HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrate
Migratory Fish This Saturday
World Fish
Migration Day is a global event to create awareness of the importance of open
rivers and migratory fish. Join us in
celebrating World Fish Migration Day this Saturday, April 21, and learn more about how NOAA Fisheries works
to remove barriers to fish migration.
Fisheries
Innovation Fund Request for Proposals
Through a partnership with NOAA,
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation solicits proposals for up to $950,000
in grants awarded through the 2018 Fisheries Innovation Fund. The grants
are intended to support innovative and effective participation of fishermen and
fishing communities in achieving sustainable fisheries in the United States.
Pre-proposals are due May 14.
Power of the
Crowd: Citizen Science
Last Saturday, April 14, was Citizen Science Day.
Citizen science has helped shape NOAA since the 1800s, when the rise of the
telegraph allowed volunteers around the nation to transmit weather reports to
the National Weather Service. Today, citizen scientists participate in more
than 40 projects to help NOAA monitor the oceans and atmosphere.
West Coast
NOAA
Approves Skagit River Steelhead Fishery Management Plan
NOAA Fisheries approved a
management plan for threatened Skagit River steelhead that includes both tribal
fisheries and a catch-and-release sport fishery—the first spring recreational
fishery on the Skagit since steelhead numbers began to recover nearly a decade
ago.
Stranded
Whale Likely Died from Entanglement
Researchers completed a necropsy
on a yearling male gray whale that stranded on Washington’s Long Beach
Peninsula after becoming entangled in lines from a crab trap. The researchers
determined that the trap lines likely caused the whale’s death. NOAA Fisheries
has observed an increase in whale entanglements on the West Coast in recent
years.
California
Clean-Air Mandates May Reduce Ship Strike Risk for Whales
California’s clean-fuel standards
and coastal low-emission zones required ship traffic to slow down. According to
a new NOAA Fisheries analysis of regional ship traffic, this may have reduced
the risks ship traffic poses to whales, because whales are less likely to be
killed by ships traveling at lower speeds.
Southeast
Commerce
Secretary Commends Gulf Recreational Red Snapper Pilot Program
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross
commends an innovative, 2-year pilot program for state management of the recreational
red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA Fisheries approved exempted
fishing permits for each of the five Gulf states to allow them to demonstrate the
effectiveness of state management of recreationally caught red snapper and to
test data collection methods during the 2018 and 2019 fishing seasons.
2018 Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper For-Hire Season
NOAA Fisheries announced that the
2018 Gulf of Mexico red snapper for-hire season in federal waters will open on
June 1 and last 51 days. This action is independent of the private angling
season, which will be set by each of the Gulf of Mexico states for both state
and federal waters.
Limited
Red Snapper Fishery in South Atlantic – Open for Public Comment
By June 15, please submit your comments on Amendment 43 to the South
Atlantic Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan. Actions proposed in the
amendment would specify recreational and commercial annual catch limits for red
snapper beginning in 2018.
Louisiana Trustees
Release Draft Restoration Plan
The Louisiana Trustee
Implementation Group released its Draft Restoration Plan and Environmental
Assessment #4, which proposes projects to restore lost public recreational uses
and reduce agricultural nutrient runoff in Louisiana’s coastal watersheds
injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A public meeting will be held April 24, and public comments are due May 21.
Greater Atlantic
Atlantic Circulation System Shows Weakening
In a recent study, NOAA
researchers and partners used computer model simulations to reconstruct changes
over time in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation—a large-scale
system of ocean currents. Comparisons of the models with recent direct ocean
measurements suggest the AMOC has weakened since the 1950s. This weakening,
along with warming temperatures, is likely to impact fisheries and other living
marine resources.
Catch Limits
for Small-Mesh Multispecies Fishery – Open for Public Comment
By April 27, please submit your comments on proposed new 2018–2020
catch limits for the small-mesh multispecies fishery, which includes northern
red hake, southern red hake, northern silver hake, and southern whiting. In
general, the proposed specifications would increase the annual catch limits for
the northern stocks and decrease them for the southern stocks.
GIS Data for
Habitat Omnibus Amendment Online
The GIS data for the new habitat
management measures for New England fisheries are now available online through
the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office’s GIS Data Page.
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