Shem Creek, SC » NOAA

NOAA’s newest multipurpose vessel to assess fish, turtle stocks

Charleston Native — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:18:18 +0000

Pisces will play a big part assessing marine mammals, turtles etc. in the Southeastern fisheries throughout its lifetime.
Credit: NOAA

The ship, which will carry a crew of 21 and up to 17 scientists, will support NOAA’s mission to protect, restore, and manage the use of living marine, coastal, and ocean resources.

Her primary objective will be to study, monitor, and collect data on a wide range of sea life and ocean conditions, primarily in U.S. waters from the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and South Atlantic to North Carolina.

This region includes important commercial and recreational fisheries, and is one of the world’s best known and most productive marine areas.

“With its dramatically lower background noise levels, this ship will greatly enhance our ability to use the most sophisticated acoustic devices to assess fish, marine mammal and sea turtle stocks,” – James Balsiger.

The data collected by the ship will be used by scientists who study variation in ocean conditions and sea life and how they relate to such issues as sustainable fisheries, fish habitat, habitat restoration, coral reefs, and protected species status. Pisces also will observe weather, conduct habitat assessments, and survey marine mammal and bird populations.

Foremost among Pisces’s state-of-the-art capabilities is it’s “quiet” hull; it minimizes underwater sounds it makes, allowing scientists to use hydro-acoustic methods for surveying marine life, and significantly reducing changes in the natural behavior of animals caused by ship noise.

“Pisces will not only expand the type of information we are able to obtain, but as a multipurpose vessel will improve our ability to support ecosystem approaches to management of the oceans.” – James Balsiger, acting Assistant Administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

NOAA seeks public input on governing Swordfish, Bluefin Tuna fishing

Charleston Native — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:34:38 +0000

NOAA’s Fisheries Service is holding a series of public meetings this summer seeking comments on potential changes in the way commercial and recreational fishermen fish the U.S. quotas for swordfish and bluefin tuna in the Atlantic.

In the case of both fish stocks, U.S. fishermen have not been able to catch the U.S. quotas designed to ensure that the stocks are fished sustainably. While these species are managed internationally, the United States manages the domestic part of these fisheries by taking into account the ecosystem and working to reduce bycatch of turtles and other species. This approach increases expenses for U.S. fishermen and makes it more difficult for them to compete in the marketplace with cheaper imports from fishing nations that subsidize their fleets and do not use an ecosystem approach.

“Swordfish are nearly rebuilt, yet our fishermen are only catching 54 percent of the U.S.
quota. Bluefin tuna are a more complicated story. U.S. fishermen have followed quotas based on scientific recommendations designed to end overfishing. There may be ways to fish more of the U.S. quotas for both stocks in a sustainable manner.” – Jim Balsiger, acting NOAA Assistant Admin. for NOAA’s Fisheries Service

The public process will also be a chance to examine using “catch shares,” which would allocate a portion of the total catch to a person, company, community or sector, to better manage these fisheries. NOAA will examine novel ways to limit the bycatch of sea turtles, marine mammals, or undersized, prohibited and spawning fish in the bluefin and swordfish fisheries.

Jim Balsiger says they’ve “heard a number of ideas from constituents and we want to broaden the conversation to include recreational fishermen, environmental organizations and the general public on how best to manage these valuable highly migratory fish species.”

This effort to involve the public comes as NOAA’s Fisheries Service announces this season’s bluefin tuna quota for U.S. commercial and recreational fishermen. The rule puts in place reductions in overall quota that were adopted at the November 2008 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the international body that manages tuna, swordfish and other species that cross international boundaries.

CREDIT: Greenpeace

The rule, which published on June 1, raises the daily catch limit from one to two bluefin tunas for recreational fishermen. NOAA had originally proposed a daily limit of one but raised the limit to two per day after reviewing comments from the fishing industry and analyzing the change for consistency with the bluefin tuna rebuilding program. The new rule maintains the three-fish per day limit for commercial fishermen.

NOAA received many comments and suggestions during the recent bluefin tuna rule making on ways to improve long-term management of bluefin and swordfish. These proposals will now be part of this summer’s public process.

