National

Northeast

Northeast

Northeast

Fisheries Administrator Meets with Key Representatives of the Marine Recreational Fisheries Community

NOAA Under Secretary to Give Keynote on "Taking the Pulse of the Planet", November 1, St. Petersburg, Florida

National – NOAA Launches Ship Naming Contest

NOAA, in partnership with Coastal America and the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, announced earlier this month a nationwide contest for teams of students to choose a name for a newly acquired NOAA exploration ship and develop an education project based on a proposed name.

In grades 6 through 12 from all U.S. state-recognized public, private and home schools are eligible to participate. Schools, including home schools, must be in compliance with federal and state civil rights and nondiscrimination statutes. Name-based team projects may include production of studies, models, experiments, time charts and historical comparisons, as well as creative expressions in writing, song, artworks and film. Projects may be created for any student age group, K-12, should be used in a classroom setting at least once and should be able to be reproduced in other classrooms.

Ship names and supporting projects that capture the spirit of ocean exploration are encouraged. Contest guidelines, requirements, timeline and prizes for the winning team are described in detail on the NOAA Education Web site.

The former USNS Capable was transferred from the Navy to NOAA in a recent ceremony in Seattle, Washington. After conversion, the ship will be the only NOAA ship dedicated exclusively to exploration and research of the oceans.

Northeast – Sea Scallop Opening Set for New England

NOAA Fisheries announced today that Northeast sea scallop vessels will be allowed limited fishing in presently closed areas off New England beginning November 2. The areas have been closed to protect recovering fish species, which has also allowed sea scallops to grow in abundance for harvest.

Sea scallops brought in $226.8 million to Northeast harvesters in 2003, second only to lobsters in top-grossing species in the region, and propelled New Bedford to first in landings value among the nation’s ports. “Sea scallop populations were low and depleted during much of the 1990s. The remarkable rebound in the stock and the fishery today results from effective fishery management,” said Patricia Kurkul, NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator.

The sea scallop fishery management plan has been revised in recent years to identify the most productive sea scallop beds off New England and the Mid-Atlantic, in order to establish systematic closures of some of these areas to allow for sea scallop growth, while opening and directing effort into other areas that have been fallow. The result has been the most lucrative and sustainable fishery period in the history of the region’s sea scalloping.

The openings announced today are in areas on Georges Bank and south of Nantucket Shoals that were last accessed by sea scallopers during 1999 and 2000. The areas are sub-portions of larger areas generally closed to all gear that can take recovering groundfish species, including scallop gear.

The sea scallop controlled access announced today is designed to prevent overfishing, mitigate bycatch of other species, and avoid damage to important habitat. Vessels are further restricted by number of trips, landings per trip, bycatch quotas for yellowtail flounder, and reporting and observer requirements. For more information go to our Northeast Region’s Hot News page or contact Teri Frady (508) 495-2239.

Northeast – Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Strategy Released

NOAA officials released on October 27th a comprehensive plan for state and local habitat restoration experts to follow as they prioritize and restore coastal and marine habitat throughout the Gulf of Maine in the coming years. Known as the Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Strategy, the 24-page plan was made public at the Gulf of Maine Summit in New Brunswick, Canada.

The strategy identifies resources of regional significance, prioritizes restoration projects and promotes habitat restoration at a regional level. It was developed by the Gulf of Maine Council, an assembly of resource agencies, including NOAA, non-profit organizations, tribal groups and university scientists from both the United States and Canada. Potential restoration projects identified by the Council with large-scale environmental benefits for the Gulf of Maine include:

• Evaluating enhanced fish passage on the Penobscot River in Maine to restore Atlantic salmon.
• Reestablishing flow between riverine and estuarine systems in Ipswich, Massachusetts to improve water quality and ecosystem health.
• Expanding eelgrass restoration efforts in New Hampshire to enhance fishery habitat.
• Increasing tidal flow upstream of undersized road culverts on Cheverie Creek in Cheverie, Nova Scotia to restore a 30-acre salt marsh.

The NOAA Community-based Restoration Program helped in the development of the strategy through its cooperative partnership with the Gulf of Maine Council and its work with the Council’s Habitat Restoration Subcommittee. This Partnership provides technical and financial assistance for restoration projects throughout the region. This strategy and the subcommittee’s activities support the Gulf of Maine Council’s restoration objective to restore 3000 acres of coastal and marine habitats by 2006.

The Gulf of Maine Council/NOAA Habitat Restoration Partnership was established in 2001 to solicit restoration projects in the Gulf to be funded using a competitive process. A review team with representatives from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and the NOAA Restoration Center evaluate grant proposals annually. To date, the partnership has funded 33 projects for a total of $766,035, with roughly $3.6 million from other sources. This partnership has been an effective method of restoring regionally significant habitat in the Gulf of Maine.

Copies of the Gulf of Maine Habitat Restoration Strategy are available from Jon Kachmar, Maine Coastal Program, (207) 287-1913, jon.kachmar@maine.gov
Copies are also available in PDF format on the Gulf of Maine Council’s Web site at http://www.gulfofmaine.org.

For more information on the Community-based Restoration Program, please visit: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration.

Northeast – Three Vessels Fined in Violation of Fisheries Conservation Laws

NOAA Fisheries’ Office for Law Enforcement issued Notices of Violation and Assessment (NOVA), with penalties ranging between $10,000 and $50,000 to three fishing vessels (FVs), for violations of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA). The NOVAs issued on October 12, 2004 cited each vessel for landing and possessing northeast multispecies in violation of federal fisheries regulations promulgated under the MSFCMA.

For more details visit our Office for Law Enforcement at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/news/news_NED_102604.htm

October 27, 2004

October 28, 2004

October 29, 2004