NOAA Fisheries FishNews – December 17, 2020

DECEMBER 17, 2020 U.S. Seafood is Sustainable Seafood! Thanks to our robust quotas, retention limits, and other management measures, you can be confident that U.S. seafood products were harvested sustainably. Go behind the scenes of our most consumed seafood with this short video, learn more on our website, and then Eat Seafood, America! Highlights 20 Memorable Marine Stories, Videos, and Photos of 2020 As we wrap up 2020, check out the most memorable marine features, videos, and photos of the year. Alaska Ocean-Going Robots Effective at Surveying Pollock Every other year, NOAA Fisheries conducts an acoustic-trawl survey from crewed research vessels to measure pollock abundance in Alaska’s eastern Bering Sea. As a result of COVID-19, many research surveys were canceled, and we weren’t able to conduct our walleye pollock surveys normally. Instead, we used wind- and solar-powered ocean-going robots to collect data on these fish. Size of Alaska’s Western Aleutian Island Passes Larger than Previously Thought Thousands of small islands comprise Alaska’s Aleutian Island chain, but only a few dozen significant passes among those islands. These passes are important bottlenecks for water exchange among the North Pacific, Gulf of Alaska, and the Bering Sea. Two new studies provide more detail on the size and extent of the passes and the shoreline around the Aleutian Islands. Central Gulf of Alaska Marine Heatwave Watch After oscillating into and out of heatwave conditions during the summer and early fall, sea surface temperatures, although above the long-term mean, have cooled since October 31. West Coast Record Marine Heatwaves Build Reservoir of Toxic Algae Off the U.S. West Coast, New Study Reveals Repeated marine heatwaves off the U.S. West Coast starting about 2013 fueled record harmful algal blooms. They seeded a region off Northern California and Southern Oregon with toxic algae, a new study has found. That reservoir of harmful algae has spread across the West Coast and forced the closure of valuable Dungeness crab and other shellfish seasons every year since 2015. Pacific Leatherback Turtles off the West Coast Disappearing, New Survey Shows Enormous Pacific leatherback turtles are so ancient they lived with the dinosaurs. Now a new survey shows that leatherbacks that forage off the U.S. West Coast are trending towards extinction in as little as a few decades. Southeast Cold Stunned Turtles Fly South to Recover NOAA and partners successfully transported four cold-stunned loggerhead and 87 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles from Massachusetts to treatment facilities in Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. Greater Atlantic Texas Organizations Help Cold-Stunned Sea Turtles from Massachusetts On Monday, December 7, 120 sea turtles flew south thanks to Turtles Fly Too. These sea turtles were found on Cape Cod, Massachusetts beaches suffering from hypothermia and other complications in recent weeks. They will continue to receive treatment and care from seven facilities in Texas. Fall Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey Wraps Up Two Massachusetts commercial fishing partners and staff from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center have completed the seventh year of the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey. The COVID-19 pandemic and typical fall weather conditions were challenges, but the Cooperative Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey team and industry partners wrapped up a successful season in early November. Upcoming Deadlines December 22: Aquaculture Opportunity Area RFI Open January 25, 2021: Proposals Sought for Pilot Projects Supporting Sustainable Aquaculture; due January 15, 2021 Federal Register Actions Visit NOAA Fisheries' Rules & Regulations web page to learn more about recently proposed and finalized regulations in your region.  Corrections or technical questions should be sent to the FishNews Editor at editor.fishnews@noaa.gov. www.fisheries.noaa.gov

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