October 12, 2022 — Maine lobster fishermen have hired a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official to represent them in their case against new laws intended to protect whales.
The solicitor general supervises all Supreme Court litigation for the U.S., and Clement has argued dozens of cases in front of the high court. That’s where the lobstermen’s case could ultimately be headed, he said Tuesday.
October 12, 2022 — On a Wednesday afternoon last month, Sam Sewall snagged a lobster from a trap in York Harbor in Maine, and measured its carapace like a shoe salesman sizing a squirmy toddler’s foot. About 100 miles to the south, New England Aquarium marine scientist Sharon Hsu peered through the bubble windows of a small plane flying off Cape Cod, searching for whales. And in an alley behind Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay, chef Michael Serpa received a delivery of 20 pounds of fresh lobster tail, knuckle, and claw meat.
Out on the water, Sewall and his father, Mark, pulled up six traps in 90 minutes. After sizing and surveying each lobster, they tossed most back — they were too small, or breeders — and returned to dock with just a dozen lobsters. Sewall grimaced. New federal regulations on lobster fishing were likely coming, Sewall knew, and he worried about what they would mean for his livelihood.
Up in the air 15 miles off Nantucket, Hsu spotted the telltale heart-shaped blow of an endangered North Atlantic right whale. It swam slowly, with several rope lines trailing behind it.
Hsu had seen this whale before, similarly entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was Snow Cone, and this was her fifth entanglement. Hsu knew Snow Cone would not likely survive.
“It was like a punch in the gut,” Hsu said, echoing a lobsterman she’s never met.
Meanwhile, Serpa took the lobster meat and began cleaning, chopping, and prepping it for that night’s dinner. There were lobster rolls and lobster spaghetti to prepare to fill the eager bellies of his guests. Demand has been so strong lately, he can practically name his price.
October 11, 2022 — Members of Maine’s congressional delegation are asking the federal government to hold more hearings on whale protection rules to gauge the impact on the state’s commercial fishing industry.
In a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Angus King, I-Maine, said the federal agency’s decision to hold only one public hearing last week on the new regulations “unacceptable” and called for more engagement with the lobster industry.
The lawmakers wrote that the 90% risk reduction target fisheries regulators are pursuing over the next two years to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales would be a “death knell” for lobstermen.
Read the full article at Center Square
February 17, 2022 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Supplemental materials for the February 22nd meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board are now available athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/AmLobsterBoardFeb2022/AmLobsterBoardSupplementalMaterials_Feb2022.pdf. The Board will meet via webinar on February 22nd from 1 – 3:30 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to review submitted public comment and advisory panel input on Draft Addendum XXIX: Electronic Vessel Tracking in the Federal American Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries and consider final approval of the Addendum.
To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2930590334961190923 (Webinar ID 845-804-555). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can also call in at +1 (562) 247-8422, access code 538-513-755. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN as well as how to navigate the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing +1 (562) 247-8422, access code 538-513-755. The webinar will begin at 12:30 PM so people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they mayencounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact ChrisJacobs at 703.842.0790.
The webinar will allow registrants to listen to the Board’s deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. The Board will provide the public the opportunity to bring matters of concern to the Board’s attention at the start of the meeting. The Board Chair will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the Board Chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
February 7, 2022 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The draft agenda and meeting materials for the February 22nd meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board are now available athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/AmLobsterBoardFeb2022/AmLobsterBoardMaterials_Feb2022.pdf. The Board will meet via webinar on February 22nd from 1 – 3:30 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to review submitted public comment on Draft Addendum XXIX: Electronic Vessel Tracking in the Federal American Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries and consider final approval of the Addendum.
To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2930590334961190923 (Webinar ID 845-804-555). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can also call in at +1 (562) 247-8422. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN as well as how to navigate the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing +1 (562) 247-8422, access code 538-513-755.
The webinar will allow registrants to listen to the Board’s deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. The Board will provide the public the opportunity to bring matters of concern to the Board’s attention at the start of the meeting. The Board Chair will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the Board Chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
Public Comment Guidelines
With the intent of developing policies in the Commission’s procedures for public participation that result in a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action)
· Comments received by 5 PM on Monday, February 15 will be included in the supplemental materials.
The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution. As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail, fax, and email.
