February 26 - Destructive Trawling and the Myth of “Farming the Sea” - In the wake of significant but highly warranted cuts to catch limits for cod, the New England Fishery Management Council spent the last day of their most recent meeting in January discussing the development of a suite of habitat protection measures known as the Omnibus Habitat Amendment. Despite the obvious need for new habitat protections to help restore Atlantic cod populations, the Council had already taken action to potentially open over 5000 square miles of previously protected areas to destructive bottom trawling. By doing so, the Council has continued to demonstrate a lack of regard for the immeasurable documented benefits of habitat protection to the health and productivity of our fisheries.

March 1 – Fish Talk in the News – Friday, March 1 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, NOAA proposes measures to increase the monkfish catch, John Bullard writes an op-ed on the New England groundfish fishery, SMAST’s yellowtail avoidance system is growing, dogfish MSC certification expands, public lectures focus on seafood fraud and fleet consolidation, scientists Daniel Pauly, Trevor Branch, and Ray Hilborn face off in Nature.

Trawlers trail massive plumes of sediment in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo credit: SkyTruth

In the wake of significant but highly warranted cuts to catch limits for cod, the New England Fishery Management Council spent the last day of their most recent meeting in January discussing the development of a suite of habitat protection measures known as the Omnibus Habitat Amendment. Despite the obvious need for new habitat protections to help restore Atlantic cod populations, the Council had already taken action to potentially open over 5000 square miles of previously protected areas to destructive bottom trawling. By doing so, the Council has continued to demonstrate a lack of regard for the immeasurable documented benefits of habitat protection to the health and productivity of our fisheries.

Even more concerning were the misperceptions of the effects of bottom trawling on display at the January meeting—even by members of the Council itself. Laura Ramsden, a relatively new member of the Council and an owner of the Boston-based seafood distributor Foley Fish Company, suggested that the scientists tasked with evaluating habitat protection priorities might be missing the benefits of bottom trawling. She asked the members of the Closed Area Technical Team: “As you’re evaluating the different areas, are you also taking a look at potential damage of closing them in terms of invasive species and the potential risk of not ‘tilling the soil’, if you will?”

The inexplicable myth that bottom trawling might “farm the seabed” is all too common, but it has no foundation in scientific reality. There are few serious studies that suggest that trawling may increase any kind of food production, and they are very limited in scope. A single study suggests that plaice in the North Sea may benefit from the reduced competition and increased production of some invertebrate species on which they prey. But the trawling is very limited—1 or 2 trawl passes a year—and the study does not examine the effects on other species of tearing apart complex bottom structures, removing higher trophic level predators, and reducing natural competition and biodiversity. A second, empirical study found that higher levels of trawling reduced productivity of even small invertebrates and that variability in productivity was far more closely linked to climate change than bottom trawling.

There is similarly scant scientific evidence for Ms. Ramsden’s assertion that trawling has any beneficial role in limiting the spread of invasive species. On the contrary, multiple studies suggest that human disturbance makes habitat more vulnerable to the spread of invasive species.

Meanwhile, the scientific consensus on the destruction caused by bottom trawling is nearly unanimous. It’s hardly surprising that dragging massive trawls along the seafloor destroys habitat—scallop dredges can weigh up to a metric ton (2205 lbs), and furrows up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) deep are common in trawled areas. A recent study in European waters even showed bottom trawling was changing the bathymetry of the seaflooron a massive scale.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that trawling  lowers overall productivity and can completely change the composition of local fish populations. Trawling tears apart biological structures like kelp forests and sponges and flattens out the seafloor structures that protect juvenile fish, leading to increased predation and reduced recruitment. It reduces biodiversity and species richness, which have been repeatedly shown to build resilience to invasive species. And areas with complex bottom structure, like the rocky ridges and horse mussel beds of current protected area Cashes Ledge, are the most vulnerable. In some areas trawling can stir up so much sediment—which then settles to smother eggs, larvae and other ocean creatures—that it leaves a trailing plume visible from outer space.

Protecting valuable habitat areas from trawling provides more spawning adults and juvenile fish, harbors older females with higher rates of reproductive success, and protects complex habitat like kelp forests. The current protected areas have proven themselves beneficial to struggling fish populations—they have helped scallop populations recover, and some species, like haddock, are larger and more abundant inside these closed areas. Fishermen target the edge of the protected areas because they know that more and larger fish can be found there.

