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MASSACHUSETTS: 15th Annual Wellfleet Oysterfest

Saturday and Sunday
October 17 & 18 2015
10 a.m – 5 p.m.

The 15th annual Wellfleet OysterFest is next weekend. Come join us for a weekend full of hometown flavor and big time fun!

Highlights this year include:

84 Artisans, 32 food vendors and 17 marine, environmental non-profits and community organizations.
Live Music performed by CrabGrass; The Daggers; the Rip it Ups with special guests like Steve Shook, Jordan Renzi, Rayssa Rabeiro, Sarah Burrill and Mac Hay; The Catie Flynn Band; Chandler Travis Philharmonic; and Sarah Swain and the Oh Boys.
The Family Fun Area will feature educational activities, crafts, moon bounces, clowns, face painting and performances geared for the young at heart – Cape Cod African Dance and Drum, Treavor the Juggler, The Elbows, the Keltic Kids and fortune teller Sufi Lin!
The event’s signature tasting program, Taste the Terroir and Merroir, and cooking demos by local chefs such as Philippe Rispole and Sarah Chase, and featuring the beloved oyster will be held at Wellfleet Preservation Hall.
Educational programs will be held at the Wellfleet Public Library and offered by our partners, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service, Green Harbors Boston, and Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
Walking tours will be offered by Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary staff. A tour of the Wellfleet Oyster Propagation site will also be offered by the lead research scientist.
Thanks to a partnership with Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) and the Woods Hole Film Festival, film screenings will be held at WHAT on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Wellfleet Recreation Department will host activities such as the popular Shuck n’ Run, the Tennis and Pickle Ball Round Robin, the SK8 Competition and a sunset a dance party.
And of course, the Annual Oyster Shucking Competition!

Admission is $5 for one day, $8 for two days and children 12 and under are free. Tickets may be purchased at the event or in advance online. Click here to purchase tickets now!

Click here to register for one of the exciting culinary programs or for a detailed Schedule of Activities.

Learn more about the Wellfleet Oysterfest

North Carolina: Weekly Update for Oct. 12, 2015

October 12, 2015 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN NEEDED TO REMOVE MARINE DEBRIS

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is currently accepting applications for its annual Derelict Fishing Gear Recovery Project. This project is open to commercial fishermen in northeastern North Carolina.

Watermen are accepted to this program annually to help N.C. Marine Patrol on select days during the “no-potting” period, typically from Jan. 15 – Feb. 7. The collection will take place in selected areas of Marine Patrol’s District 1, which includes the Northern coast from the Virginia state line, Manteo to Swanquarter, including the Outer Banks to Ocracoke. Local fishermen with knowledge of these waters will be given preference.

To qualify, fishermen must adhere to the following conditions: (1) have a valid Standard Commercial Fishing License (SCFL), (2) guarantee availability for work during the weeks of Jan. 18 and Jan. 25, 2016, (3) attend a mandatory training session to learn how to use project equipment (side-scan sonar and data collection tablets), as well as general project protocol.

Payment is $400 per boat, per day, and a captain and one mate is required. Three days of work are guaranteed with acceptance to the program. Approximately 12 boats (12 captains and 12 mates) will be accepted for the 2016 cleanup.

Funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program, this project is intended to improve habitat and water quality, as well as support commercial watermen. Applications are due Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. Applications are available at www.nccoast.org/ and can be mailed to 128 Grenville Street, Manteo, NC 27954 or faxed to 252-473-2402. For more information contact Ladd Bayliss at 252-473-1607 or laddb@nccoast.org.

STATE SEEKS FOR-HIRE STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY GROUP APPLICANTS

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is seeking members for a For-Hire Stakeholder Advisory Group. The group will be tasked with studying whether the state should require charter and guide boat operators to submit logbooks summarizing their catch. The division is required to submit findings of the study to the N.C. General Assembly in January.

The Division of Marine Fisheries is no longer considering a requirement for a for-hire logbook at this time. However, the group will be asked for input as to what type of logbook, if any, they might like to see in the future.

By law, the For-Hire Stakeholder Advisory Group is limited to those people who hold a For-Hire Coastal Recreational Fishing License or a Standard Commercial Fishing License and division staff. The membership should represent all major recreational fishing areas on the North Carolina coast.

