Saving Seafood

NMFS Says ‘No’ to West Coast Groundfish, Swordfish Vessels Seeking Waivers for Observers

March 30, 2020 — West Coast industry concerns about taking observers out on vessels or having catch monitors dockside at processing plants due to the risk of COVID-19 is not a concern, according to the NMFS West Coast Region. Unlike Alaska, where travel restrictions make obtaining observer coverage difficult, the West Coast has no such restrictions — yet.

The National Marine Fisheries Service issued an emergency action last week to provide the authority, on a case-by-case basis, to waive observer coverage, some training, and other program requirements while meeting conservation needs and providing an ongoing supply of fish to markets, the agency said in a public notice Friday. A NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator, Office Director, or Science Center Director has the ability to waive observer requirements in three specific circumstances, after consulting with observer providers.

Read the full story at Seafood News

New Report Reveals Economic Impact of Recreational Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fisheries

January 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In November, NOAA Fisheries released the findings of two studies on the economic impact of recreational fisheries targeting Atlantic highly migratory species. When combined with other NOAA Fisheries research, these reveal that HMS recreational fishing contributes an estimated $510 million to the U.S. economy each year.

Atlantic tunas, sharks, billfish, and swordfish—together known as HMS—are popular targets for anglers. In 2018, we issued more than 20,000 HMS angling permits to fishermen living across the country. There were also more than 200 tournaments targeting Atlantic HMS that year.

To understand how this robust industry impacts our national economy, we asked 1,806 anglers to break down their fishing trip expenses. We also collected cost and earnings information from 73 tournament operators and spoke with 104 tournament fishing teams. Both surveys were conducted in 2016.

Anglers reported spending an average of $682 for a day of fishing for Atlantic HMS outside a tournament. Daily expenses were highest in the Gulf of Mexico. We estimate they spent $300 more on average there than in New England. Regardless of where they fished, though, anglers say boat fuel was their largest expense. Bait costs came in as a distant second, followed closely by groceries.

Read the full release here

Hawai’i Swordfish Harvest Is Back after Nine-Month Hiatus – New Measures Will Aid Fishery and Protect Sea Turtles

January 17, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Hawai’i swordfish fishery is expected to land its first catch in nine months tomorrow. This healthy fishery produces approximately 55 percent of America’s domestic swordfish and supplies 14 percent of the total US swordfish market.

“Without Hawai’i swordfish, US markets will increase their dependence on foreign suppliers,” said Kitty M. Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which manages the fishery. “Our pelagic longline fisheries are well managed and rigorously monitored, and regulations are enforced. International fishery management organizations consider them model fisheries and have adopted many of the measures we developed. Our fishery targets the North Pacific stock, which is healthy (not overfished or subject to overfishing), and avoids the troubled Eastern Pacific and South Atlantic stocks.”

Some of these rigorous conservation measures include rules protecting sea turtles, gear restrictions and a cap on the number of sea turtles with which the fishery may interact. The fishery currently operates under an annual cap of 17 loggerhead and 16 leatherback turtle interactions and has 100 percent observer coverage. An interaction occurs whenever a sea turtle becomes hooked or entangled in longline gear, as recorded by the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observer.

The fishery closed on March 19 last year after reaching the loggerhead cap and reopened on Jan. 1, 2020.

According to a 2019 biological opinion issued by NMFS, the Hawai’i shallow-set longline fishery for swordfish does not jeopardize the continued existence of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle populations. Ninety-nine percent of turtle interactions in the fishery result in the turtle being released alive. The loggerhead turtle population, which nests in Japan, is growing at an annual rate of 2.4 percent.

The Council has developed amended measures, which were transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce on Wednesday for review and approval. The amendment, which could be effective as early as May 2020, would remove the loggerhead cap and have a leatherback cap of 16. The amendment includes a trip limit of five loggerhead and two leatherback interactions, after which a vessel would be required to return to port. If that vessel reaches the trip limit again, it could not fish for swordfish for the remainder of the year and it could interact with only five loggerhead and two leatherbacks total the following year.