Opening protected areas to bottom trawling threatens to instantaneously reverse these benefits. The best scientific evidence is that bottom trawling does not “till the soil”, but that opening protected areas will destroy vital habitat and keep cod populations from recovering. NOAA and the Council should heed the scientific record and make the right decision—to keep bottom trawling out of the groundfish closed areas.

January 28 - New England’s Protected Waters are Threatened - Parts of New England’s waters set aside to protect cod, haddock, flounder, and other important fish could soon be subjected to some of the most damaging forms of large-scale fishing. Learn more about this 5000 square mile area with this interactive map.

January 29 - Investing in the Future: A Down East Groundfish Closed Area - Last week, the Groundfish Committee of the New England Fishery Management Council agreed to analyze a proposal for a new closed area off of eastern Maine that would protect known juvenile aggregations and historic spawning aggregations of groundfish, and important habitat. The current economic impacts of closing this area to groundfishing may be negligible, and this closed area promises significant benefits to the region and to Maine’s small boat fleet.

January 29 - “The Fish Just Aren’t There.” - There is no question that the expected reductions in annual catch limits (ACLs) will be difficult for an industry already in a declared disaster. But while these cuts for cod and haddock limits have grabbed headlines, the real story is that there simply aren’t enough fish. The science, the catch data and many fishermen say the populations of many important species are at or near all-time lows. Fishery regulators are eager to cushion the blow to those whose livelihoods are at risk. Unfortunately, many proposals intended to help fishermen do not address the real problem—a lack of fish—and instead risk further harm to weakened fish populations.

January 31 - CLF Calls to Shut Down New England Cod Fishery - Yesterday the story of New England’s cod fishery took another tragic turn when the New England Fishery Management Council voted to drastically cut catch limits for New England’s two cod stocks—Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank cod—by 77 and 61 percent, respectively. Now is not the time for denial. It is not the time for timid decisions and unconscionable risk. It is time to make the painful, necessary steps towards a better future for fishing in New England. Rather than arguing over the scraps left after decades of mismanagement, we should shut the cod fishery down and protect whatever cod are left.

February 1 - Fish Talk in the News – Friday, February 1 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, the New England Fishery Management Council cuts cod catch limits and debates habitat protection measures and at-sea monitoring costs; Tom Nies is named the new Executive Director of NEFMC; a Gloucester trawler is accused of using an illegal net liner.

December 18 – There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays – After being declared a “fishery disaster,” changes in regulations to allow bottom trawling in Cashes Ledge, Jeffreys Ledge and the only protected portion of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary seems counterintuitive to ever devising a long-term strategy that could help restore groundfish populations in the Gulf of Maine. At a time of the lowest recorded groundfish populations in history, how does it make sense to increase bottom trawling in the best, remaining habitat areas?

December 20 – The Bottom Line: Don’t Remove Protection When Cod Need It Most - New England is famous for cod fishing. But the industry is ailing – and the cure being proposed might be worse than the disease. A proposal by regional fisheries managers to reopen areas where groundfish are currently protected is a big step in the wrong direction.

December 21 – Fish Talk in the News – Friday, December 21 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, NEFMC opens closed areas and delays decisions on catch limits; ASMFC cuts menhaden catch 20%;NOAA will return $543,500 in fines; Brian Rothschild replaces as head of Marine Fisheries Institute; a Gloucester scallop boat goes missing; warm waters in the Gulf of Maine cause environmental change.

December 10 – Closed Areas Cautionary Tales Pt. 3 – Something Rotten in Denmark - Previously on Talking Fish we looked at the actions that led to commercial extinction of the cod fishery in some Canadian waters, and the collapse of fish populations in Scottish waters after protected areas were removed. The waters between Denmark and Sweden hold another sobering lesson for New England officials.

December 12 – The Bottom Line: Big Turnout for Little Menhaden - The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has seen a lot in its 70-year history but nothing quite like this. More than 128,000 people flooded the commission’s inboxes with postcards and emails last month, a new record for public comment. Scientists, small business owners, nature lovers, and anglers sent letters and spoke out at public hearings. And it was all about a fish that almost no one ever eats—Atlantic menhaden.

December 14 - Fish Talk in the News – Friday, December 14 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, a historic vote on menhaden; NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco steps down; a fishermen argues that the decline of cod stocks contributes to seafood fraud; continued calls for the release of a report on NOAA enforcement; the Senate Appropriations Committee proposes fisheries disaster aid; warming waters threaten Maine clams.

