Saving Seafood

  • Home
  • News
    • Alerts
    • Conservation & Environment
    • Council Actions
    • Economic Impact
    • Enforcement
    • International & Trade
    • Law
    • Management & Regulation
    • Regulations
    • Nutrition
    • Opinion
    • Other News
    • Safety
    • Science
    • State and Local
  • News by Region
    • New England
    • Mid-Atlantic
    • South Atlantic
    • Gulf of Mexico
    • Pacific
    • North Pacific
    • Western Pacific
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Fishing Terms Glossary

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.

 

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell to NEFMC: Sector IX Closure Is Hurting New Bedford’s Economy

April 18, 2018 — The following statement was delivered to the New England Fishery Management Council today on behalf of New Bedford, Massachusetts Mayor Jon Mitchell. Mayor Mitchell also serves as Chairman of the New Bedford Port Authority:   

Thank you Chairman Quinn and Members of the Council for this opportunity to communicate about a matter of ongoing concern to the Port of New Bedford, namely the impact that the closure of Sector 9 of the Northeast Fishery is having on groundfishing operations in the Port.

The NOAA decision has had–and continues to have–troubling economic consequence for the Port of New Bedford and our local economy. It has triggered significant business losses among local companies that provide support services to the commercial fishing fleet, and has meant the loss of livelihood for dozens of local fishing families.

It is important for all parties to keep in mind the numerous New Bedford businesses and families who have played no direct role in the operation of Sector 9, but who now find themselves in severe financial distress as a result of the Sector’s closure.

While the significant human cost of the closure cannot be adequately measured, Professor Dan Georgiana of the School of Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts (SMAST) has used a standard NOAA economic impact model to estimate the economic damage being done to the Port of New Bedford. His analysis found that the Port suffered roughly $12 million in economic losses in just the first twenty-five days after the closure went into effort on November 20th of last year.

This week marks the fifth full month of the Sector 9 closure, and the losses continue to mount. If one extrapolates from Professor Georgiana’s original analysis, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the Port of New Bedford may now have cumulatively suffered tens of millions of dollars in losses in the last five months.

This figure includes the impacts on harvesting, processing, wholesale and retail market activity, but does not include the cost to the public of unemployment compensation or the impact on businesses that supply vessels or process groundfish.

None of this is to suggest that the one person at the center of the controversy should not be punished severely. Carlos Rafael should be held fully accountable for his actions. I emphasize rather that the Fisheries Service should undertake its rulemaking, as it is statutorily required, with the interests of the Port and its businesses in mind. At a minimum, this means that it should complete the rulemaking “expeditiously”–as NOAA’s notice of withdrawal said it would–so that the effected fishermen and businesses can get back to work without further delay.

The Service also noted it had to calculate the amount of “overage” to certain groundfish stocks caused by Rafael’s fraud before it completed its rulemaking. Yet the Service has had, for some time now, all the reasonably available information to complete this loss calculation. Again, I urge the Service to complete these calculations and its rule-making with all deliberate speed.

The clock is ticking against New Bedford fishermen and shore-side businesses. A resolution of this matter therefore cannot come soon enough for the Port of New Bedford. Thank you for your consideration.

 

NEFMC Presents 2018 Award for Excellence to Dr. Bill DuPaul

April 18, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:   

The New England Fishery Management Council today presented its 2018 Janice M. Plante Award for Excellence to Dr. Bill DuPaul, a highly respected scientist and pioneer of cooperative research in the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. His early work on scallop dredge ring size helped revolutionize the fishery’s primary gear-type, leading to enhanced selectivity of large scallops and the release of smaller ones. He forged and nurtured partnerships with fishermen from the very start of his career, earning industry’s trust and willingness to participate in a wide range of studies that greatly advanced management of the resource and the fishery.

Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn, who presented the award, said, “Dr. DuPaul is a man of great integrity. He intuitively knew that solutions to hard problems would come only when people on all sides worked together. He proved that cooperative research can break through seemingly insurmountable barriers and help resolve even the most challenging issues.”

Dr. DuPaul is an emeritus professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary. His research included extensive work on the relationship between scallop meat weight and shell height, and he consistently strove to improve dredge efficiency, enhance scallop quality, and reduce bycatch, especially of yellowtail flounder.

