Saving Seafood

Council Actions

June 2020 Briefing Book online (June 10-12 & 15-19, 2020 PFMC online meeting)

May 22, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Briefing Book for the June 10-12 and 15-19, 2020 Council meeting has been posted to the Council’s website on the “June 2020 Briefing Book” webpage.

The Briefing Book contains the meeting agenda, “situation summaries” (brief summaries that provide background for each agenda item), reports and materials for each agenda item, and public comment submitted to our e-portal. Advisory body and committee agendas and memos are also available.

For further information:

Reminder: Scientific and Statistical Committee Webinar on Scenario Deepening, May 26

May 22, 2020 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

As part of its Climate and Communities Initiative (CCI) the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) is sponsoring a series of webinars with its advisory bodies, which are open to the public.

The May 26 webinar (SSC) will be held on the following date:

  • Scientific and Statistical Committee: Tuesday, May 26, 1:30-4:30 p.m.

Please see the CCI “Scenario Deepening” SSC webinar notice on the Council’s website for materials and public participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Dr. Kit Dahl at 503-820-2422; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho Technical Workgroup to hold online meeting June 9

May 22, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Coho Technical Workgroup (Workgroup) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public   The online meeting will be held Tuesday, June 9, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, or until business for the day has been completed.

Please see the SONCC Workgroup online meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Robin Ehlke at 503-820-2410; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Fishery Management Councils to Meet May 27-28 by Teleconference

May 21, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Leadership teams from the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils will convene by teleconference for the spring 2020 Council Coordination Committee (CCC) meeting. The CCC is comprised of the chairs, vice chairs and executive directors of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Mid-Atlantic, New England, North Pacific, Pacific, South Atlantic and Western Pacific Fishery Management Councils. CCC chairmanship rotates annually among the eight Councils, which have authority over fisheries seaward of state waters in the US exclusive economic zone.

The committee meets twice each year with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to discuss issues relevant to all fishery management councils. The Western Pacific Council is serving as this year’s CCC chair and will be hosting this year’s first meeting on May 27 and 28. The meeting will be held by teleconference due to COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions.  The public is welcome to participate.

Agenda items will be discussed between 7:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (Hawai‘i standard time) each day. Among the scheduled topics are the following:

 

  • COVID-19 effects on Council operations and NMFS rulemaking
  • CARES Act $300M stimulus package for fisheries and aquaculture
  • President’s Executive Order 13921 on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth
  • NMFS updates on priorities, policy directives, technical guidance, bycatch initiatives, etc.
  • Legislative issues
  • CCC Scientific Subcommittee and Habitat Working Group reports

The complete agendas and conference call-in instructions will be posted at http://www.fisherycouncils.org/ccc-meetings/may-2020.

The meeting notice is available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-11/pdf/2020-10023.pdf.

 

North Pacific Council Approves Three Halibut Proposals, Rejects Two on Friday

May 19, 2020 — The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, in their first-ever special electronic meeting, acted on five requests for emergency rules triggered by the corona virus outbreak, in less than a day last Friday.

Halibut fishermen and fleet associations asked the 11-member council for relief on requirements to make medical quota transfers during the pandemic. Council members agreed to an option that would “allow the temporary transfer of halibut and sablefish IFQ for all quota share holders for the remainder of the 2020 fishing season,” without changing anything else in the program.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NPFMC May Special Meeting Newsletter

May 19, 2020 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Council met via web-conference on May 15th for a special Council meeting. The digital newsletter is published. For those interested, all the articles on one page to print is available here, and you can listen to the recording on box.net, or through the Adobeconnect app.  As always, you can access all other meeting information through the Agenda.

The Council will also hold its June meeting virtually through Adobeconnect, with the added component of the public able to provide public comment over the phone during the meeting. The intent is also to use web cameras for Council members and presenters during discussion and deliberation. The SSC and the AP will also be using the same platform and format. The meeting link will be the same throughout all of the June meetings. Detailed instructions for the public for joining and how to give public comments will be posted on the Council’s eAgenda and website.

June 16-18 MAFMC Webinar Meeting Agenda

May 19, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold its June Council Meeting via webinar June 16-18, 2020. Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, this webinar-based meeting replaces the in-person meeting previously scheduled to be held in Virginia Beach, VA.

A detailed agenda is available here. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include:

  • Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment
  • Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocation Amendment
  • Summer Flounder Commercial/Recreational Allocation Study Model Update
  • Recreational Reform Initiative
  • Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment
  • 2020-2021 Illex Specifications
  • Update on Habitat Activities
  • Unmanaged Landings Update

Briefing documents and webinar connection details will be posted at https://www.mafmc.org/briefing/june-2020 as they become available.

Written comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or via email, mail, or fax (see this page for details). Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on June 3, 2020 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on June 11, 2020 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using the online comment form linked below.

June 2020 Public Comment Form
Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

Scallop RSA Share Day: Tune in on May 19th to Learn More about Industry-Funded Research

May 15, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will be hosting a Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program Share Day on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 via webinar beginning at 9:00 a.m. The event will feature updates and preliminary findings from projects recently funded through the RSA program. The presentations will benefit the Scallop Plan Development Team and Scallop Advisory Panel in making recommendations to the Scallop Committee and full Council for future research priority setting for this program. In addition, all scallopers and other stakeholders may be interested in hearing about how RSA projects enhance management of the fishery and address critical resource, gear, bycatch, and survey issues.

The Council annually “sets aside” 1.25 million pounds of scallop meats that can be used to support research in the fishery. The Council then determines research priorities. NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

Read the full release here

ASMFC Withdraws the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Atlantic Menhaden Noncompliance Finding

May 14, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Today, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission notified the Secretary of Commerce that the Commonwealth of Virginia is in compliance with Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. Specifically, the Commonwealth has promulgated regulations to implement the 51,000 metric ton (mt) Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap (cap). For the 2020 fishing season, the Commonwealth set the cap at approximately 36,000 mt, nearly 15,000 mt below Amendment 3’s cap to reflect overages that occurred in 2019. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which now has regulatory authority for menhaden management in state waters, will set the cap at 51,000 mt in 2021 as long as catch is below the cap set in 2020.

“I would like to thank my fellow Virginia Commissioners, Governor Northam, Secretary Strickler, the Virginia General Assembly, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission for their attention to this issue,” stated Patrick Keliher, ASMFC Chair and Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “We are appreciative of their hard work to bring the Commonwealth back into compliance prior to the effective date of the moratorium.”

Under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, upon receiving notification that a state has come back into compliance with a mandatory management measure, the Secretary of Commerce determines whether the state is in compliance. If he concurs with the Commission’s compliance finding, the moratorium is terminated immediately.