Saving Seafood

New National Bycatch Report Shows Unchanged Trend, but More Data

February 26, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently released their latest national report on bycatch taken in hundreds of fisheries around the country in 2014 and 2015. Bycatch amounts were almost identical each year with a slight increase in 2015.

In 2014, the commercial fisheries included in the national bycatch report landed approximately 6,780.27 M lb and discarded an estimated 837.87 M lb. The fisheries included in this report for 2015 landed approximately 6,538.20 M lb and discarded an estimated 814.53 M lb.

Since 2011, NMFS has published an NBR and three online updates. These reports provide information on overall bycatch and, in addition to stock assessments or other data on individual stocks and fisheries.

The most recent report, called NBR Update 3, documents many improvements in bycatch monitoring and reductions in bycatch. For example, the Greater Atlantic section includes 2014 and 2015 fish bycatch estimates for 34 and 35 commercial fisheries, respectively, compared with 24 fisheries for 2013 in the previous NBR Update. In addition, for 2014 and 2015, the list of fish species considered for estimation by the Greater Atlantic Region was expanded to well over 140 species for 2014 and 151 species for 2015, compared to 34 species for 2013.

The Southeast Region section includes first-time fish bycatch estimates (in the NBR) for the Southeastern Atlantic Shrimp Trawl Fishery and bycatch numbers for the Southeastern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Shark Bottom Longline Research Fishery, which has 100% observer coverage. The Alaska Region section includes bycatch estimates for 10 crab fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. These fisheries are under joint federal and state management.

In the West Coast Region, the California Drift Gillnet Fishery for swordfish and thresher shark, which reports bycatch in terms of numbers, experienced bycatch decreases from 1,647 individuals in 2014 to 649 individuals in 2015. This reduction was due partly to lower fishing effort in 2015.

For purposes of the National Bycatch Report (NBR), NMFS defines bycatch as discarded catch of any living marine resource plus unobserved mortality1 due to a direct encounter with fishing gear. This definition is more expansive than the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) definition of bycatch because the purpose of the NBR is to provide estimates of fishery interactions with marine mammals and seabirds as well as fish bycatch.

The full report may be seen here.

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

California could be held liable for whale entanglements

February 25, 2019 — The Center for Biological Diversity is hopeful its lawsuit filed over whale and sea turtle entanglements is nearing its conclusion after a federal judge suggested she may find the California Department of Fish and Wildlife liable for the entanglements, a center spokesman said.

“The judge said she was inclined to grant our motion and find the department liable for allowing these illegal whale entanglements,” spokesman Steve Jones said Friday after the hearing in United States District Court for the Northern District of California. “So the department’s lawyer asked her to delay that ruling for two weeks to see if our settlement talks can arrive at a remedy to the problem.”

The two parties have until March 13 to work out their differences and report back to the judge. If no settlement is reached, the judge will issue a finding.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the state Department of Fish and Wildlife in October 2017, when the number of whale entanglements was skyrocketing. The peak came in 2016 when there were 71 confirmed whale entanglements.

Preliminary 2018 numbers show there were 45 confirmed whale entanglements, according to NOAA Fisheries. The numbers reflect through Nov. 28, 2018, and are not final. Among the 2018 reports was an August 2018 humpback whale who was reported entangled off the coast of Eureka.

Read the full story at Mercury News

NOAA Fisheries Publishes U.S. National Bycatch Report

February 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is committed to minimizing bycatch in U.S. fisheries, to increase the sustainability of our fisheries and help protected species recover. The NOAA Fisheries National Bycatch Report First Edition Update 3 includes bycatch estimates for major U.S. fisheries for the years 2014 and 2015. This report is the only national-level report published by NOAA Fisheries that summarizes fish, marine mammal, sea turtle, and seabird bycatch estimates on a regular basis. The report provides information on overall bycatch trends and may also inform fishery monitoring priorities.

Bycatch estimates in the report generally are indicative of bycatch amounts in particular fisheries, or relative levels of bycatch across fisheries. Data summary and analysis methods used in the report to produce comparable bycatch estimates across fisheries and regions do not reflect individual aspects of specific fisheries. The estimates may not represent the best available bycatch data for management purposes. Therefore, report data should not be used for day-to-day management of fisheries, but rather considered as a source of information on bycatch at a national level.

Greater Atlantic:

  • This report includes fish bycatch estimates for 34 fisheries for 2014, and 35 fisheries for 2015.
  • The previous report had fish bycatch estimates for only 24 fisheries.

Southeast:

  • The report includes fish bycatch estimates for the Southeastern Atlantic shrimp trawl fishery, as well as bycatch numbers for the Southeastern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico shark bottom longline research fishery.
  • It also includes updated sea turtle bycatch estimates for Southeast shrimp trawl fisheries.

Alaska

  • The report adds bycatch estimates for 10 Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab fisheries under joint federal and state management.
  • Partially in response to suggestions from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the Alaska section has changed how some groundfish and halibut fisheries are defined to more accurately reflect how they are managed and prosecuted.

Looking Ahead

We are working on multiple fronts to improve our approach to bycatch, including recently asking stakeholders for ideas on how to improve the National Bycatch Report. This current report does not reflect changes based on this feedback process. We are reviewing the stakeholder comments and expect to make improvements to future versions of the report as necessary.

Read the full release here

New drive to reduce lobster fishing gear to help rare whale

February 7, 2019 — Interstate fishing managers are starting the process of trying to reduce the amount of lobster fishing gear off the East Coast in an attempt to help save a declining species of rare whale.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced on Wednesday that it would consider options designed to reduce vertical lobster fishing lines in the water by as much as 40 percent. The lines pose a threat to the North Atlantic right whale, which is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

The commission said it would try to reduce the amount of gear with a combination of trap limits, seasonal closures, changes to gear configuration and other methods. The rules are under development and it will take months before they come up for public hearings.

The commission said in a statement that the drive to reduce lines in the water is “in response to concerns about the North Atlantic right whale population and the potential impacts of whale conservation measures on the conduct of the lobster fishery.” But some lobster fishermen said they need more details about the effort before they will get on board.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle

Rifts Repaired Between Canada and the U.S. at the International Pacific Halibut Meeting

February 5, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — In an eleventh-hour breakthrough in negotiations, both Canadian and American commissioners on the International Pacific Halibut Commission found common ground on two contentious halibut issues last Friday — bycatch and apportionment — while adopting catch limits that split the difference between the two advisory bodies.

With persistently stable populations at low levels, the coastwide stock has yet to show significant signs of recruitment, or younger year classes coming into the commercial fishery. Those two dynamics: stable but relatively low stock size and little sign of recruitment, make even a one or two percent difference in quota impact both the sustainability of the resource and the economic sustainability of certain coastal areas.

U.S. Commissioner Chris Oliver, who is also the Assistant Administrator of NOAA Fisheries, told the gathering the commissioners had agreed to an F47 SPR (spawning potential ratio) which is an indication of the intensity of fishing pressure on the resource. A higher F number means a lower catch limit.

“An F47 SPR is slightly more conservative than F46,” Oliver said as he made the motion everyone had been waiting for all week.  F46 is the fishing intensity level adopted last year.

“There is a little bit greater uncertainly in the stock dynamics this year, so a slightly more precautionary approach is warranted,” Oliver said. He noted the small level of young fish from the year class 2011 and 2012 that showed up in the IPHC survey last summer. That appearance is only one data point now, not reliable enough to count on. However, if they continue to show up in 2019, 2020 and beyond, the scientists would have more certainty of recruitment size and age.

Regarding the portion of quota agreed to for Canada, Oliver said, “For 2B, we’re using a share based calculation that will put 70% emphasis on historical share and 30% on SPR value, for the three years, beginning in January 2020. For this year, Area 2B will get a 17.7% share.”

Over the years, the Canadian and U.S. commissioners have struggled with how to bridge the gap between the 20% of the coastwide total Canada received prior to a coastwide assessment and the 12.3% of the geographic coastwide range. Canada has never recognized ‘apportionment’ — a word rarely used any more — and has accommodated for that by routinely taking higher catch limits.

