State and Local

October 12, 2013 — Bering Sea crabbers feel like they've been “rammed” by Congress, even though what they really need is the reopening of RAM — the federal Restricted Access Management program — so they can fish in time to sell on the lucrative Japanese New Year's market.

Tuesday’s scheduled opening of the valuable Bristol Bay red king crab season could be delayed because of the shutdown of federal agencies including the National Marine Fisheries Service's RAM program, which issues individual fishing quota permits.

"We're pretty concerned about it," said crab fishermen's representative Jake Jacobsen of the Inter Cooperative Exchange (ICE). "We can't set pots until we have an IFQ permit on board the vessel." He hopes the RAM staff in Juneau will soon be "unfurloughed."

Nov. 12 king crab deadline

Tuesday’s scheduled opening of the valuable Bristol Bay red king crab season could be delayed because of the shutdown of federal agencies including the National Marine Fisheries Service's RAM program, which issues individual fishing quota permits.

"We're pretty concerned about it," said crab fishermen's representative Jake Jacobsen of the Inter Cooperative Exchange (ICE). "We can't set pots until we have an IFQ permit on board the vessel." He hopes the RAM staff in Juneau will soon be "unfurloughed."

Read the full story from the Alaska Dispatch

October 14, 2013 — The number of crabs in New Jersey’s Bay’s and Ocean’s has declined over the past year. Some in the multi-million dollar crabbing industry believe Superstorm Sandy last October was one of the culprits, but one expert tells us it may be too soon to tell.

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The number of crabs in New Jersey’s Bay’s and Ocean’s has declined over the past year. Some in the multi-million dollar crabbing industry believe Superstorm Sandy last October was one of the culprits, but one expert tells us it may be too soon to tell.

Joe Rizzo, a commercial crabber from Southern Ocean County, also sits on the New Jersey State Marine Fisheries Council.

Read the full story and listen to the audio from New Jersey 101.5

October 14, 2013 — The following was released by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute:

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) would like to clarify that although the bulk of the Alaska salmon fishery has earned MSC certification, the majority of Alaska salmon processing companies (27 companies in total) will not being selling MSC certified Alaska salmon. This means approximately over 80% of the Alaska salmon supply will not carry the MSC eco-label.

"It's important that buyers understand and not be confused by the recent Alaska salmon MSC certification announcement. The Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association (PSVOA) is the MSC client for Alaska salmon, but this means that even though a portion of the fishery is MSC certified, only about 20% of the salmon harvest could be called out as MSC certified," states Michael Cerne, Executive Director at ASMI.  "The announcement of MSC certification of Alaska salmon should not be interpreted as a change in the decision by the dozens of companies to no longer sell and support MSC Alaska salmon."

"The discussion of the merits of one certification program versus another is irrelevant to the sustainability of a fishery with a proven track record of over 50 years of responsible management.  Alaska salmon has taken a precautionary approach to management ever since the sustained yield principle was written into the State Constitution during which time we have seen runs rebuilt to record levels," Mr. Cerne said.

The Alaska salmon industry remains steadfast in its support for choice in certification, which is why the Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification program is gaining so much momentum. Over 65 companies now have Chain of Custody certification for RFM. To see the list of companies, click here.

With numerous organizations providing third-party certification for responsible management and sustainability, RFM offers a credible certification choice for the marketplace. This certification shows that Alaska's fisheries meet the criteria of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the most comprehensive and respected fisheries management guidelines in the world.  The following Alaska fisheries are RFM certified: salmon, pollock, black cod/sablefish, halibut, cod, and king and snow crab. The Alaska flatfish fishery is currently under assessment.

For more information on Alaska's responsible management and RFM Certification go to www.alaskaseafood.org.

Read the release here

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., — October 12, 2013 — The state Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law has awarded the Harbor Development Commission a $75,000 grant to prepare a recovery and revitalization plan for the Port of New Bedford.

The commission will gather economic data and make recommendations regarding public and private actions needed to save shoreside jobs even as regulation has crippled the fishing industry in recent years.

