Saving Seafood

Feds eye new rules to protect right whales from fishing gear

August 26, 2021 — Federal ocean regulators are considering new rules to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear.

The whales number only about 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in the gear. Most of the government’s efforts to protect them has focused on regulating gear used to harvest lobsters and Jonah crabs.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it is working on a new phase of rules that will focus on other fisheries, including those that use gillnets and those that use traps and pots. Lobster and crab gear in the primary threat to the whales, but they are also vulnerable to gear used to harvest fish, conch and other valuable species, said Allison Ferreira, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Request for Comments on Petition for Rulemaking for Atlantic Cod

August 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries published a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking that was submitted in June 2020 by the Conservation Law Foundation. This petition requests we prepare a Secretarial Amendment and take specific emergency action to end overfishing and rebuild Atlantic cod.

This notice provides the public 45 days to comment on the petition for rulemaking.  To review and comment on the notice and associated documents, please go to our online portal and enter NOAA-NMFS-2021-0039 in the search box.

For more information read the notice as published in the Federal Register.

Questions?

Industry: Contact Peter Christopher, Supervisory Fishery Policy Analyst, 978-281-9288

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

Lobster Trap Transfer Period Open August 1 – September 30

August 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Lobster Trap Transfer Period Open August 1 – September 30

The Lobster Trap Transfer Program allows permit holders the annual flexibility to buy and sell trap allocations for Lobster Conservation Management Areas 2, 3, and the Outer Cape. The application period for fishing year 2022 is now open.

Applications must be submitted between August 1 and September 30. Approved transfers will take effect May 1, 2022.  A detailed guide about the program, transfer applications, and individual trap allocations is available on our website.

Questions?

Regulatory Questions:  Contact the Sustainable Fisheries Division, 978-281-9315

Application and Process Questions:  Contact the Analysis and Program Support Division, 978-282-8483

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

Fishing Year 2021 Management Measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery

May 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces final management measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery for the 2021 fishing year (April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022). The landings for fishing year 2021 are projected to be lower than 2020.

Framework 33:

  • Sets management measures for the scallop fishery for the 2021 fishing year, including the annual catch limits for the limited access and limited access general category (LAGC) fleets, as well as days-at-sea allocations and sea scallop access area trip allocations.
  • Implements specifications that would result in a reduction in projected landings compared to fishing year 2020 (40.0 million pounds for fishing year 2021 compared to 51.6 million pounds for fishing year 2020). This is due primarily to a decrease in harvestable biomass and a lack of significant recruitment in recent years.
  • Maintains the existing seasonal closure in Closed Area II (August 15 – November 30) to reduce bycatch of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and northern windowpane flounder.
  • Closes the Closed Area II-East Closed Area to fishing to protect small scallops and reduce bycatch of flatfish.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletins (Limited Access and LAGC) posted on our website.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Travis Ford, Sustainable Fisheries, 978-281-9233

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

Reminder: Possession and Trip Limits for Northeast Multispecies Common Pool Vessels

May 1, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On April 22, 2020, we published an inseason action that set fishing year 2020 common pool possession and trip limits, effective today, May 1, 2020.

You can find more information about the common pool possession and trip limits on the common pool summary page.  You can also read the notice published in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletin.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area

April 24, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to all federally permitted limited access general category scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on April 25, 2019.

As of April 25, 2019, no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that 100 percent of the 2019 default total allowable catch for this area will be taken. The closure will be in effect until the end of the fishing year, March 31, 2020.

If you have declared a trip into the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, April 25, 2019, you may complete the trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

Exemption for Maine and Massachusetts Vessels Fishing Exclusively State Waters

If you have a valid Maine or Massachusetts state scallop permit, you may continue to fish in Maine or Massachusetts state waters within the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area under the State Waters Exemption program. If you are fishing under an Individual Fishing Quota scallop permit (Limited Access General Category A), any pounds landed under a state waters only trip will still be deducted from the vessel’s allocation.

Exemption for Limited Access Vessels Fishing Compensation Trips Under the Scallop Research Set-Aside Program

This closure does not affect the Limited Access fleet that was allocated a separate Total Allowable Catch of 67,500 lb for the 2019 fishing year under Framework 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Limited Access Total Allowable Catch will be harvested by vessels that are participating in the 2019 scallop Research Set-Aside Program.

For more details, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Shannah Jaburek, Sustainable Fisheries Division, at 978-282-8456
Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, at 978-281-9103

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule: Framework 58 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

April 19, 2019 — The following was published by NOAA Fisheries: 

We are seeking public comment on an action that would revise catch limits for seven groundfish stocks for the 2019 fishing year (May 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020), including the three stocks managed jointly with Canada. These revised catch limits are based upon the results of stock assessments conducted in 2018.

