[From the NOAA issued 'Small Entity Compliance Guide'] This letter is to inform you that because the fishing year (FY) 2009 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of Georges Bank (GB) yellowtail flounder was exceeded by 153 mt, the 2010 overall GB yellowtail flounder TAC has been adjusted, effective September 7, 2010, downward to 1,047 mt (2,303,240 lb). This reduction in the 2010 overall GB yellowtail flounder TAC results in the reduction in annual catch limits (ACLs), sub-ACLS, and annual catch entitlements (ACEs). Read the letter to permit holders.
Gloucester Mayor hosts screening of documentary on fishery ‘Truth’
It's viewed as one of the cruel ironies in America's fishing saga that, with the arrival with the Magnuson-Stevens Act 34 years ago, a series of regulatory nets dropped over the decks of the boats has been entangling, frustrating and disabling the original libertarians of the American experience.
That saga plays out throughout the documentary film "Truth: Fisheries Crisis or Government Mismanagement," and its showing Monday night is being hosted by the city of Gloucester, with Mayor Carolyn Kirk also slated to moderate a discussion of the film after its viewing.
NOAA officials declined to be interviewed for the film, and turned down an invitation to Monday night's showing, according to the mayor's office.
The fish are the supporting cast and the stars as well as the evidence.
They are used to present proof that an alien force — in the form of a permanent governmental bureaucracy, with a portfolio of degrees and a blind spot for ways humans have learned to work the ocean — has gained dominion over the watery world.
With this power they have embarked on a crusade dedicated to saving the fish from fishermen.
As "Truth" shows, notwithstanding all the conservation, fishermen still find themselves forced to push fish overboard, wasting them, to avoid breaking the illogical and perverse rules.
Salty Harold Loftes, the middle fisherman of the family, helps underscore the absurd rules of the game — requiring all the stocks in the mix of bottom fish to be restored to optimal biomass at the same time.
"Your backyard can't be filled with deer and coyotes at the same time," he observes. "Nature has a balancing act of its own. It's impossible to have the high levels at the same time, but that's what the system demands."
Yellowtail allowable catch reduced due to 2009 overage
There was more bad news for the groundfish industry this week when the National Marine Fisheries Service further reduced the 2010 allowable catch for George's Bank yellowtail flounder by 153 metric tons.
"It's a real problem for the guys who already bought someone else's quota," deOliveira said. "They took this yellowtail away so now it seems they've just bought some salt water. The regulators can adjust quota but it should be done in a more timely fashion. I don't understand why it comes out when we are so far along in the fishing year."
Public Comments Sought for Southern Flounder Management Proposals
MOREHEAD CITY – Fishermen will get a chance to comment on the future of southern flounder fishing in North Carolina at a series of public meetings to be held in the coming weeks.
The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will hold six meetings to receive public comments on a draft amendment to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan. The draft amendment includes proposals to increase the size limit, decrease the recreational bag limit, implement season closures and stiffen commercial gear restrictions.
The meetings will be held in conjunction with Marine Fisheries Commission advisory committee meetings set for:
Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.
Southeast Regional Advisory Committee
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Field Office
127 Cardinal Drive Extension, Wilmington
Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.
Finfish Advisory Committee
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Field Office
943 Washington Square Mall, Washington
Sept. 15 at 6 p.m.
Inland Regional Advisory Committee (Conference Call)
Division of Marine Fisheries Central District Office
5285 Highway 70 West, Morehead City
Call Randy Gregory for Conference Call Details
(252) 808-8078
Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m.
Northeast Regional Advisory Committee
Roanoke Island Festival Park, Small Auditorium
1 Festival Park, Manteo
Sept. 20 at 6 p.m.
Central Regional Advisory Committee
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Field Office
943 Washington Square Mall, Washington
Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.
Habitat and Water Quality Advisory Committee
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Regional Field Office
943 Washington Square Mall, Washington
Comments may also be submitted in writing until 5 p.m. Oct. 8. Send written comments by mail to Chris Batsavage, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, 5285 Highway 70 West, Morehead City, N.C. 28557 or by e-mail to Chris.Batsavage@ncdenr.gov.
The draft amendment is an update to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan adopted by the Marine Fisheries Commission in 2005. That plan was developed after a 2004 southern flounder stock assessment found the stock was overfished and overfishing was occurring.
While the terms “overfished” and “overfishing” are similar, they have distinctly different meanings in fisheries management. “Overfished” refers to the actual condition of the stock when the population falls below an acceptable level. “Overfishing” means that fish are being removed from the fishery at a rate that the fishery cannot sustain or rebuild itself.
Under a new state law passed this summer, the Marine Fisheries Commission must end overfishing within two years of adopting a fishery management plan for an overfished species. Another state law, on the books since 2004, requires the commission to rebuild overfished fish stocks within 10 years of adoption of a plan.
