Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2018
Commercial Fishing News Continued from Page 11.
report back to the Section for fi nal approval by December 14. Industry members continued to express
concern about the economic impacts of the fi shery closure, especially in light of a lack of positive signals in terms of stock rebuild- ing. Based on these concerns, the Section agreed to include in future discussions the possibility of opening a directed fi shery if improvements in stock condition (e.g., strong recruitment or biomass indices) are not realized.
The 2017 Stock Status Report for Gulf
of Maine (GOM) Northern Shrimp indi- cates abundance and biomass indices for 2012–2017 are the lowest on record of the 34 year time series, with 2017 being the lowest observed. Recruitment since 2011 has been poor and includes the four smallest year classes on record. The recruitment index in 2017 (2016 year class) was the second low- est observed. Current harvestable biomass is mainly comprised of females from the weak 2013 year class and some small, early-ma- turing females from the below-average 2015 year class.
Recruitment of northern shrimp is
related to both spawning biomass and ocean temperatures, with higher spawning biomass and colder temperatures producing stronger recruitment. Ocean temperatures in western Gulf of Maine shrimp habitat have increased over the past decade and reached unprecedented highs within the past several years. While 2014 and 2015 temperatures were cooler, 2016 and 2017 temperatures were again high, and tem- perature is predicted to continue rising as a result of climate change. This suggests an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp and the need for strong
M C F N
conservation eff orts to help restore and maintain the stock. The Northern Shrimp Technical Committee considers the stock to be in poor condition with limited prospects for the near future. The 2017 Stock Status Report is available at
http://www.asmfc. org/uploads/fi le/5a1deb972017Northern- ShrimpAssessment_Final.pdf. For more information, please contact
Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at
mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740. Motions Move to set a 500 metric ton
fi shing season in 2018, not to open before February 21 and open until May 31 or until the total allowable catch is caught. A compound grate is required. Motion made by Mr. Train and seconded by Mr. Abbott. Motion fails (Roll Call: In favor – ME; Opposed – NH, MA). Main Motion Move to continue the moratorium on the northern shrimp fi shery for the 2018 fi shing year with an RSA set aside of 13.3 metric tons. Have the TC develop the RSA program de- sign and report back to the section for fi nal approval by December 14. Motion made by Dr. Armstrong and seconded by Mr. Grout. Motion to Substitute Move to substitute to set the RSA quota at 200 mt with the goal of gathering information to maximize the potential of a future small scale fi shery. All eff ort should be made to reduce the impact on small and egg-bearing shrimp. It is imper- ative to structure the start date of the fi shery, and future fi sheries, to allow for the greatest potential of eggs to drop. The Technical Committee (TC) shall develop the parame- ters of the fi shery to include: • Continuing the winter sampling program to maintain the time series of biological samples collected from commercial shrimp catches during the winter months • Explore the eff ectiveness of the compound grate, and allowing the
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TC the opportunity to develop an eff ective experimental design • Maximize the poten- tial of future small scale fi sheries, all eff ort should be made to reduce the impact on small and egg-bearing shrimp. It is impera- tive to structure the start date of the fi shery to allow for the greatest potential of eggs to drop TC will develop the 2018 fi shery and report back to the Section by December 10. The Section shall meet via conference call to fi nalize the season. Motion made by Mr. Keliher. Motions fails for lack of a second. Main Motion Move to continue the mora- torium on the northern shrimp fi shery for the 2018 fi shing year with an RSA set aside of 13.3 metric tons. Have the TC develop the RSA program design and report back to the Section for fi nal approval by December 14. Motion made by Dr. Armstrong and seconded by Mr. Grout. Motion to Amend Move to amend to strike 13.3 and to replace with 32 metric tons. Motion made by Mr. Keliher. Motion fails for lack of a second. Main Motion Move to continue the morato- rium on the northern shrimp fi shery for the 2018 fi shing year with an RSA set aside of 13.3 metric tons. Have the TC develop the RSA program design and report back to the section for fi nal approval by December 14. Motion made by Dr. Armstrong and second- ed by Mr. Grout. Motion carries (Roll Call: In Favor – NH, MA; Opposed – ME). Move to initiate an addendum to address the quota split between shrimp trappers and draggers. Motion made by Mr. Keliher and seconded by Mr. White. Passes without objection. Move to nominate Raymond Kane from MA as Vice-Chair. Motion made by Mr. White and seconded by Mr. Keliher. Motion passes without objection.
