June 28, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council covered three items related to the Northeast skate complex when it met June 27-29, 2023 in Freeport, Maine. These included:
• A brief recap of the May 22, 2023 assessment oversight panel meeting for the Skate Complex Management Track Stock Assessment, along with a reminder of the method used to assess skates (the peer review meeting for this assessment is scheduled for September 18-22, 2023);
• Acceptance of the final thorny skate whitepaper and discussion of next steps; and
• Initiation of Framework Adjustment 12 to set 2024-2025 specifications for the skate complex and consider removing the partial possession prohibition on barndoor skates and allowing possession of smooth skates.
THORNY SKATE REBUILDING: The Council made it a 2023 work priority to develop a whitepaper on potential approaches to support thorny skate rebuilding. The Council received a progress report on this work during its April 2023 meeting. The Skate Plan Development Team refined the draft whitepaper, which The thorny skate rebuilding whitepaper is posted here. was then presented to the Skate Committee and Advisory Panel for further discussion. The Council voted to accept the final version during its June meeting