Saving Seafood

ASMFC: Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board Revises Northern Region Recreational Management Measures

May 3, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

Upon the direction of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program (ISFMP) Policy Board, the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) approved revised 2018 recreational measures for the Northern Region states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York (see Table 1). Further, the Board initiated new management action for the 2019 black sea bass recreational fishery and tasked the Plan Development Team to develop a white paper to consider the impacts of changes in black sea bass abundance and distribution to the management of commercial and recreational fisheries.

This action is taken in response to a Northern Region state appeal of the approved 2018 recreational measures under Addendum XXX. The appeal argued the Board’s action under Addendum XXX incorrectly applied technical data and was inconsistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. After reviewing the appeal, Commission Leadership agreed there was adequate justification to bring portions of the appeal forward to the ISFMP Policy Board.

During the ISFMP Policy Board’s deliberations regarding consideration of the appeal, a potential management program for the 2018 black sea bass recreational fishery was presented to replace the allocations specified in Addendum XXX. The revised management program was developed to meet the needs of the Northern Region without impacting the remaining states, while still constraining harvest to the 2018 recreational harvest limit of 3.66 million pounds.

View the release in its entirety here.

 

NOAA Fisheries Sets 2018-2020 Catch Limits for Groundfish Stocks and Announces Other Management Measures for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

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

Through Framework 57, we have set catch limits for 20 groundfish stocks for the 2018-2020 fishing years (May 1, 2018-April 30, 2020), including the 3 stocks managed jointly with Canada.

Framework 57 increases quotas for 11 stocks compared to 2017, including: Georges Bank cod (139%), Gulf of Maine cod (41%), and Gulf of Maine haddock (190%). Quotas are decreasing for nine stocks, including Southern New England yellowtail flounder (-75%) and Gulf of Maine winter flounder (-45%).

We expect increases in the quotas for Gulf of Maine cod, Gulf of Maine haddock, and Georges Bank cod to provide additional economic revenue and flexibility to the commercial groundfish industry. Overall, we expect the measures in Framework 57 to generate $9 million in additional gross revenues this fishing year compared to last year.

Framework 57 also:

  • Revises the way common pool quotas are split between trimesters for six stocks.
  • Modifies the Atlantic halibut accountability measures.
  • Changes the trigger for the scallop fishery’s accountability measure for the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder stock to when total catch exceeds the overall catch limit.
  • Revises the southern windowpane flounder accountability measure for the summer flounder, scup, and skate fisheries.
  • Sets a Georges Bank cod catch target of 138 mt for the recreational fishery and grants the Regional Administrator authority to set recreational measures for 2018 and 2019 to prevent the catch target from being exceeded. A separate rule implements new Georges Bank cod recreational measures.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin on our website.

 

ASMFC 2018 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

April 26, 2018 — The following was released 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/2018-spring-meeting for the following Boards/Sections (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental meeting materials have combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2018SpringMeeting/SupplementalMaterialsCombined.pdf. NOTE: The Shad and River Herring Management Board, previously scheduled for May 1st (11:15 a.m. – Noon), has been cancelled. The Tautog Management Board will be meeting in its place (same date and time). The Tautog Board’s materials can be accessed through the Board link and is also in the combined supplemental materials file.

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council –  Revised Draft Agenda and Meeting Overview; Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Draft Public Hearing Document; Draft Amendment to the FMP for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass for Public Comment; Black Sea Bass Management Reform Initiative 

Bluefish Management Board jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – Draft Agenda

Tautog Management Board – Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft Proceedings from October 2017; Connecticut 2018 Commercial Measures

Atlantic Herring Section – Technical Committee Task List & Update on River Herring/Shad Catch Caps, Accountability Measures in the Mackerel Fishery, and Potential Impacts on Atlantic Herring

Northern Shrimp Section – Technical Committee Task List

Executive Committee –  Draft Meeting Summary from February 2018

American Lobster Management Board – Technical Committee Task List & Public Comment

Winter Flounder Management Board – Technical Committee Task List; Technical Committee Report on Proposed Aggregate Weekly Limits in the Commercial SNE/MA Fishery; Law Enforcement Committee Guidelines on the Enforceability of Fishery Management Measures

South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – NOAA Southeast Regional Office Correspondence to ASMFC

As a reminder, Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning April  30th at 10 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 2:15 p.m.) on Thursday, May 3rd. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section 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/1945339924799258370 to register.

