Management & Regulation

July 17, 2013 — For decades, fishery management has focused almost exclusively on the need to restrict fishing. Now, environmental changes are forcing fishermen and regulators to reevaluate their traditional practices.

Ernie Eldredge has been fishing all his life – clamming, long-lining cod, and crewing on sea scallop boats. But weir fishing is his love and mainstay. Last May, Eldredge netted something (or rather, two somethings) that even he’d rarely seen before – an Atlantic croaker and a grey triggerfish.

Weir fishing on Cape Cod is a tradition that dates back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The circular nets anchored by hickory poles are like underwater corrals that trap fish as they migrate along the coast. Eldredge still uses some of the gear his father did, and others before him. The chain stretches all the way back to the Native American inhabitants of Cape Cod.

Looking out over one of his weirs just off the beach in Chatham, Eldredge says he’s witnessed a major shift in recent years. The odd southern fish is part of it. The bigger problem, though, is that Eldredge’s traditional targets have moved offshore out of reach of his nets. This weir is empty, and he’s already disassembling his others two months earlier than usual. He blames climate change.

Rising carbon dioxide levels have profound consequences for ocean ecosystems. Water temperatures increase, ocean chemistry changes, and weather patterns shift. The microscopic plants and animals at the base of the food chain respond and the impacts reverberate through the ecosystem. The location, growth, reproduction, even behavior of fish is affected.

Coping with climate change will take an equally herculean shift in fishery science and management. Many experts say the key to weathering climate change is something called ecosystem-based management. As the name implies, the idea is to base any one decision on a comprehensive understanding of the entire ecosystem. It’s a logical idea but far from simple.

The first step is getting a handle on the physical and chemical changes taking place in the ocean. Dr. Jon Hare and his colleagues at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center have documented deviations in temperature, salinity, acidity, and nutrient levels in New England’s waters. They’re also seeing shifts in wind patterns and ocean currents in the Gulf of Maine. And that translates into ecological changes.

Read the full story and listen to the audio from NPR affiliate WCAI

July 15, 2013 — The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s proposal to reopen 3,000 square miles of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod to commercial fishing has pleased almost no one, including the South Shore’s commercial fishermen.

“It’s not like the closed areas are just a paradise full of fish. This is not a panacea,” said Frank Mirarchi, a Scituate fisherman of 51 years.

Last week, NOAA announced a proposed change to its rules that would reopen almost 3,000 square miles of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod that has been closed for almost 20 years to commercial fishing on a seasonal basis.

For Mirarchi, this is too far offshore to have any practical, positive impact on the industry.

“None of the boats in Scituate, Plymouth and Green Harbor go out that far,” Mirarchi said.

The regulatory changes would allow greater access to flounder and haddock – among other species – for vessels that do travel that far, said NOAA communications officer Majorie Mooney-Seus.

State environmental groups are also unhappy about the proposal. The Conservation Law Foundation and Earthjustice sued NOAA in May, claiming the agency had skipped a legally required analysis of the effects of reopening the areas.

Read the full story at the Patriot Ledger 

 

BOSTON, Mass. — July 14, 2013 — A plan to allow certain New England fishermen back into fishing grounds where they've long been banned was so objectionable to environmentalists that two groups sued to kill it months before it was officially released.

And after the proposal was unveiled last week, fishermen who once backed the idea called the plan a useless gesture that does nothing for their struggling industry.

None of the criticism surprises the Northeast’s top fishing regulator, John Bullard. But he says it doesn’t mean the proposal to reopen 3,000 square miles of Atlantic Ocean can’t work.

‘‘We recognize it’s probably not going to make anyone happy,’’ Bullard said. But, he added, ‘‘We think it’s a responsible way to make abundant stocks accessible to people.’’

The plan, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is not yet in effect, pending a period of public comment.

It was devised after a December vote by regional regulators that gave fishermen permission to ask to work sections of previously forbidden fishing grounds. It details where fishermen can ask for access and the conditions under which it could be granted.