Mike Lee of Garden and Valley Isle Seafood notes: “The Hawai’i swordfish fishery has a multimillion dollar impact to the local economy, which includes several wholesale seafood distribution companies. Hawai’i swordfish is a premium product with high levels of demand. Fishery closures disrupt market channels and leave our customers little choice but foreign imports.”

“For the last two years the fishery operated for about three months due to premature closure and generated around $1.5 million in landed value, said Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA). “By comparison, the fishery produced three times that revenue ($4.5 million) in 2017 and nearly $9 million in 2009. Additionally, closing the fishery forces swordfish vessels to convert to target tuna (ahi) with the risk that the bigeye tuna quota may be reached before the end of the year, when market demand peaks.”

The Lady Luck, the first vessel from the Hawai’i swordfish fleet, is expected offload around 35,000 pounds of swordfish at Pier 38 in Honolulu around 5 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 17. The swordfish could appear on the auction floor around 9 a.m. For more information, contact Eric Kingma, HLA executive director, at (808) 389-2653 or eric.k.kingma@gmail.com or Asuka Ishizaki, the Council’s protected species coordinator, at (808) 522-8224 or asuka.ishizaki@wpcouncil.org.

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE US SWORDFISH FISHERY OPERATING UNDER HAWAI’I LONGLINE FEDERAL PERMITS

  • Major domestic fish producer – providing 55 percent of US swordfish
  • Major supplier to total US market including imports – providing 14 percent of US swordfish market
  • Ex-vessel (landed) value – $1.5 million in 2019 (Jan. 1 – March 19); $4.5 million in 2017; $9 million in 2009
  • Management measures – permit requirements, limits on vessel size and numbers, gear restricted to circle hooks and mackerel-type bait, limit on number of sea turtle interactions, required turtle handling tools, requirement to release turtles unharmed, mandatory protected species workshops, prohibited from operating within 50 nautical miles of the Hawaiian Islands
  • Monitoring – logbooks, vessel monitoring system, 100 percent observer coverage (NMFS approved, independent observer on each vessel on every trip)
  • Enforcement – closure of fishery if sea turtle cap is reached
  • Target stock – North Pacific swordfish, a healthy fishery that is neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing
    • Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of the stock – 15,000 metric tons (mt)
    • Current spawning stock biomass – almost double spawning stock biomass at MSY
    • Current total catch by all fleets combined – about 11,000 mt or about 73 percent of MSY
    • US harvest – currently about 1,000 mt or 10 percent of the total harvest. In 2008, the US (i.e., Hawai’i longline fisheries) harvested 18 percent of the total catch.
    • Other major fleets harvesting the North Pacific stock – Japan (about 8,000 mt) and Taiwan (about 2,000 mt)
  • Foreign competitors in the US swordfish market
    • Brazil – targeting North and South Atlantic stock, the latter of which is overfished and experiencing overfishing
    • Mexico and Ecuador (including charter vessels from Spain and the European Union) – targeting Eastern Pacific stock, which is experiencing overfishing
  • Fleet size – currently 14 vessels of which five are based in California
  • Average vessel size – 65 to 70 feet (maximum allowable 101 feet)
  • Average target depth – 98 feet

Western Pacific Council Urges NMFS Use New Model for Swordfish Fishery; Reference Point for Albacore

November 4, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council discussed changes related to the interaction of sea turtles in the swordfish fishery and the South Pacific albacore fishery when it met in American Samoa last week. Both require the National Marine Fisheries Service to agree with Council’s action to move forward.

The Council urged NMFS, on the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery consultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) consider all anticipated scientific information in the biological opinion. This should include the new model developed by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center that evaluates the impacts of fishery interactions on the North Pacific loggerhead and Western Pacific leatherback sea turtle populations.

