December 22, 2017 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Comission:
Atlantic states from Massachusetts through Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum XXX to the Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. The details of those hearings follow:
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
January 9, 2018 at 6 PM
Bourne Community Center, Room 2
239 Main Street
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Contact: Nichola Meserve at 617.626.1531
Rhode Island Division of Fish & Wildlife
January 17, 2018 at 6 PM
University of Rhode Island Bay Campus
Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Robert Ballou at 401.222.4700 ext. 4420
Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection
January 10, 2018 at 7 PM
Marine Headquarters
Boating Education Center (Rear Building)
333 Ferry Road
Old Lyme, Connecticut
Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322
New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation
January 11, 2018 at 6 PM
Division of Marine Resources
205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1
East Setauket, New York
Contact: John Maniscalco at 631.444.0437
New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
January 4, 2018 at 6:30 PM
Galloway Township Branch of the Atlantic County Library
306 East Jimmie Leeds Road
Galloway, New Jersey
Contact: Peter Clarke at 609.748.2020
Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control
January 3, 2018 at 6 PM*
DNREC Shoreline & Waterway Services Facility
901 Pilottown Road
Lewes, Delaware
Contact: John Clark at 302.739.9914
* Facility doors will not open until 5:30 PM
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
January 8, 2018 at 6 PM
Ocean Pines Library
11107 Cathell Road
Berlin, Maryland 21811
Contact: Steve Doctor at 410.213.1531
Virginia Marine Resources Commission
January 16, 2018 at 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue
4th Floor Conference Room
Newport News, Virginia
Contact: Rob O’Reilly at 757.247.2248
Draft Addendum XXX was initiated to consider alternative regional management approaches for the recreational fishery, including options for regional allocation of the recreational harvest limit (RHL) based on historical harvest and exploitable biomass. The Draft Addendum also includes an option for coastwide management of black sea bass recreational fisheries should a regional approach not be approved for management.
In recent years, challenges in the black sea bass recreational fishery have centered on providing equitable access to the resource in the face of uncertain population size, structure, and distribution. Since 2012, the recreational fishery has been managed under an ad-hoc regional management approach, whereby the states of Massachusetts through New Jersey have individually crafted measures aimed at reducing harvest by the same percent, while the states of Delaware through North Carolina have set their regulations consistent with the federal waters measures. While this approach allowed the states flexibility in setting measures, some states expressed concerns about equity and accountability in constraining harvest to coastwide catch limits. Additionally, the 2016 Benchmark Stock Assessment provided information on the abundance and distribution of the resource along the coast that was not previously available to include in the management program.
Draft Addendum XXX proposes two approaches for regional allocation of the RHL in the black sea bass recreational fishery: (1) allocation based on a combination of stock biomass and harvest information, or (2) allocation based solely on historical harvest. The regional allocation options offer advantages over coastwide regulations by addressing geographic differences in the stock (size, abundance, and seasonality) while allowing for more uniformity in measures between neighboring states. The Draft Addendum also proposes an option for evaluating harvest and adjusting measures against the annual catch limit, which aims to reduce year to year changes in management measures.
Anglers and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXX either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/BSBDraftAddendumXXX_PublicComment.pdf and can also be accessed on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Public Input. To aid the submission of public comment, please refer to the decision tree found in Appendix III on PDF page 23, which outlines the management options being considered. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XXX).
Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.