HIGHLIGHTS
October
Is National Seafood Month Here at NOAA Fisheries, October
is National Seafood Month—an
opportunity to celebrate the important role of seafood in
our “blue economy” and the success of U.S. seafood as
among the world’s most sustainable. Throughout the month,
we will be highlighting the success stories behind U.S. seafood
and the fishermen and fish farmers who make it possible.
Celebrate #SeafoodMonth Join the fun
throughout the month by incorporating our #seafoodmonth web badge onto your
website and pages! Download the image here.
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Dam
Removal Completes 16-Year Restoration Last month, work began to remove
Holmes Dam, the final major step in the nearly 16-year project to restore
historic Town Brook in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Combined with the removal of
the three other dams, improvements to two fish ladders, and the lowering of an
additional dam, these efforts may support fish runs of more than 1 million
river herring.
U.S.
Signs International Agreement for the Arctic Following
more than 2 years of international negotiations, on October 3 the United States
and nine other parties signed the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas
Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean. The agreement represents a
precautionary approach to the management of high seas fish stocks before any
fishing begins, and was undertaken in response to developments in the Arctic
related to a changing climate.
Alaska
Mysterious
Movements of the Rarest Great Whale The eastern North Pacific right
whale is the rarest of great whales; after decades of legal and illegal
whaling, only 30 are thought to remain. A new NOAA Fisheries study sheds light
on the mysterious lives of these critically endangered whales.
2018 Aerial Surveys of Arctic Marine Mammals The Arctic survey of marine
mammals in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas has been conducted every year since
1979 off the northern and western coasts of Alaska. The project is co-managed
by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management. Follow the research teams’ blogs here.
West Coast
Warm
Ocean Years Leave Forage Fish Hungry A new study found that unusually
warm temperatures across the eastern Pacific Ocean in recent years drained the
food web of many energy-rich plankton that small forage fish feed on, leaving
the fish to consume the marine equivalent of less nutritious “junk food”
instead. The study opened a window on the ways that changing ocean conditions
reverberate through the ecosystem.
Pacific Islands
Six
Reasons Not to Swim with Spinner Dolphins Would you swim with wild spinner
dolphins if you knew they were trying to sleep? Learn more about spinner
dolphins’ natural behaviors and why we should avoid disrupting them.
Southeast
Golden Tilefish Rule – Open for Public Comment By October 12, please submit your comments on a proposed rule to
implement Amendment 28 to the South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper fishery management
plan. The amendment would reduce the total, commercial, and recreational annual
catch limits for South Atlantic golden tilefish. Proposed in response to
results of the latest population assessment, these new limits are intended to
end overfishing of golden tilefish.
Greater Atlantic
Atlantic Mackerel Measures – Open for Comment By October 19, please submit your comments on proposed measures
included in Framework Adjustment 12 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish Fishery Management Plan. The proposed action would allow the
possession of 5,000 lbs of Atlantic mackerel after 100 percent of the domestic
harvest is caught, instead of prohibiting possession of Atlantic mackerel for
the rest of the year.
Proposal
for Trap/Pot Restricted Areas – Open for Public Comment By October 29, please submit your comments on possible modifications
to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan’s Massachusetts Trap/Pot
Restricted Area and the Great South Channel Trap/Pot Restricted Area. NOAA
Fisheries is considering allowing trap/pot fishing that does not use vertical
buoy lines (referred to as buoy-lineless or ropeless gear) prior to gear
retrieval.
Striped
Bass Fishing in Block Island Transit Zone – Open for Public Comment NOAA Fisheries is considering removing
the current prohibition on recreational Atlantic striped bass fishing in the
Block Island Transit Zone, a small area of federal waters substantially bounded
by state waters. The current prohibition may be confusing for anglers, and NOAA
solicits feedback on possible options for improving striped bass management in
the Transit Zone. Please submit comments by November 19.
2018–2019 Northern Skate Fishery Specifications NOAA Fisheries approved and
implemented Framework Adjustment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery
Management Plan and 2018–2019 Specifications. The new provisions allow limited
possession of barndoor skate in the directed skate wing fishery, and they exempt
vessels fishing exclusively within the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries
Organization Regulatory Area from some specific domestic skate regulations.
Electronic
Monitoring for Mid-Water Trawl Fishery Read an interview with Nichole
Rossi, Fisheries Biologist and Electronic Monitoring Lead from the Northeast
Fisheries Science Center, about why NOAA Fisheries is exploring electronic
monitoring as a commercial catch monitoring and reporting tool. She discusses
the successes and challenges in applying this technology to the Atlantic
herring and mackerel mid-water trawl fisheries.
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