June 24, 2012 — After their meeting earlier this week, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), announced new rules impacting the Atlantic herring, groundfish, and sea scallop fisheries.
After their meeting earlier this week, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), announced new rules impacting the Atlantic herring, groundfish, and sea scallop fisheries.
The rule with the most impact is that Atlantic herring fishermen are now subject to a comprehensive monitoring program that includes full observer coverage on all of the fleet's 46 vessels. The council chose to focus on boats that land about 97 percent of the herring quota, therefore excluding smaller vessels that catch only small amounts of herring.
Recent statistics indicate that about 144 million pounds of Atlantic herring were sold by federally permitted dealers generating about $17.9 million for the boats. This represents a 22 percent decrease in revenues from 2009 because the council approved fishery specifications for 2010-2012 which lowered the herring catch limits for 2010-2012 to ensure sustainability.
The council also proposed measures to address the very low quota of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder that will be available to groundfish fishermen in 2012. The allowable catch has and will continue to severely constrain New England boats that harvest cod, haddock, flounders and other bottom-dwelling species.
A majority of the council voted to request that NMFS take action to re-apportion the amount of Georges Bank yellowtail allocated to the scallop fishery by reducing it to 346,185 pounds while increasing the groundfish fisheries' allocation to 811,440 pounds. In addition, they asked the agency to approve a one-time measure through an emergency action that would allow the scallop fishery to continue its operations next year without any additional restrictions unless it exceeded its original yellowtail allocation of 674,730 pounds.