He is a strong supporter of the industry-funded Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. He has spent countless hours at sea with fishermen conducting gear research, biological studies, and annual surveys that have helped gauge abundance and distribution of scallops both on Georges Bank and throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The annual surveys also helped document incoming recruitment, enabling fishery managers to identify and close areas with large beds of seed scallops for additional grow-out. This practice is a bedrock of the current rotational area management program – and one that Dr. DuPaul was in on from the beginning. He is a staunch advocate of Scallop RSA Share Days where industry members and scientists gather to openly discuss their research results and exchange ideas about emerging issues.

In 1991, the New England Council established the Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT). Dr. DuPaul was an inaugural member of the team and to this day continues to provide valuable guidance. He is the PDT’s longest serving member. He also has been heavily involved with the Council’s Research Steering Committee and, from 2007-2010, served on the former Scallop Survey Advisory Panel.

Dr. DuPaul remains active in the scientific world. He currently is a member of the Scallop Stock Assessment Working Group, which is doing the legwork for the upcoming scallop benchmark stock assessment. As an esteemed veteran of the field, his voice is routinely sought after as wise counsel on a multitude of scallop issues.

View the release in its entirety here.

 

Sector IX vessels make a move to lease quota

March 30, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Fifty-five vessels have left Sector IX, but they still can’t fish. However, they can lease their groundfish quota.

The 55, including four Carlos Rafael vessels subject to forfeiture, were submitted to be included in Sector VII for the 2018-19 fishing season, according to NOAA and Sector VII.

The move comes after six months of negotiations with NOAA in trying to get an operational plan approved, which would have lifted the groundfishing ban.

Had a move not been made, the vessels would have remained in Sector IX without the ability to lease quota. Three Sector IX vessels will remain in the sector.

The deadline for vessels to change sectors was Monday.

“What are we supposed to do,” Sector VII President Richie Canastra said. “The enrollment was Monday where you have to choose your sector for the 2018 and 2019 fishing season. No answer (from NOAA) was there yet. So those vessels and the permits owned by Carlos went to Sector VII.”

Canastra said the vessels affected by NOAA’s ban can only return to fishing with authorization from the agency or if they are sold to an independent party.

“It’s really straight forward. None of this was done to try to pull the wool over someone’s eyes or being sneaky,” Canastra said. “I just think it’s the right thing to do. I really believe the people in the industry will understand it’s the best move for everyone.”

The shift in sectors also included the additions of Richie Canastra as President, Tor Bendiksen as Treasurer and Cassie Canstra as Clerk to Sector VII.

In a letter from NOAA’s Regional Administrator Michael Pentony to the Chair of the New England Fishery Management Council John Quinn, he confirmed that the vessels would be allowed to transfer quota. He also confirmed that all vessels owned by Rafael would be inactive, unless they are sold to in independent party.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Massachusetts: Post-Rafael, New Bedford fishing industry looks to move forward

February 22, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — For perhaps the first time, at least publicly, fishermen on Carlos Rafael vessels sat in the same room Wednesday as John Bullard, the former regional administrator for NOAA, who implemented a groundfishing ban for those vessels.

Bullard, wearing a blue NOAA jacket, sat in front of a four-person panel brought together by Rhode Island Public Radio. The fishermen, wearing baseball caps and New Bedford Ship Supply sweatshirts, sat to the left of the panel, which discussed fishing in New Bedford after Carlos Rafael at Star Store.

“It’s an issue that’s near and dear to my heart, not just because I was the regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries to close the sector, but I care about this,” Bullard said. “This is my hometown.”

Bullard, now retired from NOAA, declined to comment specifically on the groundfishing ban, which went into effect in November.

However, Cassie Canastra, marketing director of BASE seafood, and Dan Georgianna, economist and professor emeritus at SMAST, are each on the board of the fishing division that’s affected by the ban. They said Sector IX plans to meet with Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office to propose a new operational plan. If approved, it would end the ban, however, Canastra said no date for a meeting has been determined.

Neither offered more insight into negotiations to end the ban.

