Science

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing a 56 percent — or 17 million pound — increase in this year's skate catch.

The action is based on what NOAA says is new scientific information, data that also reflects longstanding industry insistence that skates — taken largely as bycatch by groundfishermen — are a stock complex in far better shape than the government believed or was willing to admit.

Skates have been about an $8-10 million annual industry based on vessel revenues in recent years.

NOAA's proposed "emergency" action cannot become rule until after the closing of the public comment period on Sept. 14.

Because trip limits would not change, the proposal is seen as allowing the region's major skate processors in Gloucester and New Bedford to maintain supplies throughout the 12-month fishing cycle, which for skates and groundfish end April 30.

"We've been lobbying for this for more than a year," said Kristian Kristensen, CEO of Zeus Packing Co. of Harbor Loop. "We told them to look at the science. But the emergency action is good."

"We made a commitment to respond as quickly as possible when new scientific information affects management decisions," Eric Schwaab, administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, said in a prepared statement. "The proposed quota increase will result in considerable increases in revenues for fishermen and positive economic effects to the businesses that support the fishery, while maintaining important conservation objectives."

Emily Keiley, a research assistant at the School of Marine Science and Technology of University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, said Tuesday that the government is responding to new data showing that the skate biomass is increasing and the presumed discard rate was too high.

"They're taking two important steps," Keiley said. "This will help the industry. The increased landings limit is likely to extend the season, consistency of availability is important because they go and get international contracts (and when supplies stop) they lose cargo space."

Under the proposed rule, which was recommended to NOAA by the New England Fishery Management Council, the government said that "significant increases" in the survey biomass of little and winter skates — two of the seven species — through autumn 2010 support increases in the acceptable biological catch.

"Additionally, new research on the discard mortality of winter and little skates in trawl gear indicates that the assumed discard mortality rate of 50 percent is too high, and that the dead discard portion of the catch has been overestimated in the past," NOAA said in announcing its proposed rule.

Political pressure to loosen limits on skate has been brought by Congressman Barney Frank, who represents New Bedford and UMass-Dartmouth's School of Marine Science and Technology. That's the program that, last December, released a research paper that asserted that NOAA was sitting on unreleased trawl data showing no need for the reduced trip limits.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

How do you know the fish you buy is really what it's supposed to be? The answer is often you don't. So the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is trying to protect consumers using DNA identification. It's a global project, and the Philippines is believed to have more types of fish than almost any place on Earth, so it's a great place to collect specimens. ABC7 News was the only TV station to go there with American researchers working to keep our food safe.

Each fish is suspended in a tank and photographed before its original color fades. The fish is preserved and scientists take a tissue sample. Those samples are sent to a lab like the one at the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. It takes a couple of days to treat them, run them through a genetic analyzer, and get a DNA sequence. Then researchers look at one specific gene believed to be unique to every species.

Watch the video from ABC.

 

 

 

 

 

Marriott Providence Hotel Downtown
1 Orms Street
Providence, RI 02904

Monday, September 26, 2011

Workshop Goal: Develop an Ocean Observatory/ Fisheries Community Interactive Partnership

Objectives:
* Determine what MARACOOS-derived information products can be supplied regularly to fishermen;
* Complement what fishermen already know with new MARACOOS-derived information products;
* Engage the fishing community in the design and conduct of fisheries research projects;
* Establish a process for regularized engagement of fisheries stakeholders with MARACOOS

All sessions will be conducted in the CANAL ROOM

PROGRAM SCHEDULE:

8:15 to 9:00 AM Registration

9:00 to 9:05 – Welcome, Carolyn Thoroughgood , Professor of Marine Bioscience  and Chairperson of MARACOOS

9:05 to 9:10 – Welcome, Steven Lohrenz, Dean of SMAST, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

9:10 to 9:15 –Plan for Day: Moderator, Gene Kray, Dean of Continuing Education, West Chester University (Retired)

9:15 to 10:15 – Mid-Atlantic Observatory; Status and Products. Wendell Brown , Professor of Oceanography, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth & Scott Glenn, Professor of Physical Oceanography, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

10: 15 to 11:15 – Coast Guard Search and Rescue Capabilities. Art Allen, Oceanographer, U. S. Coast Guard Office of Search and Rescue

11:15 to 12:15 – Commercial/ Recreational Fishers Needs. Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association  & Adam Nowalsky, Chairman of the New Jersey Chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance

12:15 to 1:30 LUNCH

1:30 to 4:30 – Hands on Activities on a one hour rotating schedule:

Group A- Modeling Information/Resources Alan Blumberg, Professor of Oceanography, Stevens Institute of Technology

          B- By-Catch Models; Developments and Progress.
              John Manderson,Fisheries Biologist, NOAA Fisheries,  Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association & Greg DeCelles, Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

           C- Tutorial on Use and Interpretation of Data.          
               Josh Kohut, Assistant Professor of Marine and Coastal Sciences,   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

4:30 to 5:30 Wrap Up Discussion

 

 

 

 

 

Ever wonder what unique features a codfish looks for in a home?  A team of scientists from federal and state agencies and academic institutions hope to learn more about this when  they explore various seafloor habitats where cod and a variety of other marine species live. On Monday, August 29, scientists begin a seven-day research survey cruise to collect information on the seafloor, sediment and underwater footage of bottom habitat in a historically significant fishing area known as Jeffreys Ledge.

Jeffreys Ledge is a 33-mile glacial deposit that extends from the coast of Rockport, Massachusetts to just southeast of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The shallow ledge is surrounded by deeper ocean waters.  An oceanographic process known as upwelling occurs here that makes it a highly productive habitat.  Upwelling involves a wind-driven motion, which brings dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface.  As a result, the Ledge supports a diversity of life including herring and mackerel, cod, haddock, dogfish, flounder, bluefin tuna and a variety of crustaceans and mollusks, such as shrimp, lobsters, crabs, scallops, and clams, which all come to feed or reproduce here.

Project partners include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ,  the New England Fishery Management Council , the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries , New Hampshire Fish and Game  and the Army Corps of Engineers , New England District ,  and the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership.

 

Read the complete story from NOAA Fisheries Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOAA Fisheries Service, in coordination with the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, is soliciting monkfish research proposals to utilize 500 Monkfish Days-at-Sea that have been set-aside by the Councils to fund monkfish research endeavors through the 2012 Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program.  Full proposals must be received and validated by Grants.gov on or before 5 p.m. EST on Friday October 7, 2011.

 

Read the entire announcement from NOAA Fisheries Service

 

 

 

 

 

NEWPORT — Not so many years ago, Jane Lubchenco could often be found on a Yaquina Bay dock at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center, pulling together gear in the quiet, early morning hours for a research cruise into the choppy Pacific waters off Oregon’s coast.

Lubchenco’s circumstances in Newport on Saturday were decidedly less modest. Representing the president of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in her role as its administrator, Lubchenco dedicated NOAA’s Marine Operations Center-Pacific Facility under a picture-perfect blue sky, sun glinting off the calm waters of the bay.
Formerly a distinguished professor of zoology at Oregon State University, where she served on the faculty for 32 years, the internationally respected 63-year-old has headed NOAA since the spring of 2009. She is the first woman to serve in that role and, as such, heads the nation’s first federal scientific agency: NOAA’s predecessor, the Survey of the Coast, was established by Thomas Jefferson in 1807.
“As someone who took biology in college and who wanted to become a marine biologist before I got lost on my way to the boat, I want to say how proud I am to share the stage today with Dr. Lubchenco,” said Gov. John Kitzhaber at Saturday’s ceremonies, only half in jest.

 

Read the complete story from The Democrat Herald

 

 

 

 

 

NEWPORT — Jack Gale lined up with dozens of others today to be the first through the gates at NOAA’s Marine Operations Center.

Even after NOAA announced Newport as its new home for the pacific fleet, it was uncertain whether a formal protest might still derail the dream.

But it was the community’s attention to detail that set its bid apart, said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden.

“You all did the heavy lifting, and you put together a proposal that was better than anybody else,” he said to loud applause.

The center not only will give Newport a much needed economic boost, but it also will add to the science discovery already happening at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, said Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

It will help unlock the ocean’s secrets, he said, so we can better understand the ocean and be better stewards.

 

Read the complete story from The Statesman Journal

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — August 15, 2011 — Scientists from UMass Dartmouth's School of Marine Science and Technology are working with their counterparts from an environmental group, the Environmental Defense Fund, to develop a better understanding of the role that closed areas play in the management of fish stocks.

SMAST's involvement with EDF is certain to raise eyebrows on the New Bedford waterfront. The environmental group's advocacy for the controversial catch share system now governing the groundfishery in New England has convinced many in the industry that the EDF agenda is hostile to commercial fishing.

The goal is to determine how well closed areas are working, according to EDF senior marine scientist Jake Kritzer. "We're going to be looking at the permanent groundfish closed areas on Georges Bank, the Nantucket Lightship, the Gulf of Maine and Jeffrey's Ledge," he said. "And other closures used to control groundfish mortality, like habitat areas and seasonal closures."

Kritzer will partner with SMAST's Steve Cadrin to guide the project. Both men already work together on the Science and Statistical Committee, which advises the New England Fishery Management Council. The study will proceed in phases, mining existing data and, where gaps are identified, conducting new field research. Most of the actual research will be conducted by SMAST's Lisa Kerr with assistance from the University of New Hampshire's Jamie Cournane, who works closely with EDF.