The closed areas, located in the Gulf of Maine and to the south and east of Cape Cod in Georges Bank, were off-limits as far back as 1994 to fishermen who target bottom-dwelling groundfish, such as cod and haddock. Regulators shut down the grounds to protect the fish and their nurseries.

But fishermen argued last year that the closures became obsolete in 2010 when regulators decided to instead try to protect groundfish with tough catch quotas.

They argued that with huge cuts in those quotas coming in 2013, it made sense to reopen at least some sections of the closed areas so fishermen could harvest the healthy fish species reportedly there, such as redfish and haddock.

Read the full story by Jay Lindsay from the Associated Press at Boston.com

July 14, 2013 — Since 2009, the Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) has been developing an industry based electronic data collection system. CFF uses funding from the scallop Research Set-Aside Program so that the fishing industry can have its own independent source of scientific and fishing data.

The project is now in field testing, and NOAA and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission have provided additional funding to test a similar system that would transmit required data to the government electronically, replacing the paper system and its associated time lags.

Below is the project's summary and goals. Current funding will pay to install 24 systems on scallop vessels fishing out of mid-Atlantic ports and, if there are extra, some additional ports.

Scallopers interested in participating should e-mail Ron Smalowitz with your name, vessel ID information, port and personal contact information.

Project Summary

In order to better monitor Allowable Catch Limits (ACL) of sea scallops and Sub-ACLs of bycatch species allocated to the limited access fleet, CFF has worked with partners to develop a real time electronic reporting system. One objective of the system is to have the U.S. scallop fleet regularly report their tow data, bycatch, and scallop catch electronically to a database accessible by the Fisheries Survival Fund (an industry organization), the NOAA Northeast Regional Office and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The data would act as an electronic log book and would be available to the entire fleet in order to alert fishermen of hot-spot areas of high yellowtail flounder to scallop meat catch ratios.

This information would enable fishermen to make informed decisions regarding where to fish in order to avoid the yellowtail flounder bycatch that may trigger accountability measures. Success with yellowtail reporting may be the first step in using this two-way communication and data system for dynamic area action programs for species such as loggerhead turtles, windowpane, and winter flounder. This project will continue the refinement of the software and introduce broadband technology to allow cheaper and faster data transfer between vessels and shore.

 

 

July 9, 2013– The Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 is the federal law that mandates and guides fishery management. It calls for regulations to be based on the best available science.

But what makes one piece of scientific information better than another? And who's to judge?

Here are a few possible definitions of best available science:

Stock assessments: The term "science" has traditionally been interpreted as the biology that goes into calculating how many fish can be harvested without unduly stressing the population. That science has come under fire from fishermen and politicians who say stock assessments need to be more frequent and more reflective of what fishermen see on the water. Stock assessment scientists argue that doing more assessments wouldn't make them better; in fact, it might do just the opposite. It's a classic quantity versus quality conundrum.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at NPR affiliate WCAI

 

 

July 12, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries today announced proposed measures to help reduce whale serious injuries and deaths.

These measures include a number of alternatives that were derived from proposals submitted by Take Reduction Team members (fishermen, scientists, state managers, environmentalists and fishing gear experts) and from comments received during public scoping meetings.

Click here to read more.

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., — July 11, 2013 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing to reopen parts of three groundfishing areas that have been closed for almost two decades in an effort to provide further fishing opportunity to groundfishermen.

"We believe this will help fishermen operating under lower quotas this year for several key groundfish stocks such as cod," NOAA spokeswoman Maggie Mooney-Seus wrote in a statement.

The three areas, known as Closed Area I, Closed Area II and the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area, are located to the south and east of Cape Cod on Georges Bank. They were originally shut to groundfishing in 1994 to reduce fishing efforts and protect spawning fish. NOAA is proposing to open portions of these areas to "selected gear" to allow fishermen to target haddock, skates and monkfish.

