Saving Seafood

Reminder: Midwater Trawl Herring Vessels May Only Fish Inside Groundfish Closed Areas on Trips That Carry an Observer

October 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Atlantic herring vessels may only fish with midwater trawl gear inside the following Groundfish Closed Areas when carrying an observer onboard the vessel:

  • Closed Area I North (February 1 – April 15)
  • Western Gulf of Maine Closure Area
  • Cashes Ledge Closure Area
  • Closed Area II

Because industry-funded monitoring has not yet been implemented in the herring fishery, vessels are currently unable to purchase optional industry-funded observer coverage in order to fish inside a Groundfish Closed Area.

Currently, a vessel may fish with midwater trawl gear inside a Groundfish Closed Area on a herring trip if the following criteria are met:

  1. If the vessel is assigned Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) coverage on the trip in the Pre-Trip Notification System, and
  2. If the vessel actually carries a NEFOP observer on the trip.

If the vessel is issued a coverage waiver for the trip for any reason, the vessel is not permitted to fish inside Groundfish Closed Areas during that trip. For complete information on notification and reporting requirements, please see Notification, Reporting, and Monitoring Requirements for the Atlantic Herring Fishery.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Adjustments to the 2020 Atlantic Herring Specifications

October 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This action increases the Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) and the ACL for 2020.  Because landings in New Brunswick weir fishery were less than 2,942 mt through October 1, we subtracted 1,000 mt from the management uncertainty buffer and re-allocated it to the herring Area 1A sub-ACL and ACL.

This action increases the Area 1A herring sub-ACL from 3,344 mt to 4,344 mt for the remainder of the fishing year. When 92 percent of the total Area 1A sub-ACL is reached, vessels are prohibited from fishing for, possessing, catching, transferring, or landing more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip, per calendar day.

This action also increases the herring ACL from 11,571 mt to 12,571 mt. When 95 percent of the herring ACL is reached, vessels are prohibited from fishing for, possessing, catching, transferring, or landing more than 2,000 lb of herring per trip, per calendar day in or from all herring management areas.

For more details, please read the rule in the Federal Register and our permit holder bulletin.

Read the full release here

ASMFC Maintains Status Quo Effort Controls for 2020 Atlantic Herring Area 1A Season 2 Fishery

October 16, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts met via conference call on October 16, 2020 to consider changes to days out measures for the Area 1A fishery for Season 2 (October through December).Preliminary estimates indicate approximately 445 metric tons (mt) of the Area 1A sub-ACL remains available for harvest, which accounts for the fact that the Area 1A fishery closed with 92% of the sub-ACL is landed. Therefore, Board members from the three states decided to maintain status quo days out measure for Season 2; two (2) consecutive landings days per week.

It is anticipated that 1,000 mt from the Management Uncertainty Buffer will be reallocated to the Area 1A fishery in late October due to the low level of landings that have occurred in the Canada weir fishery. When this transfer occurs, Board members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts will reconvene to determine days out measures for the remainder of Season 2. A meeting notice will be released when that meeting has been scheduled.

For more information, please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atmappelman@asmfc.org.

The Atlantic Herring Days Out meeting summary can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5f89e09cAtlHerringDaysOutMeetingSummary_Oct16_2020.pdf

ASMFC 79th Annual Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

October 14, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 79th Annual Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2020-annual-meeting-webinar for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental meeting materials (with the exception of the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program Coordinating Council) have been combined into one PDF –http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/79AnnualMeeting/ASMFC79thAnnualMeetingSupplementalMaterials.pdf.  Below is the list of documents  included in the supplemental materials.