"We feel this is a good scientific partnership," Cadrin said. "Some people believe that anything with the EDF stamp on it has a conservation agenda and is anti-fishing while others think that SMAST is a pro-fishing industry researcher.

"Neither one of those is true," he said. "SMAST does research that is important to fishermen but the science is objective."

 

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today

 

 

 

 

 

Influential marine scientist Brian Rothschild has charged NOAA with adopting an "unnecessarily hard-line," wrong, wasteful and job-destroying interpretation of Congress' intent for managing America's fisheries.

Finding no accountability, "no master plan" or will to align policy more closely with what was intended and no hope for redress from the judiciary, Rothschild — who is based at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and is one of New England's most respected fishing advocates — proposed that Congress create an ad hoc commission to restructure fisheries management in the Northeast.

Rothschild issued his blunt judgments about the performance of the government and the courts in the aftermath of a June ruling by a federal judge in Boston that upheld the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's catch share policy management system, which data shows is bringing about a consolidation of the industry and forcing out small, independent boats and businesses.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOAA scientists have found that environmental factors have changed the distribution patterns of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), a marine species found in waters from Cape Hatteras to Newfoundland, shifting the stock northeastward and into shallower waters.  Atlantic mackerel migrate great distances on a seasonal basis to feed and spawn, and are sensitive to changes in water temperature. These findings could have significant implications for U.S. commercial and recreational mackerel fisheries that mostly occur during late winter and early spring. 

In a paper published online in the American Fisheries Society journal Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management and Ecosystem Science, researchers from NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) reviewed annual changes in the winter and early-spring distribution of the Atlantic mackerel stock on the northeast U.S. continental shelf using spatial and standard statistical analyses of data collected on research trawl surveys.

“Our findings suggest that both the commercial and recreational Atlantic mackerel fisheries in the United States will probably be faced with more variable resource conditions in the future in terms of the winter distribution of the stock,” said study co-author Jon Hare of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) laboratory in Narragansett, R.I. “The continental shelf is warming, increasing the area over which the stock can be distributed, while at the same time the distribution of the stock is shifting northward.”
 
Between 1968 and 2008, the overwintering distribution of the Northwest Atlantic stock has shifted about 250 kilometers (roughly 155 miles) to the north and about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) to the east.  The Atlantic mackerel population has also shifted from deeper off-shelf locations to shallower on-shelf areas where more area is now available within the mackerel’s preferred temperature range. Atlantic mackerel prefer water above 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit).

The environmentally-driven shift in distribution patterns will probably make it more difficult to find and catch Atlantic mackerel in certain areas in the future. The authors note that the Canadian coastal commercial fishery has continued to thrive while the U.S. commercial mackerel fishery during the winter has declined in recent decades. The change in distribution pattern could also impact other species, since mackerel plays a central role in the food web of the ecosystem. Atlantic mackerel are prey for a wide variety of species; they eat mostly small crustaceans and plankton.

“Atlantic mackerel is one of many species shifting their distribution range as a result of changing oceanographic and environmental patterns,” said Hare. "Those include regional temperature changes from year to year and larger scale environmental forces or climate drivers such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO).  

Recent studies have indicated a northward shift in distributions of a number of species in this region (Nye et al., 2009), and work by Hare and others in 2010 documents a shift in the distribution and increase in biomass of Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) associated with warming. This latest study on Atlantic mackerel by Hare and NOAA Fisheries co-authors William Overholtz (now retired) and Charles Keith of the NEFSC’s Woods Hole Laboratory in Massachusetts indicates that the changes in distribution are related to both interannual variability in temperature and a general warming trend on the Northeast Atlantic continental Shelf.

Despite the current high abundance of the stock, the changes could make it harder for U.S. commercial vessels to locate large schools of mackerel during the winter, when the majority of landings occur, because the fish are dispersed over a larger area within their preferred temperature range. The study also has implications for an early spring recreational Atlantic mackerel fishery in the mid-Atlantic region, which has declined steadily since the 1960s. The trends in recreational landings of Atlantic mackerel are unrelated to fishery regulations or management actions as there were no size limits, bag limits or constraining quotas in effect during this period. 

“If the data from the late 1960s are indicative of the southernmost limit in the overwintering population of Atlantic mackerel, the change in the northern and eastern extent of the winter distribution of the stock is relatively large,” Hare said. “Although there has been considerable interannual variability in the stock’s distribution from the late 1960s through the first decade of the 21st century, the Atlantic mackerel stock has progressively moved from the offshore mid-Atlantic region to the southern New England shelf, and is now on the continental shelf more often in winter and much farther north and east of their previous winter positions, moving most recently onto Georges Bank.”                          .

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