Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Considers Moving Trawl Surveys to Fishing Vessels

August 2, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is initiating a planning process to support its intention to transition part or all of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s spring and fall bottom trawl surveys from the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow to fishing industry vessels provided that survey data collection quality and time series integrity can be maintained.

“The bottom trawl survey is perhaps the most valuable ecological data set that we maintain at the Center,” said Bill Karp, the center’s director. “Those data are critical for many of the fishery stock assessments in the region and are mined by a wide variety of researchers for other purposes. By sharing the responsibility for gathering these data with the fishing industry, I think there will also come greater shared confidence in the results obtained using them.”

A typical survey covers about 400 stations off the Northeastern U.S. in the Gulf of Maine, On Georges Bank and south to Cape Hatteras. The scientific trawl is towed to collect marine species, while a variety of environmental and oceanographic data are also being collected. Biological samples are taken from trawled animals for a variety of studies and to calculate an index of catch per tow by species. The resulting data are used to study everything from food habits to habitat use and the effects of climate change.

Transitioning such a large-scale data gathering enterprise to commercial vessels is a complex challenge, but Karp notes it has been done in the past, both when it needed to move from one research vessel to another and elsewhere in the world where commercial fishing vessels are used for this purpose. “It’s important to note, “said Karp, “that this will happen providing we can also maintain survey data collection and time series integrity.”

The target timeframe for the transition is five years. A science center working group is being established to develop options and criteria for making the shift. They will work closely with industry during this process through the Northeast Trawl Survey Advisory Panel, convened jointly by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the New England Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The NEFSC bottom trawl survey is the longest-running of its kind in the world. The first trip was in May 1963, and since then seasonal surveys have been conducted annually. The surveys are conducted from government research vessels operated by NOAA and her predecessor agencies.

Read the full release from NOAA

Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel Working Group – Aug. 2 meeting

July 29, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (AP) Working Group is scheduled to meet in Boston to discuss using commercial fishing vessels to supplement current stock assessment surveys conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Date:        Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Time:        9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Location:   Hilton Garden Inn, Logan Airport, 100 Boardman Street, Boston, MA  02128

WHAT IS THE WORKING GROUP:  The working group was created on June 1 by the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel specifically to address how best to deploy additional survey capacity using chartered commercial fishing vessels funded by the science center.  The science center provides the working group with meeting summaries and reports, and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council provides staff support.

WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA:  The working group will receive a short update on upcoming witch flounder work; review the draft “terms of reference” for augmenting current survey efforts; conduct in-depth discussions on the full range of options; and draft recommendations for consideration by the broader Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel.  Final AP recommendations will be presented to the Mid-Atlantic and New England Councils.

MASSACHUSETTS: Scientists to meet with public about overfished flounder

July 11, 2016 — FALMOUTH, Mass. — Scientists will meet with fishermen and the public about the future of a flounder species that regulators say suffers from overfishing.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole will hold the meeting at 10 a.m. July 26 to talk about witch flounder, a popular food fish caught off New England. Federal regulators say the witch flounder is overfished.

The scientists will answer questions relating to an upcoming assessment of the witch flounder stock. They will also take comments from the public.

The catch of witch flounder has fallen from more than 6.4 million pounds in 2004 to a little more than 1.2 million pounds in 2014. Scientists say that’s still too much because the fish’s reproductive rates have been lower than expected.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA Fisheries Releases Draft Northeast Climate Science Action Plan

June 22, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries is seeking comments on a draft plan to help guide our approach to increase the production, delivery, and use of climate-related information and to reduce impacts and increase resilience of fish stocks, fishing-dependent communities, and protected species. As part of its efforts to increase the production, delivery, and use of climate-related information, NOAA Fisheries has released a draft climate science action plan for the U.S. Northeast. It outlines a strategy and specific actions for increasing understanding of, preparing for, and responding to climate change effects on the region’s ocean species — including marine and anadromous fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds — and the people that depend on them.

The draft action plan was developed to meet the growing demand for information to better prepare for and respond to climate-related impacts. Ultimately, this information will be used to develop science-based strategies to sustain our marine resources and human communities that depend on them during this time of changing climate. Each NOAA Fisheries’ region will have a climate science action plan that helps implement the NOAA Fisheries Climate Science Strategy.

