Saving Seafood

New England’s 1816 ‘Mackerel Year’ and climate change today

January 19, 2017 — Hundreds of articles have been written about the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, at Indonesia’s Mt. Tambora just over 200 years ago. But for a small group of New England-based researchers, one more Tambora story needed to be told, one related to its catastrophic effects in the Gulf of Maine that may carry lessons for intertwined human-natural systems facing climate change around the world today.

In the latest issue of Science Advances, first author and research fellow Karen Alexander at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and 11 others including aquatic ecologists, climate scientists and environmental historians recount their many-layered, multidisciplinary investigation into the effects of Tambora on coastal fish and commercial fisheries.

Alexander says, “We approached our study as a forensic examination. We knew that Tambora’s extreme cold had afflicted New England, Europe, China and other places for as long as 17 months. But no one we knew of had investigated coastal ecosystems and fisheries. So, we looked for evidence close to home.”

In work that integrates the social and natural sciences, they used historical fish export data, weather readings,  and town growth chronologies and other sources to discover Tambora’s effects on the Gulf of Maine’s complex human and natural system.

The 1815 eruption caused a long-lasting, extreme climate event in 1816 known as the “year without a summer.” As volcanic winter settled on much of the Northern Hemisphere, crops failed, livestock died and famine swept over many lands. In New England, crop yields may have fallen by 90 percent. The researchers found that 1816 was also called “the mackerel year,” a clue to what they would find regarding fisheries.

Besides Tambora’s climate effects, the authors examined other system-wide influences to explain observed trends. These included historical events such as the War of 1812, human population growth, fish habitat obstruction due to dam building and changes in fishing gear that might have affected fisheries at the time. Employing historical methods in a Complex Adaptive Systems approach allowed them to group and order data at different scales of organization and to identify statistically significant processes that corresponded to known outcomes, Alexander says.

Read the full story at Phys.org

 

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Seeks Applicants for Federal Fishery Advisors

January 18, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is currently soliciting applicants for open advisory panel seats. Working at the grass roots level, advisory panel members provide information and guidance in the development and implementation of federal fishery management plans. The Council has twelve advisory panels composed of individuals who are engaged in the harvest of managed species, or are knowledgeable and interested in the conservation and management of the fishery or managed species. Members include recreational and commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and processors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), scientists, and concerned citizens.

Advisory panel members are appointed by the Council and serve for a three-year period, based on the frequency of meetings. As those appointments expire, members currently serving on the AP may reapply for their positions. These seats also become open to new applicants. Members may serve for three consecutive terms before reaching their term limit. AP members generally meet no more than once or twice each year and are compensated for travel and per diem expenses for all meetings. Applications are now being solicited for the following positions:

Habitat Advisory Panel

  • (1) North Carolina Recreational Seat
  • (1) At-Large Research Seat

Information & Education Advisory Panel

  • (3) Open Seats

Law Enforcement Advisory Panel

  • (1) Open Commercial Seat

Mackerel Cobia Advisory Panel

  • (2) Open Seats; (1) NGO Seat; and (1) Florida Seat for the Cobia Sub-panel

Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel

  • (2) North Carolina Open Seats; (4) Florida Open Seats; and (1) Consumer Representative

SEDAR Pool Advisory Panel (Pool)*

  • Open Seats

*Applicants appointed to the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) Pool are eligible to serve on species-specific panels for future stock assessments.

Advisory Panel Applicants

If you are interested in serving as a member on the Council’s advisory panels, please contact Kim Iverson, Public Information Officer, at kim.iverson@safmc.net or call the Council office at 843/571-4366 (Toll Free 866/SAFMC-10). Application forms are available from the Council office and may also be downloaded from the “Advisory Panel” page of the Council’s website at www.safmc.net

Applications should be mailed to Kim Iverson, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 29405 or submitted via email to the above address.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact area Council representatives to discuss their interest in serving. Contact information for all Council members is available from the “About Us” section of the Council’s website at  www.safmc.net or through the Council office.

Advisory panel members will be selected during the Council’s March 6 -10, 2017 meeting in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Advisory panel applications must be received by February 10, 2017 for consideration by the Council during the March meeting.

See the full release at the SAFMC

Mid-Atlantic Council Seeking Applications for Interim Advisory Panel Members

January 18, 2017 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting applications from qualified individuals to serve on several advisory panels that currently have vacancies.  Advisory panels provide information and recommendations to the Council during the development of fishery management actions. One of the chief responsibilities of advisory panels is the development of annual Fishery Performance Reports, which provide the Council and SSC with information on why catches may have fluctuated from year to year.

