Management & Regulation

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Nov. 14, 2012 — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, representing the nation's most profitable fishing port, appeared before the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) in Newport, Rhode Island this morning, and delivered a letter making the following points:

The international organization responsible for setting fisheries limits for species shared between the US and Canada recommended a total 500 metric ton Georges Bank yellowtail flounder quota for the 2013 fishing year. This 500 metric ton quota is to be split between the U.S. and Canada, resulting in allocations of 215 and 285 metric tons, respectively. This would be a 57% reduction from 2012, when the quota was 1,150 metric tons, and a staggering 81% reduction from 2011, when the total quota was 2,650 metric tons. A reduction of this magnitude would cause hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs to disappear and would trigger severe economic and social dislocation.

Such devastating consequences would be difficult to accept if the science was certain, but they are impossible to accept given the widespread lack of confidence in the underlying assessment and the fact that the international organization did not follow its own protocols in formulating its catch recommendations.

The methods used in the 2012 assessment were exploratory in nature, have not been vetted, and the international organization's report itself acknowledges that the fixes to the retrospective pattern cannot "be explained by biology or fishery practices." Nonetheless, they relied on these fixes to develop recommendation that the 2013 quota be set at a 500 metric tons.

At its August 24, 2012 meeting, the NEFMC's Scientific and Statistical Committee acknowledged both the uncertainty in the TRAC assessment and the catastrophic human consequences that would unquestionably flow from a low yellowtail quota. As a result, the SSC ultimately included in its report a recommendation that the 2013 yellowtail quota remain at 1,150 metric tons, but that the fishery be converted to bycatch only.

While there might not be scientific certainty about the current status of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, there is certainty that the international organization did not follow its own protocols in developing its yellowtail quota recommendation and that its fixes to the yellowtail assessment are not scientifically defensible.

The mayor urged the Council instead to adopt its own Scientific and Statistical Committee's recommendation that the total Acceptable Biological Catch be set at 1,150 metric tons, with the removal of a directed fishery.

If you believe that the U.S.-Canada Resource Sharing Understanding precludes the Council from adopting the Scientific and Statistical Committee's recommendation, the mayor asked that the Council request that the U.S. representatives to the U.S.-Canada Steering Committee approach Canada about reconsidering the yellowtail quota for 2013.

The full text of the mayor's letter follows:

November 14, 2012
 
New England Fishery Management Council
50 Water Street, Mill 2
Newburyport, MA 01950

Dear Members of the New England Fishery Management Council:

As mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, I write to express my concern about the proposed U.S. Georges Bank yellowtail flounder ("yellowtail") quota of 215 metric tons for the 2013 fishing year and urge you instead to adopt the Scientific and Statistical Committee ("SSC")'s recommendation that the total Acceptable Biological Catch ("ABC") be set at 1,150 metric tons, with the removal of a directed fishery. If you believe that the U.S.-Canada Resource Sharing Understanding precludes you from adopting the SSC's recommendation, I ask that you request that the U.S. representatives to the U.S.-Canada Steering Committee approach Canada about reconsidering the yellowtail quota for 2013.

As you know, Georges Bank yellowtail flounder is highly important to New Bedford, which was recently named the nation's highest grossing fishing port for the twelfth year in a row. New Bedford's yearly groundfish landings are worth approximately $20 million, and its scallop industry, for which yellowtail is essential bycatch, brings in approximately $400 million in direct annual revenue. Taking into account the two fisheries' ancillary businesses, they generate nearly $1.3 billion in annual economic activity in the Greater New Bedford area.

Based on the Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee ("TRAC")'s yellowtail assessment, the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee ("TMGC") recommended a total 500 metric ton yellowtail quota for the 2013 fishing year. This 500 metric ton quota is to be split between the U.S. and Canada, resulting in allocations of 215 and 285 metric tons, respectively. This would be a 57% reduction from 2012, when the quota was 1,150 metric tons, and a staggering 81% reduction from 2011, when the total quota was 2,650 metric tons. A reduction of this magnitude would cause hundreds, if not thousands, of New Bedford jobs to disappear and would trigger severe economic and social dislocation.

