March 15, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:
NOAA Fisheries announces an extension of the 2016 Days-at-Sea leasing deadline for the northeast multispecies fishery. If you hold a groundfish permit for 2016, you may submit DAS leases through March 31.
The Groundfish DAS leasing function has been re-opened in Fish Online. Paper DAS lease applications must be received in our office no later than March 31.
Questions? Please contact Mark Grant at mark.grant@noaa.gov.
March 15 — Regulators are set to finalize the draft amendment for managing northern shrimp and it appears limiting entry will not be part of the new management strategy for the beleaguered Gulf of Maine fishery.
“Limited access has been used in a number of fisheries along the Atlantic coast to control effort while maintaining access by harvesters who have demonstrated a history in the fishery,” states the draft of management Amendment 3 regulators will consider when they convene Thursday in Portland, Maine. “However, during the scoping process for Amendment 3, the (northern shrimp) section decided not to pursue limited entry as a means of controlling effort and stabilizing the fishery.”
Instead, the northern shrimp section, which manages the the Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery under the mandate of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, will consider management options such as restricting fishing effort with hard state-specific total allowable catch quotas, as well as instituting mandatory gear and more-timely reporting requirements.
Of course, none of that really matters until regulators can re-open the fishery. It is dominated by Maine shrimpers but also populated by fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire — many of them groundfishermen and lobstermen using the northern shrimp as a secondary fishery.
The Gulf of Maine, already home to a cod fishery in crisis, recently entered its fourth consecutive season closed to northern shrimp fishing.
March 13, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
Due to the winter storm that is impacting our region, the New England Fishery Management Council has RESCHEDULED its March 14 groundfish monitoring webinar. The new date is Tuesday, March 28, beginning at 6 p.m.
The Council is holding six public scoping hearings on Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, which is focused on improving the groundfish monitoring program. The first scoping hearing was held in Rockport, ME on March 3. Additional hearings will be held March 21-23 in: Portsmouth, NH; Gloucester, MA: Plymouth, MA; and Groton, CT. The hearings will conclude with the March 28 webinar.
WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the March 28 webinar will be available at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4567763108442151939
There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.
CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (415) 930-5321.
The access code is 702-360-151.
Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.
MATERIALS: The scoping hearing notice, scoping document, and presentation are available on the Council’s website at NEFMC groundfish. The public comment period closes April 3.
QUESTIONS: Email Dr. Jamie Cournane at jcournane@nefmc.org or Robin Frede at rfrede@nefmc.org.
March 13, 2017 — Last Chance. Outnumbered. Endangered Species. These are the names of some of the lobster boats that were represented at this year’s Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport. They reflect the sense of uncertainty that surrounds the commercial fishing world.
The men and women who fish those boats were out in force to discuss catch, markets, bait, price, the health of the stock and fisheries management. The number of hours on the water represented by the fishermen assembled would be mind-boggling, if it could be calculated.
A unique gathering, the star attraction of the forum is the fishermen themselves. Weathered faces, barrel chests and brawny forearms filled the halls. On a desperately cold day, many fishermen were in T-shirts. And for those still standing after a grueling day of meetings, there was dinner and then story-telling that continued into the night.
The forum is not just for lobstermen. There are representatives from just about every Maine fishery: scallops, clams, worms, groundfish, elvers, halibut, seaweed. Seminars held over three days explored the issues facing each of those fisheries.
These men and women are the deans of fishing, willing to set aside this time to meet, think and talk about how to protect the species they fish, and to provide essential input based on their experience on the water. It is important to their future that some of the younger harvesters are showing up, too.
March 13, 2017 — The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, Maine, has developed an ultra low opening trawl (ULOT) net designed to prevent cod from being caught while allowing the targeting of more plentiful groundfish.
Commercial fishers in New England’s Gulf of Maine are assigned catch quotas, in pounds or metric tons, for Atlantic cod. Violating current cod restrictions results in fishers being shut down for the rest of the season. Because of this, fishers pursuing other groundfish (such as grey sole, flounder, monkfish, whiting, and pollock) need to be vigilant about how many cod make it into their nets—an impossible task until now. The net was designed, built, and tested by a collaboration of New England fishers, scientists, and Rhode Island-based net maker, Superior Trawl.
Traditional trawl nets feature a 6-foot (1.83-meter) opening into which groundfish get trapped. The new ULOT trawl has a 2-foot (0.61-meter) opening which allows cod to swim up and over the net while trapping species that swim lower to the ocean floor. It was initially tested at the Marine Institute in Newfoundland in a simulated ocean environment and was later tested on a commercial trawling vessel. On the commercial trawler, the net reduced cod catch by 45 percent with no impact on the catch levels of other species. Additionally, the ULOT net also created a nearly seven percent reduction in the vessel’s fuel use because it has less drag than traditional nets.
March 2, 2017 — Joe Jurek knew his catch would be popular. He just didn’t know how popular.
Jurek, a Gloucester-based groundfisherman who specializes in yellow-tail flounder on most fishing days, now holds the rarified position as the only Massachusetts fisherman allowed to fish for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine.
His tenure as shrimper-in-residence will last only two more weeks, much to the dismay of local northern shrimp lovers — including Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken — who literally have trooped down to the dock with buckets to try to buy the cold-water delicacies. The local shrimp have disappeared from seafood retail shops in the last four years the shrimp fishery has been closed.
“Once people found out about it, it was like a bunch of seagulls,” said Romeo Theken, who along with a couple other dozen friends put in an order for about 230 pounds of the small, sweet shrimp. “Now people know the process, that they have to sign in at the auction and buy it through a seafood dealer.”
Jurek said he’s averaging 350 to 400 pounds of the shrimp per fishing day, which he lands at the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange at an average off-the-boat price of about $6.50 a pound.
Jurek, owner and skipper of the 42-foot FV Mystique Lady, is the lone Massachusetts participant in the eight-week Gulf of Maine winter shrimp sampling program. The study also includes eight trawlers from Maine and one from New Hampshire.
February 21, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council has scheduled a series of public scoping hearings from Maine to Connecticut to solicit ideas for potentially changing the region’s groundfish monitoring and reporting system. The purpose of this initiative is to improve reliability and accountability of the monitoring program since successful management of the fishery depends on accurate and timely catch reporting.
The changes are being considered under Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The Council is encouraging fishermen and other stakeholders to participate in this very early stage of the amendment development process.
“The Council, fishermen, and the public recognize the groundfish monitoring program needs improvement,” said Council Executive Director Tom Nies. “This is the first and best opportunity for people to suggest ways to create a program that will give the accurate, reliable information needed to manage this fishery.”
At present, two types of at-sea observers are used in the groundfish fishery: (1)Federally funded Northeast Fishery Observer Program (NEFOP) observers who follow the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) and implement federal programs; and (2) At-sea monitors who are responsible for groundfish sector monitoring. As of May 1, at-sea monitors will be fully funded by industry.
Amendment 23 will not impact NEFOP or SBRM coverage. However, the amendment could modify or even remove the at-sea monitoring program if an alternative holistic monitoring and reporting program is developed and implemented for the groundfish fishery.
As part of Amendment 23, the Council also may consider changes to the way landings information is provided by both dealers and vessel operators and how it is assigned to stock areas.
February 10, 2017 — Fisheries marketing, policy issues and a legislative update are on the agenda for the second day of the annual Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference’s annual summit and membership meeting March 2-3 in Anchorage.
A fisheries policy panel moderated by the McDowell Group will include Gunnar Knapp, a fisheries economist with the University of Alaska Anchorage; Chris Oliver, executive director of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council; Julie Bonney, executive director of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank; and a representative of the Aleutians East Borough.
Reports on Alaska’s community development quota entities will be delivered by Larry Cotter, executive director of the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association; and Norm Van Vactor, president and chief executive officer of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp.
February 11, 2017 — A New England fishermen’s group suing the federal government over the cost of at-sea monitoring is scheduled to present oral arguments before the federal Court of Appeals in March.
The monitors are workers who collect data that help the government craft fishing regulations. The government shifted the cost of paying for monitors to fishermen last year.
A group led by New Hampshire fisherman David Goethel sued the government over the rule change. The fishermen lost in federal district court and appealed. Attorneys say the arguments are set to take place March 7.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Times
February 6, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a temporary rule prohibiting directed fishing for Pollock in Statistical Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska for the A season.
The action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2017 total allowable catch of pollock for Statistical Area 610, NMFS said in the rule published on Jan. 31 in the Federal Register.
NMFS manages the groundfish fishery in the Gulf exclusive economic zone under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
The A season allowance of the 2017 total allowable catch of Pollock for Area 610 of the GOA is 2,232 metric tons, as established by the final 2016 and 2017 harvest specifications for groundfish in the GOA.
After NMFS’ regional administrator determined that the A season allowance for that TAC would soon be reached, NMFS moved to prohibit additional directed fishing for Pollock there during the A season.
This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.