Those who would like to serve on the stakeholder group should contact Don Hesselman, License and Statistics Section chief with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, at 252-808-8099 or Don.Hesselman@ncdenr.gov by 5 p.m. Oct. 19.

As the timeframe for the study is short, the division has tentatively scheduled a first meeting for Nov. 10. The location and time of this meeting will be announced later.

NMFS ANNOUNCES PROPOSED RULE TO IMPLEMENT ICCAT ELECTRONIC BLUEFIN TUNA CATCH DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to implement recommendations by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to transition the current paper-based bluefin tuna catch documentation program (BCD program) to an electronic bluefin tuna catch documentation system (eBCD system). Comments are due Nov. 9, 2015. For more information see the news release.

NCFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS RESCHEDULED

The NCFA board meeting scheduled for today was canceled due to inclement weather. It has been rescheduled for Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Washington Civic Center located at 110 Gladden St. in Washington. As a reminder, members are welcomed and encouraged to attend, however, the board will be discussing the southern flounder management crisis at this meeting, and so we strongly urge all the fishery’s participants who are able to attend. We need your input on this critical issue.

INTERESTED CANDIDATES FOR SAFMC SEAT EXPIRING IN 2016

Members interested in serving in the obligatory seat for the South Atlantic Marine Fishery Commission, please let Lauren know. You can email or give her a call at 252-725-2468.

REGULATION AND RULE CHANGES:

–Commercial Scup Winter II quota and possession limits increase effective Nov. 1

DEADLINES:

Oct. 19 – For-Hire Advisory Group Applications

Oct. 29 – NMFS Proposed Rules for Snapper-Grouper, Dolphin and Golden Crab Comments

Nov. 4 – Atlantic HMS SEDAR Pool Nominations

Nov. 9 – NMFS Proposed Rule on ICCAT Bluefin Electronic Documentation Comments

Nov. 19 – Derelict Fishing Gear Recovery Project Applications

Dec. 16 – NMFS Draft Ecosystem-based Fishery Management Policy Comments

MEETINGS:

If you are aware of ANY meetings that should be of interest to commercial fishing that is not on this list, please contact us so we can include it here.

Oct. 15 at 9 a.m. – Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel Meeting, Radisson Hotel Providence Airport, 2081 Post Road, Warwick, RI

Oct. 21 at 10:30 a.m. – Standard Commercial Fishing License Eligibility Board Meeting, Department of Environmental Quality Regional Office, 127 N. Cardinal Dr. Ext., Wilmington, NC

Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. – Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel Meeting via webinar

Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. – Marine Fisheries Commission Nominating Committee Meeting, Division of Marine Fisheries Headquarters, 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City

Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. – NCFA Board of Directors Meeting, Washington Civic Center, 110 Gladden St., Washington, NC

PROCLAMATIONS:

No proclamations have been issued.

View a PDF of the Oct. 12 Weekly Update

An ‘explosion’ of menhaden

October 13, 2015 — Here’s a statistic, which is a best-guess estimate, but nonetheless difficult to wrap one’s head around: On Tuesday, Oct. 6, there were 5.8 million pounds of menhaden swimming in the bay.

That isn’t too hard to imagine if you looked down from the Pawtuxet River Bridge the following day, or actually, as it turns out, just about any time in the last two weeks. What you would have seen are thousands upon thousands of fish. Most of them were juvenile menhaden averaging about three inches long. Mixed in the schools – so thick that they looked like carpets – were a few adults of about 11 inches. And then there were the predators – the cormorants, sea gulls, terns and bluefish and stripers – gorging themselves.

“The menhaden population has absolutely exploded this year,” says Christopher Deacutis.

Deacutis, supervisor of environmental science for the Department of Environmental Management, said large schools of the fish have been seen up and down the eastern seaboard, and there have been reports of humpback whales feeding off them last month in Long Island Sound. The whales haven’t been reported in Rhode Island waters, but Deacutis suspects the menhaden are the reason why schools of common dolphins have been spotted at the mouth of Narragansett Bay.

Read the full story from the Warwick Beacon

NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office: Strategic Plan 2016-2020

October 13, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office:

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NOAA Fisheries) mission is the science-based stewardship of the nation’s living marine resources and their habitat. The Alaska Region is one of five regional offices that together support marine resource management in all Federal waters of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (US EEZ: 3-200 miles offshore). The Alaska Region is a bureau of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is housed in the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). The stepped strategic approach (figure 1) of DOC, NOAA, and NMFS informs and reinforces the Region’s science based stewardship mission.

