August 29, 2012 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has released the preliminary agenda for its 71st annual meeting, to be held October 21-25, 2012, in Philadelphia, PA
August 29, 2012 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has released the preliminary agenda for its 71st annual meeting, to be held October 21-25, 2012, in Philadelphia, PA
August 29, 2012 — The NEFMC has issued a cancellation notice for the September 4 meeting of the Science and Statistical Committee.
The following was released by the NEFMC:
The agenda items scheduled for discussion on September 4th will be addressed at the SSC’s September 12-13 meeting in Providence, RI. You will receive an updated meeting notice, but also check the Council’s website for more information.
August 24, 2012 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announces the availability of the latest installment of the Habitat Management Series, Offshore Wind in My Backyard? With the accelerating development of offshore wind power, the Commission's Habitat Committee developed a concise report to outline general considerations that should be made when providing comment on proposed offshore wind projects. The report focuses on habitat issues that are broadly applicable along the Atlantic seaboard for the siting, construction, and monitoring of offshore wind facilities. The environmental issues associated with developing a wind facility are outlined and recommendations are offered on how to offset identified impacts. Available on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Breaking News or directly here. The report will continue to be updated as new sources of information become available. For more information, please contact Megan Caldwell, Habitat Coordinator at megfishconsult@gmail.com.
Philadelphia, PA — August 22, 2012 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) have established commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish for the 2013 fishing season and beyond. The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore). The Council will forward its recommendations to NOAA's Northeast Regional Administrator for final approval. The table summarizes those actions/recommendations (2012 values are provided for comparison purposes). Please note that specifications for years beyond 2013 may be adjusted based on changes in the fishery or new scientific information.
For summer flounder, the Commission approved and Council recommended a commercial quota of 11.44 million pounds and the recreational harvest limit of 7.63 million pounds for the 2013 fishing year, a decrease from 2012 levels. This decrease is in part due to the drop in the spawning stock biomass estimate in the most recent assessment. Both groups set multi-year (2 years) specifications in response to industry’s request for increased stability in management measures from year to year.
For the 2013 scup fishery, the Commission approved and Council recommended a commercial quota of 23.53 million pounds and a recreational harvest limit of 7.55 million pounds, a decrease of 3.97 and 0.76 million pounds respectively, compared to 2012 levels. Both groups set multi-year (3 years) specifications.
For black sea bass, the Commission approved and Council recommended a commercial quota of 1.78 million pounds and 1.85 million pounds for the recreational fishery, slightly higher than the 2012 quota due to differences in the recent discard estimates. The Commission and Council deferred setting multi-year specifications until the completion of the 2014 benchmark stock assessment.
Finally for the bluefish fishery, the Commission approved and the Council recommended a commercial quota of 9.08 million pounds and 8.67 million pounds, respectively for 2013 and 2014, and a 14.07 million pound recreational harvest limit for 2013 and 2014. These levels represent a decrease from 2012 levels due in part to the poor year classes observed in the most recent stock assessment update.
For all four species, the approved and recommended actions are consistent with the recommendations of the Scientific and Statistical Committee regarding acceptable biological catch, which is the level of total removals that cannot be exceeded based on the best available scientific information. The Commission and Council maintained the 2012 commercial management measures for all four species and approved a Research Set-Aside (RSA) quota of up to three percent for each fishery.
The Commission and Council also initiated the development of a draft amendment to the Scup Fishery Management Plan to consider revisions to seasonal and sector allocations. Proposed measures will include options to modify the commercial/recreational allocation, currently set at 78%/22%, and options to move a portion of the Winter I & II Period allocation to the Summer Period (currently at 38.95% of the quota). The Commission and Council set an upper limit for the amount of allocation distributed to the recreational sector at 40%. For the seasonal allocation, both groups set a maximum percentage of allocation distributed to the Summer Period at 50%. These measures are being considered to maximize the overall benefits of the available total allowable catch.
For more information about summer flounder, scup, or black sea bass, please contact Toni Kerns, Acting ISFMP Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org. For more information about bluefish, please contact Mike Waine, FMP Coordinator, at mwaine@asmfc.org.
August 22, 2012 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Philadelphia, PA— Last week the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to initiate an amendment that could result in changes to catch allocations in the scup fishery. Under the current system, the commercial catch limit is set at 78% of the allowable catch, and the recreational harvest limit is set at 22%. If passed, the amendment could shift allocation from the commercial industry to the recreational sector and may also change the distribution of the commercial allocation among seasonal fishing periods.
