Saving Seafood

ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Board Sets Quotas for 201 9-2021 Fishing Seasons

October 25, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved the following coastwide commercial quotas for the 2019-2021 fishing seasons (May 1-April 30): 20,522,832 pounds for 2019/2020; 23,194,835 pounds for 202/2021, and 27,421,096 pounds for 2021/2022 (state-specific allocations are provided in table below). The quotas are consistent with the measures recommended to NOAA Fisheries by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The Board also established a 6,000 pound commercial trip limit for the northern region states of Maine through Connecticut, while New York through North Carolina have the ability to set state-specific trip limits based on the needs of their fisheries. The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from shore). The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils will forward their recommendations for federal waters (3 –200 miles from shore) to NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval.

The quotas are based on the 2018 Stock Assessment Update, which indicates that while the population is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, biomass has declined, requiring an approximate 46% reduction in the 2019-2020 quota to ensure that overfishing does not occur. The next benchmark stock assessment is currently scheduled for completion in 2021.

For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

MAFMC to Host Workshop Addressing Law-Enforcement Issues in For-Hire Fisheries

October 11, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will host a workshop November 13-14 (Law Enforcement/ For-Hire Workshop) to identify issues related to law enforcement in for-hire fisheries and sale by recreational anglers of tilefish and tuna and to develop potential solutions. Specifically, the workshop will address:

  1. Operator versus angler (client) responsibility for fisheries violations that occur on for-hire vessels and law enforcement options for addressing these.
  2. Issues related to the sale of fish by private recreational anglers (particularly golden tilefish and tunas) focusing on the need for vessels selling fish to comply with U.S. Coast Guard requirements and/or Federal permits that allow for the sale of fish.

Recommendations coming from this workshop will be presented during the Council’s December meeting for formal discussion. Operators of for-hire vessels and private vessels fishing for tuna or tilefish along the Atlantic who may have encountered these issues may want to participate. State and federal fisheries law enforcement, as well as operators of for-hire vessels and private vessels fishing for tuna or tilefish along the Atlantic who may have encountered these issues, may want to participate.

The workshop is open to the public and free to attend but pre-registration is requested to ensure adequate meeting facilities. For more information and to register, visit http://www.mafmc.org/workshop/law-enforcement-for-hire-workshop.

Questions? Contact Andrew Loftus, (410) 295-5997, aloftus@andrewloftus.com.

US mid-Atlantic fishery votes to increase Illex squid catch

October 5, 2018 — The US’s Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted on Oct. 3 to increase the acceptable biological catch (ABC) for Illex squid to 26,000 metric tons in 2019 and 2020, an increase of 8% over the 24,000t per year limit previously set for 2018-2020.

The council said it made the decision to raise the ABC after reviewing recommendations from its Scientific and Statistical Committee, which reviewed recent catch and survey information. It noted the recent “rapid pace of landings”, which forced the fishery to be closed on August 15, 2018 — a month earlier than the year before — due to 95% of the annual catch limit being landed.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Mid-Atlantic Council Votes to Increase Illex Squid Quota

October 4, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Today the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to increase the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) for Illex squid by 2,000 metric tons (mt) for 2019 and 2020 after reviewing recommendations from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). This is an increase of approximately 8% above the ABC originally approved by the Council.

In 2017, the Council established a 24,000 mt ABC for 2018, 2019, and 2020. However, the rapid pace of landings in 2017 and 2018 suggests that Illex squid have been highly available to the U.S. fishery during these years, despite several prior years of low landings. The fishery closed September 15th in 2017 and August 15th in 2018. Given the fishery’s recent performance, the Council asked its SSC earlier this year to consider whether changes to the 2019 and 2020 ABC are warranted. The SSC reviewed recent catch and survey information and endorsed a revised ABC of 26,000 mt.

If approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), this revised ABC will result in a domestic annual harvest (DAH) of 24,824.8 mt after accounting for discards. NMFS would then seek to close the fishery at 95% of that quota.

The Council also agreed to develop a working group to investigate new data collection and analysis to support setting Illex ABCs in the future.

For additional information about squid management, contact Jason Didden – jdidden@mafmc.org.

Web Version / PDF Version

October 2018 MAFMC Meeting Agenda, Briefing Materials, and Webinar Information

September 17, 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 October 1-4, 2018 in Cape May, NJ. The meeting will be held at Congress Hall (200 Congress Place, Cape May, NJ 08204, Telephone 609-884-8421).

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

Public Comments: Written comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 19 to be included in the Council meeting briefing book. Comments received after this deadline but before 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 27 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/october2018.

Agenda: Click here to view a detailed meeting agenda.