Discussion have ranged from applying a 50:50 or equal emphasis to the B.C. number or heavily weighting one or the other. This agreement answers the question for the next four years.

IPHC’s two advisory bodies, one representing fishermen and one representing processors, recommented total catch limits that were less than 2 million pounds apart.

In the end, the Commissioners agreed to a coastwide total mortality of 38.61 million pounds of halibut, just below last year’s take of 38.7mlbs.  The Total Constant Exploitable Yield or TCEY (all removals: commercial, recreational, wastage, etc.) by regulatory area for 2019 are listed below in millions of pounds.

2A 1.65

2B 6.83

2C 6.34

3A 13.5

3B 2.90

4A 1.94

4B 1.45

4CDE 4.00

38.61  Total TCEY

The Fishery CEY catch limits (in million pounds) are:

2A   1.50

2B   5.95

2C   4.49

3A 10.26

3B   2.33

4A   1.65

4B   1.21

4CDE   2.04

29.43   Total FCEY

These numbers pose little risk to the resource falling to trigger reference points, but they do pose a greater chance of next year’s quota being lower, and 2021’s lower still if nothing changes.

The Conference Board, the fishermen’s advisory group, recommended 39.6 million pounds of TCEY for 2019, and the Processor’s Advisory Board recommended 37.63 million pounds. Most of the Commissioners agreed total catch limits should drop this year.

The Commission and the advisory bodies also agreed that an exception should be made for Area 2A. Washington state’s treaty tribes, with support from the state and others, proposed a minimum FCEY in that area of 1.5 milion. The IPHC granted that, albiet for an interim, three-year basis.

Another big hurdle in the impasse last year, besides the portion of the halibut that goes to Canada, was accounting for all sizes of halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea.

On Friday, the Commission recommended that staff evaluate and redefine TCEY to include the under-26-inch (U26) halibut that make up part of discard mortalities, including bycatch. The intent is for each country to be responsible for counting its U26 mortalities against its collective TCEY.

The change would, for the first time, include fish that are too small to be caught in the IPHC’s setline survey or for that matter on a commercial hook. They are caught in trawls, however, and currently accounted for by weight based in large part on observer data.

But inclusion of U26 mortalities in bycatch will not further reduce the amount of halibut available for the directed halibut fleet in the Bering Sea to catch, since it is sublegal and not targeted by halibut fishermen.

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Big sea, bigger data: How analytics are making peace between fishermen and turtles

February 5, 2019 — The ocean is complicated. Our tools to manage it are blunt.

We often approach the ever-changing ocean as if it were a stationary valley in a national park. We close entire coastlines and restrict fisheries to protect single species. We’re flummoxed by wide-ranging mobile marine life and unprepared for climate change.

But a new generation of data-driven tools balances the needs of fish and fishermen and adapts automatically as the environment changes.

With the government’s towering stockpiles of ocean data, scientists can use weather and ocean chemistry to predict where fishermen are likely to catch their intended targets, including swordfish or tuna, and avoid protected species, such as marine mammals, sharks or manta rays.

Google and Facebook analyze data to predict our behavior with unnerving precision. With dynamic ocean management, scientists use similar strategies to protect the areas where turtles, albatross or whales are most likely to congregate in a given day or hour.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

California wildlife agency denied in bid to delay lawsuit over whale, sea turtle entanglements

February 5, 2019 — A San Francisco judge has rejected the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s bid to delay a lawsuit that claims the agency has fallen short in preventing the state’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery from entangling whales and sea turtles.

U.S. District Court Judge Maxine Chesney, on Jan. 25, denied the department’s motion to delay the case by 2 1/2 years while it secures a federal “incidental take permit” that would allow the agency to operate in a way that addresses and minimizes the threat to whales and sea turtles, while acknowledging some risk.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued Fish and Wildlife in October 2017 after the total number of whale entanglements from all fishing industries broke records for three straight years.

“The Dungeness crab fishery is the biggest entanglement culprit in California, by far,” said Steve Jones, a spokesman for the center. “Most entangling gear can’t be identified, but of the identified gear, it is mostly crab lines.”

