Anchovies Archives - Page 4 of 5

Mid-Atlantic Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment Final Rule Published

August 25, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new rule to protect unmanaged forage fish. Forage fish are small schooling species that serve as prey for larger commercially and recreationally important fish, as well as for marine mammals and sea birds. Anchovies, herring, chub mackerel, and sardines are some common forage fish.

Commercial fisheries often catch forage fish, but we know little about the amount of forage species caught in Mid-Atlantic waters. Because of their importance to the food web, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council wants to protect the ecological role these species play in the Mid-Atlantic and to collect more information on catch. This new information will help inform future scientific assessments and management decisions.

This is the first rule in the Atlantic to list forage species as ecosystem component species. This action would set landing and possession limits for 17 species and species groups to prevent the expansion of directed commercial fisheries on these species in Mid-Atlantic federal waters (see map below).

Read the rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletins for commercial fishermen and for dealers. Mid-Atlantic fishermen will receive a copy of a forage fish identification guide, which is also available electronically on the Mid-Atlantic Council’s website.

Chesapeake Bay earns ‘C’ for overall health; blue crabs, rockfish, anchovies are thriving

May 9, 2017 — Maryland environmental scientists gave the Chesapeake Bay a “C” for overall health in 2016, with improved fish populations and water conditions contributing to the second-highest grade the ecosystem has received in 30 years of scoring.

The report card released Monday by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science showed that the bay is 54 percent of the way toward achieving key health benchmarks, an uptick of one percentage point compared with the previous year.

Experts cited the results as proof that efforts to clean up the estuary are working.

“While only a slight improvement, it’s encouraging that the overall health remained steady despite many pressures on the Chesapeake Bay and across its watershed,” said Bill Dennison, a top scientist with the center.

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), speaking at a news conference in Baltimore, called for continued federal support for bay restoration. He noted that President Trump this year proposed slashing funding for Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. Congress last month approved a fiscal 2017 budget that maintains funding for the bay at $73 million, the same level as the previous year.

“The long-term investment is working,” Cardin said. “We can’t slow down. . . . It’s critically important to maintain the strong federal role.”

The bay’s highest score on record, 55 percent, occurred in 2002. The Chesapeake earned its lowest score, 36 percent, the following year. The Center for Environmental Science awards an “A” for scores of 80 to 100 percent; “B” for 60 to 79 percent; “C” for 40 to 59 percent; “D” for 20 to 39 percent; and “F” for anything lower than that.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Warming Oceans Could Make These Seafood Favorites Toxic

January 12, 2017 — In recent years, scientists have warned that climate change could have a disastrous effect on the ocean’s ecosystems as the world’s waters get warmer. But now, a new study suggests that widespread die offs of ocean-going species isn’t the only thing that warmer waters could cause: It might also make some seafood favorites too toxic to eat.

Chances are, most people haven’t heard of domoic acid, but it’s something that could be making more headlines soon enough. That’s because it’s a neurotoxin that can build up in sea creatures that are popular on the dinner table, like Dungeness crab, mussels, clams and anchovies, Clare Leschin-Hoar reports for NPR. And, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, warmer waters lead to algae blooms that can cause elevated levels of this toxin in many of the ocean’s critters.

“When water’s unusually warm off our coast, it’s because the circulation and patterns in the atmosphere has changed, bringing warm water from elsewhere—and this is happening at the same time that we also see high domoic acid in shellfish. It has a very strong mechanistic connection,” Morgaine McKibben, study author and Oregon State University doctoral student tells Kavya Balaraman for Scientific American.

Domoic acid is produced by some kinds of algae, in particular one called pseudo-nitzschia. These microorganisms are the basis of the underwater food chain and thrive in warm waters, but can build up in sea life, causing serious health issues for humans and animals alike. As Leschin-Hoar explains, domoic acid first became known as a health threat in 1987, when an outbreak in Canada killed three people and sickened more than 100 with symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea and cramps. In serious cases, domoic acid poisoning can even cause seizures, numbing and memory loss.

Since then, officials have monitored domoic acid levels along the western North American coastline—and it’s been steadily rising over time. McKibben’s study looked at more than two decades worth of data gathered in the region and found a strong correlation between rising water temperatures and rising domoic acid levels, Stephanie Bucklin reports for LiveScience.