November 26 – Closed Areas Cautionary Tales Pt. 1: Canada’s Cod Catastrophe - As fishery managers consider re-introducing damaging forms of fishing like bottom trawling into these protected areas, they should also consider the experiences of other fisheries that exploited protected areas. This post, the first in a series of three, will focus on the dramatic collapse of Canadian cod stocks, brought about in part by poor habitat protection.

November 29 – Closed Areas Cautionary Tales Pt. 2: Scotland’s Firth of Clyde - The Firth (or bay) at the mouth of the Clyde River southwest of Glasgow has been fished for centuries. But the area suffered a crippling collapse in populations of the most important fin fish after eliminating protected areas which had stood for decades.

November 30 – Fish Talk in the News – Friday, November 30 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, the First Circuit Court upholds the legality of catch shares; stakeholders argue over menhaden catch limits; gillnetters take action to prevent porpoise bycatch; the Coast Guard searches for a lost fisherman; dogfish grow in importance for Cape Cod fishermen; a symposium on lobsters and environmental change.

October 16 – All About Aquaculture: Environmental Risks and Benefits - This post, the third in the All About Aquaculture series, discusses the environmental risks and benefits inherent in various types of aquaculture practices and the sustainability challenges associated with aquaculture.

October 18 – Murky Waters Make for Poor Fishing - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed a long-awaited rule regarding confidentiality of information under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Unfortunately, it would unnecessarily stifle public participation in the management of public trust ocean resources, including depleted fish populations and protected species. The proposed rule would take the unprecedented and unwarranted leap from protecting personal privacies to withholding basic required information.

October 19 – Fish Talk in the News – Friday, October 19 - In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, recreational and commercial fishermen express concerns over opening the closed areas; a new website documents cases of marine ecosystem-based management; SMAST will conduct an independent survey of groundfish stocks; barramundi thrive in New England aquaculture; record warm sea surface temperatures linked to a Gulf Stream shift, and the NSC hesitantly supports catch share accumulation caps.

September 25 – Globe, Times Miss Boat on Real Issues – The Northeast’s two leading newspapers both editorialized recently on the fragile status of groundfish populations, especially cod, on both sides of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, both the Boston Globe and New York Times missed an opportunity to emphasize conservation measures and explain the great risk for fish and fishermen if we weaken those protections.

September 26 – Opening the Closed Areas – A bet we can’t afford to take? – On Thursday, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) will meet for the first time since the Secretary of Commerce declared the New England groundfish fishery, which includes species such as cod, haddock, and flounder, a disaster. One of the ideas currently being discussed is opening groundfish closed areas that have been closed to fishing for the past 15 years; a proposition that could be the final straw causing the collapse of the fisheries in the Gulf of Maine.

September 28 – Fish Talk in the News – Friday, September 28 – In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, NEFMC moves to open closed areas; John Bullard reverses his decision on a seasonal gillnetting closure; NOAA proposes exempting scallopers from accountability measures on yellowtail bycatch; a report highlights the culture of distrust between fishermen and regulators; the Center for American Progress explains stock assessments; NOAA finds deep water coral hotspots on Georges Bank; the Boston Globe exposes problems with underweight seafood sold to New England consumers.

September 17 – Booming New England Seal Population Creates a Management Challenge – Congress passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) in 1972, forty years ago. Intended to slow the precipitous decline of marine mammal populations due to human activities, the act prohibited the killing, harassment, or excessive disturbance of marine mammals in United States waters. For seals in New England—mainly harbor seals and gray seals—the MMPA’s protections effected a massive boom in population.

September 21 – Illegal and Wrong – Wednesday’s New England Fishery Management Council’s Groundfish Committee meeting was … depressing. As the expression goes, just when I think I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel I realize that it is the headlights of the on-coming bus. Once again, current events—bad as they are—seem about to be exploited to produce an even more dismal future. The topic was throwing open the decades-long fishery closed areas to exploitation again.

September 21 - Fish Talk in the News – Friday, September 21 – In this week’s Fish Talk in the News, the NEFMC Groundfish Committee proposes opening closed areas; blanket shark fin bans may hurt the sustainable dogfish industry; Gloucester fishing personalities comment on warm waters this summer; a NOAA report ranks New Bedford first in the country in fishing revenues; cod stocks move north in response to record-setting warm water temperatures; the scallop quota could take a heavy cut over the next two years due to poor recruitment.