Saving Seafood

As lawmakers take up NOAA funding, conservation groups demand $300M for endangered marine species

May 3, 2024 — With budget season well underway on Capitol Hill, a coalition of environmental groups renewed calls for lawmakers to commit a significant chunk of funding to federal programs aimed at marine wildlife conservation.

Writing in a letter last week to leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees, the 80 or so conservation advocates led by the Center for Biological Diversity sounded the alarm about the Protected Resources Science and Management Program, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

The protected resources subprogram, which is responsible for overseeing the welfare of marine mammals such as whales and dolphins as well as sea turtles and other species, has been “underfunded for decades and desperately needs more funding to protect, conserve and recover our nation’s imperiled marine species,” the groups wrote.

In its 2025 budget request, NOAA asked Congress for roughly $266 million for its Protected Resources Science and Management Program, which it said aims to “assess, understand and conserve the health of protected species, the ecosystems that sustain them and the communities that value and depend on them.”

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

 

Endangered Hawaiian monk seal population highest in decades

May 6, 2022 — The population of endangered Hawaiian monk seals has surpassed a level not seen in more than two decades, according to federal officials.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials this week said that the seal population has steadily increased over the past two years.

Officials estimated the population has grown by more than 100 from 2019 to 2021, bringing the total from 1,435 to 1,570 seals. Monk seals live only in Hawaii, including the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands where most of the animals are found.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are all within Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the largest protected marine area in the United States and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Michelle Barbieri, the lead scientist at NOAA’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, said the count shows that conservation efforts have been helping. The group travels across the archipelago to provide treatment and rescue to animals in trouble.

Read the full story from the Associated Press

 

New rules spell trouble for Maine lobstermen, with or without enforcement

May 5, 2022 — Though a new rule from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration affecting the gear lobster fisherman can use has gone into effect, it will not yet be enforced.

As of May 1, lobster fishermen fishing in federal waters are now required to use ropes with weak points approved by the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) that will break if a whale becomes entangled in them.

The rule requiring the gear was part of a final rule announced by NOAA on August 31, 2021 amending the agency’s Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, which attempts to reduce the number of injuries and deaths to North Atlantic right whales, listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at Maine Wire

 

Recommended 2022 Species Recovery Grants Projects

May 2, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries is recommending roughly $6.2 million in funding for state and tribal projects through its Species Recovery Grants Program. Around $3.6 million in funding is proposed for 12 new awards to eight states, a territory, and one federally recognized tribe. Another $2.6 million will support the continuation of 13 multi-year projects that were approved in prior grant cycles.

States and tribes play an essential role in conserving and recovering species. Threatened or endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction may spend all or part of their lifecycle in state or tribal waters. Successfully conserving these species depends largely on working cooperatively with states and tribes. This year’s proposed projects support our state and tribal partners in a range of activities, such as:

  • Assessing and monitoring endangered and threatened species presence and status, including evaluating abundance, spawning, and foraging behaviors
  • Collecting demographic and genetic information to improve understanding of population distribution, habitat use, and impacts of human threats
  • Increasing the number of individuals for outplanting by improving captive reproduction, health, and survival of an endangered species
  • Assisting with animal stranding responses
  • Determining the importance and assessing threats of specific prey populations to the diet of endangered species
  • Engaging the public in conservation of Endangered Species Act-listed species

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

 

‘Resilient’ leatherback turtles can survive fishing rope entanglements. Mostly

April 6, 2022 — Leatherback sea turtles run a gantlet of fishing lines and other human impacts during their annual migratory loop from Caribbean nesting grounds to the eastern coast of North America and back. One of the leatherback turtle’s biggest obstacles is entanglement in ropes from lobster pot traps deployed by commercial fisheries in the waters of New England. A recently published report in Endangered Species Research found that while turtles can survive entanglement if reached by rescuers, new approaches in fisheries are needed for them to survive over the long term.

“I was surprised and encouraged by how many of the cases [showed] that the turtles were able to survive these events,” said lead author Kara Dodge, from the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts, who analyzed 15 years’ worth of data collected by the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) based in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

The CCS played the dual role of collecting data and coming to the rescue during turtle entanglements with its Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program. Between 2005 and 2019, the CCS saved more than 100 leatherback turtles. The world’s largest sea turtle, the leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea, is currently listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and is threatened by fisheries, destruction of beaches and climate change.

