Butterfish Archives - Page 4 of 4

Mid-Atlantic Council Approves Squid Amendment

June 12, 2017 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved the Squid Amendment to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan during a meeting last week in Norfolk, Virginia. The amendment includes measures to reduce latent (unused) permits in the longfin squid fishery and modify management of longfin squid during Trimester 2.

After considerable discussion and consideration of public comments, the Council selected preferred alternatives and adopted the amendment for Secretarial review and implementation. Below are summaries of the issues addressed and the Council’s preferred alternatives.

Longfin Squid Moratorium Permit Requalification

In recent years, a relatively small portion of vessels with limited access (“moratorium”) squid permits have accounted for most of the landings. Some fishery participants have expressed concern that activation of latent permits could lead to excessive fishing effort. The amendment considered options for removing latent permits from the directed fishery to limit derby fishing.

Under the alternative selected by the Council, current longfin squid/butterfish limited access moratorium permits would be allowed to retain their permit if they landed at least 10,000 pounds of squid in one year from 1997 to 2013. This would reduce the number of moratorium squid permits by more than 40% but would not affect vessels that have been historically active in the fishery. However, moratorium permit holders that do not requalify to retain the longfin squid moratorium permit would be eligible for a permit that allows a 5,000-pound longfin squid trip limit when the fishery is open. In addition, the Council recommended separating the butterfish part of the longfin squid/butterfish moratorium permit to allow current moratorium permits the opportunity to continue to target and land butterfish.

The Council also approved a one-time “permit swap” opportunity which would allow owners of multiple longfin squid moratorium permits as of May 26, 2017 to swap active requalifying and non-requalifying moratorium permits among their vessels.

Longfin Squid Incidental and Open Access Permits

The Council voted to replace the current open access incidental longfin squid permit with a limited access incidental permit. Qualifying vessels must have landed at least 5,000 pounds of longfin squid in one year during 1997-2013. Currently about 1,400 vessels possess open access incidental permits, and about 325 are expected to qualify for the limited access incidental permit. The daily trip limit for the incidental permit would remain at 2,500 pounds. In addition, to minimize regulatory discarding of squid bycatch, non-qualifying vessels would still be able to obtain an open access permit that would allow up to 250 pounds of longfin squid per trip.

Trimester 2

The amendment also includes measures to modify management of longfin squid during Trimester 2. Currently, the trip limit in Federal waters after a Trimester closure is 2,500 pounds. Directed fishing after a closure can lead to substantial trimester quota overages, such as in 2016 when a 48% overage occurred. Because fishing during Trimester 2 occurs on the inshore spawning grounds for longfin squid, excessive fishing effort during Trimester 2 may adversely affect the overall productivity of the longfin squid stock by reducing spawning or egg hatching. To avoid future excessive longfin squid catch during Trimester 2, the Council voted to reduce the longfin squid trip limit to 250 pounds per day, a 90% reduction, for all permits once the Trimester 2 quota has been reached. The Council will also continue to work with relevant states to encourage them to match this limit after such a closure.

Illex Squid Moratorium Permit Requalification

Based on recent low landings and low participation in the Illex squid fishery, the Council recommended no changes to the current limited access permit system for this species.

For more information about this amendment, contact Jason Didden (jdidden@mafmc.org, 302-526-5254) or visit http://www.mafmc.org/actions/squid-capacity-amendment.

Mid-Atlantic Council Seeking Applications for Interim Advisory Panel Members

January 18, 2017 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting applications from qualified individuals to serve on several advisory panels that currently have vacancies. Advisory panels provide information and recommendations to the Council during the development of fishery management actions. One of the chief responsibilities of advisory panels is the development of annual Fishery Performance Reports, which provide the Council and SSC with information on why catches may have fluctuated from year to year.

Advisory panels are composed of individuals with diverse experience and interest in Mid-Atlantic fisheries. Members include commercial fishermen, recreational anglers, for-hire operators, dealers, scientists, environmentalists, and other interested members of the public. Most advisory panels meet 1 – 2 times per year. Members are compensated for travel and per diem expenses for advisory panel meetings. Individuals appointed under this notice would serve on an interim basis and could re-apply during the next general application window in early 2018.