In addition to considering catch shares and by-catch reduction, some of the proposals that will be discussed include:

• an industry request to lower the commercial minimum size for bluefin tuna from 73 to 65 inches
• an industry request to allow more bluefin tuna to be landed that have been incidentally caught in longline fishing gear
• a proposal to allow approximately 5,000 commercial tuna fishermen who use rod and reel to land swordfish at low catch levels

Public comments on bluefin tuna fishery issues will close June 30, while comments on all other issues, including swordfish, will remain open until Aug. 31.

All meetings will begin with an opportunity for people to view information on the issues raised in the public process and ask questions at 5 p.m., followed by a presentation and opportunity for public comment beginning at 6 p.m.

The closest public meeting to us here on Shem Creek will be held next Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. on June 25 at:

Roanoke Island Festival Park
1 Festival Park
Manteo, N.C. 27954

You can learn more about the public comment process or the bluefin tuna quota at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/

NOAA: World’s large marine ecosystems are heating up

Charleston Native — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:01:58 +0000

From a new United Nations report, which contains key contributions from NOAA, we learn that 61 of the world’s 64 large marine ecosystems — large coastal ocean waters adjacent to continents — show a significant increase in sea surface temperatures in the last 25 years, contributing to decreasing fisheries catches in some areas and increasing catches in others.

There is plenty of information on the NOAA site for those interested, but what I found particularly interesting with respect to our own Large Marine Ecosystem – LME#6 covers the SouthEast – are two points:

NC’s Albemarle-Pamlico Sound is one of the largest and most productive aquatic systems in NA.
The SE US Continental Shelf is one of a few LME’s that have experienced long-term cooling since 1957.

NOAA declares four fish stocks fully rebuilt

Charleston Native — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:03:54 +0000

In today’s 2008 Status of U.S. Fisheries report to Congress, NOAA gave notice of four different fish being cleared from overfishing:

Atlantic bluefish,
Gulf of Mexico king mackerel, and
two different stocks of monkfish in the Atlantic

While that of course is good news for long-range fishing and our marine habitat, four others appear to be overfished at the same time:

thorny skate,
Atlantic blacknose shark, and
Atlantic shortfin mako shark

These were added to the list of those being fished unsustainably just this year, and a fourth stock, Gulf of Mexico pink shrimp, was also listed as subject to overfishing but it’s still being reviewed.

With these fish being replenished, it proves NOAA officials are doing the best they can for all of us – the fish, the fisherman, and all my fellow seafood lovers out there.

NOAA, Coast Guard pool SAR resources together

Charleston Native — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:18:17 +0000

The data will feed into Coast Guard servers to improve environmental observations for the agency’s operational Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System.
Credit: USGS

We can all feel a little safer now when heading out on the water from Shem Creek and beyond – new data sets from NOAA give the Coast Guard the ability to track probable paths of victims and drifting survivor craft, thereby improving search and rescue efforts for the Coast Guard along the U.S. coast.

NOAA says the new data sets include surface current maps from high frequency radar systems. The technology measures speed and direction of ocean surface currents in near real time, which the Coast Guard can then use to guide its search and rescue operations with greater accuracy. The maps can also be used to support other scientific work, such as oil spill response, harmful algal bloom monitoring, and water quality assessments.

“The Coast Guard is continuously striving to enhance its Search and Rescue capabilities by obtaining the latest operational environmental products that NOAA has to offer. Better data means search efforts can be focused on smaller areas, saving more lives by allowing us to locate and assist distressed persons more quickly,” – Jack Frost, USCG’s Program Manager for
From the Shem Creek blog.

NOAA, Coast Guard pool SAR resources together

NOAA more worried about hurricanes in N.H. and N.Y. than S.C.

Charleston Native — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:35:59 +0000

Apparently Hurricane Hugo has slipped the minds of NOAA officials as they prepare to visit 5 cities on the East coast in preparation for this year’s hurricane season.

The annual trip is swapped between the East and West coast and will kickoff a week from today up in N.H., but they won’t be stopping here in Charleston, or any other city in S.C.

Here’s NOAA’s Atlantic Coast Hurricane Awareness Tour Schedule:

DATE	LOCATION	CITY	TIME
Monday, May 4	Pease Air National Guard Base	Newington, N.H.	2:30-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 5	Republic Airport	Farmingdale, N.Y.	2:30-4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 6	Raleigh-Durham International Airport	Raleigh, N.C.	3:00-5:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 7	Wilmington International Airport	Wilmington, N.C.	3:00-5:00 p.m.
Friday, May 8	NAS Key West	Boca Chica Key, Fla.	1:30-4:00 p.m.