Atlantic Herring Management Board – Letter from Mike Pentony to New England Fishery Management Council

Winter Flounder Management Board – Draft Working Papers of the 2020 Assessment Update Reports for Gulf of Maine and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic Winter Flounder Stocks

American Lobster Management Board – Draft Fishery Management Plan Reviews for the 2019 Fishing Year for American Lobster and Jonah Crab

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Advisory Panel Recommendations on 2021-2022 Fishery Specificationsand Public Comment

South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Revised Agenda & Meeting Overview; Atlantic Cobia Draft Addendum I Public Hearing and Written Comment Summaries; Draft Fishery Management Plan Reviews for the 2019 Fishing Year for Red Drum, Atlantic Croaker and Atlantic Cobia

Executive Committee – Revised Agenda

Horseshoe Crab Management Board – ARM Subcommittee and Delaware Bay Ecosystem Technical Committee Call Summary

Spiny Dogfish Management Board – Revised Meeting Overview; MAFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee Report: Revised Risk Policy for 2021

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Public Information Document for Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass

ACCSP Coordinating Council – Draft Agenda; Draft Proceedings from October 2020; FY21 Proposals; Funding Decision Process; Committee & Program Updates

Business Session – Draft 2021 Action Plan

Live-Streaming

Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, October 19 at 9:00 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1:45 p.m.) on Thursday, October 22. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. Meeting participants and attendees can register for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1878402776294803471 (Webinar ID: 796-314-395).

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter.  If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio-related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can also call in at 562.247.8422 (a pin will be provided to you after joining the webinar); see webinar instructions  for details on how to receive the pin. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 562.247.8422 (access code: 225-820-088).

Public Comment Guidelines

With the intent of developing policies in the Commission’s procedures for public participation that result in a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar.

The following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action). 

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (September 28) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5 PM on the Tuesday, October 13 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10 AM on Friday, October 16 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.

Northeast Atlantic herring fisheries at risk of losing MSC eco-label

October 6, 2020 — A lack of international agreement between Northeast Atlantic coastal states on the management of catch levels have left four Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries with “a high risk” of losing their Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificates on 30 December, the eco-label program has warned.

The MSC-certified fisheries in question are: ISF Norwegian and Icelandic herring trawl and seine (Iceland); SPSG, DPPO, PDFA, SPFPO, and KFO Atlanto-Scandian purse-seine and pelagic trawl herring (E.U. and United Kingdom); Faroese pelagic organization Atlanto-Scandian herring (Faroe); and Norway spring spawning herring (Norway).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Absence of international agreement on AS herring quota-sharing risks loss of MSC certificates

October 5, 2020 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Four MSC-certified Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries operating in the Northeast Atlantic are at a high risk of losing their MSC certificates on 30 December 2020, due to lack of an international agreement on how to manage catch levels between different nations.

These MSC-certified fisheries land between 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of Atlanto-Scandian herring per year, this is around 50% of the total MSC-certified herring catches landed annually. MSC labelled herring is sold to consumers via supermarkets and fishmongers throughout Europe.

However, the absence of effective management – in particular, the quota sharing agreement between the coastal and fishing nations (EU, UK, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Russia and Greenland) – has led to the combined catch exceeding the recommended catch levels for a number of years. In 2019 fisheries collectively caught 777,165 tonnes, 32% more than the scientific advice for the year.

In 2020, following the catch quotas announced by the individual states, total Atlanto-Scandian herring catches are expected to exceed scientific advice by almost a third (32% or 168,312 tonnes).1 This means fisheries are now exceeding sustainability thresholds. If states are to align with the 2021 scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) announced on 30 September, they will have to reduce their catches.

Independent assessors identified that the absence of a quota-sharing system could threaten the health of the stock and set a condition that nations must reach an agreement by 2020 for continued MSC certification. This was stipulated in 2015, giving fisheries a five-year time frame to work towards. Due to a lack of progress on this condition, the fisheries are now at risk of losing their current MSC certificates.

MSC is focused on securing and maintaining the long-term health of fish stocks. Avoiding the boom-bust cycle of overfishing and recovery is a fundamental principle of the MSC’s Standard for sustainable fishing. This is even more important in the context of climate change which is already impacting on the productivity and distribution of fish stocks.2

The annual meeting of the Northeast Atlantic Coastal States, which starts on 5 October 2020 and where international management measures are agreed, presents an opportunity for governments to solve the quota-sharing problem and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock.

