Saving Seafood

South Atlantic Council Wants Public Input on Management Changes for Atlantic Cobia

January 16, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — In an effort to “allow for more equitable distribution of harvest and facilitate better coordination between state and federal management of Atlantic cobia” without reducing protection of the stock, members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council are soliciting public input on proposed Amendment  31.

The Amendment is the result of year-to-year overages in recreational harvests and a currently overly complex management system among state and federal management of the sleek cobia, also known as black kingfish.

In 2015 an overage of recreational landings resulted in a  shortened 2016 recreational season for Atlantic cobia, and triggered an amendment to help reduce the likelihood of exceeding ACLs again. The South Atlantic Council also asked the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to consider complementary management for cobia. The Commission’s interstate management plan is expected to be implemented this April.

Recreational landings far outweigh commercial along the Eastern seaboard.  Landings in North Carolina and the Mid- Atlantic states have driven the increase.

Recreational landings went from 498,000 lbs in 2012 to 1.34 million lbs. in 2016. For commercial landings, the increase was from 42,000 lbs. in 2012 to 88,000 lbs. in 2016.

Amendment 31 offers four alternatives. According to the analysis done by the South Atlantic Council, Alternative 1 or status quo would likely result in the annual catch limits being exceeded, with negative impacts to the stock.

Alternative 2 would remove Atlantic cobia from the FMP, which means no further federal management for the stock. However, federal regulations for annual catch limits and other management measures would continue.  Alternative 2 would likely result in the ASFMC extending their jurisdiction into federal waters and managing cobia under the Interstate FMP which has more restrictive measures. “The biological and ecological benefits to the stock are expected to be beneficial,” reads the analysis.Alternative 3 would outline

Alternative 3 would outline complimentary management of Atlantic cobia with the ASFMC. This gives the South Atlantic Council the flexibility to continue to manage Atlantic group cobia but the majority of the management responsibility would be by the states through the ASFMC Interstate FMP. Alternative 3 would have positive biological impacts to the species.

Alternative 4 would establish a framework procedure in the CMP FMP for an enhanced cooperative management system with the ASMFC that allows changes to Atlantic cobia management through NMFS rulemaking. This alternative sets up a procedure in which ASMFC can propose new regulations directly to NMFS, without formal action from the Council. Rules would still need to meet Magnuson-Stevens Act standards and FMP objectives, thereby having a positive biological impacts to the stock.

Public hearings will be conducted via webinar with listening stations as noted below.

January 22, 2018 Webinar – begins at 6:00 PM

Listening Stations:

1 Port Royal Sound Maritime Center: 310 Okatie Hwy, Okatie, SC 29909

2 North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries’ Central District Office: 5285 Highway

70 West, Morehead City, NC 28557

3 Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Division: One Conservation

Way, Brunswick, GA 31523

January 23, 2018 Webinar – begins at 6:00 PM

Listening Station:

Hatteras Community Center; 57689 NC Highway12, Hatteras, NC 27943

January 24, 2018 Webinar – begins at 6:00 PM

Listening Stations:

1 Haddrell’s Point Tackle: 885 Ben Sawyer Blvd, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464

2 Virginia Marine Resources Commission (The Maritime Building); 2600 Washington Ave., 4th Floor, Newport News, VA 23607 *Note: The VA location is a state-organized listening station and was arranged to provide the public in Virginia the opportunity to attend and provide comments in-person.

Registration for each webinar is required. Registration information, along with public hearing documents, video presentations, and other materials is now available from the Council’s website at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. An online public comment form for written comments is also available. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. February 9, 2018 to be included in the briefing book materials for the Council’s March 5-9, 2018 meeting in Jekyll Island, GA.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Maine eel fishermen hopeful for more quota as lottery nears

January 15, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — Maine will soon let new people into its valuable baby eel fishery for the first time in several years, and fishermen are hopeful they could soon be allowed to catch more of the wriggling critters.