The Council is accepting applications for the following advisory panels:

Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (1 vacancy)
Spiny Dogfish (2 vacancies)
Surfclam/Ocean Quahog (1 vacancy)

Anyone interested in serving on one of these advisory panels may apply online or download an application at www.mafmc.org/forms/advisory-panel-application. Applications can also be obtained by calling the Council office at (877) 446-2362 or emailing jsaunders@mafmc.org. Completed applications should be submitted using one of the following methods:

Online using the form at the web address above;
Mail to Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 N. State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901;
Email to jsaunders@mafmc.org; or
Fax to (302) 674-5399.

Please include “ADVISORY PANEL” in the subject of your fax or email.

See the full release at the MAFMC

MAFMC February 2017 Council Meeting Agenda

January 17, 2017 — The following is a schedule for the February meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Managment Council (MAFMC). It was released by the MAFMC:

Tuesday, February 14th

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. River Herring/Shad Committee Meeting

Discuss criteria to assess progress in river herring/shad conservation

2:30 p.m. Council Convenes

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Meeting as a Committee of the Whole

Review and approve public hearing document for Squid Amendment

4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Law Enforcement Report

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Presentation on National Marine Sanctuary Nomination Process, Paul Ticco – NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

Wednesday, February 15th

9:00 a.m. Meeting with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Boards

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. 62nd Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (62nd SAW), Jim Weinberg, NMFS, NEFSC

Overview of black sea bass benchmark stock assessment findings and peer review panelist findings

10:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Black Sea Bass 2017-2019 Specifications

Overview and staff recommendation
SSC recommendation
Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations
Adopt recommendations for 2017-2019

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Black Sea Bass Research Update, Brad Stevens – UMES

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. LUNCH

1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Black Sea Bass Recreational Specifications

Review Monitoring Committee and Advisory Panel recommendations
Adopt recommendations for 2017 management measures
Review Recreational Working Group recommendations and regional/state proposals (possible Board action)

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Black Sea Bass Commercial AM Framework

Review background, issues, and draft alternatives

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Summer Flounder Amendment

Update on progress and timeline

Thursday, February 16th

9:00 a.m. Council Convenes

9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Business Session

Organization Reports
- NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Office
- NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
- NOAA Office of General Counsel
- Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Liaison Reports
- New England Council
- South Atlantic Council
- Regional Planning Body
Executive Director’s Report, Chris Moore
Science Report, Rich Seagraves
Committee Reports
Continuing and New Business

See the full schedule at the MAFMC

MAFMC & NOAA Fisheries Announce Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area

December 14, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, NOAA Fisheries and the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council announced publication of the final rule for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s action to designate a large offshore protected area for deep sea corals in the Mid-Atlantic. The Council approved the Deep Sea Corals Amendment to the Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Fishery Management Plan in 2015 in order to protect deep sea corals from the impacts of bottom-tending fishing gear.

Most deep sea corals are slow-growing and fragile, making them vulnerable to damage from certain types of fishing gear that contact the sea floor. This final rule designates a large “deep sea coral zone” in areas where corals have been observed or where they are likely to occur. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), regional fishery management councils have the disretionary authority to designate zones where fishing may be restricted to protect deep sea corals. Although corals have been protected as essential fish habitat, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is the first of the eight U.S. regional fishery management councils to use this discretionary authority.

The Council named the protected area in honor of the late Senator Frank Lautenberg, a five-term United States senator from New Jersey who was responsible for several important pieces of ocean conservation legislation, including the MSA provisions allowing for deep sea coral protections. The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area encompasses areas of known or highly likely coral presence in underwater canyons or slope areas along the continental shelf edge, as well as deeper areas where the presence of corals is uncertain, but where little or no fishing effort currently occurs. In total, the coral zone encompasses more than 38,000 square miles of federal waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast, an area approximately the size of the state of Virginia.