Read the full story at The San Jose Mercury News

Satellite Study Says Tuna Longliners Vastly Misreporting Compliance with Sea Bird Avoidance

February 4, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Seabirds, in particular birds like albatross, are highly vulnerable to longlines, and in some fisheries managed by the US, take of a single bird can shut down the fishery.

The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) lists 15 of 22 albatross species as endangered.

To mitigate bycatch, the RFMO’s in the Indian Ocean, Western Pacific, and the Atlantic have mandated measures to prevent bird interactions with longlines, such as night setting, use of weighted lines to sink faster, and use of streamers to keep birds away during setting.

However, the RFMOs depend on vessel self reporting.  Apparently a large number of vessels are lying about their mitigation measures.

According to a study of satellite data released by Birdlife International, only 15% of tuna longline vessels are using night setting, the single bycatch reduction measure most effective for albatross.

But the industry has been reporting compliance with night setting at levels between 29% and 85%, depending on the fishing area.

The study looked at satellite data for 201 vessels, analyzing their movement, speed, direction of travel and time, to determine when they were night setting.  The results showed only 15% of the vessels were actually using the practice.

The findings offered a stark contrast with reports given by countries to fisheries watchdogs that suggested night-setting was used at a much higher rate by  fleets.

“The results are very disappointing,” said Stephanie Winnard, a biologist with the albatross task force, a specialist unit set up by Birdlife International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. “By this stage you would expect a lot more vessels to be using night setting.”

The aim of the research was to encourage best practice, to which end the results will be shared with the countries whose vessels were studied.

Albatrosses, petrels and other seabirds are “irresistibly drawn” to the trailing, baited longlines, said Winnard. Each year, an estimated 100,000 birds are hooked and drowned by longline and trawl fisheries.

“This level of bycatch in the fishing industry is hugely unsustainable for birds that can take up to 10 years to start breeding,” said Winnard, who added that the findings were “truly powerful” for the way the data shed light into the “opaque world” of global fisheries and their impact on ocean biodiversity.

“No one is going to report they are not sticking to the rules or they are killing seabirds, so we now have this independent way of measuring compliance,” said Winnard. “This information has never before been public. It is usually kept behind closed doors. It will promote transparency and hold countries to account. It is the first time we’ve been able to see what is happening on individual fishing boats.”

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

MSC to include ghost gear, shark finning, endangered species in standard review

January 25, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)’s board of trustees has confirmed a list of 16 topics that will be reviewed in the next stage of its fisheries standard review.

In addition to the topics to be included in the standard review, the MSC board has approved topics for more immediate public consultation. These include a consultation on shark finning as part of the MSC’s scope requirements in early March 2019, concluding in early 2020.

The full standard review list incorporates feedback received from numerous stakeholders and includes consideration of the MSC’s requirements for ghost gear, low trophic species, shark finning and endangered threatened and protected (ETP) species, it said. It also covers topics relating to the accessibility of the MSC program to small scale, squid, crab and octopus fisheries.

“The next stage in the MSC fisheries standard review will be an in-depth analysis of all topics agreed for review,” said Rupert Howes, MSC CEO. “Over the next year, the MSC will work alongside stakeholders to harness their expertise and experience to identify potential updates to the standard. This is an opportunity for stakeholders to inform the future development of the standard. We encourage anyone with knowledge or an interest in these areas to get in touch.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

We’re accidentally driving this extremely ugly fish to extinction

January 14, 2019 — The Atlantic wolffish is not an attractive beast.

Its appearance is characterized by its large, fang-like teeth (where it earns its name), which are used to crush prey like crabs, lobsters and sea urchins. Its throat is also peppered with more serrated teeth.

It may come as a surprise then to hear that their numbers have dwindled relentlessly over the last century partly as a result of overfishing.

  • In the US, catches of Atlantic wolffish declined from over 1,200 tons per year to around 30 tons per year between the 1980s and the 2000s.
  • In the UK, wolffish have declined in English and Welsh trawl fisheries by 96% since 1889.
  • In the Baltics, the fish’s population has been classed as endangered, meaning it has a high risk of extinction in the wild.

But we don’t eat them. So why are they being overfished to the point of extinction?

Read the full story at Business Insider