Saving Seafood

ASMFC American Shad Stock Assessment Workshop Scheduled for November 18-22, in Charleston, SC

October 10, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold the American Shad Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop at the Francis Marion Hotel, 387 King Street, Charleston, SC.  The stock assessment, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2020, will evaluate the health of stocks along the Atlantic coast and inform management of this species.  The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data*, when the public will be asked to leave the room.

The Commission welcomes the submission of alternate analyses or assessment models.  For alternate models to be considered, the model description, model input, final model estimates, and complete source code must be provided to Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org by October 18, 2019. Any models submitted without complete, editable source code and input files will not be considered.

For more information about the assessment or attending the upcoming workshop (space is limited), please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

* Each state and federal agency is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of its data and deciding who has access to its confidential data. In the case of our stock assessments and peer reviews, all analysts and, if necessary, reviewers, have been granted permission by the appropriate agency to use and view confidential data. When the assessment team needs to show and discuss these data, observers to our stock assessment process are asked to leave the room to preserve confidentiality.

Overfishing of Atlantic Striped Bass Prompts Action

October 7, 2019 — A new assessment has revealed that striped bass off the Atlantic Coast are being depleted faster than they can replenish, and have been since 2013.

In response, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in August issued a collection of possible management options for recreational and commercial fishing, with the goal of reducing the rate of Atlantic striped bass killed by fishing to 18 percent less than the 2017 rate by 2020.

This isn’t the first time striped bass have stared the Grim Reaper in his piscine eyes. Back in the 1980s, the population of striped bass that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manages — which ply the coastal waters between North Carolina and Maine in search of menhaden, a type of herring — declined so drastically that the commission called a complete moratorium on striped bass fishing.

It worked. By 1995, the population had climbed to record levels. That year 540,000 fish were caught commercially, a sharp increase from the 272,000 caught in 1983. A New York Times article from June of that year jubilantly announced the fish’s “comeback.” With the population restored, restrictions were lifted, and the fish’s numbers remained relatively stable.

Read the full story at ecoRI

Local News Consortium earns funding to enhance oyster breeding

September 23, 2019 — A consortium of 14 shellfish geneticists from 12 East Coast universities and government agencies has won a 5-year, $4.4 million grant from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to develop new tools to accelerate and localize selective breeding in support of oyster aquaculture.

The project team was assembled by Stan Allen, professor and director of the Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Technology Center at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Ximing Guo, distinguished professor and shellfish geneticist at Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory; and Dina Proestou, a scientist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Guo will serve as the consortium’s principal investigator.

Allen says, “Our respective breeding programs at Rutgers and VIMS are at the core of the new consortium approach. The project is a terrific opportunity to develop further ground-breaking approaches with Ximing’s team and our other East Coast collaborators, and will hopefully deliver all the more results for industry.” Guo and Allen previously partnered to create the world’s first tetraploid oysters at Rutgers in 1994.

Read the full story at the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily

August/September Issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus Now Available

September 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

August/September 2019 issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus is now available here

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ASMFC 78th Annual Meeting Preliminary Agenda
page 1

Upcoming Meetings

page 2

From the Executive Director’s Desk
ACCSP: Transitions in Leadership
page 3

Species Profile
Summer Flounder
page 4

Fishery Management Actions
Atlantic Cobia
Atlantic Menhaden
page 8

Proposed Management Actions
Atlantic Striped Bass
Spiny Dogfish
page 9

Science Highlight
Where Have All the Weakfish Gone?
page 10

SAFIS eTRIPS/mobile Migrates to Version 2
page 11

In Memoriam
Joseph Desfosse
page 14

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

MAINE: NOAA grant will fund certificate program at UMaine aquaculture institute

September 19, 2019 — The University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute has been selected to receive a $123,735 workforce development grant.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant will fund a pilot project creating an aquaculture certificate program, which will be open to all applicants with at least a high school degree, according to a news release. The grant is administered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

UMaine’s project, “Aquaculture Workforce Development: Certificate in Applied Sustainable Aquaculture,” is designed to address aquaculture industry workforce needs in Maine by facilitating alternative career opportunities for traditional fishing communities.

The project also will incorporate the institute’s internship program, which pilots new internship models to meet hiring needs through industry and academic partnerships.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Atlantic Herring Days Out Call Information and Notice of Spawning Closures for Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire in Effect September 23 through November 3, 2019

September 18, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts set effort control measures for the Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery via Days Out meetings/calls. These members are scheduled to convene via conference call on October 2nd from 9:30 to 11:30 AM to consider fishery specifications for Quota Period 4. The details of the call are as follows:

Meeting webinar: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/239062933

Join the conference call:

Phone: 1.888.585.9008

Passcode: 853-657-937

Spawning Closures

The Atlantic Herring Area 1A fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic Herring Management Board approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal states III-V, to trigger a spawning closure. However, if sufficient samples are not available then closures will begin on predetermined dates.

Read the full release here

NEW JERSEY: About those striped bass options: ‘They all stink’

September 16, 2019 — One thing is pretty clear after Thursday’s public hearing in Stafford on the striped bass quota cuts and that is someone is not going to be happy when this is all said and done.

If the powers that be elect to make circle hooks mandatory in the bait fishery, then snag and drop fishing the bunker pods with treble hooks is history.

If a 35-inch minimum size limit is chosen, the trophy hunters will be happy but at the expense of many charter and party boat captains.

Carl Sheppard, the skipper of the Star Fish a 40-foot charter boat in Beach Haven, said his customers need to be able to catch at least one fish to take home in order for him to stay in business. He said a 28 to 35-inch fish makes the most sense to him.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Period 3 Moves to Zero Landing Days on September 15, 2019

September 11, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Period 3 Closure

The Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) Atlantic herring fishery is projected to have harvested 92% of the period 3 allocation by Sunday, September 15, 2019. Beginning 12:01 a.m. on September 15, 2019, the Area 1A fishery will move to zero landing days through October 31, 2019, as specified in Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring.

Period 4

The states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts will determine the specifications for period 4 (November and December) of the Atlantic herring fishery during the next Days Out Call in October. A subsequent notice will announce the call information.

For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

A copy of this announcement can be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5d794330AtlHerringDaysOutPeriod3_ZeroLandingDays_Sept2019.pdf

Proposed striped bass regulations draw mixed reaction

September 9, 2019 — On Aug. 29, I attended the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission striped bass public hearing in Dover. It began at 6 p.m. and by my count there were 13 members of the public in attendance.

The representative from ASMFC presented a summary as to why further restrictions were required on striped bass. This is due to the fact that the spawning stock biomass (large females) has fallen below the level that the scientists believe is needed to sustain the stock. Also, the entire striped bass population is overfished and overfishing is occurring. Therefore, action must be taken to stop the overfishing and restore the striped bass spawning stock biomass in the shortest amount of time.

Three options were presented for public comment. Option 1: Status quo. Take no action and keep the current regulations in place. Option 2: Place an 18 percent reduction on the commercial quota and an 18 percent reduction on the recreational catch. Option 3: Place a 1.8 percent reduction on the commercial quota and a 20 percent reduction on the recreational catch.

Read the full story at the Cape Gazette

Striped bass hearings draw few fishermen in N.J.

September 6, 2019 — About 40 people combined showed up for the first two public hearings on Draft Addendum VI to a fishery management plan, a measure that’s calling for an 18 percent reduction in the coastwide striped bass harvest.

The first hearing on Tuesday in Roselle Park had only eight people. Tom Fote, one of three New Jersey commissioners to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC, said they counted 30 people at Wednesday’s hearing in Ocean City.

While these draft hearings are going on up and down the Atlantic seaboard from North Carolina to Maine, New Jersey fishermen only have one more crack at speaking their piece on the issue in person.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press