The amendment was proposed in response to growing concerns about the current allocation system, which has not been revised since it was first established in 1996. The fishery was managed under a rebuilding plan from 1999 until it was declared rebuilt in 2009. During this ten-year period, commercial and recreational participants were restricted by low quotas and strict management measures to allow the stock to rebuild.
As a result of these efforts, stock size has continued to increase, and the Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission were able to increase the 2012 catch limit to a level that was more than double the 2010 limit. Despite these increases, the recreational community has continued to voice frustration that higher catch limits have not resulted in more liberalized recreational regulations. In addition, fishermen harvesting scup in the summer have indicated that they should have a higher allocation.
“Prior to 2009, allocation concerns were typically associated with the low limits required under the rebuilding plan,” said Council Chairman Rick Robins. “We are now able to set higher harvest limits and quotas, and neither the recreational nor commercial sectors came close to exceeding their catch limits in 2011. However, our management partners at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and many of our constituents are still questioning whether the system that was established in 1996 is still appropriate for the fishery in 2012 and the future.”
The Council began discussing strategies for evaluating scup allocations more than two years ago, but this is the first time the Council has voted to initiate an amendment to address the issue. The amendment development process will begin with a thorough biological, social, and economic analysis of the current system.
“One of the most prominent themes that we heard from all stakeholder groups during the Visioning Project was that they want the Council to make decisions using contemporary data,” said Chairman Robins. “Scup allocation is an issue that the fishery community feels strongly about, but it speaks to the broader importance of considering whether the regulations we have for all of our managed fisheries are still appropriate as socioeconomic and biological conditions change over time.”
August 21, 2012 — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold public hearings to gather public input on Amendment 3 to the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan.
September 4, 2012
at the Magnuson Hotel Norfolk Airport, 5708 Northampton Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23455, telephone: (757) 460–2205;
September 5, 2012
at The Holiday Inn,151 Route 72 East, Manahawkin, NJ 08050, telephone: (609) 481–6100; and
September 6, 2012
at the Hilton Garden Inn Providence Airport/Warwick, One Thuber Street, Warwick, RI 02886, telephone: (401) 734–9600.
DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS IS on or before 5 p.m., EST, on September 24, 2012.
Written comments should be mailed to the Council office at the address below and marked ‘‘AMENDMENT 3.’’ The public hearing document can be obtained by contacting the Council at the address below or at
http://www.mafmc.org/fmp/dogfish/dogfish.htm.
Council address:
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
800 N. State St.,Suite 201,
Dover, DE 19901
Telephone: (302) 674–2331.
Alexandria, VA. — AUGUST 16, 201 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks Management Board has approved Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfish. The Addendum updates the definition of overfishing consistent with that of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and provides the Board the flexibility to update or modify the management program’s overfishing definition through Board action based on the recommendations of its Technical Committee.
The prior overfishing definition, adopted in 2002, was based on the number of pups per female that recruit to the stock. The updated definition will now be based on maximum sustainable yield or a reasonable proxy, consistent with the best available science. Although there are no immediate impacts in regulations, the change allows the Commission and Council to work from the same starting point when determining annual specifications.
The Board considered modifying the management program's 5% rollover provision to either preclude rollovers entirely without specific Board approval or to allow rollovers beyond the current 5% maximum with Board approval. The Board voted to maintain the 5% maximum rollover. Any rollover is predicated on a rebuilt stock.
These changes do not require any modifications to current regulations and become effective immediately. The updated overfishing definition will be used when determining the 2013/2014 spiny dogfish quota; Board action is scheduled to occur at the Commission's Annual Meeting in October.
The Addendum can be obtained on the ASMFC website. For more information, please contact Danielle Chesky, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at dchesky@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
August 16, 2012 — The discussion documents for the August 24th NEFMC committee meeting are now avaliable on the NEFMC website:
View the meeting documents on the NEFMC website
August 15, 2012 — The call will take place on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Agenda:
As an organizational meeting, the Council will hold a computer-assisted conference call for the new Working Group to discuss the issues, timelines, analytical approaches, work assignments, and related matters.
The public may listen to the live meeting proceedings either on their computer or on the phone by notifying the Council (email aapplegate@nefmc.org) of your intent to listen at least one hour before the meeting start. Connection details will be emailed about 30 minutes before the start of the meeting to Working Group members and to people who have notified the Council.
Read the NEFMC announcement for the conference call here
August 13, 2012 —
The Fishery Management Action Team tasked with developing alternatives for a new Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology Omnibus Amendment will be meeting by conference call on Thursday, August 9, 2012, starting at 10:00 a.m. (see attached bulletin).
For additional information about the SBRM FMAT or for information on how to join this conference call, please contact Douglas Potts at 978-281-9341 or at Douglas.Potts@noaa.gov.
View the full announcement here