Request for Proposals For a Study to Document the Distribution of Surfclams in the US Northwest Atlantic

September 11, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid‐Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) seeks a highly-qualified contractor to document the distributions of Spisula solidissima similis and Spisula solidissima solidissima in the nearshore waters of the US Northwest Atlantic. This study should involve an examination of the extent of genetic and reproductive isolation among areas sampled for these species.

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

Proposals are due by October 31, 2018.

Notice of Rescheduled Hearings for Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment

September 11, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

This week the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will begin a series of public hearings for the Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment. Due to predicted inclement weather associated with Hurricane Florence, several of these hearings have been rescheduled. Hearing date and location changes are highlighted below in bold.

  • The Washington, NC hearing originally scheduled for September 12 has been rescheduled for Monday, September 24, 6:00 PM, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Washington Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, US Highway 17, Washington, North Carolina 27889.
  • The Dover, DE hearing originally scheduled for September 13 has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 26, 6:00 PM, and the hearing location has been moved to Dover Public Library, Meeting Room B, 35 Loockerman Plaza, Dover, Delaware 19901.
  • The Newport News, VA hearing originally scheduled for September 13 has been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 26, 7:00 PM, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, 2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor, Newport News, Virginia 23607.

An updated version of the public hearing document is available here. A complete hearing schedule and additional details about this action are available here.

Development of Bluefish Allocation Amendment to Continue into 2019

September 4, 2018 — The ongoing development of a Bluefish Allocation Amendment was discussed in a meeting between the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Bluefish Management Board back in mid-August.

The Council and Board have agreed to continue to work on the amendment, opting not to finalize the public hearing document or hold public hearings until assessment results come out in the spring of 2019.

While most Board and Council members were in agreement that the results of the assessment should be incorporated with the amendment, some argued that postponing its development was unnecessary.

According to the Council’s Executive Director Chris Moore, several aspects of the amendment could be discussed without having to wait on the results of more assessments.

Some at the meeting expressed concerns that significant implications on the status of the bluefish fishery could result from the Marine Recreational Information Program’s (MRIP) recent release of revised recreational catch and effort estimates.

A delay to the amendment development was suggested to allow for the completion of an assessment incorporating updated MRIP numbers.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Have bluefish changed their habits?

September 4, 2018 — A fisherman dragging a burlap sack full of 10-pound bluefish off a party boat following a night of fishing used to be a familiar sight at the Shore.

And it may be again, but the habits of the once-dependable fish seem to have changed, at least in the present.

What is causing them to change their behavior is puzzling fishermen and federal fishery managers who appear to have hit a wall trying to figure out the best way to utilize the fish.

By all indications the numbers of bluefish up and down the East Coast are not scarce, they’re just not where they’re expected to be.

“There’s an abundance of them. They’re just 80 to 100 miles offshore where the longliners can’t keep them off the hook,” said Captain Lenny Elich, who runs the Miss Barnegat Light party boat.

But they’re not the on the Barnegat Ridge, and because of that the Miss Barnegat Light, which used to fish night and day for blues, has resorted to fluke fishing.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

MAFMC and ASMFC to Continue Development of Bluefish Allocation Amendment

August 28, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Bluefish Management Board (Board) on August 15 in Virginia Beach, VA to discuss the ongoing development of a Bluefish Allocation Amendment.

The Council and Board initiated the Bluefish Allocation Amendment in December 2017 to address several issues in the bluefish fishery, including goals and objectives for the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), sector-based allocations, commercial allocations to the states, and the transfer processes. A series of scoping hearings were held earlier this year to gather public input on the scope of issues that could be considered in the amendment. During the joint meeting on August 15 the Council and Board reviewed this public input, discussed next steps for amendment development, and agreed on a number of issues that should be considered in the amendment.

Some members of the Council and Board expressed concern that the recent release of revised recreational catch and effort estimates from the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) could have significant implications for the status and management of the bluefish fishery. It was suggested that amendment development should be halted until the completion of an assessment which incorporates these updated MRIP numbers. The next assessment for bluefish is expected to be available in the spring of 2019.

Although Council and Board members were generally in agreement that the amendment should incorporate the results of the operational assessment, some felt that postponing amendment development was unnecessary. Chris Moore, the Council’s Executive Director, noted that several aspects of the amendment, such as FMP goals and objectives and a review of historical data, could be explored without the results of the new assessment. After some debate, the Council and Board decided to continue to work on the amendment but agreed they will not finalize the public hearing document or hold public hearings until after the results of the bluefish operational assessment are available in the spring of 2019.

For additional information and updates on this amendment, please visit: http://www.mafmc.org/actions/bluefish-allocation-amendment.