Saving Seafood

Management & Regulation

Electronic vessel trackers coming for lobster fishers

December 28, 2022 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) announced that all commercial lobster permit holders with a federal lobster trap permit will be required to install a vessel tracking device beginning in the spring. DMF will cover the costs of the first three years for the 300 eligible vessels that fish from Massachusetts ports.

“We expect to cover the costs of each eligible owner’s purchase, installation, and data plan for around $1,500,” the announcement reads. “Up to five different vendors are expected to offer devices for sale to the industry this winter. Eligible permit holders will be allowed to choose the approved tracking device that best fits their business.”

Read the full article at MV Times

Offshore wind in 2022: Billions in bids and new confidence

December 28, 2022 — Offshore wind advanced at a dizzying pace in 2022, from billion-dollar bids in New York to turbine installation vessels arriving in New England waters.

The landmark year buoyed confidence in investment in the U.S. market and saw the expansion of federal tax benefits — along with an increased government workforce — to support wind growth. Insiders continued to express confidence in the industry despite looming economic headwinds that threaten to slow the pace of President Joe Biden’s wind boom in the years ahead.

The White House’s commitment to raising turbines in the ocean, to reach a 30-gigawatt target by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes, fueled much of the growth seen over the last 12 months.

In February, energy companies pledged $4.4 billion for wind leases off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, the largest offshore energy sale in U.S. history.

The Biden administration would go on to hold its first auction in the Pacific Ocean and commit to raising 15 GW of floating offshore wind, a developing technology that’s needed to build wind farms in deep water.

“The momentum continues for the offshore wind sector,” said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association. “The government has done a good job of keeping things moving at a reasonable pace.”

New financial certainty also came from Congress, which expanded incentives to underwrite offshore wind investments and provided benefits for manufacturers of components like turbines and blades, and turbine installation vessels. As the year neared its close, turbine installation vessels arrived in northern waters to begin construction on the first large-scale projects in the country off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

It’s a growth story only dampened by the specter of inflationary costs from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian war against Ukraine that have begun to bleed into development forecasts. The high price of steel and supply chain problems could pose threats as companies scramble to quickly launch projects.

Inflationary costs are not a unique problem for offshore wind. They are mirrored across the energy industries, noted Michelle Solomon, who tracks electricity trends for Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC, a nonpartisan think tank that supports the energy transition.

But there is a “concerning” possibility that inflation and supply chain issues can slow down the offshore wind build-out in the United States at a time when climate targets demand an even faster pace of renewable deployment, she said.

This month an offshore wind developer asked Massachusetts if it could bow out of contracts with utilities, citing higher costs that have put the project underwater without a different deal, while other large developers like Ørsted A/S and the Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. have been frank about their concerns about prices undermining project timelines (Energywire, Nov. 15).

The pressure is also at an all-time high for the Biden administration’s offshore wind bureau, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to meet lofty clean energy targets. Despite a breakneck speed, the bureau needs to approve more than a dozen offshore wind arrays in under two years (Energywire, Dec. 1).

Still, these pressing challenges follow a pivotal year in offshore wind that’s increased confidence that the industry has cemented its position in the U.S. Here are four takeaways of how the sector shifted in 2022 that shed light on where it’s going.

Read the full article at E&E News

Markey, Moulton push for national fund to compensate fishermen for losses due to offshore wind

December 22, 2022 — With both offshore wind development and dissent from fishing groups ramping up along the East Coast, Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton announced a plan Wednesday to establish a national fund to compensate potential economic loss suffered by the fishing industry.

Currently there is no federal framework that requires offshore wind developers to compensate fishermen for potential damages. Those include gear loss, habitat degradation, loss of historic fishing grounds and new fishing restrictions in areas leased for wind farms — all of which compound, fishermen say, to spell serious economic challenges to their industry.

In the absence of such compensation requirements, some developers have established their own funds, with their own oversight panels. Other developers have not yet established a compensation plan. Fishing groups have been critical of this approach, saying the government’s lack of clear requirements gives the offshore wind industry the upper hand in compensation negotiations, leaving it up to the fishermen to prove the impact on their livelihoods and up to developers to decide the extent to which they are responsible.

“Any ability left to the wind developers to choose their own procedures will always result in their taking the least expensive path most favorable to them, not commercial fishing,” the New Bedford Port Authority wrote in a letter to the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in August.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Wind industry group says turbine restrictions for whales could threaten commercial viability of projects

December 21, 2022 — An organization that represents and lobbies for the wind industry has warned that a recommendation from federal scientists to limit turbines in offshore lease areas to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whale could threaten the commercial viability, efficiency and utilities contracts for some projects.

Climate change is affecting the whale and its prey, according to researchers. And offshore wind, which the Biden administration has called on to address the climate crisis, might add to existing stressors from the noise created during construction and operation, to the turbine impacts on currents and prey distribution.

In a letter first published by The Light last month, NOAA scientist Sean Hayes proposed establishing a “conservation buffer” zone or turbine-free area overlapping with wind development planned in Southern New England. But the American Clean Power Association (ACP), which represents the wind industry, said such a buffer would cause the removal of a “significant number” of turbines from several projects.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

North Pacific council hears renewed demands on bycatch

December 22, 2022 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council met in Anchorage during the second week in December. Among items on its agenda the panel was to deliberate on action steps to mitigate the incidental take of chum and chinook salmon, red king crab, opilio crab and other species that come up in the tows of pollock trawlers.