“Our science center is studying how climate variability is affecting fishery species and marine communities in the region,” said Bill Karp, Director of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. “Warming oceans, rising seas, and ocean acidification are affecting marine life and also disrupting fisheries and local economies. We hope this plan will help us provide the kind of information needed to support actions that will ensure sustainable fisheries and coastal communities in this time of great change.”

The Northeast region includes waters that extend from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the western end of the Scotian Shelf, the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Southern New England, Georges Bank, and the Gulf of Maine. These waters are among the fastest warming in the world’s oceans, a result of both human-caused climate change and natural climate variability. Fish, shellfish, marine mammal, and sea turtle populations are already responding to this changing environment, which is also affecting habitats that these species use, predator-prey relationships, and competition in the ecosystem. Human communities that depend on the function and health of this ecosystem are also feeling the effects.

“With water in the Gulf of Maine warming at a significant pace, understanding how environmental changes are affecting our species is critical to planning for a sustainable fisheries future,” said John Bullard, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region. NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center collects, analyzes and provides scientific information necessary to fulfill the agency’s mission to sustain marine species in watersheds, estuaries and the coastal ocean. The NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office ensures effective science-based management of these resources to achieve the same goals. The Northeast Regional Climate Action Plan focuses on present climate variability and future climate change in this large marine ecosystem.

“This plan builds on the work already underway in the region to address climate change,” said Jon Hare, of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and lead author of the plan. “For instance, we’ve been leaders in long-term monitoring needed to explain change, linking stock assessment and climate models, and working toward an ecosystem-based understanding of sub-regions like Georges Bank. We are also providing biannual and annual state-of-the-ecosystem reports to federal fishery managers to support their efforts to implement fishery management in a more holistic way, accounting for ecosystem factors as well as the biology of the fish.”

The core elements of the Northeast Regional Action Plan include developing new multispecies models that incorporate environmental terms such as temperature and ocean acidification, conducting work to better understand how climate change is forcing change in species distribution and habitat use, initiating a Northeast Climate Science Strategy Steering Group, cooperative research with the fishing industry, and integrating social science into ecosystem assessments in order to better account for human dimensions.

Designed to increase the production, delivery, and use of climate-related information, the plan will guide efforts to provide timely information to managers to reduce impacts and increase resilience of fisheries, protected species and coastal communities.

If you have questions about the plan, please contact jon.hare@noaa.gov. Written comments can be submitted via email to nmfs.gar.nerap@noaa.gov by July 29, 2016.

See the release at NOAA

NOAA recovers $450K scallop survey camera lost underwater last week

May 31, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Scientists and crew members aboard a NOAA-chartered research vessel have recovered a $450,000 scallop survey camera that was lost a week ago when it apparently snagged on an underwater shipwreck southeast of Delaware Bay, a NOAA spokesperson said.

“We are pleased, relieved, and preparing to move forward with our (scallop) survey for this year,” Susan Gardner, acting deputy director of NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said in a press release.

The Science Center owns the instrument, a habitat mapping camera known as a “HabCam.”

The camera appears to have only “minimal damage” on its exterior and is being tested by scientists, NOAA said.

Government surveys affect future catch limits for scallops, which is the highest-value species, by far, in New Bedford’s $330 million fishing industry.

Teri Frady, spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said scientists aboard the Hugh R. Sharp research vessel were conducting scallop surveys about 75 miles southeast of Delaware Bay, which separates New Jersey from Delaware, when the HabCam “separated from the tow cable and the vessel” in about 80 meters of water May 20.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA fisheries center won’t relocate to New Bedford

May 31, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — NOAA won’t be relocating its Northeast Fisheries Science Center from Woods Hole to New Bedford or anywhere off Cape Cod, the agency decided this week.

After 50 years in its location, the Science Center is bursting at the seams, and NOAA is seriously considering rebuilding it at another location.

Mayor Jon Mitchell and about 50 other community leaders wrote to NOAA earlier this year, stating that moving the researchers closer to the fishing fleet that relies on their work would go a long way toward repairing the damaged relationship that the fishermen have with their regulators.

Drew Minkiewicz, attorney for The Fisheries Survival Fund, a nonprofit scallop industry group, said, “They should have looked harder. It doesn’t seem like they thought about it too much.” He said that the city offers “synergies with places like SMAST (The UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology).