For the commercial groundfish fishery, quotas are increasing for Georges Bank cod (+15%), Georges Bank haddock (+19%), witch flounder (+1%), and Georges Bank winter flounder (+6%), but are decreasing for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder (-50%), Gulf of Maine winter flounder (-1%), and Atlantic halibut (-3%).

Framework 58 would also:

  • Exempt vessels fishing exclusively in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Regulatory Area (i.e., in international waters) from the domestic groundfish fishery minimum fish sizes to allow them to better compete in the international frozen fish market.
  • Extend the temporary change to the scallop Accountability Measure implementation policy for the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder to provide the scallop fishery with the flexibility to adjust to current catch conditions while still providing an incentive to avoid yellowtail flounder.

In this proposed rule, we are also announcing:

  • Required adjustments to the 2019 quotas for Gulf of Maine cod because the quota was exceeded in 2017;
  • Proposed management measures for the common pool, the US/Canada Area, and special management programs for fishing year 2019;
  • A proposed extension of the annual deadline to submit applications to lease groundfish days-at-sea between vessels from March 1 to April 30 (the end of the fishing year); and
  • Changes to the regulations to clarify that vessels must report catch by statistical area when submitting catch reports through their vessel monitoring system.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

The comment period is open through May 6, 2019.

Questions?
Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, at 978-281-9103

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Management Measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery 2019 Fishing Year

February 20, 2019 — The following was released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

Today, NOAA Fisheries published the proposed rule to set management measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery for the 2019 fishing year (April 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020). Framework 30 would:

  • Set specifications for the scallop fishery for fishing year 2019, including days-at-sea (DAS) allocations, individual fishing quotas (IFQs), and sea scallop access area trip allocations. These allocations would be similar to those set in the 2018 fishing year. This action would also set precautionary default 2020 specifications, in case we implement the next framework after the April 1, 2020 start of the 2020 fishing year;
  • Allocate effort into three rotational access areas (Mid-Atlantic, Nantucket Lightship-West, and Closed Area 1). Scallop landings allocated to Closed Area 1 would be “flexible” and could be landed from any available access area;
  • Set a 205,000 lb Northern Gulf of Maine total allowable catch (TAC) for 2019 that would be split as 137,500 lb for the limited access general category (LAGC) and 67,500 lb for the limited access fleet;
  • Standardize default specifications for limited access DAS and LAGC IFQ allocations; and
  • Standardize the approach used to set the number of access area trips available to the LAGC IFQ fleet.

To get all the details on these proposed modifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today.

We are accepting comments through March 7, 2019.

Please submit comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to:

Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA, 01930.

Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for Scallop Framework 30.”

Questions?
Fishermen: Contact Travis Ford at 978-281-9233
Media: Contact Allison Ferreira at 978-281-9103 or at

Groundfishermen: ‘It feels like we’re just forgotten’

October 16, 2017 — HAMPTON, New Hampshire — New Hampshire fishermen say temporary federal aid for at-sea monitor coverage is barely holding their industry afloat now that a court battle over the cost appears to have ended.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is currently covering 60 percent of the cost for third-party at-sea monitors to observe commercial groundfishermen’s compliance with federal regulations. That coverage is projected to end May 1, 2018, when fishermen will be expected to cover the entire cost, according to NOAA spokeswoman Allison Ferreira. Groundfish include New England seafood staples like cod and haddock.

Hampton fisherman David Goethel said he would probably sell his boat and stop fishing if NOAA stops funding its portion of the cost. He and other fishermen filed a federal suit arguing it was unfair for fishermen to pay for monitors required by NOAA. Judges at the district and circuit court levels ruled the fishermen filed the suit too late to be considered on its merits, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to have the case heard this month.

Read the full story at Fosters’s Daily Democrat

Sturgeon ruling may impact federally funded projects

Merrimack River made ‘critical habitat’ for Atlantic sturgeon

September 1, 2017 — They are large, bony fish whose ancestors began swimming the Earth during the Triassic period, some 245 million years ago.

The federal government says the Atlantic sturgeon is now an endangered species in some places and is threatened in others, and that states up and down the Eastern Seaboard must take necessary measures to ensure their survival.

A ruling handed down on Aug. 16 by the Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, designates the Gulf of Maine as a critical habitat for the fish, which includes approximately 152 miles of water in the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, the Penobscot, Kennebec, Androscoggin and Piscataqua rivers of Maine, and the Cocheco and Salmon Falls rivers of New Hampshire.

But what sort of impact will the efforts to replenish the Atlantic sturgeon population have on Merrimack Valley cities like Haverhill and Lawrence?

Allison Ferreira, spokeswoman for NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, said Friday that the ruling mandates that when a federal agency constructs or develops a project near the river or there is a project that is receiving some amount of federal money, such as a highway or bridge project where there could be significant water runoff, that agency must contact NOAA to ensure proper measures are taken so as not to upset the fish’s natural habitat.

Read the full story at the Haverhill Gazette