Canastra and Georgianna were joined by Laura Ramsden, co-owner of Foley Fish, and John Quinn, chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council, offered a smorgasbord of insight regarding fishing in New Bedford.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Nominations Sought for NEFMC

January 16, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) is seeking nominees for upcoming open seats. The NEFMC is one of eight regional councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) in 1976, and is charged with conserving and managing fishery resources from three to 200 miles off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The MSA specifies that council nominees must be individuals “who, by reason of their occupational or other experience, scientific expertise, or training, are knowledgeable regarding the conservation and management, or the commercial or recreational harvest, of the fishery resources of the geographical area concerned.” Council members are directly involved in:

  • Developing and amending fishery management plans.
  • Selecting fishery management options.
  • Setting annual catch limits based on best available science.
  • Developing and implementing rebuilding plans.

The NEFMC manages: sea scallops, monkfish, Atlantic herring, skates, red crab, spiny dogfish, Atlantic salmon and groundfish** . Please note that the NEFMC does not manage summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, bluefish, striped bass or tautog.

MAINE
One obligatory (state) seat currently held by Terry Alexander of Harpswell, ME. Mr. McKenzie is completing his second of three possible consecutive 3-year terms.

MASSACHUSETTS
One obligatory seat currently held by Dr. John Quinn of New Bedford, MA. Dr. Quinn is completing his second of three possible consecutive 3-year terms.

Qualified individuals interested in being considered for nomination by the Governor to the Council should contact Samantha Andrews (617-626-1564, samantha.n.andrews@state.ma.us.) Nomination application kits will be made available upon request. All applications are due to DMF (c/o Samantha Andrews, 251 Causeway St, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114) by the end of day on Monday, February 12, 2018. As part of the application process, the Commonwealth will conduct an initial background review.

Read the full story at The Fisherman

 

‘Groundbreaking’ fish protection plan in place in Northeast

January 5, 2018 — The following is excerpted from an article by Doug Fraser of the Cape Cod Times:

After 14 years of research, negotiations, hearings and two additional years of review, New England has a plan that uses science and the latest technology to decide which areas are important for the critical life stages of fish and shellfish species and how to protect them.

John Bullard, the regional director of NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, informed New England Fishery Management Council Chairman John Quinn in a letter Wednesday that his agency had approved most of their fish habitat protection plan.

“It was a massive undertaking and your staff, especially Michelle Bachman, should be proud of their groundbreaking work that went into supporting this amendment,” Bullard wrote in the letter. The council staff, along with researchers from the National Marine Fisheries Service, state fisheries agencies, and universities, especially the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology, put together models that incorporated photographic and other surveys of the ocean bottom with known areas of fish concentration and other research on spawning and other life stages, that helped the council evaluate what should be protected and how.

“The fact that it dragged on so long, people miss how groundbreaking this really is,” said Tom Nies, the New England council’s executive director. Two decades ago, habitat closures were decided based on drawing a line around areas where fish were congregating, Nies said. Now, with a model that compares the sea bed with the impact of fishing, they can make decisions he feels will have greater significance to restoring and protecting fish stocks. Plus, the habitat plan also set aside research areas to investigate the link between habitat and fish productivity, a piece of the puzzle that has seen relatively little conclusive research.

“If you compare where we are with this amendment in terms of how they were developed and analyzed versus the original habitat areas in 2002 and 2003, we are light years ahead of where we were then,” Nies said.

Scallopers from both the big boat and small boat fleets, which are often at odds, traveled to Washington in October to lobby [U.S. Rep. William] Keating and other congressmen on getting NMFS to finish its review of the habitat plan and open the area up to scalloping before that population died off. Their message was that allowing them into scallop-rich, nonessential fish habitat meant they spent far less time towing their heavy dredges through areas fish do use.

“From our perspective, it’s really heartening that they heard our concerns,” said Seth Rolbein, director of the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust, speaking for the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance.

David Frulla, an attorney and lobbyist representing limited access scallop vessels, and Fisheries Survival Fund attorney Andrew Minkiewicz agreed the council and NOAA made the right decision in closing the Great South Channel and opening the scallop grounds in what is known as Closed Area I. But they felt that there was just as much evidence to open up a portion of a second closed area on Georges Bank over 100 miles east of the Cape that had historically produced as much as 50 million pounds of harvested scallops. Bullard said more information would be needed for his agency to do that right now.

