haddock Archives - Page 12 of 19

New England Council Endorses 2018 U.S./Canada TACs; Receives Progress Report on Groundfish Framework 57, Monitoring Amendment

September 28, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council today accepted 2018 total allowable catches (TACs) for three groundfish stocks on Georges Bank (GB) that the U.S. shares with Canada – Eastern GB cod, Eastern GB haddock, and GB yellowtail flounder. The TACs were recommended by the U.S./Canada Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) based on advice from the U.S./Canada Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC). The U.S. has members on both the TMGC and the TRAC.

The TACs will be included in Framework Adjustment 57 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, which is still under development. The National Marine Fisheries Service must approve the TACs before they are implemented.

Proposed Fishing Year 2018 U.S./Canada TACs in Metric Tons (mt)

	Eastern GB Cod	Eastern GB Haddock	GB Yellowtail Flounder
Total Shared TAC	951	40,000	300
U.S. TAC	257	15,600	213
Canada TAC	694	24,400	87

The allocation shares for 2018 are based on the following formula: historical catches weighted 10%; and resource distribution based on trawl surveys weighted 90%.

The TACs reflect the following changes from 2017 levels for U.S. quotas:

Eastern Georges Bank Cod: 111 mt increase
Eastern Georges Bank Haddock: 13,900 mt decrease
Eastern Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder: 6 mt increase

Read the full release at the New England Fishery Management Council

Scallop auction owners, friends of Carlos Rafael, tipped as likely fleet buyers

September 25, 2017 — Could old friends of Carlos Rafael’s wind up with his massive New England fishing fleet?

Speculation is building that the Buyers and Sellers Exchange (BASE), an electronic seafood auction firm in New Bedford, Massachusetts, could be the company mentioned in court documents as having signed a memorandum of agreement to buy the 30-something vessels, an unknown number of skiffs, and some 50 state and federal permits to catch scallops, cod, haddock and many other fish found in the Gulf of Maine.

Richard and Raymond Canastra, BASE’s co-owners, were not in their offices on Friday, a company employee told Undercurrent News. But many see it as a likely match.

Raymond Canastra is reported to be a long-time friend of Rafael’s. The two mens’ daughters co-own a seafood brokerage firm in New Bedford.

The Canastra brothers don’t have fishing boats, but if they were able to acquire the Rafael operation, “it would not be a surprise to anyone”, Jim Kendall, a longtime member of the area fishing community and the executive director of New Bedford Seafood Consulting, told Undercurrent.

The Canastras know the fishing industry well, and probably wouldn’t have too much trouble making Rafael’s business work with theirs, he said. There is little money to be made in groundfish, but Rafael’s scallops permits could be quite valuable. Also, it would satisfy the goal of keeping nearly 300 jobs in the area.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Changes to cod, haddock, flounder quotas eyed in New England

September 18, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — Federal fishing regulators are planning a host of changes to the quota limits of several important New England fish, including cod.

New England fishermen search for cod in two key fishing areas, Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine. Regulators have enacted a series of cutbacks to the cod quota in those areas in recent years as cod stocks have dwindled.

This year, regulators want to trim the Georges Bank cod quota by 13 percent and keep Gulf of Maine’s quota the same.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NH1

Demand for groundfish data continues to increase

September 6, 2017 — The Sentinel Survey, now in its eighth year of research, collects data on the status of groundfish populations in Eastern Maine. The survey is conducted by Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, in collaboration with the University of Maine. Fishermen visit a total of 84 survey stations from June to October, along with researchers who study the population, distribution, and most important, the genetic makeup of groundfish in each location, according to a news release from MCCF.

The Sentinel Survey has become the leading source of information on groundfish in Eastern Maine, the release states. The unique summer sampling season and localized-scale produces heavily sought after data. The survey design also uses a combination of gear types, longline and jig hooks, to sample areas where larger, more traditional trawling methods struggle—areas with rocky bottoms and an abundance of lobster traps. Since 2010, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries has collected data on more than 20 groundfish species, most notably cod, halibut, mackerel, cusk, haddock, pollock and hake.

Increasingly, scientists are requesting access to survey samples of stomach content, heart, otolith (or ear bone), fin clip, gonad, and muscle tissue, as they seek to understand the status of depleted groundfish populations. According to lead researcher on the Sentinel Survey, Mattie Rodrigue, “data from even a single fish is crucial. Biological analysis can unlock a picture of where that species has been, the distinct sub-populations it’s related to, what it’s been eating, its reproductive patterns, and more.”

Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries has led a collaborative effort to distribute Sentinel Survey data to organizations up and down the coast, from Massachusetts to Canada. Scientists want access to specific data, and the survey can provide that information. Institutions, including the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, rely on the survey.

Read the full story at Island Ad-Vantages

Climate Change May Shrink the World’s Fish

A new study suggests warming sea temperatures could result in smaller fish sizes.

August 22, 2017 — Warming temperatures and loss of oxygen in the sea will shrink hundreds of fish species—from tunas and groupers to salmon, thresher sharks, haddock and cod—even more than previously thought, a new study concludes.

Because warmer seas speed up their metabolisms, fish, squid and other water-breathing creatures will need to draw more oxygen from the ocean. At the same time, warming seas are already reducing the availability of oxygen in many parts of the sea.

A pair of University of British Columbia scientists argue that since the bodies of fish grow faster than their gills, these animals eventually will reach a point where they can’t get enough oxygen to sustain normal growth.

“What we found was that the body size of fish decreases by 20 to 30 percent for every 1 degree Celsius increase in water temperature,” says author William Cheung, director of science for the university’s Nippon Foundation—Nereus Program.

These changes, the scientists say, will have a profound impact on many marine food webs, upending predator-prey relationships in ways that are hard to predict.

“Lab experiments have shown that it’s always the large species that will become stressed first,” says lead author Daniel Pauly, a professor at the university’s Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, and principal investigator for the Sea Around Us. “Small species have an advantage, respiration-wise.”

Still, while many scientists applaud the discovery, not all agree that Pauly’s and Cheung’s work supports their dramatic findings. The study was published today in the journal Global Change Biology.

Read the full story at National Geographic

NOAA Endorses Eating Small Haddock — But What About Cod?

August 17, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are giving their stamp of approval to eat small haddock.

In the July issue of the NOAA Fisheries Navigator, the government agency reports that smaller haddock does not necessarily mean an unhealthy stock. Looking at stats dating back to 1995, the size of the fish has been decreasing — but the population has been growing.

This trend is something that the organization has seen in the past. “A decline in the average size of Georges Bank haddock also happened in the mid-1960s when a larger number of haddock were born in 1963 and grew into the population,” the report reads. And according to their research, the size of the stock is large simply because the fish are “generally able to spawn before being harvested.” Data collected from Georges Bank haddock in 2015 revealed that 90% of the fish mature at age three. Commercial minimum size is 16 inches, which is generally a two to five year old fish. That means that most fish are able to spawn once or twice before being caught.

But the endorsement from NOAA still comes as a surprise to some. As Navigator magazine editor Kerry Hann notes in the September 2017 issue, the thumbs up to eat small haddock is a “somewhat peculiar statement from the U.S.-based organization tasked with providing science-based conservation and management for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, marine mammals, endangered species and their habitats.”

For Hann, it all goes back to 1992 when the cod industry was faced with a similar situation.

“Fewer larger, spawning-aged fish were being caught, leaving the dwindling cod populations made up of primarily small, juvenile fish,” Hann writes. “Many at the time concluded that a healthy cod population could not be made up of only small fish.”

So, what about cod today? That’s an upcoming discussion for “Cod — Building the Fishery of the Future,” a conference being held by the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation in November.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Catch Limits for 4 Groundfish Stocks and Windowpane Flounder Accountability Measures in Framework 56

August 1, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries announces the implementation of Framework 56 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

Framework 56 sets catch limits for four groundfish stocks for the 2017 fishing year (through April 30, 2018). The changes in these catch limits relative to fishing year 2016 are as follows:

Georges Bank cod quota will decrease by 13%;
Georges Bank haddock quota will increase by 2%;
Georges Bank yellowtail flounder will decrease 23%; and
Witch flounder quota will increase 91%.

We set catch limits for the 2017 fishing year for the remaining 16 groundfish stocks last year in Framework 55. The 2017 catch limits for these 16 stocks remain the same as or similar to 2016 limits.

The action sets sector allocations and common pool trip limits based on the 2017 limits and finalized 2017 sector rosters.

Framework 56 also:

Creates an allocation of northern windowpane flounder for the scallop fishery;
Revises the trigger for implementing the scallop fishery’s accountability measures for both its GB yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder allocation; and
Increases the GB haddock allocation for the midwater trawl fishery.

Read the Framework 56 permit holder letter posted on our website.

Finally, this action implements the accountability measures for the 2017 fishing year for the northern and southern windowpane flounder.

Read the permit holder letter for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass vessels regarding the southern windowpane flounder accountability measures posted on our website.

NOAA Fisheries Announces 2017 Recreational Measures for Gulf of Maine Cod and Haddock

July 27, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces recreational measures for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock for the remainder of the 2017 fishing year.

These measures are effective immediately.

Gulf of Maine Cod:

No Possession

Gulf of Maine Haddock:

Minimum size: 17 inches

Daily limit: 12 fish per angler per day

Open Seasons: May 1-September 16; November 1-February 28; April 15-30

Read the final rule as published in the Federal Register, and the permit holder letter posted on our website.

HILDE LEE: Cod has special place in nation’s food history

July 11, 2017 — I have a certain curiosity about food, particularly seafood. I am not shy about asking, “Is the fish fresh? When did it come in?”

Thus, one day I got the definitive answer from one a man at one of our local grocery store fish counters. “Yes, the fish is fresh and we get it frozen. I only thaw out what I think will sell daily. Thus, the fish is very fresh.” Well, it may be fresh, but it was frozen. After all, we are not on the seacoast.

I like cod and the various members of the cod family — haddock, hake, pollock and Atlantic cod. The flesh of these fish is usually firm, making it ideal for a variety of dishes — broiled, baked, and stewed. Cod is also a good receiver of sauces, particularly tomato-based ones with herbs.

Just like the bison and the eagle, cod can be considered a symbol of America. It was here even before the first settlers came to New England, where cod was plentiful.

When Giovanni Caboto sailed from Bristol, England, on May 2, 1497, he, like Columbus, was searching for a western sea route to Asia. But Caboto — known as John Cabot, a Venetian navigator sponsored by King Henry VII — returned from his first voyage not with exotic spices, but tales of the sea. He told of the many fishes that could be caught simply by lowering weighted baskets into the water.

Even before Cabot’s reports of great schools of cod along the northern shores of the new continent, fishermen from Scandinavian areas had spent any years fishing the North Atlantic.

By 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold ventured south beyond Nova Scotia seeking sassafras — believed to be a cure for syphilis — but found French and Portuguese fishermen harvesting numerous fish along the Great Banks, an area 350 miles of coast south of Newfoundland. There, the cold Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream joined, creating ideal conditions for a variety of fish. Gosnold named the land, which jutted out to sea, Cape Cod.

Read the full story at The Daily Progress

New England’s Major Groundfish, Except Cod, Enter into MSC Assessment

July 7, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — New England has often been vilified as having some of the worst overfished species in US waters and has long had a contentious fight over fisheries management.

However, three stocks in New England are fully healthy: haddock, Pollock and redfish. Together the annual catch limit for these stocks totals more than 70,000 tons. Such a success in rebuilding fisheries is often lost in the attention paid to the failure of the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine cod stocks to recover.

Now a client group led by Atlantic Trawlers of Maine, which is owned by Jim Odlin, and Fishermen’s Wharf in Gloucester, led by Vito Giacalone, have completed the MSC pre-assessment indicating that the fisheries will be able to meet the criteria, and have started the full assessment process.

The certification is being done by Acoura of Scotland, and the individuals who will carry out the assessment are Dr. Joseph DeAlteris, who recently retired from the University of Rhode Island and has many years of both Certification body and stock assessment experience in New England.

The other reviewer is Dick Allen. Allen has 45 years of experience as a commercial fishermen in New England, a Masters in Marine Affairs, and has been intimately involved in New England fishery management for decades.

The assessment is on a timeline to be completed by December of 2017.

The MSC certification will help expand the supermarket redfish programs, as well as support more sales of haddock and Pollock.

Currently, the harvests in these healthy fisheries are constrained by choke species, including cod.

For example, only around 9% of the Georges Bank Haddock Allowable Catch 51,000 tons was caught in 2016, while the Gulf of Maine haddock with an ACL of 2400 tons saw a catch rate of around 66%.

For redfish, the ACL in 2016 was 9500 tons, with a 43% harvest rate, and Pollock was 17,700 tons, with a 16.7% harvest rate.

The MSC certification is a step forward in further utilizing these fisheries, enhancing their markets, and explaining to customers that some New England and Gulf of Maine stocks are healthy and managed to global standards.

Jim Odlin says that the certification will be available to all companies who wish to contribute equitably to the costs of acquiring and maintaining the certificate, as per MSC policy.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.