These elevated levels of domoic acid are already starting to affect the seafood business. In 2015, officials shut down Dungeness crab fisheries from Alaska to California for several months because of high domoic acid content, Balaraman reports, and similar shutdowns were enacted in 2016. This left the seafood industry in Washington state $9 million in the hole. To make matters worse, the toxin can linger in fisheries for as long as a year.

Read the full story at Smithsonian

Marine Stewardship Council: Argentine anchovy fishery proves it’s sustainable, again

January 10, 2017 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Argentine anchovy fishery has achieved re-certification to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. This science-based standard is the world’s most credible and recognized standard for environmentally sustainable wild-caught seafood. The Argentine anchovy fishery has been certified to this standard since 2011.

This fishery, which operates in the waters of Argentina and Uruguay, was the first anchovy fishery in the world to achieve MSC certification. When originally certified to the MSC standard in 2011, there were two companies, Delicias S.A. and Centauro S.A., operating five vessels, representing 10 to 15 percent of the total catch of the assessed fishery. Today, 13 companies operating 24 vessels have been assessed for the recertification.

The fishing vessels are: Mercea C; Canal de Beagle; Belvedere; Padre Pio; Teson; Jupiter II; Centauro 2000; Raffaela; Don Raimundo; San Genaro; Don Carmelo; Orión I; Messina I; Franca; Maria Gracia; Marta S; Rocío del Mar; Nuevo Viento; Argentino; Atrevido; Victoria II; Florida Blanca; Nono Pascual and Don Nicola. The fishers use semi-pelagic mid-water trawling nets. The net is made of 4mm diameter nylon and has a total length of 60-70m, kept afloat by 60 buoys.

“We are committed to fishing in a responsible and sustainable manner, and protecting the natural resources of the ocean is a key component of our business. As the first MSC-certified anchovy fishery in the world, we are proud to have the MSC process again validate the sustainability of our well-managed and healthy fisheries.” – Carlos Rodriguez, manager, Centauro (fishery client)

The internationally recognized blue MSC ecolabel will continue to assure consumers that Argentine Anchovy products can be traced back to a certified sustainable source.

Brian Perkins, MSC regional director – Americas, said: “When people purchase MSC certified seafood, their choice supports fishermen around the world – like the Argentine Anchovy fishers – who are working hard to meet the world’s most rigorous standard for environmental sustainability. We are extremely pleased to see this fishery succeed in the MSC process yet again.”

The independent assessment of the Argentine Anchovy fishery was conducted by Organizacion Internacional Agropecuaria (OIA), an accredited third-party conformity assessment body. OIA assembled a team of fishery science and policy experts to evaluate the fishery according to the three principles of the MSC Fisheries Standard: the health of the stock; the impact of fishing on the marine environment; and the management of the fishery. The MSC process is open to stakeholders and all results are peer reviewed.

D.B. PLESCHNER: Extremists manufacture anchovy ‘crisis’ where none exists

December 5th, 2016 — When the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently reapproved the 2017 annual catch limit for the central stock of anchovy at 25,000 metric tons (mt), environmental extremists immediately cried foul.

Press releases with doomsday headlines claimed that the anchovy catch limit is now higher than the total population of fish in the sea. Environmentalists claim the anchovy resource has “collapsed” and the current catch limit is dangerously high.

But is the anchovy population really decimated, or are these alarmists simply manufacturing another anti-fishing crisis?

Their claims are based on a paper by Alec MacCall, pegging the central anchovy stock at about 18,000 mt. However, the paper analyzed egg and larval data collected over time in California Cooperative Fishery Investigations (CalCOFI) surveys, conducted in the Southern California Bight — and the conclusion is fundamentally flawed. Other scientists now acknowledge that the CalCOFI cruises do not cover the full range of anchovy, missing both Mexico and areas north of the CalCOFI survey track, as well as the nearshore, where a super-abundance of anchovy now reside, say fishermen.

The CalCOFI survey was designed to track sardine, not anchovy. It misses the nearshore biomass where age 0-1 anchovy live and huge schools of anchovy have been observed since 2013. But the MacCall analysis deliberately omitted nearshore egg-larval data. In addition, peak spawning for anchovy is February-March, but CalCOFI surveys run in January and April, as did the MacCall analysis, thus both captured only the tails of spawning.

Read the full op-ed at The Monterey Herald

13 Benefits of Taking Fish Oil

October 20, 2016 — Fish oil is one of the most commonly consumed dietary supplements.