Bob Vanasse of the industry group Saving Seafood said, “I do think the mayor was correct in moving the science center to a major seaport with the most economic value. It would have been a good move. It would have been good to have scientists in close proximity to the fishermen who rely on them.”

“I’m not surprised, though. I thought it was a long shot,” he said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA Eyes Possible Move from Woods Hole

May 27, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is zeroing in on a new home for its Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a mainstay in the culture and economy of Woods Hole. The federal agency said last week that it has narrowed its search to Barnstable County, which includes all of the Cape, and would keep the center closer to research partners in the area.

NOAA began assessing its Woods Hole complex more than a year ago, in light of dwindling office and laboratory space and other concerns. As a first step, a feasibility study is expected to be completed this summer or fall, although a final decision about whether and where to relocate is likely years down the road.

But NOAA representative Teri Frady told the Gazette that the process is moving forward.

“The analysis thus far has reviewed many locations across the region and based on needs and partnerships, Barnstable County has been selected as the best fit for a potential facility re-capitalization,” she said in an email.

The original list had included New Bedford, Narragansett, R.I., and Groton, Conn. In recent months since the plans emerged, officials in New Bedford and elsewhere have lobbied for NOAA to come to their towns, while the Falmouth selectmen have pleaded for the science center to stay put.

But it may not be as simple as picking up and leaving, said Bill Karp, the center’s director of science and research.

“There are a number of different options on the table,” Mr. Karp told the Gazette. “One possibility is that we would maintain some presence on the waterfront in Woods Hole, and then have a second facility upland. But there is a lot of moving parts to this.”

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Atlantic Scallop Survey Halted Due to Lost HABCAM; Recovery Planned

May 23, 2016 — The following is from an email distributed this afternoon by the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center on behalf of Dr. Bill Karp:

“The R/V Hugh R. Sharp was underway on Friday, May 20 conducting the NEFSC Atlantic sea scallop survey about 75 nm southeast of the entrance to Delaware Bay in 80 meters of water when the survey instrument known as the HABCAM separated from the tow cable and the vessel. We are planning several approaches for recovery, and those efforts should get underway on Wednesday May 25.  The surveying was occurring around a charted wreck, that of the Bow Mariner, and it appears likely the tow cable snagged on it, although this is not yet confirmed.”

“Despite this set-back, we expect to complete most of the planned work, which involves both a dredge and the HABCAM.  If we are unable to use a HABCAM, the gap is most likely to be in HABCAM coverage for the Mid-Atlantic.  We are working now to ensure that dredge sampling is unaffected and to maximize what we can capture using a recovered and repaired HABCAM 4, and/or another HABCAM.”

Woods Hole Researchers ‘Listen’ to the Ocean Floor

May 23, 2016 — WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Listening to the noise of the deep sea.

That’s the intent as researchers with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, recently placed a handful of recording devices along the ocean floor from George’s Bank to New Jersey to listen to the sounds of whales, dolphins and other marine life.

It’s part of a national effort to establish a network to monitor long term changes in ocean noise.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Survey delay might hurt fish population research

May 12, 2016 — The following is an excerpt from a story published today by the Boston Globe.

NEWPORT, R.I. – Even before mechanics found deeply pitted bearings near crankshafts in its generators, problems that could have led to catastrophic engine failure, the Henry B. Bigelow was running more than a month behind.

Now, the government research vessel is embarking on its annual spring voyage later than ever before, a delay that could have serious consequences for scientists’ ability to assess the health of some of the 52 fish stocks they survey, from the waters off North Carolina to the eastern reaches of the Gulf of Maine.

Fish migrate and change their feeding patterns as waters warm, which might make it difficult for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists to compare this spring’s survey of fish populations with previous counts.

The prospect of skewed data could complicate efforts for policy makers to set proper quotas, potentially leading either to overfishing or unnecessarily strict catch limits.

“I worry that this will create statistical noise and more uncertainty,” said Gary Shepherd, a fishery biologist at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, where he and other scientists recommend quotas based on what the Bigelow catches, along with other data.

As the waters warm, some of the fish, such as herring, migrate out of the survey area and into the region’s rivers. Other species, such as squid, which are short-lived, might not survive in representative numbers through June, when the Bigelow is now scheduled to finish its survey.

“If the survey had started at its normal time, it would have found squid on the continental shelf,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a Washington-based group that represents the fishing industry. “But now it won’t because the survey doesn’t sample Nantucket Sound.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe