Saving Seafood

Term limits bumping four from fish council

January 15, 2021 — The New England Fishery Management Council will assume a decidedly different composition later this year when four councilors with almost 40 years combined tenure exit because of term limits.

On Aug. 10, the terms of Chairman John Quinn of Massachusetts, Matthew McKenzie of Connecticut, Vincent Balzano and Terry Alexander, both of Maine, are set to expire.

Each is in his third term and will have served the maximum nine consecutive years when the terms expire.

“The new members will come onboard on Aug. 11,” said Janice Plante, council spokeswoman. “We expect the Commerce Department will make an announcement on the new members around the end of June.”

The U.S. Commerce Department manages the nomination and appointment process for all eight U.S. fishery management councils through NOAA Fisheries. It also relies on nominations from the governors of individual states represented by the councils.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily 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

 

NE Council in Rebuke to NOAA Demands Enforcement Against Rafael’s Sector IX Co-op for Overfishing

September 28, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England Fishery Management Council voted 13-1 to ask NOAA to immediately enforce regulations governing fish quota allocations to sectors in New England.  The move reflected growing frustration with NOAA’s lack of enforcement for Carlos Rafael’s overfishing.

Separate from the criminal trial and the issues of vessel forfeiture, Rafael’s Sector IX Co-op is in direct violation of Co-op requirements to correctly report catch, and to not exceed their quota.

Sector IX has mis-reported and exceeded its quota by nearly 783,000 lbs during a four year period.

NOAA regulations require that when Sectors have overages, they either purchase the quota required, or have that amount deducted from their future allocations.  Any overages also expose the sector to civil penalties and permit sanctions.  So far Sector IX has been allowed to continue fishing with none of these penalties months after Rafael pled guilty to 26 separate counts of falsifying fishing records.

Until now, NOAA, through administrator John Bullard, has said that any actions would await the conclusion of the criminal prosecution of Rafael.   But many have objected that the blatant violations by Sector IX, which was set up primarily for Rafael’s vessels, have not resulted in anything except business as usual for the sector, despite Rafael’s guilty plea in April of this year.

The Council’s first thought was again to avoid the issue until NOAA has addressed the permit violations and vessel seizures.  But the council reversed course when asked directly to take a position on the lack of enforcement of sector regulations.

Maine DMR commissioner Patrick Keliher made a motion to request immediate enforcement action against Sector IX. 

“If we don’t enforce these regulations, how can the public trust us to manage a public resource? “ asked Matthew McKenzie, a member of the NEFMC who seconded the motion.

The motion passed 12-2. 

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