EL NIÑO GAINS STRENGTH

Dec. 7, 2006 — The latest El Niño/Southern Oscillation Diagnostic Discussion, produced by scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, indicates El Niño conditions are now evident in the tropical Pacific and should intensify during the next one to three months. However, this episode is expected to be much weaker than the very strong 1997-1998 El Niño event.
“Evolving current conditions in the equatorial Pacific are likely to cause a substantial increase in sea surface temperature along the west coast of South America in late December 2006 and January 2007,” said Vernon Kousky, Ph.D., NOAA’s lead El Niño forecaster. “At about the same time, rainfall is expected to increase over the warm waters in the central equatorial Pacific, thus setting the stage for typical El Niño effects over the U.S. during January through March 2007,” he added.
El Niño events influence the predominate position and strength of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean, which in turn affect winter precipitation and temperature patterns across the country. During El Niño events, the jet stream is stronger than normal across the southern U.S. As a result, increased storminess and wetter-than-average conditions occur across the southern tier of the U.S. from central and southern California across the Southwest to Texas and across the Gulf Coast to Florida and the Southeast. Meanwhile, drier-than-average conditions are experienced in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and in the northern Rockies.
“NOAA’s investment in climate models is paying off,” said Jim Laver, director of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Statistical and coupled model forecasts, including the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System, show El Niño conditions peaking during the northern hemisphere winter (December 2006 through February 2007) and then weakening during the northern hemisphere spring (March through May 2007). “This event may be with us for a while, and we will be closely monitoring how the atmosphere reacts,” he said.

Source: NOAA

Magnuson-Stevens Act Passes

On December 8, 2006, in the final hours of the 109th Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act.
President Bush, through his Ocean Action Plan, made reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act a top priority. The President called for an end to overfishing, increased use of market-based management tools, creation of a national saltwater angler registry, and an emphasis on ecosystem approaches to management.
The bill keeps intact the existing 10-year rebuilding timeframe and adds in new protections against overfishing. It requires fishery managers to base all quotas on the advice of scientists and advances new limitations on "cap-and-trade" fishing permit programs.
The new bill will:
authorize the use of market-based limited access privilege programs; require establishment of a regionally-based registry for recreational fishermen; strengthen fisheries enforcement; authorize the Secretary to provide assistance to the Regional Fishery Management Councils for development of regional ecosystem pilot programs; and establishes Community Based Restoration Programs that utilize public-private partnerships to restore fishery and coastal habitat, in line with the President's Cooperative Conservation Agenda. "We believe that this legislation is an important step for the United States to rebuild our nation's fisheries and will allow our fishers to utilize all of the tools that are available so their fishing businesses can operate safely and economically," said Bill Hogarth, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

U.S. Completes First Successful Felony Prosecution for Illegal Imports of Chilean Sea Bass

This is the first successful federal felony prosecution in the United States for activities involving illegal importation and sale of toothfish. Fadilur was convicted of false labeling, importation of illegally possessed fish, and attempted sale of that fish. Eleven cargo containers of toothfish, with an approximate wholesale value of $3.5 million, were shipped on three separate vessels as part of this scheme to illegally import the fish into the United States. Government agents in Miami, Los Angeles, and New York seized all the containers.

Read the NOAA news release.

Fishery Crisis Facts

The loss of ocean biodiversity is accelerating, and 29 percent of the seafood species humans consume have already crashed. If the long-term trend continues, in 30 years there will be little or no seafood available for sustainable harvest.

GreenPeace has put together a list of amazing fishery crisis facts.

Read it Here

Ecosystems based Fisheries Management

New report from NOAA EcoCheck summarizes ongoing development of a model that describes fluctuations in the number of young menhaden within Chesapeake Bay. Using both menhaden spawning stock and striped bass predation potential, the model successfully accounts for most
(~70%) of the variability seen in Chesapeake Bay menhaden recruitment. With ongoing work suggesting that weather patterns can improve the model, this approach appears to have the potential to support ecosystem based management for the Bay’s menhaden and
striped bass fisheries.

Get the full PDF here

Groundfish Measures Modified through Final Rule to Support Rebuilding

NOAA Fisheries has published a final rule that implements Framework Adjustment 42 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and Framework 3 to the Monkfish FMP. Framework 42, developed by the New England Fishery Management Council, is a biennial adjustment to the Northeast Multispecies FMP that sets forth a rebuilding program for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and modifies management measures to reduce fishing mortality rates on six other groundfish stocks. This will maintain compliance with the rebuilding programs of the FMP. Framework 42 also modifies an! d continues specific measures to mitigate the economic and social impacts of Amendment 13 to the FMP and to allow harvest levels to approach optimum yield. All provisions from the proposed rule are approved except one that would have allowed trip limits for six species to be raised during a fishing year.
A summary of the new regulations is provided in a letter to permit holders. Information on restrictions that apply to recreational fishermen, charter boats and party boats is also available online. The provisions of this final rule take effect on November 22. For more information, contact Douglas.Christel@noaa.gov.

