NOAA Fisheries Service Announces That Period 2 Of The 2009 Spiny Dogfish Fishery Will Close Effective 0001 Hours, January 26, 2010.
Northeast Groundfish Amendment 16 Approved
A revision of federal groundfishing rules known as Amendment 16 has been approved by NOAA’s Fisheries Service. The final regulations required to implement these measures are expected to be published in late April or early May.
Fisheries Survival Fund outlines positions on the upcoming reconsideration of Scallop Framework 21
The Fisheries Survival Fund has sent a letter to John Pappalardo, chairman of the New England Fisheries Management Council, outlining FSF's positions regarding the upcoming reconsideration of Scallop Framework 21.
The letter makes six major points:
1. The buffer between Acceptable Biological Catch ("ABC") and the target landings level is overly precautionary.
2. The scallop fishery was not subject to overfishing in 2009.
3 . The under-estimation of open area catch rates that led to F(target) being exceeded in 2008 and 2009 has been corrected.
4. The SSC's ABC of 65 million pounds conforms with the National Standard 1 Guidelines' advice for precautionary management; a target F of 0.24 for 2010 presents a virtually nonexistent chance of overfishing.
5. The virtually imperceptible economic advantages of the F=0.20 approach are highly uncertain and do not outweigh short-term economic impacts.
6. The differences in projected yellowtail flounder by-catch cannot justify the F=0.20 strategy.
OPINION: Fishing regs: Protect scallops, not pols
The New England Fishery Management Council should ignore the politicians and stick by its guns. To prevent overfishing of the region’s scallops, the council voted last fall to reduce the number of days that scallopers can be at sea.
The panel recognized that the $360 million a year scallop industry could become dangerously depleted without some reasonable limits. But now, in the face of political pressure from Governor Deval Patrick, Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney, and others, the council has agreed to reconsider the restrictions at a meeting later this month.
The restrictions are necessary. In both 2008 and 2009, scallop catches considerably exceeded the council’s projected target levels. To get the catch for 2010 back down to the 2009 target, the council recommended cutting days at sea from about 37 to 29 and limiting access to protected fishing grounds.
N.H. Candidates Sought for New England Fishery Management Council
The State of New Hampshire has been notified by the National Marine Fisheries Service of vacancies for New Hampshire’s obligatory seat and two at-large seats for the New England Fishery Management Council. New Hampshire’s obligatory seat is currently held by David Goethel of New Hampshire.
To assist in filling these vacancies, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Marine Fisheries Division will host a candidates’ interview night on Monday, February 8, 2010, at 7:00 p.m., at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, N.H. Potential candidates must be prepared to present their qualifications at the session. Interested candidates should contact Doug Grout, Chief of Marine Fisheries for the N.H. Fish and Game Department, at (603) 868-1095.
Read the complete story at Fishing RSS Feeds.
OPINION: Panel ‘reconsideration’ of scallop limits doesn’t erase questions
There may be a sense of relief among fishermen and industry leaders that the head of the New England Fishery Management Council, Massachusetts' own John Pappalardo, finally agreed to putting the absurd scallop limits up for "reconsideration" with the council meets next week.
But the fact is, Pappalardo caved to allow this reconsideration only after Congressman Barney Frank rightfully called for his resignation or ouster from the council — and only after he was called to a meeting in the office of Gov. Deval Patrick, who appoints the state's council representatives.
And other aspects of this story show that Pappalardo should have no place running a government body that has direct control over fishing regulatory policy.
The idea behind the diverse regulatory council is a good one — or was. It's an effort to try to bring together representatives of the fishing industry, environmental groups and legislators to try to find some equal ground in setting policy. And that's a noble effort.
But it's not working — especially now.
While Pappalardo and McGee are well-respected council members, the scallop scenario has raised enormous credibility questions about the setting of these limits. That's borne out with Bedford Mayor Scott Lang filing a Freedom of Information Act request looking into EDF's role in what needs to be a fair and credible government process. Frankly, the same credibility issues would still arise if the council were dominated by the fishing industry.
Pappalardo and the council's real commitment to fairness will shine through when the council actually votes to raise the scallop limits to the science-based figures, not merely "reconsider" and uphold the status quo.
The bottom line is that this form of policy-setting must be revisited and reformed — just like the flawed Magnuson-Stevens formula that put it all in place.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.
Connecticut Fisheries Council Representative criticized by boat owners in hometown
A New England Fishery Management Council member already at the center of a dispute over scallop allocations is now under fire in her own community and state.
Several fishing boat owners are challenging the claims of Sally McGee, the Environmental Defense Fund senior staffer who also heads the New England Council's Scallop Committee, after she said in an interview on the EDF Web site that "dwindling fish populations" have nearly destroyed the "once vibrant" fishing community of Stonington, Conn.
Eight fishing boat-business owners who work out of Stonington, interviewed by Richard Gracek, a fisherman and sometimes columnist, objected to McGee's implications that some stocks are nearly gone in Stonington and across New England.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.
Revised NEFMC Agenda for January 26-28 meeting
The New England Fisheries Management Council has issued a revised agenda for their January 26-28 meeting to be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel in Portsmouth, NH. The agenda for January 27th was modified from the initial agenda as the committee will review and may reconsider measures proposed in Scallop Framework Adjustment 21. Read the updated agenda (PDF)
Scallop deals turn spotlight on Cape Cod fisheries group
In December, days after federal scallop permits were devalued by the New England Fishery Management Council on the motion of the representative of the Environmental Defense Fund, the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust — which is advised by EDF — announced a grant from the Walton Family Foundation and plans to buy scallop permits.
The $500,000 grant from the foundation of the family that founded Wal-Mart moved the fisheries trust, the investment division of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, toward its capitalization goal of $10 million for the purchase of scallop and groundfish permits. And according to the Dec. 4 announcement, the trust had raised $2 million toward that end.
The previous week, the council on a 10-7 vote on the motion of EDF senior staffer and councilor Sally McGee, decided to hold the scallop harvest for 2010 to a total catch millions of pounds shy of the amount the independent Science and Statistical Committee and the Plan Development Committee said would be viable.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.
BLOG: Reading fisheries council the riot act, by Jack Spillane
Kudos to Gov. Deval Patrick, Congressman Barney Frank, Mayor Scott Lang and others for essentially reading the New England Fisheries Management Council the riot act.
The council, and its previously dismissive chairman, John Pappalardo, has now reversed itself and agreed to review unfair federal scallop restrictions imposed in November.
Previously, Pappalardo had refused to review the restrictions, which area scientists say are based on bad science.
It’s always an uphill battle with the New England Fisheries Management Council. I’ve covered it off and on since I was a younger reporter and and it has a bureaucratic, often closed-minded approach, to the issue of managing the fisheries.
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