“There are only so many highly productive scallop beds, and this is one of them,” Minkiewicz said. Frulla admitted that the bottom there is more complex and may be harder to determine its value to fish, but Minkiewicz said adding another prime scallop area keeps scallopers away from the bottom where fish do congregate.

Assistant Regional Administrator Michael Pentony told Quinn in an email that his agency expected to publish the final rule containing the regulations to implement the plan this spring.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

NOAA to open New England scallop areas, invite record harvest

January 5, 2018 — New England sea scallop fishers can start planning now for what promises to be their best season in 14 years, thanks to a decision coming soon from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

John Bullard, the outgoing administrator of NOAA’s greater Atlantic region, informed the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), in a five-page letter sent late Wednesday, that the agency will follow most of its recommendations with regard to the “essential fish habitat” amendment – a long-discussed plan to reset fishing management and conservation practices in the area.

That includes opening up to scallop harvesters an expanded portion of Closed Area I and the western part of the Nantucket Lightship area, two sections of the Atlantic Ocean that have been closed for a decade and are now expected to be loaded with large scallops.

“NMFS determined that the removal of the Closed Area I designations and proposed new designations do not compromise the ability of the council’s fishery management plans to comply with the [essential fish habitat] requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” Bullard wrote in his letter, which was addressed to John Quinn, NEFMC’s chairman.

Based on surveys reported in September, Closed Area 1, including the previous off-limit “sliver” area and northern portion, contains 19.8 million pounds (9,016 metric tons) of exploitable scallop meat, referring to scallops found with shells that were at least 4 inches wide. Even better, as much as 45.6m lbs (20,670t) of exploitable scallop meat is projected to exist in the west Nantucket Lightship area.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Scallops: Framework 29 “Highest Yield, Lowest Impact” Alternative Advances Following NMFS Habitat Decision

January 5, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

On Wednesday, January 3, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), also known as NOAA Fisheries, informed the New England Fishery Management Council that it had “approved the majority” of the Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2 (OHA2). The approved provisions include two actions that have a direct impact on Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which, among other measures, contains 2018 fishing year specifications and 2019 default specifications for the scallop fishery.

The Framework 29 preferred alternative that now will be advancing for NMFS review and implementation contains the following 2018 allocations for the fishing year that begins on April 1:

Full-time limited access scallop permit holders – 24 open-area days-at-sea and six 18,000-pound access area trips with:

  • Two trips in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area
  • Two trips in the newly available Nantucket Lightship West Access Area
  • One trip in the Nantucket Lightship South Area
  • One trip in the new Closed Area I Access Area with the northern portion, including the “sliver,” available

Part-time limited access scallop permit holders – 9.6 open area days-at-sea and three 14,400- pound access area trips with:

  • One trip in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area
  • One trip in the Nantucket Lightship West Area
  • One trip in the reconfigured Closed Area I Access Area

During its December meeting, not knowing whether NMFS would approve all of the proposed changes in the habitat amendment, the Council adopted four Framework 29 preferred alternatives for scallop allocations that covered the potential mix of access area possibilities – both with and without Closed Area I and Nantucket Lightship West. The breakdown of these alternatives is available at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/NEFMC-Approves-Scallop-Framework-29-REVISED.pdf

Of the four scenarios, the one that now is moving forward for NMFS review and implementation provides the greatest benefits and is projected to result in close to 60.1 million pounds of landings in scallop meat weight over the next fishing year.

“By giving the fleet access to dense concentrations of scallops in the northern portion of Closed Area I and Nantucket Lightship West, scallopers will be able to catch their trip limits faster and reduce the amount of time dredges are on bottom,” said Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn. “This scenario has another benefit in that it lets us shift effort away from Closed Area II, which means flatfish bycatch will be lower and the scallops in that area will have a chance to grow larger.”

The Council also included a provision in Framework 29 to allocate the existing 1.64 million pounds of Closed Area I carryover that are still on the books. These pounds are from trips allocated to Closed Area I in 2012 and 2013 through a lottery system but never were taken due to poor fishing.