For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Senior FMP Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org.
December 17, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
President Biden revised the prohibited activities for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to include a prohibition on commercial fishing. All commercial fishing, other than for American lobster and Atlantic deep-sea red crab taken with fixed gear, is prohibited within the Monument as of October 8, 2021. American lobster and red crab fisheries are exempted from this prohibition until September 15, 2023, except where restricted under the New England Fishery Management Council’s Deep-Sea Coral Amendment (see below). These prohibitions reinstate the fishing prohibitions outlined in the original Monument proclamation signed by President Obama on September 15, 2016.
The Monument covers underwater seamounts (Bear, Mytilus, Physalia, and Retriever) and submerged canyons (Oceanographer, Gilbert, and Lydonia). You can find more information about the Monument on our Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument webpage and in the Federal Register.
Since the Monument was first designated in 2016, the New England Fishery Management Council developed and NOAA Fisheries approved and implemented (86 FR 33553, June 25, 2021) an Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment to its fishery management plans. This action prohibited the use of bottom-tending commercial fishing gear (with an exception for red crab pots) within the designated Georges Bank Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area, an area along the outer continental shelf in waters no shallower than 600 m to the Exclusive Economic Zone boundary. This action closed approximately 82 percent of the Monument to fishing earlier this year. This reinstated fishing prohibition applies to the remainder of the Monument area, shown in Figure 1. Lobster fishing with fixed gear may continue in the area of the reinstated Monument fishing restrictions (red hashed area in Figure 1) until September 15, 2023. Fishing for deep-sea red crab with fixed gear may continue throughout the entire area until September 15, 2023. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions about the Monument for more information.
December 14, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board has approved for public comment Draft Addendum XXIX to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for American Lobster and Draft Addendum IV to the Jonah Crab FMP. The Draft Addenda were initiated in August 2020 to consider implementing electronic tracking requirements for federally-permitted vessels in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, with the objective of collecting high resolution spatial and temporal effort data.
The collection of enhanced spatial and temporal data via electronic tracking devices in the offshore fishery would support managers in addressing a number of challenges facing the fishery. Electronic tracking data would greatly improve the stock assessment’s ability to estimate exploitation and abundance for American lobster, as the trackers would allow size composition data to be linked to harvest at a finer spatial resolution than what is currently possible. Additionally, the data could improve the models used to assess the location of vertical lines in the fishery and their associated risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, which could impact federal risk reduction requirements for the fishery. Characterizing the footprint of the U.S. lobster fishery will also be critical to ocean planning efforts to minimize spatial conflicts with other ocean uses such as aquaculture, marine protected areas, and offshore energy development, as well as provide fishery managers tools to help maintain industry fishing grounds. Last, the efficiency of law enforcement efforts could be significantly improved with data to help enforcement officials locate widely dispersed gear in the offshore fishery.
The Commission and its member states from Maine to Virginia will be conducting a series of hearings to gather public input on the Draft Addenda. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most hearings will be conducted via webinar; some hearings will be state-specific and others regionally-focused. Public hearing information, webinar links, and call-in information are below. Please note that in order to comment during the hearings you will need to use your computer or download the GoToWebinar app for your phone. Those joining by phone only will be limited to listening to the presentation and will not be able to provide input. Additional details on participating in the webinar can be found later in this release; this information is particularly important for those that have not used the GoToWebinar platform before.
