Saving Seafood

NOAA Fisheries Implements Squid and Butterfish Quotas for the 2019 Fishing Year

August 1, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Based on updated information, we increased the commercial Illex squid quota by 8-percent for 2019. We also maintained the previously approved 2019 annual quotas for longfin squid and butterfish by continuing the existing longfin squid quota, and increasing the butterfish commercial quota by 66 percent.

The increased 2019 Illex quota is based on an evaluation that similar historic catch has not harmed the stock. As new information becomes available, we may revise the proposed quotas for future fishing years.

Read the final rule that filed today in the Federal Register and the bulletin posted on our website. Supporting documents for this rule are available on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s website.

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed 2020-2021 Summer Flounder Specifications and Interim 2020 Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Specifications

July 30, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are proposing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended 2020-2021 summer flounder specifications and initial 2020 specifications for the scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries.  The initial 2020 specifications for scup, black sea bass, and bluefish will be re-evaluated in early 2020 following the results of an operational assessment for all three species.  The proposed specifications for all four species is identical to what is in place for the 2019 fishing year.

How Do I Comment?

Read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. You may also submit comments through regular mail to:

Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930

The comment period is open through August 26.

Read the full release here

Mid-Atlantic Council to Hold Public Hearings for Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Excessive Shares Amendment

July 25, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold four public hearings in August and September 2019 to solicit public input on the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Excessive Shares Amendment. The Council is also soliciting written comments on the amendment through September 14, 2019.

The Excessive Shares Amendment considers a variety of approaches to ensure that no individual, corporation, or other entity acquires an excessive share of the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog individual transferrable quota (ITQ) privileges. In addition, this action includes measures to revise the process for specifying multi-year management measures, require periodic review of the excessive share cap level, and allow adjustments to be made under the frameworkable provisions of the FMP. Lastly, this action may also revise the management objectives for the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan.

Additional information is available at http://www.mafmc.org/actions/scoq-excessive-shares-amendment. A public hearing document is available HERE.

Attend a Hearing

Public hearings will be held on the following dates:

  1. Thursday, August 1, 2019 at 6:30PM:  The Grand Hotel. 1045 Beach Avenue, Cape May, NJ 08204; telephone: (609) 884-5611.

  2. Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 6:30PM:  Internet webinar. Connection information to be posted at www.mafmc.org/council-events prior to the meeting.

  3. Monday, September 9, 2019 at 6:30PM:  LaQuinta Inns & Suites, 300 S. Salisbury Blvd., Salisbury, MD 21801; telephone: (410) 546-4400.

  4. Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 6:30PM:  Radisson Hotel Providence Airport. 2081 Post Rd, Warwick, RI 02886; telephone: (401) 739-3000.

Submit Written Comments:

In addition to providing comments at any of the public hearings, you may submit written comments by 11:59 PM, Eastern Standard Time, on September 14, 2019. Written comments may be sent by any of the following methods:

  1. ONLINE at http://www.mafmc.org/comments/scoq-excessive-shares-amendment;

  2. EMAIL to jmontanez@mafmc.org;

  3. MAIL to Dr. Christopher Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, Delaware 19901; or

  4. FAX to (302) 674-5399.

Please include “SCOQ Excessive Shares Amendment Comments” in the subject line if using email or fax or on the outside of the envelope if submitting written comments.

Please direct any questions about the amendment to José Montañez, jmontanez@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5258.

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2020 Golden Tilefish Survey RFP – Deadline Extended

July 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid‐Atlantic Fishery Management Council is seeking a qualified industry representative to conduct the first year of a long-term tilefish survey. A successful project would develop and implement a golden tilefish survey to create an index of abundance, collect life history data, and observe habitat preference for determination criteria of overfishing limits and acceptable biological catches.

The deadline for proposals submission has been extended to August 14, 2019.

Please review the updated Request for Proposals for complete details and instructions for proposal submission.

NEW YORK: Inside Montauk’s commercial fishing industry

July 22, 2019 — When Gosman’s Dock, 14 acres of restaurants and shops at Montauk Harbor, went on the market for $52.5 million in 2015, it signaled the latest evolution in a “discovered” coastal town that used to be all about surfing, fishing and dive bars. But walk past the dumpster and ice machine onto the dock that stretches into the harbor, and you’re in another world. You will typically see a forklift operator removing boxes of fish from a boat’s hold, or two guys hefting lobsters into the back of a pickup truck. Welcome to Montauk—past its heyday, perhaps, but alive and still bringing fresh local seafood to people who know enough to buy it up while they still can.

Montauk is not only the biggest commercial fishing hub in New York, it’s one of the largest in the Northeast. But that’s not saying much. In the United States, about 80 percent of the seafood we eat is imported, and most of it has been frozen, thawed and refrozen multiple times while being shipped and processed. Prices for local wild seafood, the stuff landed at the town dock or a dock on the east side of the harbor, hit a high of $21.2 million in 2012. By 2017, this figure had slid to $14.8 million.

