GARFO Archives - Saving Seafood

Protect the North Atlantic right whales: are you ready for the deadline?

April 22, 2022 — Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishermen have until May 1, 2022, to make the necessary gear modifications to help protect North Atlantic right whales. Are you ready?

Announced last fall, the final rule to implement new measures to protect North Atlantic right whales is fast approaching. As compliance assistance is in place to support fishermen changing gear to protect right whales, the National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic regional administrator Michael Pentony says “these regulations are critical to protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale and keeping this valuable and important fishery open for business.”

In a “leadership message” April 20, Michael Pentony said “most participants in the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab fishery are nearly finished with the needed gear modifications and ready for the deadline. However, unanticipated supply chain delays are preventing some of the fleet from fully coming into compliance.”

“I want to assure fishermen who are making good faith efforts to comply with these new measures but are not able to procure compliant gear that we understand the difficulty of their situation,” Pentony added. “We are working closely with our state and federal enforcement partners to implement a graduated enforcement effort that will focus on compliance assistance rather than civil penalties until we have determined that localized supply chain issues have been sufficiently resolved.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA acknowledges shortage of gear to protect whales

April 22, 2022 — The federal government is acknowledging that supply chain issues will prevent all lobstermen from having gear needed to protect North Atlantic right whales before a May 1 deadline.

The rules will still go into effect on that date, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it will use a “graduated enforcement effort” until supply problems are resolved.

“We are working closely with our state and federal enforcement partners to implement a graduated enforcement effort that will focus on compliance assistance rather than civil penalties until we have determined that localized supply chain issues have been sufficiently resolved,” he continued.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Rule change calls for monitoring of all groundfish trips

March 23, 2022 — Webinars on proposed changes to how the commercial groundfish sector monitors its catch, both with monitors at sea and electronically, will be held this week by the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office of NOAA Fisheries (GARFO) in Gloucester.

The most significant proposed change is a monitoring coverage target of 100% aboard eligible trips, which is higher than present monitoring levels. The change is meant to remove uncertainty surrounding catch. This and other changes — known as Amendment 23— to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan were developed by the Newburyport-based New England Fishery Management Council.

The informational webinars on the changes are scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, Thursday, March 24, and Monday, April 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. The March events will focus on fishing industry members and the April event will focus on monitoring service providers.

According to a NOAA Fisheries fact sheet, the changes, if approved by NOAA Fisheries, would give groundfish vessels the choice of a human observer or using one of two types of electronic monitoring to meet the increased monitoring requirements, provided the sector has a corresponding approved monitoring plan and a contract with an approved service provider.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Webinar to outline changes to the Northern Gulf of Maine scallop fishery

February 16, 2022 — The Maine Fishermen’s Forum is hosting a webinar on Thursday, Feb. 17, which will outline changes to the scallop fishery of the Northern Gulf of Maine in which many Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts fisherman participate.

Many scallopers work out of Gloucester to be closer to the fishing grounds. The new measures start April 1, and the webinar will be an educational session to make scallopers aware of the changes.

The webinar, organized by the New England Fishery Management Council, is scheduled to run from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Panelists scheduled are Jonathan Peros, scallop lead for NEFMC; Travis Ford, scallop lead for the Greater Atlantic Fisheries Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries); and Jessica Blaylock, industry-funded scallop observer program lead at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center of NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

NEFMC Recommends Recreational Measures for Gulf of Maine Cod, Haddock for 2022; Discusses Atlantic Cod Stock Structure

February 14, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council met February 1-3, 2022 by webinar and devoted the entire third day of the meeting to groundfish issues. In short, the Council:

Developed recommendations on recreational fishing measures for Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine haddock for the 2022 fishing year for consideration by the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) of NOAA Fisheries, which consults with the Council but is responsible for setting the measures;
Received a presentation on the 2021 Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Science/Assessment and Management Workshops, as well as the resulting draft final report;
Received a progress report from the Atlantic Cod Research Track Working Group; and
Engaged in an extensive discussion on potential management units for Atlantic cod based on the recent work on stock structure. The Council gave the Groundfish Committee a specific charge for considering next steps, which the full Council will review and discuss during the April 2022 meeting.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Maine Forum to Host Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Webinar on February 17; Fisheries Leadership Session on March 23

February 10, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Maine Fishermen’s Forum will be hosting two webinars of direct interest to the New England Fishery Management Council’s stakeholders. One will focus on the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) scallop fishery and the other will provide an opportunity for fishermen and other webinar participants to have an open dialogue with NOAA Fisheries leadership.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the forum’s board of directors canceled the March 2022 in-person event but made way for educational virtual seminars with remote participation by those who tune in via Zoom. Here are the details for the webinar lineup.

NORTHERN GULF OF MAINE SCALLOP FISHERY: This webinar, which is titled “Upcoming Changes to the Management of the Federal Scallop Fishery in the Northern Gulf of Maine,” will take place on Wednesday, February 17, 2022 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

WHO ARE THE PANELISTS?

• Jonathon Peros, scallop lead for the New England Fishery Management Council and organizer of this webinar session;

• Travis Ford, scallop lead for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries); and

• Jessica Blaylock, industry-funded scallop observer program lead at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center of NOAA Fisheries.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

One Week Left! As of November 10, VTRs Will Be Required To Be Reported Electronically and Paper VTRs Will No Longer Be Accepted

October 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Beginning November 10, 2021, GARFO-permitted commercial fishing vessels will be required to have an electronic device onboard the vessel at the time of the trip and submit with that device a completed report electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip. This also applies to vessels holding a NEFMC for-hire permit. This does not apply to vessels holding only an American lobster permit.

•Paper vessel trip reports packages will no longer be distributed by GARFO.

•We will only accept electronic VTRs for trips beginning on or after Nov 10.

•For a limited period of time after Nov 10, trips beginning prior to Nov 10 that are submitted on paper VTRs will be accepted.

•Vessel owners who submit paper VTRs for trips beginning prior to Nov 10 will be individually notified when we no longer will accept paper VTRs.

See our webpage for more information on the requirements, and use this decision tree to help you decide if you need to use eVTR.

How to Report

•GARFO, our partners, and several companies have developed applications that meet our eVTR reporting requirements. There are software apps for virtually all smart phones, tablets and computers.

•An up-to-date listing can be found on our Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting Software Options web page along with instructions on how to use GARFO’s apps and links to partner apps.

More Information and Resources

Port Agents:

•Based in offices from Maine through Virginia, Port Agents are available to provide remote and in-person eVTR app assistance to individuals or small groups throughout the region.

•You may contact a Port Agent directly, or through our Vessel Reporting Help Desk at (978) 281-9188 or nmfs.gar.reporting@noaa.gov. Contact information for Port Agents and their areas of coverage can be found here.

Webinars:

•We have held a series of instructional webinars for vessel operators.

•Recordings of these can be found on our events webpage.

Other Resources:

To keep in touch on the latest information regarding eVTR implementation and other vessel reporting topics you can sign up for our bulletins. To sign up or to update your existing subscriptions, go to our sign up page. Once you are on the sign up page follow these directions:

•Bulletins are listed under the Regional Updates subscription topic.

•Under the New England/Mid-Atlantic Updates sub-topic.

•Click the + sign to expand the list, and select eVTR and VMS updates.

•Then click submit at the bottom.

Questions?

Contact your local Port Agent.

Attention! Vessel Owners and Operators: VTRs Will Be Required To Be Reported Electronically Starting November 10 and We Will No Longer Be Accepting Paper VTRs

October 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

See our webpage for more information on the requirements, and use this decision tree to help you decide if you need to use eVTR.Paper vessel trip reports packages will no longer be distributed by GARFO.
After November 10, we will only accept electronic VTRs.
If you have any delinquent VTRs, please mail them as soon as possible for processing before the deadline.

How to Report

GARFO, our partners, and several companies have developed applications that meet our eVTR reporting requirements. There are software apps for virtually all smart phones, tablets and computers.
An up-to-date listing can be found on our Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting Software Options web page along with instructions on how to use GARFO’s apps and links to partner apps.

More Information and Resources

Port Agents:

Based in offices from Maine through Virginia, Port Agents are available to provide remote and in-person eVTR app assistance to individuals or small groups throughout the region.
You may contact a Port Agent directly, or through our Vessel Reporting Help Desk at (978) 281-9188 or nmfs.gar.reporting@noaa.gov. Contact information for Port Agents and their areas of coverage can be found here.

Webinars:

We have held a series of instructional webinars for vessel operators.
Recordings of these can be found on our events webpage.

Other Resources:

Bulletins are listed under the Regional Updates subscription topic.
Under the New England/Mid-Atlantic Updates sub-topic.
Click the + sign to expand the list, and select eVTR and VMS updates.
Then click submit at the bottom.

Questions?

Contact your local Port Agent.

NOAA asks for help locating stranded sea turtles

August 30, 2021 — Federal ocean managers are asking beachgoers in New England and elsewhere to keep an eye out for stranded turtles.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office said several species of sea turtle will still be in the area for a few months. Healthy sea turtles normally should not be out of the water in the region, the office said.

The office asked anyone who sees a turtle on the beach to report it. Species that could be spotted include loggerhead, leatherback, green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, the office said.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

NOAA Asks for Help Locating Stranded Sea Turtles in New England

August 30, 2021 — Federal ocean managers are asking beachgoers in New England and elsewhere to keep an eye out for stranded turtles.

The office asked anyone who sees a turtle on the beach to report it. Species that could be spotted include loggerhead, leatherback, green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, the office said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NBC Boston