Saving Seafood

June 16-18 MAFMC Webinar Meeting Agenda

May 19, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold its June Council Meeting via webinar June 16-18, 2020. Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, this webinar-based meeting replaces the in-person meeting previously scheduled to be held in Virginia Beach, VA.

A detailed agenda is available here. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include:

  • Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment
  • Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocation Amendment
  • Summer Flounder Commercial/Recreational Allocation Study Model Update
  • Recreational Reform Initiative
  • Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment
  • 2020-2021 Illex Specifications
  • Update on Habitat Activities
  • Unmanaged Landings Update

Briefing documents and webinar connection details will be posted at https://www.mafmc.org/briefing/june-2020 as they become available.

Written comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or via email, mail, or fax (see this page for details). Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on June 3, 2020 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on June 11, 2020 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using the online comment form linked below.

June 2020 Public Comment Form
Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Final 2020 and Projected 2021 Scup and Black Sea Bass Specifications

May 14, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are implementing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s recommended 2020 specifications for the scup and black sea bass fisheries. The revised specifications are based on recently completed operational stock assessments. The projected 2021 specifications are also included in this rule.

For more information, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register, and our permit holder bulletin.

Read the full release here

Reminder: Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment Webinars – Today @ 2:00 p.m. and Thursday @ 6:00 p.m

May 11, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold two scoping webinars to gather public input on a management action to consider potential modifications to the allocations of the black sea bass commercial quota among the states of Maine through North Carolina. Learn more about this action in the scoping announcement or at the links below.

Webinar Schedule

Both scoping hearings will be conducted by webinar.

  1. Monday May 11, 2020, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EDT
  2. Thursday May 14, 2020, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EDT

To join the webinar, go to http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/bsb-com-allocation-scoping/. Audio connection instructions appear upon connecting, or you can call 800-832-0736 and enter room number 5068871#.

Written Comments

In addition to providing comments at either of the scoping hearing webinars, you may submit written comments by 11:59 pm EDT on Sunday May 31, 2020. Written comments may be sent by any of the following methods:

1. ONLINE: http://www.mafmc.org/comments/bsb-com-allocation-amendment

2. EMAIL: jbeaty@mafmc.org

3. MAIL: Dr. Christopher Moore, Executive Director

    Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

    800 North State Street, Suite 201

    Dover, DE 19901

4. FAX: 302.674.5399

Please include “Black Sea Bass Commercial Allocation Amendment” in the subject line if using email or fax, or on the outside of the envelope if submitting written comments. All comments, regardless of submission method, will be shared with the Commission and Council and will be made publicly available on their respective websites. It is not necessary to submit the same comments to both the Council and Commission or through multiple channels.

Read the full release here

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed 2020-2021 Bluefish Specifications and Recreational Management Measures

May 11, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended revised bluefish specifications for 2020 and 2021. These proposed catch limits are reduced to account for the results of the recent operational assessment and prevent overfishing on the now overfished bluefish stock.

The commercial total allowable landings would be reduced by 25 percent, from 3.71 to 2.77 million pounds. The recreational total allowable landings would be reduced by 39 percent, from 15.62 to 9.48 million pounds.

The federal bluefish recreational fishery daily bag limit would remain reduced from 15 to 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels as set forth in the interim measures recently announced. All other recreational management measures and commercial management measures would remain unchanged.

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. The comment period is open through May 26,2020.

Read the full release here

Lots of longfin squid, but markets locked up

May 6, 2020 — “Business has fallen off a cliff, for squid, and for every market that deals with restaurants,” says Chris Lee, of Sea Fresh USA, a supplier and processor in North Kingstown, R.I. “Every dockside processor is talking about coronavirus.”

While the year-round Northeast longfin squid fishery commercial harvest is used to fluctuation, the covid-19 pandemic is unparalleled.

“There’s always lots of uncertainty with squid availability and international demand/supply price effects. My understanding is that coronavirus-related restaurant shutdowns have had extreme immediate negative effects on domestic demand, and negative effects for exports are expected as well,” says Jason Didden of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

In the past decade, says Lee, most of his squid was sold domestically. But now, he says, “we haven’t just lost the U.S. market. I have containers of squid on the water that were going to Europe. Customers are already trying to renegotiate because those markets in Europe are not open, all their restaurants are closed.” If there is an upside right now, Lee adds, it’s China, where some markets are looking as if they are starting to reopen.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Reminder for Northeast Multispecies Vessels: Charter/Party Letters of Authorization

April 30, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries reminds you that vessels that are issued the groundfish charter/party Letters of Authorization (LOA) may not participate in the commercial fishery for any species managed by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils during the enrollment period. These vessels may not sell, barter, or trade fish that are harvested or possessed by the vessel on any trip, even if the trip was taken outside the closure area. The enrollment periods are as follows:

If you have questions regarding your 2020 LOA or to make changes, please call the Greater Atlantic Region Permit Office, (978) 282-8438.

For more information about the requirements and regulations pertaining to Letters of Authorization, please contact the Sustainable Fisheries Division,  (978) 281-9315.

