Saving Seafood

NEFMC Hosts Offshore Wind Session; Discusses EBFM, eVTRs, RSA Program

April 30, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council met April 16-18, 2019 in Mystic, CT and capped off its meeting with a Special Session on Offshore Wind in the Northeast Region. The session was organized and hosted by the Council to give Council members and stakeholders the opportunity to learn more about:

  • The total scope of planned offshore wind energy development in the region with emphasis on projects off New England and New York;
  • The players involved and their roles in the process with an emphasis on NOAA Fisheries consultations with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM);
  • Research and monitoring issues, including current federal, state, and developer-funded efforts, implications for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s fishery independent surveys, and regional coordination initiatives through the newly formed Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA); and
  • Updates on the timing and status of specific Northeast Region projects.

Read the full release here

NEFMC Atlantic Herring RSA Press Release

April 25, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will continue to support an important project focused on maintaining and expanding bycatch avoidance strategies in the Atlantic herring midwater trawl fishery both at sea and through shoreside sampling. The project is a partnership between industry, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).

The New England Fishery Management Council sets research priorities for the Herring RSA Program, while NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and the program itself. This particular project, which was announced today by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, is consistent with the research priorities identified by the Council for the 2019-2021 RSA award cycle.

“We’re pleased that researchers and the fishing industry are able to utilize the Herring RSA Program to maintain this important bycatch avoidance project,” said Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn.

Read the full release here

New England Council Update – April 23, 2019

April 23, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has a busy schedule between now and its June 11-13, 2019 meeting in So. Portland, ME. Here is a list of the key Committee and Advisory Panel (AP) meetings that currently are posted on the Council’s calendar.

GROUNDFISH: Several groundfish-related meetings are in the queue.

  • Groundfish Monitoring Review – A sub-panel of the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet in Providence, RI on Wednesday and Thursday, April 24 and April 25 to conduct a review of the groundfish monitoring analyses behind draft Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Meeting materials can be found at SSC Sub-Panel Review.
  • Groundfish Party/Charter Listening Sessions – The Council still has several listening sessions on the calendar to collect public input on whether or not it should pursue limited access in the groundfish party/charter boat fishery. The remaining sessions are scheduled for: April 23 in Narragansett, RI; May 7, 8, and 9 respectively in Chatham, Plymouth, and Gloucester, MA; and May 10 via webinar. The meeting lineup and background information are posted at potential party/charter limited access.
  • Groundfish Committee, Groundfish Advisory Panel, and Plan Development Team – All three of these bodies will meet jointly in So. Portland, ME on Monday and Tuesday, May 20 and May 21 to review the SSC Sub-Panel’s groundfish monitoring review findings and to discuss Amendment 23. Information will be available shortly at joint groundfish meeting.

SKATES: The Skate Committee will meet on Thursday, April 25 in New Bedford to discuss Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex FMP, which proposes to limit access into the fishery. Documents are available at skate limited access. The Skate Advisory Panel met on April 23 in advance of the Committee.

  • Skate Advisory Panel and Skate Committee – Both the AP and Committee will meet again respectively on Tuesday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 22 in Providence, RI. Save the dates.

HABITAT: The Habitat Committee will meet on Thursday, May 9 in Foxborough, MA to discuss: (1) research planning efforts for the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area; (2) a fishing effects model; (3) offshore energy issues; and (4) more. Visit habitat meeting for additional information.

SCALLOPS: The Scallop Committee has several meetings in the pipeline.

  • Scallop Advisory Panel and Plan Development Team – The AP and PDT will meet jointly on Tuesday, May 21 in Providence, RI for a Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program “Share Day.”  Information will be posted as it becomes available at Scallop RSA Share Day.
  • Scallop Advisory Panel – The AP will meet again the following day, Wednesday, May 22, in the same location.
  • Scallop Committee – The Committee will meet on Thursday, May 23, wrapping up this three-day sweep of scallop meetings, all of which will take place at the Hilton Providence

ATLANTIC HERRING:  The Herring AP and Herring Committee will meet back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday, May 29 and 30, respectively.  Save the dates.

ECOSYSTEM-BASED FISHERY MANAGEMENT (EBFM):  The EBFM Committee will meet on Tuesday, May 28 in Quincy, MA and likely will meet again on Monday, June 10.  Save the dates.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:  The Council’s Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday, May 29.  More information will become available as the date draws near.

MEETINGS BY OUR PARTNERS:  The following are additional meetings that may be of interest to New England stakeholders.

  • MAFMC STRATEGIC PLAN MEETING:  The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, April 24 in Narragansett, RI to gather feedback on the development of its 2020-2024 Strategic Plan.  Additional meetings are scheduled for New Jersey, Virginia, and via webinar.  Details are available at MAFMC Strategic Plan.
  • ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION (ASMFC):  ASMFC will meet April 29-May 2 in Arlington, VA.  Visit the commission’s 2019 Spring Meeting webpage.
  • DOLPHIN WAHOO:  The South Atlantic Council has scheduled two webinars on May 7 and May 9 to gather public comments on whether it should add bullet and frigate mackerel as ecosystem components to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP.  This plan extends along the entire East Coast and includes federal waters off New England.  Learn more at Dolphin Wahoo.
  • COUNCIL COORDINATATION COMMITTEE (CCC):  The CCC, comprised of the leadership teams from all eight of the nation’s regional fishery management councils, will meet May 14-16 in Charleston, SC.  The agenda and webinar links are posted at May 2019 CCC Meeting.
  • NORTHEAST REGION COORDINATING COUNCIL (NRCC):  The NRCC will meet May 16-17 in Charleston, SC.  More information will become available at NRCC.
  • MID-ATLANTIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL:  The Mid-Atlantic Council will meet June 4-6, 2019 in New York City.  Visit MAFMC for more information

New England herring quota alternatives bear more bad news for lobster fishery

April 22, 2019 — A range of alternatives recently approved by the New England Fishery Management Council for Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic herring fishery has little positive news for the New England lobster industry, which relies on the fish for bait.

Framework Adjustment 6 will determine the overfishing definition for the Atlantic herring fishery, and three alternatives are currently on the table. Regardless of the alternative chosen by NEFMC, the herring quota won’t be increasing in 2020, and could decrease once again.

Alternative 1, which represents no change from the current 2019 fishing season, would set the overfishing limit at 30,668 metric tons (MT) and the acceptable biological catch at 21,266 MT, almost identical to 2019’s quotas.

Alternative 2, which was recommended by the Scientific and Statistical Committee in October 2018, is based on the proposed “Amendment 8 Control Rule.” It would set the overfishing limit at 41,839 MT, and the allowable biological catch at 16,131 MT. Alternative 3, which is also consistent with Amendment 8, would use more accurate catch data from 2018 and sets the overfishing limit at 40,574 MT and the allowable biological catch at 14,265 MT.

As recently as 2018, the herring acceptable biological catch was 110,000 MT, but a June 2018 Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop found that poor recruitment was likely going to result in a substantial decline in herring biomass. In response to that, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) moved forward with an in-season adjustment that set the allowable biological catch at 21,266 MT.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – April 24-25, 2019, Groundfish Monitoring

April 19, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

A sub-panel of the New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet on Wednesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 25, 2019 to discuss groundfish monitoring issues. The public is invited to listen live via webinar or telephone. Here are the details.

LOCATION: The meeting will be held at the Hotel Providence in Providence, RI.

START TIME: 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24 and 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 25.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting will be available at Listen Live. There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (415) 655-0060. The access code is 376-622-502. Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA: The SSC sub-panel will review the scientific validity of information and analyses concerning groundfish monitoring issues. The sub-panel’s report will be considered by the Council in evaluating management alternatives for improving monitoring of catch under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

  • Wednesday, April 24, 2019 – The sub-panel will: (1) receive documents and presentations containing information and analyses concerning groundfish monitoring issues and evaluate the scientific validity of the information, along with any recommendations provided; and (2) listen to public comments.
  • Thursday, April 25, 2019 – The sub-panel will develop a written report for the Council. During this day of the meeting, which is a sub-panel work session, the public will not have an opportunity to comment unless requested by the chair.

COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8 a.m. on Monday, April 22, 2019. Address comments to Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn or Executive Director Tom Nies and email them to comments@nefmc.org. The address for mailing comments via the U.S. Postal Service is: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill #2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

MATERIALS: Meeting materials will be posted on the Council’s website at SSC April 24-25, 2019 documents.

QUESTIONS: Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

NOAA scientist: Offshore wind projects will likely affect viability of fishery surveys

April 19, 2019 — Upcoming offshore wind projects proposed for areas on the East Coast of the United States will have an impact on NOAA Fisheries surveys, presenting new challenges to scientists by potentially resulting in less-effective fisheries data.

