Saving Seafood

2,000 LB Limit in Effect for Atlantic Herring Area 1A Limit on November 2

October 29, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The annual catch limit for Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A has been harvested for the June 1 to December 31 period.

Effective at 12 noon on November 2, vessels are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds per trip or calendar day from Area 1A for the rest of the fishing year, which ends on December 31. Vessels must also abide by state regulations, which include no-landing days (currently Thursday-Sunday).

There is no Area 1A allocation available for the January 1 to May 31, 2016 season, so no vessel may fish for herring in Area 1A during that period.

We expect that vessels will be able to resume herring fishing in Area 1A on June 1, 2016.

More details are available in the Federal Register notice and the permit holder letter.

Questions? Contact Shannah Jaburek, Regional Office, at 978-282-8456 or shannah.jaburek@noaa.gov.

Atlantic herring. Credit: NOAA

September/October 2015 NEFMC Newsletter

October 22, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Council Report summarizes major actions approved at NEFMC meetings or highlights items of interest to interested parties.

At its September 29-Oct 1, 2015 meeting in Plymouth, MA, the Council:

  • Approved Amendment 18 to the Groundfish Plan
  • Refined elements of Framework 55 (annual groundfish specs)
  • Approved the 2016- 2018 Atlantic herring specifications
  • Selected preferred alternatives for Scallop Amendment 19 and reviewed information related to Framework 27
  • Modified the red hake specifications
  • Initiated frameworks for the Skate Complex FMP and Habitat Amendment

If you would like to receive notices for committee meetings and other types of Council information via email, please click on Subscribe at the top of the homepage and receive e-notices.

View a PDF of the NEFMC Newsletter

2,000 lb Possession Limit in Effect October 22 for Midwater Trawl Vessels in the GB Haddock AM Area

October 19, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Herring Possession Limit Reduced to 2,000 lb in the Georges Bank Haddock Accountability Management Area in Effect October 22 for Midwater Trawl Vessels

The Atlantic Herring Georges Bank Incidental Haddock Catch Cap for the 2015 fishing year has been harvested. 

As a result, herring midwater trawl vessels will be prohibited from fishing for or landing more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip or calendar day in or from the Herring Georges Bank Haddock Accountability Measure Area effective October 22. This limit will remain in place until the quota becomes available for the 2016 fishing year (expected on May 1, 2016). 

This action effectively limits the midwater trawl fishery in Herring Management Area 3 to 2,000 lb of herring per trip/day until May 1, 2016, because Area 3 falls within the Georges Bank Haddock Accountability Management Area. 

Herring vessels issued an All Areas or Areas 2/3 Limited Access Herring Permit may land haddock from the Herring Georges Bank Haddock Accountability Measure Area provided they have a Northeast Multispecies permit and are on a declared Northeast Multispecies day-at-sea.

For more information, please read the Federal Register notice and the permit holder bulletin.

Questions? Contact Shannah Jaburek, Regional Office, at 978-282-8456 or shannah.jaburek@noaa.gov.

Atlantic herring. Credit: NOAA

 

SHAUN GEHAN: No ‘localized depletion’ of Atlantic herring

October 6, 2015 – This week, the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition – a trade group representing herring fishermen and processors – submitted comments in response to the New England Fisheries Management Council’s supplemental scoping process on the issue of “localized depletion in near shore waters.”  “Localized depletion” is a theory that intensive localized harvest, in this case of Atlantic herring, can cause adverse impacts on various other marine species.

No such impacts or impacted species were identified by the New England Council, yet it has made a goal of Amendment 8 to Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan to “address” localized depletion.  SFC stated that “it puts the cart before the horse” to develop management measures to address a problem that likely does not exist.  The group also called for basing any actions taken in the amendment on scientific evidence, noting that none of the scientists advising the Council had identified any such problems.

As SFC noted in its letter, the real issue involves conflicts between various users of inshore waters, particularly around Cape Cod and the islands—a view shared by several Council members when this goal was debated at its June meeting.  In its letter, SFC urged the Council to address any spatial conflicts among various users groups – including herring vessels, recreational anglers, whale watching companies, environmentalists, and other fishermen – directly in a separate action.

In response to public pressure, the New England Council had long made defining and measuring localized depletion a research priority.  Previously it approved a project to define and measure localized depletion, funded through the herring research set-aside program.  Working with industry vessels, Gulf of Maine Research Institute researchers undertook a project to define and assess whether or not localized depletion was occurring.  Funding constraints allowed only for development of a technique to assess the issue.  To date, however, no follow-up research has been funded.

Amendment 8 is designed to develop management reference points to address herring’s role in the ecosystem and will take several years to complete.  The Atlantic herring resource is in strong shape, with populations more than twice long-term targets.

Read the letter from the Sustainable Fisheries Coalition submitted to the NEFMC

 

Atlantic Herring Area 1A’s Trimester 3 Landing Days

ARLINGTON, Va. — September 29, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, with input from industry, set a “days out” effort control measure to allow three (3) consecutive landing days per week in Area 1A during Trimester 3 (October 1 through December 31). Effective 12:01 AM, Monday, October 5, the Trimester 3 Atlantic herring fishery will move from zero landing days to three landings days. Vessels may fish and land Atlantic herring from 12:01 AM each Monday through midnight on Wednesday throughout Trimester 3. Thursday through Sunday are “no landing” days. Please note a state may implement different start and finish times for the three consecutive landing days.

Landings will be monitored closely and the directed fishery will be closed when 92% of the Area 1A quota is projected to be reached.  For the Trimester 3 Area 1A fishery that value is 6,971 metric tons (mt).

In addition, the spawning area in Massachusetts-New Hampshire is closed until October 18. Vessels participating in other fisheries may possess no more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip in a spawning closure area.

Please contact Ashton Harp at aharp@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.

 

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Trimester 3 Days Out Conference Call — September 24th at 9 AM

September 15, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section member states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via conference call on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 9 AM to discuss Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) days out measures for the Trimester 3 fishery (October 1 – December 31). To join the conference all, dial 1.888.394.8197 and enter passcode 499811.  For more information, please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at aharp@asmfc.org.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule for Atlantic Herring

August 27, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is seeking comments on proposed measures for limited access herring vessels as part of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. The New England Fishery Management Council recommended these measures to improve catch monitoring and address discarding in the herring fishery.

These proposed measures would require:

  1. Fish holds to be certified and observers to collect volumetric catch estimates for a cross-check of vessel and dealer data;
  2. Fish holds to be empty of fish before leaving port, unless a waiver is issued by an authorized law enforcement officer when fish have been reported but cannot be sold;
  3. Slippage (i.e., catch discarded prior to sampling by an observer) to be reported via the vessel monitoring system;
  4. Moving 15 nautical miles following an allowable slippage event (one due to safety, mechanical failure, or excess catch of spiny dogfish); and
  5. Terminating a fishing trip and returning to port following a non-allowable slippage event (one for any reason not listed above).

We have concerns with the proposed measures 1 and 2, above. We are seeking public comment on the justification for these proposed measures and whether the utility of the measures outweighs compliance and enforcement costs.

Read the proposed rule as published in the

Federal Register. Submit your comments online through regulations.gov, or send your comments by mail to:

John Bullard

Regional Administrator, Greater Atlantic Region

National Marine Fisheries Service

55 Great Republic Drive

Gloucester, MA 01930.

 

 

Fishing managers taking comments on changes to herring rules

August 25, 2015 — PORTLAND, MA — Federal fishing managers are looking for comments about the issue of localized depletion in Atlantic herring fishing.

Localized depletion is when fishing takes more fish than can be replaced locally or through migration. The request for feedback comes as the New England Fishery Management Council is working on an amendment to make sure future Atlantic herring catch limits are based on “scientific uncertainty” and the status of the herring stock.

Read the full story at the New Jersey Herald

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Notice

August 24, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Section members from the states of Maine and New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are meeting via conference call on August 26, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss “days out” effort control measures for the 2015 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season from June 1 to September 30 (Trimester 2).

The 2015 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit is 30,290 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the 2013 carryover, 3% Herring Research Set-Aside awarded in 2015, and 295 mt fixed gear fishery set-aside. The Section set the seasonal split as 72.8% allocated from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% allocated from October 1 – December 31. As of August 13, the cumulative catch for 1A has reached 12,597 mt, representing 41.59% of the quota.

Fishermen and other interested parties are welcome to listen in and participate at the Chair’s discretion. Join the conference call by dialing 1.888.394.8197 and entering the passcode 499811 when prompted and register for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5681527693678231297 .

Please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or aharp@asmfc.org for more information.

2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Funding Opportunity – Proposals Due September 21, 2015

July 31, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

NMFS, with assistance from the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), is soliciting proposals for 2016 – 2018 that address Atlantic Herring RSA research priorities. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, proceeds generated from the sale of RSA quota will be used to fund research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.

Projects funded under the Atlantic Herring RSA Program must enhance the knowledge of Atlantic herring fishery resources or contribute to the body of information on which Council management decisions are made. Priority shall be given to funding research proposals in the following areas identified as research priorities by the Council for the 2016-2018 fishing years.

2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Research Priorities – priorities are not listed in order of importance.

1. Atlantic herring portside sampling – Develop and/or demonstrate a portside sampling program.

2. River herring bycatch avoidance – Develop and/or demonstrate methods that will enable river herring bycatch avoidance in the Atlantic herring fishery.

3. Electronic monitoring – Investigate the feasibility of electronic video monitoring in the Atlantic herring fishery as a means to document vessel fishing and catch processing operations.

4. Stock Structure / Spatial Management

a. Investigate mixing of the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank Atlantic herring resource with the Scotian shelf Atlantic herring resource.

b. Investigate whether Atlantic herring form contingents, and if schools segregate based on size, age, and spawning location.

c. Evaluate assumptions for developing spatial allocations (sub-ACLs) based on different stock structure models.

5. Availability and Detectability of Atlantic herring in Surveys and the Fishery

a. Investigate whether predation potential (e.g., cod) or school size affects the location of Atlantic herring in the water column.

b. Investigate whether the distribution of thermal habitat affects the availability of Atlantic herring to the survey or to the fishery.

6. Fishery acoustic indices – Develop and/or conduct a fishery-independent abundance survey using commercial vessels and fishery acoustics.

7. Volume to Weight Conversion

a. Investigate sources and magnitude of variability of herring catch volume to weight conversions made by vessel captains and dealers.

b. Investigate density-dependent growth /trade-off with reproduction and the potential effect on volume to weight conversions.

For instructions on submitting proposals, please see the attached Federal Funding Opportunity, or search www.grants.gov for funding opportunity NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016-2004537.  Complete proposals/applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. EDT on 9/21/2015.

Please forward to any interested parties. For questions, please contact Cheryl Corbett at cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov or 508-495-2070.