April 7, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council is looking for members of the mobile gear, gillnet, trap/pot, and recreational fishing communities, as well as other members of the public, to serve on its On-Demand Fishing Gear Conflict Working Group. The application deadline is Monday, April 24, 2023.
The working group’s goal is to identify strategies for reducing gear interactions between on-demand gear, which is often referred to as ropeless gear, and fisheries that use other gear types, such as the groundfish, monkfish, and scallop mobile gear fisheries and the recreational party/charter rod-and-reel fishery.
In addition, the working group will identify strategies for reducing gear interactions that may result from future measures adopted for sink gillnet fisheries and trap/pot fisheries. These would be measures other than those already implemented for the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to protect North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, fin whales, and other protected resources.