At a special session of the New England Fisheries Management Council covering offshore wind, Wendy Gabriel, of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, outlined a wide number of concerns for the organization regarding the development of wind power along the coast. Chief among the concerns was the organization’s ability to continue conducting viable fishery surveys – which provide much of the data that the council uses to establish fishing quotas.

“The bottom-line here is, nearly all of the long-term fishery independent surveys that have coverage will be affected,” she said during the session.

There’s already a wide number of potential offshore wind projects planned for the east coast, with multiple leased areas totaling thousands of acres of land dotting the coast. Almost all of those planned areas overlap some of the survey “strata” which NOAA Fisheries uses to plan its surveys.

Typically, according to Gabriel, the center will randomly select areas of each survey “stratum” to determine where trawls will be preformed to get data on certain fisheries – from Atlantic sea scallops to surf clams. However, currently, leased areas overlap in every single strata area; at the lowest end, 30 percent of each strata is occupied by an offshore wind lease.

“Right now, we use a random stratified survey design, and that involves picking locations at random in a stratum, and now we’re not going to be able to do that, because there will be turbines in the neighborhood,” Gabriel said.

That could pose a problem, depending on how spaced out the wind turbines are, and what sort of uses are allowed in the wind energy areas.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fish council explores monitoring alternatives

April 19, 2019 — The New England Fishery Management Council continues to work on an amendment to improve monitoring within the groundfish fishery, with a particular emphasis on generating more options within the dockside monitoring alternatives.

Meeting for three days this week in Mystic, Connecticut, the council approved several additions and modifications to the original range of groundfish monitoring alternatives, with an eye toward completing a draft environmental impact statement in time to schedule public hearings later this year.

The council also requested its Groundfish Committee “expand the number of options to determine monitoring coverage levels based on catch” and explore an additional alternative for “vessel exemptions based on fishing location.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Atlantic Herring Framework 6: NEFMC Discusses 2019-2021 Specs, Overfishing Definition

April 18, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has approved the range of alternatives for Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, which contains 2019-2021 specifications for the fishery and a new overfishing definition for Atlantic herring. The Council is expected to take final action on the framework during its June meeting with the goal of having updated 2020 specifications in place by the start of the new fishing year.

Key Factors Related to Framework 6

Here are three important points to be aware of with this framework:

  1. Fishing year 2019 specifications are in place already. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) implemented an inseason adjustment at the request of the Council to ensure that appropriate catch limits were in affect for the current fishing year in a timely manner to prevent overfishing. These existing 2019 specifications will be included in the 2019- 2021 package without revisions.
  2. The primary focus of Framework 6 will be: (a) 2020 specifications; and (b) the updated overfishing definition.
  3. The framework will include 2021 specifications, but these numbers likely will be revised in a subsequent action to reflect the results of the next stock assessment, which now is scheduled for spring 2020. At that time, the 2018 Atlantic Herring Benchmark Stock Assessment will be updated to incorporate 2018 and 2019 resource survey and fishery catch data.

Read the full release here

Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23: NEFMC Approves Alternatives for Development

April 18, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its mid-April meeting in Mystic, CT, the New England Fishery Management Council approved a wide range of alternatives that will be further developed for consideration in Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23. This step paves the way for the Groundfish Committee, Plan Development Team, and Groundfish Advisory Panel to continue working on these alternatives and advance the amendment to the next level of analyses.

The Council also dealt with three other groundfish-related issues. In short, the Council:

  • Modified its policy on gear standards in order to facilitate the use of new gear when accountability measures (AMs) are triggered;
  • Received an update on its Groundfish Catch Share Review, which covers fishing years 2010-2015; and
  • Received a quick overview of the ongoing listening sessions being conducted to solicit public comment on whether the Council should develop a limited access program for the recreational party/charter boat fishery under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (groundfish plan).

Read the full release here

New Fishing Rights in Gulf of Maine Upheld by Judge

April 17, 2019 — A federal judge upheld a rule Monday that opens up a portion of the western Gulf of Maine to commercial and recreational fishing for the first time.

The Conservation Law Foundation had challenged the rule last year, claiming the National Marine Fisheries Service wrongly prioritized economic considerations over its conservation duty when it reduced the protected area in that portion of the Gulf by about 25%.

While the rule offered habitat protection in the eastern Gulf of Maine for the first time, the conservation group said the agency and the New England Regional Council should have closed more of the Gulf to fishing.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found Monday, however, that the rule passes muster.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service