Policy News

Recent Aquaculture Video Does Not Reflect Fish Handling Practices at Most Aquaculture Facilities

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) supports responsible and humane production of fish in aquaculture facilities. Yesterday, the nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based organization, Compassion Over Killing, released a video of an aquaculture farm that depicts disturbing images that are not in keeping with best practices in fish handling. The conditions in the facility in the video are inconsistent with operations of the vast majority of U.S. aquaculture facilities. As a practical matter, fish grow faster and more efficiently and yield better quality seafood when they have clean water, nourishing feed, and are reared with care. Generally, aquaculture facilities rear fish under these conditions as it makes good economic sense to operate in this manner. Despite the best efforts of fish farmers, not all fish will thrive in an aquaculture facility. As part of proper animal husbandry, fish are proactively treated with vaccinations to prevent disease and losses and antibiotics are used under strict protocols and only when necessary to speed recovery from illness and disease. Fish that cannot survive and compete for food are culled from the stock and should be dispatched in a manner that is quick and immediately renders them unconscious. The treatment of the animals in the video is inconsistent with proper fish handling protocols. AFS is the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to strengthening the fisheries profession, advancing fisheries science, and conserving fisheries resources. The Fish Culture Section of AFS represents 427 aquaculture professionals and is concerned with advancing cultivation technology of aquatic organisms for food, commercial and recreational fisheries enhancement, ornamental purposes, and conservation.

October 8, 2019 No Comments

Press Releases

AFS Joins Conservation Organizations Opposing EPA’s Move to Finalize Clean Water Rule Rollback

News for Immediate Release September 12, 2019 Contact: Marnee Banks, 202-639-8727 x19, [email protected] Conservation Organizations Oppose EPA’s Move to Finalize Rollback of Clean Water Protections Groups rally together to voice support for fish and wildlife habitat, wetlands, and headwater streams (Washington, D.C.) – Conservation groups are opposing the Administration’s rollback of the 2015 Clean Water Rule, which was finalized today. The Administration’s action will leave roughly 50 percent of wetlands and 60 percent of stream miles across the country vulnerable to pollution and destruction. The 2015 Clean Water Rule had clarified longstanding Clean Water Act protections for millions of acres of wetlands and many headwater streams that protect communities from flooding, contribute to the drinking water supplies of one in three Americans, and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat that supports a robust outdoor recreation economy worth $887 billion. “Sportsmen and women are outside every day experiencing the benefits of clean water,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Rolling back these protections for wetlands and headwater streams threatens our hunting and fishing traditions and the outdoor economy that powers our communities.” “No one wants to fish a lake covered in toxic algae, duck hunt in a bulldozed wetland, or pitch a tent next to a creek filled with feces,” says Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “Unfortunately, this Administration is working on multiple fronts to rewrite the rules that protect our waters, hoping no one will notice. The collective impact of these changes would be devastating for public health and wildlife across the country—and we will continue to fight to protect America’s waterways every step of the way.” “Clean water is a basic right of every American,” says Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “To be effective, the Clean Water Act must be able to control pollution at its source. Unfortunately today’s action by the EPA places the health of 60 percent of the stream miles and the drinking water of one in three Americans at risk. Trout Unlimited will not rest, and will use all of the tools at our disposal, to compel EPA to reverse course on this misguided direction.” “More than 100 million people across the US engage in fish- and wildlife-based recreation, approximately half of whom participate in fishing,” says Patrick Berry, president and CEO of Fly Fishers International. “It is clear the opportunities available to enjoy these outdoor pursuits is directly limited by the health of our natural systems and their ability to support healthy and abundant populations of fish and wildlife. Rolling back protections of wetlands, our lakes streams and rivers—some of the most diverse and productive wildlife habitats—not only compromises our natural heritage, but threatens the cultural and economic value of recreational fishing.” “This rule will irreparably impact wetlands in America’s duck factory – the prairie pothole region – and threaten the health of riparian habitat critical for big game and 80 percent of all wildlife species,” says Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “Weakened protections translate to lost access and reduced opportunities for hunting and fishing. Hunters and anglers must not stand for shortsighted polices that compromise the integrity of fish and wildlife habitats that have been safeguarded for decades under the Clean Water Act.” “EPA’s decision to repeal the Clean Water Rule is wholly unsupported by science, can’t be squared with the clear intent of the Clean Water Act, and fails the common sense test,” says Scott Kovarovics, Executive Director of Izaak Walton League of America. “To make matters worse, this is only a prelude to the second blow when EPA finalizes a new rule later this year that will further undermine protections for small streams, wetlands, and drinking water supplies across America.” “The EPA is tossing out 50 years of peer-reviewed science and in doing so threatens to undermine the integrity of the Nation’s waters that support fish and wildlife,” says Doug Austen, executive director of the American Fisheries Society. “Allowing unchecked pollution and destruction in the waters and wetlands in the upper reaches of a watershed imperils the sustainability of fish stocks in both upstream and downstream waters and places valuable recreational fisheries and endangered species at risk.” 80 percent of sportsmen and women in a 2018 poll said Clean Water Act protections should apply to headwater streams and wetlands. Additionally, 92 percent believe that we should strengthen or maintain current clean water standards, not relax them. More information about the proposed changes to the Clean Water Rule is available here.

September 12, 2019 3 Comments

Press Releases

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Reintroduction: A Major Step Forward for Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Contact: Caroline Murphy, [email protected]; Beth Beard, [email protected] Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Reintroduction: A Major Step Forward for Fish and Wildlife Conservation July 12, 2019 (Bethesda, MD) – The American Fisheries Society (AFS) and The Wildlife Society (TWS) are praising landmark legislation that seeks to transform fish and wildlife conservation across the nation. U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) have reintroduced the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, which will provide critically needed increases in funding for protecting, conserving, and managing the 12,000 species across the nation that are at risk of becoming threatened or endangered. According to a recent United Nations Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report, more than a million species worldwide face an increased threat of extinction. Within the U.S., up to a third of species are in need of urgent conservation action. Habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, disease and pollution all pose threats to our wildlife. As noted by the report, challenges for species are being amplified by a changing climate and associated human activity. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will secure much-needed resources to combat this crisis by providing dedicated funding for State Wildlife Action Plans. These plans provide all 50 states with a roadmap for proactive, voluntary conservation of fish and wildlife to address species in decline. Unfortunately, Congress has never provided adequate funding for these plans, appropriating only about $60 million annually. This is vastly below the estimated $1.3 billion a year needed by state fish and wildlife professionals to conserve at-risk species before they reach the point of endangerment. In addition to funding for state agencies, this legislation would also provide much needed funding to tribal fish and wildlife agencies to work alongside states in the conservation of at-risk species. “Forty percent of the nation’s freshwater fish species are at risk from a variety of causes including water pollution, sedimentation, dams and other river and stream alterations. Fish and wildlife professionals can help to reverse these species declines if they have the proper funding to implement science-based conservation plans. Species like the eastern Brook Trout, a native fish that is imperiled in 17 states in the U.S., would benefit from the habitat restoration, water quality improvements and watershed connectivity that would be made possible through the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. This bill provides the support and the certainty to reverse the disturbing declines in fish across the country,” said Douglas Austen, Executive Director of AFS. “State Wildlife Action Plans have proven that species can be recovered through voluntary, non-regulatory mechanisms.” said TWS President Darren Miller. “Species such as the New England cottontail and the North American river otter have rebounded as a result of these plans, and other species such as the Delmarva fox squirrel and Louisiana black bear have recovered to the point of no longer needing Endangered Species Act protections. With the passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, we will further advance effective, collaborative conservation for the benefit of wildlife populations and the American public.” Passage of the bipartisan Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will provide state fish and wildlife professionals and their partners with the resources needed to conserve species in a proactive, cost effective, and non-regulatory manner. The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society look forward to working toward passage of this important legislation. # # # Notes to the editor: More on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act here: https://wildlife.org/policy/recovering-americas-wildlife-act/ https://fisheries.org/policy-media/recovering-americas-wildlife-act/ Founded in 1937, TWS and its network of affiliated chapters and sections represents more than 15,000 professional wildlife biologists, managers, and educators dedicated to excellence in wildlife stewardship. TWS’ mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitat through science-based management and conservation. www.wildlife.org Founded in 1870, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is the world’s oldest and largest fisheries science society. The AFS mission is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. With its renowned journals, books and conferences, AFS is the leading source of fisheries science and management information in North America and around the world. www.fisheries.org To learn more about TWS’ and AFS’ efforts on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, check out the Reversing America’s Wildlife Crisis report, a collaboration between TWS, AFS, and National Wildlife Federation. This report calls attention to North American and migratory wildlife species facing population declines due to a variety of threats. It echoes the intent of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act in calling for more proactive management to prevent these declines and an improved funding mechanism to support such efforts.

