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NOAA Celebrates Seafood Month 2019
October is National Seafood Month, and a fitting time to celebrate sustainable, U.S. produced seafood—wild capture and farmed. Bookmark our splash page and revisit throughout the month as we add new content, feature stories, and video clips highlighting the many committed people working to bring safe, sustainable, and nutritious meals to your dinner plates.
In a new leadership message, Dr. Michael Rubino, NOAA Fisheries’ Senior Advisor for Seafood Strategy, discusses why seafood is good for our health, our nation, and our planet.
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Highlights
This year, through the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grants Program, NOAA is awarding 43 grants to partners in our Marine Mammal Stranding Network in 18 states and one tribe. Totaling almost $4 million, the grants support one of our core missions: the conservation and recovery of protected marine species. | |  |
The shortfin mako shark was recently added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This means that, starting November 26, you will need specific permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to import, export, or re-export shortfin mako sharks. Additionally, fishermen who catch these sharks on the high seas will need a permit to land them.
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Alaska
In response to a petition from the Tribal Government of the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island, NOAA Fisheries published a final rule modifying regulations for subsistence use of the Eastern Pacific stock of northern fur seals. The final rule simplifies the existing regulations for Alaska Natives who reside on the Pribilof Islands to use fur seals for subsistence purposes.
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West Coast
About 5 years ago a large marine heatwave that became known as “the Blob” took hold in the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast. Read the first installment of a three-part series about the Blob and a changing ocean, and what it may mean for the future of the California Current Ecosystem.
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The West Coast Regional Office has launched a new website and their old website is now offline. Visitors will be automatically redirected from frequently visited pages on the old website to the corresponding pages of the new website.
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Southeast
NOAA recently awarded $24.8 million to three partner projects aimed at restoring coastal wetlands in Louisiana. Since 1990, the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act Program has funded the restoration of more than 12,000 acres of coastal wetlands in Louisiana.
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Are you a pelagic longline fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico interested in helping restore oceanic fish species? The 2020 Oceanic Fish Restoration Project, part of larger efforts to restore the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is soliciting quotes from eligible vessel owners willing to refrain from fishing with pelagic longline gear for six months. Quotes are due October 23.
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By November 1, please submit your comments on Amendments 50A–F to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Resources Fishery Management Plan. This suite of amendments would allow the Gulf states some management authority over recreational red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico by private anglers.
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By November 25, please submit your comments on Amendment 9 to the Gulf of Mexico Coral and Coral Reef Resources Fishery Management Plan. The amendment would establish 13 new Habitat Areas of Particular Concern with fishing regulations, designate eight new areas without fishing regulations, and modify the regulations in three existing areas. | |  |
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Greater Atlantic
The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office has launched a new website and their old website is now offline. Visitors will be automatically redirected from frequently visited pages on the old website to the corresponding pages of the new website.
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By December 2, please submit your comments on Mystic Aquarium’s application to import five captive-born beluga whales from Marineland of Canada for scientific research purposes. The proposed 5-year research project would inform management and recovery of beluga populations in the wild.
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Researchers successfully attached satellite tags to nine leatherback turtles in Cape Cod Bay this summer. The tagging efforts, conducted from small vessels, capped the first year of full sampling in Massachusetts after two years of pilot studies to identify more efficient and cost-effective ways to tag leatherbacks.
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In September, scientists and fishermen boarded F/V Karen Elizabeth to conduct a study of NOAA Ship Henry Bigelow’s trawl net, used in the twice-yearly scientific survey of the Northeast shelf. The Karen Elizabeth can tow two nets at once, ideal for making comparisons. Read the log from the 8-day study.
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Upcoming Deadlines
October 23 Quotes due from Gulf of Mexico pelagic longline vessel owners interested in participating in the 2020 Oceanic Fish Restoration Project.
October 31 Proposals due for 2020 Species Recovery Grants to States.
October 31 Proposals due for 2020 Species Recovery Grants to Tribes.
November 1 Abstracts due for the 2020 Milford Aquaculture Seminar.
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Upcoming Events
October 3–9 North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Homer, Alaska.
October 7–10 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Durham, North Carolina.
October 7–November 4 Three informational sessions on proposed changes to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
October 9 Public scoping webinar/conference call on NOAA Fisheries’ intent to prepare a draft Amendment 12 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan.
October 10 Free Atlantic Shark Identification workshop in Somerville, Massachusetts.
October 16 and 18 Two free Protected Species Safe Handling, Release, and Identification workshops in New Jersey and Florida.
October 19–24 Three stakeholder workshops on New England recreational fishing management in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; please register in advance.
October 21–24 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Galveston, Texas.
October 21–24 Western Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
November 12 Annual public meeting of the Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group for the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment in Biloxi, Mississippi.
November 13–14 East Coast National Electronic Monitoring Workshop in New Castle, New Hampshire.
January 17 Maine Aquaculture Research, Development, and Education Forum in Belfast, Maine.
February 12–13 West Coast National Electronic Monitoring Workshop in Renton, Washington.
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