The resulting Framework 29 allocations for the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fishery include: (1) a 3,086,050-pound quota, equivalent to 5.5% of annual projected landings for the fishery as a whole; and (2) a total of 3,426 access area trips at a maximum of 600 pounds each into the following areas:

  • 1,142 trips in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area
  • 1,142 trips in the Nantucket Lightship West Access Area
  • 571 trips in the Nantucket Lightship South Access Area
  • 571 trips in the Closed Area I Access Area

Framework 29 also includes flatfish accountability measures and Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area catch limits and related provisions, which are described at the link above. The Council will provide a broader overview of the habitat amendment decision in a subsequent release.

To view the release from the NEFMC in its entirety click here.

 

NOAA Partially Approves Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2

January 4, 2018 — NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard, in a letter to New England Fishery Management Council (NEMFC) Chairman Dr. John Quinn, has stated that NOAA has partially approved Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2. This follows over 15 years of work on OHA2 by the NEFMC and regional stakeholders. The details of the decision, as well as the text of the letter, are included below.

Dear Dr. Quinn,

I am writing to inform you that we have approved the majority of the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2.

We approved, as recommended, the essential fish habitat (EFH) designations, the habitat areas of particular concern (HAPC) designations, the dedicated habitat research areas (DHRA), the groundfish spawning recommendations, the framework and monitoring measures, and most of the habitat management area (HMA) recommendations. We have determined that the approved measures comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requirements to identify and describe EFH and to minimize to the extent practicable the adverse effects of fishing on such habitat.

We have disapproved two of the HMA recommendations — the recommendations for eastern Georges Bank and Cox Ledge.

Approved Measures

We approved the following Council recommendations, as proposed:

  • All of the Council’s essential fish habitat designation updates.
  • All HAPC designations–
    • Two status quo HAPCs (Atlantic Salmon and Northern Edge Juvenile Cod); o Four additional HAPCs (Inshore Juvenile Cod, Great South Channel Juvenile Cod, Cashes Ledge, and Jeffreys Ledge/Stellwagen Bank);
    • Eleven canyons or canyon assemblages (Heezan Canyon; Lydonia, Gilbert, and Oceanographer Canyons; Hydrographer Canyon; Veatch Canyon; Alvin and Atlantis Canyons; Hudson Canyon; Toms, Middle Tom, and Hendrickson Canyon; Wilmington Canyon; Baltimore Canyon; Washington Canyon; and Norfolk Canyon); and
    • Two seamounts (Bear and Retriever).
  • Most proposed Habitat Management Area measures–
    • Establish the (Small) Eastern Maine HMA, closed to mobile bottom-tending gear;
    • Maintain Cashes Ledge (Groundfish) Closure Area, with current restrictions and exemptions;
    • Modify the Cashes Ledge Habitat Closure Area, closed to mobile bottom-tending gear;
    • Modify the Jeffreys Ledge Habitat Closure Area, closed to mobile bottom-tending gear;
    • Establish the Fippennies Ledge HMA, closed to mobile bottom-tending gear; o Maintain the Western Gulf of Maine Habitat Closure Area, closed to mobile bottom-tending gear;
    • Modify the Western Gulf of Maine Groundfish Closure Area to align with the Western Gulf of Maine Habitat Closure Area, with current restrictions and exemptions;
    • Exempt shrimp trawling from the designated portion of the northwest corner of the Western Gulf of Maine Closure Areas;
    • Add the Gulf of Maine Roller Gear restriction as a habitat protection measure; o Remove the Closed Area I Habitat and Groundfish Closure Area designations; o Remove the Nantucket Lightship Habitat and Groundfish Closure Area designations; and
    • Establish the Great South Channel HMA, closed to mobile bottom-tending gear throughout and clam dredge gear in the defined northeast section. Clam dredge gear would be permitted throughout the rest of the HMA for 1 year while the Council considers restrictions that are more refined.
  • Both proposed DHRA designations, with a 3-year sunset provision–
    • Stellwagen Bank (within the Western Gulf of Maine Closure Area); and
    • Georges Bank (i.e., the current Closed Area I South Habitat Closure Area).
  • All proposed groundfish spawning measures–
    • Gulf of Maine: Establish the Winter Massachusetts Bay Spawning Closure from November I-January 31 of each year; and close block 125 from April 15-April 30 of each year;
    • Georges Bank: Establish Closed Area I North and Closed Area II Groundfish Closure Area as spawning closures from February 1-April 15 of each year, closed to commercial and recreational gears capable of catching groundfish except scallop dredges; and remove the May Georges Bank Spawning Closure.
  • Both proposed framework adjustment and monitoring measures–
    • 10-year review requirement; and
    • Modifications to habitat management areas are frameworkable.