Reminder: Tilefish Recreational Reporting Webinar Tonight @ 5:30 p.m.

April 28, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Webinar: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/pr_private_tf/

Audio connection instructions will pop up automatically when you connect. For telephone-only access, dial 1-800-832-0736 and enter room number: 5068609#.

Recreational tilefish anglers may soon be subject to new permitting and reporting requirements. Under proposed regulations published by NOAA Fisheries, private recreational vessels (including for-hire operators using their vessels for non-charter, recreational trips) would be required to obtain a federal vessel permit to target or retain golden or blueline tilefish north of the Virginia/North Carolina border. These vessel operators would also be required to submit vessel trip reports (VTRs) electronically within 24 hours of returning to port for trips where tilefish were targeted or retained. For more information about the proposed requirements, check out our Recreational Tilefish Permitting and Reporting FAQs.

NOAA Fisheries is encouraging anglers not already using another electronic VTR system to utilize NOAA Fish Online, which is available through a mobile app or a web-based portal. Other systems that may be suitable for recreational anglers include SAFIS eTrips/mobile and SAFIS eTrips Online. You can access information about approved applications and other aspects of electronic reporting on the NOAA Fisheries website.

Read the full release here

Tilefish Recreational Permitting and Reporting Webinar Next Tues – 4/28

April 23, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Recreational tilefish anglers may soon be subject to new permitting and reporting requirements. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold a public webinar on Tuesday, April 28, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., to provide information on obtaining recreational tilefish permits and options available to recreational tilefish anglers for electronically submitting VTRs. During the webinar, staff from the Council and NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office will cover the following topics, with opportunities for Q&A after each:

  • Overview of the proposed action.

  • Demonstration of how to obtain a permit.

  • Demonstration of the NOAA/GARFO Fish Online application for submitting reports.

The webinar will be recorded and made available on the Council’s website for later viewing.

For more in formation, including meeting materials, visit the event page on the Council’s website.

Read the full release here

ASMFC 2020 Spring Meeting Webinar Final Agenda and Materials Now Available

April 22, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2020 Spring Meeting Webinar (May 5 & 6, 2020) are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2020-spring-meeting-webinar; click on the relevant Board/Committee name to access the documents for that Board/Committee. For ease of access, all documents have been combined into one document Main Meeting Materials. Supplemental materials will be posted to the website on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.

The agenda is subject to change. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. It is our intent to begin at the scheduled start time for each meeting, however, if meetings run late, the next meeting may start later than originally planned.

Board proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar, with separate webinar links for each day. May 5th meeting participants and attendees can register for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9135385124352928269 (Webinar ID: 894-169-955), while May 6th participants and attendees can register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6204543422027821581 (Webinar ID: 918-539-707). IMPORTANT: When registering, Commissioners, proxies, and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council members (on Wednesday only for Council members), should place two zeros (00) prior to their names (e.g., 00Toni Kerns). Detailed instructions on joining and participating in the webinars can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2020SpringMeeting/Webinar_Instructions.pdf.

Each day, we will begin the webinar 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.

We strongly recommend Commissioners and proxies connect to the webinar using the computer audio (VoIP). For the best sound quality, we recommend you get a headset (any headphones with a microphone should work, such as headphones you use with your phone).

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 631.992.3221 (access code: 129-744-343) for the May 5th meetings and dialing 562.247.8422 (access code: 839-924-158) for May 6th meetings.

For management boards that are anticipated to take final actions, such as the Atlantic Herring and Tautog Management Boards, the public and stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide brief comments on actions for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period, as time allows. For all other meetings, the public should anticipate limited opportunity to provide comment via the webinar. When public comment is allowed, it will be at the discretion of the individual Board Chairs. As such, we strongly encourage members of the public to submit written comments in advance to be included in the meeting materials. Please see the following revised Public Comment Guidelines for more information about submitting public comment prior to the meeting.

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 will be included in the briefing materials.
2. Comments received by 5 PM on the Tuesday, April 28, 2020 will be included in the supplemental materials.
3. Comments received by 10 AM on Monday, May 4, 2020 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.

Recreational Tilefish Anglers: Learn How to Obtain a Permit and Report Your Catch

April 14, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Recreational tilefish anglers may soon be subject to new permitting and reporting requirements. Under proposed regulations published by NOAA Fisheries, private recreational vessels (including for-hire operators using their vessels for non-charter, recreational trips) would be required to obtain a federal vessel permit to target or retain golden or blueline tilefish north of the Virginia/North Carolina border. These vessel operators would also be required to submit vessel trip reports (VTRs) electronically within 24 hours of returning to port for trips where tilefish were targeted or retained. For more information about the proposed requirements, check out our Recreational Tilefish Permitting and Reporting FAQs.

NOAA Fisheries is encouraging anglers not already using another electronic VTR system to utilize NOAA Fish Online, which is available through a mobile app or a web-based portal. Other systems that may be suitable for recreational anglers include SAFIS eTrips/mobile and SAFIS eTrips Online. You can access information about approved applications and other aspects of electronic reporting on the NOAA Fisheries website.

Read the full release here