Advisory panels are composed of individuals with diverse experience and interest in Mid-Atlantic fisheries. Members include commercial fishermen, recreational anglers, for-hire operators, dealers, scientists, environmentalists, and other interested members of the public. Most advisory panels meet 1 – 2 times per year. Members are compensated for travel and per diem expenses for advisory panel meetings.  Individuals appointed under this notice would serve on an interim basis and could re-apply during the next general application window in early 2018.

The Council is accepting applications for the following advisory panels:

  • Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (1 vacancy)
  • Spiny Dogfish (2 vacancies)
  • Surfclam/Ocean Quahog (1 vacancy)

Anyone interested in serving on one of these advisory panels may apply online or download an application at www.mafmc.org/forms/advisory-panel-application. Applications can also be obtained by calling the Council office at (877) 446-2362 or emailing jsaunders@mafmc.org. Completed applications should be submitted using one of the following methods:

  • Online using the form at the web address above;
  • Mail to Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 N. State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901;
  • Email to jsaunders@mafmc.org; or
  • Fax to (302) 674-5399.

Please include “ADVISORY PANEL” in the subject of your fax or email.

See the full release at the MAFMC

MAFMC February 2017 Council Meeting Agenda​

January 17, 2017 — The following is a schedule for the February meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Managment Council (MAFMC). It was released by the MAFMC:

Tuesday, February 14th

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. River Herring/Shad Committee Meeting

  • Discuss criteria to assess progress in river herring/shad conservation

2:30 p.m. Council Convenes

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Meeting as a Committee of the Whole

  • Review and approve public hearing document for Squid Amendment

4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Law Enforcement Report

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Presentation on National Marine Sanctuary Nomination Process, Paul Ticco –  NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

Wednesday, February 15th

9:00 a.m. Meeting with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Boards

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. 62nd Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (62nd SAW), Jim Weinberg, NMFS, NEFSC

  • Overview of black sea bass benchmark stock assessment findings and peer review panelist findings

10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Black Sea Bass 2017-2019 Specifications

  • Overview and staff recommendation
  • SSC recommendation
  • Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations
  • Adopt recommendations for 2017-2019

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Black Sea Bass Research Update, Brad Stevens – UMES

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. LUNCH

1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Black Sea Bass Recreational Specifications

  • Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations
  • Adopt recommendations for 2017 management measures
  • Review Recreational Working Group recommendations and regional/state proposals (possible Board action)

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Black Sea Bass Commercial AM Framework

  • Review background, issues, and draft alternatives

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Summer Flounder Amendment

  • Update on progress and timeline

Thursday, February 16th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Business Session

  • Organization Reports
    • NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office
    • NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
    • NOAA Office of General Counsel
    • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • Liaison Reports
    • New England Council
    • South Atlantic Council
    • Regional Planning Body
  • Executive Director’s Report, Chris Moore
  • Science Report, Rich Seagraves
  • Committee Reports
  • Continuing and New Business

See the full schedule at the MAFMC

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on Modification of King Mackerel Management Measures for the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region

December 16, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on Amendment 26 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region (Amendment 26).

Amendment 26 contains actions related to the king mackerel portion of the coastal migratory pelagics fishery in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Region.  These actions were proposed by the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Council Fishery Management Councils following review of the most recent stock assessment, Southeast Data Assessment and Review 38 (SEDAR 38).

Actions in Amendment 26 would:

Modify the management boundary for the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic migratory groups of king mackerel to create a year-round boundary at the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council would be responsible for management measures in the mixing zone, which includes the exclusive economic zone off the Florida Keys.

Revise reference points, update the acceptable biological catch and annual catch limits, and revise commercial quotas and recreational annual catch targets for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel. These proposed revisions are based on the results of the most recent stock assessment, SEDAR 38, and are included below in Table 1.1.

Create a limited incidental catch allowance for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel caught as bycatch in the shark gillnet fishery. This amendment would allow for the harvest and sale of two king mackerel per crew member per trip from the Northern Zone and three king mackerel per crew member per trip from the Southern Zone.

Establish a commercial split season for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel in the Atlantic Southern Zone. This split season would allocate 60% of the quota to season 1 (March 1-September 30) and 40% to season 2 (October 1 – the end of February).

Establish a commercial trip limit system for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel in the Atlantic Southern Zone.The commercial trip limit of 3,500 pounds would remain in the area north of the Flagler/Volusia county line and remain in effect year-round as long as the fishery remains open.  South of the Flagler/Volusia county line the trip limit would be 50 fish from March 1- March 31.  After March 31, the trip limit would increase to 75 fish for the remainder of Season 1.  For Season 2, the trip limit would be 50 fish, except that beginning on February 1, if less than 70 % of the Season 2 quota has been landed, the trip limit would be 75 fish.

Increase the recreational bag limit for Gulf of Mexico migratory group king mackerel to 3 fish per person per day.

