September 25, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council has decided to reopen the public comment period for
Whiting Amendment 22, which is being developed to potentially limit access to the small-mesh
multispecies fishery. The amendment contains several alternatives related to: (1) limited access
qualification criteria; (2) possession limits by permit type; and (3) permit conditions.
The Council held five public hearings on the amendment in July but then discovered a discrepancy between the number of estimated qualifying vessels cited in the amendment’s Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) versus the public hearing document itself. The DEIS contains the correct number of
estimated qualifiers. Those numbers are lower than those listed in the original public hearing document.