Saving Seafood

MAFMC and ASMFC to Hold Public Hearings for Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment

August 10, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission & Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) are soliciting public input on a draft amendment to address several potential changes to the management of the commercial summer flounder fishery, as well as modifications to the fishery management plan (FMP) goals and objectives for summer flounder. Ten public hearings will be held between September 10 and September 27. Written comments will be accepted through October 12, 2018.
The specific issues under consideration in this amendment include:
  1. Requalifying criteria for federal commercial moratorium permits to address latent effort in the fishery: The amendment includes options to reduce the number of eligible commercial federal moratorium permits by implementing requalifying criteria for existing permits.
  2. Modifying commercial quota allocation: The amendment proposes several options for revising the current commercial allocation to the states, which has been in place since 1993 and is based on average landings from 1980-1989.
  3. Adding commercial landings flexibility as a framework issue in the Council’s FMP: This action does not consider implementing landings flexibility policies at this time but considers allowing the Council to implement landings flexibility through a future framework action instead of an amendment. The Commission’s adaptive management process already allows for landings flexibility.
  4. Revising the FMP objectives for summer flounder: This amendment proposes revisions to the current FMP objectives for summer flounder management to provide more meaningful and up-to-date guidance to managers.
Learn More
Additional information about the amendment and the management alternatives being considered can be found on the Council’s website at www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-amendment and on the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. This information includes three documents: (1) the Public Hearing Document, which includes all proposed management changes and was developed to solicit public comment; (2) the Commission’s Draft Amendment; and (3) the Council’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Both the Commission’s Draft Amendment and the Council’s DEIS are required under their respective regulatory processes.
Contacts
  • Kiley Dancy, Fishery Management Specialist, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, kdancy@mafmc.org, 302.526.5257
  • Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior FMP Coordinator, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, krootes-murdy@asmfc.org, 703.842.0740
Hearing Schedule
  1. Monday, September 10, 7:00 PM – Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Marine Headquarters Boating Education Center (Rear Building), 333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme, Connecticut 06371
  2. Wednesday, September 12, 6:00 PM – North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Washington Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, US Highway 17, Washington, North Carolina 27889
  3. Thursday, September 13, 6:00 PM – Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control, DNREC Auditorium, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, Delaware 19901
  4. Thursday, September 13, 6:00 PM – Virginia Marine Resources Commission, 2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor, Newport News, Virginia 23607
  5. Wednesday, September 19, 5:30 PM – Bourne Community Center, Room #2, 239 Main Street, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts 02532
  6. Wednesday, September 19, 6:00 PM – University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882
  7. Monday, September 24, 6:00 PM – Ocean County Administrative Building, 101 Hooper Avenue, Toms River, New Jersey 08753
  8. Tuesday, September 25, 6:00 PM – Ocean Pines Library, 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin, Maryland 21811
  9. Thursday, September 27, 6:30 PM – New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SOMAS), Room 120 Endeavor, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York  11794
  10. Thursday, September 27, 6:30 PM – Internet Webinar, Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5467929991483514883; Webinar ID: 658-611-667; Phone: 1-888-585-9008; Room Number: 853-657-937
Written Comments
Given the joint nature of this management effort and to streamline the public comment process, comments should be directed to Council contact information below. In addition to providing comments at any of the scheduled public hearings, you may submit written comments by 11:59 PM, Eastern Time, on Friday, October 12, 2018. Written comments may be sent by any of the following methods:
  1. ONLINE: www.mafmc.org/comments/summer-flounder-amendment
  2. EMAIL: nmfs.flukeamendment@noaa.gov 
  3. MAIL OR FAX TO:
    Chris Moore, Ph.D., Executive Director
    Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
    North State Street, Suite 201
    Dover, DE 19901
    FAX: 302.674.5399

Please include “Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Comments” in the subject line if using email or on the outside of the envelope if submitting written comments by mail. All comments, regardless of submission method, will be compiled into a single document for review and consideration by both the Council and Commission. Please do not send separate comments to the Council and Commission.

NMFS Notifies Regional Councils of Nine Species Listed as Overfished or Subject to Overfishing

August 8, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The National Marine Fisheries Service notified regional Councils recently than nine stocks around the country are overfished or subject to overfishing. Of those, five are salmon stocks on the West Coast.

The Klamath River fall Chinook, Queets coho, Juan de Fuca coho, Snohomish coho and Sacramento River fall Chinook have been listed as overfished. Upper Columbia River summer Chinook is listed as being subject to overfishing. In other regions, thorny skate and the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico stock of sandbar shark remain overfished. The Gulf of Maine/Cape Hatteras Atlantic mackerel stock is listed is overfished and also subject to overfishing.

The listing of the salmon stocks is no surprise. Unusually warm ocean waters in recent years — thank The Blob — had detrimental effects on many salmon stocks, particularly coho runs. In-river environmental changes and ongoing draught also affected stocks, especially the commercially valuable Sacramento and Klamath rivers fall Chinook runs.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has already directed its Salmon Technical Team to develop rebuilding plans for each of the overfished stocks for the Council’s consideration. However, only two, the Klamath and Sacramento Chinook stocks, are completely under the Council’s purview. The other four are also managed via international agreements, so there is Council has limited ability to control ocean fisheries in waters outside its jurisdiction, NMFS said in a notice.

The thorny skate determination was made based on a 2017 stock assessment that used data through 2016. NMFS continues to work with the New England Fishery Management Council to implement conservation and management measures to rebuild thorny skate. Thorny skate is the only one of seven managed in the Northeast skate complex that is still overfished. The New England Council, NMFS and industry have successfully rebuilt three other species in the complex during the last 15 years.

The sandbar shark listing is based on a 2018 stock assessment that used data through 2015. It is managed under the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan.

NMFS said the data on which the Gulf of Maine/Cape Hatteras Atlantic mackerel overfished/subject to overfishing status was made using a 2018 benchmark assessment that included data through 2016. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council must now adopt measures to end overfishing and approve a rebuilding plan, the NMFS notice said. The MAFMC has already been working on the issue and intends to address rebuilding the stock through a framework action to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan, including modifications to the 2019-21 harvest specifications. The Council in June received an update on proposals to rebuilding Atlantic mackerel in 3, 5, or 7 years and is scheduled to take final action on a rebuilding plan when it meets in Virginia Beach, Virginia, next week.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Monkfish Research Awards to Improve Understanding of Monkfish Biology and More

July 31, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — NOAA Fisheries and the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils have announced three new cooperative research projects that will improve the understanding of monkfish biology, as well as how to reduce catch of skates in monkfish gillnet gear. 500 days-at-sea have been set aside by the councils to be awarded to projects that address monkfish research priorities.

Coonamessett Farm Foundation was awarded 296 monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) days-at-sea to conduct a 2 years study on determining sex and maturity stage in Southern New England monkfish. Coonamessett Farm Foundation will use ultrasound methods to determine sex and maturity stage. In addition, they will also be conducting hormone analyses to “create a reproductive profile based on sex and maturity stage of monkfish.”

Meanwhile, Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County was awarded 303 monkfish RSA days-at-sea to conduct a 2-year experiment evaluating a modified gillnet designed to reduce skate bycatch. The University of New England was awarded 401 monkfish RSA days-at-sea to conduct a 2-year study on monkfish vertebrae and illicia.

This story originally was originally published in Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

Mid-Atlantic Council Meeting in Virginia Beach, VA: August 13-16, 2018

July 27, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting to be held August 13-16, 2018 in Virginia Beach, VA. The meeting will be held at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront (3001 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, VA 23451, Telephone 757-213-3000).

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted at http://ww.mafmc.org/briefing/august-2018  as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 1 to be included in the Council meeting briefing book. Comments received after this deadline but before 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 9 will be posted as “supplemental materials” on the Council meeting web page. After that date, all comments must be submitted using an online comment form available at available at http://www.mafmc.org/public-comment.

Webinar: For online access to the meeting, enter as a guest at: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/august2018.

Agenda: Click here to view a detailed meeting agenda.

 

NEW YORK: Fluke Regs Still Problematic

July 27, 2018 –The current two-week closure of the commercial fluke fishery has once again drawn the ire of State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, who issued a joint statement last week calling for New York State to keep its promise to its commercial fishermen and immediately bring litigation to strike down the inequitable fluke quotas that continue to put a severe crimp on the economic viability of the state’s commercial industry.

On July 15, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation announced that the fluke fishery would be closed in state waters until the end of the month and would then reopen with a harvest limit of 50 pounds per day.

In late 2017, Governor Cuomo promised to sue the federal government over the state’s low share of the East Coast fluke fishery. This spring, instead of bringing litigation, the state filed a petition with the United States Department of Commerce protesting the quota. The state has yet to hear back.

“These state-by-state quotas created by the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service, pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, are based upon faulty and incomplete collection data, which discriminate against commercial fishermen in the State of New York,” Mr. Thiele said in a statement. “As a result of these discriminatory practices, New York’s quota for a number of species of black sea bass, bluefish, scup, and fluke are much lower than would be allocated under a fair non-discriminatory system. New York’s summer flounder quota was less than half of that allocated to Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina.”

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

NEW YORK: Governor Cuomo And Attorney General Underwood Demand Changes To Unfair Federal Fishing Quotas

July 27, 2018 –Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today submitted comments to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and demanded that the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council repeal and replace the unfair state-by-state allocation of the annual commercial quota for summer flounder, also known as fluke. The need for equitable distribution of fluke is critically important to New York’s fishing industry and the state’s overall ocean economy.

