Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area for the Limited Access General Category Individual Fishing Quota Fleet

July 17, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area to all federally permitted limited access general category individual fishing quota (LAGC IFQ) scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on July 19, 2020.

As of July 19, 2020, no scallop vessel fishing under LAGC IFQ regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Mid-Atlantic Access Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that the LAGC fleet has fished all of the 1,142 trips allocated for this area.

Vessels that  have declared a trip into the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, July 19, 2020, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area.

For more details, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.

Success of NY Offshore Wind Industry Depends on Collaboration with Scallop Fishery

July 14, 2020 — Offshore wind is considered one of the most promising forms of renewable energy to expand this decade. According to the nonprofit World Forum Offshore Wind, technological advancements, global government support, and cost reductions have allowed the industry to play a greater role in electricity generation. Offshore wind is currently most prevalent in Western Europe, but this source of energy production is rapidly growing in countries such as China and the United States.

In New York State, Governor Cuomo’s 2018 Offshore Wind Master Plan outlines steps for offshore wind development until 2030. A first-of-its-kind document in the United States, the plan delineated a study area known as the New York Bight Call Area for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the agency responsible for energy projects in federal water, to consider for future projects. BOEM has recommended several areas of interest (see map below), and the oil and gas company Equinor secured an approximately $3 billion lease next to the area for its Empire Wind project.

While the Offshore Wind Master Plan can help New York secure 2.4 gigawatts of carbon-free electricity by 2020 (enough to power 1.2 million homes), the projects could also potentially compete with other activities, such as fishing, vessel traffic, conservation, and ocean science research. In the NY-NJ Bight, scallopers are concerned about offshore wind projects negatively impacting fisheries. Examining the spatial proximity between the region’s scallop fishery and offshore wind industry highlights the need for wind development companies to take fishermen’s concerns more seriously, so that both parties can coexist successfully.

Read the full story at State of the Planet

Investigation examining MSC suspension of Zoneco Group scallop certification continues

July 13, 2020 — A resolution has yet to be found for the suspension of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of Zoneco Group Co’s scallop fishery.

A dispute between the seafood company and the third-party accreditor overseeing the certification saw China’s first MSC fishery certification suspended earlier this year. In January of 2020, the first notice for suspension of fisheries certificate came due to a contractual issue between the certifying agency Acoura – a unit of U.K. based Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) – and Zoneco (also known as Zhangzidao), the MSC noted in a statement to SeafoodSource.

Read the full story from Seafood Source

Lobsters, sea scallops are moving out of southern New England

July 13, 2020 — Researchers have projected significant changes in the habitat of commercially important American lobster and sea scallops along the Northeast continental shelf. They used a suite of models to estimate how species will react as waters warm. The researchers suggest that American lobster will move further offshore and sea scallops will shift to the north in the coming decades.

The study’s findings were published recently in Diversity and Distributions. They pose fishery management challenges as the changes can move stocks into and out of fixed management areas. Habitats within current management areas will also experience changes — some will show species increases, others decreases, and others will experience no change.

“Changes in stock distribution affect where fish and shellfish can be caught and who has access to them over time,” said Vincent Saba, a fishery biologist in the Ecosystems Dynamics and Assessment Branch at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a co-author of the study. “American lobster and sea scallop are two of the most economically valuable single-species fisheries in the entire United States. They are also important to the economic and cultural well-being of coastal communities in the Northeast. Any changes to their distribution and abundance will have major impacts.”

Saba and colleagues used a group of species distribution models and a high-resolution global climate model. They projected the possible impact of climate change on suitable habitat for the two species in the large Northeast continental shelf marine ecosystem. This ecosystem includes waters of the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, the Mid-Atlantic Bight, and southern New England.

Read the full story at EcoRI

NOAA Fisheries Cancels Three Research Surveys

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges those are creating for NOAA Fisheries, we are cancelling three research surveys off the Northeast United States. The cancelled surveys include those for sea scallop, Atlantic surfclam/ocean quahog, and an advanced technology survey investigating the ocean’s mesopelagic layer—the “twilight zone.”

These are difficult decisions for the agency as we strive to balance our need to maintain core mission responsibilities with the realities and impacts of the current health crisis.

Since March, we have been rigorously analyzing various options for conducting cruises this year and are taking a survey-by-survey, risk-based approach. After much deliberation, we determined that there was no way to move forward with these surveys while effectively minimizing risk and meeting core survey objectives.