July 12, 2019 No Comments

Past Webinars

Webinar Recording: Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Update

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Update from fisheries on Vimeo.

July 11, 2019 No Comments

News

Webinar on July 10: Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Update

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Update Wednesday, July 10, 2019 2:00 pm Eastern Time Join us for a free webinar on July 10 to get up to speed on the latest updates and grassroots engagement tools to help you and your unit work to support the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. Participants will be provided with background on the legislation, tools to engage with their members of Congress, and mechanisms for building a coalition at the state level in support of this game-changing legislation. Hosted by The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society, speakers will include both NGO and state-based conservation experts ready to engage professionals on how they can best utilize their expertise in support of this bill. Register now!

July 2, 2019 No Comments

News

AFS, Western Division, and the Alaska Chapter Submit Joint Pebble Mine Comments

The American Fisheries Society, the Western Division of AFS, and the AFS Alaska Chapter submitted a joint comment letter this week to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Pebble Mine Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The comments note that impacts and risks to fish and their habitats are underestimated and are not supported by the data or analysis provided, and that critical information is missing. PDF of joint comment letter June 13, 2019 Program Manager US Army Corps of Engineers 645 G Street, Suite 100-921 Anchorage, AK 99501 Via [email protected] Re: Pebble Mine Draft Environmental Impact Statement Dear Sir or Madam: On behalf of the members of the American Fisheries Society (AFS), the Western Division of AFS, and the Alaska Chapter of AFS, we respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Pebble Mine Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for public comment on March 1, 2019. AFS represents over 7,500 professional fishery scientists and resource managers who work in the private sector, in academic institutions, and in Tribal, state, and federal agencies. Our common mission is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. The American Fisheries Society, the Western Division, and Alaska Chapter seek to ensure the best available science is considered throughout the environmental review and permitting for Pebble Mine. Because of the scope of the proposed Pebble Mine, its probable expansion into a larger mine and mining district (Chambers et al. 2012), and the uniqueness of the Bristol Bay region (Woody 2018), AFS and the Western Division of AFS provided comments in 20141 and do so again with the Alaska Chapter of AFS. Bristol Bay is extraordinary because it produces about half of the world’s wild Sockeye Salmon supply with runs averaging 37.5 million fish per year (Chambers et al. 2012; USEPA 2014; Woody 2018). The wild salmon fishery in Bristol Bay has been managed in a sustainable manner since 1884 and was valued at $1.5 billion in 2010. In addition to Sockeye Salmon, Bristol Bay and the watershed support one of the world’s largest remaining wild Chinook Salmon runs and healthy Coho, Chum, and Pink Salmon runs (Johnson and Blossom 2018). These salmon, as well as resident trout, sustain lucrative commercial and recreational fisheries and provide jobs and food security to 25 rural Alaska Native villages and thousands of people. The high salmon production brings huge levels of marine-derived nutrients to the watersheds in which salmon spawn, fueling sustainable populations of grizzly bears, moose, estuarine birds, and indigenous Yup’ik and Dena’ina peoples. The latter peoples represent two of the planet’s last salmon-based subsistence cultures, which were once widespread along the entire North American Pacific Coast. These wilderness-compatible economic sectors support 14,000 workers, including 11,500 in commercial fisheries, 850 in sport fisheries, and 1,800 in sport hunting and recreation (Chambers et al. 2012; USEPA 2014; Woody 2018). Based on our review of the DEIS, we find it fails to meet basic standards of scientific rigor in a region that clearly demands the highest level of scrutiny and thoroughness. The DEIS is an inadequate assessment of the potential impacts of the project. Specifically, as described below, we find the DEIS is deficient because 1) impacts and risks to fish and their habitats are underestimated; 2) many conclusions are not supported by the data or analysis provided; and 3) critical information is missing. 1. Impacts and risks to fish and their habitats are underestimated. Mine Footprint: We have serious concerns about the limited scope of the DEIS. An environmental impact statement is expected to fully disclose the risks and options for safely advancing or altering a proposed project. The limited scope considered for the mine footprint in the DEIS vastly underestimates the threats to fish, fisheries, and the human populations that rely on them. It is misleading to constrain the DEIS to a mining plan that only extracts 12% of the known resource and to ignore Pebble Limited Partnership’s planned expansion and stated purpose to make the mine commercially viable (Chambers et al. 2012). The DEIS acknowledges that the Pebble Project Expansion—a 55% of known resource mine, which would need additional tailings storage, additional water storage, new waste rock storage facilities, a concentrate pipeline, and a deep-water loading facility—is reasonably foreseeable (Table 4.1-1). This profitable mining plan appears to be a 78 to 98-year mine prior to closure as opposed to the 20-year mine prior to closure covered in the DEIS (Chambers et al. 2012). Further, it is reasonably foreseeable that the Pebble Project Expansion would begin within the timeframe of the proposed 20-year mine. The DEIS relegates the expansion to “possible future action” status rather than considering it a practicable alternative. As a consequence, this more likely profitable scenario with its much larger mining footprint is not evaluated for direct or indirect effects but more narrowly for cumulative effects only, thus underestimating the impacts on fish, fish habitat, and humans. Since the Pebble Project Expansion would be 1) dependent on the approval of this initial permit, 2) could not proceed unless this permit is approved previously, and 3) is classified as an “expansion” or an interdependent part of the larger Pebble Mine action and thus depends on the larger action for its justification; it should be evaluated as a potential connected action in the indirect impacts analysis (40 CFR 1508.25 (a)(1)(i-iii).) Diversity of Life History Strategies: The Bristol Bay watershed is pristine with exceptionally high-water quality and habitat diversity, closely connected surface-ground water systems, and an absence of channel fragmentation by roads, pipelines, or dams (Woody 2018). These factors lead to extremely high levels of genetic diversity among hundreds of locally adapted unique salmonid populations, which in turn support high levels of salmon production and system-wide stability. Because of this portfolio effect, there is remarkable annual productivity regionally despite considerable fluctuation in any single river system or any

