Saving Seafood

NOAA Releases Animated Video to Shine Spotlight on Endangered Atlantic Salmon

June 28, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries has partnered with Puckerbrush Animation to create a new animated video about Atlantic salmon and the threats that have led to their endangered listing.

The video is part of NOAA’s “Species in the Spotlight” series, which highlights nine species that are considered the most at risk of extinction in the near future. Besides Atlantic salmon, NOAA’s “Species in the Spotlight” series also includes Central California Coast coho, Cook Inlet beluga, Hawaiian Monk Seal, Pacific Leatherback, North Atlantic Right Whale, Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon, Southern Resident Killer Whale, and White Abalone.

Read the full story at Seafood News

New Atlantic Salmon Animation Released

June 25, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries and Maine-based animation team, Puckerbrush Animation, recently partnered to create a new digital animation that talks about Atlantic salmon and the threats that have led to their endangered listing.

Atlantic salmon are part of our Species in the Spotlight initiative, which highlights our most imperiled species to focus attention and resources towards actions that we and our partners can take to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

Learn about the various threats facing Atlantic salmon, including climate change, and about what you can do to help protect and restore Atlantic salmon, and their ecosystems in this animated video.

Read the full release here

What Happens After Dam Removals

June 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Maine’s Penobscot River has more than 100 dams, many of which are aging and no longer serve their original purpose. Removing dams is becoming more common, with the purposes of addressing hazards posed by these aging dams, returning natural river flow and function, or both.

For Atlantic salmon and other species of sea-run fish, the last 200 years of dammed rivers and disconnected streams have, combined with historic fisheries and lower marine survival, spelled decline, and for Atlantic salmon, disaster. The storied Atlantic salmon runs had fish returning by the thousands to Northeast rivers. They are now limited to just a few rivers in Maine, with fewer than 2,000 fish returning each year. These runs are heavily reliant on hatchery-raised fish. The Penobscot River is home to the largest remaining population of endangered Atlantic salmon in the United States. Dams have been identified as one of the primary factors in the decline of Atlantic salmon.

Over the last decade, researchers have been studying whether removing two Penobscot River dams in 2012 and 2013 improved ecosystem conditions for salmon and other aquatic species. So far, results are promising.

Read the whole story on our website.

Read the full release here

North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization Meeting Concludes: West Greenland Measures Disappointing

June 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On Friday, June 4, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) concluded its 38th Annual Meeting (held virtually). NASCO is an intergovernmental organization formed to promote the conservation, restoration, enhancement, and rational management of wild Atlantic salmon stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean. NASCO’s members are Canada, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) (DFG), the European Union, Norway, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Representatives from a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also attended the meeting.

Participants discussed a number of matters critical to Atlantic salmon conservation and management, including a new regulatory measure for the mixed stock fishery that occurs off West Greenland. This fishery, which operates against the scientific advice, takes critically endangered U.S. origin salmon. As such, our highest priority during the meeting was to agree to a regulatory measure that reduced the catch in the fishery to the lowest possible level and ensured effective management and control.

While a new interim regulatory measure was adopted for the fishery off West Greenland, the United States is deeply concerned about many of its key provisions. In order to avoid allowing the fishery to operate outside of any international constraints, we stopped short of blocking consensus on this one-year measure. However, we expressed our extreme displeasure with several provisions including a 27 ton Total Allowable Catch (TAC), the failure to implement the required 10 ton reduction in the 2021 TAC to account for overharvest in 2020, and the lack of an overharvest payback provision applicable to any future overharvests. The European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom largely shared the U.S. concerns about the new regulatory measure. All indicated that the catch level was too high, especially without a requirement to ensure any overharvest of the TAC would be addressed. DFG, however, was not willing to change its position on the size of total TAC or the inclusion of the overharvest payback provision.

The new measure will maintain the prohibition on factory landings and exports of Atlantic salmon from Greenland, and require DFG to continue to implement previously agreed monitoring, control, and reporting measures. The new regulatory measure will apply to the fishery off West Greenland in 2021 only, and Parties agreed that they would meet before the 2022 NASCO annual meeting to continue discussions on the development of a longer-term measure. The United States looks forward to these discussions and to the adoption of a stronger measure at the 2022 NASCO annual meeting.

Visit our web page to read the Closing Statement from the U.S. Head of Delegation to NASCO, Kim Damon-Randall, Deputy Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.

Read the full release here

MAINE: ‘Next-gen’ tech or industrial destruction? Salmon farm proposal advances, but groups protest

June 2, 2021 — The Department of Marine Resources has accepted applications for consideration of two lease sites in Frenchman Bay where a Norwegian company wants to grow Atlantic salmon.

But the applications from American Aquafarms were immediately met with opposition from several groups of local residents.

“We are opposed to growing 30,000 metric tons of salmon annually, covering over 100 acres of Frenchman Bay,” Kathleen Rybarz, president of Friends of Frenchman Bay, said in a news release.

“One cannot overstate the destructive impact of this large-scale proposal on a bay that already strives to balance multiple fisheries, heavy recreational use, cruise ship visitors and increasing ocean warming.”

Read the full story at MaineBiz

MAINE: Army Corps review of salmon farm requested

May 19, 2021 — Frenchman Bay Conservancy has formally requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct an environmental review and issue a statement under the U.S. Environmental Policy Act before any final decisions are made on American Aquafarms’ plan to raise 66 million pounds of Atlantic salmon annually at two sites in Frenchman Bay.