Read the full story at Mongabay

 

Working with West Coast Tribes to Protect Endangered Species

April 5, 2022 — In late 2019, the National Science Foundation proposed to fund a high-energy seismic research survey in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. It would take place off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island in the summer of 2021. These surveys inform earthquake and tsunami hazards in the highly populated Pacific Northwest. The surveys deploy airguns, which create sound waves that transmit through the water. Any marine life in the area could be affected by the sound, including salmon and Southern resident killer whales, which are culturally important to many Pacific Northwest Tribes.

Through an academic study, the National Science Foundation  proposed a marine geophysical survey to collect geological data from Cascadia Subduction Zone. To collect the survey data, the National Science Foundation Research Vessel Marcus G. Langserh would tow airguns that send out sound waves into the water.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

Western Pacific Council Asks for Remedies to ESA Consultation Delays, Monument Management Plans

March 29, 2022 — Endangered Species Act consultations through NMFS takes time, but the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is tired of waiting.

Council Chair Archie Soliai reiterated concerns about NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office delays in completing ESA consultations for the region’s longline and bottomfish fisheries when the Council met last week.

“Our experience with ESA consultations over the last several years have left us with the impression that our Council process is not respected,” Soliai said in a press release. “The Council is here to ensure the sustainability of our region’s fishery resources as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. We ask PIRO to provide us with realistic timelines and meaningful dialogue, so we may work together to complete these biological opinions and ensure that our fisheries can continue to operate in compliance with ESA.”

The Council said it will convey its concerns to Janet Coit, assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), requesting assistance so biological opinions are completed in coordination with the Council.

Read the full story at Seafood News

White House starts key ESA ‘critical habitat’ review

March 14, 2022 — The Fish and Wildlife Service this week stepped closer toward erasing a Trump administration rule that crimped the Endangered Species Act’s definition of “critical habitat.”

On Tuesday, records show, the federal agency, along with NOAA Fisheries, submitted a long-awaited ESA rule for final White House review. Once the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has done its thing, it will be go time for one of the environmental community’s priorities.

“The Endangered Species Act has saved hundreds of irreplaceable plants and animals from extinction, but it could be doing so much more good,” Stephanie Kurose, a senior policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

Kurose added that “despite the law’s remarkable success, the services have been reluctant to fully implement it, succumbing to years of political and industry pressure to weaken what is the only hope for imperiled species.”

On Tuesday, the same day the federal agencies handed the ball to White House reviewers, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a sweeping petition urging FWS and NOAA Fisheries to take a variety of actions.

Read the full story at E&E News

 

Federal right whale legislation floated

March 2, 2022 — Introduced to the U.S. Senate last week was the Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022, led by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and joined by fellow Democrats. The proposed bill seeks to help right whale conservation efforts “by supporting and providing financial resources for conservation programs and projects.”

The legislation adds to the swirl of regulatory and legal action aimed at protecting the right whales — but at a cost to Maine lobstermen and the $1 billion that the industry is estimated to add to the state’s economy each year.

The Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022 aims to support through grants and other financial assistance conservation programs that curtail the effect of human activity on right whales. Right whales are injured and killed from ship strikes as well as being entangled in fishing lines.

The North Atlantic right whale is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. The number of right whales has steadily declined since 2010 and the estimated population dropped 30 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to federal monitoring programs. It now stands at below 340, the lowest in two decades, and the reported number of breeding females is small.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species Report to Congress 2019–2020

February 1, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries has released the Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species Report to Congress. It summarizes efforts to recover all transnational and domestic species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction from October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2020.This report summarizes the status of each species that has or will have a recovery plan, the status of the recovery plan, and the completion date for the last 5-year review.

With this report, NOAA Fisheries is updating progress made on its strategic approach to endangered species recovery. This approach focuses agency resources on species for which immediate, targeted efforts can be taken to stabilize their populations and prevent extinction.

The report highlights recovery progress for nine species identified in the Species in the Spotlight initiative. These species need focused intervention to stabilize their populations and prevent their extinction.

During the 2 years covered in this report, we managed 99 domestic (includes some transnational) species, including:

  • Salmon
  • Sturgeon
  • Sawfish
  • Sharks
  • Rays
  • Seagrass
  • Mollusks
  • Sea turtles
  • Corals
  • Marine mammals

We also managed 66 foreign species. In this report, we address 99 transnational and domestic species for which a recovery plan has or will be developed. That included one newly-listed species, Rice’s Whale (Balaenoptera ricei). It was originally listed as endangered on April 15, 2019 as Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni, unnamed subspecies). On August 23, 2021, we issued a direct final rule to revise the listing to reflect the scientifically accepted taxonomy and nomenclature of the species.

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries