Gulf of Maine Archives - Page 43 of 99

Recreational Cod Fishing Could Restart, Barely, In Gulf Of Maine

May 16, 2019 — In a story May 16 about recreational cod fishing, The Associated Press erroneously reported the proposed catch limit. It would be one Gulf of Maine cod per day during two seasons in September and April that last 15 days each, not one per year during those limited seasons.

A corrected version of the story is below:

The recreational fishery for a species of fish that has experienced population collapse in recent history could reopen.

Recreational fishing for Atlantic cod has not been allowed in the Gulf of Maine recently due to concerns about the decline in the fish’s population. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the fish could withstand a very limited fishery at the moment.

Federal regulators are considering a proposal to allow recreational fishermen to catch one Gulf of Maine cod per day during two limited seasons that last 15 days each in September and April. The Gulf of Maine is a body of water off Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire that once teemed with cod, which is the namesake of Cape Cod.

Read the full story from the Associated Press

Webinar Recording Available: Crafting Guidance for Adapting to Shifting Fish Populations

May 13, 2019 — The following was released by Lenfest Ocean Program:

What lessons can be learned from the management practices in other regions and nations to inform allocation strategies for shifting stocks along the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts? On Tuesday, April 23, the Lenfest Ocean Program hosted a webinar featuring Dr. Andrew Pershing and his colleagues from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute to discuss their project characterizing different fishery allocation systems from around the world and their potential for application in the U.S.

The recording for the one-hour webinar is now available online and can be accessed on the Lenfest Ocean Program website. To share your own experience with fishery allocation issues under climate change, or if you have questions, comments or suggestions on the study, please complete this survey. Feel free to email Willy Goldsmith (wgoldsmith@lenfestocean.org) with any further questions.

Finding consensus on whale protections a tough call in Maine

May 13, 2019 — Federal regulators have given Maine’s lobster industry its marching orders: Find a way to cut the number of surface-to-seabed fishing lines by 50 percent to help prevent the injury or death of even one of the endangered right whales that pass through the Gulf of Maine.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is allowing each lobstering state to develop its own plan to protect the whale, whose numbers have fallen to a little more than 400 in recent years. But it will be hard to find one way to make it work in Maine, where the $485 million-a-year fishery is known for its diversity.

“The devil will be in the details,” said state Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher.

Of the 4,500 people who lobster for a living along Maine’s coast, some fish with single traps at the end of each buoy line while others place multiple traps, from two or three to as many as 30, on a single weighted ground line, with both ends linked to the surface by a single buoy line.

Deciding how many traps to put on a trawl – the gear that connects a line of lobster traps – varies throughout each of the state’s seven lobster zones, depending on traditional fishing practices, shipping traffic, the geography of the ocean floor and the size of the lobster operation.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

New rules aim to stop alarming loss of Atlantic herring

May 2, 2019 — Interstate fishing managers have approved new protections for herring that they hope will help reverse an alarming trend in the fish’s population.

The Atlantic Herring Management Board, an arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. is implementing protections to help Atlantic herring. The schooling fish are important commercially and a key part of the ocean’s food chain. They’re also important as lobster bait.

The board says the changes mean the fishery will close in Area A1, the inshore Gulf of Maine, when a lower percentage, 25 percent to 20 percent, of the population of herring is spawning, and extending the closures from four weeks to six.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Daily Times

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Board Approves Addendum II

May 1, 2019 — The following was published by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board approved Addendum II to Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring. The Addendum strengthens spawning protections in Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) by initiating a closure when a lower percentage of the population is spawning (from approximately 25% to 20%) and extending the closure for a longer time (from four to six weeks). The Addendum also modifies the trigger level necessary to reclose the fishery, with the fishery reclosing when 20% or more of the sampled herring are mature but have not yet spawned. These changes to spawning protections are in response to the results of the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment which showed reduced levels of recruitment and spawning stock biomass over the past five years, with 2016 recruitment levels the lowest on record.

Under Amendment 3, the Board uses a series of closures to protect spawning aggregations in the Gulf of Maine. Biological samples are used to annually project the start of the spawning closures. A recent analysis by the Atlantic Herring Technical Committee found that while the spawning closure system was significantly improved under Amendment 3, the protocol could continue to be strengthened by considering when, and for how long, a closure is initiated. Specifically, the analysis showed greater protection could be provided by initiating a closure when a lower percentage of the population is spawning and extending the closure for a longer time.

The states are required to implement Addendum II’s measures by August 1, 2019. The Addendum will available on the Commission website (www.asmfc.org) on the Atlantic Herring page by mid-May. For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.orgor 703.842.0740.