NOAA Fisheries relies on a number of statutory authorities to define its mandate and authorize the execution of its mission. The principal statutes are the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

A study in 2000 reported that NOAA Fisheries is the fourth largest promulgator of regulations in the Federal Government. A proportionally significant amount of this regulatory workload originates from the North Pacific, the overwhelming majority of which are developed under a uniquely participatory management system involving representatives from affected states and stakeholders, including the commercial and recreational fishing sectors. In the case of Alaska, the Region relies on the work of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to ensure sustainable fishery harvest levels, establish conservation measures, and allocate resources among often competing user groups. Fishery management, along with the conservation of marine mammals and habitat, is supported by a robust scientific enterprise led by the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center. It is within this governance and scientific framework that the Region executes its stewardship mission.

Read the full release from NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office

New Bedford, Mass. waterfront development sparks optimism — and skepticism

October 7, 2015 — Could the former NStar site be home to the East Coast’s first flume tank for fisheries, a New Bedford Harbor Hotel or a state-of-the-art center and tech museum? What if State Pier had retail shops mixed in with a busy farmers and fish market to draw in tourists?

These ideas were among those floated at a public meeting Wednesday night on the future of New Bedford’s waterfront as part of a master planning process that is designed to help residents envision where growth should happen.

While there were some positive ideas, planners also were met with skepticism as some residents said they doubted progress would be made.

The planning process began last fall and will culminate at the end of this year with draft plans followed by several public meetings and approvals at the city level.

“This whole process is about the whole waterfront from Coggeshall Street to Cove Street. It is a plan that is about the future vision of the waterfront,” said Ed Anthes-Washburn, acting port director for the Harbor Development Commission.

The public meeting was the second of two meetings following a year’s worth of planning and public interviews along the waterfront by a waterfront steering committee and representatives of Boston consulting firm Sasaki Associates.

While residents and community members filled the conference room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites’ Waypoint Event Center to weigh in on the future of the waterfront, there was clearly skepticism. Many people said they already considered the prospects of development unlikely, questioned where money would come from and others speculated that the entire process was a Nov. 3 election stunt.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Commissioner names conduit to state, federal fishery officials

October 8, 2015 — State Fish & Game Commissioner George Peterson wasn’t able to land his first choice as the new director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries back in July, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t able to find a state position for his preferred candidate.

Peterson, in Gloucester for Thursday’s meeting of the state Marine Fisheries Commission, announced Gov. Charlie Baker has given him the green light to create a new position — special assistant to the commissioner’s office for marine fisheries issues — and place Douglas Christel in that new job.

“He will report directly to me,” Peterson said of Christel, who is set to begin work in his new job during the first week of November. “I believe he will be an asset to this agency [DMF] and this commission.”

Peterson said Christel, a longtime National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries staffer and Peterson’s first choice to succeed Paul Diodati as director of DMF, will serve as a conduit of information from various elements in the state’s marine fishery regulatory and scientific apparatus — as well as their federal counterparts — to enable Peterson, Secretary for the Environment Daniel Sieger and Baker to formulate more informed policy.

“For instance, the governor has raised some questions about the science being used to perform the stock assessments,” Peterson said. “We see this as a way of helping get new information into the system.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Fishermen walk out of Fisheries Management Council meeting

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — October 6, 2015 — They called it a “fisheries policy action,” but in the Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor lobby, where they gathered, it was clearly a cry for help.

Dozens of local fisherman, from Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and even New Orleans – most wearing bright orange “Who Fishes Matters” shirts – joined voices to produce a wail of dismay over regional fishing policies that they believe are eradicating both the fish and community-based fishing. “Who Fishes Matters” is a slogan of the North Atlantic Marine Alliance.

Fishermen like Ed Barrett, skipper of the Plymouth-based fishing vessel (F/V) Phoenix, whose voice cracked as he spoke outside the conference room after a large group of fisherman had walked out of a meeting of the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC).

“A stock that was almost fully recovered in 2009 was a disaster in 2012. It took two years to turn 15 years of hard sacrifices to rebuild stocks to put them in the toilet,” Barrett said, stammering with emotion.

