Saving Seafood

American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop Scheduled for January 28-31, in New Bedford, MA

November 8, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will hold the American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshop at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, 836 South Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford, MA. The stock assessment, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2020, will evaluate the health of the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank and Southern New England stocks and inform management of this species.  The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confidential data*, when the public will be asked to leave the room.  

The Commission welcomes the submission of alternate assessment models. For alternate models to be considered, the model description, model input, final model estimates, and complete source code must be provided to Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org by December 28, 2018. Any models submitted without complete, editable source code and input files will not be considered.

For more information about the assessment or attending the upcoming workshop (space will be limited), please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

* Each state and federal agency is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of its data and deciding who has access to its confidential data.  In the case of our stock assessments and peer reviews, all analysts and, if necessary, reviewers, have been granted permission by the appropriate agency to use and view confidential data. When the assessment team needs to show and discuss these data, observers to our stock assessment process are asked to leave the room to preserve confidentiality.

 

Lack of stock growth points to Gulf of Maine shrimp closure

October 3, 2018 — Nothing significant has changed for the Gulf of Maine’s imperiled northern shrimp stock in the past five years, as the fishery continues to be haunted by historically low abundance and biomass numbers that just refuse to improve.

The fishery’s recent past may indeed be prologue, as fishery managers from the shrimp section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission get ready to meet Thursday to review and make recommendations on the most recent benchmark assessment of the stock, as well as a peer-review report on the assessment.

The meeting, set for Portland, Maine, is one of the final steps before the ASMFC decides in November whether to reopen the fishery for the 2019 season.

The early returns point to another closure.

Megan Ware, an ASMFC fishery management plans coordinator, said the 2018 stock assessment offers the same dismal assessment of the northern shrimp stock as every assessment since the 2013 assessment that instigated the past five closures.

“The trends are similar,” Ware told the Gloucester Daily Times last month. “We’re still seeing the low trends that we’ve seen in the past five years.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Regulators weigh health of shrimp fishery

September 7, 2018 — Fishery managers will move closer to deciding the fate of the Gulf of Maine’s northern shrimp fishery when they meet in October to review the latest assessment of the imperiled stock.

The review is one of the final steps leading to a decision whether to reopen the fishery to commercial fishing for the 2019 season for the first time in six seasons.

It does not look good.

The popular winter fishery has been shuttered since the beginning of the 2014 season to all but research-related shrimping because of historically low abundance and biomass numbers that reflect a stock in free fall.

The 2017 benchmark assessment — which led regulators to close the fishery for the 2018 season — showed no signs of improvement from previous years and regulators seem to expect the same outcome from the 2018 stock assessment.

“The trends are similar,” Megan Ware, a fishery management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the fishery, said Thursday. “We’re still seeing the low trends that we’ve seen in the past five years.”

The 2017 stock status report made for sobering reading.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Maine: Lobstermen reject big changes in harvester reporting rules

January 17, 2018 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — Ask any lobsterman about the details of where and how he catches his bugs — what kind of bait he uses, how deep he sets his gear, how many traps on a trawl, how long those traps soak between hauls — and you’re likely to get a fisheye, if not a poke in the nose, in response.

Still, that’s the kind of information the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission wants to collect from lobstermen and Jonah crab fishermen working in the Gulf of Maine and, no surprise, the idea is unpopular.

Last Thursday, about 40 fishermen came to Ellsworth High School for a public hearing on an ASMFC proposal to increase the number of harvesters required to fill out trip-level logbooks filled with data the commission says it needs to manage the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries, primarily in the Gulf of Maine.

The Department of Marine Resources already requires 10 percent of Maine’s licensed lobster fishermen, chosen annually by lottery system, to file detailed trip-level reports of their fishing activities on a monthly basis. Lobster dealers also are required to file landings reports with DMR.

According to Megan Ware, the ASMFC fishery management plan coordinator running last week’s hearing, the commission has two main concerns about the way harvesters report data now.

First, she said, the reports don’t identify in sufficient detail exactly where fishermen are trapping the lobsters they catch, and the commission particularly wants to collect more information about lobsters landed in “nearshore” and “offshore” waters — between three and 40 miles from the coast.

Second, the 10 percent of Maine harvesters required to file reports aren’t necessarily representative of the harvesters who actually land lobsters. No one has to report two years in a row, no matter how big the harvester’s landings, and because the selection process is entirely random, it may include harvesters who fish part time or who are retired and don’t fish at all.

There is another issue with the 10 percent reporting level, Ware said. Maine harvesters account for 83 percent of lobsters landed along the East Coast, so their data is particularly important to fisheries managers.

The opposite side of that coin, though, is that even at a reduced collection level Maine’s data overwhelms the data reported by the other lobster-fishing states.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

 

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Management Board to Meet November 13th & 14th to Consider Approval of Amendment 3 and Set 2018 Specifications

August 24, 2017 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board will meet November 13-14, 2017 to consider approval of Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden and set specifications for the 2018 fishing season. The meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 1 PM on the 13th and end at 5 PM on the 14th, will take place at BWI Marriot, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, Maryland.