Such devastating consequences would be difficult to accept if the science was certain, but they are impossible to accept given the widespread lack of confidence in the underlying TRAC assessment and the fact that the TRAC did not follow its own protocols in formulating its catch recommendations. It is my understanding that the TRAC's accepted benchmark methods would support catch limits for the 2013 fishing year of 800 metric tons to 3,000 metric tons to avoid overfishing, and of 1,700 to 1,800 metric tons to allow rebuilding. These ranges are substantially higher than 500 metric tons.

Because the TRAC's benchmark methods demonstrated retrospective patterns, however, the TRAC implemented "fixes" that assumed that recent catch has been five times greater than reported catch, or that natural mortality abruptly increased by a factor of five in 2005. The methods used in the 2012 TRAC assessment were exploratory in nature and have not been vetted through the TRAC's own benchmark review process, and the TRAC report itself acknowledges that the fixes to the retrospective pattern cannot "be explained by biology or fishery practices."

Nonetheless, the TRAC ultimately relied on these fixes to develop its recommendation that the 2013 quota be set at a much lower 500 metric tons. In short, the proposed 500 metric ton quota would inflict broad, irreparable damage on the fishing industry based what one could hardly claim is the best available science.

At its August 24, 2012 meeting, the SSC acknowledged both the uncertainty in the TRAC assessment and the catastrophic human consequences that would unquestionably flow from a low yellowtail quota. As a result, the SSC ultimately included in its report a recommendation that the 2013 yellowtail quota remain at 1,150 metric tons, but that the fishery be converted to bycatch only. The SSC's rationale was that if the actual catch exceeded 500 metric tons when there was no directed fishery and measures were taken to reduce bycatch as much as possible, "it would be de facto evidence that the uncertainty in [the] stock assessment is greater than described by the sensitivity analyses conducted in the TRAC."

I strongly urge you to adopt the SSC's recommendation. Maintaining a quota of 1,150 metric tons for the 2013 fishing year would prevent the tremendous human suffering that would result from a 215 metric ton quota, while giving U.S. and Canadian scientists time to attempt to resolve the uncertainty in the yellowtail assessment. I can attest that Massachusetts scientists stand ready to improve the assessment; among other steps, the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute has proposed both an end-to-end stock assessment review and a cooperative yellowtail research survey. If you believe that the United States must renegotiate with Canada in order to recommend a 2013 yellowtail quota that exceeds 500 metric tons, I ask that you move to request that the U.S. representatives to the U.S./Canada Steering Committee approach Canada about reconsidering the 2013 quota.

While there might not be scientific certainty about the current status of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, there is certainty that the TRAC did not follow its own protocols in developing its yellowtail quota recommendation and that its fixes to the yellowtail assessment are not scientifically defensible. Given the equally certain ruinous consequences of a 500 metric ton quota, the only responsible course of action is to discuss with Canada the possibility of increasing the quota while the science is reviewed in a rigorous manner.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jon Mitchell
Mayor
 
Read a PDF of the letter here

Listen to Mayor Mitchell's comments before the NEFMC

  

 

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — November 11, 2012 — Federal fishing regulators have proposed a new way to help struggling fishermen target the plentiful Acadian redfish.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wants to allow fishermen to use nets with smaller mesh sizes to better catch the reddish-orange schooling fish.

Redfish was heavily fished in the 1950s and 1960s. But demand dropped by the 1980s, and that’s allowed the population to grow.

A lack of interest in redfish, which is relatively small and labor intensive to cut, has meant its markets have withered.

Regulators want to revive the redfish market as an alternative for fishermen absorbing huge cuts in other, less healthy species.

 

Read the full story by the Associated Press in the Boston Globe

 

 

November 9, 2012 — The following was released by the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) about their upcomming Aquaculture Working Session.