It’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are very important for your health.

If you don’t eat a lot of oily fish, taking a fish oil supplement could help you get enough omega-3 fatty acids.

Here is an evidence-based guide to fish oil supplements and their health benefits.

What Is Fish Oil and Why Should You Care?

Fish oil is the fat or oil that’s extracted from fish tissue.

It usually comes from oily fish such as herring, tuna, anchovies and mackerel. Yet sometimes it’s produced from the livers of other fish, as is the case with cod liver oil.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends eating 1–2 portions of fish per week. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids in fish provide many health benefits, including helping protect against a number of diseases.

But if you don’t eat 1–2 portions of fish per week, fish oil supplements can help you get enough omega-3s.

Mid-Atlantic Council Approves Amendment to Protect Unmanaged Forage Species

August 9, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has approved an amendment to protect unmanaged forage species in the Mid-Atlantic. If approved by the Secretary of Commerce, the Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment would prohibit the development of new and expansion of existing directed commercial fisheries on a number of unmanaged forage species in Mid-Atlantic Federal waters. The prohibition would continue until the Council has had an opportunity to assess the available scientific information for these species and consider the potential impacts to existing fisheries, fishing communities, and the marine ecosystem.

Forage fish are small, low trophic level fish that play a central role in the marine food chain. These species facilitate the transfer of energy to higher trophic levels by consuming very small prey and then being eaten by larger, predatory fish and other marine animals.

“Forage species play a vital role in maintaining the productivity and structure of marine ecosystems and are currently at risk of unregulated fisheries development in the absence of adequate science to ensure their ecological sustainability,” said the Council’s Chairman, Rick Robins. “With this action, the Mid-Atlantic Council is taking a proactive approach to conserving unmanaged forage species and the ecosystem services they provide in the Mid-Atlantic region.”

The amendment was not intended to address all unmanaged forage species in the Mid-Atlantic but rather to focus on those species that have high ecological importance and those that have high potential for the development of a large-scale targeted commercial fishery.

The Council received more than 21,000 comments during the public comment period, the majority of which focused on the list of species to be included in the amendment. Although the Council initially considered a list of more than 250 forage species, this was narrowed down to a list of 15 taxa (i.e. species, families, orders, and other taxonomic groupings) for inclusion.

After considering input from its advisory panel, Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Committee, and members of the public, the Council voted to remove false albacore due to its large size and high trophic level. These 15 taxa include more than 50 forage species, including anchovies, halfbeaks, herrings, sardines, and sand lances. The complete list is included at the bottom of this announcement.

The Council voted to designate these taxa, with the exception of chub mackerel, as ecosystem components (ECs) in all of the Council’s fishery management plans (FMPs). The amendment would establish an incidental possession limit of 1,700 pounds for all EC species combined. For chub mackerel, the Council approved temporary measures to be implemented while the Council evaluates potentially adding the species as a stock in the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish FMP. These measures would include an annual landings limit of 2.86 million pounds and a 40,000-pound incidental possession limit which would go into effect once this landings limit is met.

The Council also voted to require use of exempted fishing permits (EFPs) prior to allowing any new fisheries or expansion of existing fisheries for unmanaged forage species and to establish a new policy for Council review of EFP applications. The Council also agreed that, prior to allowing any new fisheries or expansion of existing fisheries, the Council would consider whether the species in question should be managed as a stock in the fishery or if other discretionary management measures should be used.

Additional information, updates, and background materials related to this amendment are available on the Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment page here.

Fisheries scientists to address flaws in past forage fish research

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – May 2, 2016 – Dr. Ray Hilborn, a marine biologist and fisheries scientist at the University of Washington, has launched a new initiative aimed at addressing key issues surrounding forage fish science and the impacts of forage fishing on predator species. Dr. Hilborn’s Forage Fish Project is one of several scientific efforts occurring in the next few months to expand the existing body of scientific research on forage fish.

Comprised of 14 renowned fisheries scientists from around the globe, the Forage Fish Project held its inaugural conference last month in Hobart, Australia, where it identified shortcomings in the existing forage fish research. Specifically, it found several issues with work produced by the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force, whose April 2012 report, “Little Fish, Big Impact,” concluded forage fish are vulnerable to overfishing, among other findings.

