of Growth

May 11, 2023 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In 2022, NOAA and partners gathered data on Hawaiian monk seals throughout their 1,500-mile wide range. The field teams scattered far and wide, from Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll) to Hawaiʻi Island to survey and collect new data. Thanks to these surveys, we have good news to report: the Hawaiian monk seal population continues to increase! In 2021, total abundance was estimated to be 1,564, which marked the first time the population had exceeded 1,500 in more than two decades. In 2022, the population crested 1,600.

Monk Seal Population Highlights

Here are a few of the field teams’ findings:

  • The estimated total population size of monk seals in 2022 was 1,605 (with 95 percent confidence that the true number is between 1,512 and 1,743)
  • About 75 percent of the seals live in the northwestern part of the island chain, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and the remaining 25 percent are in the main Hawaiian Islands.
  • After decades of declining numbers, the number of monk seals has increased on average by 2 percent per year since 2013—a slow but steady rise over a full decade

Threats to Monk Seals

Despite these gains, monk seals remain vulnerable to many threats—including food limitation, human interactions, and entanglement in marine debris. NOAA works with partners to address these issues. In 2022, we conducted 68 life-saving actions, including:

  • Moving pups to safer locations
  • Disentangling seals caught in marine debris
  • De-hookings

Medical interventions were performed on the beach and at The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola monk seal hospital