Saving Seafood

MAINE: Study reveals climate change toll on Maine’s kelp forests

September 26, 2024 — Parts of the warming Gulf of Maine have become inhospitable for kelp forests, according to new research from the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay.

Between 2001 and 2018, a team led by senior research scientist Doug Rasher combined dive surveys of kelp population and data on ocean temperature to compile the first detailed census of Maine’s kelp forests in nearly 20 years.

The results were startling, Rasher said. Maine’s kelp forests were devoured by a green urchin overpopulation in the 1980s and 1990s, but rebounded around the turn of the century.

“We anticipated that with the rise and fall of the sea urchin fishery and the absence of sea urchins in the ecosystem, that kelp forests should have been widespread and pretty healthy across the coast of Maine,” Rasher said.

But that’s not what his team found, according to the results of their research published in the journal Ecology. Kelp forests persisted off Maine’s northern coast but south of Casco Bay they had almost disappeared.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

They’ve Got a Plan to Fight Global Warming. It Could Alter the Oceans.

September 23, 2024 — In a quiet patch of forest in Nova Scotia, a company is building a machine designed to help slow global warming by transforming Earth’s rivers and oceans into giant sponges that absorb carbon dioxide from the air.

When switched on later this year, the machine will grind up limestone inside a tall green silo and release the powder into the nearby West River Pictou, creating a chalky plume that should dissolve within minutes.

The effect could be potent, scientists say. Rivers contain carbon dioxide that is constantly escaping into the air, where it traps heat and warms the planet. But adding limestone converts some of that carbon dioxide into a stable molecule that instead stays underwater and washes into the sea, where it should remain trapped for thousands of years.

“The beauty of it is how simple the technology is,” said Eddie Halfyard, a freshwater ecologist and co-founder of CarbonRun, the start-up building the $400,000 limestone machine, with plans for many more. “We let the water do most of the work.”

With the dangers of climate change growing and greenhouse gas emissions soaring, scientists and entrepreneurs are increasingly exploring ways to deliberately intervene in climate systems to cool the Earth. Overwhelmingly, scientists say nations must sharply cut the pollution from burning fossil fuels that is driving up global temperatures. But many also believe that some of the excess carbon in the atmosphere must also be pulled out in order to preserve a livable planet.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Climate change heavily affecting fish stocks in Japan, resulting in historically low catch totals

September 18, 2024 — Japanese catch totals of important seafood species have fallen dramatically, and climate change is the suspected cause, according to new reports, with catches of Japanese flying squid and Pacific saury suffering in recent years compared to historical averages.

The Tokyo-based National Pacific Saury Stick Net Fishery Cooperative released countrywide catch data on saury through the end of 2023, showing a 36 percent increase from the record-low catch recorded in 2022. Nationwide landings went from 7,092 metric tons (MT) to 9,525 MT. However, this is still well behind the 350,000 MT landed in 2008 and the 225,000 MT caught in 2012.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Broken Blades, Angry Fishermen and Rising Costs Slow Offshore Wind

September 12, 2024 — The collapse of a giant wind turbine blade off the Massachusetts coast confirmed Peter Kaizer’s worst fears about the dangers a new clean energy business could pose to fishermen like him.

Jagged pieces of fiberglass and other materials from the shattered blade drifted with the tide, forcing officials to close beaches on Nantucket and leaving Mr. Kaizer worried about the threat the fragments might pose to his vessel and other fishing boats, especially at night when the debris would be harder to avoid.

“All these small boats could be subject to damage,” Mr. Kaizer said. “Everyone wants this green legacy, but at the cost of what?”

The blade, which was more than 300 feet long, failed in July, but the repercussions are still unfolding at the $4 billion project that it came from — Vineyard Wind 1. Developers had hoped to finish the project this summer, making it the first large-scale wind farm completed in U.S. waters, but now that goal will take a lot longer than expected.

The blade failure is the latest problem slowing the fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry, which the Biden administration and East Coast states are counting on to deliver emission-free energy to millions of people from Virginia to Maine. President Biden and governors of those states had hoped to follow the examples of European countries like Britain and Denmark, which have plunked down thousands of wind turbines around the North Sea.

But the American offshore wind business has struggled to get going because of cost overruns, delays in issuing permits, and opposition from local residents and fishing groups. Several large projects were canceled or postponed even before the blade failure in Massachusetts because their costs increased sharply and developers did not anticipate supply chain problems and higher interest rates.

Read the full article at The New York Times

American lobster show resilience amid climate change

September 12, 2024 — Experiments conducted at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) have shown that female American lobsters groom their offspring, and the grooming behaviors appear to remain stable despite the temperature and acidity conditions projected for Maine’s coastal waters by the end of the century. A study by researchers at William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences shows that the species may be more resilient to the effects of climate change than previously thought.

The study examines how a changing climate may impact the reproductive success of species that brood or incubate and hatch their eggs. The findings were published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series and suggested that American lobsters can handle future ocean changes well, as their egg care and survival rates stayed stable under different conditions through the study’s tests.

