February 5, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
Here are several timely management actions that directly relate to the work of the New England Fishery Management Council.
February 5, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
Here are several timely management actions that directly relate to the work of the New England Fishery Management Council.
February 5, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council voted on January 29 to send Draft Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23 out for public comment. The amendment contains numerous proposals, and the Council selected several “preferred alternatives” to help guide the public in supplying feedback. The hearings will take place this spring, likely in late March and April. The Council then will review all oral and written comments and take final action during its June 23-25 meeting in Freeport, ME.
The Council developed the amendment “to improve the reliability and accountability of catch reporting in the commercial groundfish fishery to ensure there is precise and accurate representation of catch.” Catch is defined as both landings and discards.
February 5, 2020 — Requiring 100 percent at-sea monitoring coverage for the Northeast groundfish trips is part of the Amendment 23 proposal the New England Fishery Management Council will take to public hearing in the coming weeks.
The council approved a surprise motion by NMFS regional administrator Michael Pentony Jan. 29 at its meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., to move the long-awaited changes to the groundfish plan.
Pentony stressed that achieving 100 percent coverage is not his goal, but to spur a broader public discussion about monitoring and other reforms – which Pentony said could help provide more fishing opportunity.
“I want it to be very clear that I’m not making this motion because it’s my opinion or the agency’s opinion,” Pentony told council members. Making 100 percent coverage the preferred option will “provide a sense of what’s possible,” and a “good framework for discussion during the public hearing process,” he said.
It’s also the only option that would make possible the elimination of management uncertainty buffers, and making more groundfish available to catch, Pentony said.
“This doesn’t commit the council to action in June,” he added.
February 4, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council is supporting 2020 recreational fishing measures for Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine haddock that provide an additional springtime window of fishing opportunity for cod and greater access to the abundant haddock resource. The Council took this position during its late January 2020 meeting in Portsmouth, NH based on advice from both its Recreational Advisory Panel and Groundfish Committee.
The measures are recommendations only that are being submitted to the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) of NOAA Fisheries for consideration. NOAA Fisheries will make the final decision and anticipates implementing recreational measures by May 1, the start of the new fishing year.
January 31, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries announced the implementation of a New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) amendment to allow industry-funded monitoring in any fishery under its management.
The monitoring will better assess catch and reduce uncertainty around catch estimates. The amendment also establishes monitoring in the Atlantic herring fishery, which is faced with a significant quota cutback.
January 31, 2020 — The draft amendment to set at-sea monitoring coverages aboard all Northeast groundfish vessels has led an adventurous existence in the three years the New England Fishery Management Council has dedicated to developing the contentious measure.
There was last year’s partial shutdown of the federal government that delayed the rule-setting process. The council, in March 2018, also chose to tap the brakes on the development of the measure — known as Amendment 23 — because it didn’t believe the technical analyses associated with the measure were complete.
As late as last week, fishing stakeholders charged the council was working with insufficient data as it rushed to finally enact the draft management rule setting groundfish monitoring coverages in the Northeast multispecies groundfishery.
So why should anything become simple now?
The council voted Wednesday to send the monitoring amendment — which includes the approved draft of the measure’s environmental impact statement and the council’s preferred alternative for coverage levels — out for public comment in the spring. Final action is expected at its June meeting.
January 30, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council received a number of updates and reports on the first day of its January 28-30, 2020 meeting in Portsmouth, NH. Here’s a quick rundown of the day’s highlights.
The Council received a presentation on the Northeast Ocean Data Portal, which contains over 5,000 maps showing a variety of ocean uses, including fishing activity, and provides a wide range of information related to marine life, habitat, offshore wind, aquaculture, and more.
During the presentation, representatives from the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) informed the Council that they, along with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), are working collaboratively to update commercial fisheries data on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portals and engage industry through focus groups and other outreach efforts in the development of data products. The groups have federal funding for 2020 to advance regional data sharing to help in management decision making.
January 30, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council discussed several offshore wind and habitat-related issues during its late January meeting in Portsmouth, NH, including a proposed exempted fishing permit (EFP) for the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area (HMA) that would allow surfclam and mussel dredging within a defined portion of Rose & Crown – one of the HMA’s research-only areas.
The HMA was created through the Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2, which was implemented April 9, 2018. Surfclam dredge vessels were granted a one-year exemption to continue fishing in the area. The exemption expired April 9, 2019.
The Council developed a Clam Dredge Framework as a trailing action to the amendment to consider allowing the use of clam dredge gear and, subsequently, mussel dredge gear within the HMA if the gear could be used without harming sensitive habitat.
January 29, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council & Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council have taken final action on an omnibus framework adjustment that will require commercial fishermen to submit vessel trip reports (VTRs) electronically as eVTRs instead of on paper for all species managed by both Councils. The Mid-Atlantic Council initiated the action in December of 2018 and signed off on the framework during its December 2019 meeting. The New England Council joined the framework in June of 2019 and took final action during its late-January 2020 meeting in Portsmouth, NH.
Once approved and implemented by the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries), the framework will:
January 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries announces that for fishing year 2020, the total target at-sea monitoring coverage level is 40 percent of all groundfish sector trips subject to the at-sea monitoring program. For more information, please read our letter to the New England Fishery Management Council and the Summary of Analysis Conducted to Determine At-Sea Monitoring Requirements for Multispecies Sectors FY 2020.
Per direction in 2020 appropriations, we have funds allocated for reimbursing industry for its at-sea monitoring costs. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will continue to administer the reimbursement program for 2020 as in prior years.