Saving Seafood

Conservation & Environment

2023 was a better year for right whales, but 2024 offers a ‘sobering’ outlook

October 23, 2024 — The number of North Atlantic right whales increased slightly last year, offering a glimmer of positive news for the critically endangered population.

There were 372 right whales counted, according to new data from the New England Aquarium and the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist with the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center, said the increase from 2023 reflects the birth of 12 whales. But it’s not a complete picture.

“The news for 2024 is much more sobering, with nine deaths, 13 injuries,” Hamilton said.

One right whale died from an entanglement in Maine fishing gear; three others were struck by boats. Another died from an unknown cause. And though 20 calves were born this year, a handful have already disappeared.

Read the full article at Maine Public

NOAA Fisheries drafting plan to end red snapper overfishing in the South Atlantic

October 23, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has taken the first steps towards implementing a plan to stop red snapper overfishing in the South Atlantic after years of alleged inaction by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 

“NOAA Fisheries firmly believes that we must find ways to end overfishing and improve how the red snapper population in the South Atlantic is managed,” NOAA Fisheries said in a statement. “Currently, there are short commercial and recreational seasons, and low retention limits for red snapper.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment Finds Mixed Results for the Northern and Southern Stocks: Northern Stock Not Overfishing and Overfishing Not Occurring; Southern Stock Overfished and Experiencing Overfishing

October 23, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The 2024 Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report indicates the northern stock of red drum (New Jersey through North Carolina) is not overfished and not experiencing overfishing, while the southern stock (South Carolina through the east coast of Florida) is overfished and experiencing overfishing.

 
The two stocks were assessed separately, using different methods. The southern stock was assessed using the Stock Synthesis (SS) assessment model. Stock status is based on the latest three-year (2019-2021 September-August fishing years) averages of population measures. The three-year average spawning potential ratio (SPR) is less than the 30% SPR threshold, indicating the stock is experiencing overfishing. Spawning potential ratio is a measure of spawning biomass expected under current fishing mortality levels compared to spawning stock biomass expected if no fishing mortality were occurring. The three-year average female spawning stock biomass (SSB) was 8,737 metric tons (19.27 million pounds), less than the SSB threshold of 9,917 metric tons (21.87 million pounds), indicating the stock is overfished. 


 
A robust, technically-sound SS model could not be developed for the northern stock, so the stock was assessed using a traffic light analysis (TLA). The TLA assigns a color (red, yellow or green) to categorize relative levels of metrics that reflect the condition of red drum adult abundance and fishery performance (i.e., fishing mortality). Although these metrics were not red in the last three years of the assessment, indicating the stock was not overfished nor experiencing overfishing, consistent yellow fishery performance metrics indicated increasing fishing mortality in recent years. Continued monitoring of the northern stock and the increasing trend in fishing mortality is recommended in future years through updates to the TLA.
 
Red drum fisheries are predominately recreational. Removals (harvest + dead discards) increased to relatively high levels at the end of the assessment time series for both stocks. In the northern stock, removals have increased to time series highs. In the southern stock, they have increased to levels similar to time series highs observed in the early 1980s.
 
Commercial landings currently only occur in the northern stock, but are a small proportion of total removals and have fluctuated without trend.
 
The Commission’s Sciaenids Management Board accepted the benchmark stock assessment and peer review reports for management use and tasked the Red Drum Technical Committee with additional analyses to evaluate possible paths forward for red drum management.
 
A more detailed description of the stock assessment results, as well as the Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Reports, will be available on the Commission website athttps://asmfc.org/species/red-drum under Stock Assessment Reports.
 
For more information on the stock assessment, please contact Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org; and for more information on red drum management, please contact Tracey Bauer, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at tbauer@asmfc.org.

Groundfish: Council Signs off on Amendment 25; Prepares for December Final Action on Framework 69 Under Cod Phase 1

October 23, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council took final action on Amendment 25 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) when it met September 24-26, 2024 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The Council is now focused on Framework Adjustment 69 to the FMP. The framework is being developed to establish measures for the 2025 groundfish fishing year and, for certain stocks, 2026 and 2027 as well. The Council is scheduled to take final action on the framework at its December 3-5, 2024 meeting in Newport, Rhode Island. The 2025 groundfish fishing year begins on May 1.

AMENDMENT 25: The 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track Assessment determined that Atlantic cod would be better assessed as four stock units as shown in the map below. The groundfish plan, however, continues to refer to only two stocks – Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Amendment 25 takes the necessary first step of incorporating the four newly defined stocks into the plan as follows:

  • Eastern Gulf of Maine as a new stock unit;
  • Western Gulf of Maine as a new stock unit;
  • Georges Bank as a revised stock unit; and
  • Southern New England as a new stock unit.