"Having seen the crippling effects of federal fishing regulations on New Bedford's port side industries, I earmarked funds to allow New Bedford and other fishing ports to begin planning for a future without existing levels of commercial fishing," state Sen. Mark Montigny said in a statement.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times 

 

October 10, 2013 — The Wellfleet OysterFest has reached critical mass. Next weekend (Oct. 19-20) will mark the town's 13th celebration of that briny bivalve, and the party has grown every year.

The inaugural event was in 2001 by Mayo Beach. The idea had been simmering for a while until Lisa Brown and Becky Rosenberg made it reality. Something like 350 people showed up. When the crowd wiped out the food in 20 minutes, organizers knew they were on to something.

While the event has moved up town, and is now so popular that simply moving around is an adventure more resembling a rugby scrum than a stroll in the park, it comes at a time when local shellfishermen are being squeezed.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterium is one problem. It's a virulent, though rare, bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and cramping. In certain immuno-deficient individuals, it can be fatal. Raw shellfish consumption is the most common way humans contact vibrio.

While reported cases have nearly doubled, from 27 last year in the state to 50 reported cases this year — out of about 4,500 cases nationally — it mirrors the rise in oyster popularity.

Production in the fishery has basically doubled in the state in a few years as oyster cache has soared in the big Boston and New York markets. We simply have more oysters than ever, millions of them on the Cape alone.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., — October 11, 2013 — The following was released by the coordinators of the Working Waterfront Festival:

The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues on Friday, October 18th with Salt of the Sea, a 2012 documentary which considers the impact of recent regulations on the New England groundfishing fleet. Dock-U-Mentaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the Working Waterfront Festival.  Films about the working waterfront are screened on the third Friday of each month beginning at 7:00 PM in the theater of the Corson Maritime Learning Center, located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. All programs are open to the public and presented free of charge. This program is subject to the re-opening of the National Park which is currently closed due to the federal government shutdown. If the Park remains closed, the screening will be postponed.

When passion for fishing intersects with the power of politics, a century’s old way of life is at stake. Producer Tom Garber captures the unique personalities, politics, and dangers of groundfishing in New England in this 2012 documentary. Salt of the Sea provides a rare look at what happens when independent traditions clash with bureaucracy and corruption.

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The free festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England's commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen's contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid's activities and more.  It all takes place on working piers and waterfront parks in New Bedford, MA, America's #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend in September. www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park was established by Congress in 1996 to help preserve and interpret America’s nineteenth century whaling industry. The park, which encompasses a 13-block National Historic Landmark District, is the only National Park Service area addressing the history of the whaling industry and its influence on the economic, social, and environmental history of the United States. The National Park visitor center is located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. It is open seven days a week, from 9 AM-5 PM, and offers information, exhibits, and a free orientation movie every hour on the hour from 10 AM-3 PM. For more information, call the visitor center at 508-996-4095, go to www.nps.gov, or visit the park’s Facebook page. 

 

 

 

October 11, 2013 — Alaska's multi-million dollar king crab fisheries open on Oct. 15, but the harvest could be delayed, for a lack of required individual fishing quota and processor quota share permits.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has been unable to issue those permits, because employees whose job it is to do were furloughed, because of a congressional dispute over the nation's debt limit and the Affordable Care Act.

A delay in harvest could prove costly for processors who must have Bristol Bay red king crab loaded onto boats by mid-November, headed for holiday markets in Japan.

The situation has the industry frankly nervous, said Jake Jacobsen, executive director of the Intercoop Exchange in Seattle, noting that the crab should be heading by sea to Japan by around Nov.12.

Meanwhile, fishermen are gearing up for the lucrative Bristol Bay red king crab fishery. Jacobsen said 80 crab boats with an average of six crewmembers, are registered to harvest this year's allocation to holders of individual fishing quota, a total of 7,740,000 pounds. The total allowable catch of 8.6 million pounds also includes 860,000 pounds for western Alaska's six community development quota groups. Last year the allocation of 7.8 million pounds, included 7,067,700 pounds for individual fishing quota permit holders and 785,300 pounds for holders of community development quota.