The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee, prior to last week’s Council meeting, endorsed the new model as best scientific information available for evaluating the fisheries’ impacts. The results of the model for the shallow-set (swordfish) longline fishery showed no discernible impact of the fishery’s interactions on the population trend of loggerhead turtles over the next 100 years. For leatherbacks, it showed a small change in the long-term population trend, indicating that the population impact from the fishery would occur five years earlier at the end of the 100-year period.

The NMFS scientist noted the primary impacts to the leatherback population include directed fisheries and nesting predation where the turtles nest in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

The Council also urged NMFS to apply the model to the Hawai’i deep-set (tuna) and American Samoa longline fisheries so they may be considered in the ongoing consultations. It also recommended NMFS work with the Council to develop only necessary sea turtle protection measures under the ongoing consultations for the Hawai’i deep-set and American Samoa longline fisheries that are appropriate and practicable and ensure the sustainability of the fisheries.

Additionally, the Council will work with NMFS to evaluate the impact of any management actions for reducing turtle interactions on the economic performance and socioeconomic effects of the shallow-set and deep-set longline fisheries, including consideration of the effect on protected species being transferred to foreign fisheries should the U.S. longline fishery close.

Regarding South Pacific albacore tuna, the Council requested NMFS compile and evaluate the catches of albacore from Chinese-flagged longline vessels operating in the southwest Pacific and compare them to the catches and performance of the American Samoa longline fleet.

The Council also wanted to move forward on creating a reference point for South Pacific albacore. It requested NMFS and the U.S. delegation to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission work with other international delegations to develop the reference point. It should include the catch per unit effort of small island developing states and participating territories to reach historical levels, in addition to a biomass target reference point.

Furthermore, they should also work with other international delegations to develop:

a) a harvest plan for South Pacific albacore to achieve its target reference points “soonest” and under 20 years; and

b) an allocation scheme for countries and cooperating members in which small island developing states and participating territories are exempt from annual catch reductions to reach the target reference point or that they can maintain catches commensurate with historical optimal levels. The allocation scheme must take into consideration charter arrangements and allocations should be accounted by fishing vessel registry, such that conservation benefits are not undermined.

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

New device to be tested off Outer Banks could help save sharks from commercial fishing all over the world

October 17, 2019 — An Outer Banks fisherman next summer will test a device about the size of a spark plug that could save rare sharks.

The waterproof gadget with a transistor inside would be connected just above the hooks on a long line used for commercial harvesting of species such as tuna and swordfish. It would emit an electric pulse that drives sharks away from the baited hook.

“If this works it will be huge,” said Outer Banks fisherman Charlie Locke. “It could benefit fisheries all over the world.”

Sharks swarm the waters around the Outer Banks with many species spawning and giving birth here.

Hungry sharks gobble chunks from large tunas on commercial fishing lines. Charter boat anglers often reel in nothing but a fish head after a shark has bitten off the rest.

“We already know there is a healthy population here,” Locke said.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

Sharks and tuna will be the focus of UMaine research grant

October 8, 2019 — Commercially valuable tuna, swordfish, sharks and other “highly migratory species” will be the focus of research to be conducted by a consortium that includes the University of Maine.

The consortium was awarded $1.6 million by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to a news release.

The funds came through NOAA’s 2019 Sea Grant Highly Migratory Species Research Initiative.

The study will focus on the life histories of highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It’s expected the research will help contribute to better management of the species.

The new research consortium, called the Pelagic Ecosystem Research Consortium or PERC, is led by Walt Golet at the University of Maine.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Regulators approve new swordfish gear that’s safer for whales, turtles

September 19, 2019 — A new type of fishing gear designed to catch swordfish while reducing harm to other animals received approval from fishery regulators Monday.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council authorized initial use of deep-set buoy gear, which minimizes catch of non-target species, including marine mammals and sea turtles. At its September meeting in Boise, Idaho, the council voted to issue 50 permits for the new gear, and to add up to 25 additional permits per year after that, up to a maximum of 300 total permits.

Most swordfish off the California coast are currently caught at night, using mile-long, large-mesh drift gillnets, which are set overnight, and often ensnare other fish species, sharks, sea lions, dolphins and whales.

The new, deep-set buoy method using lines allows fishermen to drop hooks into deeper waters where swordfish forage during the day, catching the prized fish without ensnaring other animals. Because the swordfish are retrieved more quickly, the catch is fresher and commands higher prices at market, proponents say.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

Nothing but Net: A Massachusetts Commercial Captain Starts a School for Fishermen

August 30, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Commercial fishermen usually learn their trade the hard way—on the job at sea. But a former Gloucester fishing captain thinks he has a better method: in the classroom.

Joe Sanfilippo, 47, spent 28 years working alongside his four older brothers on his family’s fleet of three 80-foot fishing boats based in the famous Massachusetts fishing town. He has experience swordfishing, longlining and dragging for cod, haddock and pollock. Now, he wants to teach others some of what he knows in a vocational training program he’s developed called Extreme Gloucester Fishing.

Sanfilippo offered his first class, on repairing torn nets, last spring, and hopes to expand the curriculum to a six-month full-time course that will train a new generation of seamen for the local fishing fleet.

He first had the idea for the training classes two decades ago, but the timing wasn’t right. “The lack of a pipeline for new, young crewmembers was not yet a serious problem,” Sanfilippo says. “But I had foreseen it because I was the youngest guy in my crew. They were all much older, some by 30 years.”

The curriculum for Extreme Gloucester Fishing includes 40 modules for eight subjects that take 830 hours of classroom work to complete. “I chose to teach net-mending first because it’s the thing you really need to know to get onto a commercial fishing vessel. You have to know that before they even give you a job.”

A few dozen people signed up for the first class. A graduate of that course recently got a job on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska. Some of the other students had spent just a short time on commercial boats when they registered. One is a young woman who has been fishing with her father on his lobster boat.

Not all of the students are new to fishing. Shawn Goulart has been working on local fishing boats for a quarter century, but he took the class to improve his skills. “Somehow I managed to make it for 25 years without ever learning how to mend nets,” he said. “It may have held me up a bit in my career, especially in the early years when almost everyone on the water knew how to do it.” Having the skill, he contends, makes him more valuable.

“The full six-month program encompasses every aspect of commercial fishing so you can get onto any boat anywhere in the world and perform the duties of a deckhand,” Sanfilippo says. “It ranges from vessel handling and safety, to gear, to all the terminology.” Sanfilippo also stresses the benefits of learning in a classroom, which is not how he was taught.

“A lot of these guys, myself included, were taught under extreme circumstances, on a pitching deck with a lot of wind and rain. It’s a hostile environment for learning. I want to break it down in a classroom and create some excitement so that people will actually enjoy going out there.”

Shrinking catches and increased government regulation have discouraged some people from getting into commercial fishing; Sanfilippo himself stopped fishing a few years ago because of what he saw as over-regulation. Those realities have also discouraged some professional captains from training new crew. “It’s been tough to recruit,” Sanfilippo says. The hard, sometimes dangerous work, lack of health insurance and retirement plans make it challenging to bring new people into the profession. For that reason, Sanfilippo’s course includes a segment on financial planning. Yet even with the obstackles, he hopes to capitalize on the popularity of shows like The Deadliest Catch, which have prompted more interest in commercial fishing.

Students pay $40 a class, but that’s not enough for Sanfilippo to cover his costs, even with a roster of volunteer guest instructors. “That’s okay because this isn’t about the money,” he says. “It’s about the heritage and the knowledge that shouldn’t be lost. I have 28 years of knowledge in my head that I want to share with people who can sustain the industry.” Sanfilippo is familiar with commercial fishing classes in Norway, Sweden and other countries, but thinks his course is one of the first of its kind in the United States. “Gloucester is the perfect place for it. We used to have the largest landings in the country.”

Michael De Koster, executive director of Gloucester Maritime, which operates a maritime museum and aquarium, has taught some of the classes for Extreme Gloucester Fishing. “We like to see the traditional skill sets passed on. The class is a wonderful contribution to the industry and an opportunity for students to get hired more quickly. I think Joe is going to put more people in the pipeline, and give these fishermen a leg up in the industry.”

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

Federal Managers to Make Final Recommendations on Leatherback and Loggerhead Sea Turtle Interactions with Hawai’i Swordfish Fishery (6 August 2019)

August 7, 2019 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will meet on Aug. 8, 2019, to consider final recommendations on the management of the Hawai’i swordfish fishery’s interactions with leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) provided a final biological opinion (BiOp) during the 178th Council meeting in June 2019 (originally due October 2018), but the Council deferred action at the time to allow adequate time to review the final BiOp.

The final BiOp determined that the swordfish fishery is not jeopardizing the continued existence of these sea turtles and authorizes the accidental hooking and subsequent release of 21 leatherbacks and 36 loggerheads. Based on observer data since 1994, 100 percent of leatherback turtles and over 99 percent of loggerhead turtles observed in this fishery have been released alive with a high chance of survival. Despite finding that the impacts of the fishery are not expected to appreciably reduce these two populations’ likelihood of surviving and recovering in the wild, the final BiOp requires additional measures to further reduce incidental captures and mortalities. Specifically, if the fleetwide leatherback interaction reaches the “hard cap” of 16, the BiOp requires that the fishery be closed for the remainder of the calendar year.

The final BiOp also requires implementing individual trip limits of two leatherback or five loggerhead interactions per vessel per trip. However, once a vessel reaches a trip limit twice in a year, it will be prohibited from shallow-set fishing for the remainder of the year, and the vessel will be subject to an annual vessel limit of 2 leatherbacks or 5 loggerheads for the following year. There is no hard cap required in the new BiOp for loggerhead turtles, which has a stable and increasing population.

Over the last five years in the North Pacific Ocean, approximately 99 million hooks were deployed overall in shallow-set longline fisheries annually (reported by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission). Of those, on average 1.2 million hooks (about 1 percent) are deployed annually by the Hawai’i-based shallow-set longline fishery.

“We know what the US shallow-set longline fishing impacts are on loggerheads and leatherbacks in the Pacific due to our 100 percent observer coverage,” remarked Council Chairman Archie Soliai. “When other countries are struggling to meet the internationally-required 5 percent observer coverage, how much confidence do we have about the loggerhead and leatherback impacts for the remaining 98 million hooks set?”

The Council’s recommendation from its 177th meeting in April 2019 was to manage the fishery under annual fleetwide hard cap limits of 16 leatherbacks and 36 loggerheads. The Council initially put the hard caps in place in 2004 as a backup measure when new bait and gear changes were implemented, which, along with other measures, reduced interactions by about 90 percent. The Council also recommended individual trip interaction limits of two leatherbacks and five loggerheads. Once either limit is reached, the vessel would be required to immediately return to port, after which they may resume shallow-set fishing. The original Council recommendations were much simpler and did not include additional vessel restrictions.

The Council will take all information into account, including the measures required under the final BiOp, when it considers final action this week.

The Council’s Hawai‘i Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan Advisory Panel (AP) and Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet on Aug. 7, 2019, in advance of the Council meeting to discuss recommendations to the Council for the final action on managing loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle interactions in the Hawai’i-based shallow-set longline fishery.

The AP, SSC and Council meetings can be attended remotely by web conference at: https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov. The Council office will also serve as a meeting host site: 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, Hawai’i. Council meeting documents available on our website (www.wpcouncil.org) include the Federal Register notice, Council meeting agenda, a summary of the action item, a draft amendment to the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan, and the full Endangered Species Act BiOp from NMFS.

Read the full release here