Disapproved Measures

Cox Ledge
On Cox Ledge, the Council recommended establishing an HMA that would have prohibited the use of ground cables on trawl vessels and prohibited hydraulic clam dredging in the area. Based on the analysis submitted, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service determined there was insufficient information to implement the ground cable measure at this time. While there have been studies in other regions supporting the prohibition of ground cables as a method to minimize area swept, there was not enough information to determine how successful this approach would be in this region. Because it is unclear how inefficient this measure would make the gear, it is also unclear if this measure would reduce habitat impacts or actually increase them.

Further, there is insufficient information to determine the potential costs to the industry from the potential increased fishing time. As a result, the recommendation to establish the Cox Ledge HMA with these measures is disapproved because there is little rationale and evidence to demonstrate how it complies with the requirements ofthe Magnuson-Stevens Act to minimize the adverse effects of fishing if the measure would actually increase fishing time due to a reduction in fishing efficiency.

Eastern Georges Bank
On eastern Georges Bank, the Council recommended removing Closed Areas I and II and implementing the Georges Shoal and Northern Edge Mobile Bottom-Tending Gear Habitat Management Areas, both closed to mobile bottom-tending gears, and Northern Edge Reduced Impact Habitat Management Area, closed to mobile bottom-tending gears, except scallop dredges in a rotational management program and trawls west of 67° 20′ W longitude. We have partially approved this recommendation. We approved the removal ofthe Closed Area I Groundfish and Habitat Closures, but disapproved the recommendation to remove Closed Area II.

This action approves the Council’s recommendation to remove the Closed Area I EFH and Groundfish Closure Area designations and replace them with a DHRA and seasonal spawning closure. NMFS determined that the removal of the Closed Area I designations and proposed new designations do not compromise the ability ofthe Council’s fishery management plans to comply with the EFH requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

We determined that there was insufficient information to support the Closed Area II recommendation. The Council’s recommended HMAs on Georges Bank do not sufficiently address the impact of limited access scallop dredging on the highly vulnerable habitat within the Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area. Overall, the Council’s recommended changes to Closed Area II and eastern Georges Bank would prevent achieving the Amendment’s goals and objectives, notably to improve juvenile groundfish habitat protection, and the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to minimize the adverse effects of fishing to the extent practicable. Furthermore, the Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area has the same footprint as the Northern Edge Juvenile Cod HAPC. The area has been closed to mobile bottom-tending gear since 1995 and was designated as an HAPC in 1998. The rationale for the designation ofthe HAPC was that this is important habitat for juvenile cod that is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of fishing. The Council reaffirmed the HAPC designation in this Amendment, but the Council’s recommendation does not avoid, mitigate, or compensate for the adverse effects of the proposed action on this HAPC.

The Amendment’s focus of minimizing the total area closed to fishing, while maximizing the amount of vulnerable habitat protected, sought in part to provide more habitat for juvenile groundfish and enhance the productivity of groundfish resources. The proposed habitat management measures on eastern Georges Bank do not support these goals and objectives, however. Removing protections from, and allowing scallop dredging in, the most vulnerable portion of Closed Area II without adopting comparable protections that reasonably balance the long- and short-terms costs and benefits to EFH, associated fisheries, and the nation does not minimize the adverse effects of fishing in this area to the extent practicable. It also prevents the Council from achieving this action’s goals and objectives to improve protections of ground fish, and juvenile cod specifically. The potential benefits to habitat from the proposed closed areas do · not outweigh the potential adverse effects on highly valuable EFH and vulnerable ground fish stocks that would result from the proposed opening of the current Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area to limited access scallop dredging. The no action alternative that remains on Georges Bank, and the HMAs in other sub-regions as approved, provide a reasonable balance of EFH protection and long- and short-term costs and benefits as well as meet the Amendment’s goals and objectives to improve groundfish protection.