We are holding three working sessions (with similar agendas) in the hope that you can attend.  They will be:

Wednesday November 28 from 10:00am – 3:30pm (Barnstable, MA)

Monday December 10 from 10:00am – 3:30pm (Walpole, ME)

Thursday December 13 from approximately 1:00pm-5:00pm (Groton, CT – at the Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Exposition – NACE)

To help cover travel costs, we are pleased to offer a small stipend of $75. Those who attend from the aquaculture industry will be given a form to submit at the working session, and will be compensated following submission of that form.  Those who are attending NACE solely for this working session will also be reimbursed for single-day registration.
 
These working sessions are focused on industry representatives and intended to foster discussion on: key issues and challenges facing the sector, information needs and gaps, and the role of regional ocean planning in addressing these topics. The attached agenda provides additional information.
 
These working sessions have been designed based on initial discussions with representatives from the aquaculture sector over the last few months.  For logistical purposes, they are invitation-only.
 
RSVP – Please go to the website by Monday November 12 to RSVP that you will be attending this working session.  If you are not able to attend, please contact Meredith Sciarrio (msciarrio@cbuilding.org) and let her know.
 
If you have suggestions for other individuals who you think we ought to invite, please send us their name and contact information.  We are especially interested in reaching out to growers in the industry.  Prior to the work sessions, we will be sending detailed agendas and additional background material to those who are able to attend.
 
We very much hope you can join us for this important working session.  These discussions are an essential part of the regional ocean planning effort in New England, and we look forward to learning from your expertise.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

 

Read the draft agenda here 

 

 

November 9, 2012 — Fishery regulators this week announced a proposal to let New England fishermen use a smaller mesh size in their nets in certain areas, allowing them to target healthy stocks of redfish.

With strict catch limits on traditional stocks such as cod and yellowtail flounder, some fishermen are looking to target lesser known species such as Acadian redfish.

Stocks of redfish, also known as ocean perch, are now considered fully rebuilt after the population of this slow-growing fish collapsed during 1950s when it was heavily exploited.

Fishermen can harvest more than 18 million pounds of redfish a year but are only catching a fraction of that amount, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service. This measure would allow groundfish vessels to harvest redfish using nets with mesh as small as 4.5 inches compared to the standard 6.5 inches now required by regulations.

 

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times

 

 

November 8, 2012 — Today NOAA is proud to announce the addition of a new member to the FishWatch family of sustainable seafood – Acadian redfish.

Acadian redfish was once a highly valued commercial fishery in the U.S. However, by the 1950s, the species was severely overfished and quickly disappeared from the American menu. Despite this history, under the U.S. science-based management process, Acadian redfish has been fully rebuilt and efforts are under way to re-establish this fishery as a valuable source of sustainable seafood.

Check out the new seafood profile on FishWatch, hear from a redfish fishermen, and read about collaborative efforts underway to rebuild the market for redfish in the Gulf of Maine.  

 

 

November 8, 2012 — The Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library will hold its annual meeting Saturday, November 17, at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and refreshments, said executive director Karen Hart. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. and includes brief business reports, election of board members, and the featured program “Economy and Ecology: Current Issues in Menhaden Fishing.” 

Guest speakers will be Monty Deihl, general manager of the Omega Protein plant in Reedville, and Dr. Robert Latour, professor of fisheries science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester.

Deihl will speak about menhaden fishing and processing operations in the Northern Neck and the industry’s role in the community, past and present.  Dr. Latour will discuss the menhaden research and population studies being done by VIMS scientists. 

The meeting is open to the public; however, reservations are required no later than November 14. Contact 462-7280, or history@mbwm.org.

Donations will be collected at the meeting and shared by MBWML with the fire recovery fund of the Deltaville Maritime Museum.  Copies of Capt. Ed Sherrill’s book, The Wreck of the Beatrice, will be available for purchase.

