Saving Seafood

MAINE: DMR closes pogie fishery

August 10, 2016 — AUGUSTA, Maine — The Department of Marine Resources has closed the menahaden fishery because fishermen have already landed more than the state’s annual quota for the fish commonly called pogies.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Atlantic Menhaden Management Board had approved a total allowable catch (TAC) of menhaden for both the 2015 and 2016 fishing seasons of 187,880 metric tons per year. The TAC is further allocated among the ASMFC member states.

The percentage of the TAC allocated to Maine for 2016 is 0.04 percent, or 161,466 pounds. Each state is required to close its directed commercial fishery after its quota has been reached.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

ASMFC American Lobster Board Identifies Management Goal and Options for Draft Addendum XXV to Address Southern New England Stock Declines

August 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Lobster Management Board approved development of Draft Addendum XXV to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The Draft Addendum seeks to respond to the depleted condition of the SNE stock while preserving a functional portion of the lobster fishery in this area. The document will present a suite of management measures to increase egg production and lower fishing mortality through a combination of management tools including lobster size and escape vent changes, season closures, and trap limits and reductions.

The Draft Addendum responds to the results of the 2015 American lobster benchmark stock assessment which found the SNE stock severely depleted and undergoing recruitment failure with poor prospects of recovery. Declines in population abundance were most pronounced in the inshore portion of the stock where environmental conditions have remained unfavorable to lobsters since the late 1990s. Despite fleet attrition, stock declines have continued. These declines are largely in response to adverse environmental conditions including increasing water temperatures over the last 15 years combined with continued fishing mortality.

Declines in in the offshore portion of the fishery were evident as well though not as severe. However, the offshore portion of the SNE stock likely depends on nearshore larval settlement and offshore migration as the source of recruits (e.g., young of the year lobsters). Therefore, the offshore component is expected to see eventual declines as well.

The Draft Addendum will include a suite of management options aimed to increase egg production from zero to 60%. In its discussion of the stock, the Board agreed the addendum is an initial response to the 2015 stock assessment and stock status will continue to be reviewed. The Draft Addendum will be presented for Board review and possible approval for public comment at the Commission’s Annual Meeting in late October. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

ASMFC Horseshoe Crab Management Board Initiates Draft Addendum to Modify Adaptive Resource Management Framework for the Delaware Bay Region

August 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Board approved development of Draft Addendum VIII to the Horseshoe Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Draft Addendum will propose changes to the Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) Framework, which is used annually to set harvest specifications for the Delaware Bay states, taking into consideration horseshoe crab abundance and red knot forage needs.

This action is in response to a recent technical review, which suggested changes to the ARM Framework, including the incorporation of mortality associated with biomedical bleeding activities into the Framework, and the exploration of options that allow for the harvest of female horseshoe crab in the Delaware Bay Region. In its review, the ARM Subcommittee suggested mortality associated with biomedical activities due to capture, handling, or post-bleeding stress and could be considered to be a form of harvest and recommended its inclusion in the Framework. This source of mortality had not been included in the ARM Framework as initially established in 2012.

The ARM Framework currently presents five harvest packages to ensure the sustainable annual harvest of horseshoe crab in the Delaware Bay Region. While the Framework can produce harvest packages that include female crab harvest, the threshold for horseshoe crab abundance precludes allowing for female harvest at this time. However, the Board expressed interest in exploring alternatives that allow for female harvest without compromising the integrity of the ARM Framework. As a result, the Draft Addendum will present alternative harvest packages which allow for female harvest. Further, the Draft Addendum will propose incorporating mortality associated with biomedical bleeding activities into the ARM Framework. The Draft Addendum will be presented to the Board for its consideration and possible approval for public comment at the Commission’s Annual Meeting in October 2016.

The ARM Framework was developed by the Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey in recognition of the relationship between horseshoe crab eggs and shorebirds in the Delaware Bay Region. The ARM predicts the optimal strategy for horseshoe crab bait harvest in the Delaware Bay Region while accounting for the need for successful red knot stopover feeding during migrations through the region.

