Saving Seafood

NEFMC June 2022 Webinar Meeting Lineup

May 26, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council will be holding a number of committee and advisory panel meetings in June – all by webinar.

While the Council initially intended to hold a few in-person committee meetings, a number of factors led to the decision to proceed in a virtual-only environment.  These included public safety concerns given the rise in COVID-19 transmission rates in certain areas and travel restrictions for some participants.

The Council still intends to hold its June 28-30, 2022 meeting as a hybrid with in-person participation in Portland, Maine and a webinar option.

Here is the meeting lineup.  Information will be posted on each respective webpage as it becomes available.

REMINDER:  Four More Limited Access Scallop Leasing Scoping Meetings Left to Go!

The Council conducted five in-person scallop leasing scoping meetings between April 27 and May 26, 2022.  Two more in-person scoping meetings and two webinar scoping meetings remain on the calendar:

Visit the scallop leasing webpage for more information.

 

America’s biggest scallopers want changes to regulations preventing consolidation

May 26, 2022 — Local scallopers have crowded a series of public meetings this spring to fight a regulatory change under consideration they say could fuel further corporate consolidation in their industry, hurting not only fishing crews and their captains, but the legions of shoreside businesses that service their boats.

The proposed change, in the earliest stages of consideration by the New England Fishery Management Council, would allow boat owners to lease their government-granted access to scallop grounds out to other vessels, potentially opening the door for large commercial fishing operations to circumvent existing ownership caps and increase their already substantial share of the scallop market.

“The bottom line is this proposal is about global control, from the switch to the fish to the dish,” said Alan Cass, a former New Bedford scalloper who began his career as a deckhand and retired as a boat owner. “The resource will be at the mercy of a consolidated effort by these corporations to control ocean-to-table and economically injure the small entities in this industry.”

For nearly 30 years, scallopers like Cass and his son, who followed him into the industry, have gone to sea under a set of regulations that limit both the amount of scallops that can be harvested each year and the share of that harvest that belongs to the industry’s biggest players.

The arrangement, though complex to navigate, has kept a large class of independent fishermen competitive in a global industry alongside corporations with larger fleets and in-house processing and distribution services.

Read the full story at The Public’s Radio

Mayor Mitchell warns of ‘potentially consequential’ impacts if leasing is approved

May 25, 2022 — Mayor Jon Mitchell is “deeply concerned” about the “potentially consequential” impacts leasing could have in the scallop fishery, according to a letter he submitted to a fishery council ahead of its second and final public meeting in New Bedford Wednesday.

“There is no denying that there will be costs and impacts associated with the leasing program,” Mitchell wrote. “The playing field will be tilted on day one, perhaps irrevocably so, and the transformation of the scallop fishery from a ‘community fishery’ to a ‘corporate fishery’ may become all but inevitable.”

He went on to write, “as the most valuable fishing port in the nation, New Bedford has, without a doubt, more at stake in this matter than any community in the nation.”

At the close of his nearly four-page letter, he echoed local state representatives in requesting the council decline to proceed with drafting an amendment for leasing.

“I am hopeful that the Council will decline to proceed with the proposal before it, based on the vigorous opposition presented by New Bedford stakeholders.”

Included in his letter is an 11-page review, commissioned by the New Bedford Port Authority, on the potential impacts leasing could have.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Light

Scallop fishermen debate leasing

May 19, 2022 — Scallop fishermen are sharply divided over a proposal to allow leasing of allocations in their fishery, as the New England Fishery Management Council conducts a series of East Coast scoping meetings to gauge sentiment on the idea.

Mid-Atlantic fishermen get their chance to sound off Thursday, May 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Route 72 in Manahawkin, N.J., close to scallop ports like Barnegat Light and Cape May. At a May 11 session in New Bedford, Mass., much of the audience spoke against leasing, warning of negative impacts if rules are changed to allow limited access permit holders to lease fishing allocations.