Within the protected area, commercial fishermen are prohibited from using most types of bottom-tending fishing gear such as trawls, dredges, bottom longlines, and traps. The rule does not apply to recreational fishing, commercial gear types that do not contact the sea floor, or the American lobster trap fishery. An exemption is also provided for the deep sea red crab commercial trap fishery. Vessels may transit through the area if fishing gear is stowed and not available for immediate use.

Development of the deep sea coral protection area was informed by several recent scientific research efforts undertaken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, including several deep sea surveys and the development of a predictive deep sea coral habitat suitability model. Using this information, members of the Council’s advisory panels, deep sea coral experts, fishing industry members, and other stakeholders cooperatively reviewed this information to identify the landward boundaries for the protected area.

“This is a great story of regional collaboration among the fishing industry, the Mid-Atlantic Council, the research community, and environmental organizations to protect what we all agree is a valuable ecological resource,” said John Bullard, Regional Administrator for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. “We owe a debt of gratitude to former Council Chair Rick Robins, who led the effort to establish this large protected area, which totals about 24 million acres, the size of state of Virginia. I’d also like to single out the contribution of current Vice Chairman Warren Elliot, who chaired the two-day workshop where all the stakeholders used the best available science to negotiate and agree upon the boundaries of the area to protect.”

“The Mid-Atlantic Council is extremely pleased that NOAA Fisheries has approved the Council’s recommended protection of deep sea corals in the Mid-Atlantic,” said Council chairman Michael Luisi. “We are proud of this achievement and want to thank and congratulate all those who contributed to this ground-breaking effort in the Atlantic.”

See the full release at NOAA

Fishery council says no to river herring and shad plan

October 7, 2016 — A call to put river herring and shad in the same fishery management plan as mackerel, squid and butterfish was voted down by the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council.

Incidental bycatches in ocean trawl fisheries was a main reason behind the consideration, but the council will stick with a plan already in place for dealing with it.

American shad, hickory shad, alewife and blueback herring — a quartet of anadromous fish that are at historic low population levels — often mix with mackerel in the ocean.

They get scooped up incidentally in commercial trawl nets meant for mackerel. The MAMFC said the amount may be substantial enough to negatively impact their populations.

The plan had the support of many sport fishermen, environmental and conservation groups on the Eastern seaboard who said the it would’ve led to more aggressive stewardship on the species.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Obama designates the first-ever marine monument off the East Coast, in New England

September 15, 2016 — President Obama declared the first fully protected area in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, designating 4,913 square miles off the New England coastline as a new marine national monument.

Obama’s previous marine conservation declarations have focused on some of the most remote waters under U.S. jurisdiction, including last month’s expansion of a massive protected area in Hawaii. But the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is more accessible, lying 130 miles off the southeast coast of Cape Cod.

Several regional fishing associations lobbied against the creation of a new monument, on the grounds that the federal government could reconcile environmental protections and ongoing fishing operations by regulating activities there under an existing fisheries management law.

Trawlers as well as offshore lobster and crab boat operators currently catch a range of species near the underwater canyons, including squid, mackerel, butterfish, lobster and Atlantic red crab. According to industry estimates, these fisheries are worth more than $50 million in total.

In an effort to lessen the economic impact, the administration will give lobster and red crab operators seven years to exit the area. Recreational fishing can continue around the three deep-sea canyons and four seamounts that are now protected, but seabed mining and any other extractive activities are banned.

Administration officials estimated there were six lobster boats operating in the area that will be protected, along with 20 other fishing vessels that move in and out of the area.

“The only user group that’s going to be negatively affected by this proposal is the fishing industry, period,” said David Borden, executive director of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, noting that the new protections will not affect oil tankers moving through the area or telecommunications cables lying on the seabed.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Beautiful deep sea corals are being protected by Mid-Atlantic Council

August 31, 2016 — When people think about coral and coral reefs, they usually think about crystal clear, warm waters with hundreds of fish and aquatic animals, all of which live in or on brightly colored corals. These coral reefs are usually in some tropical locale, just off the pristine white sand beach of some isolated island.