Barrett said that when he began fishing out of Plymouth, 36 years ago, the harbor was filled with fishing vessels, including many federally permitted ships. But today, after more than 15 years of management the harbor is very different.

Read the full story from Wicked Local Plymouth

Pink shrimp is Washington’s first state-managed MSC certified sustainable fishery

October 8, 2015 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Washington pink shrimp is the first fishery managed by the state of Washington to achieve certification to the global Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard for sustainable, wild-caught seafood. The Washington pink shrimp fishery was independently assessed as a scope extension of the MSC certified Oregon pink shrimp fishery, which achieved certification to the MSC standard in December 2007 and attained recertification in February 2013.

“Washington state’s pink shrimp fishermen are proud that this is the first Washington state-managed fishery to earn certification to the MSC standard,” said Charles Kirschbaum, ‎Pacific Seafood Group’s product manager. “Efforts by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, working closely with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, to develop and adopt reference points, and implement bycatch reduction measures are key to making the fishery one of the most sustainable shrimp fisheries in the world.”

Lorna Wargo, Senior Fisheries Biologist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said, “Washington pink shrimp fishermen have a record of being willing to adopt sustainable fishing practices, often ahead of regulatory action, so I’m very pleased to see recognition of the fishery through MSC certification. We look forward to continued work with shrimpers and processors, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, as such collaboration is an effective strategy for ensuring a healthy shrimp stock and vital fishery.”

Pink shrimp, also known as ocean shrimp, are generally considered to have a clean, sweet flavor and are commonly served on salad, in a shrimp roll or as whole cooked peel and eat shrimp. Since the late 1990’s, fishing for pink shrimp in Washington has steadily improved with recent landings increasing from approximately 10 million pounds per year to a record 30 million pounds, with a value of more than $16 million, in 2014. Fishing for Washington pink shrimp is allowed only in the U.S. federal Exclusive Economic Zone (which extends 200 nautical miles from the coast) and prohibited in State waters (0-3 mi). Permitted fishers are allowed to land as much as they can as long as they follow season (April 1 through October 31), area, size, and gear regulations (single and double-rigged shrimp trawl gear is permitted).

Brian Perkins, MSC Regional Director, Americas, said, “The expansion of the MSC certified pink shrimp fishery to include Washington pink shrimp is a significant advancement. In 2007, Oregon pink shrimp became the first pink shrimp fishery in the world to achieve MSC certification, and the addition of Washington demonstrates that this fishery continues to be committed to sustainably harvesting pink shrimp.”

This certification assessed the west coast pink (ocean) shrimp stock which extends from south east Alaska to California waters. The assessment considered the health of the coast wide stock and the effects of all permitted harvests on that stock.

Read the release here

NORTH CAROLINA: Commission delays vote on southern flounder

October 6, 2015 — A state commission will delay until November a decision on whether the state should impose new restrictions on southern flounder in an effort to protect the potentially over-fished coastal stock.

Some recreational fishermen and conservationists claim the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission put off the protections under political pressure from a handful of state lawmakers and the state’s commercial fishing interests. Waiting until November means the new limits won’t be in place for this year’s fall season.

The Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina has written to the commission chairman, Sammy Corbett, saying it is “infuriated” at his decision not to take up the topic until the next scheduled meeting, in mid-November. In August, Corbett said a special meeting would be held in September to consider the restrictions.

“This is not your commission, but a governor-appointed body that includes diverse interests, tasked with the duty to safeguard and manage public fisheries resources for all of the citizens of North Carolina,” Bud Abbott, the organization’s president, wrote.

Read the full story at The News & Observer

Maine Technology Institute awards grants to 4 early-stage companies

October 7, 2015 — The Maine Technology Institute has awarded grants totaling $92,414 to four Maine startups developing products in the aquaculture, information technology and building supply industries.

MTI, a state-backed agency that supports innovative companies, provided Business Accelerator Grants to the following companies:

• Acadia Harvest in Brunswick, developing a land-based aquaculture facility, received a grant of $49,975, which the company matched with $657,685 from other sources;

• Joseph Associates Inc., an information technology firm in Farmingdale, received $22,977, which the company matched with an equal amount;

• Revolution Research Inc., an Orono-based company started by two University of Maine students that is developing new insulation products for the building supply industry, received $15,000, which the company matched with a $224,996 investment raised from other sources.

Read the full story at the Kennebec Journal