The baby eels, called elvers, are often worth more than $1,000 per pound to fishermen. They’re sold to Asian aquaculture companies to be raised to maturity for use as food, such as unagi, which sometimes travels all the way back to America for sale in Japanese restaurants.

Maine limits the number of elver fishing licenses to 425. The state is holding a lottery to give away 13 licenses, which will be the first new licenses distributed since 2013, officials said. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15.

Maine fishermen are allowed to harvest a total of about 9,700 pounds of elvers in a short fishing season that happens every spring. However, the interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering tweaking the rules about the fishery, and fishermen are primed to ask for a bump in quota.

The elvers are an important resource for commercial fishermen and members of American Indian tribes, said Darrell Young, the co-director of the Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association.

“Everybody will benefit — tribal members and non-tribal,” Young said.

Maine’s the only state in the country with a significant fishery for elvers. The state’s elvers have been in high demand since foreign sources dried up in Asia and Europe. Regulators began the quota system in 2014 after a surge in harvest.

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

 

Pentony steps into NOAA’s top Atlantic post with much underway

January 15, 2018 — Michael Pentony, John Bullard’s successor as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Greater Atlantic region, is a “straight shooter,” who works toward “yes,” and has a lot of experience on fisheries management issues, sources tell Undercurrent News.

NOAA ended months of speculation on Thursday when it announced that Pentony, a long-time NOAA staffer and also a one-time member of the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) staff, was its pick to lead all fishery policy making in the 100,000 square mile long region that stretches from the state of Maine to Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina, and the Great Lakes.

“Michael’s deep experience in every aspect of sustainable fisheries management, both commercial and recreational, positions him perfectly for this job. He is going to hit the ground running,” assured Chris Oliver, director of NOAA Fisheries, in a statement announcing the decision.

Bullard announced his retirement back in July, ending a nearly six-year rein in the region’s top spot, which comes with an office in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and beginning the agency’s search for a replacement. He said at the time that he had a long list of chores to complete before he could finish, most of which he took on during a recent flurry of activity at the agency.

However, Bullard left quite a few big matters for Pentony to finish up.

Pentony, who is set to assume his new role on January 22, enters his new job at the end of an eventful period, including the prosecution and sentencing of the owner of New England’s largest fishing operation, Carlos Rafael.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Lobstermen may have to give up their secrets

January 10, 2018 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — The antiregulatory fervor sweeping the nation’s capital doesn’t seem to extend as far as the Gulf of Maine, at least not for lobster and Jonah crab fishermen.

This week, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is holding two public hearings in Maine on a plan to impose new reporting requirements in the offshore lobster and crab fisheries. One hearing was scheduled for Scarborough on Tuesday evening. The other is scheduled for 6 p.m. today, Thursday, Jan. 11, at Ellsworth High School.

The ASMFC is concerned that it does not have enough data about the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to make appropriate management decisions.

Ten percent of Maine lobstermen, chosen annually at random, are required to file monthly landing reports with the Department of Marine Resources about where and how they fish. The reports include detailed data about the geographic location of traps, how long they have been set and at what depths, how many traps are hauled on each trip, the total pounds landed and more.

Lobstermen licensed by other New England states already file detailed reports with their state resource management agencies.

Only about 20 percent of Maine’s roughly 5,000 commercial lobstermen also hold the federal permits required to fish outside the 3-mile limit of state waters, and even fewer fish in the really deep waters beyond 12 miles from shore. According to the ASMFC, some 98 percent of lobster landings from the Gulf of Maine come from inside that 12-mile zone, so reports of what’s happening in the offshore lobster fishery are generally scarce. What’s more, unlike most fishermen operating in federal waters, federal permit holders fishing only for lobster are not required to report their trips to the National Marine Fisheries Service via electronic reporting devices. No separate landing reports are currently required for Jonah crab.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

 

