Saving Seafood

New striped bass fishing curbs eyed amid poor spawning in Chesapeake Bay

October 22, 2023 — Acting on the heels of poor striped bass spawning reported again in the Chesapeake Bay, East Coast fisheries managers are considering new catch restrictions aimed at curbing the decline of the highly sought-after migratory fish.

At its annual meeting in North Carolina, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s striped bass board voted Oct. 18 to seek public comment on a suite of conservation measures that could be imposed starting in 2024.

The “draft addendum” to the commission’s striped bass fishery management plan lays out options for setting a variety of limits on the number and size of fish that anglers could catch in the Bay and along the coast. It also proposes reducing the commercial harvest quota by up to 14.5%, on par with the reduction sought in the recreational fishery.

The commission, which represents state fishery managers from along the coast as well as federal agencies, will hold a series of hearings and take public comments in writing on the plan over the next two months.  It intends to choose among the options and take final action at its next meeting in January in Arlington, VA.

The commission vote came less than a week after the Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported that its annual seine survey of state waters for juvenile fish yielded an average of just 1.02 little striped bass per net haul, far below the long-term average of 11.1. That is the second lowest tally since 1957. It also marks the fifth straight year of seriously subpar reproductive success for the species.

Read the full article at Bay Journal

Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Draft Addendum II for Public Comment to Consider Measures to Reduce Fishing Mortality in 2024

October 19, 2023 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved for public comment Draft Addendum II to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Draft Addendum considers management measures designed to support stock rebuilding by reducing fishing mortality to the target in 2024.

The Board initiated the Draft Addendum in response to the low probability of meeting the 2029 stock rebuilding deadline if the unexpectedly high 2022 fishing mortality rate continues. The Draft Addendum builds upon the 2023 emergency action by considering management measures intended to reduce fishing mortality to the target level in 2024. Projections indicate that a 14.5% reduction in total removals relative to 2022 is needed to have a 50% chance of being at or below the fishing mortality target in 2024. For the recreational fishery, the Draft Addendum proposes recreational bag and size limit options for the ocean and Chesapeake Bay regions, including options with different limits for the for-hire modes. To address concerns about recreational filleting allowances and compliance with recreational size limits, the Draft Addendum includes an option that would establish minimum requirements for states that authorize at-sea/shore-side filleting of striped bass (e.g., racks must be retained). For the commercial fishery, the Draft Addendum proposes a quota reduction option that would reduce commercial quotas by up to 14.5%, with the final percent reduction to be determined by the Board.
 
For measures beyond 2024, the Board will consider the results of the upcoming 2024 stock assessment update to inform subsequent management action. To enable an expedited management response to the 2024 stock assessment update, the Draft Addendum proposes an option that would enable the Board to respond to the results of the stock assessment updates more quickly, via Board action, if the stock is not projected to rebuild by 2029.
 
The Draft Addendum will be posted to the website no later than October 31st at https://asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. A subsequent press release will provide the details on the public hearing schedule and how to submit written comments. The Board will meet to review submitted comments and consider final action on the addendum in January 2024 at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in Arlington, VA. For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atefranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.   
PR23-27
 

Joseph Cimino Elected ASMFC Chair

October 19, 2023 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Yesterday, member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) thanked Spud Woodward of Georgia for an effective two-year term as Chair and elected Joseph Cimino of New Jersey to succeed him.

“I’m honored to be chosen by my fellow Commissioners to lead our efforts for the next two years. One of my priorities will be to work with my colleagues in the states and federal agencies to seek resources to fund fundamental fisheries data collection and science activities to support our management programs. Other topics that will be the focus over the next two years will be our ability to adapt to climate-induced changes in fisheries and how best to respond to the possible recalibration of recreational fishing effort and harvest data from the Marine Recreational Information Program Fishing Effort Survey,” said Mr. Cimino.