Many from Kuskokwim and Yukon River villages, the crabbing industry and those representing other interests had hoped the council would take immediate action to close down trawling in vast areas of the Bering Sea.

That didn’t happen.

“The council has decided to protect the status quo and allow the trawl fleets to continue catching and discarding prohibited species such as chum salmon, chinook salmon and crab while entire western Alaska runs and crab stocks are in collapse,” says Lindsey Bloom, a campaign strategist, with SalmonState, in Juneau.  “This is a total failure in fisheries management.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Saving salmon: Chinook return to California’s far north — with a lot of human help

December 10, 2022 — Winter-run Chinook were federally listed as endangered in 1994, but recent years have been especially hard for the fish. Facing severe drought and warm river conditions, most winter-run salmon born naturally in the Sacramento River have perished over the past three years.

So restoring Chinook to the McCloud has become an urgent priority for state and federal officials. In the first year of a drought-response project, about 40,000 salmon eggs were brought back to the McCloud, a picturesque river in the wilderness of the Cascade mountains.

Iconic in Northern California, Chinook salmon are critical pieces of the region’s environment. They are consumed by sea lions, orcas and bears, and they still support a commercial fishing industry. Chinook remain vital to the culture and traditional foods of Native Americans, including the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, whose historical salmon fishing grounds included the McCloud River.

Conservation experts say the McCloud’s cold, clean water holds great promise as a potential Chinook refuge — and perhaps even a future stronghold for the species. Restoring salmon there is considered critical to the species’ survival, since they now spawn only in low-lying parts of the Central Valley near Redding and Red Bluff, where it’s often too hot and dry for most newborn fish to survive.

Read the full article at ABC 10

Alaska crab fishery collapse seen as warning about Bering Sea transformation

December 20, 2022 — Less than five years ago, prospects appeared bright for Bering Sea crabbers. Stocks were abundant and healthy, federal biologists said, and prices were near all-time highs.

Now two dominant crab harvests have been canceled for lack of a catch. For the first time, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in October canceled the 2022-2023 harvest of Bering Sea snow crab, and it also announced the second consecutive year of closure for another important harvest, that of Bristol Bay red king crab.

What has happened between then and now? A sustained marine heat wave that prevented ice formation in the Bering Sea for two winters, thus vastly altering ocean conditions and seafood species’ health.

“We lost billions of snow crab in a matter of months,” said Bob Foy, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, at a public forum held Dec. 12 at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. “We don’t have a smoking gun, if you will. We don’t have one particular event that impacted the snow crab — except the heat wave.”

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

Crabbers, fishermen seek US aid after disaster declaration

December 19, 2022 — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s disaster declaration for certain salmon and crab fisheries in Washington and Alaska opens the door for financial relief as part of an omnibus spending bill being negotiated by U.S. lawmakers.

The declaration Friday covers Bristol Bay king crab harvests suspended for two years, and the snow crab harvest that will be canceled for the first time in 2023. Also covered are 2021 salmon harvests from Alaska’s Kuskokwim River and 2019 and 2020 Washington salmon fisheries, The Seattle Times reported.

Secretary of Commerce approves disaster declarations in AK and WA

December 16, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced today her determination that fishery disasters occurred in multiple Alaska and Washington fisheries over the last several years, including the Alaska Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab fisheries. The Secretary, working with NOAA Fisheries, evaluates fishery disaster requests based on data submitted by a state and/or tribe. 

“America’s fisheries are a critical part of our national economy and directly impact our local communities when disasters occur,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These determinations are a way to assist those fishing communities with financial relief to mitigate impacts, restore fisheries and help prevent future disasters.” 

The Secretary found that the following fisheries met the requirements for a fishery disaster determination:

  • 2022/2023 Alaska Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab fisheries.
  • 2021/2022 Alaska Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab fisheries.
  • 2021 Alaska Kuskokwim River Salmon, Norton Sound Chum and Coho Salmon fisheries.
  • 2021 Chignik Salmon fishery.
  • 2020 and 2021 Alaska Norton Sound Red King Crab fisheries.
  • 2020 Washington Ocean Salmon fisheries.
  • 2020 Copper River/Prince William Sound Coho and Pink Salmon fisheries.
  • 2019 Washington Columbia River, Willapa Bay and Puget Sound Salmon fisheries.

A declared fishery disaster must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and/or the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act. For example, there must be a commercial fishery failure and significant declines in fishery access or available catch resulting from specific allowable causes such as natural causes beyond the control of fishery managers to mitigate. 

Positive determinations make these fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA, pending the availability of Congressionally appropriated funds. They may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration. See a summary of fishery disaster determinations, including this announcement, and learn more about fishery disaster assistance.

NOAA Fisheries Announces $2.3M to Support Bycatch Reduction Projects

December 16, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries is pleased to announce the 2023 federal funding opportunity which includes $2.3 million available to support applied management projects and activities under the agency’s Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program, also known as BREP. The funding opportunity outlines five high priority areas including developing innovative and effective technologies, further testing and development of technologies or gear modifications that have already been piloted, improving understanding of post release mortality, developing techniques to reduce interactions between corals and sponges, and international bycatch issues. Non-federal researchers working on the development of improved fishing practices and innovative gear technologies are eligible to apply for funding. The deadline for pre-proposals is January 20, 2023. Full proposals are due April 3, 2023.

Bycatch reduction is a priority for NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch can contribute to overfishing, threaten endangered and threatened species and protected marine mammals, and can close fisheries, significantly impacting U.S. economic growth. For more information on the Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) and program impacts to date, visit NOAA Fisheries’.