Digging into the study

The study’s researchers partnered with the Maine Department of Marine Resources to obtain 24 lobsters from commercial operations for the study for five months. They secured female lobsters at market size with all legs intact, which are commonly lost in the wild.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA fishery councils prepare to adapt to climate change

September 10, 2024 — Shifts in marine species migration and population concentrations are forcing NOAA Fisheries to rethink its regional administrative maps to reflect the new realities of changing ocean habitats.

In guidance released Tuesday, the agency’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries established a framework for when and how regulation of a species should be handed off from one regional fishery management council to another based on shifting species population dynamics. The guidance does not specifically mention climate change, but the effects of warming water on fish migration have been widely acknowledged by NOAA Fisheries, also called the National Marine Fisheries Service, and other experts.

“In anticipation of an increasing number of fish stocks shifting in geographic distribution, new fisheries emerging, and other demographic shifts in fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service has identified a need for guidance on determining the geographic scope of fisheries and on how to determine which regional fishery management councils will be responsible for preparing and amending new [and] existing fishery management plans for fisheries that extend or have moved beyond the geographical area of authority of any one council,” the agency said in the guidance document.

Read the full article at E&E News

Biden-Harris Administration invests more than $23 million to remove marine debris

September 6, 2024 —  Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA recommended more than $23 million in funding to support marine debris removal and interception efforts for 13 multi-year projects across 10 coastal U.S. states, three territories and the District of Columbia. This funding is provided by NOAA’s Climate-Ready Coasts initiative under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

The Climate-Ready Coasts initiative is focused on creating climate solutions by storing carbon; building resilience to coastal hazards such as extreme weather events, pollution and marine debris; restoring coastal habitats; building the capacity of coastal  communities; and supporting community-driven restoration.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is funding critical projects like these that will help remove and address harmful marine debris that can significantly impact water quality, habitats and economic prosperity in coastal communities across the nation,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These investments, made possible thanks to President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help improve coastal communities for decades to come by making sure they have the necessary resources to protect their ecosystems and local economies from the impacts of marine debris, which are exacerbated by climate change.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

Gulf of Maine’s rising temperatures bring challenges and opportunities to local fisheries

August 29, 2024 — The Gulf of Maine’s warming waters are profoundly affecting Maine’s working waterfront in more ways than one. Over the past decade, sea surface temperatures have surged, with recent years experiencing record-breaking warmth. This trend, largely attributed to climate change, poses significant challenges to local fisheries, but it also opens doors to new opportunities.

Over the last 10 years, there has been an unprecedented increase in the sea surface temperatures throughout the Gulf of Maine—something many scientists blame on manmade climate change. Out of the last six years, four of our summers have endured the warmest waters for Maine’s Gulf, with 2021 breaking a new record.

Read the full article at WMTW

UN chief issues ‘SOS’ for Pacific Islands worst hit by warming ocean

August 27, 2024 — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the rate worldwide, and its population was “uniquely exposed” to the impact of rising sea levels.

Speaking to reporters in Tonga where the Pacific Islands Forum is being held, Guterres highlighted the findings of a report that showed the South West Pacific was worst hit by sea level rises, in some places by more than double the global average in the past 30 years.

“I am in Tonga to issue a global SOS – Save Our Seas – on rising sea levels,” he said.

“Rising seas are amplifying the frequency and severity of storm surges and coastal flooding. These floods swamp coastal communities. Ruin fisheries. Damage crops. Contaminate fresh water. All this puts Pacific Island nations in grave danger,” he said.

Read the full story at Reuters

Counting All the Fish in the Sea May Be Even Trickier Than Scientists Thought

August 23, 2024 — Counting the number of fish in the ocean may well be one of science’s toughest jobs. It also produces a crucial tool governments use to protect marine ecosystems that feed millions of people across the world.

Fish stock assessments work a lot like climate models. Scientists gather a wide range of data from fish catches, like age and weight, and track environmental conditions, like the temperature of the sea, and use mathematical models to estimate the health of fish populations. The analysis is then used to make recommendations to governments.

[…]

“A lot of the things they say you need to do are already in place,” said Ray Hilborn, a professor of fishery science at the University of Washington. Many fishery managers, he explained, already look back at historical trends to correct for a possible tendency to over or undercount fish populations.

Steven Cadrin, a marine scientist at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, who has worked on fish stock assessments for decades, said the study’s findings are “invalid,” partly because the researchers used the most recent stock assessments as a benchmark for accuracy. More recent tallies of fish populations may be just as prone to error, he said.

The fisheries included in the study have some limitations. The study’s researchers examined fish assessments with ample data, which are largely done by some of the wealthiest countries in the world, such as the United States, Canada and Australia.

Still, some of the most troubled fisheries, in countries like India and Indonesia, don’t do thorough fish stock assessments, Dr. Hilborn said.

“The global fisheries problem,” he said, “is that about half of the world’s fish stocks are simply not assessed.”

Read the full article at The New York Times