Ribbed Mussels Could Help Improve Urban Water Quality
Ribbed mussels can remove nitrogen
and other excess nutrients from an urban estuary and could help improve water quality in other urban and coastal locations, according to a study in New York City’s Bronx River. The fi ndings, published in Environmental Science and Technology, are part of long-term eff orts to improve water quality in the Bronx River Estuary. Researchers at NOAA Fisheries Mil-
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ford Laboratory in Milford, Connecticut began the two-year pilot project in June 2011. They used a 20 x 20-foot raft with mussel growing lines hanging below as their fi eld location in an industrial area near Hunt’s Point in the South Bronx, not far from a sewage treatment plant. The waters were closed to shellfi sh harvesting because of bacterial contamination. Scientists mon- itored the condition of the ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) and the water quality over time to see how each responded. “Ribbed mussels live in estuarine
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habitats and can fi lter bacteria, microalgae, nutrients and contaminants from the water,” said Julie Rose, a research ecologist at the Milford Laboratory, part of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and co-author of the study. “They are native to the East Coast so there are no concerns about invasive species disturbing the ecosystem, and they are effi cient at fi ltering a variety of particles from the water. Ribbed mussels are not sold commercially, so whatever they eat will not be eaten by humans.” Farming and harvesting shellfi sh to
remove nitrogen and other excess nutrients from rivers, estuaries and coastal waters is known as nutrient bioextraction, or bio- harvesting. Mussels and other shellfi sh are fi lter feeders, and as the organisms grow, they take up or assimilate nutrients in algae and other microorganisms fi ltered from the surrounding waters.
Nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutri-
ents occur naturally in the environment and are needed by plants and animals to grow, but too much of any of them is harmful. Excess amounts from human activities often end up in rivers, streams and coastal environments, causing algal blooms, loss of sea grass and low oxygen levels in the water, which can kill large numbers of fi sh and other organisms. Researchers found that the Bronx River
mussels were generally healthy, and their tissues had high amounts of a local nitro- gen isotope, indicating that they removed nitrogen from local waters. They also had lower amounts of trace metals and organic contaminants than blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) collected from the seafl oor nearby. An estimated 138 pounds of nitrogen was removed from the river when the animals were harvested. The researchers estimate that a fully
populated 20 x 20 foot mussel raft similar to the one used in this study would clean an average of three million gallons of water and remove about 350 pounds of particulate matter, like dust and soot, daily. When har- vested, the animals could be used for fertil- izer or as feed for some animals, recycling nutrients back into the land. An additional fi nding of the study relat- ed to larvae for mussel growth. The mussel raft was located at the confl uence of the East River Tidal Strait and the Bronx River in a high nutrient, low-chlorophyll system, making the site unsuitable for large-scale mussel growth. Future projects using ribbed mussels for nutrient remediation will need spat or larvae from another location or from hatchery production. “Management programs to reduce the
eff ects of excess nutrients in the water have largely focused on land-based sources, such as human and livestock waste, agriculture, and stormwater runoff ,” said Gary Wikfors, Milford Laboratory Director and co-author of the study. “They really haven’t looked much at recovering the excess in the water itself. Nutrient bioextraction using shellfi sh is becoming more common, and this study demonstrated that it could be an additional tool for nitrogen management in the coastal environment.” The Bronx study is the fi rst to examine
the use of ribbed mussels for nutrient bio- extraction in a highly urbanized estuarine environment.A previous study comparing the Bronx River to the more productive Milford Harbor, CT estuary indicated that ribbed mussels were able to adapt in just a few days to low food availability and feed with the same effi ciency in the Bronx River site as populations at the Milford River site. That study also supports the use of ribbed mussels as a management tool for nutrient bioextraction in a range of coastal environ- ments.
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas - 2017 Update
The International Commission for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas convened in Morocco for a week-long discussion of Atlantic highly migratory species manage- ment.
The United States and other countries
from around the world tackled management challenges for tunas, swordfi sh and sharks at the 2017 annual meeting of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlan- tic Tunas that concluded today. ICCAT, of which the United States is a member, is an inter-governmental fi sheries organization responsible for the conservation of tunas and other highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean. This year more than 700
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