Gulf of Maine Archives - Page 58 of 99

Scallop RSA Program: NEFMC and NOAA Announce 15 Awards Selected for 2018-2019 funding

May 16, 2018 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) are pleased to announce that 15 projects have been selected for 2018-2019 funding through the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program.

“The Scallop RSA Program truly has become one of the flagships of the scallop fishery,” said New England Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn. “The collaborative efforts that take place at sea between fishermen and researchers go a long way toward enhancing our understanding of what’s happening with the resource. The results of this RSA work funnel back to the Council and support stock assessments. Without a doubt, the RSA program helps us better manage our – Virginia Institute of Marine Science photo extremely valuable scallop fishery.”

Projects will address research priorities established by the Council, with a particular focus on resource surveys. The awards are expected to generate more than $12 million: $3 million to fund research; and $9 million to compensate industry partners who harvest set-aside quota

“We are excited to be able to work with the New England Fishery Management Council, industry, and scientists to fund sea scallop science through the Research Set-Aside Program,” said NEFSC Science and Research Director Dr. Jon Hare. “The projects funded support surveys, bycatch mitigation, and biological studies, all with the purpose of improving the information used in the management of the sea scallop resource.”

The New England Council established the Sea Scallop RSA Program to address research questions that support management of the scallop resource. The Council sets the research priorities and researchers compete for funding through a federal grant competition managed by NOAA Fisheries.

No federal funds are provided to support the research. Instead, projects are awarded pounds of scallops, which have been “set aside” from the annual fishery quota for this purpose. Successful applicants partner with the fishing industry to harvest their set-aside award to generate funds for the research. There are active research set-aside programs for Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring, and monkfish.

2018-2019 Scallop RSA Award Summary

The awards fall into three categories: scallop surveys (dredge, drop camera, and HabCam); bycatch mitigation; and sea scallop biology.

Scallop Surveys

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) received new awards to conduct dredge surveys in Closed Area I, Closed Area II, and the Nantucket Lightship. Under an existing award from last year, VIMS also will conduct a dredge survey of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. As part of ongoing efforts to better understand scallop survey dredge performance, VIMS investigators received an award to evaluate the hydrodynamic characteristics of both lined and unlined survey dredges in the largest flume tank in the world, located in St. John’s, Newfoundland at Memorial University’s Marine Institute.

The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) received three awards to conduct surveys using a drop-camera array. Through these awards, researchers plan to conduct high-resolution surveys of the Nantucket Lightship, Closed Area I, Great South Channel, and select portions of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will conduct Habitat Camera Mapping System (HabCam) optical surveys throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight and on the northern flank of Georges Bank. In addition to these surveys, researchers will continue to evaluate dredge effects on habitat and habitat recovery in the Closed Area II Habitat Area of Particular Concern. Coonamessett Farm Foundation will conduct a HabCam survey of the Nantucket Lightship and Southern Flank of Georges Bank.

Bycatch Mitigation

Coonamessett Farm Foundation will continue its seasonal survey on Georges Bank, collecting information on bycatch rates for yellowtail flounder and other species relative to scallop meat yield. These data also will be used to evaluate sea scallop health and meat quality, biological questions about several flounder species, and to examine lobsters for shell disease.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation will continue its loggerhead sea turtle tagging program, receiving funds to tag up to 20 loggerheads with water activated tags. Tag data will be used to evaluate spatial and temporal overlap between loggerhead sea turtles and the scallop fishery.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation also will be testing a dredge twine-top cover net in an attempt to quantify dredge selectivity characteristics.

Sea Scallop Biology

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science will investigate sea scallop density-dependence factors that may be affecting growth, mortality, and reproduction of scallops in the Nantucket Lightship and Elephant Trunk areas. In addition, VIMS will conduct a pilot study to extend the current stock assessment model to better account for sea scallop ages with a particular focus on the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Nantucket Lightship areas.

WHOI will receive support to determine if a gonadosomatic index (GSI) can be calculated from Light Field 3D images of shucked scallops collected during fishing operations. The GSI is used to assess maturity and spawning events in many species of fish and shellfish, including scallops. If successful, this could improve the ability to collect and quantify scallop maturation and spawning data during the course of routine fishery sampling procedures.

The 2018-2019 award listings can be found on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center website at: https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/coopresearch/news/scallop-rsa-2018-2019/.

RSA award announcements and answers to “frequently asked questions” also are available at https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/coopresearch/rsa_program.html.

Visit the New England Council’s scallop webpage: https://www.nefmc.org/management-plans/scallops.

View the release in its entirety here.

