Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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116 person for NOAA Fisheries in Gloucester, the regional branch of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Sentinel spe- cies, as they are called, often are used to detect risks as evidence of environmental threats. As climate change is warming local ocean waters—faster than 99 percent of the global ocean according to one report—fishermen are being forced to adapt even as the fish they pursue are adapting to more favorable environments. "There is a concern for mov- ing forward that if the water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine continue to rise," Ferreira says, "will that then lead to similar circum- stances for lobsters that we're seeing in southern New England?" Romeo Solviletti, buyer and general man- ager at Steve Connolly Seafood Co. of Glouces- ter and Boston, says, "ere are not any real large haddock available like there used to be. It's all cod and what they call 'slappers,' which is an undersized scrod haddock that they just opened up for fishing a year or two ago." NOAA Fisheries oversees the Greater Atlantic Region, one of eight regions that manage the nation's fisheries under the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. e legislation established sustainable fisheries management, an adap- tive process that relies on sound science, innovative approaches, effective enforcement, meaning ful partnerships, and public participa- tion through fishermen councils. Tailored to each region's needs and social and economic cultures, the law requires that fishery manag- ers use the best science available to make man- agement decisions. Fishery scientists partner with fishermen, universities, and other groups to make stock assessments, using sampling technologies and modeling techniques to esti- mate how many fish are in the water. Ongoing research studies fish biology and ecosystems. Fishery management plans support the goals of sustaining fish populations, protect- ing habitats and other species, and keeping fishermen on the job. Maximum sustain- able yields determine fish stock levels. "An overfished stock is one with its biomass level depleted to a point that the stock's capacity to produce its maximum sustainable yield is jeopardized," a NOAA report states. Rebuild- ing plans can be implemented "to bring the rate of fishing and/or populations back to sustainable levels." Ferreira says rebuilding stock relies on sound science and cooperation among the fishing industry, environmental partners, and fishermen management councils, based on the best information available. "All the steps are outlined in the law. We set catch targets with a goal that allows the stocks to rebuild when enough young can be produced every year, so the stock continues to rebuild PHOTOGRAPH BY SHUTTERSTOCK