Unlike Gurneys’ or the iconic Shagwong Tavern, Montauk’s commercial fishing boats don’t attract investors eager to keep their businesses afloat, and their property (boats, gear and permits) is not easily transferable from one person to another. Fishers are foragers of wild food in an industry that is heavily regulated, with quotas, licenses and practices dictated by state and federal governments. And unlike farmers, they have no federally subsidized crop insurance to tide them over when their harvest is threatened by wild weather.

Read the full story at Newsday

New England council joins Mid-Atlantic in push to require electronic trip reporting

July 19, 2019 — The New England Fishery Management Council has decided to join with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in requiring all vessels to use electronic vessel trip reports (eVTR), replacing physical reports.

The action was initiated after the Mid-Atlantic council started investigating the possibility of switching all trip reporting in December 2018. The move, under an omnibus framework action, would require that all vessels use eVTR, a method that has been available since 2013.

“The Mid-Atlantic Council has been interested in eVTR for the past several years,” Karson Coutre, of the Mid-Atlantic council, told SeafoodSource in May. “Many stakeholders have voiced the desire to move in the direction of electronic reporting with technological advances and eVTR being an established means to submit VTRs since 2013.”

Electronic reporting would eliminate the need to individually scan thousands of reports: In 2018, the Mid-Atlantic council had to process over 70,000 reports. Every single one needs to be entered into a database, and sometimes clarity issues caused by handwriting or other problems makes information less accurate than it would be in an electronic report.

As a result of the Mid-Atlantic council’s investigation into using eVTR, the New England council had to initiate its own investigations. Many permit-holders in the region hold permits belonging to both councils, estimates by the New England council places at least 2,514 vessels holding permits in both regions, or nearly 90 percent.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CORRECTED: Regional fishery council moves toward mandatory e-reporting

July 17, 2019 — The digital age of vessel reporting is on the line and the New England Fishery Management Council is trying to make sure fishermen under its purview answer the call.

The council has embarked on a management strategy that ultimately will require all commercial fishermen holding federal permits for New England council-managed species to file their vessel trip reports electronically rather than by the traditional paper reports.

“The goal is to go to a mandatory electronic reporting system,” said Janice Plante, spokeswoman for the council. “But we also know that this is going to present a challenge for some fishermen used to filing paper reports. We’re going to need an extended implementation period. NOAA Fisheries and both the Mid-Atlantic council and our council agree on that.”

The New England council is joining the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in working toward a fully digital format — known as eVTRs — for filing the vessel trip reports that provide regulators with catch data on every fishing trip, including each chart area, gear type and/or mesh size fished.

The current vessel reporting regulations require fishermen to complete their paper VTR prior to landing. Plante said that will continue under electronic filing. However, she said, the timeline for submitting the reports remains under consideration and will be finalized before the new regulations take effect.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

August 2019 MAFMC Meeting Agenda

July 16, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Tuesday, August 13, 2019 – Thursday, August 15, 2019

Location: Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown, 21 N. Juniper St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, Telephone 215-496-3200.

Meeting Materials: Briefing documents will be posted below as they become available.

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on July 31, 2019 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on August 8, 2019 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/august2019.

Meeting Agenda

PDF Version

NEFMC Joins MAFMC in Commercial eVTR action

July 16, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is taking steps to bring all commercial fishermen who hold federal permits for Council-managed species into the digital age by requiring vessel trip reports (VTRs) to be submitted electronically instead of on paper. These electronic reports are known as eVTRs, and this proposed action will apply to all of the Council’s fishery management plans.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) has been working since December of 2018 on a Commercial eVTR Omnibus Framework Action that would apply to all vessels with federal commercial permits for MAFMC-managed species, which include summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, Atlantic mackerel, squid, butterfish, surfclams, ocean quahogs, bluefish, and tilefish.

Read the full release here

Commercial eVTR Framework Webinar – Tuesday 7/23 at 8:30 a.m.

July 10, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Council will hold a webinar on Tuesday, July 23 at 8:30 a.m. to provide an update on the Commercial eVTR Framework and to review the available eVTR applications. This action could require electronic submission of Vessel Trip Reports (VTRs) for commercial permit holders. Participants will also have an opportunity to provide input on specific issues, such as the timing for submitting eVTRs.

Date/Time

  • Tuesday, July 23, 2019, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Connection Info

To install the Adobe Connect app or test your connection, please visit: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Materials

The updated eVTR framework document with action alternatives will be posted to the MAFMC eVTR webinar event page later this week.

For more information, contact Karson Coutre, kcoutre@mafmc.org (302) 526-5259.