The 2004 stock assessment called for a 30 percent overall harvest reduction to rebuild the southern flounder stock, but the commission adopted measures in 2005 that were projected to achieve only a 17.2 percent reduction, with the intent of reassessing the stock after three years.
A 2009 stock assessment found that while the southern flounder stock had improved since 2005, it is still overfished, and further harvest reductions of 20.5 percent are needed to end overfishing and achieve sustainable harvests within the legally required timeframes.
Both a Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries are recommending that the Marine Fisheries Commission make no changes to existing commercial fishing regulations on southern flounder because recently implemented management measures to protect sea turtles are projected to result in an overall commercial southern flounder harvest reduction of 22.2 percent.
For the recreational fishery, both the advisory committee and the Division of Marine Fisheries are recommending an increase in the minimum size limit to 15 inches and a decrease in the creel limit to six fish per day, which will result in an overall recreational harvest reduction of 20.2 percent.
The advisory committee will meet with division staff again, after all the meetings, to consider public comment received before making their final recommendations to the Marine Fisheries Commission in November. The commission will then tentatively approve the plan and send it to the secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture for review.
A copy of the draft amendment can be downloaded at the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries website at http://www.ncfisheries.net/fmps/down…icMeetings.pdf.
See this from Sport Fishermen.
NEFMC September Council Meeting Agenda
September 28-30, 2010
Hotel Viking, One Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840
Telephone (401) 847-3300 | Fax (401) 848-4864
Please note the early start time of this meeting on September 28th.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
8:30 a.m. Introductions and Announcements (Council Chairman John Pappalardo)
8:35 Swearing in of Reappointed Council Members and Election of 2010-2011 Council Officers (NMFS)
9:30 Reports on Recent Activities
Council Chairman, Executive Director, NMFS Regional Administrator, NOAA General Counsel, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaisons, and representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, NMFS Enforcement/VMS, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
10:45 Review Experimental Fishery Permit (EFP) Applications (Council Deputy Director Chris Kellogg)
Discuss Council comments on EFPs as appropriate
10:50 Open Period for Public Comments (John Pappalardo)
The public may provide brief comments on items relevant to Council business but not otherwise listed on the agenda
11:00 Spiny Dogfish Action (Jessica Coakley, MAFMC staff)
Review the Mid-Atlantic Council’s action on spiny dogfish acceptable biological catch, annual catch limits, and accountability measures contained within its Omnibus Amendment and consider taking similar action
11:30 Herring Committee Report (Doug Grout)
Review, discuss and approve management alternatives for inclusion in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP); alternatives include: 1) a catch monitoring program for the herring fishery (including but not limited to reporting requirements, observer coverage, portside sampling, measures to maximize sampling, measures to address net slippage, maximized retention, electronic monitoring); 2) measures to address river herring bycatch, interactions with the Atlantic mackerel fishery and protect spawning fish; and 3) criteria for midwater trawl access to the groundfish closed areas; this agenda item will continue until meeting adjournment at the end of the day
12:30 p.m. Lunch Break
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
8:30 a.m. Report on the June 2010 Stock Assessment Workshop/Stock Assessment Review Committee (SAW/SARC) Meetings (Dr. Jim Weinberg, Northeast Fisheries Science Center)
Information provided will cover the status of pollock, monkfish and sea scallops
9:00 Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Report
(Dr. Steve Cadrin, School for Marine Science and Technology – SMAST)
Review SSC discussions that include the committee’s recommendations for updated acceptable biological catches (ABCs); the ABCs specified address monkfish, sea scallops and several groundfish stocks (pollock, Gulf of Maine winter flounder, northern and southern windowpane flounder, ocean pout and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder)
10:15 Monkfish Action (Terry Stockwell)
Discuss the SSC’s report relative to its implications concerning the monkfish reference points and ABC recommendations, and possibly initiate a framework adjustment
10:30 Scallop Committee Report (Dr. David Pierce)
Review and approve final measures to be included in Amendment 15 to the Scallop FMP; measures under consideration would: 1) include annual catch limits; 2) address excess capacity in the limited access scallop fishery through stacking of permits and/or leasing agreements; and 3) implement several adjustments to make the overall FMP more effective — including adjustments to the general category management program and the overfishing definition, modifications to the essential fish habitat (EFH) closed areas, modifications to the research set-aside program, and consideration of changing the start date of the fishing year to May 1
12:00 p.m. Lunch Break
1:00 Scallop agenda item (Dr. David Pierce) – continued
5:30 Joint Groundfish/Scallop Oversight Committee Report (Rip Cunningham)
Review committee decisions to forward the Joint Groundfish/Scallop Advisory Panel recommendations to the appropriate committees for further review and possible action and suspend the joint committee until a future date
Thursday, September 30, 2010
8:30 a.m. Briefing on Amendment 18 to the South Atlantic Council’s Snapper Grouper FMP
(Kate Quigley, SAFMC staff)