 

Read the full story here

 

 

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) November 7, 2012 – Dr. Bill Karp, recently appointed Science and Research Director for NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, discusses the upcoming groundfish science forum on Friday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The forum will give fishermen the opportunity to meet with regulators and NOAA scientists. In this interview, Dr. Karp addresses concerns of industry members on stock assessments and current science, including the current controversy over Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder. Other topics include potential expansion of video surveys to fisheries beyond scallops, and collaborations between the Science Center and SMAST, as well as between the Science Center and fishermen.

In the full interview, Dr. Karp discussed the following topics:

●    Friday's groundfish science forum in Portsmouth New Hampshire, and what attendees can expect from it
●    Issues with the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder assessment, impact on the scallop industry and the transboundary allocation of the stock
●    Collaborative science between the Science Center, SMAST, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and other research institutions
●    Potential expansion of video survey technology for finfish and other species
●    SMAST scallop survey, HABCAM technology and the future of money allocations for scallop surveying
●    Issues with the Bigelow survey vessel and the reasoning behind the changed survey equipment and techniques
●    Gulf of Maine cod assessment status and the recreational catch recalculation

A ten-minute version of the interview aired on WBSM today. Listen to the full 30 minute version of the interview here.

 

 

 

November 5, 2012 — Writing in a post on the National Geographic website, Carl Safina, founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute at Stony Brook University, and Andrew Read, the Stephen Toth Professor of Marine Biology at Duke University, accuse NOAA’s new Northeast Fisheries Service Regional Administrator, John Bullard, of not enforcing regulations on harbor porpoise by-catch.

Every twelve hours in the Gulf of Maine, a porpoise swims into a net it cannot see, struggles until it runs out of breath, and drowns. That’s because New England gill-net fishermen simply refuse to use a proven solution that they helped develop, a solution fishermen on the West Coast have successfully used to virtually eliminate deaths of dolphins and whales in similar nets there—a solution that the law requires in New England.

Fisheries managers had decided to temporarily close certain areas to gill-net fishing this month to help prevent more endangered porpoises from drowning. But new regional Fisheries Administrator and former New Bedford mayor John Bullard just gave those fishermen a free pass to ignore the law for another four months. This has so frustrated a national team of scientists who for years have worked on this problem, that they are boycotting a meeting scheduled for this week. Instead of more delay, we think the fishermen should have been told: Obey the law, or lose your nets.

Putting little sound alarms called “pingers” on gill-nets alerts porpoises to the presence of a net by emitting a tone every four seconds. Using them is easy. Yet New England fishermen have already gotten three years of extensions to get in compliance with a law that is fully a decade and a half old. Now, mainly to save New Hampshire fish processors income in the crucial fall season, Fisheries Service Regional Administrator John Bullard decided to delay the planned October closure until February.

Analysis:

by Saving Seafood staff

In a recent National Geographic post “As Fisheries Service Dithers, New England Porpoises Drown,” Carl Safina, founding president of the Blue Ocean Institute at Stony Brook University, and Andrew Read, the Stephen Toth Professor of Marine Biology at Duke University, accuse NOAA’s new Northeast Fisheries Service Regional Administrator, John Bullard, of not enforcing regulations on harbor porpoise by-catch. But Drs. Safina & Read fail to mention the analysis that was the underpinning of Mr. Bullard’s decision, and fail to give credit to the commercial fishing industry for recent efforts at improving compliance and making the by-catch avoidance devices – known as “pingers” — more effective.

Writing that, "new regional Fisheries Administrator and former New Bedford mayor John Bullard just gave those fishermen a free pass to ignore the law for another four months,” Drs. Safina & Read failed to mention NOAA’s rationale behind the movement of the two month closure from October 1 – November 30, 2012 to February 1 – March 31, 2013. The decision was not an arbitrary move by Mr. Bullard; it reflects the findings of an in-depth analysis performed by NOAA comparing the benefits of an October closure and those of a February shut down. The results of the analysis indicated that the February closure would likely be more effective in preventing excess harbor porpoise by-catch than the October closure. In his subsequent comments, Dr. Safina clarifies his concerns that the analysis was not peer-reviewed, but in the original article he and Dr. Read make no mention of the analysis, instead making an ad hominem attack on Administrator Bullard.

