Saving Seafood

New England Council’s January 2020 meeting lineup

New England Fishery Management Council

January 2, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a number of committee meetings over the next few weeks before it gathers in Portsmouth, NH at the end of January for its first full session of the New Year.  Here’s the lineup, along with a couple of additional items of potential interest to stakeholders.  Agendas and documents will be posted on the Council’s website as meeting materials become available.

SCIENTIFIC AND STATISTICAL COMMITTEE (SSC):  The SSC will meet on Friday, January 10, 2020at the Hilton Garden Inn – Boston Logan Airport beginning at 9:30 a.m. to review acceptable biological catch (ABC) recommendations for four groundfish stocks that the Council remanded to the SSC for further consideration.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:  The Council’s Executive Committee will meet on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at the Four Points Sheraton in Wakefield, MA to discuss administrative matters related to Council business.

GROUNDFISH:  The Council has three groundfish-related meetings on its calendar.

  • Groundfish Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) – The RAP will meet on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Four Points Sheraton in Wakefield, MA to: (1) develop recommendations for the Groundfish Committee on 2020 recreational measures for Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine haddock; and (2) receive an overview of the Council’s 2020 groundfish priorities.
  • Groundfish Advisory Panel (GAP) – The GAP also will meet on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 in the same location beginning at 12:30 p.m. to discuss the same agenda items as the RAP.
  • Groundfish Committee – The Groundfish Committee will meet on Thursday, January 23, 2020beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Four Points Sheraton in Wakefield, MA to review and discuss the RAP and GAP recommendations and the Council’s groundfish priorities.

HABITAT:  The Habitat Committee and Habitat Advisory Panel will meet jointly on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at the Four Points Sheraton in Wakefield, MA beginning at 10:00 a.m.  Several items are on the agenda, including: (1) a review of the Council’s habitat-related research priorities; (2) potential development of comments on an Exempted Fishing Permit for the Great South Channel if the notice publishes prior to this January 22 meeting; (3) offshore wind updates; (4) updates on the development of habitat policies for aquaculture, submarine cables, and floating wind projects; and (5) a Northeast Regional Habitat Assessment update.

WHITING:  The Small-Mesh Multispecies (Whiting) Committee and the Whiting Advisory Panel will meet jointly on Monday, January 27, 2020 at the Portsmouth Harbor Events and Conference Center in Portsmouth, NH beginning at 1:00 p.m. to discuss issues and develop recommendations on a Council action to rebuild southern red hake.

  • 2020 Red Hake Stock Structure Working Group – On a related note, the Red Hake Stock Structure Working Group will meet January 6-8, 2020 at the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford, MA to prepare the red hake assessment and ensure the terms of reference have been fully addressed in the reports and documents provided to the Stock Assessment Review Committee.

NEW ENGLAND FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL:  The full Council will meet January 28-30, 2020at the Portsmouth Harbor Events and Conference Center.

MREP ON THE HORIZON:  A Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) Fisheries Science Workshop will be held February 25-27, 2020 in Woods Hole, MA.  The workshop is being organized by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

SCALLOPS ON THE HORIZON:  Two scallop-related meetings are on the Council’s calendar for February.

THREE MEETING OUTLOOK:  A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is availableHERE.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.