October 17, 2024 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The supplemental materials for the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board have been revised and can be found at http://asmfc.org/files/
NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Monday, October 21, 2024 – Groundfish
October 15, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related groundfish. The public is invited to listen live. Here are the details.
WHEN: Monday, October 21, 2024
WHERE: Hilton Garden Inn Boston – Logan Airport. This is an in-person meeting, coupled with a webinar option. Please do not attend this meeting in person if you do not feel well.
START TIME: 9:00 a.m.
WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live. There is no charge to join the meeting through this webinar.
- IMPORTANT: The Council is now using Zoom to broadcast meetings. Zoom requires users to be on the latest version of the application. You must update your Zoom app to the latest version at least five minutes before joining the webinar to avoid glitches and be able to view presentations.
AGENDA: The SSC will meet to:
- Review information provided by the Council’s Groundfish Plan Development Team (PDT) and recent stock assessment reports, and then recommend the overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for fishing years 2025-2027 for:
-
- American plaice;
- Gulf of Maine haddock;
- Georges Bank haddock;
- Pollock; and
- Atlantic halibut; and
- Discuss other business as necessary.
COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 17, 2024. Address comments to Council Chair Rick Bellavance or Executive Director Cate O’Keefe and email them to comments@nefmc.org.
MATERIALS: All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC October 21, 2024 meeting webpage.
QUESTIONS: Contact Dr. Rachel Feeney at (978) 465-0492, ext. 110, rfeeney@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.
Seafood industry DEI initiatives showing staying power
October 11, 2024 — Many U.S. companies across industries swiftly began adopting ambitious diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals in 2020, but work in the field has largely slowed as businesses grow wary of boycotts and other forms of backlash.
However, in the seafood industry, DEI remains integral to many companies’ sustainability goals, according to experts engaged in ensuring the sector supports these types of initiatives.
ASMFC 82nd Annual Meeting Details, Final Agenda and Public Comment Guidelines
October 10, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Please find below the meeting details and public comment guidelines for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 82ndAnnual Meeting, which will be held October 21-24, 2024 at The Westin Annapolis, 100 Westgate Circle, Annapolis, Maryland. This will be a hybrid meeting (both in-person and remote) to allow for participation by Commissioners and interested stakeholders. The room block is now closed; if you need assistance reserving a room, please contact Lisa Carty at lcarty@asmfc.org.
The final agenda and meeting materials for the Annual Meeting are now available at https://www.asmfc.org/home/
Please be advised the agenda’s schedule is subject to change; the order in which the agenda items are listed is subject to change, and other agenda items or meetings may be added as necessary.
Webinar Information
Board and ACCSP Coordinating Council meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, October 21 at 9 AM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 PM on Thursday, October 24). To register for the webinar, please go to: https://attendee.
If you are joining the webinar but will not be using voice over internet protocol (VoIP), you can may also call in at +1.562.247.8422, access code 953-170-135. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN.
Each day, the webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
Meeting Process
Board chairs will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
Getting to Annapolis
The Westin Annapolis is easily accessible by automobile, train, or airplane. BWI is the closest airport and you can take a taxi or UBER to get to the hotel. You won’t need to rent a car because Annapolis is a very walkable town and we will provide transportation to the social events. It is also an easy drive from most Mid-Atlantic states.
The Westin Annapolis is easily accessible by automobile, train, or airplane. BWI is the closest airport and you can take a taxi or UBER to get to the hotel. You won’t need to rent a car because Annapolis is a very walkable town and we will provide transportation to the social events. It is also an easy drive from most Mid-Atlantic states.
Fishing Tournament
Plans are well underway for the 31st Annual Laura Leach Fishing Tournament. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate. You will receive a t-shirt with your $20 entry fee; and 100% of the tournament proceeds will be donated to the Catch More Mentorship Academy. The tournament runs from Sunday (10/20) through Wednesday (10/23); tournament prizes will be awarded on Thursday morning.
Plans are well underway for the 31st Annual Laura Leach Fishing Tournament. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate. You will receive a t-shirt with your $20 entry fee; and 100% of the tournament proceeds will be donated to the Catch More Mentorship Academy. The tournament runs from Sunday (10/20) through Wednesday (10/23); tournament prizes will be awarded on Thursday morning.
Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunities to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic.
Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comments will not provide additional insight to the board.
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comments for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).
1. Comments received three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (September 30) will be included in the briefing materials.
2. Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, October 15 will be included in supplemental materials.
3. Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, October 18 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.
The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution. As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail and email.
Scallops: Council Receives 2024 Survey Season Overview and Framework 39 Update; Recaps Upcoming Work Priorities
October 8, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council received an overview of the 2024 Atlantic sea scallop survey season when it met in Gloucester, Massachusetts for its September 24-26, 2024 meeting. The Council also received updates on: (1) Framework Adjustment 39 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which will set specifications and other measures for the 2025 scallop fishing year; and (2) additional ongoing scallop projects, including the development Georges Bank Scallop Biomass Estimates By Sub-Region (2015 – 2024) of a three-to-five-year strategic plan for the fishery.
2024 SCALLOP SURVEY SEASON: Results from the 2024 scallop survey season indicate that overall biomass remains low compared to the 2016-2019 peak years of the fishery. The population of harvestable-size scallops expected to be available for the 2025 fishing year also remains low and may result in reduced allocations to the fishery.
However, surveys did show some positive signs of recruitment – seed and juvenile scallops – in multiple areas that could contribute to the fishery down the road. Here are a few 2024 survey highlights.
• Overall survey biomass decreased from 2023 to 2024.
• Biomass on Georges Bank is over two times higher than in the Mid-Atlantic, although biomass in the Mid-Atlantic bumped up due to new recruitment in the Elephant Trunk and, to a lesser extent, Hudson Canyon South.
• Multiple surveys documented a large recruitment event in Nantucket Lightship South (see maps below). While not as large as the 2013 year-class, the recruitment event is strong. The Council will consider closing the area in 2025 to protect these young scallops for additional grow-out within revised boundaries that better surround the new recruitment event.
• Area I and Area II on Georges Bank both harbor multiple year classes of scallops, which will prove challenging as the Council considers how to protect smaller scallops while providing access to larger, harvestable-size fiveyear-old scallops. The Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team will investigate options for protecting two-year olds in the Area I-Sliver and Area II Extension.
Atlantic Herring: Council Takes Final Action on Fishing Year 2025-2027 Specifications; Requests In-Season Adjustment
October 4, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council took final action on fishing year 2025-2027 specifications for Atlantic herring when it met September 24-26, 2024 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Council also asked the Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries to use his existing authority to implement an in-season adjustment to reduce default 2025 specifications to the level recently recommended by the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC).
The Council’s revised 2025 specifications, which are part of the new 2025-2027 package, are much lower than the default or backup 2025 specifications the Council developed in 2022 to cover the 2023-2025 fishing years. At the time, the Council knew it would need to update 2025 catch limits, but it included backups in a three-year package in case the next action was delayed.
BOTTOM LINE: The default 2025 annual catch limit (ACL) is 23,961 metric tons (mt). The revised 2025 ACL, which is based on the latest stock assessment, is 2,710 mt, marking an 89% reduction. For comparison, 2,710 mt equates to 14% of the 2024 ACL now in place.
The Council is deeply concerned about the magnitude of the needed adjustments and the inevitable social and economic impacts associated with the upcoming reductions in catch.
The revised ACL, if approved by NOAA Fisheries as expected, will result in the lowest catch limits in the history of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. The new catch limits will not support a directed commercial fishery for Atlantic herring. Area-by-area sub-ACLs are shown in the table below.
NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Wednesday, October 9, 2024 – Scallops, Witch Flounder, and More
October 2, 2024 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related to Atlantic sea scallops, witch flounder, and more. The public is invited to listen live. Here are the details.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 9, 2024
WHERE: Hilton Providence, Rhode Island. This is an in-person meeting, coupled with a webinar option. Please do not attend this meeting in person if you do not feel well.
START TIME: 9:00 a.m.
WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live. There is no charge to join the meeting through this webinar.
- IMPORTANT: The Council is now using Zoom to broadcast meetings. Zoom requires users to be on the latest version of the application. You must update your Zoom app to the latest version at least five minutes before joining the webinar to avoid glitches and be able to view presentations.
AGENDA: The SSC will meet to:
- Review information provided by the Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT) and recommend the overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for Atlantic sea scallops for fishing years 2025-2026;
- Review witch flounder information provided by the Council’s Groundfish PDT, as well as stock assessment information, and recommend OFLs and ABCs for witch flounder for fishing years 2025-2027;
- Review draft outcomes of the 8th National Workshop of the Council Coordination Committee’s Scientific Coordination Subcommittee (SCS8) held in August 2024 and discuss potential next steps;
- Review outcomes of the May 2024 workshop on Implementing Social Science Methods for Fisheries Decision-Making, discuss a proposal for establishing a formal committee on social science, and discuss potential next steps for the SSC; and
- Discuss other business as necessary.
COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is8:00 a.m. on Monday, October 7, 2024. Address comments to Council Chair Rick Bellavance or Executive Director Cate O’Keefe and email them to comments@nefmc.org.
MATERIALS: All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC October 9, 2024 meeting webpage.
QUESTIONS: Contact Dr. Rachel Feeney at (978) 465-0492, ext. 110, rfeeney@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.
ASMFC Sciaenids Management Board Webinar – October 3 from 9-11 AM
October 1, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
As a reminder, the Commission’s Sciaenids Management Board will meet October 3 from 9 – 11 AM to reintroduce the Risk and Uncertainty Decision Tool to the Board and seek its guidance on the initial inputs to the tool. The Risk and Uncertainty Decision Tool uses information on stock status, model uncertainty, ecosystem considerations, and socioeconomic factors to recommend the probability of success that management actions should strive to achieve. The Board will provide initial guidance on how to weight these different factors within the tool at this meeting. The final recommended probability will be determined by the results of the Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review and the Board’s final decisions on weighting, both of which will be presented and discussed at the Commission’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Annapolis, Maryland.
The draft agenda, meeting materials, and webinar information for the meeting are now available athttps://asmfc.org/calendar/
Webinar Information
To register for the webinar, please go to https://attendee.
Meeting Process
The Board Chair will provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of the meeting. The Board Chair will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the Board Chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
The webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.
For more information, please contact Tracey Bauer, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, attbauer@asmfc.org.
NEFMC Seeks Applicants for Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee
September 27, 2024 — The New England Fishery Management Council is looking for qualified candidates to serve on its new Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee (Steering Committee). The application deadline is Friday, October 18, 2024. Appointment terms are for two years, starting in November 2024, with the possibility for reappointment.
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE: The Steering Committee will be comprised of members of the Council and its Scientific and Statistical Committee, NOAA Fisheries and Council staff, members of the fishing industry, and other government and non-government experts with experience in the following key areas:
- Climate scenario planning and climate-resilient fishery management approaches;
- Ecosystem approaches to fishery management;
- Fishery stock assessment methods;
- Governance, policy, and marine user management;
- Biology, oceanography, and climate science; and/or
- Social sciences and economics.
WHY IS THE COUNCIL CREATING A NEW COMMITTEE: The Council is facing unprecedented challenges associated with climate change and has identified the need to introduce additional flexibility into the management process to address changes in abundance, distribution, and productivity of managed stocks. In recognition of these challenges, NOAA Fisheries is providing funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to assist Councils in the transition to climate-resilient fishery management approaches. Also, as part of its 2024 work priorities, the Council agreed to consider ecosystem approaches across all of its fishery management plans. The Council established the Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee to provide overarching guidance and support for design and implementation of climate-ready management approaches. The Steering Committee’s tasks are outlined in the solicitation announcement.
WHAT’S INVOLVED: The Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee will be led by a Council-appointed chair and vice chair. The committee is expected to meet at least twice annually as a full group with intersessional meetings as needed and report directly to the Council. The Council will share the group’s recommendations with regional partners.
HOW DO I APPLY: Applicants must submit a resume and a summary of qualifications for the appointment. Completed applications should be emailed to Sherie Goutier at sgoutier@nefmc.org or mailed to Cate O’Keefe, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. All application materials must be received no later than October 18, 2024.
Council Creates Indigenous Committee to Strengthen Traditional Voices in Pacific Fisheries
September 27, 2024 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Concluding its 200th meeting, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council established an Indigenous Committee to provide recommendations to federal authorities on cultural fishing rights and related issues.
Sub-panels for Hawai‘i, American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI will include members with expertise in traditional fishing practices and community ocean activities in their respective regions. The new committee will augment the Council’s Fishery Rights of Indigenous People Standing Committee, which was established in the mid-1980s.
Throughout its 48-year history, the Council has addressed indigenous issues and sought to modify the impact of federal fishery management on Native Hawaiians, Samoans, Chamorros and Carolinians, who have fished in the Western Pacific for centuries.
With the growing emphasis on ecosystem-based management, traditional ecological knowledge, equity, and environmental justice, the Council created the new Indigenous Committee to ensure culturally relevant recommendations that include indigenous perspectives in the region’s decision-making process.
The Council requested a presentation on how the recognition process for indigenous peoples could work and the benefits an existing system now provides to Native American Tribes. Currently, the United States does not recognize the indigenous peoples of the Western Pacific Region—Kānaka Maoli, Samoans, CHamoru and Refaluwasch—in the same way it does federal Native American Tribes. This difference puts the Pacific groups at a disadvantage in federal relations.
The Endangered Species Act, for example, allows subsistence use of endangered species as a food source for Native American Tribes, but such exceptions were not considered for regional indigenous peoples when the U.S. entered international agreements to protect green sea turtles, a traditional food in the Pacific. Expanded recognition could address existing and future issues affecting Pacific Islanders.
National Marine Sanctuaries in the Pacific
The Council reviewed a NOAA status update on the proposed national marine sanctuaries in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and Pacific Remote Islands (PRI). Since March 2024, public hearings have been held across the Hawaiian islands on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the NWHI sanctuary, with no action yet reported on a draft EIS for the PRI sanctuary.
The Council expressed concerns over the process for establishing fishing regulations under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, section 304(a)(5), contending it fails to provide a clear rationale for why such regulations are necessary. The Council stressed the need for assessing potential threats to sanctuary resources—including fishing—before determining regulations to address those concerns.
The Council bid a fond farewell to Manny Dueñas from Guam whose 3-year term ended in August 2024. He was a Member of the Council for a total of 12 years, having previously served between 2003 and 2012, including as Chair from 2011-2012. Dueñas has led the Guam Fishermen’s Cooperative Association for nearly 40 years, and has been a passionate champion of his culture and fishing rights. During his tenure, the Council provided funds supporting projects for indigenous fishing practices throughout the Western Pacific Region. Seabird, sea turtle and oceanic whitetip shark bycatch mitigation measures were established for the Hawai‘i longline fishery. A major restructuring of managing fisheries was adopted by the Council–instead of species-based, four archipelago ecosystem plans were developed for American Samoa, the CNMI, Guam and Hawai‘i.
The Council’s 201st meeting will be held virtually Dec. 16-18, 2024. Major agenda items will include actions on the Guam bottomfish rebuilding plan, striped marlin stock sustainability, uku stock assessment and catch limits in Hawai‘i, longline vessel crew training and electronic monitoring. Information will be posted on our website at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars.
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