MD & NJ Reschedule Black Sea Bass Draft Addendum XXX Public Hearings

January 8, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic states from Massachusetts through Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum XXX to the Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. The details of those hearings follow:

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

January 9, 2018 at 6 PM

Bourne Community Center, Room 1

239 Main Street

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Contact: Nichola Meserve at 617.626.1531

Rhode Island Division of Fish & Wildlife

January 17, 2018 at 6 PM

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Contact: Robert Ballou at 401.222.4700 ext. 4420

Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection

January 10, 2018 at 7 PM

Marine Headquarters

Boating Education Center (Rear Building)

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, Connecticut

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

January 11, 2018 at 6 PM

Division of Marine Resources

205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1

East Setauket, New York

Contact: John Maniscalco at 631.444.0437

*RESCHEDULED* New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 11, 2018 at 7:15 PM

Stafford Township Municipal Building

260 East Bay Avenue

Manahawkin, New Jersey

Contact: Peter Clarke at 609.748.2020

Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control

January 3, 2018 at 6 PM*

DNREC Shoreline & Waterway Services Facility

901 Pilottown Road

Lewes, Delaware

Contact: John Clark at 302.739.9914

* Facility doors will not open until 5:30 PM

*RESCHEDULED* Maryland Department of Natural Resources

January 11, 2018 at 6 PM

Ocean Pines Library

11107 Cathell Road

Berlin, Maryland 21811

Contact: Steve Doctor at 410.213.1531

Virginia Marine Resources Commission

January 16, 2018 at 6 PM

2600 Washington Avenue

4th Floor Conference Room

Newport News, Virginia

Contact: Rob O’Reilly at 757.247.2248

Draft Addendum XXX was initiated to consider alternative regional management approaches for the recreational fishery, including options for regional allocation of the recreational harvest limit (RHL) based on historical harvest and exploitable biomass. The Draft Addendum also includes an option for coastwide management of black sea bass recreational fisheries should a regional approach not be approved for management.

In recent years, challenges in the black sea bass recreational fishery have centered on providing equitable access to the resource in the face of uncertain population size, structure, and distribution. Since 2012, the recreational fishery has been managed under an ad-hoc regional management approach, whereby the states of Massachusetts through New Jersey have individually crafted measures aimed at reducing harvest by the same percent, while the states of Delaware through North Carolina have set their regulations consistent with the federal waters measures. While this approach allowed the states flexibility in setting measures, some states expressed concerns about equity and accountability in constraining harvest to coastwide catch limits. Additionally, the 2016 Benchmark Stock Assessment provided information on the abundance and distribution of the resource along the coast that was not previously available to include in the management program.

Draft Addendum XXX proposes two approaches for regional allocation of the RHL in the black sea bass recreational fishery: (1) allocation based on a combination of stock biomass and harvest information, or (2) allocation based solely on historical harvest. The regional allocation options offer advantages over coastwide regulations by addressing geographic differences in the stock (size, abundance, and seasonality) while allowing for more uniformity in measures between neighboring states. The Draft Addendum also proposes an option for evaluating harvest and adjusting measures against the annual catch limit, which aims to reduce year to year changes in management measures.

Anglers and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXX either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/BSBDraftAddendumXXX_PublicComment.pdf and can also be accessed on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) under Public Input. To aid the submission of public comment, please refer to the decision tree found in Appendix III on PDF page 23, which outlines the management options being considered. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; 703.842.0741 (fax) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XXX).

 

Hearings scheduled for changes to lobster fishing rules

January 8, 2018 — SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Fishing regulators are holding public hearings about potential changes to lobster and crab fishing rules in states up and down the East Coast.

The interstate Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says the proposed rules are designed to improve harvest reporting and data collection about lobsters and Jonah crabs. They would include using new reporting technology and expanding the collection of data.

Fishermen have set records for the volume of the lobster catch in recent years. The first hearing is scheduled for Monday in Wall Township, New Jersey.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Seattle Times

 

Maine: DMR sets hearing on elver quotas

January 8, 2018 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — With the arrival of the new year, the Department of Marine Resources will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 17, on its proposed allocation of individual elver landings quotas for the 2018 season that begins March 22.

The total annual quota allocated to Maine by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is 9,688 pounds. Of that, 2,122 pounds will be allocated among Maine’s four federally recognized Indian tribes—1,356 pounds to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, 620 pounds to the Penobscot Nation, 107 pounds to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and 39 pounds to the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians — as required by a statute enacted by the Legislature in 2014. That leaves a total quota of 7,566 pounds available for fishermen licensed by DMR.

For many harvesters, individual quotas this year will be the same as they were in 2017. Harvesters whose 2017 quota allocation was less than 50 pounds will share equally any additional quota that would have been allocated to licenses that are not renewed, or are suspended, for 2018, reduced by the amount of quota allocated to winners of the lottery for new elver fishing licenses.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

 

Maine: Bills to address commercial license glitches

January 3, 2018 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Marine Resources will meet next Wednesday for hearings on three bills aimed at fine-tuning the state’s commercial fishing license system.

One bill, LD1652, would allow the Department of Marine Resources to set up a limited entry system for shrimp fishermen in any year when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission sets the state’s northern shrimp landings allocation at less than 2,000 metric tons. Currently there is a moratorium on shrimp fishing in the Gulf of Maine.

The ASMFC allowed Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts to establish limited entry programs in their individual shrimp fisheries in 2011 but, so far, that hasn’t happened anywhere.

LD1652 “was a department (DMR) bill,” committee Co-chairman Rep. Walter Kumiega (D-Deer Isle) said last week, adding that Commissioner Patrick Keliher was “reluctant” to establish a limited entry program for the fishery because “once you close it, it’s hard to reopen.”

Despite that difficulty, Kumiega said, given the poor status of the shrimp stock, “we may not have a choice. We don’t know when the next season will be, but it doesn’t hurt to have one in place”

The two other bills are more technical.

LD 1720 would extend the maximum duration of a temporary medical allowance for lobster and crab fishing license holders from one year to two. The bill also establishes a temporary terminal illness medical allowance that would allow the spouse or child of the terminally ill holder of a lobster and crab fishing license to fish on behalf of their family member in limited circumstances.

According to Kumiega, use of the medical allowance provisions is required “more often than you’d think,” and he recounted a personal exposure to a situation in which one spouse was able to haul gear for her husband while he was injured.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

 

NEFMC: January 2018 Council Update

January 3, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

CONTRACTOR WANTED:  The New England Fishery Management Council is soliciting the services of an independent contractor to update a January 2015 discussion related to river herring and shad.  The document reviewed and summarized management and legal considerations associated with adding river herring and shad as stocks in the Atlantic herring fishery. The application deadline is January 15, 2018.  More information is available at Council Seeks Contractor to Update “Stocks in the Atlantic Herring Fishery” Discussion Document.

COUNCIL PROGRAM REVIEW:  The Council continues to encourage stakeholders to participate in the ongoing external review of how it conducts business.  The review is intended help the Council identify its strengths and weaknesses and flag potential areas for improvement.  Twelve port meetings and one webinar meeting were held in November and December to gather public input.  Two more port meetings are scheduled for:

  • Monday, January 8, Montauk, NY – Montauk Playhouse Community Center, 240 Edgemere Street, 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, January 9, Cape May, NJ – Rutgers University, 1636 Delaware Ave., 5 p.m.

Three fishery managers and three scientists have been selected to serve on the independent review panel. They are:

  • Robert Beal, Executive Director, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • Robert Gill, former member and Chair, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; current member, Gulf Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee
  • Dan Hull, Chairman, North Pacific Fishery Management Council
  • Dr. Pamela Mace, Principal Adviser Fisheries Science, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand
  • Dr. Bonnie McCay, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor, Rutgers University
  • Dr. Kenny Rose, France-Merrick Professor in Sustainable Ecosystem Restoration, Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

The review panel will meet Tuesday, March 13 through Friday, March 16 to discuss Council operations and conduct its work. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Airport.

