Saving Seafood

Herring shut down as fleet nears catch limit

September 14, 2018 — Interstate regulators with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided to shut down the Gulf of Maine herring fishery from Sept.13 until the end of the month, saying 97 percent of the quota from the productive fishing grounds has been landed.

The area includes coastal Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

Herring fishermen started the year with a catch limit of more than 240 million pounds, but that figure was scaled back to just under 110 million pounds in mid-August by NMFS “to lessen the risk of overfishing.” The agency warned that while the season officially ends on Dec. 13, certain grounds could be closed early as the catch limit neared.

Last year the commission closed the same region to fishing for the month of October based on an analysis of samples of female herring in the area. The closure was related to spawning.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

New England herring fishing to be limited in September

September 12, 2018 — Interstate fishing regulators say the quota is almost tapped out in one of the most productive herring fishing areas of the Northeast, and they’re shutting the fishery down for the rest of the month.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says 97 percent of the quota has been harvested from the inshore Gulf of Maine. The area includes coastal Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The commission says the fishery will be shut down from Thursday morning until Sept. 30. Boats that harvest other species will also be allowed to possess no more than 2,000 pounds of herring per trip per day.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle

Fishery Management Council to Make Herring Trawler Decision

September 11, 2018 — An important decision for the future of the Atlantic Herring fishery will come this month from the New England Fishery Management Council.

The council will vote September 25 in Plymouth on a proposal that would push midwater trawlers at least 50 miles from the shores of Cape Cod.

The trawlers, which usually work in tandem, use very large nets to scoop up entire schools of herring, which has negatively impacted the local fishing industry and related economies.

Atlantic herring is a food source for many larger fish species and whales which feed in the area. Herring is also an important bait fish in the New England lobster industry.

Fishermen and local officials have urged fishery managers to impose a strict 50-mile buffer zone for the trawlers.

“They’ve removed so many of the herring from the waters that it’s really disrupted the entire ecosystem because there is not a solid forage base for other fish to feed on,” said Amanda Cousart, a policy analyst with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Association.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Fishery Moving to Zero Landing Days on September 13, 2018

September 11, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

As of September 10, the Area 1A Atlantic herring fishery has harvested 97% of the Trimester 2 allocation. Beginning 12:00 a.m. Thursday, September 13, 2018 the Area 1A fishery will move to zero landing days through September 30, 2018, as specified in the ASMFC Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan.

Vessels participating in other fisheries may possess no more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day. In addition, all vessels traveling through Area 1A must have all seine and mid-water trawl gear stowed.

For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mware@asmfc.org.

DAVE MONTI: Research Set-Aside program good for fish and fishermen

August 27, 2018 — The National Marine Fisheries Service’s Research Set-Aside (RSA) program has raised funds for fishery research while allowing fishermen to catch more fish.

It has successfully worked for the scallop industry in New England and for a charter industry pilot program that I participated in seven years ago.

RSA programs use a set-aside of fishery resources, whether quota or days-at-sea, to generate revenue that is used to conduct needed research. Here in the Northeast, the New England Fishery Management Council has successfully used its RSA program to study Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic herring and monkfish.

The charter fishing industry RSA program I participated in with seven other vessels purchased summer flounder quota (with a grant) to run a summer flounder pilot project.

Software developed during the pilot allowed charter captains to record catch and effort in real time electronically with computer tablets on their vessels. Today, the software is approved by NOAA for use by charter captains and commercial fishermen in the Greater Atlantic Regional.

Read the full story at The Sun Chronicle

Feds cut back herring fishing amid concerns about population

August 23, 2018 — Herring harvests are being cut by millions of pounds because of concerns about the important little fish’s population, the federal government announced on Wednesday.

Herring fishing is a major industry in New England and the mid-Atlantic states, where the schooling fish are harvested for use as bait, food, fish oil and other products. But a recent assessment shows the fish’s stock is in decline, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The herring catch has been declining since 2013 and this year’s catch again appears lower than previous years, the agency said in a statement.

“We expect this reduction to reduce the probability of overfishing in 2018,” the NOAA said on its website.

Herring fishermen entered this year with a catch limit of more than 240 million pounds, but the regulatory New England Fishery Management Council recommended earlier this year that the number be cut back to a little more than 118 million pounds.

The NOAA announced on Wednesday that it is instead cutting the herring limit back to a little less than 110 million pounds, effective immediately. It stated on its website that “further reductions are necessary to lessen the risk of overfishing.” The herring fishing season ends on Dec. 31 and parts of it could close earlier if fishermen get close to the catch limit.

The agency said it hopes the cutback will allow the fishery to avoid even deeper cuts in the future.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

NEFMC Seeks Input on RSA Programs; Take the Online Survey!

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

The New England Fishery Management Council is asking fishermen and their cooperative research partners who participate in the Atlantic Sea Scallop, Atlantic Herring, and/or Monkfish Research Set Aside (RSA) Programs to take an online survey and provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of these programs and pass along any suggestions for improvement. Other stakeholders who have an interest or role in RSA programs also are encouraged to take the survey.

