At the May 6th meeting of New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang’s Ocean and Fisheries Council, Brian Rothschild and Kevin Stokesbury led a discussion about the proposal drafted in response to Governor Deval Patrick’s request.
Mayor’s Ocean and Fisheries Council Meeting
May, 6, 2009 – Waterfront Grille Restaurant, New Bedford MA
Meeting Summary
The Mayor’s Ocean and Fisheries Council met on May 6, 2009 at the Waterfront Grille restaurant in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The meeting was attended by forty-five people representing various stakeholders from the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine. Brian Rothschild and Kevin Stokesbury, of the School for Marine Science and Technology, led a discussion about the proposal drafted in response to Governor Deval Patrick’s request. At the previous meeting of the Mayor’s Ocean and Fishery Council, Governor Patrick requested that Dr. Stokesbury draft a proposal within thirty days to address the perceived uncertainty within the Southern New England winter flounder assessment.
Stock Assessment & Uncertainty
Given the implications of the Southern New England winter flounder stock assessment and the inherent uncertainty, a review and examination of alternative interpretations has been proposed. A preliminary look at the data suggests that Southern New England winter flounder may undergo periodic pulses of strong recruitment, with intermittent periods of low abundance. If this theory was confirmed, it would suggest that the current estimated Bmsy is too high. Currently the Southern New England winter flounder stock is considered overfished, thus we are mandated to rebuild it. The rebuilding deadline is 2014; however, by current assessments there is less than a 1% chance of success, with no fishing mortality.
Modifying Boundaries
Through discussions with industry members, it became clear that the configuration of current Southern New England winter flounder “no take” zone is preventing fishermen from efficiently harvesting Georges Bank winter flounder and other groundfish species. The group proposed moving the “no take” boundary west, to line up with that of the Gulf of Maine 2:1 area, allowing fishermen to harvest Georges Bank winter flounder and other groundfish in one trip. Using study fleet data Dr. Stokesbury was able to demonstrate that Southern New England winter flounder are not caught within the area of the proposed boundary change, thus modification would not jeopardize stock recovery and would alleviate some stress on the fleet.
Alternative Fishing Strategies
The proposal also includes an investigation of alternative fishing strategies to minimize catch of Southern New England winter flounder while obtaining optimum yield from healthy stocks. Previous discussions with industry members yielded several species characteristics that could be used to design specialized fishing strategies. Spatial and temporal patterns in abundance, seasonal movements, and distribution at depth can be used to determine, on a fine scale, where the fish are located, and thus can be avoided. Gear modifications are also a promising solution. At the meeting it was pointed out that there are already two gears that catch little to no flounder; the Rhule trawl and Haddock Separator trawl.
Proposed Survey Program
At a previous meeting, the distribution of Southern New England winter flounder was discussed. Industry members identified an area where historically there have been high abundances of Southern New England winter flounder. Within this area the National Marine Fisheries Service has conducted, on average, eight survey tows. To further investigate the abundance and distribution of Southern New England winter flounder within the ‘target area,’ Dr. Stokesbury is proposing to conduct more than 200 survey tows with industry vessels. A tagging study and shadow survey have also been proposed. These experiments would provide valuable information about catch per unit effort (CPUE), abundance, by-catch, movement, migration, stock structure, size frequency, growth, and natural mortality. While Southern New England winter flounder are the primary focus of the proposal, it was logical to incorporate skates. Regulations associated with declines of thorny skate threaten over 500 jobs in New Bedford alone, and information can easily be gathered in association with the proposed survey.
Decision Support System
A frustration common among stakeholders is the current information systems, specifically the interface between independent data and management decisions. Many industry members feel that even if they were to produce information relevant to a particular stock assessment, it would not be incorporated into management decisions. With increased opportunities for cooperative research, and major changes to the current management regime, a system needs to be developed to more efficiently process and incorporate information into fishery management decisions. Currently such a system is being developed at the School for Marine Science and Technology, the Decision Support System.
There was general agreement on direction. A proposal to accomplish the tasks is being developed by the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute (MFI).