Stakeholders still have time to take the online survey, which is available HERE.  More information can be found at Council Program Review.

JANUARY COUNCIL MEETING:  The New England Council will meet for two days in Portsmouth, NH from Tuesday, January 30 through Wednesday, January 31 at the Sheraton Harborside on Market Street.  The agenda is available at January 2018 Council meeting.

QUESTIONS:  Call or email Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

 

ASMFC: States Schedule Hearings on Draft Addenda XXVI & III to the American Lobster and Jonah Crab FMPs

January 2, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

States from Maine through New Jersey have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on American Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum III. The details of those hearings follow.

Maine Department of Marine Resources

January 10, 2018; 6 PM

Scarborough Middle School Cafeteria

21 Quentin Drive

Scarborough, ME

Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553

January 11, 2018; 6 PM

Ellsworth High School

24 Lejok Street

Ellsworth, ME

Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

January 16, 2018; 7 PM

Urban Forestry Center

45 Elwyn Road

Portsmouth, NH

Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries*

January 19, 2018; 1PM

Resort and Conference Center of Hyannis

35 Scudder Avenue

Hyannis, MA

Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536

* The MA DMF hearing will take place at the MA Lobstermen’s Association Annual Weekend and Industry Trade Show

Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 17, 2018; 6 PM

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road

Narragansett, RI

Contact: Conor McManus at 401.423.1943

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

January 18, 2018; 7 PM

CT DEEP Boating Education Center

333 Ferry Road

Old Lyme, CT

Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322

New York Department of Environmental Conservation

January 9, 2018; 6:30 PM

NYSDEC Division of Marine Fisheries

205 N. Belle Mead Road

East Setauket, NY

Contact: Jim Gilmore at 631.444.0430

New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

January 8, 2018; 6 PM

Wall Township Municipal Building

Lower Level Community Room

2700 Allaire Road

Wall Township, NJ

Contact: Peter Clarke at 609.748.2020

The Draft Addenda seek to improve harvest reporting and biological data collection in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. The Draft Addenda propose using the latest reporting technology, expanding the collection of effort data, increasing the spatial resolution of harvester reporting, and advancing the collection of biological data, particularly offshore.

Recent management action in the Northwest Atlantic, including the protection of deep sea corals, the declaration of a national monument, and the expansion of offshore wind projects, have highlighted deficiencies in current American lobster and Jonah crab reporting requirements. These include a lack of spatial resolution in harvester data and a significant number of fishermen who are not required to report. As a result, efforts to estimate the economic impacts of these various management actions on American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries have been hindered. States have been forced to piece together information from harvester reports, industry surveys, and fishermen interviews to gather the information needed. In addition, as American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries continue to expand offshore, there is a greater disconnect between where the fishery is being prosecuted and where biological sampling is occurring. More specifically, while most of the sampling occurs in state waters, an increasing volume of American lobster and Jonah crab are being harvested in federal waters. The lack of biological information on the offshore portions of these fisheries can impede effective management.
 
The Draft Addenda present three questions for public comment: (1) what percentage of harvesters should be required to report in the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries; (2) should current data elements be expanded to collect a greater amount of information in both fisheries; and (3) at what scale should spatial information be collected. In addition, the Draft Addenda provide several recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for data collection of offshore American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries. These include implementation of a harvester reporting requirement for federal lobster permit holders, creation of a fixed-gear VTR form, and expansion of a biological sampling program offshore. 
 
The Draft Addenda, which are combined into one document that would modify management programs for both species upon its adoption, is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/LobsterDraftAddXXVI_JonahDraftAddIII_PublicComment.pdf or on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org (under Public Input).Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addenda either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI).

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.