The survey is part of the Council’s comprehensive review of RSA programs, which is being conducted by a six member review panel that includes two representatives each from: the New England Council; the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries) Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO); and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). A representative from the Mid-Atlantic Council staff also sits on the review panel as an observer.

Take the online survey here

Read the full release here

VIRGINIA: A fishy tale

August 9, 2018 — Where else to look for a fish tale about politics than Shad Plank, eh?

Consider, then a casual comment from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s menhaden board discussion this week.

You know, one of Rhode Island’s commissioners mused, as the board wrapped up discussion about whether or not to start down the road of shutting down Virginia’s menhaden fishery, Atlantic herring could come into play here.

Well, if that isn’t enough to make you sit up in your seat. It did for Shad Plank, anyway.

Here’s why. The commission groups 15 states from Maine to Florida to manage onshore fisheries (within three miles of the shore), making sure nobody’s taking too many fishies from sea.

Some species do better than others, and sometimes they do better in some parts of the coast than others. And while nobody on the commission wants to drive any species into oblivion, many find it hard not to think about their fishermen — commercial and recreational — and their desire to harvest the sea’s bounty.

Last year, the commission cut its cap on the catch of menhaden from Chesapeake Bay by more than 40 percent. Not complying with this cap — and the General Assembly declined to enact it into law — could lead the commission to say we’re out of compliance and then ask the federal government to do something about it.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

 

Atlantic Herring Area 1A Trimester 2 Effort Controls Measures Maintained

August 9, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts reviewed the effort control measures for the 2018 Area 1A Trimester 2 (June 1 – September 30) fishery. The states agreed to maintain the existing Area 1A Trimester 2 Days Out Measures, which are outlined below.

Days Out of the Fishery

  • Vessels with a herring Category A permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 Area 1A fishery may land herring five (5) consecutive days a week. One landing per 24 hour period.Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
    • Landing days in New Hampshire and Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.
    • Landings days in Maine begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m.
  • Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with a herring Category C or D permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 fishery may land herring seven (7) consecutive days a week.

Weekly Landing Limit

  • Vessels with a herring Category A permit may harvest up to 640,000 lbs (16 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week.
  • 160,000 lbs (4 trucks) out of the 640,000 lbs weekly limit can be transferred to a carrier vessel (see below).

At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions
The following applies to harvester vessels with a herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts port.

  • A harvester vessel can transfer herring at-sea to another catcher vessel.
  • A harvester vessel is limited to making at-sea transfers to only one carrier vessel per week.
  • Carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one catcher vessel per week and can land once per 24 hour period. A carrier vessel may land up to 160,000 lbs (4 trucks) per week. The carrier limit of 4 trucks is not in addition to the harvester weekly landing limit. Carrier vessel: a vessel with no gear on board capable of catching or processing fish. Harvester vessel: a vessel that is required to report the catch it has aboard as the harvesting vessel on the Federal Vessel Trip Report.

The Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) is 32,084 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for a carryover from 2016 and the research set-aside. The Section allocated 72.8% of the sub-ACL to Trimester 2 and 27.2% to Trimester 3. After incorporating the 295 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the seasonal quotas are 21,291 mt for Trimester 2 and 7,955 mt for Trimester 3.

These effort controls are projected to extend the Trimester 2 fishery through the beginning of September. Landings will be monitored closely and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the trimester’s quota is projected to be reached.

Due to the results of the 2018 Atlantic Herring Stock Assessment, which indicate poor recruitment and spawning stock biomass, the New England Fishery Management Council has recommended that the Regional Administrator allow for an in-season adjustment to the 2018 Atlantic herring sub-ACLs. The intent of this in-season adjustment is to reduce the severity of catch reductions in 2019. Following action from NOAA Fisheries to adjust the 2018 sub-ACLs, the Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort measures. Forty-eight hour notice will be provided before a Days Out Meeting.

Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A on no landing days. Please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.

A PDF of the announcement can be found at – http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5b6b5e15AtlHerringDaysOutTri2_Aug2018.pdf.

ASMFC 2018 Summer Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

August 2, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-summer-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 been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2018SummerMeeting/2018SummerMeetingSupplemental.pdf.

Executive Committee – Delaware Appeal Criterion 1 Clarification

Atlantic Herring Section – SARC 65 DRAFT Atlantic Herring Assessment for 2018 and Public Commen

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

American Eel Management Board – Technical Committee Task List and Maryland Update of 2017 Eel Harvest

Coastal Sharks Management Board –  Technical Committee Task List &  Draft Addendum V

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board – Technical Committee Task List; Memo on 2019 Summer Flounder Recreational Management; FMP Reviews for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass

South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Atlantic Croaker & Spot Traffic Light Analysis Update Results; Atlantic Croaker and Spot Plan Development Team Recommendations for Management Response; FMP Reviews for Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum; Technical Committee Task List

As a reminder, Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning August 7th at 10:15 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1:45 p.m.) on August 9th. 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. Go here – https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3101304879756771073 – to register for the webinar.