Lessons in Marine-Life Restoration

Dr. Safina’s work on the interrelated behaviors and annual rhythms of the common tern and bluefish, which feast on the same bay anchovies and other small prey are still very interesting and relelvent to state of the fishteries world. His latest book, "Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur” (Henry Holt, 2006), follows the struggles of the ocean’s ancient leatherbacks and other sea turtles. His prime goal, he has said, is to develop a “sea ethic” similar to the land ethic of Aldo Leopold, and a scattering of success stories has convinced him that a balance is still possible between exploitation and conservation of marine resources.

There is a decent NY Times Q&A here.

New Management Plan for Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA has issued a final revised management plan and revised regulations for the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary. The revised regulations prohibit anchoring in the sanctuary, and restrict all fishing except that conducted by rod and reel, handline, or spearfishing gear without powerheads. All other forms of fishing gear must be stowed while in the sanctuary. For more information, read the announcement

Deep-sea fish in Atlantic at brink of extinction

Overfishing has driven several species of deep-water fish in the Atlantic to the brink of extinction in a single generation, Canadian biologists have found.
Populations have plummeted so rapidly that two commercially fished species, the roundnose grenadier and onion-eye grenadier, and three other species, should be classified as critically endangered – a higher rating than for the giant panda and Bengal tiger.
Between 1978 and 1984, catch data from research trawl surveys showed the relative abundance of the five species declined between 87 per cent and 98 per cent in Canadian waters, the researchers found.
Read full story

America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change

The final reports from the Pew Ocean Trust, although now dated back to 2003 are still quite relevant. If you haven't read them, you can download the Executive Summary
and the full report--America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change.

Science Reports are also available here:
Marine Reserves Key to Preserving Ocean Systems
Managing Marine Fisheries
Dialogue on America's Fisheries
Socioeconomic Perspectives of Fishing
Ecological Effects of Fishing
Sprawl and Declining Coastal Health
Marine Pollution in the United States
Marine Aquaculture in the United States
Introduced Species in U.S. Coastal Waters

US Coast Guard Analysis of Fishing Vessel Casualties

The Compliance Analysis Division
collaborated with the Fishing Vessel Safety program manager and prepared a follow-on
review to provide information about why and how such incidents occurred. That report was
distributed in October of 1999. This document is the third edition of the casualty study with
newly added data for calendar years 2001 through 2004.2 The resulting updated data set
includes such factors as:
• Operation of the vessel at the time of the incident.
• Geographic or location information of the incident.
• Participation of the vessel in the voluntary exam program and its decal status.
• Causal information about vessel loss, (what went wrong).
• Causal information about deaths and missing persons.
• Assistance by Good Samaritan vessels, and
• Availability and use of lifesaving equipment.
Analysis of the casualty data is presented in two parts: vessel losses, and crew fatalities.
Each part begins with overall summaries and descriptive statistics. From that starting point,
a more detailed "drill down" analysis is provided on the data. In other words, for each of the
two groupings, the broad based information was examined in increasing detail, in order to
"peel back," or focus on, the most significant factors involved in these fishing vessel
incidents.
For the eleven-year period from 1994 through 2004, there were 1398 lost vessels and 641
fatalities. Of those fatalities, 328 occurred at the same time a vessel was lost. Overall, this
is an average of 127 lost vessels and 58 fatalities per year.
The information showed that the majority of fishing vessel losses and deaths occurred in
the 17th and 8th Coast Guard Districts.

View full report here

Bush Seeks Ban on Destructive Fishing

President Bush called for a halt to destructive fishing on the high seas Tuesday and said the United States will work to eliminate or better regulate practices such as bottom trawling that devastate fish populations and the ocean floor....Read AP Report Here

Cod still overfished in the North-West Atlantic despite ban

The Grand Banks fisheries, once home to one of the world's most abundant populations of cod, collapsed in the 1990s, leading to a total fishing moratorium for this species in 1994.However, the report Bycatch on the High Seas: A review of the effectiveness of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization shows that despite the ban over 13,000 tonnes of cod and other fish, including American plaice and redfish, are taken every year as bycatch — the accidental capture of non-targeted fish.

Read WWF Article

More on Fisheries at www.capecharleslights.com