“New York’s commercial fishing industry has been constrained by unfair federal regulations, limiting the amount of fish commercial fishermen and women can catch and damaging our state’s economy,” Governor Cuomo said. “It’s far past time for these inequities to be addressed, and our petition is clear: New York must be put on equitable footing with other East Coast states in order for this valuable industry to reach its full potential.”

“Relying on decades-old data to allocate states’ fluke quota is unfair and unreasonable, and causes direct harm to New York’s commercial fishing industry,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Federal law requires the share of the commercial summer flounder fishery to be determined by the best available science. We will pursue all available legal options if the federal government does not address these inequities.”

In March, Governor Cuomo and the Attorney General jointly filed a petition with the federal government demanding that New York’s commercial fluke allocation be increased because the current allocations are unfair to New York, not based on current data, and violate the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In response, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service published notice of New York’s petition in the Federal Register on July 10, 2018 and invited public comment until July 25, 2018.

Today, Governor Cuomo directed DEC and AG Underwood to submit a letter to the federal agencies in support of the state’s petition, and to point out and clarify that none of the commercial allocation options currently being considered by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will provide New York with a fair allocation for summer flounder. Despite strong objections from New York’s representatives, the Council voted to proceed with a draft amendment that does not include options that are fair to New York fishermen and women, and is therefore not compliant with the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Read the full story at LongIsland.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Falmouth Research Group Receives Monkfish Grant

July 26, 2018 — A Falmouth-based nonprofit has received a grant through NOAA Fisheries and the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Monkfish Research Set-Aside Program.

The Coonamessett Farm Foundation received a two-year cooperative research project grant to improve the understanding of monkfish biology.

The study will explore non-lethal techniques for determining the sex of the fish and evaluate the maturity stage of Southern New England Monkfish.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

New online source shows East Coast offshore wind projects

July 13, 2018 — Mariners have a new source for information about offshore wind energy projects proposed off the East Coast.

Offshore Wind in the Northeast Region is a new webpage compiled by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils that shows all planned and potential offshore wind energy lease areas to date from southern New England to Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The page is intended as a one-stop information source, for mariners and other stakeholders with interests in how the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans leasing for offshore wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

The page links to BOEM planning documents, government planning documents and studies, and wind developers’ information. It also maintains an updated list of public meetings and information sessions, like a series of meetings held this week in New York and New Jersey that were aimed at involving the recreational fishing sector.

Key links include the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portals, public websites that compile information about economic activity and environmental conditions off the East Coast. The websites’ mapping overlay capabilities allow shipping traffic, fishing activity and other uses to be compared to proposed wind farm sites – data that is shaping much of the debate over whether wind energy can be compatible with long-established commerce on the ocean.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

House kills Rhode Island’s push to join Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council

July 12, 2018 — The House on Wednesday rejected a push from Rep. Jim Langevin to let his state join the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, which regulates several species of fish that are caught mostly by fishermen from Langevin’s home state of Rhode Island.

The amendment would have added two seats on the 21-seat council for the state of Rhode Island. But after explaining why his state should join the group, the House rejected Langevin’s amendment in a voice vote, and Langevin, a Democrat, didn’t demand a recorded vote.

Langevin said on the floor that Rhode Island fishermen catch a large amount of fish that are regulated by the council, including 85 percent of all east coast butterfish, and also catch half of all squid landed on the east coast. Langevin has been pushing for legislation to add Rhode Island to the mid-Atlantic group for at least six years so a representative from his state can have a voice on the council on matters related to these and other kinds of fish.

MAFMC and NEFMC Launch Northeast Offshore Wind Webpage

July 11, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council & New England Fishery Management Council:

On July 11, 2018, the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils launched a new webpage that’s designed to serve as a repository for information relevant to offshore wind development activities in the Northeast Region. The Councils worked closely with NOAA Fisheries on this collaborative effort. The easy-to-navigate webpage provides one-stop-shopping for fishermen and other stakeholders who are searching for essential resources associated with offshore wind energy production. The page provides direct links to government agencies, offshore wind developers, fishery liaisons, Council-developed comments, and more.

Take a look at Offshore Wind in the Northeast

Fishermen in the region are highly interested in better understanding the impacts of offshore wind development on both commercial and recreational fisheries. The New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils want to ensure that any potential impacts on Council-managed species and the marine environment are fully considered. In light of these factors, the Councils developed the offshore wind webpage as a tool to: (1) help facilitate the exchange of information; and (2) provide quick access to available resources.

Here’s the Webpage Address: http://www.mafmc.org/northeast-offshore-wind

Webpage Information Includes Links to:

  • The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), along with BOEM’s Fishing Industry Communication and Engagement page, BOEM’s State Activities page, and BOEM’s email updates registry;
  • Northeast offshore wind developers;
  • Mid-Atlantic and New England Council policies and comment letters on offshore wind issues;
  • Project-specific information on fisheries and the marine environment relative to wind activities and other ocean uses;
  • Mappers for Essential Fish Habitat and Endangered and Protected Resources, Regional Ocean Data Portals; and more.