Read the full release from the NEFMC here

Right whale population grows 4% but extinction remains a threat

October 22, 2024 — One of the rarest species of whale in the world has increased slightly in population, encouraging conservationists to call on the federal government and the shipping and fishing industries to do more to bring the giant animals back from the brink of extinction.

The North Atlantic right whale, which can weigh up to 150,000 pounds (68,039 kilograms) and lives off the East Coast, plummeted in population in the 2010s. The critically endangered whales, which are stressed by global warming and vulnerable to ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear, fell to fewer than 360 individuals by the early 2020s.

A group of researchers that studies the whales said Tuesday that the population increased to an estimated 372 in 2023. That’s an increase of about 4% from 2020, and “heartening news” after the whale’s population fell by about 25% from 2010 to 2020, researchers said in a statement.

Read the full article at ABC News

New Legislation Seeks to Amend Magnuson-Stevens Act, Address Economic Causes of Fishery Disasters

October 22, 2024 — Congresswoman Nancy Mace (SC-01) introduced the Protect American Fisheries Act of 2024, a law that found the support of various fishing organizations, including the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), along with bipartisan support.

According to a press release from Mace’s office, the bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, adding economic causes as allowable grounds for declaring a fishery resource disaster.

“Foreign interference in U.S. fishery markets, particularly through illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, subsidized foreign fleets, forced and child labor, and dumping of contaminated seafood products, is devastating domestic industries.”

“Our domestic fisheries are under assault not only from illegal and subsidized foreign competition but also from bureaucratic red tape failing to protect American industries. The Protect American Fisheries Act takes a stand against these harmful practices and the inefficiencies in our system allowing them to persist. This legislation ensures we can cut through the red tape, defend the livelihoods of hardworking American fishermen, and strengthen our coastal economies by targeting illegal fishing, predatory pricing, and foreign market distortions,” said Mace.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

BOEM Completes First Region Environmental Review for Offshore Wind

October 22, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed its first regional environmental assessment as part of its continuing effort to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy power generation. The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact States for the New York Bight will be released later this week as a key step to move forward with the six large lease areas from the record February 2022 auction.

“We believe our regional approach will provide a solid baseline for future environmental reviews for any proposed offshore wind projects in the New York Bight,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. It is the next key step in the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to have 30 GW offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. They note that the U.S. surpassed approval for 15 GW of offshore wind energy capacity earlier this year.

BOEM reports it received 1,568 unique comments from 560 submissions which informed this stage of the development project which was designed to set a structure for the environmental review of the six projects.  The six wind lease areas in the NY Bight cover over 488,000 acres offshore New York and New Jersey with BOEM estimating it has a capacity to generate up to 7 GW of offshore wind energy, enough to power up to two million homes.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Judge gives NOAA more time to study offshore drilling risks

October 22, 2024 — A federal judge has agreed to give NOAA Fisheries until next spring to complete its revised analysis of how offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could harm the critically endangered Rice’s whale.

The decision is a key reprieve for the fossil fuel industry and the Biden administration. NOAA Fisheries was originally slated to lose its existing analysis Dec. 20, which threatened to temporarily shut down new and existing offshore development in the region. A finalized analysis must be in place for companies to proceed with offshore oil and gas drilling.

NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) will now have until May 21, 2025, before the existing analysis — called a biological opinion or BiOp — will be tossed out by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Read the full article at E&E News

Gulf menhaden fishery has been confirmed sustainable

October 22, 2024 — The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) released a new report showing that the Gulf menhaden fishery has continued to be harvested sustainably and managed effectively. At its annual meeting this past week, GSMFC approved the 2024 Gulf of Mexico Stock Assessment, which confirmed that the Gulf menhaden stock is neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing.

According to sources, an updated stock assessment hasn’t been completed since 2021, but the newest assessment includes new data from 2021 to 2023. In addition to the conclusion showing no overfishing, the assessment showed positive news for other key metrics of the stock’s health. The spawning stock biomass, which is the combined weight of all fish capable of reproducing, has continued to rise steadily since the 1990s and remains at a sustainable level. The assessment also shared that fishing mortality rates decreased in the 1990s and 2000s and have remained at lower levels.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Regulators delay lobster size limits for six months

October 22, 2024 — Fisheries regulators have given the lobster industry a brief reprieve by delaying new size limits for six months.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said increasing the minimum lobster size by fractions of an inch will help rebuild stocks affected by troubling declines in young lobsters.

The commission’s lobster board argue increasing the minimum catch size will let younger lobsters live longer and reproduce more. Board members voted overwhelmingly Monday to delay the rules during the commission’s annual meeting.

Under the new rule, the minimum carapace measurement for a legal lobster will increase in July 2025, from 3 and 1/4 inches to 3 and 5/16 inches, and increase again a year and a half later.

Read the full article at Maine Public