John Quinn, a member of the New England Fishery Management Council, praised the proposal Wednesday, calling it "very good news." While he said it is "certainly not going to cure the problems we have," he called it a "good-faith attempt" on the part of NOAA.

"It will allow fishermen to fish in areas with a much higher density of fish, which means less time at sea and less expenses for them," he said.

Seafood consultant Jim Kendall said the proposal would be beneficial but "really doesn't add anything to the plate" because fishermen are still restricted in the number of fish they can catch.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times 

 

July 11, 2013 — NOAA officials, saying they want to provide relief to fishermen dealing with a federally declared “economic disaster” and 2013 fishing year cuts of up to 78 percent in their landing limits, have formally launched proposals to open portions of previously closed fishing areas in the waters off Cape Cod and Nantucket.

But the proposal — which is now open to public comment — comes with some strings attached, notably a requirement that any fishermen accessing newly opened areas cover the cost of on-board monitors who must accompany every fishing trip inside those regions.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its proposal Tuesday to open some areas to groundfish fishing that have been off limits for nearly 20 years.

NOAA spokeswoman Maggie Mooney-Seus said Tuesday that the areas that would be opened under the change would includes parts — but not all — of Areas I and II and the Nantucket Light Ship area.

Mooney-Seus said NOAA will be taking comments on all sides of the issue for the next “month or so,” then will look to address any issues and move forward.

“The goal is to get this done as fast as we can this year,” said Mooney-Seus.

She and NOAA officials, including Gloucester-based Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard, emphasized that the openings would affect only portions of the closed areas, while Mooney-Seus said closures on another key area — the inshore Western Gulf of Maine off the Maine coast — will not be eased at the request of both commercial and recreational fishermen.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times 

 

July 9, 2013 — At the heart of all contemporary fishing stories – right next to the fishermen, themselves – are the regulations that constrain fishermen's activities.

Federal fishery management is mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. That law lays out the need for management to protect marine resources, and stipulates ten national standards against which all regulations must be assessed. Among them are requirements that rules be based on the best available science, and that regulators to consider the socioeconomic impacts of their actions.

But these ten standards do little to abate the complication of fishery management. In fact, they may be the source, according to John Bullard, Northeast Regional Administrator for the National Marine Fishery Service.

Listen to the audio and read the full story at WCAI

 

July 8, 2013 — Today WCAI is launching a 10-part series called “The Long Haul: The Future of New England’s Fisheries.” We’ll examine how the fisheries came to their difficult predicament. And we’ll also focus on the stories of people working to improve the future of the fisheries. In part one, WCAI’s Steve Junker looks at where we are now, and what it says about where we might be headed.

The moment of departure brings uncertainty into sharp focus.

On a Monday morning in New Bedford harbor, the 90-foot dragger Buzzards Bay was at the dock preparing for its next fishing trip. Ice rattled through a delivery chute passing into the ship’s hold. Captain-owner Alex Smith looked over the deck where his three-man crew was repairing the nets, and he considered aloud the many challenges he faced as a commercial fisherman. Money was always tight, and he had been making hard choices.

“We used to always go five men," he said. "But there’s not enough money to pay five guys.  You try to cut back as much as you can in any department you can.”

Smith is 42. His father was a New Bedford fishing captain before him. The business, he said, is harder now than it ever was. “A serious problem now," he said, "is our expenses are so high – half of our trip is in fuel. Eight days cost us $21,000 last trip just for fuel.”

And it’s become much more difficult, he said, to find the fish. "20,000 pounds is a good trip nowadays. Used to be 40, 50 thousand pounds would be a good trip for a boat this size.”

With the ice loaded, Smith powered up the ship's engine. Crew members called to each other as the lines were cast off and the Buzzards Bay eased away from the bulkhead. Smith planned a seven-day trip on George’s Bank, dragging for groundfish.

He had agreed to call me on the return end, when he was six hours away from port, so I could meet him as he landed and learn the outcome of his trip. He wasn't sure precisely when that would be, of course. It all depended on the fish.

Listen to the audio and read the full story at WCAI