October 10, 2012 — The following is a summary actions related to Atlantic Scallops at the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) meeting held September 25 – 27, 2012 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
In the scallop portion of its agenda, the Council voted to recommend that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) close the Elephant Trunk Area by emergency action, as both the Scallop Advisory Panel and Scallop Committee had recommended. In general, the Council permitted the Scallop Advisory Panel and Committee recommendations to move forward, either by direct action or by letting the Scallop Plan Development Team, Advisory Panel, and Committee keep moving forward with their work on Framework 24, with no substantial alteration. Among other things, the Advisory Panel/Committee motions added an alternative to put some of the 2013 access area trips into the Nantucket Lightship Access Area and to add an option to only close Closed Area II from August 15-November 15.
Additional agenda items were handled on the next day of the Council meeting, as either part of Council priority setting or the habitat discussion. Regarding Council priorities, the Council provided for the work time for Framework 24 to be a one-year framework. This will ensure that (i) new information is used to re-assess fishing levels for 2014, (ii) the timing of Mid-Atlantic access area openings is considered in light of growth detected in the 2013 surveys; and (iii) that a scallop framework be available to add access areas within the current habitat closed areas, assuming the habitat amendment is completed.
Regarding habitat, the Council voted to expedite completion of the Omnibus Habitat Amendment, including potential revisions to or elimination of the habitat closed areas, and to add new scallop access areas in the first available framework.
The Council considered Georges Bank yellowtail flounder allocations for 2013, as well. The U.S.-Canada Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) had voted to recommend an overall 500 mt quota for the U.S. and Canada to share for Georges Bank yellowtail, leaving the U.S. share in the low 200’s—an amount considered insufficient by the scallop harvesting industry. In contrast, the New England Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommended consideration of an overall quota of 1,150 mt. The Council did not vote to approve the TMGC-recommended level, and will consider the quota level recommended by the SSC as well.
The Council did not move forward with the SSC recommendation that there be no possession of Georges Bank yellowtail.
The Council also considered options for the 2013 scallop sub-Annual Catch Limits for Georges Bank yellowtail as a part of the next Groundfish Framework 48. The Groundfish Committee had forwarded two options: (i) providing a sub-Annual Catch Limit to the scallop fishery according to its need (as is done now), or (ii) instead allocating only 8% of the Georges Bank yellowtail quota to the scallop fishery.
The 8% allocation is based on a calculation that 8% of the quota represents the scallopers’ share of the quota over time. The credibility of that calculation is questioned by the scallop harvesting industry. An 8% allocation could leave leave the scallop fishery with under 20 mt of yellowtail for 2013. The Council voted to add an alternative that the scallop sub-Annual Catch Limit be set at 16% as well. The industry maintains that any sub-Annual Catch Limit must be based on an assessment of scallopers’ actual need for yellowtail to prosecute the fishery in 2013.
There has been no action on Monkfish.
Meetings are continuing this week, and an updated summary will be released when they are completed.