NOAA – Page 6 – Fishermens News

NOAA Promoting New Steps to Combat IUU Fishing

29Jun

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NOAA Promoting New Steps to Combat IUU Fishing

NOAA is proposing new measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities and forced labor in the seafood supply chain. The proposed changes are part of a rulemaking process that will include a public comment period after these proposed changes are published in the Federal Register. NOAA’s proposal broadens the scope of activities that can be considered under the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act when identifying nations for IUU fishing, including pervasive and persistent fishing activities in waters under the jurisdiction of a nation, without authorization or in violation of that nation’s laws. In addition, fishing activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that involve the use of forced labor may be considered by NOAA...

Marine Economy Pours Billions Into America’s GDP, Reports Show

15Jun

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Marine Economy Pours Billions Into America’s GDP, Reports Show

Economic reports compiled by two Commerce Department agencies confirm that America’s marine economy continues to pour billions of dollars into the nation’s gross domestic product, albeit tempered by a general economic decline during the first year of the global coronavirus pandemic. Results of the annual Marine Economy Satellite Account released in June by NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that amounted to some $361 billion in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. That total represents a 5.8% or $23 billion reduction in real terms, adjusted for inflation, from 2019, outpacing the general economic decline of 3.4%. The data, report and other materials are available at https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/data/marine-economy.html and on the BEA Marine Economy web...

NOAA Fisheries Speaks at UN On Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management

8Jun

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NOAA Fisheries Speaks at UN On Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management

NOAA Fisheries is taking a lead on the global stage in sharing its ecosystem approaches to fisheries management with interested nations, including opportunities at a recent United Nations conference. “For the United Nations to prioritize discussing ecosystem approaches to fisheries management is not trivial,” NOAA Fisheries Senior Scientist for Ecosystems Jason Link said. “It is indicative of how important the topic has become around the world.” The UN holds theme-based consultations annually as an international forum for member countries to advance fisheries issues. The focus May’s meeting was to explore how well countries are implementing ecosystem approaches to fisheries management. This approach is codified as part of International Law and Ecosystem-based Fisheries Managem...

NOAA Report Shows Huge PSC of Chum Salmon By Pollock Fleet

8Jun

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NOAA Report Shows Huge PSC of Chum Salmon By Pollock Fleet

New federal and state reports show that while salmon runs in Alaska have in some cases reached a crisis point, that trawlers are catching and discarding more Chinook and chum salmon from the Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems than subsistence and direct fishers are allowed to harvest. The issue of declining salmon stocks remains a complex, multi-faceted one, involving much discussion on topics ranging from trawl bycatch to climate change to the impact of juvenile hatchery fish produced in Alaska, Washington state, Japan, Russia and South Korea. NOAA Fisheries’ genetic studies of trawl salmon bycatch in 2020 and 2021 released at the end of May determined that 52% of the Chinook bycatch from the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Pollock trawl fishery in 2020 included an estimated 16,7...

25May

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NOAA Prepares EIS For SoCal Aquaculture Opportunity Area

NOAA Fisheries has published a notice of intent in the Federal Register announcing preparation of the Southern California Aquaculture Opportunity Area Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The EIS seeks to assess impacts of identifying one or more aquaculture opportunity areas in federal waters of the Southern California Bight, a 430-mile stretch of curved coastline that runs from Southern California to the Mexican peninsula of Baja California. The notice of intent initiates a formal 60-day public scoping period for the programmatic EIS that closes on July 22. During this time, NOAA would seek public comment to inform the scope and content of the programmatic EIS. NOAA Fisheries’ effort is in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District. U.S...

NMFS Issues Final Rule on Washington, Oregon, California Ocean Fisheries

18May

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NMFS Issues Final Rule on Washington, Oregon, California Ocean Fisheries

The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a final rule establishing fishery management measures for the 2022 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon and California and the 2023 salmon seasons opening earlier than May 16, 2023. Measures in the final rule vary by fishery and by area and establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone off Washington, Oregon and California. The management measures are intended to prevent overfishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indians, non-Indian commercial, and recreational fisheries. They’re also intended to allow a portion of salmon runs to escape ...

U.S. Commerce Dept. Allocates $144M for Fisheries Disasters

11May

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U.S. Commerce Dept. Allocates $144M for Fisheries Disasters

The State of Alaska, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington state will share in $144 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce for fisheries disasters suffered between 2018 and 2021. The allocation, announced May 5 by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, applies to previously declared fishery disasters including the 2019 Norton Sound king crab fishery, the Port Gamble Tribe’s 2018 Puget Sound coho salmon fishery, the Chehalis Tribe’s 2019 Chehalis River spring Chinook salmon fishery. Eligible fisheries in Alaska that experienced disasters between 2018 and 2021 and are eligible include the 2018 Upper Cook Inlet East Side Set net and 2020 Upper Cook Inlet salmon fisheries, the 2018 Copper River Chinook and sockeye...

Scientists, Volunteers Work to Disentangle Pinnipeds

30Mar

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Scientists, Volunteers Work to Disentangle Pinnipeds

In celebration of International Seal Day in late March, NOAA Fisheries highlighted the work of a team of dedicated scientists and volunteers to “lose the loop” and help entangled seals, sea lions and walrus, inquisitive animals also known as pinnipeds. Their curiosity makes them vulnerable to becoming entangled in loop-shaped marine debris such as packing ands and abandoned fish nets, snagged by fishing hooks and entangled in other garbage in the marine ecosystem. In 2009, a group of marine mammal scientists in the United States decided to form the Pinniped Entanglement Group, with a focus on prevention of entanglements that can lead to serious injuries and even death. This is a worldwide problem that can be prevented by finding better solutions to dispose of trash and fishing gear....