June 6, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:
The Monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support two recommended projects during 2023 and 2024 that focus on one of the highest research priorities identified by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. The priority calls for:
“Research to develop a standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) index for the commercial directed monkfish gillnet fishery to be used for stock assessment purposes.”
The New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils jointly manage the monkfish fishery. The New England Council has the administrative lead. The Councils and NOAA Fisheries work together to support the Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program. While the Councils determine the research priorities, NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.
NOAA Fisheries announced the recommended 2023-2024 awards on June 6, 2023. No federal money is used to support monkfish RSA projects. Instead, the RSA awards come in the form of monkfish days-at-sea. The Councils “set aside” 500 days-at-sea annually from the total number of monkfish days allocated tolimited access monkfish vessels. The money generated from compensation fishing under these days is used to fund the research and compensate industry partners.