Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2012


Statement About the Annual Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas from Russell F. Smith III, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Fisheries I am pleased to report that the Interna- tional Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) made significant progress on key U.S. priorities to improve science, management of fish stocks and their ecosystems, monitoring of fishing activities, and compliance with commission decisions at the recently completed annual meeting in Turkey.


U.S. stakeholders, including fishermen, will benefit from the actions that ICCAT has taken:


The U.S. delegation was able to preserve the current North Atlantic swordfish annual quota of 3,907 metric tons for U.S. fishermen. We’re pleased that our fishermen’s sacrifices to help rebuild swordfish were recognized. Retaining U.S. quota will help the industry continue on its economic rebuilding path. ICCAT agreed to expand a time/area closure in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa to protect young bigeye and yellowfin tunas and to strengthen monitoring and control measures in the fishery. As these fish grow, they travel across the Atlantic Ocean where they are important to U.S. recreational and commercial fishermen. Although the U.S. believes that ICCAT needs to do more with respect to these stocks, they are moving in the right direction.


ICCAT continued its efforts to protect vulnerable species of sharks in adopting a measure co-sponsored by the U.S. to require release of silky sharks, a vulnerable species, in ICCAT fisheries, with a limited exception for developing nations that depend on these sharks for food. The U.S. hopes that next year


Commercial Fishing News MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS


ICCAT can make more progress on measures to address the protection of porbeagle sharks and to require that all sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached, measures that the commission was unable to reach agree- ment on this year.


The commission advanced the U.S.-pro- moted plan to adopt electronic, real-time tracking of Atlantic bluefin tuna catch from the landing through international trade, a measure that will help prevent fraud and reduce the burden of the existing paper- based system .


ICCAT adopted conservation and man- agement measures for blue and white marlins, bycatch reporting, and the protection of sea- birds.


ICCAT adopted several measures to help combat illegal, unreported and unregu- lated fishing, allowing for smaller vessels to be listed on IUU vessel lists and requiring greater transparency on bi-national fishing agreements to help improve catch reporting. Several measures were adopted to strengthen the link between scientific advice and management, which build on efforts to ensure that ICCAT applies a precautionary form of management that takes uncertainty into account.


In separate letters to the commission chairman before this year’s meeting, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco and Maria Damanaki, European Union Commissioner for Maritime and Fisheries Affairs, both high- lighted the importance of basing manage- ment on high quality science.


NOAA Fisheries Publishes Final List of Fisheries for 2012 as Required by Marine Mammal Protection Act


NOAA Fisheries recently published its final List of Fisheries for 2012, as required by


the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The final list reflects new information on interactions between commercial fisheries and marine mammals. NOAA Fisheries is required to classify each commercial fishery on the list into one of three categories under the Marine Mammal Protection Act based upon the level of serious injury and mortality of marine mam- mals that occurs incidental to each fishery. The classification of a fishery in the list deter- mines whether participants in that fishery are subject to certain provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, such as registration, observer coverage, and take reduction plan requirements.


NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Cap on Federal Area 1 Lobster Trap Permits through Jan. 3 NOAA Fisheries is proposing new Fed- eral American lobster regulations that would limit entry into the lobster trap fishery in Lobster Conservation Management Area 1 (Federal inshore waters-Gulf of Maine). Upon qualification, permit holders would be allowed to fish in Area 1 with up to 800 lobster traps. The proposed limited entry program responds to the recommendations for Fed- eral action in the Atlantic States Marine Fish- eries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Man- agement Plan for American Lobster. Com- ments are due no later than 5 pm, EST on January 3, 2012.


Maine Maritime Academy Regimental Honor Guard


Maine Maritime Academy Alumni Casco Bay Chapter members are out to help the Academy undergraduates by selling used sail or power marine equipment of any type and description at the 2012 Maine Boat Builders Show. Here is how to donate: Contacts:


Captain Dave Fenderson '56 USNR (207) 781-4240 davidoilman@yahoo.com Captain Dave Witherall '76 USMS (207) 829-3046 penbaydw@maine.rr.com


Changing Environmental Conditions and Predators Affect Survival of Atlantic Salmon in the Gulf of Maine Stocks of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), which have been steadily declining for the past few decades, are facing new challenges in the Gulf of Maine, where changing spring wind patterns, warming sea surface tempera- tures and new predators along altered migra- tion routes are affecting their survival. In a paper published online in the journal Fisheries Management and Ecology, Kevin Friedland and co-authors suggest post- smolts are entering an increasingly warmer coastal ocean, where they are facing mortal- ity risks associated with a changing climate, such as changing distributions of potential predators. The authors also suggest Gulf of Maine salmon survival during their first months at sea is related to predation, possi- bly by populations of silver hake, red hake and spiny dogfish increasingly found along the salmon’s extended migration routes in the western Gulf of Maine. Friedland is a re- searcher at the Narragansett Laboratory of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Cen- ter, and is a member of the Center’s Ecosys- tems Assessment Program.


Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon are listed as endangered, and returns of these fish to rivers where they spawn have been low de-


spite increased numbers of smolts entering the marine environment. The researchers ex- amined a variety of data collected over de- cades, including spring wind patterns, Gulf of Maine currents, ocean circulation systems, historical tagging returns, migratory routes, and changes in potential predator abun- dances and distribution patterns. Models were used to consider how shifting climate and biological factors, under various sce- narios, affected salmon recruitment and sur- vival in the Gulf of Maine.


“This study had two primary goals. The first was to examine the effects of spring winds in the Gulf of Maine on the migration trajectory of post-smolts, since the route and length of migration could impact their mortal- ity or survival,” said Friedland. “The second goal was to look at the spatial distribution and abundance of a number of potential preda- tors, since increased predation along the post-smolts migratory routes could result in increased mortality.”


Atlantic salmon are anadromous fish, meaning they are born in fresh water and migrate from rivers to the ocean after under- going a number of distinct stages of develop- ment over several years. As smolts, the thin silver fish head to the ocean, usually between March and June, to begin a stage of enhanced feeding and growth. After several years at sea, adults return to the freshwater streams and rivers where they were born to repro- duce.


At one time Atlantic salmon could be found in rivers throughout much of New England, but Maine is now the only state in the region with wild Atlantic salmon popula- tions. While increasing numbers of smolts are entering the ocean via the Gulf of Maine, few are returning, raising questions as to where these fish are going and what is hap- pening to them at sea.


“Shifting environmental conditions af- fect both the freshwater and marine habitats for Atlantic salmon, and are already a concern for salmon stocks at the southern end of their distribution range in both North America and Europe, “Friedland said. “Understanding the linkages between post-smolt survival and climate, especially ocean conditions, is criti- cal and needs to be considered in the scien- tific basis for conservation planning and management actions.”


Rising temperatures could exceed the tolerable limits for juvenile salmon and re- duce the amount of habitat available for growth and development during their fresh- water stages. Warming ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, expected to occur in the decades ahead, could result in extirpation of salmon stocks from the southern end of the species’ range.


In addition to lead author Kevin Friedland, study authors included James


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