| Wednesday, January 12, 2022
6:30 – 8 PM |
Connecticut and New York | Colleen Bouffard(CT), 860.876.6881
Maureen Davidson (NY), 631.444.0483 |
| Thursday, January 13, 2022
6:30 – 8 PM |
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia | Joseph Cimino (NJ), 609.748.2020
John Clark (DE), 302.739.9914 Michael Luisi (MD), 443.758.6547 Patrick Geer (VA), 757.247.2236 |
| Tuesday, January 18, 2022
6 – 8 PM |
Maine Department of Marine Resources | Megan Ware (ME), 207.446.0932
|
| Wednesday, January 19, 2022
6 – 8 PM |
Maine Department of Marine Resources | Megan Ware (ME), 207.446.0932 |
| Wednesday, January 19, 2022
6:30 – 8 PM |
New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game
Note: This hearing will be held in a hybrid format. To virtually attend this hearing, please use this webinar registration link. To listen in only, dial1.415.655.0052 and enter 879-685-496. You can also attend in person at the address below: Urban Forestry Center 45 Elwyn Road Portsmouth, NH 03801
|
Cheri Patterson (NH), 603.868.1095 |
| Thursday, January 20, 2022
6:30 – 8 PM |
Massachusetts and Rhode Island | Nichola Meserve (MA), 617.626.1531
Jason McNamee (RI), 401.222.4700 |
The Draft Addenda include two options for proposed management programs. The first is status quo or no changes to the current program, and the second is to implement electronic tracking requirements for federally-permitted American lobster and Jonah crab vessels with commercial trap gear area permits for Lobster Conservation Management Areas 1 through 5 and Outer Cape Cod. Under this option, the specified permit holders would be required to install an approved electronic vessel tracking device to their vessel prior to beginning a fishing trip to collect and transmit spatial data. The devices would collect vessel locations every minute, which would allow for the distinction between transiting and fishing activity, as well as the estimation of traps per trawl. The Draft Addenda also describe administrative processes at the Commission, state, and federal levels for successful implementation of the management program to ensure the data collected meet the needs of state and federal partners.
To register for a public hearing webinar please click HERE and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you are new to GoToWebinar, you can download the software (click here) or via the App store under GoToWebinar. We recommend you register for the hearing well in advance of the hearing since GoToWebinar will provide you with a link to test your device’s compatibility with the webinar. If you find your device is not compatible, please contact the Commission at info@asmfc.org (subject line: GoToWebinar help) and we will try to get you connected. We also strongly encourage participants to use the computer voice over internet (VoIP) so you can ask questions and provide input at the hearing. Those joining by phone only, will be limited to listening to the presentation but will not be able to provide input during the hearing. In those cases, you can send your comments to staff via email, U.S. mail, or fax at any time during the public comment period. To attend the webinar in listen only mode, dial 1-877-309-2071 and enter access code 350-416-497.
The Commission will also post a recording of the hearing presentation on the Commission’s YouTube page so that stakeholders may watch the presentation and submit comment at any time during the comment process. This recording will be available in early January; a subsequent press release will announce the availability of the recording.
The Draft Addenda are available here or via the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. Members of the commercial fishing industry and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide input either by participating in public hearings, webinars, or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 31, 2022and should be sent to Caitlin Starks, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Lobster Draft Addendum XXIX). For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
December 9, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Please find attached and below the preliminary agenda and public comment guidelines for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2022 Winter Meeting, January 25-27, 2022, in Arlington, VA. The agenda is also available at www.asmfc.org/home/2022-
· Consider Draft Addendum XXVII for Public Comment: Electronic Vessel Tracking for Federal Permit Holders
· Consider Fishery Management Plan Reviews and State Compliance for American Lobster and Jonah Crab for 2020 Fishing Year
· Consider Terms of Reference for Jonah Crab Benchmark Stock Assessment
· Review and Discuss Hypothetical Scenarios for Risk and Uncertainty Decision Tool
· Review Feedback from Law Enforcement Committee on Commercial Tagging Program
· Discuss Appeals Process
· Consider Noncompliance Recommendations (if necessary)
December 7, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The meeting summary, motion, presentation, and recording from yesterday’s American Lobster Management Board webinar have all been posted to the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
November 30, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The materials for the December 6th meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board are now available here. The Board will meet via webinar on December 6th from 1 – 3 PM. The purpose of the meeting is to consider approval of Draft Addendum XXIX: Electronic Vessel Tracking in the Federal American Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries for public comment.
To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2167530362779140620 (Webinar ID: 826-323-515). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can also call in at +1 (415) 930-5229. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing +1 (415) 930-5229, access code 324-415-385.
The webinar will allow registrants to listen to the Board’s deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. The Board will provide the public the opportunity to bring matters of concern to the Board’s attention at the start of the meeting. The Board Chair will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the Board Chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
Public Comment Guidelines
With the intent of developing policies in the Commission’s procedures for public participation that result in a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.
For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.
For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.
In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).
1. Comments received by 5 PM on Monday, November 29 will be included in the meeting materials.
2. Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, December 3 will be distributed electronically to Board members prior to the meeting.
The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution. As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail, fax, and email.