Mr. Cimino continued, “I want to thank outgoing Chair, Spud Woodward for his commitment to updating our foundational guidance documents on our Appeals Process, De Minimis Policy, and Conservation Equivalency Guidelines. These clearly articulated guidelines and processes are fundamentally important to ensuring that we treat each other fairly and without undue burden in the management process. Newly elected Vice-chair Dan McKiernan and I will strive to emulate his success by working with our stakeholders, state, federal, and academic partners, Congress, and especially Bob Beal and the outstanding staff to ensure Cooperative and Sustainable Management of Atlantic Coastal Fisheries is not just a vision statement but a reality.”

Under Mr. Woodward’s leadership, the Commission made important strides in furthering its strategic goals. Management accomplishments over the past two years include decisive action to initiate rebuilding of Atlantic striped bass; the adoption of a new amendment for summer flounder, scup and black sea bass to address the reallocation of the resource between commercial and recreational sectors; approved changes to the management of recreational fisheries for bluefish, summer flounder, scup and black sea bass through adoption of recreational measures setting process; and the approval of new addenda for American lobster, Atlantic menhaden, and horseshoe crab – all with the shared goal of providing the states and their stakeholders fair access to these resources while ensuring the species’ health and long-term sustainability. An outstanding number of benchmark stock assessments and assessment updates were completed, including American eel, Atlantic menhaden, Atlantic striped bass, black drum, bluefish, Jonah crab, winter flounder, and revision to the Adaptive Resource Management Framework.

Working with the three East Coast Regional Fishery Management Councils and NOAA Fisheries, significant progress was also made on how fisheries managers can best address changing fish stock availability or distribution caused by climate change with the development of potential governance and management actions that could help prepare fishery management organizations for future challenges related to climate change.

Further, advances in habitat conservation were made by the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) through its funding of seven on-the-ground projects, which will open over 40 river miles and conserve over 300 acres of fish habitat. These include dam removal and fishway projects in New Jersey and Massachusetts, as well as saltmarsh and seagrass restoration projects in North Carolina and Florida. ACFHP also partnered with the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership and The Nature Conservancy to spatially prioritize fish habitat conservation sites through GIS mapping and analyses for the Atlantic region of the U.S. from Maine to Florida.

From a data collection and management perspective, the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) also made progress under Mr. Woodward’s leadership. ACCSP supported 27 partner agency data collection projects, and expanded the scope and security of the ACCSP Data Warehouse. ACCSP established citizen science policies and data collection systems including SciFish; supported implementation of the SouthEast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting system; completed the Atlantic Regional Recreational Data Needs Implementation plan; and made progress on a methodology to more fully use for-hire logbooks in Marine Recreational Information Program’s catch statistics.

Mr. Cimino directs the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Marine Resources Administration, which includes the bureaus of marine fisheries and marine habitat and shellfisheries. He represents the NJDEP at various inter- and intra-state meetings, including the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council and the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Shellfisheries Councils, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, where he has represented the State of New Jersey since 2019 and prior to that the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2015-2018. Mr. Cimino directs the research and monitoring programs of the Administration to ensure they provide the information necessary for sound management of marine and shellfish resources. He started his marine fisheries career as a seasonal technician for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Fisheries Unit, he then spent two years with North Carolina’s Division of Marine Fisheries. During his 14 years with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, he held various roles, ultimately finishing his time there as the Deputy Chief of Fisheries. Mr. Cimino has degrees from SUNY Cobleskill and Plattsburgh in Fisheries and Wildlife Technology and Environmental Science, respectively.

The Commission also elected Dan McKiernan, Director of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, as its Vice-Chair.

 

ASMFC lobster board delays gauge increase

October 19, 2023 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Lobster Board passed Addendum 27 last May, which entailed implementing a gauge increase in response to juvenile lobsters reaching a 35 percent decline.

The gauge size increase was initiated in 2017 as a proactive measure to improve the resiliency of lobster stock in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank but was paused due to prioritized work on the North Atlantic right whales. In 2021, the addendum was revised to consider adding a trigger mechanism that measures gauge and vent size.

These proposed triggers were based on an observed abundance of lobsters with 71-80 millimeter carapace length. This would mean that the size of “keepers” for the state of Maine lobstermen would change significantly while bordering Canadian lobstermen still get to sell the previous size allowed.

On October 16, 2023, the Lobster Board was told that the combined index of sub-legal lobsters from surveys on trawl and ventless traps has declined by 39 percent, which was 4 percent more than the trigger established in the addendum.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Robert H. Boyles, Jr. Named 2023 Captain David H. Hart Award Recipient

October 18, 2023 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

At its 81st Annual Meeting in Beaufort, North Carolina, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission presented Robert H. Boyles, Jr., Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the Captain David H. Hart Award for 2023 for his longstanding contributions to and exceptional leadership towards the sustainable management of marine resources along the Eastern seaboard. The Commission instituted the Hart Award in 1991 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding efforts to improve Atlantic coast marine fisheries. The Hart Award is named for one of the Commission’s longest serving members, who dedicated himself to the advancement and protection of marine fishery resources, Captain David H. Hart, from the State of New Jersey.

 
For nearly three decades, Mr. Boyles has dedicated his career to the conservation and management of marine resources within his home state of South Carolina, within the South Atlantic region through his longstanding participation on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and along the entire Atlantic coast as Commissioner and past Chair and Vice-chair of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). Robert was an ASMFC Commissioner from 2004 – 2020. Over that time, he was a thoughtful contributor to our process; chairing management boards for Atlantic menhaden, horseshoe crab, and South Atlantic species, as well as the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program Coordinating Council.


 
Over the five years that he served as Commission Chair and Vice-chair, he exemplified leadership through his innate ability to understand and facilitate the cooperative nature of the Commission’s Compact. He quickly became and will always be considered the senior statesman of the Commission, with a knack for poignantly quoting one of the nation’s founding members to refocus commissioners on addressing the fundamental question at hand. Mr. Boyles was an advocate for transparent decision making; a great supporter of the Commission, respecting the opinions of both senior veterans and new commissioners alike; and a promoter of unity among states, especially during difficult and contentious deliberations.
 
Mr. Boyles’ notable accomplishments include greater protection of shad and river herring, with the closure of state waters in the absence of approved sustainability management plans. He also advanced the Commission’s first multispecies approaches to management through the development of the horseshoe crab Adaptive Resource Management Framework and the inclusion of data on predator demands in the Atlantic menhaden stock assessment, setting us on the course for the current management of Atlantic menhaden through the use of ecological reference points. 
 
Although his appointment as Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources precluded his continued service to the Commission, Mr. Boyles continues to advocate for the protection of South Carolina’s Marine Resources through his directorship of the Department as well as serving on multiple national boards, including Chair of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Vice-Chair of the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, and Chair of the National Fish Habitat Board.

American Lobster Board Extends Addendum XXVII Implementation Date to January 1, 2025

October 18, 2023 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board modified the implementation date for measures under Addendum XXVII to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster to January 1, 2025 (see table for specific dates). Addendum XXVII was adopted in May 2023, and established a trigger mechanism to automatically implement management measures to provide additional protection of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank (GOM/GBK) spawning stock biomass.

 
Under Addendum XXVII, changes to gauge and escape vent sizes in Lobster Conservation Management Areas (LCMAs) 1 (Gulf of Maine), 3 (offshore federal waters) and Outer Cape Cod (OCC) would be initiated based on an observed decline in recruit abundance indices of 35% from the reference level (equal to the three-year average from 2016-2018). With the inclusion of recently released 2022 data in the time series, the trigger index has declined by 39%, surpassing the trigger point of a 35% decline. The measures triggered include two increases to the minimum gauge size in LCMA 1, a corresponding change in the LCMA 1 escape vent size, and a single decrease to the maximum gauge size in LCMA 3 and OCC.
 
“Because the trigger was tripped much more quickly than we anticipated, the delay in implementing the gauge size increase will provide the Gulf of Maine states the opportunity to coordinate with Canada regarding possible trade implications, and give the industry and gauge makers additional time to prepare for these changes,” stated Pat Keliher from Maine.
 
Addendum XXVII also implements a standard v-notch definition of 1/8” with or without setal hairs in LCMA 3 and OCC, and a standard maximum gauge size of 6 ¾” for state and federal permit holders in LCMA 3 and OCC. Additionally, for LCMA 1 and 3 permit holders, states must limit the issuance of trap tags to equal the harvester trap tag allocations unless trap losses are documented. The implementation date for these measures is now January 1, 2025.

Jonah Crab Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Finds Population Abundance Remains Above Historic Lows but Needs to be Closely Monitored

October 18, 2023 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The 2023 Jonah Crab Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report indicates the range-wide population of Jonah crab remains above historic lows of the 1980s and 1990s. However, evidence of declining catch per unit effort (CPUE) in the fishery presents substantial concern and uncertainty for the status of the stock.

Based on life history and fishery characteristics, the assessment divided the population into four stocks: offshore Gulf of Maine (OGOM), inshore GOM (IGOM); offshore Southern New England (OSNE) and inshore SNE (ISNE). According to the stock indicators, IGOM, OGOM, and OSNE recruit, exploitable, and spawning abundance conditions from 2019-2021 were neutral or positive relative to historical periods. Indicators generally agree across these stocks that abundance has not been depleted compared to the historic low abundance observed in the 1980s and 1990s. There are no reliable abundance indicators for the ISNE stock so no determination about the condition of this stock’s abundance could be made at this time. Young-of-the-year settlement indicators generally show neutral conditions and do not indicate that recruitment in the GOM stocks will decline to historical lows in the near future. Settlement conditions are unknown for SNE stocks.

“As the first range-wide assessment of Jonah crab along the Atlantic coast, this assessment represents a significant advancement in our understanding of the species, its life history characteristics, and distinct fisheries by stock unit,” stated Board Chair Jason McNamee of Rhode Island. “I commend the members of the Stock Assessment Subcommittee and Technical Committee for their successful completion of a challenging, data poor assessment.”

According to the Peer Review Panel, “Despite the limited availability of current data, there is considerable urgency for the assessment due to a very steep, three-year, decline in landings. Commercial landings have declined 51% in three years, after an unprecedented 30-fold rise in landings. Although the recent decline is not well-detected in fishery-independent stock indicators, there is some evidence of declining CPUE in the fishery, creating substantial concern and uncertainty for the status of the stock. Given the mixed signals, the status of the Jonah crab stock is highly uncertain.

Current conditions closely resemble early stages of the collapse of the Canada Jonah crab fishery in the early 2000s. In the first three years of the crash, Canada landings dropped 58%. Within five years, landings fell 97%, and stock biomass could no longer support a fishery. Fishery-independent trawl indicators had not fully captured the signals of a rapidly declining stock. However, declining fishery CPUE was observable preceding and during the landings crash.

Given the high level of uncertainty in the status of the Jonah crab stock, the Panel strongly recommends close monitoring of annual stock indicators in the next few years. Annual indicators can determine whether sharply declining recent landings are signaling the start of a ‘bust’ phase of a boom-and-bust arc, or are due to fishery and market-related factors uncoupled with Jonah crab abundance.”

There are notable differences between the fisheries that operate in each of the stock areas. The vast majority of coastwide landings have come from the OSNE stock, accounting for 70-85% of annual coastwide landings from 2010-2021. The IGOM stock has supported the second largest fishery, accounting for 9-24% of annual coastwide landings from 2010-2021. Both the ISNE and OGOM have supported smaller fisheries, never accounting for more than 5% of annual coastwide landings from 2010-2021.

The high proportion of participants contributing to Jonah crab landings indicates a directed fishery in the OSNE stock that targets Jonah crab, yet only a small number of participants account for the large magnitude of landings from this stock. The other three stocks have fisheries that are characteristic of bycatch fisheries that are targeting American lobster. These fisheries have low proportions of participants that land Jonah crabs from pot/trap gears. In the case of the IGOM stock, there is a relatively high number of participants targeting lobsters and not landing Jonah crabs. This represents considerable capacity for growth in a Jonah crab fishery if these participants were to switch to targeting Jonah crab.

Landings have shown different trends across stocks, but the landings from OSNE declined steadily from the time series high in 2018 (17.6 million pounds) in the last three years of the time series (2019-2021). This trend is believed to be influenced by factors other than available abundance but should continue to be monitored closely. There was insufficient information to describe fishing mortality or exploitation with confidence and these population parameters remain major uncertainties.

In response to the assessment findings and peer review panel recommendations, the American Lobster Management Board accepted the Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report for management use and tasked the Technical Committee with recommending possible measures or actions to address the concerns about stock status and recent fishery trends.

A stock assessment overview, which provides a more detailed description of assessment results, as well as the stock assessment and peer review report will be available on the Commission’s website at https://asmfc.org/species/jonah-crab under Stock Assessment Reports. For more information on the stock assessment, please contact Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org; and for more information on Jonah crab management, please contact Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org.

ASMFC Horseshoe Crab Board Sets 2024 Specifications for Delaware Bay-Origin Horseshoe Crabs

October 17, 2023 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board approved harvest specifications for Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs. Taking into consideration the output of the Adaptative Resource Management (ARM) Framework Revision, the Board set a harvest limit of 500,000 male and zero female Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs for the 2024 season.
“The Board stands behind the ARM Framework Revision as the best available tool to set harvest limits for horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay-origin. As a result of its use, the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab population has been increasing, with abundance of both female and male horseshoe crabs in the Delaware region at an all-time high since 2003. Despite this positive finding, the Board elected to implement zero female horseshoe crab harvest for the 2024 season as a conservative measure, considering continued public concern about the status of the red knot population in the Delaware Bay,” stated Board Chair John Clark of Delaware.
To make up for the lost harvest of larger female crabs, the Board agreed to increase Maryland and Virginia’s male harvest quotas with an offset ratio of 2:1 males to females. Using the allocation methodology established in Addendum VIII, the following quotas were set for New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia:
 
Delaware Bay-Origin Horseshoe Crab Quota (no. of crabs)
Total Quota**
State
Male Only
Male Only
Delaware
173,014
173,014 
New Jersey
173,014
173,014 
Maryland
132,865 
 255,980
Virginia*
21,107
81,331 
*Virginia harvest refers to harvest east of the COLREGS line only
**Total harvest quotas for Maryland and Virginia include crabs which are not of Delaware Bay origin.
As part of its ongoing discussions regarding how best to manage Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crabs and in response to the Stakeholder Survey, the Board will move forward with a Horseshoe Crab Management Objectives Workshop. The Workshop will include a small group of managers, scientists, and stakeholders to explore different management objectives for the Delaware Bay-origin horseshoe crab, with a focus on multi-year specification setting and modeling approaches when selecting no female harvest. The intent would be to provide a report to the Board in time for the 2025 specification setting process next fall.
 
For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Coordinator, atcstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.                                                                                                                             

ASMFC 81st Annual Meeting Final Supplemental Materials Now Available

October 15, 2023 — Read the full article at Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Tautog Management Board – Public Comment

 

Horseshoe Crab Management Board – Public Comment

Shad & River Herring Management Board – Public Comment

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Public Comment

The link to the Shad & River Herring Management Board’s first supplemental is now –http://asmfc.org/files/2023AnnualMeeting/Shad_RiverHerringBoardSupplemental_October2023_1.pdf.

As a reminder, the Commission’s Public Comment Guidelines are:

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.