Drs. Safina & Read point out that Mr. Bullard is a former mayor of New Bedford, which led commenters from New Jersey and Florida to question Mr. Bullard’s credentials and to suggest a conflict of interest.  The authors failed to note that Mr. Bullard has not served as mayor of New Bedford for two decades. It was, in fact, a pro-environment decision — to build a secondary wastewater treatment plant, bringing the city into compliance with the Clean Water Act, that cost him re-election to a fourth term.  The authors also failed to note that Mr. Bullard has significant qualifications for his current position. He led NOAA’s first Office of Sustainable Development and Intergovernmental Affairs under President Clinton, and is the immediate past President of the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He holds degrees from Harvard and M.I.T.

While NOAA’s analysis showed that moving the closure from October to February would not affect harbor porpoise conservation, it is greatly helping New England fishermen, who fish extensively in the fall and would have been significantly harmed by the planned October closure. By moving the closure from October to February, Mr. Bullard was not rewarding fishermen for non-compliance, as Drs. Safina and Read suggest. He was acting as a fisheries manager should, by weighing environmental and socioeconomic concerns and reaching a resolution that avoids inflicting heavy economic losses on an already-struggling industry, while still managing to produce the conservation measures that the area closure was designed to achieve.

Writing that Mr. Bullard made this decision “mainly to save New Hampshire fish processors income in the crucial fall season,” Drs. Safina & Read, dismiss economics as a valid reason to move the closure. Like many ecologists and conservation advocates, they forget or ignore that the law governing fisheries clearly states: “Conservation and management measures shall, consistent with the conservation requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (including the prevention of overfishing and rebuilding of overfished stocks), take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities…”

Drs. Safina & Read also overstate harbor porpoise mortality. They begin their article by writing, "every twelve hours in the Gulf of Maine, a porpoise swims into a net it cannot see, struggles until it runs out of breath, and drowns." This metric, however, exaggerates the most recent statistics by 40%.  A death every twelve hours would mean two harbor porpoise deaths per day, or 730 a year. The most recent data available on actual number of harbor porpoises harmed by gill nets is 516, not the 800 annually that Drs. Safina & Read claim. This means that the entire gillnet fishery harms 516 harbor porpoises out of a total population of almost 80,000 (at the most recent estimate). In a perfect world, no porpoises would be harmed, but it is important to note that far from the implication of mass slaughter that Drs. Safina & Read’s post suggests, current statistics show that gillnets harmed only 0.6% of the estimated total population.

Drs. Safina & Read are critical of moving the dates of the harbor porpoise closure, partly because they see it as rewarding an allegedly noncompliant commercial fishing industry, writing, "New England gill-net fishermen simply refuse to use a proven solution that they helped develop." The referenced solution, an acoustic device called a “pinger”, which deters harbor porpoises, has actually been used extensively by fishermen. NOAA’s most recent observer data on the devices’ use showed that the compliance rate was at least 90%.

But the devices have not always performed perfectly. For many fishermen, noncompliance has never been an issue. Doing so isn’t always easy, however, because of difficulties with determining if and when the device has failed  In actual fishing conditions, it is nearly impossible to hear the sound emitted by pingers (and thus to know that they’re working) amid the ocean sounds and engine noise, and almost impossible to tell if they are properly working when they are deployed underwater.

