February 19, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council has posted a revised draft of the preferred alternatives for Framework Adjustment 59 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan on its website. The draft includes updated tables that reflect the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s (SSC) acceptable biological catch (ABC) recommendations for groundfish stocks for the 2020-2022 fishing years and the annual catch limits (ACLs) and sub-ACLs that stem from those recommendations.
A copy of the revised preferred alternatives is available here. The revised sub-ACLs are reflected in the tables at right and on page 2.
The Council signed off on Framework 59 during its December 2019 meeting. At the time, the Council approved 2020-2022 catch limits for most of the stocks in the groundfish complex based on the SSC’s ABC recommendations.
However, the Council voted to send four stocks back to the SSC for reconsideration – Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank haddock, American plaice, and pollock. All four stocks are healthy and well above their spawning stock biomass targets based on the latest assessments