A PDF of the press release can be found here: http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5cc8b93bpr13AtlHerringAddendumII_Approved.pdf

MASSACHUSETTS: Scallop ground closure to have ‘very little’ effect on New Bedford fishermen

April 26, 2019 — Federal fishing managers say they are shutting down a key scallop fishing area to some boats for nearly a year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says its closure will apply to the northern Gulf of Maine area. The closure goes into effect on Thursday and is scheduled to last until March 31, 2020.

NOAA says scallop boats that fish under federal regulations will not be able to fish for or possess scallops from the northern Gulf of Maine, nor will they be able to bring the scallops to land. The agency says the closure is required because the total allowable catch for the area is projected to be taken.

New Bedford scalloper Eric Hansen said the shut down will have “very little” impact on New Bedford fishermen, since they did not land any scallops in that area of the Gulf of Maine last year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Gulf of Maine partially shut down to scallop fishing for 11 months

April 25, 2019 — Federal fishing managers say they are shutting down a key scallop fishing area to some boats for nearly a year.

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

New study compiles Gulf of Maine seasonal wildlife timing shifts

April 24, 2019 — Many researchers and amateur naturalists keep track of dates for the first robin of spring, the first peepers or ice-out on ponds, and such records can offer decades of data on the timing of plant and animal life cycle events known as phenology.

While such observations are common in terrestrial systems, a new report by first author Michelle Staudinger and others at the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows there is a limited understanding of similar events in the oceans. They urge more researchers to increase observations and use more phenological datasets to understand how marine species are responding to climate change through phenological shifts in the Gulf of Maine and other coastal regions.

Staudinger says, “We only found 20 studies documenting shifts in phenology in the Gulf of Maine. This topic appears to have received less attention in the region compared to other responses to climate change. We provide a summary of the existing evidence and offer examples of the implications, remaining research questions and available long-term datasets appropriate for assessing shifts in the region. These data come from a range of federal, state, academic and citizen science monitoring programs.”

Read the full story from the University of Massachusetts Amherst at Phys.org

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area

April 24, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is closing the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to all federally permitted limited access general category scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on April 25, 2019.

As of April 25, 2019, no scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that 100 percent of the 2019 default total allowable catch for this area will be taken. The closure will be in effect until the end of the fishing year, March 31, 2020.

If you have declared a trip into the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, April 25, 2019, you may complete the trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

Exemption for Maine and Massachusetts Vessels Fishing Exclusively State Waters

If you have a valid Maine or Massachusetts state scallop permit, you may continue to fish in Maine or Massachusetts state waters within the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area under the State Waters Exemption program. If you are fishing under an Individual Fishing Quota scallop permit (Limited Access General Category A), any pounds landed under a state waters only trip will still be deducted from the vessel’s allocation.

Exemption for Limited Access Vessels Fishing Compensation Trips Under the Scallop Research Set-Aside Program

This closure does not affect the Limited Access fleet that was allocated a separate Total Allowable Catch of 67,500 lb for the 2019 fishing year under Framework 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Limited Access Total Allowable Catch will be harvested by vessels that are participating in the 2019 scallop Research Set-Aside Program.

For more details, read the notice as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Shannah Jaburek, Sustainable Fisheries Division, at 978-282-8456
Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, at 978-281-9103

REMINDER: April 23 Webinar on Fishery Allocation Under Climate Change

April 19, 2019 — The following was released by the Lenfest Ocean Program:

How should harvest of valuable fish stocks be allocated as populations shift due to climate change? What lessons can be learned from the management practices in other regions and nations to inform allocation strategies for shifting stocks along the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts? On Tuesday, April 23, at 2:00 PM Eastern time/11:00 AM Pacific time the Lenfest Ocean Program will host a webinar featuring Dr. Andrew Pershing, Dr. Lisa Kerr, Mr. Jonathan Labaree, and Dr. Kanae Tokunaga, all of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, to discuss their project characterizing different fishery allocation systems from around the world and their potential for application in the U.S. Download the fact sheet to learn more about this project.

Click here to register

Webinar Instructions:

Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Time: 2:00 PM Eastern time/11:00 AM Pacific time

For remote access:

Please fill out the registration form before the event is scheduled to begin.
Event number: 791 597 316
Event password: StockShifts2019

For teleconference audio after you join the webinar, either:

Select “Call Using Computer”
Select “Call me” and provide your phone number
Call the number below and enter the access code:
1. In the U.S. and Canada, dial 1-855-214-7745.
2. For additional global call in numbers click here.
Enter conference code 396 957 5461
After dialing the conference code:
1. Be sure to enter the Attendee ID that will appear on your screen.
2. You will not be prompted to do so