Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Approves Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Quota for 2018

February 1, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

NOAA Fisheries is implementing Atlantic deep-sea red crab quotas for the 2018 fishing year. We are not altering the projected 2018 quotas that we announced on February 22, 2017, because there have been no overages in 2017, and there is no new biological information.

The quota for 2018 is 1,775 metric tons, which is the same quota that has been in effect since 2011.

For more details, read the rule as filed today in the Federal Register.

Learn more about NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region by visiting their site here.

 

Offshore areas opened for king, Tanner crab in Southeast Alaska

January 31, 2018 — Commercial crabbers in Southeast Alaska will have some opportunity to fish in offshore waters for king and Tanner crab fishing following decisions by Alaska’s Board of Fisheries in January.

The board didn’t go for other changes to those fisheries proposed by crabbers though.

A couple proposals sought to expand the boundaries of king and Tanner crab fishing areas into federal waters beyond three miles offshore.

The Southeast Alaska Fishermen’s Alliance’s Kathy Hansen said other crab fisheries were not limited to 3 miles from shore.

“This would just bring us consistent with the rest of the state and possibly give somebody an opportunity to try something a little different,” Hansen said.

With no federal management plan in place for crab stocks in those waters, the state can manage fisheries there instead.

Read the full story at KTOO

 

Alaska: Five crab fisheries meet stringent criteria

January 26, 2018 — Five crab fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands have met the stringent requirements for certification under the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management program, two of them for the first time.

The newly certified fisheries were identified by ASMI on Jan. 18 as the Eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab and Aleutian Islands golden king crab. The recertified fisheries were the Bristol Bay red king crab, St. Matthew Island blue king crab and Eastern Bering Sea snow crab.

“Both the reassessed crab fisheries and the new additions scored high in each of the assessment criteria exemplifying their fisheries management excellence,” said Susan Marks, sustainability director for ASMI.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

 

Alaska: Board of Fisheries votes down change in Southeast Dungeness crab season

January 17, 2018 — On Saturday, Alaska Board of Fisheries voted down a proposal to change commercial Dungeness crab seasons in Southeast Alaska.

Crabbers were seeking set season lengths and no option for shortened fishing time like they experienced in 2017.

Crabber Max Worhatch proposed the change and successfully got the board to add the proposal to the meeting after missing the deadline for regulation changes.

“I would like to seriously consider this,” Worhatch told the board. “I put a proposal in, just like this three years ago, didn’t get anywhere. The department felt like they had to have something to manage the fishery when it got to the low end. But in my experience and just from what I’ve seen in Oregon, California and Washington, size sex and season for Dungeness crab works and it works extremely well. It’s kind of an autopilot thing, doesn’t take a lot of work.”

Size, sex and season are a management tool for regulating the catch of crab, with a minimum size, allowing crabbers to only keep male crab and only during a set season.

While that’s part of the management in Southeast Alaska, since 2000 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game also has set the season length based on the catch from the first week of the season.

In 2017, a low commercial catch in that first week led to shortened summer and fall seasons in most of the region.

The board considered an amended proposal for set seasons, with the same starting and ending dates already used around region but deleting the language in the management plan that allows for early closure with low catches.

Crabbers said they needed the assurance of scheduled fishing time, especially with the fleet fishing in smaller areas with competition from sea otters.

Part of the Southeast Alaska summer commercial crab fishing season overlaps with the time when male Dungeness molt, or shed their shell and grow a new one.

Read the full story at KTOO Public Media

 

Atlantic Menhaden Board Meeting Added to ASMFC 2018 Winter Meeting Preliminary Agenda

January 11, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Comission:

Please note there are two changes to the ASMFC Winter Meeting preliminary agenda: (1) an agenda item has been added to the ISFMP Policy Board (i.e., Consider the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Atlantic Menhaden Amendment 3 Appeal); and (2) the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board has been added to the agenda and will meet on Thursday, February 8 from 1:45 – 2:45 p.m. There has been shift in meeting times that day to accommodate the added meeting.  The agenda can also be found on the ASMFC website at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-winter-meeting.

Revised Preliminary Agenda

The agenda is subject to change. Bulleted items represent the anticipated major issues to be discussed or acted upon at the meeting. The final agenda will include additional items and may revise the bulleted items provided below. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. Interested parties should anticipate Boards starting earlier or later than indicated herein.

Tuesday, February 6

9:30 a.m. – Noon                    American Lobster Management Board

  • Consider American Lobster Addendum XXVI and Jonah Crab Addendum III for Final Approval
  • Subgroup Report on Goals and Objectives for Management of the Southern New England Stock
  • Consider 2020 American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment Terms of Reference
  • Elect Vice-chair

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.                        Atlantic Herring Section

  • Review Technical Committee Report on Effectiveness of Current Spawning Closure Procedure
  • Elect Chair and Vice-chair

2:15 – 4:15 p.m.                        Winter Flounder Management Board

  • Review Results of the 2017 Groundfish Operational Stock Assessment for Gulf of Maine and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic Winter Flounder Stocks
  • Discuss Potential Management Response
  • Consider Specifications for 2018 Fishing Year
  • Consider Approval of Fishery Management Plan Review for 2016-2017 Fishing Year
  • Elect Chair and Vice-chair

4:30 – 6:00 p.m.                        American Eel Management Board

  • Consider Approval of Draft Addendum V for Public Comment
  • Consider Approval of 2016 Fishery Management Plan Review and State Compliance Reports