The Scallopers Campaign, a group representing about 50 permit holders from New England to North Carolina, asked the council in 2021 to consider rule changes that would allow limited leasing of allocation. Advocates for the change say it will allow flexibility in the fishery, and allow operators to adjust to circumstances, such as boat breakdowns, that would otherwise cost them fishing days.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NEFMC Seeks Contractor to Conduct Prototype MSE for Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management

May 18, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council seeks the services of an independent contractor to develop and conduct a prototype management strategy evaluation (MSE) for Georges Bank.  The protype MSE will be based on the ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) strategy in the Council’s example Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP).

This is a short-term, temporary contractor role, commencing on or about August 1, 2022 and ending in January 2023.  The intended completion date will depend on the scope and complexity of the work and the MSE proposed by the applicant. The deadline for submitting letters of interest and supporting materials is Wednesday, June 30, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.

The purpose of the prototype MSE is to:

  • Showcase a simplified prototype MSE framework and demonstrate how MSE will be used to evaluate EBFM management strategies for a Georges Bank Ecosystem Production Unit, using what we learn to communicate with the public about MSE for EBFM;
  • Act as an educational dry run from both a development and an operational perspective;
  • Provide an opportunity for the Council and its EBFM Committee to gain experience with the MSE process;
  • Identify and work through the types of decisions to be made during an MSE; and
  • Identify data sources and develop the models and analyses that will support a full EBFM MSE with broader stakeholder participation in the next phase of the Council’s EBFM development strategy.

The prototype MSE results, while intended to be realistic, are not meant to be actionable in a fishery ecosystem plan. Rather, the results will be used as the basis for a full MSE, which is the next step.

Working with Council staff, the Council’s EBFM Plan Development Team, and a limited number of appointed stakeholders, the contractor will:

  • Develop new or expand existing operating models that represent the productivity of and trophic relationships among managed stocks on Georges Bank;
  • Identify and apply existing estimation (assessment) models;
  • Identify management objectives and candidate management procedures (e.g., harvest control rules) based on the Council’s ecosystem cap and ceilings and floors approach for stock complexes; and
  • Provide concise and approachable summaries that show the trade-offs between alternative management procedures to meet multiple objectives.

Complete details about the project background, prototype MSE objectives, statement of work, expected responsibilities and deliverables, desired experience and demonstrated skills, and application submission information can be found in the request for proposals.

‘I don’t want to be a Wal-Mart fisherman’: Scallopers sound off about permit leasing

May 13, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council held a scoping meeting Wednesday at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on its proposed Scallop Fishery Management Plan adjustment.

Should it go through, the plan would allow scallopers to lease out portions of their days at sea license to other boats, causing concern among small fisherfolk and portside business-owners alike.

“I was born a fisherman’s daughter and became a fisherman’s wife,” said Evelyn Sklar at the meeting. “And now I’m a fisherman’s mother and a fisherman’s grandmother.

“I hope I can die in peace, because this doesn’t belong in the fishing family industry.”

Permit licensing

The current permitting scheme came into force in 1994 as Amendment 4 to the Scallop Fishery Management Plan. It intended to control access to the fishery as well as equipment used to allow for an overfished population.

The regulations included restrictions on gear, fishing trip duration and catches. Most notably, they created limited-access zones where fishing would be monitored and restricted based on the scallop population.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Scallopers in New Bedford tell fishery managers they don’t want leasing

May 12, 2022 — Scallop fishermen and captains told fishery management staff in no uncertain terms that they do not want to change current regulations to allow permit-holders to lease their fishing allocations.

More than 110 attendees — a mix of fishermen, shoreside business owners, marine scientists, attorneys and vessel owners — filled a meeting room at the Whaling Museum on Wednesday for the first of two public meetings in New Bedford on the leasing proposal. Those who spoke in opposition drew loud applause, while those who spoke in support drew little or none.

“There was a time in this industry when a father owned a boat and he taught his son, and his son was able to rise up … buy and operate his own boat, and you know, those days are gone,” said Tyler Miranda, a New Bedford captain of two scallopers. “I think that if [leasing] does move forward and is developed, it will take even further away from the family and community dynamic that fishing is and always was — and will make it more corporate.”

New Bedford for two decades has been the nation’s highest-value fishing port, in large part due to its scallop landings.

Current regulations in the limited access scallop fishery allow one permit per vessel, which entitles a boat to a certain number of days at sea and access area trips to harvest scallops. A leasing program could enable a permit-holder to lease trips and days at sea from another permit-holder, or lease to themselves and fish two allocations with a single boat, for example.

While a lobbying effort is advocating for specific ideas for leasing, the New England Fishery Management Council is taking a broader view and seeking comment on not only whether such a program is needed, but also what it should look like.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Light

Scallop Research Share Days: Tune in on May 5th and May 6th; Lineup Includes Enhancement Projects, Turtles, Offshore Wind

May 3, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will be hosting two Scallop Research Share Days on Thursday and Friday, May 5 and May 6, 2022. These are half-day webinar sessions that begin at 9:00 a.m. and are scheduled to run until approximately 12:30 p.m. each day.

Share Days provide an opportunity for scallop researchers – and especially award recipients of the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program – to “share” their findings with the Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT), fishery managers, fishermen, colleagues, and interested members of the public.

Presenters cover projects that focus on scallop research priorities identified by the Council. One of the objectives of this event is to better inform scallop managers of the status of current research and help identifyfuture research priority recommendations for the Council’s consideration.

The Council will identify 2023-2024 priorities for the next round of solicitations under the Scallop RSA Program duringits June 2022 meeting. Here are the Council’s 2022-2023 scallop research priorities.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

EBFM Outreach Ramping Up: Watch the Five-Minute Video, View the Infographics, Check out the Brochures

May 3, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is preparing to conduct public information workshops in six different fishing ports to help fishermen and other stakeholders better understand what ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM) is all about. These workshops, which are under development, are expected to be held later this summer or early fall.

In the meantime, the Council is encouraging people to become familiar with the extensive array of outreach materials posted on the EBFM public information outreach webpage. Here are some highlights.

The Council has been exploring ecosystem-based fishery management for several years now. The upcoming public information workshops are intended to help inform fishermen and other stakeholders about EBFM and its potential application to a Georges Bank Ecosystem Production Unit. The Council has been referring to this approach as an example Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Georges Bank, which often is simply called the eFEP.

During its April 2022 meeting, the Council received a progress report on the latest EBFM outreach efforts and workshop planning. Another update is planned for the June 2022 meeting. The Council also received an update on work being done to develop a simplified, prototype management strategy evaluation (pMSE) for EBFM. This trial, dry-run prototype is intended to demonstrate how a larger-scale MSE eventually could be used to evaluate EBFM management strategies for a Georges Bank Ecosystem Production Unit with all stakeholders involved. The Council approved the planning document for this initiative. The presentation and other meeting materials related to the April EBFM discussion are available here.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Fishery Management Council to hold first scallop leasing meeting in Gloucester

April 27, 2022 — Scallopers, Gloucester will be the scene of the first of seven in-person meetings and two webinars over the next two months as the New England Fishery Management Council conducts scoping for a limited access Atlantic sea scallop program.

The meeting will take place Wednesday, April 27, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Cruiseport Gloucester, 6 Rowe Square.

The Newburyport-based council “is charged with conserving and managing fishery resources from 3 to 200 miles off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut,” with major ports Gloucester, New Bedford, and including Portland, Maine, according to its website.

“In September of 2022, the council will decide whether to initiate an amendment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan that may allow the leasing of access area allocations and DAS (days-at-sea) in the Limited Access component of the fishery,” says the council’s scoping document dated April 15. The fishery takes place along the East Coast from Maine to Virginia.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times