FishNews - November 16, 2016 - Spotlight on International, Pacific Marine Expo, 20th Anniversary of Essential Fish Habitat, and More

Subscribe FishNews Archive NOAA Fisheries    November 16, 2016       EVENTS   November 17 Last day of the New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Newport, Rhode Island.   November 18  Public hearing conference call/webinar on Draft Amendment 10 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan.        HIGHLIGHTS Spotlight on Our International Work In her latest leadership message, Eileen Sobeck, head of NOAA Fisheries, highlights the agency's efforts to advance effective international fisheries management and marine stewardship. Achievements in 2016 include ensuring sustainable trade of nautilus and devil rays and the establishment of a marine protected area in Antarctica's Ross Sea.   Pacific Marine Expo 2016 November 17-19 in Seattle If you're attending this year's Expo, come visit NOAA in Booth #115. From NOAA Fisheries, Weather, Charting, and Enforcement, the on-the-water services of NOAA's science and management will be on hand to answer questions and provide updates. On Friday, November 18, join NOAA Fisheries' Assistant Administrator and staff at 11 am on the main stage for a discussion on plans for electronic monitoring initiatives in Alaska and West Coast regions.    Thoughts on 20th Anniversary of Essential Fish Habitat We asked NOAA experts why we should be excited about the 20thanniversary of Essential Fish Habitat. Here's what they had to say...   Highly Migratory Species - Open for Public Comment By December 16, please submit your comments on NOAA Fisheries' intent to issue letters of acknowledgement and several kinds of permits for Atlantic highly migratory species in 2017. These include exempted fishing permits, scientific research permits, display permits, shark research fishery permits, and chartering permits for highly migratory species in the federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Alaska Iliamna Lake Harbor Seals Do Not Warrant Listing Following a careful review of the best available data, NOAA Fisheries concluded that listing the Pacific harbor seals in Alaska's Iliamna Lake as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted. We found that the seals do not constitute a species as defined by the act and thus do not meet the criteria for listing. West Coast NOAA Training Gives Veteran a Foothold in Fisheries Meet Barney Boyer, the first military veteran to take an internship with NOAA Fisheries through a new partnership between Washington State agencies and NOAA offices. Boyer is based at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center's Mukilteo Research Station, where he has assisted NOAA biologists in studying the recolonization of the Elwha River estuary following recent dam removals.   Collection of White Abalone Boosts Recovery Efforts Under a new permit from NOAA Fisheries, research divers collected a single white abalone in October to help add new genes into a captive breeding program rearing white abalone for eventual release and recovery. It was the first white abalone collected from the wild in more than a decade. White abalone are one of NOAA Fisheries' eight Species in the Spotlight. Pacific Islands Spinner Dolphin Rule - Reopened for Public Comment By December 1 (formerly October 23), please submit your comments on a proposed rule to prohibit swimming with and approaching a Hawaiian spinner dolphin within 50 yards. NOAA Fisheries is reopening the comment period for 15 days to provide the public with more time to comment and submit information. Greater Atlantic Unmanned Sailboat and Surface Drifter Cross Atlantic Using a database maintained by NOAA oceanographer Jim Manning, middle and high school students have been tracking a small, unmanned sailboat ("miniboat") and a surface drifter launched at the same time off the Mid-Atlantic bight as the two devices move across the ocean at different speeds. While the drifter remains at sea, the miniboat landed in Ireland and students in Irish schools are working on relaunching it.   Proposed Summer Flounder Rule - Open for Comment By November 30, please submit your comments on a proposed rule to revise summer flounder specifications for the 2017 and 2018 fishing years. These revised catch limits reflect the results of the most recent stock assessment, which indicates that overfishing continued through 2015 and that biomass continued to decline. NOAA Fisheries | laurel.bryant@noaa.gov

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