Saving Seafood

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Initiates Addendum on Fishery Measures

August 6, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board initiated an addendum to Amendment 3 to consider changes to commercial allocations, the episodic event set aside (EESA) program, and the incidental catch and small-scale fisheries provision. This action responds to the recommendations of a Board work group charged with evaluating provisions of the current management program and providing strategies to refine those provisions.

Amendment 3 (2017) established commercial fishery allocations, allocating a baseline quota of 0.5% to each jurisdiction with the rest of the total allowable catch (TAC) allocated based on historic landings between 2009 and 2011. The work group report outlined landings have shifted in recent years, with some states landing significantly more quota (through transfers and other FMP provisions) than they are allocated due to changes in abundance of menhaden and availability of other bait fish. The Board action aims to align state quotas with recent landings and availability while maintaining access to the resource for all states, reduce dependence on quota transfers, and minimize regulatory discards.

The addendum will also propose changes to the EESA and incidental catch and small-scale fisheries provisions. Both provisions have been impacted by recent trends in landings, most notably in New England where states rely on the EESA to keep their commercial fishery open while working to secure quota transfers. The increasing abundance of menhaden in New England has also led to a rise of landings under the incidental catch and small-scale fisheries provision once commercial quotas have been met. The Board is interested in exploring options to promote accountability such as capping the total amount of landings under this category or to count these landings against the TAC. Management alternatives for the incidental catch and small-scale fisheries will also consider changes to the current eligibility of gear types under the provision. In addition to these topics, the Board indicated the management document should maintain flexibility to respond to management needs in the future.

The Board will consider the Draft Addendum at the Annual Meeting in October and provide feedback, if needed, to further develop the document. For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

ASMFC Approves Amendment 2 to the Bluefish FMP to Adjust Allocation and Establish a Rebuilding Plan

August 6, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Bluefish: Allocation and Rebuilding Program. The Amendment updates the FMP goals and objectives, initiates a rebuilding plan, establishes new allocations between the commercial and recreational sectors, implements new commercial allocations to the states, revises the process for quota transfers between sectors, and revises how the management plan accounts for management uncertainty.

The Commission’s Bluefish Management Board and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), who jointly manage bluefish, initiated the Amendment in December 2017 to consider revisions to the commercial and recreational fisheries allocations and the state-specific commercial allocations. In 2019, an operational stock assessment for bluefish indicated the stock was overfished, and the Board and Council subsequently incorporated the rebuilding plan in the Amendment.

Given the stock’s overfished condition, the Amendment establishes a 7-year rebuilding plan to be achieved through a constant fishing mortality approach. Rebuilding progress will be analyzed through management track stock assessments every two years. The 2021 management track assessment will be used to inform specifications for the 2022-2023 fishing years. The Amendment also revises sector allocations, increasing the recreational allocation from 83% to 86% of the acceptable biological catch and decreasing the commercial allocation from 17% to 14%. Catch data from 1981-2018 were used as the basis for sector allocations since this time series captures the cyclical nature of the fishery, while providing each sector with sufficient access to the resource considering historical usage.

The Amendment revises state-by-state commercial allocations to better reflect the current distribution of the stock and the needs of the states’ commercial fisheries. The Amendment allocates a baseline quota of 0.1% to each state, and then allocates the rest of the commercial quota based on landings data from 2009 to 2018 (see Table 1 below). Recognizing that several states will be losing quota during a time when the coastwide commercial quota is already at an historic low, the Amendment phases-in the allocation changes over 7 years in order to reduce short-term economic impacts to the affected commercial fishing industries. State allocations will be reviewed by the Commission and Council within 5 years.

The Amendment updates the sector transfer process to allow for quota transfers in either direction between the commercial and recreational sectors. Previously, quota could only be transferred from the recreational sector to the commercial fishery. The transfers will now be capped at 10% of the acceptable biological catch for a given year.

Finally, the Amendment modified the management uncertainty tool within the FMP to a sector-specific approach. It allows the Commission and Council to apply a buffer to either sector, in the form of a quota reduction, to account for management uncertainty during specifications. While this tool has not been used often, the modified approach allows managers to better target areas of uncertainty within one sector without reducing the quota or harvest limit in the other sector.

Given the joint nature of the Amendment and the federal process that requires the Council’s Amendment to undergo federal review and rulemaking, the implementation date for the Commission plan will be set once NOAA Fisheries approves the Council’s Amendment. The Amendment is expected to go into effect for the 2022 fishing year.

For more information, please contact Dustin Colson Leaning, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at dleaning@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

States Achieve Required Coastwide Reductions in Atlantic Striped Bass Total Removals

August 6, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board’s review of the performance of the 2020 fishery yielded positive news, with the states achieving Addendum VI’s goal of reducing total removals by 18% relative to 2017 levels. In fact, the states realized an estimated 28% reduction in total removals coastwide in numbers of fish from 2017 levels. Total removals include commercial harvest, commercial dead discards, recreational harvest, and recreational release mortality. Addendum VI was initiated in response to the 2018 benchmark assessment and aims to reduce total removals in order to end overfishing and reduce fishing mortality to the target level in 2020. The next stock assessment update for striped bass, scheduled to occur in 2022, will provide an update on the status of stock relative to the biological reference points.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted data collection for the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) dockside sampling program, but MRIP was able to fill those data gaps using information from 2018 and 2019. While this does increase the uncertainty around the estimates of total recreational catch, there is still high confidence in those estimates and the estimates of the realized reductions.

After considering 2020 fishery performance, the Board provided guidance on a number of topics related to the development of Draft Amendment 7 (e.g., recreational release mortality, conservation equivalency, management triggers). Amendment 7 was initiated in August 2020 to update the management program to reflect current fishery needs and priorities as the status and understanding of the resource and fishery has changed considerably since implementation of Amendment 6 in 2003. The Amendment is intended to build upon Addendum VI’s action to end overfishing and initiate rebuilding. The Plan Development Team will continue to develop options for the Draft Amendment based on the guidance received from the Board.

Concurrent with the development of Draft Amendment 7, the Board initiated an addendum to Amendment 6 to consider allowing the voluntary transfer of commercial striped bass quota between states/jurisdictions that have commercial quota. This action is in response to a request from the State of Delaware to reconsider Delaware’s current commercial quota allocation.

Based on progress made on Draft Amendment 7 and Draft Addendum VII to Amendment 6, the Board’s next opportunity to meet and consider possible approval of both documents for public comment will be in October during the Commission’s Annual Meeting. For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

New York’s Black Sea Bass Baseline Commercial Quota Increased to 8% under Addendum XXXIII

August 6, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) approved a 1% increase in New York’s black sea bass commercial allocation, bringing New York’s baseline share of the coastwide quota to 8%. This action modifies the state commercial quota allocations that had been previously approved through Addendum XXXIII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. The final 2022 state-by-state commercial shares can be found in the table on page 2.

Addendum XXXIII, approved in February 2021, addressed significant changes in the distribution of black sea bass that have occurred since the original allocations were implemented in 2003, while also accounting for the states’ historical harvest of black sea bass. Among other things, the Addendum changed Connecticut’s baseline allocation from 1% to 3% of the coastwide quota to address its disproportionally low allocation compared to the increased availability of black sea bass in state waters of Long Island Sound (LIS). The remaining state shares (with the exception of Maine and New Hampshire) were allocated using their adjusted historical allocations (to account for the Connecticut change) as well as a portion based on the most recent regional biomass distribution information from the stock assessment.

In March, New York appealed the allocation changes approved by the Board in February. The Commission’s appeal process provides states/jurisdictions the opportunity to appeal management decisions if a state/jurisdiction finds a Board decision has not been consistent with language of an FMP, resulted in unforeseen circumstances or impacts, did not follow established processes, or was based on flawed technical information. Through its appeal, New York argued that its baseline quota should increase similarly to that of Connecticut as it too had experienced a significant disparity between allocation and the abundance/availability of black sea bass in LIS, which is shared by New York and Connecticut.

In May, the Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) considered the appeal and found it was justified based on New York’s arguments. This included data showing New York’s historical allocation was based largely on its ocean fishery. Since 2010, there has been an exponential increase of black sea bass in LIS. This increased availability has resulted in an expansion of New York’s commercial black sea bass landings from LIS from 24% (2004-2008) to 51% (2015-2019) of the state’s total landings.

The Policy Board remanded Section 3.1.1 of Addendum XXXIII (which only addresses baseline allocations) back to the Board for corrective action to address impacts to New York’s baseline allocation in a manner comparable to the consideration given to Connecticut. The Policy Board’s action specified the Board must increase New York’s baseline allocation by up to 2%, while maintaining Connecticut’s baseline allocation of 3%. No other aspects of these allocations, and no other alternatives in the associated Addendum, may be revised by the Board.

Based on the Policy Board’s directive, the Board considered a number of motions with various increases in New York’s baseline quota and ultimately approved a 1% increase. As a joint partner in the management of black sea bass, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council also approved the same changes to New York’s commercial quota share. The Council will forward its revised recommendations, which include adding the state-by-state shares to the federal Fishery Management Plan, to NOAA Fisheries for final approval.

For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Fisheries Policy Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

ASMFC American Lobster Board Initiates Draft Addendum XXIX

August 4, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board initiated Draft Addendum XXIX to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The Draft Addendum considers implementing electronic tracking requirements for federally-permitted vessels in the American lobster and Jonah crab fishery, with the goal of collecting high resolution spatial and temporal effort data.

“In my opinion, this is the single most important thing the American Lobster Board can do to ensure the viability of the American lobster fishery,” stated Board Chair Dan McKiernan from Massachusetts. “Through the proposed action, the Board seeks to significantly improve our understanding of stock status, identify areas where lobster fishing effort might present a risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, and provide important information to help reduce spatial conflicts with other ocean uses, such as wind energy development and aquaculture.”

A number of challenges facing the fishery (e.g., rising water temperatures, protected species interactions, reduced recruitment) present a critical need for the collection of enhanced spatial and temporal data via electronic tracking devices in the offshore fishery. The stock assessment models that estimate exploitation and abundance for American lobster could be greatly improved with these data, as they would provide size composition data at a finer resolution than what is currently available. Additionally, the models used to assess the location of vertical lines in the fishery and their associated risk to endangered right whales could be substantially improved with vessel tracking data, which could impact federal risk reduction requirements for the fishery. Better understanding the footprint of the U.S. lobster fishery will also be vital to ocean planning efforts to minimize spatial conflicts with other ocean uses such as aquaculture, marine protected areas, and offshore energy development, as well as provide fishery managers tools to help maintain industry fishing grounds. Furthermore, vessel tracking could improve the efficiency and efficacy of offshore law enforcement efforts.

Draft Addendum XXIX will propose specifications for tracking devices to ensure the collected data meet both management and assessment needs. These specifications include data reporting rates, preferred technologies, and minimum standards for tracking devices. Implementation timelines, as well as budgetary and staff resource needs will be further discussed as the Draft Addendum is developed. For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery Moves to Zero Landing Days for Season 1 on August 3, 2021

August 2, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery is projected to have harvested 92% of the Season 1 (June 1 – September 30) allocation by August 3, 2021. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the Area 1A fishery will move to zero landing days through September 30, 2021, as specified in Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring.

Vessels participating in other fisheries may not possess more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day harvested from Area 1A. In addition, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all seine and mid-water trawl gear stowed.

Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are expected to reconvene in September via conference call to set effort controls for the 2021 Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31). An announcement will be issued once the meeting is scheduled.

For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or efranke@asmfc.org.

The announcement can be found athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerringSeason1ZeroLandings_08_2021.pdf

NORTH CAROLINA: Division of Marine Fisheries publishes annual stock overview/ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

July 30, 2021 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries today released its annual Stock Overview of state managed marine fisheries species.
The 2021 North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Stock Overview reviews available information, such as long-term trends in catch, biological data and management, through 2020 to determine the overall condition of North Carolina’s state-managed species. It also provides links to information on federally-managed and interstate-managed species important to North Carolina.

Highlights of this year’s stock overview for state managed species include:

  • Estuarine Striped Bass –A 2020 peer-reviewed benchmark stock assessment using data through 2017 found that the Albemarle-Roanoke estuarine striped bass stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring. This triggered stricter harvest restrictions in the Albemarle Sound Management Area that took effect Jan. 1, 2021. Amendment 2 to the N. C. Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan is being jointly developed with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
  • Shrimp ­– In February 2020, the Marine Fisheries Commission approved proposed rule language to reclassify special secondary nursery areas that have not been opened to trawling in years to permanent secondary nursery areas. The commission adopted the reclassification of nine areas in February 2021 through a revision to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1. The rules became effective in May 2021. Development of the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 is underway and focuses on further reducing bycatch of non-target species and minimizing ecosystem impacts.
  • Blue Crab ­– Amendment 3 to the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan was approved in February 2020, and management measures were implemented to address the overfished and overfishing status of the stock based on results from the peer-reviewed 2018 benchmark stock assessment. Amendment 3 also contained the framework for establishing criteria for Diamondback Terrapin Management Areas (DTMA) where terrapin excluder devices are required. Two DTMAs were established in May 2020 in Masonboro Sound and the lower Cape Fear River, and beginning in March 2021, all pots used in these areas are required to have an approved excluder device in each funnel from March 1 to Oct. 31.
  • Southern Flounder – Commercial and recreational seasons implemented in 2020 reduced landings but did not fully meet reductions required by the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2. Development of the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 is under way. Amendment 3 will examine more robust management strategies, such as quotas, slot limits, size limit changes, gear changes, and species-specific management for the recreational fishery.

For more information, contact Lee Paramore at 252-473-5734.

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2021-summer-meeting-webinar for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, all supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2021SummerMeeting/2021SummerMtgSupplementalCombined.pdf.

Below is the list of documents included in the supplemental materials.

American Lobster Management Board – Revised Meeting Overview and Workgroup Report on Vessel Tracking Devices in Federal Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Revised Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft FMP Review; Technical Committee Memo on Review of Juvenile Abundance Index for the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River; Staff Memo on Potential Options and Timelines to Address Commercial Quota Allocation; Advisory Panel Nominations; and Public Comment

Tautog Management Board – Industry feedback on Tautog Commercial Harvest Tagging Program

Sciaenids Management Board – Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum FMP Reviews; and Florida FWC Commercial Atlantic Croaker Implementation Plan

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board Concurrent with Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – FMP Reviews for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass; and Policy Board Directive to Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

Business Session – Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment Summary, and Draft Amendment for Public Comment

Webinar Information
Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, August 2 at 1:30 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 p.m.) on Thursday, August 5. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1268548762865393678 (Webinar ID: 606-517-315).

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.655.0052. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.655.0052 (access code: 904-450-431).

Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:

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.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (July 12) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 27 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, July 30 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

July 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2021-summer-meeting-webinar for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, all supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2021SummerMeeting/2021SummerMtgSupplementalCombined.pdf.

Below is the list of documents included in the supplemental materials.

American Lobster Management Board – Revised Meeting Overview and Workgroup Report on Vessel Tracking Devices in Federal Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Revised Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft FMP Review; Technical Committee Memo on Review of Juvenile Abundance Index for the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River;  Staff Memo on Potential Options and Timelines to Address Commercial Quota Allocation; Advisory Panel Nominations; and Public Comment

Tautog Management Board – Industry feedback on Tautog Commercial Harvest Tagging Program

Sciaenids Management Board – Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum FMP Reviews; and Florida FWC Commercial Atlantic Croaker Implementation Plan

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board Concurrent with Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – FMP Reviews for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass; and Policy Board Directive to Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

Business Session – Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment Summary, and Draft Amendment for Public Comment

Webinar Information

Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, August 2 at  1:30 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 p.m.) on Thursday, August 5. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go tohttps://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1268548762865393678 (Webinar ID: 606-517-315).

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.655.0052. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.655.0052 (access code: 904-450-431).

Public Comment Guidelines

To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board  approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:

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.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (July 12) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 27 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, July 30 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.

Are striped bass doomed? Some conservationists are worried.

July 26, 2021 — Fish, particularly species known as both sporting fish and table fare like the striped bass, need to be managed, collectively, among the states where they are sought. There’s often tinkering year to year, a tidelike give-and-take of state regulations — such as rules governing how many fish one person can keep — to appease recreational anglers, charter boat captains and commercial fishermen. That tinkering extends to other species of fish the striped bass eat. In some places, like the Chesapeake, Cape Cod and Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island, striped bass are intertwined with both the economy and the culture.

Stripers Forever believes the time for tinkering is over when it comes to striped bass. The call for a 10-year moratorium is an alarm meant to wake up anyone who believes the stock is healthy, says Mike Spinney, a member of the national board of Stripers Forever. “Immediately after we made that suggestion, the conversation changed,” Spinney, a Massachusetts resident, told me. “We got lambasted by some, but we received positive reception from others. The fact that people are debating whether this is the right approach is a plus for us. Why do we have to wait for a collapse to take action that is necessary now?”

Most of the Atlantic’s striped bass spawn in the Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries each spring, and juveniles often stay there for years before heading into open ocean. Counting fish is not easy, obviously, and extrapolations are made based on the size of large breeding females known as cows. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which oversees management of the species for the Eastern states, has deemed the striped bass “overfished,” based on a 2018 assessment. The commission also found the striped bass’s mortality rate was high, meaning too many fish that are caught and released are not surviving.

“The stock is declining, and we’ve been seeing that in the stock assessments,” says Toni Kerns, the ASMFC’s fisheries policy director. As a result, the commission told states they needed to reduce the overall “removals” of the fish from the water, whether they are taken for food or accidentally killed. Lowering removals is often done in myriad ways, including instituting open and closed seasons, regulating the size of fish that can be kept and requiring the use of specific hooks aimed at reducing mortality. In Maryland, in June, each fisherman on Motovidlak’s boat was allowed to keep two striped bass between 19 and 28 inches. Everyone caught two legal fish, and plenty of smaller ones were thrown back. Occasionally, small dead stripers floated past the Dawn Marie and other boats.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Final Agenda and Materials Now Available

July 22, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Meeting Webinar (August 2-5, 2021) are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2021-summer-meeting-webinar; click on the relevant Board/Committee name to access the documents for that Board/Committee. For ease of access, all meeting materials have been combined into one document:  Main Meeting Materials.

Supplemental materials will be posted to the website on Wednesday, July 28. For those Boards that have FMP Reviews and Compliance Reports on their agendas, the compliance reports are not posted due to their large file sizes. If you would like a copy of a specific state’s or jurisdiction’s compliance report, please contact the respective FMP Coordinator.

The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. It is our intent to begin at the scheduled start time for each meeting, however, if meetings run late the next meeting may start later than originally planned.

Webinar Information

Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, August 2 at  1:30 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 p.m.) on Thursday, August 5. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1268548762865393678 (Webinar ID: 606-517-315).

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.655.0052. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.655.0052 (access code: 904-450-431).

Public Comment Guidelines

To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board  approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:

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.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (July 12) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 27 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, July 30 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.