October 31, 2014 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
MYSTIC, Conn. – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved Addendum V to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfish. The Addendum ensures consistency in spiny dogfish management with the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 by prohibiting processing at-sea, including the removal of fins. Prior to approval, states could process spiny dogfish at-sea, so long as the ratio of fins aboard the vessel did not exceed 5% of the ratio of carcasses aboard the vessel. The Board set an implementation date of May 1, 2015 for states to promulgate this measure.
In related business, the Coastal Sharks Management Board approved a July 1, 2015 opening date for the large coastal sharks species group. All other species groups will open in conjunction with federal waters’ fisheries (Table 1). Additionally, based on the recommendation of its Coastal Sharks Technical Committee, the Board approved a 36 fish possession limit for sharks in the large coastal sharks species group (silky, tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, and smooth hammerhead sharks) for 2015.
Table 1: Opening dates for commercial coastal sharks species groups, 2015 fishing season.
For more information, please contact Marin Hawk, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mhawk@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.