Saving Seafood

Charter fishing captains sue to overturn striped bass regulations

May 27, 2025 — Mid-Atlantic charter fishing captains are leading a federal court challenge to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and its decisions limiting the striped bass seasons.

The charter operators say they are taking aim at the ASMFC’s actions to limit the 2024 season “through a combination ofshortening the fishing season; reducing the size of removable fish; lowering commercial quotas; and limiting recreational fishers on charter boats to one fish per day.”

In a May 14 announcement about the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the charter captains cited Maryland Department of Natural Resources reporting after the close of the 2024 fishing season as confirming the association’s predictions “that the ASMFC rule changes would devastate the industry with a revenue drop-off of up to 75 percent.”

Maryland Charter Boat Association president Brian Hardman “confirmed those results and reported that over 50 companies have already been forced out of business and have had to put their vessels on the market at ‘fire sale prices,’” the captains say.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ASMFC Approves Amendment 4 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp

May 11, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Amendment 4 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Northern Shrimp. In response to the continued poor condition of the northern shrimp stock, Amendment 4 modifies the first objective of the FMP to recognize the influence of environmental conditions on stock productivity and lengthens the amount of time the Northern Shrimp Section can set a moratorium from one year to up to five years. The Section can call a meeting at any time to review information relative to the fishery and the resource and initiate management action if necessary.

Amendment 4 also adds management triggers to the FMP as part of the annual stock monitoring process. Management triggers include recruitment and temperature triggers that signal potential improvement in stock conditions. The recruitment trigger will be achieved when the stock experiences non-failed recruitment for three consecutive years. If achieved, a stock assessment update will be conducted. If the recruitment trigger is not achieved, but non-failed recruitment occurs in two out of three years, the Section will consider conducting a winter sampling program without the use of size-sorting grates. This program will allow the Northern Shrimp Technical Committee to evaluate stage and length frequencies, and year class persistence before initiating a full assessment update. The temperature trigger will be considered reached when two out of three consecutive years of winter surface temperature and spring bottom temperature in the Gulf of Maine fall below the 80th percentile of the reference period. If achieved, the Section will consider a winter sampling program. These triggers are intended to help the Section identify if the stock is viable enough to support a fishery.

Finally, Amendment 4 adds the specifications setting timeline and management triggers to measures subject to change through adaptive management, allowing these management measures to be changed in the future via an addendum rather than an amendment.

All provisions of Amendment 4 are considered effective immediately. Amendment 4 will be available on the Commission’s website, https://asmfc.org/species/northern-shrimp/, by the end of May. For more information, please contact Chelsea Tuohy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at ctuohy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

 

Horseshoe Crab Board Approves Addendum IX Addendum Allows Multi-Year Specifications for Male-Only Harvest

May 8, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved Addendum IX to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Horseshoe Crabs. The Addendum allows the Board to set specifications for male-only harvest. It also establishes a method for managing male-only harvest limits during multi-year specifications periods, reestablishes seasonal harvest restrictions, and clarifies policy related to harvest caps for Maryland and Virginia.

Addendum IX responds to recommendations from the July 2024 Horseshoe Crab Management Objectives Workshop, which convened a group of stakeholders to explore management objectives for the Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crab fishery. Workshop participants recommended the Board establish an interim solution to maintain male-only harvest while changes to the Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework are explored to better align the model with stakeholder values.

The Addendum allows the Board to set multi-year specifications for up to three years until 2031 based on the ARM Framework. In interim years when the ARM is not used, the Board will manage maximum male harvest limits based on Delaware Bay region spawning survey data.  Addendum IX also reestablishes a harvest closure for the Delaware Bay region states from January 1 through June 7. Lastly, the Addendum clarifies the policy included in Addenda VII and VIII for applying Maryland and Virginia harvest caps; these caps further restrict harvest for Maryland and Virginia when female harvest is implemented in the Delaware Bay region.

Addendum IX will be available on the Commission website at https://asmfc.org/species/horseshoe-crab/ by next week. For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Read the release from the ASMFC 

 

Menhaden fishers urge ASMFC to maintain quotas in face of NGO criticism

May 6, 2025 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition and six shop stewards representing union fishermen participating in the Chesapeake Bay menhaden fishery are urging the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to maintain current allowable catch levels in the face of NGO criticism.

The ASMFC Menhaden Management Board is meeting on 7 May to discuss management of the species. In a letter to the board, members of the UFCW Local 400 union called on board members to listen to fishermen and adopt regulatory practices based on “sound scientific principles” rather than listen to environmental groups that claim the fishery is responsible for declines in other species in the Chesapeake Bay.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

DARAWN KENNER: Facts, not rhetoric, should drive menhaden decisions

May 6, 2025 — In the debate over the future of the Atlantic menhaden fishery, working families are being pushed to the margins. The fishermen, plant workers and coastal community members who have sustained this industry for generations are too often falsely portrayed as obstacles to conservation. Meanwhile, environmental activist groups are assumed to speak for the public good. But regulators and members of the public should not accept the premise that these groups speak for the public interest simply because they say so on their websites.

Blind trust in activist groups has serious consequences. It gives disproportionate influence to organizations with agendas shaped not just by science or stewardship, but by fundraising goals and ideology. Take, for example, the recent formation of the Atlantic Menhaden Chesapeake Bay Work Group. Its assumption, that menhaden harvests are driving a decline in fledgling osprey survival, is not supported by the best available science. Yet it has shaped public discourse and policy proposals, in part because its leaders come from high-profile nonprofits such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Audubon Society.

Let’s be clear: We are not against responsible conservation. Many of us are fourth- or fifth-generation members of this fishery. Our lives depend on healthy ecosystems, and we support science-based management to ensure that menhaden and the marine food web remain strong. We welcomed the development of Ecological Reference Points (ERPs), which incorporate predator needs into harvest decisions. But even as those were adopted, some activists criticized them — not because the science was flawed, but because the outcome didn’t slash harvest levels to their liking.

This reveals a deeper truth: For some groups, no amount of responsible management is enough. They move from one manufactured crisis to the next, each time casting commercial fishermen as the villain. It is not members of the charter and for-hire sectors — comprised of hard-working watermen like ourselves — but well-funded industry organizations such as the American Sportfishing Association and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership that lead these attacks on our livelihoods. Complaints about the reduction fishery are as old as the fishery. The same recycled arguments have been made since the 1800s.

Read the full opinion piece at the Virginian-Pilot

American Lobster Board Approves Addendum XXXII to Repeal Addendum XXVII Gauge and Escape Vent Measures

May 6, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved Addendum XXXII to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The Addendum repeals all gauge and escape vent size measures from Addendum XXVII. Measures related to the v-notch possession definition and the issuance of trap tags are maintained.

In October 2023, under Addendum XXVII a series of changes to the current gauge and escape vent sizes in Lobster Conservation Management Areas (LCMAs) 1 (Gulf of Maine), 3 (federal waters), and Outer Cape Cod was triggered based on observed declines in recruit abundance indices. The Board postponed the implementation of Addendum XXVII to January 1, 2025 to allow the Gulf of Maine states the opportunity to coordinate with Canada regarding possible trade implications and give the industry and gauge makers additional time to prepare for these changes. In October 2024, the Board further delayed implementation of the gauge and vent size measures, and v-notch possession definition of Addendum XXVII to July 1, 2025.

Addendum XXXII responds to industry concerns about the potential economic impacts of an increase to the minimum gauge size in the Gulf of Maine. By repealing the gauge and vent size measures, the Gulf of Maine states will have the opportunity to engage with the lobster industry, including Lobster Conservation Management Area Teams, to identify alternative conservation measures to protect the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank stock. Maine and New Hampshire reported to the Board that they have already begun convening stakeholder meetings to discuss the state of the fishery and potential management approaches.

Addendum XXXII will be available on the Commission website, asmfc.org, on the American lobster webpage by next week. For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

 

ASMFC 2025 Spring Meeting Final Supplemental Materials Now Available

May 2, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Final supplemental materials for ASMFC’s 2025 Spring Meeting are now available at https://asmfc.org/events/2025-spring-meeting/ as Supplemental 2 under the relevant committee/board meeting. They include:

Atlantic Menhaden – Public Comment

Atlantic Striped Bass Board – Supplementary Analyses for Draft Addendum III and Public Comment

Executive Committee – Discussion Paper on Declared Interests and Voting Privileges

ISFMP Policy Board – Discussion Paper on Declared Interests and Voting Privileges

As a reminder, the Commission’s Public Comment Guidelines are:

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an 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.

ASMFC 2025 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

April 30, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Commission’s 2025 Spring Meeting are now available athttps://asmfc.org/events/2025-spring-meeting/ for the following Boards/Committees. The combined file of all supplemental materials (with the exception of materials for the Law Enforcement Committee) is available at https://asmfc.org/resources/management/management-presentations/2025-spring-meeting-supplemental-materials/

American Lobster Management Board – Letter from Rep. Jared Golden; Draft Addendum III Public Comment Summary & Submitted Comments

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee Memo: Board-Requested Sensitivity Runs for Draft Addendum III Projections; Maryland Proposal to Reset the Maryland Chesapeake Bay Recreational Season Baseline; Advisory Panel Meeting Summary from April 2025; PDT Memo: Supplementary Analyses for Draft Addendum III; Public Comment

Law Enforcement Committee –  A Tool to Assist the Bluefish Technical and Monitoring Committees with Estimating Management Uncertainty

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

Horseshoe Crab Management Board – Staff Memo: Revisions to the Advisory Panel Membership and State Nominations

Webinar Information

Meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, May 5 at 1:30 PM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be Noon on Wednesday, May 8). To register for the webinar, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/60738568308578650 (Webinar ID: 826-144-067). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you may also call in at +1.562.247.8321, access code 112-047-383. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN.

Each day, the webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

Meeting Process

Board chairs will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. 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

To provide 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 opportunities 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 comments 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 comments 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 three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (April 14) will be included in the briefing materials.

2.    Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, April 29, will be included in supplemental materials.

3.    Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, May 2, will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/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 and email.

ASMFC 2025 Spring Meeting Final Agenda and Materials Now Available

April 24, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spring Meeting will be May 5 – 8, 2025 at The Westin Crystal City. This will be a hybrid meeting (both in-person and remote) to allow for participation by Commissioners and interested stakeholders. The room block is now closed; if you need assistance reserving a room, please contact Lisa Carty at lcarty@asmfc.org.

The final agenda and meeting materials for the Spring Meeting are now available athttps://asmfc.org/events/2025-spring-meeting/; click on the relevant Board/Committee name to access the documents for that Board/Committee. For ease of access, all boards have been combined into one document – https://asmfc.org/resources/management/management-presentations/2025-spring-meeting-materials-combined-may-2025/. Supplemental materials will be posted to the website on Wednesday, April 30.

Please note: The Weakfish Management Board meeting, previously scheduled for Monday, May 5 (3:45 – 4:45 PM) has been canceled. Instead, the Spiny Dogfish Management Board will be held on May 5 from 3:45 – 4:15 PM, with an Atlantic Herring Management Board meeting to follow from 4:30 – 5 PM.

Webinar Information

Meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, May 5 at 1:30 PM and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be Noon on Wednesday, May 8). To register for the webinar, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/60738568308578650(Webinar ID: 826-144-067). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you may also call in at +1.562.247.8321, access code 112-047-383. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN.

Each day, the webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

Meeting Process

Board chairs will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. 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

To provide 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 opportunities 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 comments 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 comments 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 three weeks prior to the start of a meeting week (April 14) will be included in the briefing materials.

2.    Comments received by 5 PM on Tuesday, April 29, will be included in supplemental materials.

3.    Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, May 2, will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/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 and email.

Meetings Materials for the May 1 Northern Shrimp Section and Advisory Panel Meetings are Now Available

April 17, 2025 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Meeting materials for the Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section (Section) and Advisory Panel (AP) upcoming meetings are now available at https://asmfc.org/events/northern-shrimp-section-6/ and https://asmfc.org/events/northern-shrimp-advisory-panel-4/, respectively. Both groups will meet on Thursday, May 1, at the Hyatt Place Portland-Old Port, 433 Fore Street, Portland, Maine. The AP will meet from 9 – 11 AM to review public comment and provide input on Draft Amendment 4.

The Section will meet from 12 – 3 PM on the same day to select final management options and consider recommending final approval of Amendment 4 to the Commission; if the document is moved forward, the Business Session of the Commission will consider its final approval on May 8 as part of the Spring Meeting. The Section will also review the final report from the industry-based pilot winter sampling program. Draft Amendment 4 considers options for setting multi-year moratoria and the implementation of a management trigger. The management trigger would be comprised of a set of biological and/or environmental indicators that could signal when the northern shrimp stock in the Gulf of Maine is at a population level that could support sustainable fishery.

Webinar Information

Only the Section meeting will be available via webinar. To register for the webinar, please go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4876698453855280735 (Webinar ID: 137-901-131). If you are joining the webinar but will not be using voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), you may also call in at +1 (415) 655-0052, access code 983-888-617. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, press the # key when asked for a PIN. The webinar will begin 15 minutes prior to the meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

Meeting Process

The Section Chair will ask both in-person and virtual board members if they wish to speak. In-person members can simply raise their hands at the meeting without logging on to the webinar, while virtual members will raise their hands on the webinar. The Chair will work with staff to compile the list of speakers, balancing the flow of questions/comments between in-person and virtual attendees. The same process will be used for public comment. 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 more information, please contact Chelsea Tuohy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atctuoy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.