July 22, 2016 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England Fishery Management Council submitted a proposal to NMFS that asks to shift the start to commercial scallop fishing in the Mid-Atlantic fishery one month to April 1.
According to the Council’s plan, moving the start of the fishing season is so federal and third party researchers have more time to submit stock assessment findings so a comprehensive fishery management plan can be agreed upon prior to the season.
It would also reduce the need to for mid-season adjustments, which happens when stock data is submitted past deadline.
“The combined measures are expected to improve the overall timing of scallop fishery specifications so that final measures are available for the fishery at the start of the fishing year,” the Council’s proposal said.
The plan is the result of ongoing discussions among industry stakeholders, third-party research firms and state and federal fishing authorities on how to effectively produce the most comprehensive scallop management plan each season.
All scallop fishery data is supposed to be submitted by August 1 of each year so a management plan can be finalized for the next fishing season. Since several state and federal agencies are involved in setting allocations and days –at-sea, even a one week delay can grind the process to a halt.
And in recent seasons late data submissions, mostly by federal fishery authorities, did result in mid-season adjustments to the scallop management plan.
The hope now is to approve the one month delay, which will give all scientists enough time to submit data on time.
The one month shift is not likely to have a large impact on the Mid-Atlantic scallop fishery since most major industry stakeholders have been aware of that the shift could happen. Additionally, historical data shows that March and April are generally low producing months for a majority of Mid-Atlantic scallopers.
Still, some boats that do fish in March will have to adjust their plans for the delay, likely by conserving days-at-sea to last throughout the fishing year. There is also the possibility of declines in the meat fill ratios in the scallops depending on when the spring spawning season starts.
This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.