Note from the Editor: As you know, for the third week in a row a powerful hurricane has swept through the Caribbean and Southeast. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and large swaths of the island are still without power. Our thoughts are with all of those affected, and continue to be with our colleagues, friends, and the millions of people still recovering from the impacts of earlier storms.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating Aquaculture Week at NOAA Fisheries
Momentum Grows for Aquaculture in the U.S.
Read a message from Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, about the strides NOAA has made in supporting aquaculture growth in the United States. Around the nation in many fishing and coastal communities, aquaculture is creating important economic opportunities and year-round employment. It also plays a vital role in species and habitat restoration.
When Frank Roberts needed a new source for oyster seed for his South Carolina farm, he turned to Sea Grant for help in building his own hatchery. Partnerships like the one between Lady’s Island Oysters and the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium are the key to ensuring aquaculture’s future is sustainable—and delicious.
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Aquaculture Videos
Celebrate Aquaculture Week with us by checking out some of our videos about aquaculture's growing role in sustaining coastal communities in the United States.
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#AquacultureWeek 2017
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The Value of Natural Infrastructure to Communities
Almost half of the nation’s population lives near the coast, and, particularly following the impacts of recent hurricanes in the Caribbean and Southeastern United States, communities are looking for more safe, effective, and affordable approaches to coastal protection. A new study finds that conserving and restoring coastal reefs, wetlands, and mangroves can reduce flooding and save millions of dollars in storm damage.
Alaska
NOAA Asks Public to Avoid Kincaid Park Whale
NOAA Fisheries asks the public to stay away from the carcass of a humpback whale that washed ashore at Anchorage’s Kincaid Park. Whales can carry transmissible diseases, and if this whale was from a listed population of humpbacks, it is illegal under the Endangered Species Act for the public to collect parts. NOAA plans to conduct a necropsy on the whale.
NOAA Responds to California Sea Lion at Auke Bay
A male California sea lion spotted lounging on the dock at Auke Bay, Juneau, this weekend has been gently encouraged to haul out elsewhere. NOAA experts teamed up with the Auke Bay Harbormaster to carefully shoo the sea lion off the dock after it charged a person who approached too closely. California sea lions are rarely spotted as far north as Juneau.
West Coast
Protected Waters Foster Rockfish Resurgence
A new study by scientists from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center and their university partners found that several species of rockfish once in steep decline have multiplied rapidly in the large marine protected areas off Southern California. Because rockfish larvae drift with the current, successful spawning within the protected areas is likely seeding rockfish to the surrounding areas.
Seabird Cable Strike Mitigation Workshop
Seabirds congregate around trawlers to feed on fish waste, putting themselves at risk of colliding with the cables that run aft of the ships. Recent studies indicate that estimated seabird mortalities from cable strikes are much greater than the observed mortalities. To address this issue, NOAA Fisheries will host a workshop on gear modifications strategies for reducing seabird bycatch.
Pacific Islands
Ocean Purse Seine Fisheries Rule – Open for Public Comment
By October 5, please submit your comments on a proposed rule to establish a limit on fishing effort in 2017 by U.S. purse seine vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone and in a defined area on the open sea. This action is necessary for the United States to satisfy the obligations of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
Southeast
Gulf Reef Fish Measures – Open for Comment
By November 24, please submit your comments on a proposed amendment changing the minimum stock size threshold—the population level under which the stock would be considered overfished—for gag, red grouper, red snapper, vermillion snapper, gray triggerfish, greater amberjack, and hogfish.
Extension of Valid Period for Vessel/Dealer Permits
Because of technical difficulties due to Hurricane Irma, the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Region Permits Office has extended the valid period of any permits for which owners have submitted a renewal application. Expired permits already submitted for renewal will be considered valid until October 31.
Greater Atlantic
NOAA Ship Pisces
Shipyard Update: Fall Research Cruises Continue
While NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow undergoes repairs, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center has modified their fall research surveys and shifted them to other NOAA vessels. The annual Fall Bottom Trawl Survey will be conducted on NOAA Ship Pisces, covering Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine only. The first leg of the Fall Ecosystem Monitoring cruise has been moved to NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter.
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