Tag: NOAAFisheries

NOAA Fisheries Analyzes Data on Incidental Catch of Killer Whales
27Sep By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Analyzes Data on Incidental Catch of Killer Whales

NOAA Fisheries says the agency is analyzing data regarding 10 killer whales caught incidentally in nets of Bering Sea and Aleutian Island groundfish trawl fisheries required to carry two NOAA Fisheries observers. In only one incident was the whale was released alive. Regarding others, NOAA Fisheries officials said they are analyzing data to determine the cause of injury or death and determine which stocks these whales belong to through a review of genetic information. The agency said its findings would be made public once all analyses are completed. NOAA Fisheries is also reviewing information regarding a killer whale incidentally caught during the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s longline survey for sablefish and groundfish this past summer. On June 7, a dead orca was ...
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NOAA Fisheries Awards $2.5M For Bycatch Reduction Programs
13Sep By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Awards $2.5M For Bycatch Reduction Programs

NOAA Fisheries has awarded $2.5 million to partners nationwide for bycatch reduction research projects through its Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP), including three each on the West Coast and Pacific Islands and two for research in Alaska. The grants include $179,873 to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in Portland, Ore.; $228,876 to the Pfleger Institute of Environment Research in Oceanside, Calif.; and $199.500 to the Wild Fish Conservancy in Seattle. Other grants include $78,700 to Eric Gilman LLC in Honolulu; $139,659 to the University of California, San Diego; $221,309 to the University of Washington; and $199,870 to the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which is headquartered in Seattle. Six projects in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic and Sout...
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Limits Set on Oregon Harvest of End of Commercial Season for Chinook, Coho Salmon
23Aug By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Limits Set on Oregon Harvest of End of Commercial Season for Chinook, Coho Salmon

Federal and state authorities have set limits through Sept. 30 for the commercial troll harvest of two salmon species in Oregon’s commercial salmon troll fishery between the U.S.-Canadian border and Cape Falcon, Ore. The announcement this past week from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said harvesters would be limited to weekly landing and possession per vessel of seven Chinooks and 100 adipose marked coho salmon. The announcement comes in the wake of NOAA Fisheries consulting with the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the states of Oregon and Washington, and fishery representatives in a conference call. Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife said the harvest of Chinooks to date in that area had passed 90% of the 13,000 Chinook quota, leaving only 1,251 fish to b...
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NOAA Fisheries Study Looks at Future of Pacific Cod Moving North
27Jun By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Fisheries Study Looks at Future of Pacific Cod Moving North

A new study, publicly released June 22 by NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), says the success of reproduction of Pacific cod moving north because of climate change issues remains an unknown. New collaborative research discussed in the study predicts how thermally suitable habitat for Pacific cod spawning in the Bering Sea may shift over the coming century of climate change. The study coupled state-of-the-art climate modeling with information from laboratory experiments relating hatch success to temperature and looked at how changes in spawning habitat might affect Pacific cod productivity. The study projects that suitable spawning habitat will expand and shift over this century, as current spawning hotspots likely become too warm for egg development and ha...
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Sunflower Sea Star Proposed for Listing Under ESA
22Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Sunflower Sea Star Proposed for Listing Under ESA

NOAA Fisheries officials on March 15 proposed listing the sunflower sea star, once common along the Pacific coast of North America, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), due to its sharp decline and the threat of a lethal pathogen. More than 90% of sunflower sea stars were killed from 2013 to 2017 by Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, in what was considered the largest marine wildlife disease outbreak on record.  Sea stars that contract the syndrome become lethargic, develop lesions, lose their arms and within days disintegrate into gooey masses. Sunflower sea stars are voracious predators who consume a wide variety of benthic species and can influence ecosystem structure by virtue of their predatory habits. They prey on sea urchins, which consume kelp and other marine vegetati...
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Congressional Group Urges USDA to Purchase Seafood Products
8Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Congressional Group Urges USDA to Purchase Seafood Products

Four U.S. senators and six U.S. House of Representatives members from Washington, Oregon and California have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue purchases of West Coast seafood products for the economic benefit of the industry and coastal communities. Pacific Northwest and West Coast seafood products are currently being produced in large volumes, easily accessible and easily transportable for immediate distribution to food assistance program, they told Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack in a letter, noting economic challenges the seafood industry has been facing, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine. The purchases are being made under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935, which authorizes USDA to support prices of commodities in surplu...
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Deadline Extended for Habitat Restoration, Resilience Grants
5Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Deadline Extended for Habitat Restoration, Resilience Grants

NOAA Fisheries has extended the deadline for underserved communities in fiscal year 2022 to apply for $10 million in funds for habitat restoration and resilience awards made available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The deadline for proposals is now Oct. 14. The deadline was extended on Monday, Oct. 3 to accommodate challenges being faced by potential applicants severely impacted by recent typhoons and hurricanes. The funds are intended to provide capacity for these communities to participate more fully in developing future transformational habitat projects. NOAA officials said such engagement the goal is to ensure that communities are integral in the visioning and decision-making for coastal habitat restoration projects affecting their communities, and that benefits ...
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EM Program Regulations to be Implemented for Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program
5Oct By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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EM Program Regulations to be Implemented for Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program

NOAA Fisheries has announced that effective Nov. 2, a new rule will implement electronic monitoring (EM) program regulations for vessels using groundfish bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear in the Pacific Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program. This move is expected to allow vessels using bottom trawl and non-whiting midwater trawl gear to use EM in place of human observers to meet their requirements for 100% at-sea catch monitoring. The final rule is intended to boost operational flexibility and reduce monitoring costs for vessels in this groundfish trawl fishery. It also revises some language in existing regulations for EM vessels and EM service providers to clarify and streamline EM program requirements. The Pacific Coast Groundfish Management Plan (FMP) sp...
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NOAA Hosts First Responder Training on Entangled Whale Response
28Sep By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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NOAA Hosts First Responder Training on Entangled Whale Response

NOAA Fisheries, the leader in the Alaska Large Whale Entanglement Response Program, recently held workshops in four Alaska communities on how to best respond to entangled whales. The training sessions in Metlakatla, Auke Bay and Gustavus in Southeast Alaska and Cordova, on Prince William Sound, taught safety skills needed to approach whales in distress, especially entangled whales. Participating NOAA employees and partner agencies included a team of advanced, authorized responders and trainers who use specialized equipment to safely and legally respond to entangled whales. The program emphasizes the importance of assessment and documentation from a safe, legal distance from the on-water communities. NOAA Fisheries leads the Alaska Large Whale Entanglement Response Program. It ...
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AFSC Speeds Up Data Collection To Tackle Bycatch Issues
31Aug By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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AFSC Speeds Up Data Collection To Tackle Bycatch Issues

Researchers with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) say they’re speeding up the process of gathering data to share with the fisheries managers and others on the decline of Chinook and chum salmon runs, particularly in western Alaska. The AFSC, which is collaborating with state and federal researchers, as well as those at the university level, reported in late August that the center has developed models to better understand and help resource managers address bycatch impacts. “These models, after accounting for natural mortality, produce estimates of the number of adult fish that would be expected to return to their natal rivers to spawn if they hadn’t been taken as bycatch in the Eastern Bering Sea Pollock fisheries,” their report states. Salmon bycatch levels vary year...
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