The Forage Fish Project, which includes two members of the Lenfest Task Force, began work to address these flaws, with the goal of producing an accompanying study later this year.

In Hobart, Project members found that most of the models used in previous forage fish studies, like the Lenfest Task Force report, left out factors such as the natural variability of forage fish stocks, and the extent of size overlap between fisheries and predators. The group also found multiple indications that the Lenfest study greatly overstated the negative impact of forage fishing on predator species.

“Most [food web] models were not built with the explicit intention of evaluating forage fish fisheries, so unsurprisingly many models did not include features of forage fish population biology or food web structure that are relevant for evaluating all fishery impacts,” according to minutes from the Hobart meeting.

Two upcoming fishery management workshops will also evaluate forage species on the East and West Coasts of the U.S., the first organized by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The workshop, which will be held in La Jolla, Calif., from May 2-5, will focus on how to improve stock assessment methods for northern anchovy and other coastal pelagic species. Attendees will evaluate model-based assessment approaches based on routinely assessed pelagic species from around the world, consider non-assessment approaches to estimate fish stocks, and develop recommendations for how the SWFSC should evaluate coastal pelagic fish stocks in the future.

A similar forage fish workshop will be held May 16-17 in Portland, Maine. This workshop will focus on Atlantic herring, with the goal of establishing a rule to specify its acceptable biological catch (ABC), the recommended catch level for any given fish species. An effective ABC rule will consider the role of Atlantic herring in the ecosystem, stabilize the fishery at a level that will achieve optimum yield, and address localized depletion in inshore waters.

Ultimately, these various forage fish workshops and projects are striving to use the best available science to update previous research and determine sound management practices for forage species.

Read the full minutes from the Forage Fish Project conference in Hobart, Australia

Learn more about the upcoming coastal pelagic species workshop in La Jolla, Calif.

Learn more about the upcoming Atlantic herring workshop in Portland, Maine

As Pacific sardine collapse worsens, scientists worry about possible ripple in the ecosystem

April 19, 2016 — Nearly a year into a West Coast sardine fishing ban enacted to protect the collapsing population, the fish formerly worth more than $8 million to Oregon’s economy have shown no signs of a comeback.

New federal research indicates numbers of the small, silvery, schooling fish have plummeted further than before the fishing moratorium, dashing any hope of lifting it in 2016.

With the current sardine population hovering at 7 percent of its 2007 peak, fishermen now say they expect to wait a decade or more to revive the fishery.

“I don’t want to take a pessimistic view, but I would think we’ll be shut down until 2030,” said Ryan Kapp, a Bellingham, Washington, fisherman who advises the Pacific Fishery Management Council on sardines and other fish.

Sardines aren’t struggling in isolation. Other fish near the bottom of the marine food web, such as anchovies and herring, are also down. The shortage of sustenance is rippling upward to create crises for predator species from seals to seabirds.

Researchers can’t tell exactly what’s driving the die-off, nor how long it will last. Some say the crash can be attributed to cyclical boom-and-bust population dynamics sardines have always exhibited.

Read the full story at The Daily Astorian

Bay anchovies appear to be more important than menhaden in predators’ diets

December 7, 2015 — The Chesapeake Bay may be the best-studied estuary in the world, but a group of scientists attending a recent workshop were surprised about how little they knew about what predatory fish eat.

After all, menhaden — dubbed by some as the “most important fish in the sea” would also be the “most important” fish in the Bay, right?

Apparently not. That honor, were one species to be singled out, might belong to the tiny bay anchovy — a fish that rarely grows more than 3–4 inches in length and typically doesn’t live longer than a year.

“They’re the most abundant fish in the Bay,” said Ed Houde, a fisheries scientist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who helped organize the workshop. “They’re really important in the Bay’s food web.”

An analysis of 12 years of Baywide diet information for five major predators prepared for the workshop found that bay anchovy was a significant portion of the diet for four of those species. Menhaden was important for only one, striped bass, and even for them, bay anchovy were more important.

“Menhaden came out not as high on the list as people thought it was going to be,” Houde said. “It was an important prey, but it certainly wasn’t in the top three or four.”

Even more significantly, the analysis showed that the Bay’s food web is less of a fish-eat-fish world than popularly thought, even among many scientists. A host of unheralded species, from worms to clams to crustaceans, are major food sources for the Chesapeake’s predatory fish.

Read the full story at Bay Journal