The Atlanto-Scandian stock has already experienced the impacts of over-fishing. In the 1960s, the herring stock, which had been one of the biggest in the world, crashed due to over-fishing: it took 20 years to recover.

The MSC’s Northern Europe Director, Erin Priddle, said:

“We urge the nations meeting in October to commit to a quota-sharing agreement in line with the scientific advice. Only this approach will help ensure the health of the herring stock in short, medium and long term. While individual fisheries often make great efforts to improve their sustainability, ultimately, they cannot do it alone. Migratory species like Atlanto-Scandian Herring don’t observe national boundaries, so we need international agreements to manage whole ecosystems in an adaptive, scientific way, rather than managing fish resources on a national basis.”

The independent assessors that have determined the Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries likely suspension have also agreed that four MSC-certified blue whiting fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic should be suspended in December due to the lack of a quota sharing agreement. For the same reason MSC certified mackerel fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic were suspended in 2019 and have not yet been reinstated due to ongoing concern about how catch is managed in response to scientific data on stock levels.

Predator-prey interaction study reveals more food does not always mean more consumption

September 30, 2020 — Scientists at the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center have developed an unusually rich picture of who is eating whom off the Northeastern United States. The findings, published recently in Fish and Fisheries, provide a close look at fish feeding habits for 17 fish species, predators, and their prey.

The predators are divided into 48 predator-size categories, and 14  species. Fish predators included Atlantic cod, Atlantic herring, haddock, goosefish, pollock, spiny dogfish, winter flounder, and yellowtail founder among others. Prey species included forage fish, squid, zooplankton, shrimp-like crustaceans, shellfish, brittle stars, sand dollars, and sea urchins.

“We have the largest, continuous dataset of fish feeding habits in the world at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and that enabled us to do a study of this scale and scope,” said Brian Smith, a food habits researcher at the center and lead author of the study. “We focused on common and important prey for the many predatory fishes of interest, and hopefully filled in some gaps in information relating prey availability to predation.”

Feeding patterns within and among different groups of fishes vary by the size of the fish, the abundance or density of the prey, and other factors. Researchers who study  need to account for this predation in their models. Few studies, however, have looked simultaneously at the feeding patterns among different groups of predatory fish—fish feeders, plankton feeders, and benthic or bottom feeders. The study also looked at how those groups interact with their prey throughout the water column.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

NEFMC Adopts 2021-2023 Herring Specifications; Adjusts Herring Measures to Facilitate Mackerel Harvest

September 30, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During the first day of its September 29-October 1, 2020 webinar meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council took final action on Framework Adjustment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. Next, the framework will be submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) for review and final approval.

Framework 8 contains two parts:

  • Specifications for the 2021-2023 fishing years for Atlantic herring; and
  • Adjustments to measures in the herring plan that potentially inhibit the Atlantic mackerel fishery from achieving optimum yield (OY).

Read the full release here

Reminder: Atlantic Herring Fishery Restrictions in Management Area 1A

September 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries reminds participants in the Atlantic herring fishery that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts implement fishery restrictions, including landing limits, landing days, and spawning closures, on herring landed from herring management area 1A.

Details of these fishery restrictions can be found on the Commission’s Atlantic herring webpage.

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting Scheduled for September 17

September 1, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine and New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet on September 17, 2020 from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m., to discuss days out measures (i.e., consecutive landings days) for the 2020 Area 1A fishery (inshore Gulf of Maine) for Season 2 (October 1 – December 31). This meeting will be held via webinar. The call and webinar information are included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
September 17, 2020
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/912144885. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (224) 501-3412 and enter access code 912-144-885 when prompted. The webinar will start at 1:00 p.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

The 2020 Area 1A allowable catch limit (ACL) is 2,957 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the research set-aside, the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside, and the fact that Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL. The Board established the following allocations for the 2020 Area 1A ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31.

Please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mappelman@asmfc.org for more information.

The meeting announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/AtlHerring_DaysOutMeeting_NoticeSept17_2020.pdf