September 24, 2018 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition:
The Sustainable Fisheries Coalition (SFC) is urging the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) to adopt the recommendations of its Herring Advisory Panel at its meeting this week. The recommendations of the Advisory Panel continue the conservative management of Atlantic herring, without imposing unnecessarily harsh restrictions on the herring and lobster fisheries.
The Council will be meeting to consider two main herring issues: establishing guidelines for setting herring catch levels, and addressing alleged user conflicts and localized depletion. The SFC believes that the Advisory Panel recommendations on both of these issues provide reasonable and sufficiently conservative means to address resource sustainability and minimize adverse interactions among marine users.
When setting the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) for herring, the Council has identified two priorities: “account for the role of Atlantic herring within the ecosystem,” and “stabilize the fishery at a level designated to achieve optimum yield.” The SFC believes Alternative 1 best meets both of these objectives while minimizing near-term economic impacts for herring- and lobster-dependent communities.
A new stock assessment shows the Atlantic herring population has been suffering from poor recruitment, meaning low levels of young fish have been entering the population. This has led to a drop in the overall herring population. As a result, managers are reducing allowable harvest levels over the next few years. The catch reductions needed to help maintain the spawning populations over the next three years could be dramatically harsher under some ABC “control rule” options being considered, including shutting the fishery down completely. Alternative 1 provides the highest possible amount of a very limited catch over at least the next three years, allowing the population to grow while mitigating the impacts on fishing communities.
When it comes to dealing with localized depletion and addressing other user conflicts, the SFC supports the preference of the Advisory Panel, Alternative 9. Alternative 9 would open certain closed areas to the herring fishery during the winter, from January to April.
Allowing winter fishing in this particular area, which includes part of the Gulf of Maine as well as waters off Cape Cod, will help avert conflicts between herring vessels, other fishermen, recreational anglers, and whale watching tours.
When considering the issue of user conflicts and localized depletion, it is important that the Council’s decision recognizes that localized depletion of herring has never been documented. Herring, and the species that feed on them, are both highly migratory, and travel over a wide range. Any potential impact from the herring fishery would be limited in duration. Alternative 9 is the proposal that best recognizes this reality.
The Sustainable Fisheries Coalition is comprised of: Capt. Jimmy Ruhle of the F/V DaranaR, Lund’s Fisheries, Seafreeze, Inc., The Town Dock, Irish Venture, Cape Seafoods, Western Sea Fishing Co., Ocean Spray Partnership, and O’Hara Corporation. It represents mid-water trawl and purse seine vessels currently operating in the Atlantic herring fishery, as well as processors, bottom-trawlers, and at-sea freezer vessels.