Drs. Safina & Read mislead the reader when they write, "New England fishermen have exceeded federal limits on porpoise mortality in six of the past seven years, simply because they are unwilling to use the technique that virtually ends porpoise deaths.” Members of the fishery, working through the Northeast Seafood Coalition in Gloucester, Massachusetts, have made a concerted effort to improve the pingers’effectiveness. In the near term, fishermen have agreed to mitigate the problem by making efforts to double the amount of required pinger coverage, hoping that doing so will make up for any that might fail.  They have worked with a pinger manufacturer to develop and distribute new pingers equipped with an LED indicator so that there is a visual indicator of whether the pingers are working, increasing their ability to ensure that the units are functioning properly.

Read the complete post by Carl Safina and Andrew Read

Read an opinion piece about the Harbor Porpoise decision and the Safina/Read criticism by Steve Urbon of the New Bedford Standard-Times

Read a Saving Seafood special report on the harbor porpoise issue from May 2012  

CHESAPEAKE BEACH, Maryland — November 1, 2012 — Fishermen and conservationists sparred Thursday over how much to cut back the commercial catch of Atlantic menhaden along the East Coast to rebuild an ecologically and economically important fish population.

Members of conservation and recreational fishing groups called for a reduction of 25 percent to 50 percent in the commercial harvest of menhaden, pointing to scientists' warnings that overfishing was depressing their number to near-historic lows.

"For decades now, people have been taking too many of these fish, and now it's time to pay back," said Ken Hastings of Mechanicsville.

But a representative of unionized fishermen working in a Virginia fleet that nets 80 percent of all the menhaden caught urged making only a minimal cut, warning that jobs are at stake and there's still great uncertainty about the fish's status.

"There may have been a time when it was overfished, but it's not being overfished now," contended Ken Pinkard of Reedville, Va. A third-generation menhaden fisher and vice president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 representing the 300-worker Virginia fishing fleet that processes the fish, Pinkard urged making no more than a 10 percent cut until scientists could be certain how low the population is.

"We know we're overfishing, but we don't know how far," said Lynn Fegley, deputy fisheries director for Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, who presided over the hearing.

 

Read the full story in the Baltimore Sun 

 

 

November 1, 2012 — The following is an excerpt from a petition released by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation: 

For such a tiny fish, the menhaden's impact on the Bay is gigantic – the Bay's ecosystem depends on it as a primary food source.

But right now, overfishing has left the menhaden population at its lowest level on record. This jeopardizes other Bay species like striped bass, osprey, and loons.

Read the full petition on the Petition Site

Analysis: The Chesapeake Bay Foundation continues its misrepresentation of the status of the Atlantic menhaden population with a petition on the Petition Site, called “Save the Menhaden, Save the Bay.”  

Though the petition claims that the menhaden population is at its lowest point on record, the 2010 menhaden stock assessment showed that current biomass levels of menhaden are similar to those seen in the late 1960s. According to NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office the stock is not overfished: “Based on the current reference point to evaluate stock condition, Atlantic menhaden are not considered overfished.” In addition, the most recent menhaden assessment shows that the species abundance, measured by the number of eggs produced, is at a level that is currently considered healthy, and is nearly twice the level needed in order to be considered overfished.

Missing from the discussion of the decline and growth of menhaden biomass is the role of climate and environment, two major influences on recruitment. Environmental conditions have fluctuated widely over time, producing circumstances that are alternately favorable and unfavorable for menhaden recruitment. Conditions in the late 1970s and early 1980s, for example, proved favorable, during a period when the menhaden industry was significantly larger than it is today. Environmental conditions since this time have been considerably less ideal. The relationship between menhaden and climate is recognized both by NOAA, which writes, “menhaden recruitment appears to be independent of fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass, indicating environmental factors may be the defining factor in the production of good year classes,” and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which concluded that fluctuations in menhaden abundance may be, “almost entirely driven by non-fishery sources.”   

Although the Chesapeake Bay Foundation states that it is “pushing for fair and reasonable limits and fishing rules that protect the menhaden without financially penalizing local fishermen,” the organization does not provide an equitable description of the status of the menhaden stock, using biased phrasing in their articles to make the species seem in worse condition than it actually is.