State officials said a valid U.S. Coast Guard commercial fisheries vessel safety decal is required before a vessel registration may be issued, and that an activated vessel monitoring system approved by National Marine Fisheries Service is also required.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

 

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [seafoodnews.com] —  October 10, 2013 –The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has “red listed” shrimp caught in Louisiana state waters. The state stands alone among Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic states in the enforcement of the federal requirements to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), which according to studies have proved effective in reducing sea turtle deaths and allowing their populations to begin a slow recovery.

Turtle excluder devices enable sea turtles, and other bycatch, caught in fishing nets to escape through special openings. Turtles sometimes are swept up into the fine mesh of a shrimper’s net and drown when unable to escape.

Under a 1987 state law backed by the Louisiana Shrimp Association, Louisiana officials are forbidden from enforcing TED requirements.

In 2010, as the Deepwater Horizon incident unfolded, a bill was put before Gov. Bobby Jindal to repealed the prohibition of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement of federal turtle excluder device laws for fishermen in state’s waters.

Introduced by Representative Eddie Lambert, House Bill 1334 passed both houses with little opposition but never made it off the governor’s desk.

“Avoid” Listing Solely on Harvesting Techniques

The Seafood Watch rating categories include: Super Green – Healthy for People and Oceans, Green – Best Choices, Yellow – Good Alternatives and Red – Avoid. Currently all Gulf shrimp is rated yellow. The new “red listing” for Louisiana landed shrimp will mean “Avoid: Take a pass on this items for now. They are caught or farmed in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.”

The new listing by Seafood Watch is not based on sustainability, but solely on harvesting practices. The failure of many Louisiana shrimpers to use TED’s, resulting in  the “Avoid” listing by Seafood Watch may damage public perception of Louisiana caught shrimp, as well as result in the loss of millions of dollars for state businesses.

During the past three years environmental groups have negotiated with various Louisiana state agencies and officials to try to implement a bycatch law. The state has yet to find an effective way to address concerns satisfying all parties involved.

“This is disaster for the Louisiana shrimping community,” said Larry Avery, managing partner of Gulf Island Shrimp & Seafood in Lake Charles, LA and a member of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.  “Just as shrimp prices have started to recover while overseas shrimp producers continue to struggle with diseased infected shrimp, now this happens.  It could potential damage my business, as well almost every other business across the state.”

Kim Chauvin, owner of Bluewater Shrimp Company in Dulac, LA, said “this is just another effort by outsiders to cripple the Louisiana shrimping industry.  They don’t understand all the effort and hard work we have put into making sure our seafood is sustainable and safe, even without excluder devices.”

“We have worked hard on training our fishermen on proper NOAA tow times and bycatch release procedures,” she explained.

Retail Buyers Follow Recommendations

The Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch currently has more than 150 organizational and corporate members worldwide, and is supported by some to the top chefs and restaurants.  With more than $35 million in in yearly funding, it estimates that more than 13,000 retail outlets closely follow their buy/don’t buy recommendations

Retail buyers following the organization’s recommendations include; Costco, Trader Joes and Whole Foods, which prominently display the rating system in their store’s seafood departments and will not carry fish “red lighted” seafood.

“The world is watching our industry and taking notice, so it is time we take notice. At some point in the future the Louisiana legislature is going to have to address the issue and pass legislation that is acceptable to both the fishermen and environmentalists,” Avery said.

Seafood Watch recently upgraded U.S.-caught red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico to a “Good Alternative” recommendation because sound management has helped once-depleted populations recover.

A recently released assessment of the U.S. shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic by the organization reaffirms that the U.S fleet is a global leader in addressing one of the most critical conservation threats facing sea turtles: bycatch of endangered and threatened turtles in shrimp trawl nets

Fishermen Following Regs May be Penalized

The new “red listing” is for shrimp caught only in Louisiana state waters only.  However a majority of the state’s docks and processors do not label or separate shrimp caught in state waters, to those shrimp caught elsewhere.

“The new listing will only affect shrimp caught in state waters, however If a shrimp is landed in Louisiana, whether it comes from Texas or another Gulf state, it may be included,” said Lance Nacio, owner of Anna Marie Shrimp in Montegut, LA and a member of the state’s Shrimp Task Force.

Nacio, a fisherman who uses TEDs, skimmers and bycatch reduction devices (BRD), feels confident that he can pass any required standards. He lands seafood at his own dock, and regularly ships shrimp to the west coast as well as to Whole Foods.

“I fish in state waters and I like the results of TEDs in trawls and BRDs in skimmers. They make for a cleaner catch as well as produce a better quality shrimp,” he said.

A Louisiana fisherman using all the  federal best practices standards for shrimping, Nacio might suffer from the “Avoid” listing.

“Even when conscientious Louisiana fishermen voluntarily comply with regulations that protect sea turtles, the state’s mandate not to enforce this essential measure creates a critical conservation concern and an ‘Avoid’ recommendation for all shrimp caught in Louisiana,” said Margaret Spring, vice president of conservation and science for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, who assisted in crafting the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act that has been instrumental in the recovery of fisheries in U.S. waters

TED’s Used By Other Gulf States

“In all other shrimping states – from the Carolinas to Texas – use of Turtle Excluder Devices has been effective in reducing impacts on sea turtles,” Spring said. “We applaud the strong federal and state fisheries management policies that require TEDs, and the conscientious shrimp fishermen who are using TEDs. They are leading the way in sea turtle recovery.”

“Seafood Watch assesses wild-caught and farmed seafood based on peer-reviewed science reports and fully transparent criteria that we publish on the Monterey Bay Aquarium website,” said Seafood Watch Director Jennifer Dianto Kemmerly.

“If there’s a change in Louisiana’s management of its shrimp fishery to address the critical conservation concern around sea turtles, we can quickly revisit our recommendations to reflect that change,” she added.

In addition to using TEDs to protect sea turtles, Kemmerly said that most U.S. shrimp boats use bycatch reduction devices that play a vital role in the recovery of commercially important fish species, like red snapper, that would otherwise be accidentally killed in shrimp trawling gear.

Bycatch reduction devices and TEDs are not required on the skimmer trawls used by some shrimp boats. Shrimp caught using skimmer trawls – a small fraction of total U.S. shrimp landings – also remains on the Seafood Watch “Avoid” list.

According to the organization, Seafood Watch regularly assesses wild-caught and farmed seafood based on peer-reviewed science incorporating input from fishing interests, academic experts, and federal and state fishery scientists and managers – including information from NOAA’s Fish Watch.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

October 8, 2013 — The majority of Alaska’s salmon fishery on Tuesday was cleared for Marine Stewardship Council recertification.

While 13 of the 14 fisheries that make up the Alaska salmon fishery were cleared for recertification, the assessment team said it needs additional information in order to conduct the assessment of the Prince William Sound fishery.

Six conditions of certification were placed on the fishery for the 13 areas deemed sustainable. Click here to read the full assessment.

Read the full story at Seafood Source 

 

October 7, 2013 — Russell Nelson, a nationally acclaimed scientist who led the former Florida Marine Fisheries Commission through a pivotal period, has died.

Nelson died of an apparent heart attack Saturday at his home in Fort Lauderdale. Nelson, a former Tallahassee resident, was 65.

The Florida Marine Fisheries Commission was created in 1983 to oversee the increased fishing pressures along the Florida coast. In 1999, the agency was merged into the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission, becoming the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Nelson served as executive director of the Marine Fisheries Commission and division from 1987 to 2000. He then moved from Tallahassee to South Florida, where he started his own consulting firm, advising sport fishing conservation organizations and federal agencies on ocean fisheries management and protection.

Read the full story at the Tallahassee Democrat