Additionally, the Board tasked the Technical Committee with developing a proposal to test the use of alternative bait in the whelk and eel fisheries. The Board will review the proposal in October 2016. For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Connecticut Lawmakers, Proposed Atlantic Monument Met With Opposition From Commercial Fishermen

August 5, 2016 — The following is excerpted from a story published yesterday by the Hartford Courant:

A plan announced Thursday that would designate a unique undersea area 150 miles off the New England coast as the nation’s first Atlantic marine national monument was met with immediate opposition from commercial fishermen.

Connecticut’s congressional delegation, as well as environmental and educational groups, want President Barack Obama to preserve the “New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts” area, which lies along the continental shelf.

The proposal would dramatically restrict commercial fishing in that area and is drawing fierce opposition from commercial fisherman like Stonington’s Bobby Guzzo, who owns and operates two boats.

“That’s just the government trying to take all our water,” Guzzo said Thursday from aboard his fishing vessel. “I’m dead set against it.”

Joseph Gilbert’s Empire Fisheries operates four fishing boats out of Stonington, and he also has problems with the proposed undersea sanctuary. “Fishermen are conservationists, too,” Gilbert said, explaining that he believes the proposal “is well intentioned” but simply “goes too far” without considering the impact on commercial fishing operations and supplies of fish for consumers.

“A lot of these areas are protected already,” Gilbert said.

Commercial fishing groups such as the National Coalition for Fishing Communities argue that there already exist federal laws and regulatory commissions that are set up to protect valuable marine resources like those within the proposed marine sanctuary.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which is responsible for regulating fishing in the region, is also opposed to creation of a protected marine monument off New England’s continental shelf. Commercial fishing organizations warn that the plan would hamper fishing for red crab, swordfish, tuna, as well as off-shore lobster fisheries.

Jon Mitchell, mayor of New Bedford, Mass., New England’s most important fishing port, has also objected to the proposal, as has Maine Gov. Paul LePage.

Read the full story at the Hartford Courant

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Approves Addendum I

August 4, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

Alexandria, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved Addendum I to Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Addendum modifies the bycatch provision of Amendment 2 by allowing two permitted commercial fishermen working together from the same vessel using stationary multi-species gear to land up to 12,000 pounds of menhaden per trip per day. In this case, stationary multi-species gears are defined as pound nets, anchored/staked gillnets, and fyke nets. Interested states may implement the new bycatch provision as their regulatory processes allow, but no earlier than August 15.

The practice of two permitted fishermen working together from the same vessel to harvest Atlantic menhaden primarily occurs in the Chesapeake Bay pound net fishery.  This practice enables the fishermen to pool resources for fuel and crew.  However, the practice was constrained under Amendment 2’s bycatch allowance provision, which stipulated a 6,000 pound/vessel/day limit.

Board members also discussed 2017 specifications but postponed final action on these measures until the Commission’s Annual Meeting in late October. Addendum I will be available of the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, on the Atlantic Menhaden page by mid-August. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Regulators fail to decide on 2017 Atlantic menhaden harvest cap

August 4, 2016 — A new 2017 coastal catch limit for Atlantic menhaden proved a slippery target Wednesday as regional managers failed over and over to agree on a number.

In vote after vote by the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board meeting this week in Alexandria, representatives from Maine to Florida knocked down motions to raise the cap by as little as 1 percent to as much as 20 percent.

In the end, they could only agree to try again at their next meeting in October. The board is part of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

“They just kicked the can down the road,” said Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood Inc., a D.C.-based outreach and advocacy group that coordinates the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition and supports raising the catch limit.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partners Initiate Black Sea Bass Habitat Research Project in the Mid-Atlantic

August 4, 2016 — The following was released by the ASMFC:

The Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) has established a new collaborative project with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), and National Fish Habitat Fund (Fund) to study black sea bass habitat characteristics, fish abundance, and fish diets in the Mid-Atlantic. The project, led by Dr. Brad Stevens of UMES, is titled ‘Hab in the MAB: Characterizing black sea bass habitat in the Mid-Atlantic Bight.’ The new study will combine SCUBA, photography, videography, controlled angling, and stable isotope analysis techniques to better understand the importance of habitat and prey community structure on black sea bass feeding ecology.

“ACFHP and our collaborative partners are excited about the unique opportunity to work together over the next few years to collect data that will inform both science and management, and support healthy fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic region,” stated Kent Smith, ACFHP Steering Committee Chair.

In the summer of 2015, ACFHP applied for and received funding from the Council to manage a short-term research project focusing on Mid-Atlantic habitat (natural and/or artificial reef) and fisheries productivity. Black sea bass was chosen as a focal species because it is managed by both the Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and because the species is structure oriented. ACFHP formed a subcommittee of representatives from the ACFHP Steering Committee, Council, and ASMFC Artificial Reef Committee to develop a request for proposals dedicated to black sea bass habitat research and/or restoration in the Mid-Atlantic region.

After careful review of several strong proposals, the ACFHP subcommittee chose to provide a $216,000 award to Dr. Stevens and his PhD student, Cara Schweitzer. Their study will determine if there are differences resulting in the use of artificial vs. natural habitats.

In particular, study objectives include:

1. Determining the preference of black sea bass for particular habitats by assessing their abundance, size structure, and feeding ecology within natural and artificial reefs;

2. Improving the understanding of benthic habitat structure by quantitatively assessing biodiversity, rugosity (e.g., surface roughness measurements routinely used by reef biologists), and other habitat characteristics of natural and artificial reefs; and

3. Determining if increased connectivity of habitat type increases fish recruitment, by experimentally manipulating connecting areas between isolated habitat patches.

“I’m glad that the Mid-Atlantic Council was able to work with the NFHP Board to support this important research,” said Chris Moore, Executive Director of the Council. “The outcomes of this project will significantly improve our understanding of black sea bass habitat and productivity.”

ACFHP is the first of the 19 Fish Habitat Partnerships (FHPs) throughout the U.S. to support a habitat research project using the NFHP Beyond the Pond Fund. The Fund is a 501(c)3 entity created in 2015 to provide the FHPs an opportunity to connect with the private sector and maximize funding and collaboration opportunities. It supports the leveraging of resources and grassroots actions to achieve maximum impact in protecting and restoring fish habitat from the local to national levels.

Fishing regulators tighten rules for removing shark fins

August 3, 2016 — Regulators are tightening restrictions on the last species of shark whose fins can be removed at sea by fishermen in the U.S.

Smooth dogfish are the only sharks from which American fishermen can remove fins at sea. Many other sharks can be hunted, but fins can’t be removed until the sharks are processed on land.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Tuesday to approve a rule that allows fishermen to bring smooth dogfish to land with fins removed, as long as their total retained catch is at least 25 percent smooth dogfish. Right now, they can bring ashore as many as they want.

The rule change better incorporates the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 into management of the dogfish, said the staff with the fisheries commission. The dogfish are harvested from Rhode Island to North Carolina, and are among the many shark species that fishermen bring to land in states from Maine to Texas.

Sharks are also hunted for their meat, but their greatest value is in their fins, which are used to make shark fin soup.

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

ASMFC Tautog Board Accepts Regional Assessments for Long Island Sound and New Jersey/New York Bight Management Use

August 3, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Commission’s Tautog Management Board approved regional stock assessments for Long Island Sound (LIS) and New Jersey-New York Bight (NJ-NYB) for management use. Stock status for both regions was found to be overfished and experiencing overfishing. The assessments were initiated in response to the findings of the 2015 benchmark stock assessment which explored a number of regional breakdowns for management purposes, including the option of: (1) Massachusetts and Rhode Island; (2) Connecticut, New York and New Jersey; and (3) Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The Board had concerns about the biological implications of grouping LIS with New Jersey ocean waters. The Board requested a new assessment that would explore the population dynamics of the Connecticut, New York and New Jersey region in more detail. The regional assessments propose two additional stock unit boundaries for consideration at a finer regional scale: LIS, which consists of Connecticut and New York waters north of Long Island, and NJ-NYB, which consists of New Jersey and New York waters south of Long Island.

Given approval of the regional assessments by the peer review panel and Management Board, the Tautog Technical Committee will move forward with updating the benchmark stock assessment, including data through 2015 for all four regions for Board review and approval in October. Upon its completion, work on developing a new amendment to the Tautog Fishery Management Plan can begin. The draft amendment will propose a four region management approach: Massachusetts and Rhode Island; Long Island Sound; New Jersey/New York Bight; and Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. It is anticipated a draft for public comment will be presented to the Board for its review and approval in February 2017, with final amendment approval later in the year.

The stock assessments and peer review report, which are combined into one document, will be available on the Commission website on the Tautog page by the end of August.

Science on Menhaden Continues to Support Increased Quota

August 3, 2016 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

Peter Baker, the Director of U.S. Oceans, Northeast for the Pew Charitable Trusts, argues in a recent article that fisheries managers should not raise the coastwide Atlantic menhaden harvest level (“10 Reasons to Maintain the Atlantic Menhaden Catch Limit in 2017”). But this recommendation goes against the last two years of menhaden science, which found in 2015 that the stock is healthy and sustainably managed, and this year finds that the quota can be significantly and sustainably raised.

Mr. Baker writes that “the [Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission] created the first coastwide catch limit in 2013 and set the allowable catch lower than the amount taken in preceding years in order to help menhaden rebuild.” In fact, the cuts were made to address overfishing that turned out never to have existed. The quota cut was instituted following a flawed stock assessment in 2010 that underestimated the health of the menhaden population, leading to an unnecessarily strict quota. Contrary to that assessment, menhaden was, and remains, a healthy and vibrant stock.

The numbers are not better now because cuts allowed the stock to rebuild, but rather because the earlier numbers were inaccurately low and have been corrected in the most recent assessment. The more recent, accurate ASMFC assessment, released in 2015, conclusively found that menhaden was “neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing” – in other words, the stock is sustainable and successfully managed.

Scientists with the ASMFC Menhaden Technical Committee recently gave regulators further evidence in favor of a quota increase. In a series of simulations – 9,000 to be precise – the Technical Committee analyzed what would happen if the menhaden quota was raised by various increments, up to a 40 percent increase. Their conclusion: there is a zero percent chance of overfishing occurring should the quota be increased.

Mr. Baker also questions the ecological effect a quota increase would have. Menhaden play a role in the food chain, with juvenile menhaden—menhaden from ages 0-1—serving as food for larger predators. Commercial fishermen do not fish for juvenile menhaden, a fact supported by the available data.

Additionally, Mr. Baker alleges that striped bass and weakfish populations are diminished because they have a lack of menhaden to consume. But striped bass and weakfish are susceptible to a wide variety of environmental factors, which regularly cause fluctuations in the population.

Lastly, Mr. Baker argues that the public supports the existing quota limitations based upon the results of online petitions with leading questions, funded and promoted by his organization.  The accuracy of Pew’s campaigns notwithstanding, commercial fisheries are not managed by popularity contests.

Over the past three years, commercial fisheries and related industries have suffered lost revenue and workers have lost jobs.  We now know that the unnecessarily low quotas were based on flawed data.

It is time to set quotas based on solid data and scientific review, not by demands made in well-funded media campaigns from the Pew Charitable Trusts and other special interest groups.

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition
The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of over 30 businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.