June 14, 2019 1 Comment

Aquaculture

Capitol Hill Science Briefing on Marine Aquaculture Presented by AFS and NOAA Fisheries

Capitol Hill Ocean Week presented an opportunity for AFS to bring congressional staffers and environmental organizations together for “Mythbusting Marine Aquaculture,” a science-focused briefing in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center on June 6. The briefing featured five experts in various aquaculture disciplines to highlight the advances in science, technology, and best management practices that have reduced the environmental footprint and increased the sustainability of marine aquaculture. Experts challenged outdated perceptions on the use of antibiotics, sustainability of using fish meal and fish oils for feeds, water quality impacts and degradation of the seafloor, effect of fish escapes on wild stocks, and the potential transfer of disease from farmed to wild populations in marine aquaculture. These myths have limited the social acceptance and complicated efforts to advance federal legislation to simplify the regulatory landscape for offshore aquaculture. Speakers included aquaculture experts Craig Watson, University of Florida; Guillaume Salze, Ph.D., Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition; Mike Rust, Ph.D., NOAA Fisheries; Jennifer Molloy, US EPA; and Halley Froehlich, Ph.D., University of California Santa Barbara. Learn more about the advances in technology and best management practices here and view AFS President Jesse Trushenski’s opening remarks here.

June 11, 2019 No Comments

Aquaculture

Fact Sheet: Mythbusting Marine Aquaculture

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June 6, 2019 No Comments

Aquaculture

Video: Jesse Trushenski’s Introduction to a Capitol Hill Briefing on Mythbusting Marine Aquaculture

AFS President Jesse Trushenski’s recorded introduction to an AFS and NOAA Capitol Hill briefing on “Mythbusting Marine Aquaculture” on June 6, 2019. Jesse Trushenski’s Introduction to a Capitol Hill Briefing on “Mythbusting Marine Aquaculture” from fisheries on Vimeo.

June 6, 2019 1 Comment

Policy Letters

AFS and Other Groups Submit Letter to Congressional Hearing Supporting Biodiversity Protection

The American Fisheries Society, National Wildlife Federation, and the Wildlife Society submitted a letter for Chairman Huffman and Ranking Member McClintock on the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife as well as a comprehensive report about the necessities of biodiversity protection and the upcoming Recovering America’s Wildlife Act to be re-introduced.

May 29, 2019 No Comments

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