 

NEFMC Presents 2018 Award for Excellence to Dr. Bill DuPaul

April 18, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:   

The New England Fishery Management Council today presented its 2018 Janice M. Plante Award for Excellence to Dr. Bill DuPaul, a highly respected scientist and pioneer of cooperative research in the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. His early work on scallop dredge ring size helped revolutionize the fishery’s primary gear-type, leading to enhanced selectivity of large scallops and the release of smaller ones. He forged and nurtured partnerships with fishermen from the very start of his career, earning industry’s trust and willingness to participate in a wide range of studies that greatly advanced management of the resource and the fishery.

Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn, who presented the award, said, “Dr. DuPaul is a man of great integrity. He intuitively knew that solutions to hard problems would come only when people on all sides worked together. He proved that cooperative research can break through seemingly insurmountable barriers and help resolve even the most challenging issues.”

Dr. DuPaul is an emeritus professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary. His research included extensive work on the relationship between scallop meat weight and shell height, and he consistently strove to improve dredge efficiency, enhance scallop quality, and reduce bycatch, especially of yellowtail flounder.

He is a strong supporter of the industry-funded Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. He has spent countless hours at sea with fishermen conducting gear research, biological studies, and annual surveys that have helped gauge abundance and distribution of scallops both on Georges Bank and throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The annual surveys also helped document incoming recruitment, enabling fishery managers to identify and close areas with large beds of seed scallops for additional grow-out. This practice is a bedrock of the current rotational area management program – and one that Dr. DuPaul was in on from the beginning. He is a staunch advocate of Scallop RSA Share Days where industry members and scientists gather to openly discuss their research results and exchange ideas about emerging issues.

In 1991, the New England Council established the Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT). Dr. DuPaul was an inaugural member of the team and to this day continues to provide valuable guidance. He is the PDT’s longest serving member. He also has been heavily involved with the Council’s Research Steering Committee and, from 2007-2010, served on the former Scallop Survey Advisory Panel.

Dr. DuPaul remains active in the scientific world. He currently is a member of the Scallop Stock Assessment Working Group, which is doing the legwork for the upcoming scallop benchmark stock assessment. As an esteemed veteran of the field, his voice is routinely sought after as wise counsel on a multitude of scallop issues.

View the release in its entirety here.

 

Black Sea Bass — The New “War Between the States”

April 9, 2018 — On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, signifying the end of the U.S. Civil War.

One hundred and fifty-three years to the day, north and south are set to do battle yet again, this time over sea bass.

From April 30 through May 3, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) will hold its 2018 spring meeting in Arlington, VA, a city that was once the dividing line between Confederates to the South and the Union Army to the north during the bloodiest war in U.S. history.

Sometime during the first week in May, the ASFMC policy board will address an appeal by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, over the disparity in coastwide black sea bass regulations with New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Late last week, a panel convened by ASMFC officially validated the northern appeal to allow their fight against the southern states to move forward during the first few days of May in Arlington.

Earlier this year, ASFMC’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved Addendum XXX to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan establishing a regional allocation of the coastwide Recreational Harvest Limit (RHL) of black sea bass. The final 6-4 vote across geographic lines separating north and south established three management regions for black sea bass; Massachusetts through New York (61.35% of the RHL), New Jersey as its own state-specific region (30.24% of the RHL), and Delaware through North Carolina (8.41% of the RHL). States within each region are collectively responsible for managing harvest to their regional allocation through cooperative measures.

When ASMFC members were considering their decision during their winter meeting in February, states from Delaware through North Carolina didn’t want New Jersey included in their southern region. On the other hand, northern states were already facing an 11% reduction in black sea bass landings for 2018, where New Jersey alone was expected to get hit with a significantly higher 20% reduction. Though New Jersey historically has the most participation in the black sea bass fishery and qualified for the highest RHL percentage coastwide, delegates from New York through Massachusetts viewed the 20% reduction as a potential liability, so they didn’t want New Jersey part of their northern region either.

Read the full story at The Fisherman

 

New Jersey council sets summer flounder, black sea bass regulations

April 9, 2018 — The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council met Thursday and set summer flounder and black sea bass regulations in front of an overflow crowd at the Bay Avenue Community Center in Stafford Township.

Although black sea bass regulations were set, they may change after the upcoming Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council meeting April 30 to May 3, said Bob Rush, a council member and owner of the Starfish fleet out of Sea Isle City.

That’s where states unhappy with their reduced quota — such as New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island — will make their case that New Jersey should share some of its increased quota with them.