Wednesday, February 7

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.                         Executive Committee

(A portion of this meeting may be a closed session for Committee members and Commissioners only)

  • ACCSP Program Update
  • Discuss ASMFC Leadership Nomination Process
  • Discuss Updating Appeals Process
  • Discuss Updating Conservation Equivalency Guidelines

9:45 – 11:15 a.m.                      Strategic Planning Workshop

  • Review Annual Commissioner Survey Results
  • Discuss Next Steps in Developing 2019-2023 Strategic Plan

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.          Weakfish Management Board

  • Consider Approval of 2017 Fishery Management Plan Review and State Compliance Reports
  • Consider the Use of Fishery-independent Samples in Fulfilling Biological Sampling Requirements of the Fishery Management Plan

12:45 – 2:45 p.m.                      South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board

  • Review Technical Committee Report on State Implementation Plans for the Interstate Cobia Fishery Management Plan
  • Consider Approval of Draft Addendum I to the Black Drum Fishery Management Plan for Public Comment
  • Review Technical Committee/Plan Review Team Report on Recommended Updates to the Annual Traffic Light Analyses for Atlantic Croaker and Spot
  • Consider Approval of 2017 Fishery Management Plan Reviews and State Compliance Reports for Spanish Mackerel and Spot

3:00 – 4:30 p.m.                        Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board

  • Review and Consider Maryland Conservation Equivalency Proposal
  • Update on Process and Timeline Regarding Board Guidance on Benchmark Stock Assessment

Thursday, February 8

8:00 – 10:00 a.m.                      Risk and Uncertainty Policy Workshop

10:15 a.m. — 1:15 p.m. Interstate Management Program Policy Board

  • Consider the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Atlantic Menhaden Amendment 3 Appeal
  • Consider Approval of Climate Change and Fisheries Management Policy
  • Review Shad Benchmark Stock Assessment Timeline and Consider Terms of Reference
  • Habitat Committee Report
  • NOAA Fisheries Overview of Right Whale Issue

1:15 – 1:30 p.m.                        Business Session

  • Consider Noncompliance Recommendations (If Necessary)

1:45 — 2:45 p.m. Atlantic Menhaden Management Board

  • Consider ISFMP Policy Board Recommendation Regarding the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Atlantic Menhaden Amendment 3 Appeal (If Necessary)

3:00 — 5:00 p.m. Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board

  • Consider Black Sea Bass Addendum XXX for Final Approval
  • Finalize Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Recreational Measures

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.

 

John Bullard: Sector IX board’s failure to act stopped its fishing

January 8, 2018 — For New Englanders, Atlantic cod is not just another fish. The Sacred Cod that hangs in the Massachusetts State House is testament to the cod’s place in our culture and history.

For centuries, we fished for cod, and, as we watched the stock decline, we tried various ways to protect the resource that is considered as much a birthright as a commodity.

In 2009, the New England Fishery Management Council under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, agreed to try a system called “catch-shares,” which worked well on the West Coast.

The idea was simple: figure out how much fish from a particular stock can be sustainably caught— the “total allowable catch”—and divide that among fishermen.

By allocating quota, fishermen would have more control over when and how they fish, and — fishermen could fish when the weather and markets were most favorable. Catch shares eliminated the “race to fish” once a season opens.

A catch-share system allocating shares to groups of self-selected fishermen called ‘sectors’ went into place in the New England groundfish fishery in 2010. Within these sectors, fishermen organized themselves, determined how to fish their quota, and established other rules by which they would operate.

All sectors then submitted an operations plan to NOAA Fisheries and, under that plan, were responsible for policing themselves. The primary responsibility of a sector is to keep within its quota and account for its catch.

While most sectors have done a great job meeting this responsibility, Sector IX failed miserably over many years.

The former sector president, Carlos Rafael, is now behind bars for years of falsifying catch information, such as calling catch of low-quota, high-value cod, high-quota, lower-value haddock. He also admitted to tax evasion and bulk money laundering, all from his fishing operation.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard Times

 

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

 

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.

 

Alaska’s seafood marketing agency expands its reach

December 1, 2017 — On a domestic and international scale, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute expanded its reach over the past year to promote domestic and overseas sales of wild Alaska seafood, and educate the industry on seafood technical issues.

In presentations Nov. 28, at the start of ASMI’s three-day All Hands meeting in Anchorage, some 200 participants heard progress reports on these and other related issues, including ASMI’s sustainability program.

Fisheries market researcher Andy Wick, presenting for the McDowell Group in Juneau, noted that the cumulative first wholesale value of wild Alaska seafood from 1959 through 2016 totaled $170 billion, equal to the value of all major professional sports teams in North America.

Eighty percent of the state’s commercial seafood harvests from 2011 through 2015 was in high volume groundfish, including Pollock and cod, while salmon garnered on average 15 percent of the catch, halibut and black cod 1 percent, and crab 1 percent.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

 

Plan to improve lobstering data collection faces hearings

November 17, 2017 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Interstate fishing regulators are holding a series of hearings on the East Coast about a plan to improve data collection in the lobster fishery.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is holding the hearings in January. The commission says it wants to improve harvest reporting and biological data collection to better inform fishing regulations.

The hearings and potential rule changes also apply to the Jonah crab fishery. Changes could include use of new reporting technology.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bradenton Herald