NOAA releases 2008 Business Report for Fisheries Service

Charleston Native — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:57:33 +0000

NOAA’s 2008 Business Report has important information for the coastline of the whole country.

For the Atlantic coast, it mentions 5 points in particular:

Large ships must obey a 10-knot speed limit in times and areas where endangered right whales are likely to
congregate. These areas include calving / nursery areas in waters off Georgia and Florida, and a number of ports in the Northeast.
East Coast trap and pot fishermen are also switching from floating to sinking ground-line to help reduce the risk of entangling large whales. A large number of North Atlantic right whales were sighted in the Gulf of Maine in December 2008, leading researchers to believe they have identified a wintering ground and potentially a breeding ground for this endangered species.
Scientists are analyzing underwater sounds within the Stellwagen Banks National Marine Sanctuary to support a global monitoring network for ocean noise, an important step in protecting marine mammals.
NOAA Fisheries Service completed a research cruise to evaluate five proposed Marine Protected Area sites off the U.S. South Atlantic coast. The survey areas included spawning habitat for five species of grouper and two species of tilefish.
The Habitat Mapping Camera System (Habcam) was developed in collaboration with the fishing industry and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute as a noninvasive sampling tool. When towed by a commercial scallop boat, it can collect 300,000 high resolution images per day without damaging underwater habitat.

NOAA ready to hand out money for restoration projects

Charleston Native — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:30:14 +0000

NOAA is formally seeking proposals through April 6 for a variety of habitat restoration projects – including wetlands restoration, removal of unsafe, obsolete dams, construction of fish passages, oyster and other shellfish restoration and coral reef restoration.

When I read this, the first thing I thought of was The Edge of America, a.k.a. Folly Beach. We all know about their history with erosion, I’m just not sure whether or not they fit the bill here. Anyway, it’s something the local officials may want to look into.

Here’s information on NOAA’s Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Projects”, and of course, the Administration’s Recovery.gov, which will feature information on how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is working, tools to help you hold the government accountable, and up-to-date data on the expenditure of funds.

To ensure relevance, readiness and accountability, the solicitation requires that projects be “shovel-ready”.

NOAA in hot water over expired sea turtle petitions

Charleston Native — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Florida beaches, thought to host the second-largest loggerhead nesting population in the world, have seen a decline in nesting of more than 40% in the past decade.
Credit: NOAA

According to Oceana.org, NOAA’s NMFS has failed to meet the legal 12-month deadline for responding to three separate petitions focusing on two different sea turtle species in U.S. waters.

Because of this, The Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana.org and the Turtle Island Restoration Network are calling for stronger protection for sea turtles, including comprehensive legislation on their behalf.

David Allison, senior campaign director at Oceana says, “Sea turtles in all U.S. waters are at risk of extinction and the agency responsible for their protection is failing to do its job. If we hope to ensure the long-term survival of these majestic species, we must move quickly to enact a comprehensive law to protect U.S. sea turtles.”

“The U.S. government has knowingly failed to respond to our petitions” – David Allison

Among other things, the sea turtle petitions call for increased protections in the loggerheads’ key nesting beach and marine habitats. It also mentions the negative effects on loggerhead turtles from greenhouse gas emissions saying, “…the threat to the loggerhead from global warming has increased since the filing of the petition, and will continue to do so.”

NOAA certifies S.C. StormReady

Charleston Native — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:29:58 +0000

As only the 4th state across the nation, the Palmetto State joins Delaware, Florida, and Hawaii as being StormReady® – NOAA’s rigorous program to strengthen the state’s ability to protect life and property during severe weather.

The National Weather Service and South Carolina emergency managers began working toward StormReady® designation seven years ago.

Then, only a handful of emergency managers had Internet access, and only 60% of South Carolina was covered by NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards transmitters.

Today, every county has full Internet access and complete coverage by NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards transmitters, making South Carolina a safer and more prepared state.

Congratulations to all the hardworking South Carolina weather people, and thanks NOAA!

Shem Creek, SC » NOAA

NOAA’s newest multipurpose vessel to assess fish, turtle stocks

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NOAA seeks public input on governing Swordfish, Bluefin Tuna fishing

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NOAA: World’s large marine ecosystems are heating up

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NOAA declares four fish stocks fully rebuilt

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NOAA releases 2008 Business Report for Fisheries Service

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NOAA ready to hand out money for restoration projects

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