July 29, 2022 — The following was released by the The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The final supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2022 Summer Meeting (August 2-4) are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
July 25, 2022 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council is accepting applications from commercial and recreational fishermen, as well as other stakeholders, to serve on its advisory panels (APs) for the next three years. The term runs from January 2023 through December 2025. The application deadline is August 31, 2022.
The Council currently has nine active advisory panels that cover issues related to groundfish, recreational fishing for groundfish, Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring, monkfish, habitat, skates, whiting, and enforcement.
The Council jointly manages monkfish and spiny dogfish with the Mid-Atlantic Council. The Mid-Atlantic Council has the administrative lead for spiny dogfish and handles the advisory panel solicitation for that fishery, while the New England Council has the administrative lead for monkfish and conducts the Monkfish AP solicitation.
The Council strives to populate its advisory panels with members who: (1) have different areas of expertise; (2) use different gear types; (3) come from the full geographic range of the fishery; and (4) have varied social and economic perspectives.
July 20, 2022 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Meeting (to be held August 2-4 at the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA) are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
July 20, 2022 — The following was released by Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council:
The Council invites you to apply for membership on one of its Advisory Panels!
Who is eligible to apply?
If you have an interest in keeping our fisheries sustainable, we want you to apply! However, you must be a U.S. citizen, national or permanent resident and at least 18 years old. We are looking for folks that can represent the fishing community, have experience in fishing, fisheries science or management, and can provide both information to the community and advice to the Council. We seek individuals that represent different fishing sectors (commercial, non-commercial, subsistence, charter), fishing methods (longline, bottomfish, trolling, spearfishing, etc.), and interests of the fishing community (indigenous, seafood/marketing, fishing supply, conservation, etc.).
What does an AP member do?
An AP member is the bridge between the fishing community and the fishery managers and scientists. An AP member’s role is to listen and share the community’s sentiments about its environment, fishing resources, and challenges to fishing and then share that with the Council. The second part is to be willing to go back out to the community and share what you have learned and what the Council is doing.
What is my commitment?
The Council is looking for AP members that will commit to being a member for four years. The positions are voluntary and meetings times may vary. While AP members are not paid, they may be reimbursed for expenses related to their participation in meetings and receive a small stipend. AP members should be willing to meet regularly and attend at least four AP meetings per year.
How do I apply?
If you are interested in becoming an AP member, applications are being accepted online at https://tinyurl.com/APMemberAppl. The Council must receive your completed application by August 19, 2022. If you need other arrangements, please call the Council office at (808) 522-8220 for assistance. The Council will select AP members in September and notify applicants by early October. If you have any questions, contact Zach Yamada at (808) 522-8227 or Zach.Yamada@wpcouncil.org.
July 19, 2022 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Monday, August 8 – Thursday, August 11, 2022
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet August 8-11, 2022 in Philadelphia, PA. This meeting will be conducted as a hybrid meeting, with options to participate in person at the The Notary Hotel (21 N. Juniper Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-496-3200) or virtually via Webex webinar. A portion of the meeting will be conducted jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Bluefish Management Board and Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Management Board.
Please see the August 2022 Council Meeting Page for webinar connection instructions, public comment deadlines, briefing materials (as they become available), and other updates.
A detailed agenda is available here. Below is an overview of the main topics to be covered each day.
Monday, August 8 (beginning at 3:00 p.m.)
Joint with ASMFC Bluefish Management Board
Tuesday, August 9
Joint with ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board
Wednesday, August 10
Thursday, August 11
July 18, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council voted in late June to establish a new Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) that overlaps offshore wind-energy lease sites in Southern New England and includes a 10-kilometer buffer on all sides of the sites (see map below).
The Council selected this area to highlight its concerns over potential adverse impacts from offshore wind development on: (1) sensitive hard-bottom habitats; and (2) cod spawning activity. If approved by NOAA Fisheries, the HAPC designation would be applied during the essential fish habitat (EFH) consultation process for offshore wind projects in the area. Some projects are already permitted, while others are currently undergoing environmental review or are within the site assessment phase.
