Saving Seafood

NMFS Releases Proposed Rule to Establish a Commercial Retention Limit for Blacknose Sharks South of 34° N. Latitude in the Atlantic Region

August 11, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced a proposed rule to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan that would establish a commercial possession limit of eight blacknose sharks per trip. It would apply to federal Atlantic shark limited access permit holders targeting small coastal sharks (SCS) south of 34˚ N. latitude. If approved, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Coastal Sharks Management Board could take action to apply this to state licensed fishermen as well.

In 2016, commercial fisheries for both blacknose sharks and SCS south of 34˚ N. latitude were closed approximately five months after the opening date of May 29, 2016 because the commercial Atlantic blacknose shark landings were projected to have exceeded 80% of the available quota. The blacknose shark and non-blacknose SCS fisheries south of 34˚ N. latitude are quota-linked under current regulations, meaning if landings from either fishery are projected to exceed 80% of the available commercial quota then the both fisheries will close.

As a result of the early closures, the non-blacknose SCS quota was underutilized in 2016. The purpose of the proposed rule is to maximize the utilization of the non-blacknose SCS quota, while minimizing the mortality and discards of blacknose sharks and other small coastal sharks. Under current regulations, there is no commercial retention limit for blacknose sharks. The preferred alternative would establish a commercial retention limit of eight blacknose sharks per trip for all federal Atlantic shark limited access permit holders. The full range of alternatives considered can be found in the Draft Environmental Assessment and/or proposed rule.

The public comment period is open until September 20, 2016. NMFS will hold a public hearing and conference call for the proposed rule. Written comments, identified by “NOAA-NMFS-2016-0095,” may be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.

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

Draft plan unveiled to curb Southern New England lobster declines

August 9, 2016 — The American Lobster Management Board has released a draft plan responding to declining stocks of lobsters in Southern New England waters that will be considered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission at its annual meeting in late October.

The proposal presents a suite of management measures to increase egg production and lower harvesting mortality through a combination of management tools that include season closures, trap limits and reductions and changes in escape vent and lobster size regulations. The goal is to increase egg production for lobsters in Southern New England waters from zero to 60%.

The draft responds to the 2015 American lobster benchmark stock assessment that found the Southern New England “stock severely depleted and undergoing recruitment failure with poor prospects of recovery,” according to Friday’s statement from ASMFC.

“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,” according to ASMFC. “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.”

ASMFC reported that declines in in the offshore portion of the fishery were evident as well though not as severe. But it also noted the offshore portion of the Southern New England stock depends on a viable population of young lobsters in waters closer to the shore.

The lobster stock in Southern New England increased from the early 1980s, peaked during the late 1990s and then started declining steeply to a record low in 2013, according to ASFMC’s 2015 benchmark study. The study attributes the decline as being largely due to “increasing water temperatures over the last 15 years combined with sustained fishing mortality.”

Read the full story at Maine Biz

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.

Board will try again in the fall to set menhaden quota

August 5, 2016 — The coastwide menhaden quota for next year was not set in Alexandria, Virginia, where the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had convened this week for its summer session.

The commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board deliberated all Wednesday morning but was not able to get a majority vote on any of the several options it had been presented with.

It could have raised the coastwide harvest by as little as 20 million pounds to as much as 165 million pounds. Or it could have left it at the status quo of 415 million pounds. There were no choices to reduce the catch.

“They were throwing out all these options, a 20 percent increase, a 10 percent increase…but when it came time to vote they kept coming to a tie over and over again,” said Paul Eidman, a recreational charter boat captain, who listened to the hearings via conference call.

Atlantic coastal states where menhaden aren’t as plentiful or where there is less demand for the bait, voted against any quota hike more than 5 percent.

Tina Berger, ASMFC spokesperson, said the board will vote again at the annual meeting in late October.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Plan to help lobsters survive climate change due in fall

August 5, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — A plan to try to save southern New England’s fading lobster population will come up for review as soon as fall.

The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is working on changes to the way fishermen harvest lobsters south of Cape Cod.

Scientists say the population of southern New England lobsters has declined as ocean waters have warmed.

The fisheries commission is going to consider new management measures that could include seasonal closures and changes to the minimum and maximum harvesting sizes of lobsters. A plan will come before the commission as soon as October and will likely go out for public comment next year.

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

Regulators to vote on new lobster fishing restrictions

August 4, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — New restrictions might be proposed for southern New England’s lobster fishery as it deals with a steep decline in population.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering ways to save the lobsters and might cast a vote on Thursday.

A report from the commission says that one way to slow the loss of lobsters could be to increase the minimum harvesting size for the crustaceans.

Scientists say the population off of southern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut has declined during a time of warming oceans. Lobsters have remained plentiful to consumers because of heavy supply from northern New England and Canada.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle

ASMFC Initiates Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Cobia

August 3, 2016 — The following was released by the ASMFC:

Alexandria, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the initiation of a new Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Atlantic Migratory Group of Cobia to complement fishery management efforts of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This action responds to a request by the Council for the Commission to consider joint or complementary management of the resource in light of the significant overage of the 2015 recreational annual catch limit (ACL), the impact of those overages to state management, and the observation that approximately 82% of reported recreational landings are harvested in state waters.

Widely distributed throughout the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, cobia are managed as two distinct groups – the Gulf Migratory Group and the Atlantic Migratory Group. The Atlantic Migratory Group, which ranges from New York to Georgia, is managed by the Council. Recreational landings of the Atlantic Migratory Group in 2015 were approximately 1.5 million pounds, 145% over the ACL, resulting in a June 20, 2016 closure of the fishery by NOAA Fisheries. Commercial cobia landings in 2015 were 83,148 pounds, 38% over the ACL. Late landings reports in 2015 precluded a timely closure of the commercial fishery.

Concerns were expressed by individual states whose recreational seasons were significantly reduced by the closure due to the overage of the 2015 quota. North Carolina and Virginia developed alternate management strategies to avoid the June 20, 2016 closure enacted by NOAA Fisheries for federal waters. South Carolina has recently implemented more restrictive measures that are consistent with the actions of NOAA Fisheries in some areas. A complementary Commission FMP for cobia will provide the states the flexibility to respond to changes in the fishery and stock that meet their state fisheries needs while staying within the ACL