HIGHLIGHTS
$200 Million for Fishery Disasters Declared in 2017
Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross allocated $200 million in disaster funding appropriated by Congress to help fishermen, businesses, and fishing communities recover following hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 2017. Funding has also been allocated for the disasters that devastated West Coast and Alaska fishermen from 2014 to 2017.
NOAA Releases Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management Draft Implementation Plans
To advance our efforts toward ecosystem-based fisheries management, NOAA Fisheries developed draft implementation plans that identify priority actions and milestones for the next 5 years. Seven regional draft EBFM implementation plans, plus a headquarters plan and an Atlantic highly migratory species plan, are available for public comment through September 30.
In Case You Missed Sea Turtle Week….
Last week (June 11–15), NOAA Fisheries celebrated Sea Turtle Week with sea turtle features from around the nation. We highlighted many of these in last Wednesday’s FishNews, but we didn’t want you to miss the items we received later in the week.
Cold Snaps and Stunned TurtlesIn winter, sudden cold snaps or intense, prolonged cold can be dangerous for sea turtles. NOAA Fisheries and our partners monitor water temperatures and mount rescues of cold-stunned turtles when possible.
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New Video: Hawaiian Hawksbills Watch a new video to see what scientists are discovering about the Hawaiian hawksbill sea turtle in their efforts to recover this endangered population.
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First Leatherbacks Tagged Off North Carolina
In May, NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues captured and tagged leatherback sea turtles off Beaufort, North Carolina, continuing a 2017 project to assess abundance, movements, and behavior. It is the first time leatherbacks have been tagged off North Carolina, where they aggregate in coastal waters during their northward spring migration.
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Is the Sea Turtle Future Female? Recent research has uncovered an alarming trend: fewer male turtles are hatching from nesting beaches as global temperatures rise. A new video documents cutting-edge research that has uncovered alarming trends for the future of sea turtle populations.
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Alaska
Subsistence Whaling Limits – Open for Comment
By July 31, please submit your comments on a draft environmental impact statement assessing the impacts of issuing annual catch limits for the subsistence harvest of bowhead whales by Alaska Natives from 2019 onward.
West Coast
New Plan Adopts Ecosystem-Based Management
NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region, along with the Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers, have released a new blueprint for how the agency will put ecosystem-based management principles into practice on the West Coast. Instead of considering species in isolation, fisheries managers will weigh the role of species in the California Current Ecosystem when making decisions.
Clues at Fish Auction Reveal New Species of Opah
Acting on a tip from a fish buyer, researchers from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center began measuring characteristics on the opah (also called moonfish) passing through the United Fishing Agency auction in Hawaii. After combining their observations with DNA analysis and re-examining the literature, they identified three new species of opah.
Pacific Islands
Exploring the Mariana Archipelago
On June 12, researchers aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette embarked on a research mission to collect fish life history data along the entire Mariana Archipelago. This expedition provides a unique opportunity to study the biology of fish populations in the deep waters (deeper than 200 meters) and shallow coral reefs of remote, unpopulated regions where these fish live free of any local fishing pressure.
Lancetfish Diets Shed Light on Marine Food Web
Scientists are using lancetfishes’ unusual stomachs, which contain barely digested food items, to learn more about the creatures that make up the middle of the marine food web and about the pervasiveness of plastics in the ocean.
Social and Ecological Connections in West Hawaii
The marine environment and Hawaiian society are linked in various ways. In West Hawaii, people dedicated to the region worked together to enhance these connections through a series of workshops.
Southeast
Gulf of Mexico Commercial Reef Fish Measures
NOAA Fisheries announced new measures intended to improve compliance and increase management flexibility in the Gulf of Mexico Individual Fishing Quota programs. Commercial reef fish–permitted vessels will now be required to provide advance notice of commercial reef fish landings. Other changes impact the flexibility of IFQ allocations.
New Species Named for NOAA Fisheries Scientist
NOAA Fisheries veterinarian/pathologist Dr. Brian Stacy has dedicated his career to the recovery of sea turtles through veterinary medicine, including the study of sea turtle pathogens. Now, a new species—a parasite that lives in the blood vessels of sea turtles—has been named in his honor, Amphiorchis stacyi.
Florida’s Shell Point Beach Is Now Restored
Early restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico seek in part to restore recreational use lost due to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Through this funding, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection recently completed a restoration of Florida’s Shell Point Beach, with replenished sand and new amenities.
Louisiana Trustees Release Additional Funds
The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group for the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment approved the release of an additional $2.6 million in funding for ridge and marsh creation activities covered under their first post-settlement restoration plan. To learn more about ridge and marsh creation projects and others, visit the interactive map of Gulf Spill Restoration Projects.
Greater Atlantic
Harbor Seal Research by Plane and by Tag
Researchers from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center recently completed an aerial survey of harbor seals along the entire coast of Maine, the first since 2012. A NOAA Twin Otter aircraft surveyed nearly 1,000 locations during harbor seal pupping season, which occurs in May and June. Back in February, NOAA researchers joined a U.S. Navy project to track and tag harbor seals in the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia nearshore waters.
What's Eating Atlantic Herring?
This year fishery researchers in the Northeast region are conducting a benchmark stock assessment for Atlantic herring, an important forage fish. Learning more about which species are eating herring helps scientists estimate “natural mortality,” an important component of herring population models.
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Events
June 21
Last day of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Key West, Florida.
June 21–July 16
Eleven public scoping hearings in nine Atlantic coastal states on the bluefish allocation amendment.
June 26
Webinar on NOAA Fisheries’ notice to collect information on IUU fishing, bycatch, and shark catch by foreign vessels.
June 26
Public meeting of the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group in New Orleans.
June 27
Public webinar about the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program, including reporting and recordkeeping requirements and software testing updates.
June 29
Public meeting on the definition of fish aggregating devices in La Jolla, California; please RSVP by June 22.
June 29
Public meeting, via teleconference, of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Permanent Advisory Committee.
July 3 and 23
Two free Protected Species Safe Handling, Identification, and Release workshops in Florida and Maryland.
July 15
Free Atlantic Shark Identification workshop in Wilmington, North Carolina.
July 19
Annual public meeting of the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Councilin Long Beach, Mississippi.
July 23
Informational webinar on federal for-hire permit holders, hosted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Announcements
June 22
Nominations due for the 2018 Dr. Nancy Foster Habitat Conservation Award.
July 23
Pre-proposals due for FY 2019 Saltonstall-Kennedy Grants.
Federal Register Actions
Visit regulations.gov for a list of only those actions open for public comment. Scroll search for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For a list of all daily actions, check the Federal Register online.
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