Editor’s Note: As we approach the end-of-year holidays, we anticipate this to be the final FishNews issue of 2017. We’ll of course make an exception for any breaking FishNews. Otherwise, we wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and we’ll see you next year on January 3.
HIGHLIGHTS
Seafood Import Monitoring Program Compliance Required January 1
Compliance with the Seafood Import Monitoring Program will be mandatory starting January 1. NOAA Fisheries will initially adopt an “informed compliance” approach. We will continue to work with the trade community to ensure its full compliance with SIMP requirements while minimizing disruption to seafood imports.
New Shark Fishing Requirements Start January 1
NOAA Fisheries reminds Highly Migratory Species vessels that the remaining new recreational and commercial measures implementing Amendment 5b to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan become effective January 1. These measures include the use of circle hooks and additional recreational permit requirements.
Fisheries Information System 2018 Projects
NOAA Fisheries’ Fisheries Information System Program selected 31 proposals to receive a total of $5.3 million in FY 2018 funding. These regionally based projects encompass electronic monitoring technologies, Fisheries Information Network development, and quality management and improvement initiatives.
Sea Grant Seeks Aquaculture Research Proposals
NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program’s 2018 Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes National Aquaculture Initiative federal funding opportunity is now open. Complete proposals are due to state Sea Grant Programs by March 2, but interested applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to their state Sea Grant Program 1 to 2 months before the deadline to receive guidance.
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species MRIP Regional Implementation Plan
The Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Working Group recently completed its Marine Recreational Information Program Regional Implementation Plan. The plan summarizes the data needs for Atlantic HMS science and evaluates existing recreational data collections, sets priorities for improvements and expansion, and identifies next steps.
Climate Change and Oceans – Call for AbstractsThe 4th International Symposium on the Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans, co-sponsored by NOAA, will be held June 4–8, 2018, in Washington, DC. Researchers are invited to submit abstracts by January 12.
West Coast
Oregon Groundfish Recreational Fishing – Open for Public Comment
By January 18, please submit your comments on a proposed rule authorizing a recreational midwater long-leader fishery in waters seaward of the 40-fathom depth contour off the coast of Oregon. Use of this long-leader gear should allow for catch of abundant midwater species while limiting bycatch of rebuilding, bottom-dwelling rockfish species.
Night Fishing Can Help Reduce Seabird Bycatch
Scientists at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center have been working with longline fishermen and vessel captains in the U.S. West Coast sablefish fishery to find methods to reduce bycatch of albatross and other seabirds. A new study, combing through 15 years of data from NOAA’s Fisheries Observer Program, demonstrates that fishing at night reduces albatross bycatch by an order of magnitude.
Video: Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Salmon
Ocean acidification could have negative impacts on salmon in Puget Sound, affecting their ability to smell danger and avoid predators. In a video from the Since Time Immemorial Project, NOAA scientists Shallin Busch and Chase Williams, along with Robert Purser, Jr., from Suquamish Fisheries, explain the direct and indirect impacts of ocean acidification on salmon and what this might mean for food webs, tribes, and the Pacific Northwest region.
Southeast
Gulf Coral Habitat Areas – Open for Comment
By January 17, please submit your comments on NOAA Fisheries’ intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Amendment 9 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Coral and Coral Reef Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. The amendment will consider management alternatives that would modify fishing regulations within the existing habitat areas of particular concern, establish new areas, and prohibit dredge fishing in all of these.
Louisiana Trustee Group Seeks Comments
The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group released two draft plans to address recreational use loss and ecosystem inuries in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Please submit comments on the Draft Recreational Use Plan and the Draft Barataria Strategic Plan by January 17.
New Measures for Gulf Gray Triggerfish
NOAA Fisheries announced new management measures to rebuild the gray triggerfish stock in the Gulf of Mexico. A recent assessment found the stock was overfished (biomass is too low). The new measures are expected to rebuild the population in 9 years, by 2025.
South Atlantic Council Introduces New Mobile App
Starting January 1, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will transition to using the Fish Rules mobile app to keep stakeholders updated on federal and state fishing regulations in the South Atlantic. Currently, the app only hosts information for recreational anglers, but the Council is working with the developers on a commercial version as well.
South Atlantic Council Meeting Update
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council met in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, earlier this month to consider management measures for several species, including Atlantic cobia, red snapper, red grouper, and golden tilefish. The Council also held a workshop on recreational reporting and received an update on a pilot electronic recreational reporting project.
Greater Atlantic
Vessel Traffic Reduces Fish Communication
NOAA scientists studying sounds made by Atlantic cod and haddock at spawning sites in the Gulf of Maine have found that vessel traffic noise reduces the distance over which these animals can communicate with each other. The reduced communication range may alter feeding, mating, and socializing behaviors for these commercially and ecologically important fishes.
Collaboration Key for Sea Turtle Research
To stretch limited funding, sea turtle research Heather Haas at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center is collaborating with colleagues in Canada, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Florida to pilot test a tagging study on wide-ranging leatherback sea turtles.
Chesapeake Bay Summer Internship Opportunities
NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office will offer paid summer internships for undergraduate and graduate students interested in exploring career paths and gaining experience in Chesapeake Bay–related sciences. Applications for the three internships are due February 20.
Council Discontinues Squid Buffer Framework
At their December meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to discontinue development of a framework action that would have considered establishing a squid fishery buffer zone in waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The decision will allow the effects of the recently approved Squid Amendment to be realized prior to any additional action.
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