June 29, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council has approved a problem statement to guide its work on revisiting the Inshore Midwater Trawl Restricted Area that was developed under Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan
The restricted area, also referred to as a buffer zone or exclusion zone, was implemented by NOAA Fisheries but subsequently vacated by a federal court on March 29, 2022. More information on the court’s ruling can be found here. As a next step, the Council made it a 2023 work priority to take another look at the area and address issues raised by the court.
The Council approved the problem statement for this subsequent action during its June 27-29, 2023 meeting. The vote was 13-to-4. The problem statement, outlined in full on page two, expands the geographic scope and potential range of measures and gear types to be considered under a new action.
Since this next action will go beyond revisiting the original Amendment 8 provisions, the Council also had to approve a change to its 2023 Council priorities, which it did by a large majority. As a result, the Council will:
“Explore a range of management alternatives to minimize user conflicts, including spatially and temporally explicit gear restrictions, area closures, and possession limits”; and
“Consider, but not be limited to, the spatial extent of the Midwater Trawl Restricted Area approved by the Council in Amendment 8, with a particular focus on areas not already subject to seasonal closures to midwater trawling.”
The Herring Plan Development Team, Herring Committee, and Advisory Panel (AP) will work on the new herring action over the summer using the problem statement as its starting point. The Council will receive an update during its September 2023 meeting.