Read the full release here

NEFMC Discusses Skates, Atlantic Herring, Red Hake, EBFM, Habitat, and Research Priorities at June Meeting

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council met June 23-25, 2020 by webinar. In addition to the news already released about groundfish, monkfish, and scallops, here’s an overview of the other issues the Council worked on during this meeting.

Research Priorities: After considering input from its various fishery-related committees and the Scientific and Statistical Committee, the Council agreed to submit an updated list of Research Priorities and Data Needs for 2020-2024 to NOAA Fisheries.

Skates: At the end of last year, the Council tasked its Skate Committee with defining a clear problem statement, goals, and objectives for Draft Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The amendment is being developed to consider whether limited access is appropriate for the skate wing and/or skate bait fisheries. The committee worked on this task in late-March using additional data provided by the Skate Plan Development Team. The Council reviewed the new problem statement, along with an additional objective, and discussed whether it wanted to continue pursuing the development of a limited access program for skates. The Council did not approve the problem statement but agreed to have the committee continue to work on its initial tasking.

Read the full release here

Ocean Acidification Threatens Bivalve Industry

July 9, 2020 — Worldwide, ocean levels are rising at an accelerated pace. Cape May County is feeling the effects of exacerbated weather events, as a result.

Yet, there is another drastic change affecting the oceans – a decrease in the water’s pH levels. This is a change that industry leaders and scientists fear will drastically affect the county, namely its bivalve (aquatic invertebrates with a hinged shell) industry that is, as marine and coastal sustainability expert Dr. Daphne Munroe said, “At the heart of the economy in this region.”

As carbon is released into the atmosphere, it was once speculated that the ocean’s tendency to absorb emissions would be a net positive, as it spared the Earth’s atmosphere from the worst of the emissions. Dr. Feely, senior scientist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said, “[It’s] a huge service the oceans are doing that significantly reduces global temperature.”

However, scientists are coming to realize that the ocean’s absorption of carbon emissions comes at a great cost, and that the long-term effects of an ocean that has absorbed great amounts of carbon emissions mean that ecosystems will ultimately suffer.

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

NEFMC Approves Scallop A21 for Webinar Hearings; Adopts 2021-2022 RSA Priorities

July 2, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its June 23-25, 2020 webinar meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council made decisions that helped advance the development of three important scallop fishery issues. The Council:

  • Selected several preferred alternatives for Draft Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and approved the draft for public hearings by webinar;
  • Approved 2021-2022 priorities for the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program; and
  • Initiated Framework Adjustment 33 to the FMP to set specifications for the 2021 fishing year and default
    specifications for 2022.

Read the full release here

Correction to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Framework 32 Bulletin

June 18, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The bulletin for Framework 32 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan stated that vessels were prohibited from transiting the Closed Area II-Southwest and Extension Closed Area. This was an error. Although the Closed Area II-Southwest and Extension area is closed to scallop fishing, a vessel may transit the area as long as its gear is properly stowed.

Please see the updated bulletin and map.

Scallop prices took 30 percent price hit from COVID-19

June 9, 2020 — Back in late December, before the covid-19 pandemic struck, the New England Fishery Management Council presented regulations for the 2020 fishing year. At the time, around 50 million pounds of U.S. landings and an estimated ex-vessel value of around $487 million was projected for 2020.

It is yet to be determined how things will play out for Atlantic sea scallops, but so far anecdotal reports indicate scallop prices had been down 30 percent or more around New Bedford, Mass. In April, the council asked federal regulators to make changes because of the impact the coronavirus has had on the fishery.

The 2019 fishing year went as expected, says Travis Ford of NMFS. Estimates say average prices were $9.20 per pound.

“Preliminary landings data suggest the fleet landed 58.15 million pounds of scallops in 2019,” according to Ford. “The biggest surprise was the conditions in the Nantucket Lightship-West Access Area. Based on 2019 surveys there was around 50 million-pound decline in total biomass estimate from 2018-19. This made it difficult for vessels to finish their trips in the area later in the fishing year.” Regulators are investigating what is behind the decline.

Rusty Parmenter, a Maine scallop fisherman who works in both federal and Maine state waters, says things have changed as restaurant markets shuttered in response to covid-19. The bulk of larger scallops are usually sold to restaurants and receive a premium price at the dock. Now, many are being frozen instead and sold to supermarkets.

Read the full story at National Fisherman