Washington

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — June 17, 2014 — Professor Ray Hilborn, Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, one of they keynote speakers on sustainble fisheries, said we were at a global crossroads with overfishing and bycatch being major areas to address. However he stressed that this was a problem being successfully addressed in some countries. Professor Hilborn emphasised to the international delegates that the status of fish stocks round the world varied considerably, and the trend among developed countries over the past decade was to successfully rebuild overfished stocks, such as in the North Atlantic, to maximum sustainable yield levels.

He also specifically identified “Alaska and New Zealand [who] have never really been subject to any significant overfishing pressure” in comparison to other parts of the world in recent years with modern fishery management tools.

Seafood New Zealand’s Executive Chairman George Clement says Professor Hilborn is recognised as a world authority on fisheries science management and his familiarity with the New Zealand Quota Management System (QMS) makes him well qualified to single out the success of New Zealand fisheries management.
 
George Clement says that despite what he calls the ill-informed domestic criticism of New Zealand’s fisheries, other countries are increasingly adopting fisheries management systems similar to New Zealand’s, which rely on scientific information to regularly adjust what are safe limits of quantities to fish.
 
“There is no fish stock in New Zealand which is under any real threat from commercial fishing. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has just this week issued a publication on the anniversary of 30 years of the Fishing Plenaries, which is used to assess the stocks and set the QMS levels, and reduce them if there is a concern.”
 
MPI states in the publication, “by far the majority of New Zealand’s fisheries are performing well.  There is a small minority of fisheries which need to be managed better, but the trend is towards more and more of our stocks getting into the optimum volume for a sustainable fishery and a sustainable fish population.”
 
The publication identifies a more than three per cent increase in the number of stocks during the past year, reaching or above target sustainability levels, to 72.5 per cent.  In the US, NOAA has also announced a steady increase in the number of US fisheries that are recovered and not subject to either overfishing, or to being in an overfished state.
 
George Clement says the preservation of the ocean itself is also a priority in New Zealand fisheries management.
 
“Since 2007, 1.1 million square kilometres of our Exclusive Economic Zone has been protected under a regime of Seabed Closures and Benthic Protected Areas, where it is illegal to trawl or dredge the ocean floor.  This protection, which covers thirty per cent of our EEZ, comprises fifteen per cent of all the world’s Marine Protected Areas as recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.”
 
George Clement says New Zealand is also developing a practical and radical way of selective capture of fish through Precision Seafood Harvesting, which catches the fish alive and allows undersize and non-target species to escape alive and unharmed.

“It’s in the initial stages of commercialisation, but is just one of the ways in which we are maintaining our world leadership in New Zealand.”

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

June 12, 2014 — Capt. Keith Colburn says crab fishing is more difficult than lobbying lawmakers, but one of the stars of Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” says working with Congress is definitely “more complex” than his day job.

“There’s a lot that goes into coming back here, hopefully trying to put the right message and trying to get the results you’re after. And that’s not a real easy thing to do in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

It was a return visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for Colburn, who has traveled to D.C. many times before and was last in town with reality TV cameras rolling during last year’s government shutdown. He testified then before Congress about the impact the shutdown would have on the fishing industry.

Read the full story from The Hill

WASHINGTON — June 11, 2014 — House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) and 42 Members of Congress sent a letter today to U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) Director Dan Ashe and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Kathryn Sullivan requesting a six month extension of the public comment period for three proposed Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations.

The proposed rules, released on May 12, 2014, would make sweeping changes to how critical habitat designations are determined.  Specifically, how the federal government will evaluate whether proposed actions “destroy or adversely modify” critical habitat under the ESA; redefining “adverse modification” as used in consultation under Section 7 of the ESA, and creating a new policy on whether and when to exclude lands or waters from critical habitat designations under Section 4(b)(2).  The current 60 day public comment period expires on July 11, 2014.

Read the full story here

WASHINGTON — June 11, 2014 — Today, U.S. Senator Kay Hagan announced that after she sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, the committee rejected an effort to close the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lab in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Hagan has strongly opposed closing the lab, and in April, she sent a letter to Appropriations Committee leaders urging the committee to reject the portion of the President’s fiscal year 2015 proposal that would close the NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, which supports 100 jobs in Carteret County.

Read the full story from The Jacksonville Daily News

WASHINGTON — June 11, 2014 — Today, U.S. Senator Kay Hagan announced that after she sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, the committee rejected an effort to close the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lab in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Hagan has strongly opposed closing the lab, and in April, she sent a letter to Appropriations Committee leaders urging the committee to reject the portion of the President’s fiscal year 2015 proposal that would close the NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, which supports 100 jobs in Carteret County.

Read the full story from The Jacksonville Daily News

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — June 11, 2014 — The U.S. Coast Guard's aging fleet would be modernized with more reliable and efficient cutters, boats and aircraft so the Coast Guard can more effectively patrol America's waterways, under bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday by U.S. Senator Mark Begich.

The Coast Guard Authorization Act (CGAA) would authorize $8.72 billion in funding for the Coast Guard for each of the two years in Fiscal 2015 and 2016. This includes just under $7 billion each year for Coast

Guard operating expenses and roughly $1.5 billion each year for the Coast Guard's ongoing replacement program.

"We owe it to the men and women of the Coast Guard and their families to make sure the Service has enough resources to do everything that we ask and expect. In Alaska, we know the Coast Guard is essential to our communities and economic vitality — from saving mariners' lives, to assisting isolated communities in need of emergency supplies, to ensuring safe, environmentally sound Arctic oil and gas exploration, to cracking down on high seas pirate fishing that undercuts the value of Alaska seafood," said Begich. "As Chairman of the Senate Oceans Subcommittee, I will continue to do everything I can to keep the Coast Guard strong and agile, so they can live up to their motto of being 'Always Ready' in Alaska and around the country."

In addition to authorizing funding levels, the CGAA (S. 2444) also makes a number of changes to federal laws that will enhance the Service's prevention and response capabilities in the Arctic and improve the quality of life for Coast Guard personnel and their families. Most notably, the bill:

– Extends the useful service of the second of the Nation's only two heavy polar icebreakers, the Coast Guard Cutter POLAR SEA. That vessel is currently docked in Seattle and not being used;

– Increases competition in the design and construction of new heavy icebreakers.

– Enhances vessel safety information regarding ice and weather conditions, and improved oil spill prevention and response capabilities;

– Ensures the availability of quality child care for Coast Guard personnel;

– Creates educational and portable career opportunities for active duty Coast Guard spouses, and ease the transition of Coast Guard personnel into post-service life.

Begich, who is the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard indicated he expected the Coast Guard bill to be formally considered by the Committee later this month, and by the full Senate later this summer. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), John Thune (R-SD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL). Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has also signed on as a cosponsor.

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

SEAFOODNEWS.COM — June 6, 2014 — Senator Lisa Murkowski highlighted her work on several imporant fisheries funding issues that were included in the full Commerce 2015 funding bill that was recently passed by the Appropriations Committee.

The provisions provided level funding for salmon assessment and management, defeating an administration request to cut salmon funding by 10%.  Salmon management will be funded at the $30.2 million level in the bill.
 
The bill also expanded money for stock assessment including $72.2 million in expanded stock assessments and $24.4 million for survey and  monitoring projects within NOAA's Fisheries Research and Management Account.
 
The bill also continues the prohibition that prevents the Commerce Dept. or other government agencies from endorsing or using private 3rd party certification standards for US managed fisheries.

The full language of this section says:
 
"The U.S. leads the world in responsibly managed fisheries and aquaculture, and the Committee supports NOAA’s activities to inform consumers about our nation’s sustainable fisheries through the agency’s Fish Watch program. 
 
However, the Committee is concerned that the exclusive use or recognition of third-party certifications for seafood sustainability by the Department could have unintended consequences for various domestic fisheries. 
 
The Committee acknowledges that some U.S. fisheries voluntarily utilize third-party seafood sustainability certification schemes but believes it is not the Department’s role to adopt such certification schemes when doing so could result in the Department arbitrarily influencing the domestic seafood market. 
 
The Committee believes support for third-party certifications is best presented in non-governmental forums. 
 
Therefore, the Committee directs the Department not to adopt, use, or promote any third-party certification scheme for seafood sustainability, but to continue providing consumers with independent and accountable information generated from within the Department."
 
The funding bill also contained several things specifically important to Alaska.
 
They include support for the North Pacific Council, the Pacific Salmon Commission and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.
 
There is a special provision to expand charting in arctic waters.  "The Committee directs NOAA to report within 60 days of enactment on progress made to survey and prepare navigational information for the Bering Straits region and the Arctic.  NOAA is further directed to report on hydrographic activities planned for fiscal year 2015, including: vessels to be utilized, the areas to be surveyed, and the remaining gaps in the Arctic region.”  This will come out of the general $25 million appropriated for hydrographic surveys.
 
 The bill includes $4 million in funds for implementing electronic monitoring systems on fishing vessels.  Last year, Senator Murkowski supported NOAA's moves to use cameras as more efficient than placing an observer on-board.  The bill just finalized also includes language from Senator Murkowski placing a premium on getting this project moving forward, reading:
 
"The Committee encourages [National Marine Fisheries Service] to support the use of experimental fisheries permits, to continue the expeditious development of electronic monitoring equipment and procedures, and to use the experimental fisheries permits as the bridge between cooperative research and the implementation of electronic monitoring technology by regulation as a component of the Observer Program for small boat fixed gear fleets."
 
The bill also includes money for Tsunami debris clean up on Alaska and West Coast beaches, and money for improved maintenance of navigation and weather buoys. 

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

June 4, 2014 — If genetically modified salmon is approved by the federal government, it may be labeled as such. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee last week passed the bipartisan Murkowski-Begich amendment requiring that consumers be advised of what they are buying.

During testimony, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) questioned if the so-called "Frankenfish" can even be called a real salmon.

"This takes a transgenic Atlantic salmon egg, which has genes from an ocean pout that is somewhat akin to an eel, and it combines with the genes of a Chinook salmon. I have questioned time and time again, why we would want to be messing with Mother Nature like this," Murkowski said. "We are trying to invent a species that would grow quicker to out-compete our wild stocks. This experiment puts at risk the health of our fisheries not only in Alaska, but throughout the Pacific Northwest."

"We're not talking about GM corn or something else that is grown. We are talking about a species that moves, migrates, and breeds," the senator stressed. "This is an experiment that if it went wrong could be devastating to the wild, healthy stocks that our farmers of the sea depend upon."

The AquaAdvantage "Frankenfish," created by a company called AquaBounty based in the U.S. and Panama, has been vying for Food & Drug Administration approval for two decades. The company has spent nearly $80 million on what would be the first genetically engineered animal to be approved for human consumption. Because the gene tweaking is considered a "veterinary procedure," the fish will not be required to use any labeling identifying it as a man-made product.

Read the full story at Capital City Weekly 

 

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., added language to a pending spending bill for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that she says will prevent another extremely short red snapper fishing season in the Gulf of Mexico.

This year's recreation red snapper season was limited to June 1-June 10.

For NOAA's 2015 spending bill, Landrieu inserted a provision ordering a Government Accountability Office study on how the agency collects and analyzes data on recreational fishing, including red snapper.

Also included in the spending bill is a $2 million voluntary electronic logbook project that will give NOAA better data on for-hire recreational fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the full story from The Times-Picayune

WASHINGTON — May 30, 2014 — The Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act (H.R. 4742) was approved by a House committee on Thursday, May 29. The House Natural Resources Committee voted in favor of the bill, which would reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation & Management Act. The committee approved a series of amendments.

The bill passed on a roll call vote of 24 to 17. One of the approved amendments would require new federal-state partnerships to collect recreational fishing data. The Department of Commerce would have to work with states and give guidance to help them collect info. The amendment would require a report every other year detailing the efforts. States could get federal grants to collect the data. Within two months of the bill's passage, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences would start work on a study to see how collection of state fisheries data has improved since 2006. The report would be due in a year.

Read the full story from The Examiner