Draft Amendment 3, which is currently out for public comment, seeks to manage the menhaden resource in a way that balances menhaden’s ecological role as a prey species with the needs of all user groups. To this end, the Draft Amendment considers the use of ecosystem reference points (ERPs) to manage the resource and changes to the allocation method. In addition, it presents a suite of management options for quota transfers, quota rollovers, incidental catch, the episodic events set aside program, and the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap.

Specifications for the 2018 fishery will occur following Board approval of the Amendment. The Commission’s Business Session will meet immediately following the conclusion of the Atlantic Menhaden Board meeting to consider final approval of the Amendment.

The meeting will be live-streamed via webinar; the details of which will be released at a later date. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.   

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Approves Draft Amendment 3 for Public Comment

August 11, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden is now available for public comment here. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Amendment either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 20, 2017 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Amd. 3).

If your organization is planning to release an action alert in response to Draft Amendment 3, please contact Megan Ware at 703.842.0740, so she can work with you to develop a unique subject line to enable us to better organize and summarize incoming comments for Board review.

It is anticipated the majority of states from Maine through Florida will be conducting public hearings on the Draft Amendment. The details of those hearings will be released next week via press release and posted to the Commission’s website calendar.

Outlook For Southern New England Lobsters Is Dire

August 2, 2017 — Lobster populations in Southern New England are in dramatic decline and recovery is not likely to happen anytime soon.

That’s according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — an interstate compact, which manages fisheries in the region.

A 2015 assessment by that group showed record lows.

On Tuesday, the commission considered a number of management options to boost lobster egg production, but agreed nearly uniformly that rebuilding populations of Southern New England Lobster was unlikely.

“We’re seeing warmer waters and lobsters are very sensitive to temperature,” said Megan Ware, the group’s fishery management plan coordinator. “So it could be that we’re hitting that thermal threshold for them, and they’re moving to colder waters.”

Read the full story at WNPR

Commission seeking public input on menhaden management plan

December 8th, 2016 – The group charged with coordinating the management and conservation of more than two dozen nearshore fish species in the Atlantic coastal states is seeking input on its management plan for menhaden.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission released a “public information document” last month outlining a series of options for managing the fish and requesting feedback from the public.

Menhaden are small, silvery fish that play a critical role in the bay’s ecosystem, according to the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

They serve as a forage fish for striped bass, weakfish, bluefish, and predatory birds like eagles, and also a key role as a filter feeder, feeding on phytoplankton and zooplankton, the NOAA office’s website says.

The menhaden management plan will address catch quotas for the fish along the Atlantic Coast.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is calling for the commission to shift to an “ecosystem” management approach that “ensures there are enough menhaden in the water to fulfill their role in the food chain for the protection of all marine life.”

Public comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Jan. 4.

Comments may be mailed to Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, 1050 North Highland St., Suite 200A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201.

Read the full story at the Capitol Gazette

ASMFC lobster board tackles fishery issues

November 8, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s lobster board adopted no new policies affecting Maine lobstermen during its annual meeting in Bar Harbor at the end of October, but the group did discuss future options for trip reporting, crab bycatch and improving the lobster stock in Southern New England.

The board relies on data from dealer and harvester reporting to make management decisions.

“The technical committee (which provides scientific advice to the management board) highlighted data deficiencies in federal waters,” Fishery Management Plan coordinator Megan Ware said.

Most state fishery departments conduct their own lobster surveys, such as the Department of Marine Resources settlement survey, ventless trap survey and sea sampling program. But each state is different.

“States are collecting a variety of this information, but it’s not uniform,” Ware said.

Offshore waters — beyond the three-mile limit — have become an increasingly important part of the fishery and they are outside the scope of the state programs.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Lobster board tackles fishery issues

November 3, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — No new policy affecting local lobstermen was handed down from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s lobster board from its meeting here last week, but the group discussed future options for trip reporting, crab bycatch and improving the lobster stock in southern New England.

The board relies on data from dealer and harvester reporting to make management decisions. “The technical committee highlighted data deficiencies in federal waters,” lobster fishery management plan (FMP) coordinator Megan Ware said.

Most state fishery departments conduct their own lobster surveys, such as Maine’s settlement survey, ventless trap survey and sea sampling program. But offshore waters are an increasingly important part of the fishery, and they’re outside the scope of those programs.

“States are collecting a variety of this information, but it’s not uniform,” Ware said.

The board’s lobster reporting working group presented short, medium and long-term goals to improve data collection. Current rules require 100 percent dealer reporting and at least 10 percent active harvester reporting.

The working group said that 10 percent includes recreational fishermen and recommended switching to only commercial harvesters. They would need 30 percent of active harvesters reporting to have statistically valid information. It also would be helpful to managers if they had data about trap hauls, soak time and gear configuration.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander