Saving Seafood

ASMFC 2019 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

April 24, 2019 — The following was published by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spring Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2019-spring-meeting for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2019SpringMeeting/2019SpringMtgMaterialsSupplemental.pdf.

American Lobster Management Board – Progress Report on Draft American Lobster Addendum XXVIII
 
Atlantic Herring Management Board – Advisory Panel Review of Draft Addendum II; Overview of 1A Management Tools
 
Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Technical Committee Report on Percent Reduction in Harvest to Achieve Fishing Mortality Threshold and Target in 2020, and Example Recreational Options to Achieve Those Reductions;  Correspondence Regarding Striped Bass Management; Public Comment
 
Law Enforcement Committee – MAFMC Letter on Law Enforcement/For-hire Workshop
 
Executive Committee – Revised Agenda & Draft Work Group Meeting SOPPS
 
Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board – Plan Development Team Report on Black Sea Bass Commercial Management
 
Business Session – Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Summary
 
Horseshoe Crab Management Board – Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee Task List; Public Comment; James Cooper Tribute to Board
 
Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board – Revised Draft Agenda and Meeting Overview
 
South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Committee Task List; MD DNR Memo: State-Gathered Public Input on Potential Management Measures for Atlantic Croaker and Spot
 
As a reminder, Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning April 29th at 1 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 12:15 p.m.) on Thursday, May 2nd. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go to – https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1041506190356646145 – to register.

Black sea bass gobbling up lobsters

March 12, 2019 — Black sea bass, a saltwater fish taken commercially and recreationally in Massachusetts, have increased in number throughout southern New England waters and rattled the lobster industry with their wolfish appetites.

“They feed aggressively,” Rutgers University marine biologist Olaf Jensen said. “They’re not picky eaters. If it’s the right size and it’s alive, they’ll eat it.”

The young of New England’s iconic crustacean fall into the right size category. “Black sea bass love little lobsters,” Michael Armstrong, assistant director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said.

That’s of deep concern to Beth Casoni, president of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, who says lobster traps are being pillaged by these fish. They are often hauled up with the bass inside the traps, alongside lobsters they couldn’t fit in their mouths, she said. Even more concerning to Casoni is their alleged habit of picking off undersize lobsters tossed overboard by lobstermen.

Read the full story at The Martha’s Vineyard Times 

Mid-Atlantic Council Takes Final Action on Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment

March 11, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) to select preferred alternatives for the Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment. The Council and Board first considered final action in December 2018 but postponed their decisions until their March 2019 meeting.

At the meeting, the Council and Board approved a commercial allocation alternative which establishes a commercial quota trigger of 9.55 million pounds. This alternative specifies that a coastwide quota of up to 9.55 million pounds in any given year will be distributed according to the current (status quo) allocations. In years when the coastwide quota exceeds 9.55 million pounds, the additional quota beyond this trigger would be distributed based on equal shares to all states except Maine, Delaware, and New Hampshire, which would split 1% of the additional quota. The revised commercial allocations are expected to become effective January 1, 2020 at the earliest with a possible delay until January 1, 2021.

The Council and Board also approved revised Fishery Management Plan (FMP) goals and objectives for summer flounder, which focus on ensuring biological sustainability of the summer flounder resource, supporting and enhancing development of the effective management measures, and optimizing social and economic benefits from the resource.

No changes were made to the federal permit qualification criteria, and the Council did not add landings flexibility policies to the list of frameworkable items in the FMP.

Additional information about this action is available at: http://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-amendment. The Council will forward its recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval. The full Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will consider final approval of the amendment, based on the Board’s recommendations, at their 2019 Spring Meeting.

Questions? Contact Kiley Dancy, Fishery Management Specialist, kdancy@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5257.

ASMFC & MAFMC Recommend Approval of Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment

March 11, 2019 — 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) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended approval of the Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment. The Amendment revises the management program’s goals and objectives specific to summer flounder and implements new state-specific commercial allocations.

The Amendment was initiated in December 2013, with joint work on the Amendment by the Board and Council beginning in 2014. Initially, the Amendment was to consider changes to both commercial and recreational summer flounder fisheries, but over time was refocused to address commercial issues and Fishery Management Plan (FMP) goals and objectives.

The revised management program’s goals and objectives focus on ensuring biological sustainability of the summer flounder resource, supporting and enhancing development of effective management measures, and optimizing social and economic benefits from the resource. These revisions were made to reflect current priorities in sustainably managing the resource.

The new state commercial allocations are based upon a 9.55 million pound trigger point. When the annual coastwide commercial quota is at or below 9.55 million pounds, the formula for allocating the quota to the states will remain status quo, i.e., the same state-specific percentages that have been in effect since 1993. When the annual coastwide quota exceeds 9.55 million pounds, additional quota above 9.55 million pounds will be distributed as follows: 0.333% to the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Delaware and 12.375% to the remaining states (see table below). As a result, state allocations will vary over time based on overall stock status and the resulting coastwide commercial quotas. For 2019-2021, the Board and Council approved an annual coastwide commercial quota of 11.53 million pounds. Depending on the timing of final rule-making by NOAA Fisheries, the new state allocation strategy could go into effect as early as January 2020.

Read the full release here

Striped bass population in trouble, new study finds

February 8, 2019 — Striped bass, one of the most prized species in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic Coast, are being overfished according to a new assessment of the stock’s health — a finding that will likely trigger catch reductions for a species long touted as a fisheries management success.

The bleak preliminary findings of the assessment were presented to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a panel of fisheries managers, on Wednesday. The full analysis was not available. Its completion was delayed by the partial government shutdown, which sidelined biologists in the National Marine Fisheries Service who were working to complete the report.

But, noted Mike Armstrong of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, who also chairs the ASMFC’s Striped Bass Management Board, the final results “will likely be the same when [the report] comes out.”

The board asked its technical advisers to estimate the level of catch reductions needed to bring the stock above management targets at its May meeting, when the stock assessment is expected to be ready for approval.

“We know it is going to be pretty drastic,” said John Clark of the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, a member of the board.

The findings of the assessment were a bit of a surprise. Though the overall population was known to be declining, striped bass are often considered a signature success for fishery management.

The overharvest of striped bass, also called rockfish, sent their population to critically low levels in the early 1980s, eventually leading to a catch moratorium. The population rebounded, allowing catches to resume, and by 1997 the population recovered to an estimated 419 million fish aged one year or more.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board Approves Status Quo Measures for 2019 Recreational Black Sea Bass Fishery

February 7, 2019 — 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 approved status quo measures for the 2019 black sea bass recreational fishery (see Table 1). This action is based on the recommendations of its Technical Committee, which found that status quo measures are not likely to exceed the coastwide recreational harvest limit for 2019. Based on the most recent most stock assessment, the stock is estimated to be above the biomass target and not experiencing overfishing.

The Board also approved proposals from Virginia and North Carolina to participate in the February 2019 recreational fishery specified by NOAA Fisheries. The season will be open from February 1-28, 2019 with a 12.5 inch minimum size limit and 15 fish possession limit. To account for any harvest in February, Virginia and North Carolina will adjust their management measures later in the season, if necessary. Recreational anglers should verify regulations with their respective states.

Read the full release here

Final Action on Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Postponed Until February 2019

December 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

During a joint meeting last week in Annapolis, Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) voted to postpone final action on the Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment until their next joint meeting in February 2019.

The amendment considers several potential changes to the management of the commercial summer flounder fishery and proposes modifications to the fishery management plan goals and objectives for summer flounder.

Discussion during the meeting focused predominantly on options in the amendment that could modify allocations of the commercial summer flounder quota to the states. The current commercial allocations were last modified in 1993 and are perceived by some as outdated given their basis in 1980-1989 landings data. The amendment proposes three sets of alternatives for modifying the current state-by-state allocations. After reviewing public comments on these options, the administrative Commissioner from New York introduced a motion that would have allowed states to submit additional commercial quota allocation options for discussion in February 2019. While some Council and Board members offered support for the motion, others felt that it was too late in the process to introduce new alternatives and that the existing options adequately address the purpose of the amendment. After a lengthy discussion, the motion was defeated due to lack of majority from the Council.

Given the limited time available to discuss the remaining issues addressed in the amendment, the Council and Board voted to postpone final action until their next joint meeting, to be held February 11-14, 2019 in Virginia Beach, VA. Additional information about this action is available at:
http://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-amendment.

Questions? Contact Kiley Dancy, Fishery Management Specialist, kdancy@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5257.

Read the full release here

ASMFC Approves Addenda XXXI and XXXII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan

December 14, 2018 — ANNAPOLIS, Md. – 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), at its joint meeting with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), approved Addenda XXXI and XXXII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

Addendum XXXI

Addendum XXXI, coupled with the Council’s complementary Framework Document, adds to the suite of tools available for managing summer flounder, scup and black sea bass, with particular focus on enhancing the compatibility of state and federal regulations.

First, the joint action modifies the Council and Commission FMPs to allow the use of conservation equivalency for black sea bass recreational management, beginning in 2020. Conservation equivalency allows recreational management measures in federal waters measures to be waived, and instead requires recreational anglers to abide by the measures of the state in which they land their catch. As is done in summer flounder recreational management, the Board and Council will annually decide whether to enact conservation equivalency.

Second, the Commission recommended NOAA Fisheries implement transit provisions in Block Island Sound, allowing non-federally permitted recreational and commercial vessels to transit federal waters while in possession of summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass legally harvested from state waters.

Lastly, the Council’s Framework allows for the use of maximum sizes in addition to minimum sizes, commonly referred to as slot limits, to control catch in the summer flounder and black sea bass recreational fisheries. The Commission’s FMP already allows for use of this approach, thereby allowing both management bodies to use this measure in the future.

Addendum XXXII

Addendum XXXII establishes a new process for developing recreational management measures for summer flounder and black sea bass. These measures will be set on an annual basis through a specifications process, rather than addenda. The Board will approve measures in early spring each year, based on technical committee analysis of stock status, resource availability, and harvest estimates. Public input on specifications will be gathered by states through their individual public comment processes.

By removing the need to develop annual addenda to implement recreational measures, the specifications process will provide the Board more flexibility in adjusting measures, if necessary, to constrain harvest to the annual coastwide recreational harvest limit (RHL). Further, the process will enable the Board to consider a host of factors, including: regional equity; regulatory stability; species abundance and distribution; and late-breaking recreational harvest estimates. To further aid in setting specifications, the Addendum establishes standards and guiding principles intended to structure the development of recreational measures on a regional basis.

Addenda XXXI and XXXII will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, on each species webpage by the end of December. For more information on summer flounder and scup, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org, and for information on black sea bass, contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org, or 703.842.0740.

Read the release here

 

October/November 2018 issue of Fisheries Focus Now Available

November 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The October/November 2018  issue of Fisheries Focus is now available at http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5bef3628FishFocusOctNov2018.pdf.  Wishing you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Upcoming Meetings

page 2

Report from the Chair
Reflections on Our Past and Future

page 3

Species Profile

Atlantic Herring

page 4

Fishery Management Actions

Coastal Sharks

Horseshoe Crab

Northern Shrimp

Spiny Dogfish

page 6

Proposed Management Actions

Summer Flounder

Scup

Black Sea Bass

page 8 

Science Highlight

Living Shorelines

page 9 

ACCSP

What Do You Do?

page 10

On the Legislative Front

page 11

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