Saving Seafood

ASMFC lobster board tackles fishery issues

November 8, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s lobster board adopted no new policies affecting Maine lobstermen during its annual meeting in Bar Harbor at the end of October, but the group did discuss future options for trip reporting, crab bycatch and improving the lobster stock in Southern New England.

The board relies on data from dealer and harvester reporting to make management decisions.

“The technical committee (which provides scientific advice to the management board) highlighted data deficiencies in federal waters,” Fishery Management Plan coordinator Megan Ware said.

Most state fishery departments conduct their own lobster surveys, such as the Department of Marine Resources settlement survey, ventless trap survey and sea sampling program. But each state is different.

“States are collecting a variety of this information, but it’s not uniform,” Ware said.

Offshore waters — beyond the three-mile limit — have become an increasingly important part of the fishery and they are outside the scope of the state programs.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission likely to keep Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery closed

November 8, 2016 — Maine shrimpers are all but resigned to another year of being unable to pursue their quarry in the Gulf of Maine, with a regulatory board set to decide this week whether to allow a season this winter.

Maine shrimp are fished in the Gulf of Maine and were a popular winter seafood for years, but regulators shut the fishery down after a collapse during the 2013 fishing season, and it has remained closed since. The shrimp have struggled to rebuild populations as waters have warmed.

A board of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is set to decide Thursday whether fishing will be allowed this year. A committee of scientists has advised the board it’s not a good idea, with temperatures off New England inhospitable to the shrimp.

Spencer Fuller, a shrimp and lobster buyer with Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland, said his company was once the largest processor of Maine shrimp in the country, and it has suffered. He said that he is prepared for another year of closure, but that it will send residual troubles through Maine’s seafood industry.

“All you have to do is look back to the history of shrimp here in the state of Maine and the contributions it has made over the last 60 years,” Fuller said. “It’s a big deal not only for us, but for the wharfs we deal with, markets we deal with.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Cold-water shrimp industry poised for shutdown to continue

November 7, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Maine shrimpers are all but resigned to another year of being unable to pursue their quarry in the Gulf of Maine, with a regulatory board set to decide this week whether to allow a season this winter.

Maine shrimp are fished in the Gulf of Maine and were a popular winter seafood for years, but regulators shut the fishery down after a collapse during the 2013 fishing season, and it has remained closed since. The shrimp have struggled to rebuild populations as waters have warmed.

A board of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is set to decide Thursday whether fishing will be allowed this year. A committee of scientists has advised the board it’s not a good idea, with temperatures off New England inhospitable to the shrimp.

Spencer Fuller, a shrimp and lobster buyer with Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland, said his company was once the largest processor of Maine shrimp in the country and has suffered. He said that he is prepared for another year of closure, but that it will send residual troubles through Maine’s seafood industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Seattle Times

Regulators say menhaden, a key ocean fish, in good shape

November 7, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Interstate fishing regulators say prospects are good for menhaden, a fish that is critical to the health of the ocean.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says menhaden are not experiencing overfishing and their reproduction is good. The commission says the amount of menhaden that die from fishing operations is well below targeted levels.

Atlantic Menhaden Board Chair Robert Ballou says the stock’s good condition gives regulators an opportunity to reevaluate how to manage the fish.

Menhaden are an important source of bait for commercial fishermen and they are also a critical piece of the ocean’s food web. They’re also used to make dietary supplements.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission South Atlantic Board Releases Cobia PID for Public Comment

November 3, 2016 — The following was released by the ASMFC:

Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board releases for public comment the Public Information Document (PID) for the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Cobia. As the first step in the FMP development process, the PID provides stakeholders with an opportunity to inform the Commission about changes observed in the fishery and provide feedback on potential management measures as well as any additional issues that should be included in the Draft FMP. Specifically, the PID seeks comment on the management unit; goals and objectives of the plan; commercial and recreational measures; coastwide, regional or state-by-state measures; and other issues.

This action responds to a request by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) for the Commission to consider joint or complementary management of the resource in light of the significant overage of the 2015 recreational annual catch limit (ACL) and the impact of those overages to state management. Further, during most recent years, a majority of recreational landings of cobia along the Atlantic coast occurs in state waters. The Commission considered this request in August and agreed to move forward with the development of a complementary FMP.

Widely distributed throughout the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, cobia are managed as two distinct groups – the Gulf Migratory Group and the Atlantic Migratory Group. The Atlantic Migratory Group, which range from New York to Georgia, is managed by the SAFMC. The east coast of Florida falls under the Gulf Migratory Group. The SAFMC manages the east coast of Florida sub-ACL which is set by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. Recreational landings of the Atlantic Migratory Group in 2015 were approximately 1.5 million pounds, 145% over the ACL, resulting in a June 20, 2016 closure of the fishery by NOAA Fisheries. Commercial cobia landings in 2015 were 83,148 pounds, 38% over the ACL. Late landings reports in 2015 precluded a timely closure of the commercial fishery.

Concerns were expressed by some states whose recreational seasons would have been significantly reduced by federal waters closure due to the 2015 quota overage. Instead of following the federal closure, several states developed alternate management strategies to reduce economic impacts to their state fisheries which resulted in differing regulations for federal and state water fishing. An intent of the complementary Cobia FMP is to provide the states the flexibility to respond to changes in the fishery and stock that meet their state fisheries needs without impacting federal fishermen while meeting the goals and objectives of the FMP.

Stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on the PID either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The PID can be obtained athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/CobiaPID_PublicComment.pdf or via the Commission’s website,www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 6, 2017 and should be forwarded to Dr. Louis Daniel, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at ldaniel@asmfc.org (Subject line: Cobia PID).

It is anticipated states from Delaware through Florida will be conducting hearings over the next couple of months. The details of those hearings will be released in a subsequent press release. The Management Board will meet at the Commission’s 2017 Winter Meeting to review and consider public comment and provide direction to staff for items to be included in the Draft FMP.  For more information, please contact Louis Daniel at ldaniel@asmfc.org or 252-342-1478.

Lobster board tackles fishery issues

November 3, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — No new policy affecting local lobstermen was handed down from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s lobster board from its meeting here last week, but the group discussed future options for trip reporting, crab bycatch and improving the lobster stock in southern New England.

The board relies on data from dealer and harvester reporting to make management decisions. “The technical committee highlighted data deficiencies in federal waters,” lobster fishery management plan (FMP) coordinator Megan Ware said.

Most state fishery departments conduct their own lobster surveys, such as Maine’s settlement survey, ventless trap survey and sea sampling program. But offshore waters are an increasingly important part of the fishery, and they’re outside the scope of those programs.

“States are collecting a variety of this information, but it’s not uniform,” Ware said.

The board’s lobster reporting working group presented short, medium and long-term goals to improve data collection. Current rules require 100 percent dealer reporting and at least 10 percent active harvester reporting.

The working group said that 10 percent includes recreational fishermen and recommended switching to only commercial harvesters. They would need 30 percent of active harvesters reporting to have statistically valid information. It also would be helpful to managers if they had data about trap hauls, soak time and gear configuration.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Menhaden catch cap eased

November 3, 2016 — Meeting in Bar Harbor, Maine, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to allow a 6.5% increase in the harvest of menhaden. The fish are used to make animal meal and health supplements and as bait to catch crabs, striped bass and other fish. But they’re also considered a vital link in the marine food chain and a staple in the diet of striped bass and other predators. For all of those reasons their management stirs intense passion.

The commission, which regulates near-shore fishing from Maine to Florida, had deadlocked in August over whether to raise the allowable menhaden catch next year. It began its final meeting of the year discussing the need to set some limit or there would be no cap at all in 2017.

Fishing interests have been pushing for a substantial catch increase, arguing that recent studies showed there were plenty of fish in coastal waters and no risk of taking too many. Yet, conservationists urged the commission to stay the course saying the fisheries panel should first figure out how many menhaden are needed as food for other fish and then look at reallocating the commercial harvest to spread the catch around more.

This is the latest round in a debate that goes back to December 2012, when the commission cut the catch 20% coastwide after a stock assessment indicated the fish population was overfished. It was the first time the commission set a coastwide harvest limit for menhaden.

A subsequent study finished last year, which used new models and new information, contradicted the earlier one finding that menhaden weren’t overfished. Further analysis by the commission’s technical advisory committee suggested the fish were abundant enough that catch limits could be raised by as much as 40% without any risk of taking too many.

Commercial fishing interests pressed for an increase of at least 20% from the current coastwide cap of 188,000 metric tons, arguing that it would ease the economic pinch that fishermen have had to endure the last four years because of a cut they said the science showed was unwarranted. But conservationists resisted, pointing out that the commission already raised the catch limit 10% last year in response to the more optimistic stock assessment and that it had not yet figured out how many menhaden should be left uncaught to feed other species.

Bill Goldsborough, senior fisheries scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and a member of Maryland’s delegation to the commission, appealed for the panel to hold the line on the harvest cap. There are signs menhaden are increasing in number and showing up in waters off New England where they haven’t been seen in years. But while surveys show increases in juvenile fish along much of the coast, sampling has not found a similar upswing in the bay, one of the primary nursery areas.

Read the full story at the Rappahannock Record

ASMFC Considers Alternatives for Summer Flounder Management

November 3, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board initiated development of Draft Addendum XXVIII to the Summer Flounder Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to consider alternative management approaches, including regional options, for the 2017 recreational summer flounder fishery. The Draft Addendum will have options which are designed to achieve the 2017 recreational harvest limit (RHL).

Changes in summer flounder distribution, abundance and availability created problems under the static state-by-state allocations, with overages often occurring. In response, states would implement regulations to reduce harvest, resulting in differing regulations between neighboring states. In 2014, the Board shifted away from traditional state-by-state allocations to a regional approach for managing summer flounder recreational fisheries. A benefit of the regional approach is it provides the states the flexibility to temporarily share allocations. The intent is to set regulations that account for shifting distribution, abundance and availability while providing stability and greater regulatory consistency among neighboring states as well as individual states in achieving but not exceeding the coastwide RHL.

In August, the Board and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) approved a 30% reduction in the 2017 coastwide RHL relative to 2016. This was in response the 2016 Stock Assessment Update which found fishing mortality was higher in recent years and population estimates were lower than previously projected.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

Northern shrimp fishing season unlikely

November 3, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — The Atlantic States Fisheries Commission held its annual meeting in Bar Harbor last week and took action affecting the herring, menhaden, horseshoe crab and Jonah crab fisheries, among others.

The word on whether there will be a Northern shrimp fishery this winter, though, will have to wait until next week.

On Thursday, Nov. 10, the ASMFC’s Northern Shrimp Section and Advisory Panel will meet in Portsmouth, N.H., to review the latest stock status report and recommendations from the panel’s technical committee about what the 2017 shrimp fishery should look like.

Given the committee’s view that the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp stock “remains in a collapsed state,” odds are that, as during the past three seasons, it will be another winter of empty nets for fishermen.

For the past three winters, regulators have imposed a moratorium on fishing based on the what scientists said was the record low level of the shrimp resource and poor recruitment — the annual introduction of juvenile shrimp — since 2012.

Last week, the technical committee released a report incorporating its recommendations for the 2016-2017 season. Based on the latest scientific data, the recommendation was to keep the shrimp boats in port, and the trawl nets and traps out of the water for another year.

“Given the continued poor condition of the resource and poor prospects for the near future,” the committee recommended “that the Northern Shrimp Section extend the moratorium on fishing through 2017.”

Another moratorium would be bad news for Maine fishermen.

Annual landings figures are somewhat misleading, because each year includes parts of two fishing seasons. (Historically, each season ran from Dec. 1 to the following April.)

In any event, in 1996, Maine fishermen landed nearly 18 million pounds of shrimp worth some $12.9 million. By 2012, landings of shrimp in Maine had fallen to slightly more than 4.8 million pounds worth some $4.6 million.

Even at that lower number, that a significant bite out of winter fishing incomes.

According to figures compiled by the technical committee, the number of Maine boats active in the fishery in the years prior to the moratorium first imposed in 2014 has varied widely.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American