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’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.

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/