HAPCs are a subset of EFH. The proposed Southern New England HAPC overlaps designated EFH for several Council-managed species that rely on complex habitats. Furthermore, there has been recent evidence of cod spawning activity on Cox Ledge within the proposed HAPC. The boundaries cover the footprint of the wind-energy leases plus a buffer on all sides, recognizing that some aspects of offshore development may have impacts that extend out to at least 10 kilometers, such as acoustic impacts from pile driving.
The Council reviewed four other HAPC alternatives before selecting this fifth option, which combines the conservation objectives of the other alternatives and emphasizes the importance of complex habitat on the egg, juvenile, and adult life stages of species ranging from herring and scallops to monkfish, skates, winter flounder, and red hake in addition to cod. The Council initiated the framework for this HAPC in February 2022, postponed action in April pending further development, and took final action in June. View the latest HAPC presentation and other June meeting materials here.
July 14, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council met June 28-30, 2022 and received numerous updates over the course of its three-day hybrid meeting in Portland, Maine. Here are a few of the highlights.
CLIMATE CHANGE: The Council received a presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center on the Draft Northeast Climate Regional Action Plan, which is out for public comment through July 29, 2022. Version 1 of the plan was in place from 2016 to 2021. The current draft – Version 2 – will be used by NOAA Fisheries to implement the agency’s Climate Science Strategy in 2022-2024. The document contains information on warming ocean temperatures (see graphic at right) and much more. The Council received input from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) on the draft action plan and will be submitting its own written comments in advance of the deadline.
The Council also received a progress report on the East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning initiative. The overarching questions are:
• How might climate change affect stock availability and distribution, as well as other aspects of East Coast marine fisheries, over the next 20 years; and
• What does this mean for effective future governance and management across multiple jurisdictions? What tools are needed to provide flexible and robust management strategies to address uncertainty in an era of climate change?
The Core Team working on this initiative hosted a June 21-23, 2022 Scenario Creation Workshop where participants developed scenarios or stories describing eight alternative futures under climate change. Next, the Core Team will review and edit inputs from the workshop to create a draft set of scenarios for further discussion and feedback during three scenario deepening webinars in mid-August. These webinars will be open to the public. The Council will have an in-depth discussion of the scenarios during its September 27-29, 2022 meeting and provide feedback to the Core Team on next steps.
July 12, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council covered three issues related to Atlantic herring when it met June 28-30, 2022 for a hybrid meeting in Portland, Maine.
SPECIFICATIONS: The Council received a brief update on 2023-2025 herring specifications, which are under development. The Herring Plan Development Team (PDT) is working on the action, and the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will develop the overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) recommendations at an August 4, 2022 meeting. The annual catch limit (ACL), area-specific sub-ACLs, and other fishery specifications will flow from the ABC. The Herring Advisory Panel and Herring Committee will meet later this summer to review the specifications and recommend preferred alternatives for Council consideration. The Council will take final action during its September 27-29, 2022 meeting.
The specifications will be informed by the peer reviewed results of the June 2022 Herring Management Track Assessment, which was conducted immediately preceding the start of the Council meeting. Herring was last assessed in 2020 and was determined to be overfished, although overfishing was not occurring. Results from the new 2022 assessment are being finalized, but it does not appear the status of the resource has changed much from the previous assessment.
July 1, 2022 — During its June 28-30, 2022 hybrid meeting in Portland, ME, the New England Fishery Management Council initiated a new framework adjustment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The framework will include specifications for the 2023 scallop fishing year, default specifications for 2024, and other measures. Work on this action – Framework 36 – will continue throughout the summer and fall and address recommendations from the final report on the evaluation of rotational management. The Council will receive an update on Framework 35 in September, and final action is scheduled for December.
RSA PRIORITIES: The Council also approved 2023-2024 priorities for the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. Once again, the Council selected scallop resource surveys as its highest priority. These industry- based surveys provide important data on scallop length frequencies, abundance, and biomass that directly feed into the Scallop Plan Development Team’s work to develop annual specifications for the fishery. RSA surveys primarily support the fishery’s annual management and science needs.
The Council adopted six “medium priority” research categories – all of which were equally ranked – and two additional priorities under “general research” that also were equally ranked.