August 11, 2020 — Overfishing, dams and pollution are among the factors that have steeply reduced the population of an ecologically important fish on the East Coast, regulators have said.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently completed an assessment of the population of American shad and found it to be “depleted,” the commission said. Changing ocean conditions and climate change have also likely played a role in reducing the fish’s population from historic levels, it said.
August 11, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The audio files from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2020 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
August 11, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has begun work on the next American Eel Benchmark Stock Assessment and is requesting data from academia, member states, federal partners, participating jurisdictions and stakeholders. A data workshop has not been scheduled yet but is likely to occur in late 2020.
The Commission welcomes the submission of data sources that will improve the accuracy of the assessment. This includes, but is not limited to, data on catch per unit effort (young-of-the-year surveys, yellow eel surveys), biological samples (lengths, ages, stage data), and life history information (growth, maturity, natural mortality). For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format with accompanying description of methods to Dr. Kristen Anstead, Stock Assessment Scientist, at kanstead@asmfc.org by Octob
For more information about the assessments or the submission and presentation of materials, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
August 10, 2020 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS):
A new economic report reveals a clearer picture of just how valuable summer flounder is for coastal communities in the Mid-Atlantic: $26.5 million worth of fish landed at the docks, generating over $151 million in total sales for wholesalers, retailers, and restaurants, and millions more in indirect impacts.
According to the study from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), the fishery, based largely in Mid-Atlantic states such as New Jersey, Virginia and Rhode Island, is responsible for over $259 million in total economic output. This includes the millions in direct landings and sales, but also $44 million in indirect economic impacts, and over 1,600 direct jobs.
“Summer flounder is one of the cornerstone fisheries of our community,” said Greg DiDomenico, the Chair of SCEMFIS. “It’s important that we’re able to quantify exactly how important it is. It will help us better manage this species and maintain the health of our coastal communities.”
The economic impact of the summer flounder fishery is spread across several sectors of the economy, with a diverse set of indirect economic impacts. In tracking where flounder ends up, the study finds that over half of landings eventually go to restaurants and other foodservice establishments, with the other half going to retail.
The report comes at an important time for the fishery. The most recent summer flounder assessment found that flounder are not overfished, and are not experiencing overfishing. Regulators at both the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are currently considering how to reallocate flounder quotas as part of an update to the summer flounder management plan. At the same time, fishermen and coastal communities are dealing with the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis, facing a loss of revenue from decreased sales opportunities. Managers now have critical new information on the benefits and contributions of the commercial fishery to guide their decisions.
Prepared by Thomas J. Murray and Associates on behalf of SCEMFIS, the report draws on information from NOAA landings and market data and interviews with members of the seafood sector.
The SCEMFIS study is one of several that the Center has done to quantify the true economic value of commercially important U.S. fisheries, and complements efforts by NOAA to track the economic contributions of the fishing industry nationally. Part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, SCEMFIS brings together leading academics and marine scientists with members of the fishing industry to provide new research on the industry’s unaddressed scientific needs.
August 7, 2020 — East Coast fishery managers have agreed to tie future menhaden population levels to the number needed to support a robust striped bass population — a first step toward recognizing the ecological role of the small bait fish.
The action, made by a unanimous vote, was described by conservation groups as “landmark” and “historic” because it was the first time the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has explicitly recognized the value of leaving fish uncaught to serve as food for predators.
Omega Protein, which operates a menhaden fishing fleet out of Reedville, VA, and is by far the largest harvester of the fish in the Bay and along the coast, issued a statement endorsing the commission’s decision. But it also emphasized that managing interactions between predators and prey is not a one-way street and must expand the focus beyond menhaden.
“It is now the responsibility of the commission to accurately estimate the populations of both menhaden and its predators and then make fair and equitable management decisions based upon the model’s findings,” the company said.
August 7, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Press releases, meeting summaries and motions from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2020 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/
Presentations and audio files from this week’s meetings will be posted at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
August 6, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved the use of ecological reference points (ERPs) in the management of Atlantic menhaden. By adopting ERPs, the Board will be accounting for the species’ role as an important forage fish. The 2020 Atlantic menhaden benchmark assessments, which were endorsed by an independent panel of fisheries scientists, used the Northwest Atlantic Coastal Shelf Model of Intermediate Complexity for Ecosystems (NWACS-MICE) in combination with the single-species model (Beaufort Assessment Model or BAM) to develop Atlantic menhaden ERPs by evaluating trade-offs between menhaden harvest and predator biomass.
“The Board took another important step in managing Atlantic menhaden in a broader ecosystem context,” stated Board Chair Spud Woodward of Georgia. “It’s the culmination of more than a decade of effort by state, federal, and academic scientists to develop ERPs that reflect menhaden’s role as a key food source for several fish species. These ERPs are not a silver bullet to resolve all our fisheries management issues, and the models on which they are based will continue to evolve. However, the use of ERPs for menhaden management will enhance the success of predator management by providing a more abundant forage base for rebuilding predator fish populations. It is important for us to keep those rebuilding efforts on track through the use of proven management tools such as controls on fishing mortality.”
August 6, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board initiated the development of an Amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan. As the first step in the development of a new FMP or amendment, the Public Information Document (PID) will focus on the following management topics: (1) fishery goals and objectives; (2) stock rebuilding/timeframe; (3) management triggers; (4) biological reference points; (5) regional management (recreational measures, coastal and producer areas, regional reference points); (6) recreational discard mortality; (7) conservation equivalency; (8) recreational accountability; and (9) coastal commercial quota allocation. The purpose of the PID is to solicit stakeholder input on prioritizing the importance of each topic for continued development and inclusion in the Draft Amendment.
“Now that Addendum VI measures are in place and stock rebuilding has been initiated, the Board can focus on addressing a number of issues that have been at the forefront of striped bass management for a long time,” stated Board Chair David Borden of Rhode Island.
Between the Spring and Summer Meetings, a Work Group of Board members met to discuss significant issues facing striped bass management. The Board agreed that all of the issues discussed by the Work Group are extremely important and complex, and deserve significant thought and consideration. Furthermore, the prioritization of issues to be addressed by the Amendment should be guided by stakeholder input.
“Given it’s been 17 years since the Board last considered a new plan amendment to the striped bass management program, the Board intends to be very thoughtful and deliberative as it proceeds with the development of this Amendment,” stated Mr. Borden. “It’s important that we provide the public with sufficient background information in order to solicit effective feedback from all stakeholders and ensure the Draft Amendment addresses the most pressing issues at this time.”
During its deliberations, Board members discussed the importance of addressing discard mortality in recreational striped bass fisheries given discards significantly contribute to total fishing mortality. As a result, the Board tasked the Plan Development Team and Technical Committee to review factors limiting the accuracy of discard mortality estimates for stock assessment purposes, and to identify potential actions that could improve understanding or help reduce discard mortality in the fishery.
The Work Group Report, which can be found here, will serve as the foundation of the Draft PID. The Board will review the first draft of the PID at the Commission’s Annual Meeting in October. At that meeting, the Board will determine if the PID is ready to be sent out for public comment or if further modifications to the document are needed. Given current, and possibly future, meeting restrictions due to COVID-19, public hearings may be conducted via webinar.
For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
August 6, 2020 — The following was released by the Omega Protein:
Omega Protein supports today’s decision by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to adopt Ecological Reference Points (ERPs) for Atlantic menhaden, and looks forward to working with the Commission and its staff on further developing the ERP model and identifying future harvest levels for the fishery.
The ERP working group has worked for many years to develop the ecosystem model, and we will continue to support its development as the model’s accuracy and reliability improves over the next few years. It is now the responsibility of the Commission to accurately estimate the populations of both menhaden and its predators and then make fair and equitable management decisions based upon the model’s findings.
The best available science shows that current management is already doing much to ensure that menhaden meets ecological needs. A recent study by Dr. Steve Cadrin of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found that 99.5 percent of menhaden born each year are left in the water to serve as forage for predators and meet other ecosystem roles, with only one half of one percent harvested by the fishery. The latest Commission stock assessment further confirms that menhaden is not overfished, nor is overfishing occurring, with menhaden biomass near record highs. The fishery is also certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.
All these positive indicators should not be surprising, as the menhaden fishery has been operating at the levels suggested by the ERP model for the past two decades.
However, the Commission will also likely need to control fishing on predator stocks, as many key species are currently overfished. This could result in harvest reductions for predator species; the Commission cannot rely on the availability of menhaden alone to rebuild these predator stocks.
As recognized at this week’s meeting and in peer reviews by the Center of Independent Experts, having menhaden in the water at any abundance level is not guaranteed to help predator species reach their target biomass levels. In fact, expert scientists have stated that a moratorium on all menhaden fishing would not enable some predators to reach their target biomass without harvest reductions.
August 5, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission) Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts set effort control measures for the Area 1A fishery via Days Out webinars. Current effort controls for Season 1 (June – September) are detailed in Memo 20-50 which is available on the Commission’s website (click here).
The previously scheduled Days Out call on August 7, 2020 at 8:30 AM has been cancelled. Given the current rate of landings in the Area 1A fishery, and that the weekly landings limit has not been fully harvested by all vessels, the states have decided a Days Out call is not warranted at this time.
The Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:
If it is decided that this meeting is also not needed, it may be canceled. Please contact Max Appelman, FMP Coordinator, at mappelman@
The announcement can also be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/files/