Further supporting the determination that the proposed areas and measures do not sufficiently offset the quality and importance of the habitat on eastern Georges Bank against the adverse impacts of fishing in this area is the lack of consideration of allowing fishing in the Northern Edge Juvenile Cod HAPC in the Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area. As noted above, the Council initially made this HAPC designation in 1998 and reaffirmed the importance of the area in this Amendment. One of the four considerations for HAPC designation is sensitivity to anthropogenic stress. The Council concluded that there are “no known anthropogenic threats to this area beyond those associated with fishing activity.” While there are no fishery restrictions automatically associated with HAPC designations themselves, the designation should result in the Council taking a more precautionary approach to management of those areas, particularly when the only noted human-induced stressor is fishing. The 2002 final rule for the EFH regulations notes, “designation of HAPCs is a valuable way to highlight priority areas within EFH for conservation and management … Proposed fishing activities that might threaten HAPCs may likewise receive a higher level of scrutiny.” This guidance suggests that councils should prioritize the protection of HAPCs where fishing is a primary or significant threat to the habitat.

The designation of an area as an HAPC does not inherently require a fishing closure in the area. However, the Council provided insufficient information to understand which aspects of the area are critical to juvenile cod survival, how those aspects of the habitat are affected by scallop dredges, the recovery time for such impacts, and the anticipated rotation periods for scallop fishing. Without more consideration and analyses of these critical components, it is not possible to determine under what conditions rotational scallop fishing should be permitted in the Northern Edge HAPC and the full nature and extent of how such access would affect juvenile cod. The Council’s recommendations in this Amendment would open the most vulnerable portions of the HAPC and do not adequately mitigate or compensate for those impacts by restricting them or closing any other comparable habitat. The Council’s recommendation to allow even rotational fishing in this sensitive habitat appears to be inconsistent with its own rationale for the designation that the habitat in this area warrants particular concern and consideration.

For these reasons, we have disapproved this recommendation. Ifthis issue were revisited in the future, a more thorough discussion ofthese critical issues would be required. We will continue to provide support for reconsidering reasonably balanced approaches to providing limited fishing opportunities in this area, while protecting this valuable habitat and better minimizing the adverse impacts offishing.
Thank you for the Council’s work on this action. It was a massive undertaking and your staff, especially Michelle Bachman, should be proud of their groundbreaking work that went into supporting this Amendment. As always, our staff are available to answer any questions you may have on this decision.

View the letter in its entirety here.

For more information on some of the proposed changes in OHA2, as well as the perspective of the fishing industry on these changes, view this video.

 

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Recent Headlines

  • Aquafeed companies issue ultimatum: Fix North Atlantic blue whiting issues or we’ll stop buying it
  • What’s the solution to ghost fishing gear polluting oceans?
  • EPA vetoes Pebble mine
  • MASSACHUSETTS: Quinn Fisheries to host Vineyard Wind CTV terminal in New Bedford
  • Scallops: Council Requests Control Date to Potentially Address Switching Between LAGC Permit Categories in Northern GOM
  • MAINE: Researchers seek statewide changes to save clam fishery from climate-driven collapse
  • E.P.A. Blocks Long-Disputed Mine Project in Alaska
  • NEW JERSEY: 12 Jersey Shore mayors call for moratorium on offshore wind following whale deaths

Most Popular Topics

Alaska Aquaculture ASMFC Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission BOEM California Climate change Coronavirus COVID-19 Donald Trump groundfish Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Illegal fishing IUU fishing Lobster Maine Massachusetts Mid-Atlantic National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NEFMC New Bedford New England New England Fishery Management Council New Jersey New York NMFS NOAA NOAA Fisheries North Atlantic right whales North Carolina North Pacific offshore energy Offshore wind Pacific right whales Salmon Scallops South Atlantic Tuna Western Pacific Whales wind energy Wind Farms

Daily Updates & Alerts

Enter your email address to receive daily updates and alerts:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Tweets by @savingseafood

Copyright © 2023 Saving Seafood · WordPress Web Design by Jessee Productions