Saving Seafood

Vote coming on rules about removal of dogfish fins

July 28, 2016 — OLD LYME, Conn. — Interstate fishing regulators will vote on changes to rules that govern removal of fins from some coastal sharks by fishermen.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering an amendment that would allow fishermen to bring smooth dogfish to land with fins removed as long as their total retained catch is at least 25 percent smooth dogfish.

Current rules say fishermen can bring ashore as many dogfish with fins removed as they choose. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

ASMFC 2016 Summer Meeting Supplemental Material Now Available

July 27, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2016 Summer Meeting have been posted here for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information).

Executive Committee – Memo on Plan Development Team Member; ACCSP Governance (Transition Document, Draft MOU, Staff Flowchart)

South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Cobia Management White Paper; FMP Reviews for Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum

Tautog Management Board – 2016 Tautog Regional Stock Assessments for Long Island Sound and New Jersey/New York Bight; Regional Assessment Desk Review; Tagging Trial Preliminary Results

Horseshoe Crab Management Board – Revised Draft Agenda and Meeting Overview; Memo on Ecobait Trials; Draft Recommendations for ARM Framework Review; Draft Biomedical Exceedance Recommendations;

Coastal Sharks Management Board – FMP Review; Advisory Panel Nomination and Request for Review of New Membership

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Advisory Panel Report on Draft Addendum I; Draft Public Information Document for Amendment 3; Public Comment

ACCSP Executive Committee – ACCSP Governance (Transition Document, Draft MOU, Staff Flowchart)

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – FMP Review

ISFMP Policy Board – Cobia Management White Paper; Risk and Uncertainty Policy Workgroup Memo; Habitat Committee Memo on Seismic Testing; MAFMC Correspondence to BOEM; SCWF Correspondence to SAFMC

ACCSP Coordinating Council – ACCSP Governance (Transition Document, Draft MOU, Staff Flowchart)

American Eel Management Board – New York Yellow Eel Allocation Proposal

American Lobster Management Board – American Lobster Technical Committee Memo on the Effect of Gauge Changes on Exploitation, SSB, Reference Abundance, and Catch; GARFO letter to ASMFC on the Southern New England Stock of American Lobster; American Lobster Plan Review Team & Advisory Panel Comments on Maine Conservation Equivalency Proposal

For ease of access, supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF here.

As a reminder, Board/Section meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning at 10:15 a.m. on August 2nd and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 4:00 p.m.) on Thursday August  4th. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast, the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go here to register.

ASMFC 2016 Summer Meeting Final Agenda and Meeting Materials

July 20, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Meeting will be August 2-4, 2016 at The Westin Alexandria (Telephone: 703-253-8600) located at 400 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, Virginia. Meeting materials are available on the Commission website. Supplemental materials will be posted to the website on Wednesday, July 27, 2016. CDs containing all meeting materials will also be available at the meeting in limited quantities.

Board/Section meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning at 10:15 a.m. on August 2nd and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 4:00 p.m.) on Thursday August  4th. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast, the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go here to register.

We look forward to seeing you at the Summer Meeting. If the staff or I can provide any further assistance to you, please call us at 703-842-0740.

Read the full meeting agenda as a PDF

Regulators look for solutions to lobster bait shortage

July 20, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Interstate fishery managers will meet to discuss how to regulate the catch of a key lobster bait fish they say is at risk of heavy fishing.

Herring is the most popular bait fish for lobsters, and fishermen aren’t catching many far off New England. Regulators fear heavy herring fishing closer to shore will result in the fishery hitting its quota before the end of September.

Members of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s herring board will meet Wednesday to discuss how to manage the rate of catch off states like Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Baltimore Sun

New Atlantic Marine Monument Poll Presents Misleading Picture of the Issues

July 12, 2016 (NCFC) — Yesterday, a poll released by the Protect New England’s Ocean Treasures Coalition claimed that 80 percent of Massachusetts and Rhode Island residents support national monument designation for certain ocean areas. However, the survey questions selectively presented information to respondents, withholding information about existing protections in the proposed monument areas.

The poll, conducted by Edge Research, a suburban Washington, DC polling company with a specialty in ocean conservation issues, consisted of phone interviews with 400 residents in Massachusetts and 403 residents in Rhode Island. Respondents were presented with questions that minimized the economic impacts of a potential marine monument.

When asked about the monuments, respondents were told, “protecting these areas would prohibit the fishing activity in these limited areas and could result in a small adverse economic impact on commercial fishing.” [emphasis added]

But according to fishermen themselves, the economic impact of a marine monument could in fact be devastating – potentially costing the industry millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. The affected areas are important grounds for the valuable red crab, swordfish, tuna, and offshore lobster fisheries. This has led the affected fisheries, as well as virtually the entire New England fishing industry and its regulatory bodies, to unite in opposition to the current monument proposals.

The pollsters also repeatedly asked whether respondents supported federal protections for the areas in question, without mentioning the protections already in place under the current management system. These protections include the prohibition of federally managed fisheries from using bottom-tending gear in Cashes Ledge, one of the areas under consideration.

Several leading fisheries management bodies have made it clear that they support the current public and transparent process for habitat and fisheries management. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission passed a resolution in May asserting its preference for using the current process, under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, to develop protections for the proposed monument areas.

Also in May, the Council Coordination Committee, comprised of all eight regional fishery management councils in the U.S., stated its support for the “public, transparent, science-based process and management” of fisheries required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fisheries management in the country. Marine protections enacted under this process are not mentioned as a potential alternative in the poll.

The press release accompanying the poll states that Edge Research “is recognized as the chief pollster for ocean issues.”

The Edge Research principal named in the release, Lisa Dropkin, is described as having “conducted research for a host of conservation organizations, including The Ocean Conservancy, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Environmental Defense Fund, and World Wildlife Fund.” She also chairs Green Media Toolshed, “an application service provider supporting media communications for environmental organizations,” which lists among its goals strengthening the “ability of conservation groups to influence national, regional and local media.”

In June 2015, Edge Research “partnered with the David & Lucile Packard Foundation to conduct new research on American Millennials’ attitudes towards oceans, ocean conservation, and pathways for engaging this next generation of ocean leaders.”

There is no indication on the Edge Research website that they have ever done work for the commercial fishing or maritime shipping industries.

The Protect New England’s Ocean Treasures Coalition, which is advocating for a Marine National Monument in the North Atlantic Ocean, is composed of Center for American Progress, Conservation Law Foundation, Earthjustice, Environment America, Mystic Aquarium, National Geographic Society, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, New England Aquarium, Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

About the NCFC 
The National Coalition for Fishing Communities provides a national voice and a consistent, reliable presence for fisheries in the nation’s capital and in national media. Comprised of fishing organizations, associations, and businesses from around the country, the NCFC helps ensure sound fisheries policies by integrating community needs with conservation values, leading with the best science, and connecting coalition members to issues and events of importance.

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission eyes menhaden

July 6, 2016 — DOVER, Del. — Delaware officials are hosting an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission public hearing on proposed changes to the interstate management plan for Atlantic Menhaden.

Wednesday evening’s hearing in Dover involves a proposal to allow two licensed commercial fishermen to harvest up to 12,000 pounds of menhaden bycatch when working from the same vessel and fishing with stationary, multi-species gear, limited to one vessel trip per day.

Currently, the bycatch limit is 6,000 pounds per vessel per day.

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

ASMFC To Review Harvest Estimates

July 1, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass and Bluefish Management Boards will meet via conference call on Wednesday, July 6 at 10:00 a.m. to review the latest recreational harvest estimates from the Marine Recreational Information Program. These data indicate that preliminary estimates of 2015 recreational harvest were underestimated for both bluefish and black sea bass. While the uptick in harvest will have no impact to 2016 bluefish recreational management measures since the annual catch limit was not exceeded, it will likely have implications for 2016 black sea bass recreational management measures. On the conference call, the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board will consider possible changes to state regulations for 2016.

The public is welcome to listen in on the discussion by phone (888.394.8197; passcode 815277) and view the WEBINAR. The meeting agenda is posted to the Commission website. Meeting materials will be posted shortly. Time permitting, there will be a limited opportunity to provide comments at the end of the agenda. The Board Chair will provide additional information on the procedures for accepting public comment at the beginning of the conference call. We ask the public and other nonparticipating attendees to please mute their phones in order to minimize distractions to the Board’s deliberations.

Read the release at The Fisherman

Sens. Collins, King Applaud Funding to Help Reimburse Maine Fisherman for At-Sea Monitoring Program

June 27, 2016 — WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today welcomed an announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that it will fund an estimated 85 percent of the sea days needed for the At-Sea Monitoring (ASM) Program for the current fishing year. Beginning July 1, groundfish fishermen covered by the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan will be reimbursed for their at-sea monitoring costs through an arrangement with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

“The At-Sea Monitoring Program is an important tool that helps us to responsibly manage Maine’s critical ocean resources,” Senators Collins and King said in a joint statement. “Maine’s hardworking fishermen shouldn’t bear an unfair financial burden in supporting the ASM program. We applaud NOAA for stepping up to help reimburse our fishermen, and will continue to fight for the Maine groundfish industry moving forward.”

Read the full press release at the newsroom of Sen. Collins

MARYLAND: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Considers Menhaden Regulation Changes

June 24, 2016 — FISHING CREEK, Md. — Life is about to possibly get easier for menhaden fisherman in Maryland.  Menhaden, a popular bait fish, are regulated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC.  Several years ago, an ASMFC report indicated that the menhaden stock was being overfished.  However, a report that came out a year ago showed that the fishery was in fact strong.  The ASMFC is now undoing some of the regulations it passed to protect the species.

It has been years since the ASMFC said that menhaden over fishing was occurring.  One lawsuit and several years later, watermen are still feeling the effects of the regulations put in place to protect the species.

“When they cut us 20 percent, some of our buyers went to alternative bait like razor clams and the price of bait went up.  They went somewhere else so it has really hurt our industry.  We can’t sell as much as we were before,” said Boo Powley, a fifth generation waterman.

Read and watch the full story at WBOC

In Shift, NOAA Says Fish Fleets Will Be Reimbursed For Monitoring Costs

June 24, 2016 — Deviating from plans that had caused an uproar, federal fishing regulators plan to announce Thursday that some of the fishing industry’s costs for groundfish monitoring will be reimbursed this year.

The at-sea monitoring program places regulators onboard vessels and in March the federal government started shifting the cost for the monitoring onto the fishing industry, according to Northeast Seafood Coalition Executive Director Jackie Odell.

“The fishery’s just not in a profitable place to be taking on this additional burden,” Odell told the News Service. She said, “There are some boats that are going out, but it’s a mixed bag.”

A memo dated Thursday from a National Marine Fisheries Service official sent to congressional offices and obtained by the News Service said the federal regulators anticipate federal funds can cover at-sea monitoring for about 85 percent of the days at sea for the current fishing year. The memo cautioned that the agency does not “expect this situation to recur in future fishing years.”

“Beginning July 1, groundfish fishermen will be reimbursed for their at-sea monitoring costs through an arrangement with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission,” the federal memo stated. “The arrangement will last until funds are expended, and is not expected to cover costs for the entire year or be repeated in the future.”

Read the full story from the State House News Service at WBUR