The Council Report summarizes major issues voted on or discussed at each regularly scheduled NEFMC meeting. The Council met most recently on September 28-30, in Newport, RI.
At its September meeting, the Council addressed issues related to sea scallops, groundfish, monkfish, skates and red crab.
Sea Scallops
Amendment 15 Finalized
After nearly three years of development, the New England Council approved only some elements of Amendment 15 to its Scallop Plan in a final vote taken last week. Under consideration were measures to comply with annual catch limits, measures to address excess capacity in the limited access scallop fishery and several other more general issues. After substantial testimony from the public and individual Council members, the majority of members voted down alternatives that would have allowed limited access scallop vessels to voluntarily stack two permits on one vessel. Similarly, the Council voted down alternatives that would have allowed voluntary leasing of scallop days-at-sea and/or access area trips.
While the measures included numerous restrictions to prevent excess consolidation and limit potential increases in catch from stacking and/or leasing, the Council ultimately decided that the potential negative impacts on vessels that do not stack or lease outweighed the cost savings, efficiency gains, and conservation of non-fishery resources expected from stacking and leasing.
The primary concerns about leasing and stacking voiced by the public and Council members alike included potential loss of jobs on the waterfront that would have trickle-down impacts on other fisheries and communities, potential impacts on future fishing opportunities for vessels that do not stack or lease, potential impacts on other fisheries if scallop vessels redirect effort after leasing out scallop effort, and unintended consequences of additional consolidation in the scallop fishery.