And while these coral reefs are certainly important – and very beautiful – they are not the only places to find coral in our oceans.

During the past few decades, scientists have delved deep in search of deep-sea corals, corals that live and grow under hundreds, if not thousands, of feet of water and with almost no natural light at all.

Deep-sea corals are weird, but beautiful, organisms we have discovered hidden in some of the strangest parts of our oceans and with each dive we take to find these corals, we learn a little bit more about them and their environment.

Because of the nature of their environment, searching for deep-sea coral can be painstakingly arduous. However, scientists and researchers have found a plethora of coral and reefs right along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, including off the coast of Maryland.

Most of the larger coral colonies tend to be found in the submarine canyons located off the Atlantic coast, such as the Baltimore, South Vries, Warr and Phoenix Canyons.

To preserve these areas, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a Deep Sea Corals Amendment to the Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan to help to protect areas that are known or highly likely to contain deep-sea corals.

In June 2015, the Deep Sea Corals Amendment was approved by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and is ready to be submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. It is expected to be approved and go into effect in October.

This historic piece of legislation could be key to the long-term health and future of these crucial deep-sea coral colonies.

Read the full story at the Delmarva Daily Times

NOAA Fisheries Announces Final Measures for 2016-18 Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Fisheries

April 26, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries announces the 2016-18 management measures for the Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish fisheries.

Atlantic Mackerel Fishery

As of May 26, we are decreasing the Atlantic mackerel commericial quota to 9,177 mt and the recreational quota to 614 mt because catches have remained low since 2011,and the last stock assessment for mackerel was in 2010. Without a new stock assessment the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee decided to base the 2016-18 Acceptable Biological Catch on 50% of the long-term median catch.

To keep the catch cap on river herring and shad in the mackerel fishery proportional with the quota, we are reducing it from 89 mt to 82 mt.

Squid and Butterfish Management Controls

This action requires longfin squid and butterfish moratorium permit holders to use 3-inch mesh when possessing more than 5,000 lbs, up from 2,500 lbs, and clarifies that 5-inch (square or diamond) or greater strengtheners may be used outside the 3-inch mesh to avoid breaking nets during large hauls. These measures go into effect on May 26.

As of April 26, vessels with a longfin squid and butterfish moratorium permit are no longer required to call into the Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS).

For more information on these management measures, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register today and the fishery bulletin pdf posted on our website.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed Specifications for 2016-2018 Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Fisheries

January 22, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed Specifications for 2016-2018 Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Fisheries

NOAA Fisheries is requesting comments on proposed 2016-18 specifications and management measures for the Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish fisheries.

We are proposing to decrease the Atlantic mackerel quota by 56 percent to 9,177 mt because catches have remained low since 2011,and the last stock assessment for mackerel was in 2010. Without a new stock assessment the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee decided to base the 2016-2018 Acceptable Biological Catch on 50% of the long-term median catch.

To keep the catch cap on river herring and shad in the mackerel fishery proportional with the quota, we are proposing to reduce it from 89 mt to 82 mt.

This action also proposes to require longfin squid and butterfish moratorium permit holders to use 3-inch mesh when possessing more than 5,000 lbs, up from 2,500 lbs, and to clarify that 5-inch (square or diamond) or greater strengtheners may be used outside the 3-inch mesh to avoid breaking nets during large hauls.

Finally, we propose to suspend the Pre-Trip Notification System (PTNS) requirement for longfin squid and butterfish moratorium permit holders.

To get all the details on these proposed specifications and management measures, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today and the background documents posted on our website.

We are accepting comments through February 22.

Please submit comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to:

John Bullard, Regional Administrator

National Marine Fisheries Service

55 Great Republic Drive

Gloucester, MA, 01950.

Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for MSB Specifications.”

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel at 978-281-9175 or jennifer.goebel@noaa.gov.

Read the full release at the NOAA Fisheries website