WASHINGTON – July 13, 2012 – The Fisheries Survival Fund and the Northeast Seafood Coalition, the primary industry groups representing the northeastern scallop and groundfish industries, respectively, have responded to NOAA's announcement that 332,016 pounds of yellowtail quota will be transferred from the scallop industry to the groundfish industry.
The Fisheries Survival Fund stated:
Today, NOAA announced that it will adjust the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder quotas for the scallop and groundfish industries, "to preserve fishing opportunities for both industries." The adjustment will move 332,016 pounds of allowable yellowtail from the commercial scallop industry to the groundfish fishery. As Samuel Rauch, deputy assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service stated in today's press release, both the scallop and groundfish industries worked together "to find an effective solution to a very difficult situation."
Yesterday, the Fisheries Survival Fund, whose participants include the majority of full-time, limited-access scallop permit holders, wrote to Mr. Rauch to express appreciation for his efforts regarding Georges Bank yellowtail flounder annual catch limit issues, to outline remaining concerns, and to reaffirm their position on the transfer.
The letter noted the following:
In its vote to recommend the reallocation, the New England Fishery Management Council also voted in favor of an emergency measure, "indemnifying" scallopers should they exceed their reduced sub-ACL in the 2012 fishing year. Without the indemnification provision, the scallop industry could not support the reallocation.
Because this major switch in quotas (a reduction of about half of the scallop's previous quota) occurs in the middle of the fishing season, and the allocation changes are not based on in-season data on the amount of yellowtail bycatch, or the location in which the scallop industry operates.
Before any further changes to annual catch limits and accountability measures are made, better tools for tracking yellowtail bycatch need to be developed and used. Scallop fishermen currently pay observers to track bycatch during fishing operations, and yet NOAA Fisheries takes five to six months before the observer data is integrated into the catch estimates. The scallop fishermen have no reliable way to keep track of their yellowtail bycatch, and a long period of uncertainty before learning of the potential imposition of accountability measures. It is unfair to the fishermen to impose reactive accountability measures without giving the fleet a real time indicator of whether or not they are in accordance with the set quota.
Other alternatives for accountability measures should be considered, such as the use of a three-year average (as permitted under National Standard 1 Guidelines) for determining when quotas have been exceeded. This method is currently used in many fisheries where the annual catches are highly variable and season data is often unreliable. Under a three year average, the scallop industry could avoid reactive closures if the catch limits were exceeded in only one out of the three years, as long as average remained under the limit.
The letter also emphasizes the importance of the ongoing and highly-successful efforts to develop technology to reduce the incidental bycatch of yellowtail flounder. FSF has been working with NOAA Fisheries and its academic research partners via the Research Set-Aside Program to research and develop operational and gear-related methods to reduce bycatch. They are also working with the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) to expand the bycatch avoidance system that has been producing effective results. These measures should eventually provide a better alternative to the current closure-based accountability measures that cause so much uncertainty and potential loss of scallop optimum yield.
Read the letter from FSF counsel to NOAA Fisheries
The Northeast Seafood Coalition stated:
The Northeast Seafood Coalition ("NSC")-a membership organization that represents 254 small-business entities with 514 permits that operate in the commercial groundfish fishery from Maine to New Jersey-supports today's announcement from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS") to initiate a transfer of approximately 332,016 pounds Georges Bank yellowtail flounder to the commercial groundfish fishery. This action will help to alleviate the severe economic hardship being faced by many NSC members that need yellowtail in order to fish on Georges Bank.
NSC board member and multiple vessel owner Thomas Williams praises the NMFS for recognizing the need for immediate action. "I think it saved the hides of a lot of people. Had [this action] not been made, I don't know that many fishermen could have survived. We know there's an abundance of yellowtail out there, so many that we wouldn't have been able to fish for winter flounder or any flat fish without catching yellowtail. I'm very happy they made this decision. It's critical to our operation," Williams said.
Based on results of a NEFMC requested Georges Bank Yellowtail Working Group and a joint Groundfish and Scallop Committee meeting held in June, it was recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council ("NEFMC") that NMFS utilize existing authority provided in groundfish management plan Framework 47 to immediately transfer 156.9 metric tons ("MT") or 90 percent of the 174.3 MT of GB YT from the Atlantic scallop fishery sub-annual catch limit (ACL) to the groundfish sub-ACL based on revised projections of 2012 GB YT bycatch by the Atlantic scallop fleet. Furthermore, any unused GB YT should be transferred to the groundfish fleet by January 15, as outlined in the existing regulations and based on actual catch from the scallop fleet in fishing year 2012.
The NEFMC motion addressed the oversight made in Framework 47 where the updated projection of GB YT bycatch by the Atlantic scallop fleet did not make it into the final number approved by the Council for the current fishing year 2012.
Furthermore, the Council's motion also requested NMFS initiate an Emergency Action to temporarily relieve the Atlantic scallop fishery from any AM triggered by catch less than 307 MT of yellowtail flounder catch by the scallop fishery that under the current scallop regulations would be required if the sub-ACL is exceeded in 2012. Instead, the pound-for-pound repayment provision of the U.S./Canada agreement could be utilized should the total allowable catch be exceeded for FY 2012.
The NSC appreciates the leadership provided by Council and NOAA leadership to address this crisis. NSC strongly thanks NMFS for their quick action, which will enable groundfish fishermen to make reasonable plans for how to make the best use of what is an extremely small overall ACL for the United States fishery in 2012.
On two separate occasions, in September 2011 and May 2012, the Northeast Seafood Coalition wrote to the NEFMC and NOAA Fisheries Service respectively, urging the reevaluation of estimated Georges Bank yellowtail flounder by-catch in the Atlantic scallop fishery and to adjust sub-allocations of the scallop and groundfish fleets accordingly. NSC staff and leadership have been heavily focused on this critical issue with participation on the Georges Bank Yellowtail Working Group and exchanges with NOAA leadership and the NEFMC to assist in the drafting of the transfer mechanism in FW 47 utilized today.