Saving Seafood

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Northern Shrimp Advisory Panel Conference Call Scheduled for February 23

January 4, 2017 — The following was released by the ASMFC:

 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Advisory Panel (AP) will meet via conference call on Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 3:30 P.M., to provide feedback on the development of Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp. The Northern Shrimp Section will meet Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 10:00 A.M. to review and consider approving Draft Amendment 3 for public comment. The details of the Section meeting will be released when they become available.
 
While the northern shrimp fishery is currently under a moratorium due to its depleted stock condition, the Northern Shrimp Section is moving forward on the development of Draft Amendment 3 to explore options to manage the fishery when and if the fishery reopens. Options include  state-by-state allocations and seasonal- and area-based management measures to better manage effort in the fishery, and the mandatory use of size sorting grate systems to minimize harvest of small shrimp to protect the stock. The Draft Amendment will also explore additional reporting measures to ensure all harvested shrimp are being reported.
 
To access the meeting, please dial 1.888.394.8197 and enter passcode 815277 when prompted. To access the webinar, type the following address in your web browser: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/710614109. Since this is a working meeting of the Panel, the Chair may allow limited public comment as time allows.
 
For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.  

Fisheries managers seek Delmarva anglers’ input on flounder regulations

January 4, 2017 — BERLIN, Md. – The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control each have public hearings scheduled to gather public comment on a new proposal for summer flounder management by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The ASMFC’s Draft Addendum XXVIII seeks alternative management approaches for a coast-wide 30% reduction in the recreational harvest of summer flounder in 2017. This comes after the ASMFC says a 2016 stock assessment estimated the flounder population as lower than previously expected and fishing mortality higher than it had been in recent years.

According to the the addendum, the commission is considering several different management options to meet reduction goals, including coast-wide size limit increases for flounder and more consistency among different states’ possession and size limits.

Delaware, Maryland and Virginia all make up one region within the ASMFC’s five region flounder management area up and down the Atlantic coast.

Read the full story at WMDT

Selling shark fins now banned in Rhode Island

January 3, 2017 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Selling shark fins is now banned in Rhode Island as it is in Massachusetts.

A law took effect Sunday that makes it a crime to own or sell a shark fin unless it’s used for scientific research or in preparing a shark for ordinary consumption.

Rhode Island became the 11th state to ban shark fin sales when Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed legislation into law in June. Hawaii was the first in 2010. Massachusetts banned the sales in 2014.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted in August to approve a new rule that allows fishermen to bring smooth dogfish, a type of shark, to land with fins removed, as long as their total retained catch is at least 25 percent smooth dogfish.

The rule change better incorporates the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 into management of the dogfish, staff with the fisheries commission said. 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.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

RHODE ISLAND: Fishing community shares thoughts on menhaden

December 30, 2016 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages many of the saltwater species we fish in Rhode Island that travel the east coast, held an Atlantic menhaden public hearing Monday at the URI Bay Campus.

The hearing addressed a Public Information Document (PID) that aims to incorporate ecosystem-based management strategies to manage Atlantic menhaden. The PID serves as a predecessor to an amendment (Amendment 3) to the Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan scheduled to be developed next year. About 30 recreational and commercial fishermen, fish processors, environmental groups (like Save the Bay) and fish managers attended the hearing. Two main issues were discussed at the hearing. The first issue was the use of ecosystem-based management strategies to determine stock status and allowable catch limits. The second issue addressed landing timeframes, which would be used to determine allocation of quota.

Recreational anglers up and down the east coast have claimed that fishing for striped bass and other game fish is off when the quantity of Atlantic menhaden (a forage fish for striped bass) is down. Additionally, Atlantic menhaden are filter feeders, with each fish processing thousands of gallons of water filtering out plankton to help prevent algae blooms. The Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan will be the first ASMFC plan that utilizes ecosystem-based management in this fashion.

Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze, Ltd., North Kingstown (the largest producer and trader of sea-frozen fish on the East Coast) and a member of the ASMFC Atlantic menhaden Advisory Panel, said “Historically, Rhode Island has landed a lot more fish than the allocation reflects.” George Allen, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (a recreational fishing association that represents 30 different fishing organizations with 7,500 members), said, “Currently, one state (Virginia) takes 85 percent of the catch because of the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishery. This is inequitable for the rest of the coastal states.”

Most in attendance were in agreement that the Atlantic menhaden allocation in the northeast states, and specifically Rhode Island, should be enhanced to more accurately reflect historical catch over a longer period of time, including the time period when landings were high due to active processing plants in the northern states. So, instead of using average landings between 2009 and 2011, many at the meeting were advocating for a longer time-series average, extending to include years prior to 2009 such as 1985, when more accurate bait fishery landings data became available.

Read the full story at the Cranston Herald

BEN LANDRY: Menhaden are flourishing

December 28, 2016 — A recent column by Chris Dollar (“Outdoors: The more menhaden the better,” Dec. 3) cites claims from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that the current management of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay has left the stock running low. The column also echoes the foundation’s position that the menhaden harvest cap should be lowered. The science suggests the opposite to be the case.

In 2012, based on fears of overfishing, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission implemented a menhaden quota. Soon after the quota was implemented, scientists found the concerns of overfishing were misplaced. Further research found that menhaden are prospering coastwide. In fact, the ASMFC declared conclusively that menhaden are neither “overfished nor experiencing overfishing.”

The ASMFC has recently expressed its confidence in the health of menhaden by voting to raise the coastwide quota by 6.45 percent. This decision was backed up by a commission analysis based on nearly 9,000 simulations that found that an increase in the menhaden quota would have an almost zero percent chance of leading to overfishing.

Read the full letter to the editor at The Baltimore Sun

States Seek Input on 2017 Recreational Summer Flounder Fishery Management

December 22, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board announces the availability of Draft Addendum XXVIII for public comment. The document, which was approved by the Board in early December, presents a suite of management approaches, including regional options, to achieve the 2017 recreational harvest limit (RHL). The Atlantic coastal states of Massachusetts through North Carolina have scheduled public hearings to gather public comment.  The details of those scheduled hearings follow:

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

January 11, 2017 at 6 PM

Bourne Community Center, Room # 1

239 Main Street

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Contact: Nichola Meserve at 617.626.1531

 

Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 12, 2017; 6:00 PM
University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corliss Auditorium South Ferry Road

Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Robert Ballou at 401.222.4700 ext. 4420

 

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

January 10, 2017 at 7 PM

CT DEEP Boating Education Center

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, Connecticut

Contact: David Simpson at 860.434.6043

 

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

January 9, 2017 at 6:30 PM

Bureau of Marine Resources

205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1

East Setauket, New York

Contact: Steve Heins at 631.444.0435

 

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 5, 2017 at 6:30 PM

Galloway Township Branch Library

306 East Jimmie Leeds Rd

Galloway, New Jersey

Contact: Tom Baum at 609.748.2020

–

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

January 17, 2017 at 6 PM

DNREC Auditorium

89 Kings Highway

Dover, Delaware

Contact: John Clark at 302.739.9914

 

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

January 3, 2017 at 6 PM

Ocean Pines Library

11107 Cathell Road

Berlin, Maryland

Contact: Steve Doctor at 410.213.1531

–

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

January 12, 2017 at 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor

Newport News, Virginia
Contact:  Robert O’Reilly at 757.247.2247

–

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries

January, 9, 2017 at 6 PM
NC Marine Fisheries, Central District Office

5285 US Highway 70 West

Morehead City, North Carolina
Contact: Chris Batsavage at 252 808-8009

–

Draft Addendum XXVIII was initiated to consider alternative management approaches for the 2017 recreational summer flounder fisheries, while also seeking to address needed reductions due to a decrease in the coastwide RHL in 2017. In August, the Board and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a 30% reduction in the 2017 coastwide RHL relative to 2016. This action was taken in response to the 2016 Stock Assessment Update which found fishing mortality was higher in recent years and population estimates were lower than previously projected.

Changes in summer flounder distribution, abundance and availability have 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 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, and enabling the states to meet but not exceed the coastwide RHL.

Anglers and interested stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXVIII either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained by clicking here or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 19, 2017 and should be forwarded to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org (Subject line: Summer Flounder Draft Addendum XXVIII).

The Board will review submitted public comment and consider final action on the Draft Addendum at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in February 2017.  For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy atkrootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

November/December issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus

December 20th, 2016 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The November/December issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus is now available at

http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//585955e0FishFocusNovDec2016.pdf. 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Upcoming Meetings

page 2

From the Executive Director’s Desk

The Future of Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Lies in Partnerships

page 3

Species Profile

Atlantic Striped Bass

page 4

Winter Meeting Preliminary Agenda

page 6 

Bick and Long Receive Melissa Laser Fish Habitat Conservation Award

page 8

Proposed Management Actions

Cobia

Atlantic Menhaden

Jonah Crab

Summer Flounder

page 9

Fishery Management Actions & 2017 Specifications

Northern Shrimp

Atlantic Menhaden

Spiny Dogfish

Horseshoe Crab

page 13

On the Legislative Front

page 14

ACCSP Presents the State of Electronic Reporting Science Highlight

page 15

Science Highlight

Maine’s Snap-a-Striper Program

page 17

Past issues of Fisheries Focus can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/search/%20/%20/Fishery-Focus.

———-

Tina Berger

Director of Communications

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N

Arlington, VA 22201

Trawler to be hired for study of imperiled shrimp

December 14th, 2016 — Government fishing managers will hire a shrimp fisherman from Massachusetts to help perform research about the future of the New England shrimp fishery.

The interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries say they want to hire a shrimp trawling vessel to collect samples of Northern shrimp. The fishermen will also be allowed to bring 1,200 pounds of shrimp per week to shore and sell them.

The project will begin on Jan. 15, 2017 and last eight weeks.

Regulators are also hiring shrimp trawlers and trappers from Maine and New Hampshire to collect samples.

Scientists say warming oceans have hurt the shrimp’s ability to reproduce. Regulators shut the fishery down in 2013.

They were previously a popular winter seafood item in New England and elsewhere.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Portsmouth Herald 

Mass. Division of Marine Fisheries seeks fisherman to catch shrimp off Massachusetts coast as part of study

December 13th, 2016 — Government officials are looking for a shrimp trawler to take part in a study of the future of the New England northern shrimp fishery.

The study is a joint effort by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries alongside the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

A release by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries details the study, which is intended “to collect northern shrimp samples during the winter period when the shrimp are in inshore waters, to collect data on the timing of the egg hatch, and the size, gender, and developmental stage of the shrimp.”

The chosen vessel will not have to go anywhere new beyond Massachusetts waters; they are expected to fish where they normally would when searching for shrimp. They must provide two random 4.5 pound samples each week but can otherwise sell up to 1,200 pounds of shrimp per trip. No other compensation is offered.

The northern shrimp’s population is considered “depleted” and scientists have pointed to warming oceans as a key factor in their decline. According to an ASMFC release about the ongoing moratorium on northern shrimp fishing, warming ocean temperatures suggest “an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp and the need for strong conservation efforts to help restore and maintain a fishable stock.”

The New England shrimp fishery was shut down in 2013.

Read the full story at Massachusetts Live

Ocean advocates hope Trump takes climate change seriously

December 9, 2016 — LONG BRANCH, N.J. — For Tom Fote, of Toms River, the decline of the lobster industry in New Jersey is proof that ocean warming is having big environmental and economic effects.

“I manage lobsters, and we saw what happened in the last 20 years. We had a huge population of lobster that grew in the Mid-Atlantic. Now it’s starting to collapse,” said Fote, who is one of three New Jersey commissioners on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

He told panelists at the 12th Annual Future of the Ocean Symposium, focused on priorities for the Trump administration and Congress at Monmouth University on Wednesday, that the water off New Jersey has become too warm for lobsters.

Fishermen need help dealing with the effects of climate change on their industry, he said.

Panelists at the symposium included former New Jersey Governor and federal Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and Donald E. Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Cambridge, Md.

“If I were to say one thing to the incoming administration and to the president-elect, it’s, ‘Listen to your daughter.’ Ivanka believes in climate change,” said Whitman of Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser. “It has real everyday implications to our lives, and to national safety. It is a national security issue.”

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City