NEFMC: Cod Stock Structure Symposium – June 19, 2018, Registration Information

May 15, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

New Hampshire Sea Grant and the University of New Hampshire (UNH), in conjunction with a steering committee, are hosting a symposium on the structure of Atlantic cod populations in the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England regions, as well as nearby Canadian waters, namely Georges and Brown Bank and the Scotian Shelf. Fishermen are encouraged to attend.

EVENT TITLE: “Cod Population Structure and New England Fisheries Symposium: Furthering our understanding by integrating knowledge gained through science and fishing”

DATE AND LOCATION: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the UNH Campus at the Elliot Alumni Center. Light breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided. Travel expenses may be provided for fishermen who are attending.

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT: According to the steering committee, the symposium will provide an opportunity to explore and talk about “the current understanding of the stock structure of cod.” New information from recent scientific studies will be discussed, and recreational and commercial fishermen will share on-the-water experience and knowledge. The symposium will help: (1) identify areas of common ground in the understanding of cod population structure; (2) identify areas of remaining uncertainty; and (3) broaden knowledge of alternative management options that may be considered in the future to accommodate the evolving understanding of cod stock structure. The steering committee said, “The symposium contributes to a new process focused on reevaluating cod stock structure in U.S. waters.”

SYMPOSIUM OBJECTIVES:

Present recent findings among regional scientists studying Atlantic cod stock structure in U.S. and adjacent Canadian waters.
Capture insight and feedback from fishermen on what is being observed on the water to incorporate into the developing model by researchers.
Identify areas of common ground in the understanding of cod population structure and areas of remaining uncertainty.
Learn about a series of alternative management options that may be considered in the future to accommodate the evolving understanding of cod stock structure.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Sign up at Cod Population Structure Symposium.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM: Contact Erik Chapman, New Hampshire Sea Grant Director, at (603) 862-1935, Erik.Chapman@unh.edu.

COD STRUCTURE WORKING GROUP: The symposium will precede a June 20-21, 2018 meeting of the Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Working Group. The working group was formed in February 2018 to “determine the most appropriate representation of Atlantic cod stock structure for use in regional stock assessments based on currently available information.” Background on the group is available at Working Group Formation Plan. The list of working group members and upcoming meetings can be found at Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Working Group.

Learn more about the NEFMC by visiting their site here.

Scientists say Maine’s lobster boom won’t last. Here are the fisheries coming next.

May 14, 2018 — For the past two decades Maine’s lobster industry, which had $433 million worth of landings in 2017, has been lauded and envied as a model for how conservation practices can help a fishery thrive.

But if, as some have predicted, Maine’s lobster boom since 1990 reverses itself, lobstermen might find themselves having to catch something else in order to maintain their livelihoods out on the water. With an eye toward the future, many in Maine have been looking south to see what kind of emerging species other fishermen are catching as climate change disrupts the environment.

In southern New England, many fishermen have turned their attention to species such as Jonah crab and black sea bass, the numbers of which have increased as ocean temperatures warm and as lobster in the region have become more scarce. Maine’s lobster landings remain near historic highs, but some say the changes that have occurred south of Cape Cod are inevitable in the Gulf of Maine.

“I know it’s a hard concept to get around, but it’s going to happen,” Norbert Stamps, a Rhode Island fisherman, told a roomful of other fishermen at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport in March.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Maine: Marine cleanup team tangles with 2 tons of ‘ghost gear’ off Cape Elizabeth

May 9, 2018 — A two-ton, decades-old ball of underwater marine debris measuring 15 feet in diameter was pulled from Dyer Cove off Cape Elizabeth on Tuesday, the biggest example of derelict fishing gear recovered from the Gulf of Maine in at least a decade, according to the lobster industry group that removed it.

“Look at it, it’s huge,” said Jim Buxton of Scarborough, the lobsterman and diver who helped raise it. “It has a little of everything. I see gill nets, trawl nets, lobster traps. Every fishery we’ve ever had here and more. Look there at the size of the mesh. That hasn’t been used in decades.”

The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation has been ridding local waters of so-called “ghost gear” for a decade, culling state waters of more than 5,000 traps during that time, but it is usually done trap by trap, said Executive Director Erin Pelletier. This ball will likely top out at between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Massachusetts: Gloucester fish seller, supplier earn sustainability certification

May 8, 2018 — Haddock, pollock and redfish — “The Big Three” — are getting a big new marketing edge from a little blue label.

“There’s a lot of them out there,” says Jimmy Odlin from the headquarters of his Portland, Maine-based AtlanticTrawlers Fishing. “We just needed to sell more of it. We knew we needed to expand our market and after researching, we decided that MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification was the best fit.”

The other half of Odlin’s “we” is Gloucester’s Nick Giacalone, who, along with brothers Chris and Vito Jr. have since 2008 shared the helm of Fishermen’s Wharf Gloucester on Rogers Street. And what the two men were after, the MSC certification label — the international gold standard for dealing in sustainably caught and processed seafood — does not come easily.

But after one solid year, “a lot of money and meetings,” a third-party assessment, internal research and finally, 350-odd pages of copious scientific and peer reporting, the pair announced this week that the much coveted little blue MSC “ecolabel” will now go on all haddock, pollock and redfish trawled from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank by Atlantic Trawlers Fishing and landed at Fishermen’s Wharf.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Feds closing part of New England scallop fishery

May 2, 2018 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Federal regulators are closing a key scallop fishing area off of New England for nearly 11 months.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration says it is closing the northern Gulf of Maine to a class of fishermen who fish under a federal permit starting Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. The closure will last until March 31, 2019.

NOAA says the vessels will not be allowed to fish for, possess, or land scallops from the area, which is off of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The agency says regulations require that it closes the area once it projects that all of the quota has been harvested.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Seattle Times

Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery; Closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area for Limited Access General Category Vessels

May 2, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area is closed to all federally permitted Limited Access General Category (LAGC) scallop vessels effective 0001 hr, on May 2, 2018, except as exempted below. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that 100 percent of the 2018 LAGC total allowable catch for this area will be taken. This closure is effective through March 31, 2019.

LAGC vessels that have declared a trip into the NGOM Scallop Management Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 hr, May 2, 2018, may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the NGOM Scallop Management Area. Except for vessels that have met these trip completion requirements, no LAGC scallop vessel fishing under federal scallop regulations subject to this closure may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the NGOM Scallop Management Area.

This closure does not apply the Limited Access (LA) fleet. The LA TAC will be harvested solely by vessels who are participating in the 2018 scallop Research Set-Aside Program and have been issues letters of authorization to conduct compensation fishing activities.

Exemption for Maine and Massachusetts Vessels Fishing Exclusively State Waters

Vessels issued a Limited Access General Category (LAGC) NGOM (LAGC B) or Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) scallop permit (LAGC A) may continue to fish in the Maine and Massachusetts state waters portion of the NGOM Scallop Management Area under the State Waters Exemption program provided they have a valid Maine or Massachusetts state scallop permit and fish only in that states waters.

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Vessel Owners Please Note: An IFQ scallop vessel must have scallop IFQ allocation to fish for scallops at any time or place. For vessels fishing under an (IFQ) scallop permit (category LAGC A), all scallop pounds landed, including scallops caught under a state waters only trip, will be deducted from the vessel’s IFQ allocation.

Read the full bulletin at NOAA Fisheries

Sens. King, Collins push for more research on ocean warming in Gulf of Maine

May 1, 2018 — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have urged the federal government to improve efforts to understand the causes and effects of the rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine, which threatens to disrupt Maine’s traditional fisheries and the ecosystem that supports them.

“We need greater resources, enhanced monitoring of subsurface conditions, and a better understanding of the diversity of factors that are simultaneously impacting the Gulf of Maine, from changes in circulation and water temperature to ocean acidification,” the senators wrote in a letter Monday to the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Tim Gallaudet.

“This effort is critical not just for Maine and New England states but for our country as a whole,” they added in the letter, which also called for greater cooperative research and monitoring efforts with Canada, which has sovereignty over the eastern half of the gulf. “Understanding the changes occurring in the Gulf of Maine with respect to warming ocean waters will allow us to better understand the impact to fisheries and benefit other waters similarly affected by climate change.”

Canadian scientists recently measured record-breaking temperatures in the deep water flowing into the principal oceanographic entrance to the Gulf of Maine – nearly 11 degrees above normal – and other researchers report warmer water has been intruding into some of the gulf’s deep-water basins. In a press release, the senators said their letter was prompted by an April 24 Press Herald story on these developments.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA Fisheries Allocates Annual Catch Entitlements for 17 of 19 Groundfish Sectors for Fishing Year 2018

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

NOAA Fisheries is allocating 2018 quotas to 17 of 19 groundfish sectors based on catch limits approved in Framework 57 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

We are not allocating quota to Northeast Fishery Sectors 7 and 9, as we are still reviewing changes to their sector rosters for fishing year 2018, including related operational and overage payback issues.

We are also approving a new regulatory exemption that allows Day gillnet sector vessels to fish up to 150 gillnets in the Gulf of Maine if at least 50 of those nets are 10-inch or larger mesh and fished east of 70 degrees West longitude. Sectors requested this exemption to allow sector vessels to better target monkfish while on sector trips.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register.

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.