Revise the annual catch limits and commercial zone quotas for Gulf of Mexico migratory group king mackerel.  These proposed revisions are included below in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1   2016/2017 Proposed Quotas for King Mackerel (pounds) under

Amendment 26
 Commercial
 Gulf of Mexico Migratory Group 
 Western Zone  1,231,360
 Northern Zone  554,112
 Southern Zone (hook-and-line)  646,464
 Southern Zone (gillnet)  646,464
 Atlantic Migratory Group
 Northern Zone (includes gillnets north of

Cape Lookout, NC)

  1,497,600
 Southern Zone (Total)  5,002,400
 Southern Zone (season 1)  3,001,440
 Southern Zone (season 2)  2,000,960
 Recreational
 Gulf of Mexico Migratory Group  6,260,000
 Atlantic Migratory Group  10,900,000

Request for Comments

The comment period on Amendment 26 ends on February 13, 2017.    You may obtain electronic copies of Amendment 26 from the NOAA Fisheries Web site  or the e-Rulemaking Portal (see Addresses section).

Addresses

You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2016-0120, by either of the following methods:

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.

1.  Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0120.

2.  Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.

3.  Enter or attach your comments.

MAIL:  Submit written comments to Karla Gore, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

INSTRUCTIONS:  Comments sent by any other method (such as e-mail), to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

Some of Earth’s oldest creatures are now protected off the Jersey Shore

December 15, 2016 — To preserve some of the oldest living creatures on Earth, the federal government announced Wednesday that it had created an enormous protected area off the coast of New Jersey to protect deep-sea corals and other hidden ecological treasures.

At more than 40,000 square miles (the size of Virginia), the Frank R. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area includes about a dozen deep-water chasms, including the fabled Hudson Canyon. The area begins more than 70 miles offshore and parallels the coast from Long Island to North Carolina. Lautenberg, the U.S. senator from New Jersey who died in 2013, championed several deepwater species.

The agreement was hashed out by several stakeholders including NOAA Mid-Atlantic Fisheries, fishermen  and marine scientists.

Cold-water corals live hundreds of meters under the water. Until the fishing industry started harvesting using bottom trawling, the creatures were undisturbed for millennia. Commercial fishermen using “canyon busters,” however, have raked the world’s sea floors to harvest mackerel, monkfish and squid. The equipment boosts fisheries production but also topples and destroys the fragile coral. What survives can take centuries, even thousands of years, to bounce back. As a result, species that depend on the coral for their habitats — spider crabs, the bizarre rhinochimera, and scores of other rarely seen animals — are also left unprotected and imperiled.

Read the full story at The Philadelphia Inquirer

MAFMC & NOAA Fisheries Announce Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area

December 14, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, NOAA Fisheries and the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council announced publication of the final rule for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s action to designate a large offshore protected area for deep sea corals in the Mid-Atlantic. The Council approved the Deep Sea Corals Amendment to the Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Fishery Management Plan in 2015 in order to protect deep sea corals from the impacts of bottom-tending fishing gear.

Most deep sea corals are slow-growing and fragile, making them vulnerable to damage from certain types of fishing gear that contact the sea floor. This final rule designates a large “deep sea coral zone” in areas where corals have been observed or where they are likely to occur. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), regional fishery management councils have the disretionary authority to designate zones where fishing may be restricted to protect deep sea corals. Although corals have been protected as essential fish habitat, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is the first of the eight U.S. regional fishery management councils to use this discretionary authority.

The Council named the protected area in honor of the late Senator Frank Lautenberg, a five-term United States senator from New Jersey who was responsible for several important pieces of ocean conservation legislation, including the MSA provisions allowing for deep sea coral protections. The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area encompasses areas of known or highly likely coral presence in underwater canyons or slope areas along the continental shelf edge, as well as deeper areas where the presence of corals is uncertain, but where little or no fishing effort currently occurs. In total, the coral zone encompasses more than 38,000 square miles of federal waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast, an area approximately the size of the state of Virginia.

Within the protected area, commercial fishermen are prohibited from using most types of bottom-tending fishing gear such as trawls, dredges, bottom longlines, and traps. The rule does not apply to recreational fishing, commercial gear types that do not contact the sea floor, or the American lobster trap fishery. An exemption is also provided for the deep sea red crab commercial trap fishery. Vessels may transit through the area if fishing gear is stowed and not available for immediate use.

Development of the deep sea coral protection area was informed by several recent scientific research efforts undertaken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, including several deep sea surveys and the development of a predictive deep sea coral habitat suitability model. Using this information, members of the Council’s advisory panels, deep sea coral experts, fishing industry members, and other stakeholders cooperatively reviewed  this information to identify the landward boundaries for the protected area.