Frenchman Bay Conservancy has preserves totaling 8,000 acres in a dozen Maine towns and townships, including seven Hancock County communities.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is currently reviewing for completeness American Aquafarms’ March 3 lease applications to grow salmon at two 15-pen sites northwest of Long Porcupine Island and northeast of Bald Rock Ledge in Frenchman Bay. The Norwegian-backed company is expected to file by month’s end its wastewater discharge permit application to discharge a total of 4 billion gallons daily with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The company is proposing to release 2 billion gallons daily (23,775 gallons per second) at each of the 15-pen sites.

Sent to the U.S. Army Corps’ Senior Project Manager and Team Leader Jay Clement in Augusta, Frenchman Bay Conservancy’s May 17 letter also was signed by Hancock’s Crabtree Neck Land Trust, the Downeast Salmon Federation, the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries in Stonington, Friends of Acadia, Friends of Frenchman Bay, Friends of Eastern Bay, Friends of Schoodic Peninsula as well as Springtide Seaweed LLC, Frenchman Bay Oyster Co. owner Graham Platner, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables proprietors Shep and Seraphina Erhart, Hancock fishermen Zach and Tyler Piper, MDI Biological Laboratory senior scientist Jane Disney and College of the Atlantic biologist Chris Peterson.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Exploring Atlantic Salmon’s Battle for Survival: A Story Map

May 14, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Wild Atlantic salmon stocks in the United States have declined significantly since the late 19th century. Historically, dams, overfishing, and pollution led to large declines in salmon abundance.

The Kennebec River, Androscoggin River, and Sheepscot Rivers of the Merrymeeting Bay region have a long history of human development. This story map tells the history of this area’s many dams and our restoration efforts to recover the populations of endangered Atlantic salmon.

salmon

Read the full release here

MAINE: Frenchman Bay salmon farm application filed

March 11, 2021 — American Aquafarms reported Wednesday that it had filed two draft lease applications for a closed-pen, Atlantic salmon farm in Frenchman Bay. The proposed two ocean sites, north of Bald Rock and The Hop islands, are in conjunction with the Portland-based company’s plan to buy East Coast Seafood Group’s seafood-processing facilities in Gouldsboro’s Prospect Harbor village. A fish hatchery would be built there as part of the project.

American Aquafarms’ March 3 submission of draft applications are part of the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ multi-step process for considering new aquaculture ventures. DMR has 30 days to determine if the applications meet its standards to proceed to a scoping session. If deemed complete, state authorities next would study the applications, conduct a site visit and hold a public hearing before issuing a final decision.

American Aquafarms CEO Mikael Roenes said the company’s project would result in hundreds of new jobs in the Downeast region. The 100-000-square-foot Maine Fair Trade facility and its wharf would become the base from which the fish farm’s barges and other craft would embark from to tend the Frenchman Bay ocean pens. The harvested fish would be processed on site. The existing warehouse would be converted into a hatchery for producing juvenile salmon and possibly cod to replenish harvested fish.

“Maine is the ideal location for this project,” Roenes said in a March 10 press release. “By leveraging the state’s deep water assets with next-generation, eco-friendly technology to sustainably produce food close to its market, we have the opportunity to set a new standard in the United States. Additionally, we are confident that Maine has the workforce we need to fill the year-round, good-paying jobs we’re creating.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

$1 Million Available for Atlantic Salmon Habitat Restoration Projects

March 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA is announcing the availability of up to $1 million in funding in 2021 for projects to restore habitat for Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine region. The Gulf of Maine distinct population segment (DPS) of Atlantic salmon is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is also a Species in the Spotlight, one of nine species most at risk of extinction in the near future.

Atlantic salmon are an iconic species of the Northeast. They once returned by the hundreds of thousands to most major rivers along the northeastern United States. Now, they only return in small numbers to rivers in central and eastern Maine. These populations comprise the Gulf of Maine DPS.

Degraded habitat is one of the largest obstacles facing the recovery of threatened and endangered species like Atlantic salmon. Habitat restoration helps repair areas that have been destroyed by development, blocked by dams, or otherwise subjected to habitat destruction. Through funding and technical assistance, NOAA supports projects that restore the habitats that threatened and endangered species need to survive.

In addition to species recovery and rebuilding fish populations, habitat restoration projects yield community and economic benefits such as increased coastal resilience and recreational opportunities. Restoration projects also create an average of 15 jobs for every million dollars invested.

Proposals for this funding opportunity are due April 12, 2021. NOAA will accept proposals with a federal funding request between $300,000 and $1.5 million over a three-year award period. For more information, view the Fiscal Year 2021 Atlantic Salmon Habitat Restoration Partnership Grants funding opportunity.

Read the full release here

MAINE: Final Penobscot salmon estimate for last year drops by nearly 200 fish

January 7, 2021 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources has reduced its estimate of Atlantic salmon returns to the Penobscot River by nearly 200 fish, but the final estimate for 2020 — 1,440 salmon — is still the highest annual return since 2011. In November, state fisheries scientists announced an estimated 1,603 Atlantic salmon had returned to the Penobscot River.

Jason Valliere, a marine resource scientist for the DMR, said each of his regular reports filed since July have included a disclaimer explaining that the official year-end estimate of returning fish was subject to change. Those counts are adjusted after data becomes available, taking into account individual fish that are captured, returned to the river to free-swim to spawning grounds, then re-captured by fisheries staffers at the Milford Dam.

The 2020 total was up from 1,152 in 2019, and is the largest run of salmon since 3,125 salmon returned to the river in 2011. The average run for the eight years from 2012 to 2019 was just 708 salmon per year.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News