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) is amending its FMP for snapper grouper complex species throughout their range to meet the new annual catch limit requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act; because there are landings of some of these species in the New England Council’s jurisdiction, the SAFMC is considering extending the management boundaries for all species in the snapper grouper complex northward to include the Mid-Atlantic and New England Council jurisdictions (except black sea bass, golden tilefish, and scup); following a presentation on the proposed measures, there will be an opportunity for the Council and public to ask questions and/or offer comments
9:15 Red Crab Action (David Goethel)
Review and approve final measures to be included in Amendment 3 to the Red Crab FMP; the action will implement annual catch limits, accountability measures and other Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements as well as the fishery specifications for 2011-2013, quota-based management and modifications to other management measures
10:30 Report on the July 2010 Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee (TRAC) Meeting
(Loretta O’Brien, Northeast Fisheries Science Center)
Review of the status of the transboundary stocks managed through the U.S./Canada Resource Sharing Understanding — Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder
11:00 Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) Report (George Lapointe)
Review and possibly approve TMGC recommendations for fishing year 2011 total allowable catches for Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder
12:00 p.m. Lunch Break
1:00 Groundfish Committee Report (Frank Blount)
Initiate Framework Adjustment 45 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP; measures under consideration include revising the pollock status determination criteria, changing ABCs for pollock, modifying the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder rebuilding strategy, implementing measures to protect spawning cod in the inshore Gulf of Maine, implementing additional sectors, changing monitoring requirements for handgear A and B permitted vessels and changing General Category Scallop Vessel restrictions in the Great South Channel; other issues could be considered as a result of the September 2010 Groundfish Committee meeting
5:00 Other Business
Although other non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come before this Council for discussion, those issues may not be the subjects of formal action during this meeting. Council action will be restricted to those issues specifically listed in this notice and any issues arising after publication of this notice that require emergency action under section 305 (c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to take final action to address the emergency.
Documents pertaining to Council actions are available for review prior to a final vote by the Council. Please call (978) 465-0492 for copies or check the Council website at www.nefmc.org. Note that if you are submitting comments for Council consideration at this meeting they must be received at the office at least three business days prior to the start of the meeting.
Notice Issue Date: September 7, 2010
NOAA cuts ‘common pool’ limits in half
The federal government has abruptly cut by 50 percent the fishing opportunities for the small number of groundfishing permitholders who are not part of the new "catch share" system, and are fishing out of the so-called common pool.
The president of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction described the action announced Wednesday as providing the coup de grace to the few fishermen still struggling to remain viable under the old Days at Sea regulatory rules.
And the executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, which warned against the instability in empowering mid-year adjustments, agreed.
"Just another slash or nail in the coffin for anyone who remained in the common pool," said the coalition's Jackie Odell.
The seafood coalition, the largest industry group in New England with members in New York as well, advised the government last winter against allowing mid-season adjustments.
"Through no fault of their own," the coalition said in public comment, "vessel owners have no choice but to participate in the common pool. The vessel owners deserve to be given a reasonable and fair opportunity … to survive in the groundfish fishery. This includes providing common pool fishery participants with some reasonable measure of certainty for planning their annual fishing operations.
The common pool substratum is made up of fishermen who, for the most part, lacked the 10-year landings history needed for a viable share of the total allocation and a place in the catch share system now entering its fifth month.
The creation of a two-tiered system allowed the federal government to skirt a requirement in the Magnuson-Stevens Act that requires a proof by referendum that the industry sought to convert into a catch share system format.
So many advantages and preferences were loaded into the catch share sector side of the fishery last year — the pivotal votes were in June 2009 at a Portland meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council — that virtually the only permit holders choosing the common pool were holding permits that had little catch experience connected to it.
The mid-season adjustment by the office of Patricia Kurkul, Gloucester-based regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was the latest in a series that shaved trip limits in an effort to "ensure a stable supply of groundfish throughout the fishing year," according to the text of the Tuesday announcement.
By the system of time-keeping employed by NOAA, with a vessel charged with a full day at sea for any part of a day, the mid-season adjustment "will ensure the differential rate is effective in reducing effort sufficiently," the agency explained.
"The total trip length will be first rounded up to whole days," NOAA explained, "and then the differential rate will be applied."
By this system, a fishing trip of 13 hours would take 48 hours or two days off the permitted time allowed fishing.
Read the complete story from the Gloucester Daily Times.
Fishermen decry skate catch limits
A National Marine Fisheries Service decision this week to reduce the trip limit for skate wings to 500 pounds for the remainder of the 2010 fishing year has riled Bay State fishermen who say the move is unnecessary and will cost lots of jobs.
"We employ probably 30 people for the skates and we're going to have to let them go now," said Louis Juillard who manages the fish division of Marder Trawling Inc., a fish house in the South End of New Bedford. "Normally the skate fishery never closes and we take between 30 to 40 million pounds of wings every year."
But the 2010 allocation provided for a total catch of just over 20 million pounds of skate wings this year, with the stipulation that landings would be reduced when 80 percent of that total was reached. The fishing year began on May 1 and, according to the letter that skate permit holders received, the National Marine Fisheries Service is "projecting" that this figure has already been reached.
But fishery regulators are making a big mistake, Julliard said. "They don't realize that they are hurting people. If need be, we're going to sue the government because that's the only way we can be heard."
The skate limit started out in May at 20,000 pounds per trip and that was reduced to 5,000 pounds in mid-July, according to Richie Canastra of the Whaling City Display Auction. "Now, with just 500 pounds, it means that boats are going to be discarding 30 to 50 thousand pounds per trip, he said. "It's a return to wasteful fishing, and we're looking at roughly 300 jobs being lost because of flawed science," he said.
Canastra was scheduled to take the industry's position before a national television audience with a live appearance, along with New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang, on the Fox Business News channel Wednesday evening. "Ninety-five percent of skate and dogfish — which just got closed down, too — is exported. With a trade deficit, I don't understand why this administration is doing this now," Canastra said.
Fishermen, accustomed to seeing large numbers of skate coming aboard, greeted the news with incredulity. Captain Tom Vinagre of the dragger Destiny, back in port ahead of Hurricane Earl, said he could easily fill his net with skate in certain areas after a 20-minute tow.
"Now we can't target them?"
Read the complete story from The South Coast Today [subscription site]
Passamaquoddys vow they still will fish in federal waters
"We are not going to knuckle under. It has come down to our survival," said Fred Moore, a member of the tribal council, a former representative in the Maine Legislature and a commercial fisherman. At issue is the tribe's contention that it is exempt from U.S. fishing regulations. The Passamaquoddy Tribe has been in discussions with the National Marine Fisheries Service over its rights to fish in federal waters. Moore said the tribe has been forced to fish in federal waters out of economic necessity and is trying to cooperate with the fisheries service in observing U.S. fishing regulations.
Patricia Kurkul, northeast regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, then issued a warning to the tribe that its members face charges and seizure of any catch taken from federal waters.
She said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the fisheries service's parent agency, is exploring the Passamaquoddies' assertion that they are exempt from U.S. fishing laws, but that doesn't mean the federal government recognizes those claims at the moment.
"They are not familiar with our indigenous rights," said Kani Malsom of Pleasant Point, an owner of the Paulo Marc. He declined to identify the captain who was stopped by the Coast Guard.
Citing a 60 percent unemployment rate, tribal members say they need to fish to survive, physically and economically. Moore, who is making another run for the Legislature, said no treaty exists between his tribe and the state or federal government that limits where the Passamaquoddies may fish.
Read the complete story from The Kennebec Journal.
New Bedford Mayor, Fishing Industry Leader Appear on Fox Business Channel
The mayor of New Bedford, Scott Lang, joins Richie Canastra, owner of Whaling City Display Auction, to speak with FOX Business News about current conditions in the fishing industry.
Watch the video from FOX Business News here.
Dogfish actions explained
There has been a great deal of controversy over the recent announcements by NOAA Fisheries concerning dogfish. This year, an action was taken that resulted in an increase of about 20% in the 2010 quota over the 2009 quota, and kept the trip limit at 3,000 pounds/trip.
For more on that action, click on this link.
As the recent actions have been controversial, Saving Seafood asked NOAA Fisheries to explain the current situation. Their explanation follows: The stock is rebuilt, overfishing is not occurring, and the biomass is about where projections made in 2003 and 2006 [Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SARC) 37 and 43] forecast it would be by 2009.
The 2010 quota could have been set higher without allowing overfishing in 2010. However, that was not the only concern. The New England Fisheries Management Council's Joint Spiny Dogfish Committee supported a lower quota than the maximum allowable, one that reflected a constant catch strategy that would guard against dramatic fluctuation in annual quota in future years. This is a concern because despite improved recruitment in 2009, the Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) is expected to decline beginning in 2015 when the weak year-classes of 1997-2003 (the weakest on record) start entering the SSB.
At 15 million pounds held constant over the next 5 years, there's an increase in the quota over 2009 but just a 2 percent chance that the stock will be newly overfished in 2015 when the weak year classes begin to enter the spawning stock.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 525
- 526
- 527
- 528
- 529
- …
- 603
- Next Page »