“This is a great story of regional collaboration among the fishing industry, the Mid-Atlantic Council, the research community, and environmental organizations to protect what we all agree is a valuable ecological resource,” said John Bullard, Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. “We owe a debt of gratitude to former Council Chair Rick Robins, who led the effort to establish this large protected area, which totals about 24 million acres, the size of state of Virginia. I’d also like to single out the contribution of current Vice Chairman Warren Elliot, who chaired the two-day workshop where all the stakeholders used the best available science to negotiate and agree upon the boundaries of the area to protect.”

“The Mid-Atlantic Council is extremely pleased that NOAA Fisheries has approved the Council’s recommended protection of deep sea corals in the Mid-Atlantic,” said Council chairman Michael Luisi. “We are proud of this achievement and want to thank and congratulate all those who contributed to this ground-breaking effort in the Atlantic.”

See the full release at NOAA

EU Tightens Fishing Rules in North Atlantic, Ups Some Quotas

December 14th, 2016 — European Union nations have reached a deal to tighten some fishing rules in its Northeastern Atlantic waters and the North Sea to edge closer toward a fully sustainable industry by 2020, but environmentalists said lenient quotas still allowed for far too much overfishing.

After marathon talks that started Monday and finished only early Wednesday, EU fisheries ministers said more stocks will be fished at maximum sustainable yield in hopes of pushing more species to within safe biological limits after decades of overfishing.

Ministers from fisheries nations such as Britain and France came away happy enough with increased quotas for some stocks of cod and mackerel, a sign environmentalists and maritime scientists would be left grumbling about the slow recovery of the EU’s vast eastern waters.

“We worked constructively to put people’s livelihoods first,” Scottish Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing said, adding he had “secured crucial increases for the majority of our key species.”

However, what sounded appealing to many of the fishermen left a bad taste in the mouth of environmental organizations.

The EU has about 145,000 fishermen, many of whom have struggled as overfishing depleted stocks and increasingly tight quotas were imposed. The EU is legally bound to return to sustainable fishing by 2020, but faces an uphill task to get there in time.

That task only will become tougher if fishing quotas are set too high as the deadline approaches.

The EU said that under Wednesday’s decision, 44 stocks will now be fished to maximum sustainable yield compared to only 36 last year.

“Overall, more fish stocks are being fished sustainably,” EU Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella said.

Read the full story at The New York Times 

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting December 5-9, 2016 in Atlantic Beach, NC

November 22, 2016 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Agenda Highlights

Mackerel Cobia Committee 

Review public comment and take final action for changing the fishing year for Atlantic cobia (GA to NY); and take final action on Coastal Migratory Pelagic Amendment 29 addressing king mackerel allocations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Snapper Grouper Committee 

Take final action for measures to reduce the harvest of mutton snapper; continue discussion on options for red snapper and recreational reporting; receive the annual review of the Vision Blueprint and consider options to include in the Vision Blueprint amendments for commercial and recreational snapper grouper fisheries; and consider measures to reduce harvest of golden tilefish based on the most recent stock assessment

Data Collection Committee  Take final action on the For-Hire Electronic Reporting Amendment that would require electronic reporting for federally permitted charter vessels and modify current reporting requirements for headboats.

Joint Dolphin Wahoo/Snapper Grouper/Mackerel Cobia Committees  Continue work on alternatives to modify allocations for dolphin (mahi mahi) and yellowtail snapper and approve for public hearings to be held in Jan/Feb 2017; and continue discussion on options for limited entry for federally permitted for-hire (charter) vessels.

See more information at the SAFMC

MASSACHUSETTS: Herring trawlers just offshore anger Cape fishermen

November 16, 2016 — ORLEANS, Mass. — They were visible from shore for most of Tuesday, seven vessels of between 140 to 170 feet in length, four miles off Nauset Beach.

Some worked in tandem, towing a huge net between them, scooping up mackerel or herring right on the Cape’s doorstep and making local fishermen like Bruce Peters angry.

“They suck up all the herring and mackerel, the forage fish we need for the cod, tuna, stripers, the whales, what we need for the food chain,” said Peters, a longtime commercial cod and groundfish fisherman, who now runs a charter boat business and fishes commercially for tuna. “We need a 50-mile buffer zone to keep these guys offshore.”

Buffer zones that prohibit the herring fleet from fishing within anywhere from 6 to 50 miles from shore are part of a new amendment to the herring fishery management plan that will be outlined at the New England Fishery Management Council meeting Thursday in Newport, Rhode Island, and voted on at the January meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The council — a representative body of fishermen, industry representatives, environmental organizations and state and federal fishery officials — draws up plans to sustainably manage fish and shellfish stocks in federal waters. They received 238 pages of comment, much of it in support of requiring the herring fleet to fish farther from shore.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times