Unlike last year, when flounder regulations were controversial, this year it was sea bass regulations that generated more discussion, Rush said.

Rush said limits on flounder size are the same as last year’s, over which the council fought and won against ASMFC.

But other rules are more liberal this year.

“We are actually getting extra fish and days at sea,” said Rush. “Last year the season ended the beginning of September. This year we are getting an extra week or two out of it.”

But black sea bass rules remain uncertain, said NJMFC acting Chairman Dick Herb, captain of charter boats out of Avalon.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

New York Lawmakers Go To Bat Over Fisheries Cutbacks

April 5, 2018 — The federal government is proposing a 12 percent reduction for the recreational black sea bass fishery in 2018,  despite the fact that scientists say the black sea bass fishery has been rebuilt to two-and-a-half times what regulators consider to be sustainable, and New York State is fighting back.

State Senator Ken LaValle and State Assemblyman Fred Thiele agree with DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos that “non-compliance is a legitimate remedy” for this cutback, stating that “this action discriminates against the State of New York. It would have a significant adverse effect on the Long Island economy” in a joint statement issued Monday.

“This has not been an isolated case of discrimination against New York State,” they added. “Unfortunately, this is part of a long history of federal action that has strangled the fishing industry in New York to the benefit of other states. DEC advocacy for our fishing industry is long overdue.”

New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut filed an appeal with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over the catch reduction on March 16, and Mr. Seggos expects an answer by late April or early May. He has told the press he plans to litigate the matter if the state does not win the appeal.

“The State of New York should utilize every legal and administrative tool at its disposal to overturn this ill-considered federal proposal,” said Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle. “New York should not be at a disadvantage with other states on the East Coast. Again and again, we have seen politics replace science to the detriment of New York State fishermen, whether they are recreational anglers, charter boat captains, or commercial fishermen. When the federal government is arbitrary and capricious, the state must say “no.”

In late March, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced they had filed an appeal over commercial summer flounder (fluke) quotas set by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and were also looking into taking action on New York’s quotas on black sea bass and bluefish.

For 2018, New York commercial fishing daily trip limits for fluke were set at 50 pounds. New York commercial fishermen are allowed to take just 7.6 percent of the fluke allocated among the mid-Atlantic states. These tight restrictions, compounded by monthly limits aimed at keeping the landings in check throughout the year, led to a closure of commercial fluke fishing here last fall.

Read the full story at the East End Beacon

 

Changes could be coming to America’s flounder harvest

April 3, 2018 — BOSTON — Interstate fishing managers are considering changing the rules governing the fishery for a popular species of flounder.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says managers are seeking comments about possible changes to the summer flounder fishery. The fish has been brought to land from Maine to Florida over the years and the catch was worth more than $30 million in 2016.

An entry in the Federal Register about the proposal says it concerns revisions to commercial and recreational quotas for the fish. Comments are due by April 30.

Fishermen caught a little less than 7.8 million pounds of summer flounder in 2016. That was the lowest total since 1972.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Greensboro News & Record

 

State files petition with federal bodies that set commercial fluke fishing quotas

April 3, 2018 — Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in October that if changes weren’t made to fluke quotas to be fair to New York’s economy and commercial fishing families, the state would take legal action.

Last week, that threat became more real as the governor and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the filing of a petition with the federal government to establish fair quota allocations for the state’s commercial harvest of fluke, or summer flounder.

In a March 23 statement, Mr. Cuomo said the federal government can’t rely on “decades-old data to uphold the fluke quotas, which put New York at a disadvantage compared to other states.”

“New York’s commercial fishing industry has been held back by archaic federal restrictions for too long, and by taking action to defend fair treatment of our fishers, we will help this valuable industry reach its full potential,” he said.

The state Department of Conservation petitioned for revised allocations with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

“New York’s commercial fishing industry deserves a fair shake — not the back of the hand — from the federal government,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “Federal law requires that our nation’s marine fisheries be managed according to the best available science, and in a fair, efficient, and safe way. Simply put, perpetuating New York’s undersized, outdated share of the commercial summer flounder fishery does not meet the requirements of the law.”

Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Basil Seggos also said changes need to be made.

Local fishermen have long felt they’re left short-changed while other East Coast states have higher quotas. Some are skeptical of what will come next, as they’ve dealt with restrictions on fluke fishing since 1992, which state officials and fishermen say were based on inaccurate or outdated data on the fish population.

Read the full story at the Suffolk Times