Saving Seafood

ASMFC Approves Interstate FMP for the Atlantic Migratory Group Cobia

November 15, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Linthicum, MD – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Migratory Group (AMG). The FMP complements many of the aspects of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (SAFMC) cobia regulations for federal waters extending from Georgia through New York.  The FMP was initiated in response to recent overages of the federal annual catch limit (ACL) for AMG Cobia. Managing the recreational ACL on a coastwide basis has resulted in federal closures and significant overages in 2015 and 2016, disrupting fishing opportunities and jeopardizing the health of the stock. 

Under the Interstate FMP, the recreational fishery will be managed with a one fish bag limit and minimum size limit of 36” fork length (FL) or total length equivalent.  Vessel limits will be determined once individual states set their seasonal restrictions, but may not exceed six fish per vessel.  State-specific allocations of a coastwide recreational harvest limit that is equivalent to the federal AMG cobia ACL of 620,000 pounds result in the following state-specific soft targets:

 
·         Georgia: 58,311 pounds
·         South Carolina: 74,885 pounds
·         North Carolina: 236,316 pounds
·         Virginia: 244,292 pounds
 
Recreational harvest overages of specific-state allocations will be evaluated over a three-year time period. If overages occur, states will be required to adjust management measures to reduce harvest in the subsequent three-year period.
 
The commercial fishery will maintain the current management measures as implemented through the SAFMC FMP and continue to be managed with a 33” FL minimum size limit and two fish limit per person, with a six fish maximum vessel limit.  The federal ACL of 50,000 pounds is allocated to the entire commercial fishery from Georgia through New York.  The commercial AMG cobia fishery will close once the ACL is projected to be reached.
 
The FMP provides the opportunity for states to declare de minimis status for their recreational fishery if landings constitute less than 1% of the recreational AMG cobia harvest. States must submit implementation plans to the Commission by January 1, 2018 for Technical Committee review and Board approval at the February 2018 meeting in Alexandria, Virginia. Approved plans must be implemented by April 1, 2018. The FMP will be available on the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, in early December. For more information, please contact Dr. Louis Daniel, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at ldaniel@asmfc.org or 252.342.1478.
To learn more about the ASMFC visit their site here.

Was Virginia wronged in a decision to raise quota for a fish called menhaden?

November 14, 2017 — An East Coast commission on Tuesday raised the quota for commercial catches of a small but important fish called menhaden. But the delegation from Virginia, the dominant player in the fishery, cast the lone vote against the change, contending that the state won’t get enough of the increase.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted 14-1 on a plan for menhaden that includes raising the coastwide quota by 8 percent, from 200,000 metric tons this year to 216,000 tons in 2018 and 2019.

The increase for Virginia will be significantly smaller, less than 1 percent, with the state getting about 1,000 of the additional 16,000 tons per year. That’s because the commission agreed to reallocate the total catch so that all states, even those without a current menhaden fishery, get at least a 0.5 percent slice. Most fall short of that level now.

“We thought it was unfair to Virginia,” said John Bull, head of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Read the full story at the Virginian-Pilot

ASMFC Approves Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden

November 15, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

Linthicum, MD – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has approved Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Menhaden.  The Amendment maintains the management program’s current single-species biological reference points until the review and adoption of menhaden-specific ecological reference points as part of the 2019 benchmark stock assessment process. It also addresses a suite of commercial management measures including allocation, quota transfers, quota rollovers, incidental catch, the episodic events set aside program, and the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap.

In addition to its Amendment 3 deliberations, the Board set the total allowable catch for the 2018 and 2019 fishing seasons at 216,000 metric tons (mt) with the expectation that the setting of the TAC for subsequent years will be guided by menhaden-specific ecological reference points.

“Through adoption of Amendment 3 and the setting of the 2018 and 2019 TAC at a risk-averse level, the Board has demonstrated its continued commitment to manage the menhaden resource in a way that balances menhaden’s ecological role with the needs of its stakeholders,” stated Board Chair Robert Ballou of Rhode Island. “While the Amendment maintains the current reference points, the Board placed the development of menhaden-specific ecological reference points as its highest priority.  While the Board’s action was not supported by the majority of public comment received, it is still a conservative management action relative to our understanding of stock status and many of the positive signals we see in the current stock conditions. Specifically, the 2017 Stock Assessment Update indicated the resource remains healthy, with increases in abundance particularly in the norther states. Risks to the resource under our current reference points are well understood, while changes to the TAC under the general forage fish guidelines are not as well understood. Further, the approved TAC, which represents a modest 8% increase in the coastwide quota, has zero percent chance of subjecting the resource to overfishing or causing it to be overfished.”

Amendment 3 also changes fishery allocations in order to strike an improved balance between gear types and jurisdictions. The Amendment allocates a baseline quota of 0.5% to each jurisdiction, and then allocates the rest of the TAC based on historic landings between 2009 and 2011 (see table below). This measure provides fishing opportunities to states which currently have little quota while still recognizing historic landings in the fishery. The Board also agreed to maintain the quota transfer process, prohibit the rollover of unused quota, maintain the 6,000 lb trip limit for non-directed and small-scale gears following the closure of a directed fishery, and set aside 1% of the TAC for episodic events in the states of New York through Maine. “The Board worked collaboratively and effectively to forge an outcome that is fair and responsive to the needs and interest of all East Coast states” said Chair Ballou.

Table 1. Amendment 3 allocation percentages based on a 0.5% fixed minimum during the 2009-2011 timeframe.

State Allocations (%)
Maine 0.52%
New Hampshire 0.50%
Massachusetts 1.27%
Rhode Island 0.52%
Connecticut 0.52%
New York 0.69%
New Jersey 10.87%
Pennsylvania 0.50%
Delaware 0.51%
Maryland 1.89%
Potomac River Fisheries Commission 1.07%
Virginia 78.66%
North Carolina 0.96%
South Carolina 0.50%
Georgia 0.50%
Florida 0.52%
Total 100%

Finally, the Amendment reduces the Chesapeake Bay cap, which was first implemented in 2006 to limit the amount of reduction harvest within the Bay, to 51,000 mt from 87,216 mt. This recognizes the importance of the Chesapeake Bay as nursery grounds for many species by capping recent reduction landings from the Bay to current levels.

States must submit implementation plans to the Commission by January 1, 2018 for final implementation by April 15, 2018. The Amendment will be available on the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, by the end of November. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

To learn more about the ASMFC visit their site here.

 

Menhaden Fisheries Coalition Thanks ASMFC For Adopting Best Science on Menhaden Ecological Reference Points

WASHINGTON — November 14, 2017 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) thanks the Commissioners of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board for following the best available science in setting reference points for Atlantic menhaden.

As part of Amendment 3 to the Atlantic Menhaden Intestate Fishery Management Plan (FMP), the Commission voted 16-2 to continue current management measures for Atlantic menhaden until its Biological Ecological Reference Points (BERP) Workgroup finishes developing menhaden-specific ecological reference points (ERPs). These ERPs are supported by the MFC, and would manage menhaden based on its role in the ecosystem as forage for predator species.

The best science shows that managing forage fish according to general biological principals, as advocated by various environmental and sportfishing groups, is not the correct approach. Earlier this year, Dr. Ray Hilborn and a team of top fishery scientists released a study that recommended forage fish be managed on a case-by-case basis, based on the unique biological and ecological factors affecting individual forage species. The BERP Workgroup is following this advice in its work developing a menhaden-specific management model.

While these reference points are being developed, current menhaden management has led to a healthy stock. The ASMFC’s 2015 and 2017 stock assessments of Atlantic menhaden found that menhaden is not overfished and not experiencing overfishing.

US regulators boost Atlantic menhaden catch limits by 8%

November 14, 2017 — BALTIMORE — Omega Protein, Daybrook Fisheries, Lund’s Fisheries and several other US big fishing companies that rely heavily on menhaden caught in the Atlantic Ocean got the outcome they hoped for in a hotel meeting room here this week.

By a 15-3 tally, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), meeting as the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board on Tuesday morning, approved a 216,000 metric ton total allowable catch (TAC) on the Atlantic coast of the United States in 2018 and 2019 — an 8% increase. The panel gave itself the flexibility to lower the threshold should its staff come up with new ecological reference points (ERPs) that suggest a reduction is needed.

The day before ASFMC voted down, 13-5, a change favored by environmental advocates that would’ve required the establishment of interim goals aimed at restoring menhaden to 75% of their original biomass and prompted action, possibly even a moratorium, should the biomass ever fell below 40% of that amount. It approved a substitute proposal that requires ASMFC’s staff to develop species-specific ERPS, something that is predicted to get done by the end of 2019.

“We’re in a pretty good place right now where the fishery is concerned. As has been referenced, we’ve got an expanding stock and a stable harvest over the last couple of years and we’re still leaving about 40% of the unfished spawning potential in the water right now,” said Dave Blazer, Maryland’s representative on the panel, in explaining why he was voting for the substitute proposal on Monday.

Read the full story at UndercurrentNews

 

State official: NY commercial fishermen ‘getting a raw deal’

November 13, 2017 — New York commercial fishermen are “getting a raw deal” in federal fisheries quotas, and the state will follow through on a lawsuit early next year if meetings in December don’t fix the problem, the state’s top fisheries official said last week.

At a meeting at the East Hampton Public Library on Thursday, Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, listened to two full hours of complaints about state and federal regulations and management of fisheries, including restrictive quotas, inaccurate fish-population data, difficulty in getting and transferring permits, and “Gestapo”-like tactics of federal observers on local fishing vessels.

Seggos in an interview after the meeting said the state would base its response to federal regulators “on the numbers we get” in the federal quota following a meeting of an interstate commission in December to divvy up the quota for fluke and other species.

Read the full story at NEWSDAY

 

Big change for a little fish? Menhaden board says: Not so fast

November 13, 2017 — A proposal to boldly reshape how one of the East Coast’s largest fisheries is managed barely left the dock Monday before it was sunk by a flotilla of opposition.

The Atlantic Menhaden Management Board, named for a small but important fish caught by the hundreds of millions of pounds each year along the coast, opted to stick with the status quo rather than adopt a new plan that might have ushered in cuts in harvests.

The board is an arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the larger commission is expected to ratify the decision at its meeting in Linthicum, Md., today.

Monday’s decision was cheered by representatives of Omega Protein Corp., whose fleet of vessels based in the Northern Neck town of Reedville catches most of the menhaden netted along the Atlantic. “It’s a good day for Omega,” said Ben Landry, a spokesman for the Houston-based company.

Environmental groups and recreational fishermen said they were disappointed. They’d been pushing for a regulatory framework that they say takes into account the needs of other species, from whales to striped bass to ospreys, that prey on menhaden.

But when the proposal to put that plan into motion, called Option E, was offered, it was quickly trumped by another, Option B, that basically keeps the management approach as is. Virginia’s delegation and all but a handful of the 17 others voted to kick Option E to the side.

Read the full story at the Virginian-Pilot

 

Striped bass reproduction in Bay a bit above average, surveys show

November 12, 2017 — Striped bass reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay slightly exceeded the long-term average this year, annual surveys show, offering hope that the population is rebounding from low levels that led to coastwide fishing restrictions three years ago.

In Maryland — where reproduction has historically been an accurate predictor of future coastwide populations — the annual juvenile index has been above average for two of the past three years.

That’s an improvement from the previous seven-year span when the index had been below average in all but one year. That reproductive drought spurred the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the harvest of migratory fish, to impose a coastwide catch reduction in 2014, including a 20 percent cut in the Chesapeake.

Striped bass start reaching legally fishable sizes after three to four years, so the recent improvements in reproduction seen by surveys in Maryland and Virginia should be reflected in the numbers of catchable-size fish in the next few years.

Dave Blazer, director of fishing and boating services with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, called the recent uptick “an encouraging sign for the coastal population and future fishing opportunities.”

In Maryland, this year’s young-of-year index was 13.2, which was above the 64-year average of 11.7. It follows an index of 24.2 in 2015, which was more than twice the long-term average.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

 

Decision over a tiny baitfish could sway the largest East Coast fishery

November 13, 2017 — KENT ISLAND, Md. — Tony Friedrich sped toward Tilghman Point in the Chesapeake Bay in his 25-foot fishing boat. He was searching for striped bass, a prized catch for recreational anglers. Scanning the horizon, he noted the dark oil patches, swooping gulls and the smell of “death and watermelon” — the telltale signs of menhaden, an oily fish that striped bass “eat like Snickers bars.” Where there is menhaden, Friedrich will find striped bass.

Friedrich turned toward East Bay, seeking protection from the southeast winds. Menhaden swim to the surface in large schools to feed on phytoplankton if there aren’t any whitecaps — foamy surface waves caused by the winds, he said. Friedrich has always been amazed by the scene. The hundreds of menhaden that slap the water’s surface. The birds that dive bomb, snatching the small fish in their beaks. The predators — striped bass, weakfish and bluefish — that lurk in the depths to ambush the school from below.

Sometimes called bunker, pogy, or baitfish, fishermen like Friedrich know menhaden well. Although he doesn’t angle for menhaden, they are critical for the food web and support the largest East Coast commercial fishery. That is why the debate over their survival has reached a fever pitch.

Hundreds are expected to gather in Baltimore Monday as interstate regulators make a landmark decision for menhaden, and possibly, all Atlantic fisheries. Menhaden went largely unmanaged for decades, and the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission will potentially move to reinforce protections for the species and the ecosystem they support.

The commission accepted public comments from August to October and received 158,106. Commercial bait and reduction fishers, conservation organizations and recreational anglers are all weighing in on the decision.

The deliberation comes as some marine species that rely on menhaden like striped bass, and weakfish are in steep decline. Menhaden populations saw sharp drops in the late 1960s and again in the late 1990s. But their numbers leveled off 15 years ago, and began to rebound after the ASMFC set the first coastwide catch limit in 2013. Now, the commission is taking a new, and possibly historic, perspective on fish management by considering how the health of one species — menhaden — influences the numbers of others, in this case predators like striped bass and weakfish.

“When [menhaden] are not abundant, everything collapses,” Friedrich said. “We have to do what’s right.”

But there are many opinions on what is right. On Monday, the ASMFC will choose between five options, ranging from dramatic reductions in the allocation and catch limit to no change at all.

Read the full story at PBS News Hour

 

Fishing Companies: Environmentalists Are Wrong About Menhaden Fishery

November 13, 2017 — Fishing companies are at odds with Rhode Island environmental advocacy groups over proposed changes for the menhaden fishing industry.

Changes to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden are up for a vote at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in Maryland this Monday and Tuesday.

The commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board is considering a new amendment that would tie menhaden catch limits to the role they play in the ecosystem. The fish are a primary food source for larger fish, such as striped bass, marine mammals, and birds, such as osprey.

Rhode Island environmental groups support the approval of a temporary ecological-based management plan to make sure there’s enough menhaden in Narragansett Bay for predators to eat. Those temporary rules would be adjusted as more data becomes available.

Read and listen to the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio