Mass. Governor, Congressional Delegation to Obama Administration: Fund At-Sea Monitoring for New England Fishermen
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — August 20, 2015 — Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and all nine Members of Congress from Massachusetts have called upon the Obama Administration to reverse recent policy decisions and continue the funding of at-sea monitoring for Northeastern fishermen. While the agency currently funds at-sea monitors, fishermen will have to assume the full cost of the program beginning this year, which the industry contends they will be unable to afford.
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Governor Baker and the Massachusetts Congressional delegation expressed “serious concern over recent actions taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” The signatories are especially critical of the agency’s current at-sea monitoring policy, specifically its plan to shift funding of the program from NOAA onto fishermen, noting that such a move could potentially bankrupt the industry.
The Republican Governor and the all-Democratic Congressional delegation have joined forces to criticize the Administration decision and the heavy costs that individual fishermen are likely to incur as a result of this policy, especially in light of the fact that fishermen are still recovering from the federal economic disaster declared by the Commerce Department in 2012.
Citing a NOAA analysis of the transfer, the letter notes that monitors will cost the fishery $2.64 million in the first year alone, and would lead to an estimated 60 percent of the vessels in the fishery operating at a loss. According to the Governor and legislators, this amounts to an “unfunded mandate that could lead to the end of the Northeast Groundfishery as we know it.”
At its June meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council requested that NOAA take administrative actions to “improve the efficiency of the program,” as well as “reduce costs of the [at-sea monitoring program] without compromising compliance” with current laws. In its response to the Council, NOAA rejected these requests, stating that they were not “consistent with current regulatory requirements and statistical standards.”
The Gloucester, Massachusetts-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, which represents a significant percentage of the groundfish fleet, criticized NOAA’s decisions, while coming out in support of efforts by Gov. Baker and Congress to force a change in agency policy.
“The Council has questioned the benefits and the costs to the groundfish fishery of the at-sea monitoring program, and has given their clear directive to the Agency to either suspend or make the existing program more cost effective,” said Jackie Odell, Executive Director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition. “All requests made to date have received an astounding ‘no’ from NOAA. The Northeast Seafood Coalition strongly supports the requests made by the Council, Governor Baker and Members of Congress. When is enough, enough?”
In addition to Secretary Pritzker, the letter was sent to Sens. Thad Cochran and Barbara Mikulski, and Reps. Hal Rogers and Nita Lowey. Gov. Baker and Sens. Warren and Markey are joined by Reps. Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Michael Capuano, Stephen Lynch, Niki Tsongas, William Keating, Joseph Kennedy, Katherine Clark, and Seth Moulton as signatories of the letter.
Read the letter from Gov. Baker and the Massachusetts Congressional delegation
Read the NEFMC’s request to NOAA on at-sea monitoring
Read NOAA’s rejection of the NEMFC’s at-sea monitoring request
Frulla & Hawkins of FSF: Doing the Math on Closed Areas
August 17, 2015 — The following is an opinion piece written by David Frulla and Anne Hawkins, of the Fisheries Survival Fund, which appears in the September 2015 issue of National Fisherman magazine: Old closed areas, like old attitudes, die hard. After 10 years’ work, the New England Fishery Management Council took final votes in June on Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2, addressing essential fish habitat protection in the Gulf of Maine, on Georges Bank and in the Great South Channel. One last major vote involved Georges Bank. Discussions had proceeded for months about how to work within the existing alternatives to refine a carefully drawn area that closed three areas for habitat protection. The council’s choice for Georges came down to two options: doing nothing or a new alternative based on more than a decade of new scientific data and analyses. Ultimately, the council chose progress. The argument to do nothing was driven by a false choice that has gained attention as rhetoric began to outpace the facts contained in council decision documents. For two-plus years, environmental NGOs have made the false argument that more than 7,000 square miles of allegedly pristine habitat on Georges Bank will be .thrown open to mobile bottomtending gear, to be replaced by only 2,000 square miles of habitat protections. Lost in the blizzard of misinformation is the fact that the habitat amendment subjects more area on Georges Bank to habitat management than “no action.” And now, a warning: We’ll mire you in some details. Sound bites are easy. It’s harder to explain change involving complex analyses and choices. The history: In December 1994, NMFS closed 6,711 square miles of Georges Bank, via the emergency enactment of Closed Areas I and II. The closure’s focus was reducing fishing mortality on cod, yellowtail and haddock to aid rebuilding. Then, in 2006, Scallop Amendment 10 and Groundfish Amendment 13 designated 1,965 square miles within the two closed areas as closures to protect habitat. The council needed to close areas to protect habitat on Georges and it decided to work within the existing groundfish closures rather than closing additional areas. The areas designated as habitat closures have remained permanently closed, while much of the remaining 4,746 square miles (6,711 minus 1, 965) have been used as scallop and/ or groundfish special access areas, among other things. The changes: In contrast to the 1,965 square miles on Georges Bank specifically managed for habitat now under “no action,” the habitat amendment would specifically manage approximately 2,470 square miles for habitat: about two-thirds of the existing Habitat Area of Particular Concern in Closed Area II, plus some area outside it; a new Georges Shoals area, to the west, currently open to fishing; and a dedicated habitat research area within existing Closed Area I. Almost all these 2,470 square miles will be closed. Less than 10 percent would be open to scallop access area fishing, and about half that to limited groundfishing. In addition, the habitat amendment closed for habitat approximately 1, 700 additional square miles in the Great South Channel. Most is within a new habitat of concern for juvenile Georges Bank cod. This would replace a somewhat larger closure within the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. Virtually none of the existing area habitat closure is habitat of concern for juvenile Georges Bank cod, or anything. When viewed across the entire Georges Bank cod stock area (Georges Bank and the Great South Channel), the habitat amendment would include roughly 4, 170 square miles for habitat management (totally closing more than 90 percent of it) versus 4,050 square miles for “no action,” and it includes far more habitat of concern for juvenile Georges Bank cod than “no action.” The habitat amendment also closes more areas that peer-reviewed analyses identify as vulnerable gravel and cobble substrate. What of the rest of the “lost” Georges Bank and Great South Channel groundfish closures? The remaining areas include: current access areas, such as the scallop and groundfish special access areas in southern Closed Area II and central Closed Area I, and portions of the closed areas that the habitat amendment’s peer-reviewed metrics show have little to no habitat value whatsoever. The amendment does not, moreover, open these areas without restriction, but rather imposes approximately 5,500 square miles of seasonal spawning closures. Protecting spawning is the remaining conservation consideration now that quotas control groundfish fishing mortality. The result: More, not less. Altogether, approximately 7,764 square miles of the Georges Bank cod stock area on Georges and in the Great South Channel will either be managed as-a habitat area or seasonal spawning closure. Moreover, the council designed these areas using peer-reviewed models, rather than 2006’s dead reckoning approach limited to existing groundfish closed areas. In total, across Georges Bank, the Great South Channel and the Gulf of Maine, the habitat amendment would close more area for habitat than is currently closed. As the late Paul Harvey might say, ‘.’That’s the rest of the story.” View a PDF of the opinion piece from National Fisherman magazine here
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NEFMC Solicits Groundfish Advisors
August 12, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC):
The New England Fishery Management Council has two vacancies on its Groundfish Advisory Panel. If you are interested in serving or have questions, please take a look at the details on the notice and, if appropriate, fill out the application form.
New Bedford Standard-Times: Catch accountability should take place at the dock
August 6, 2015 — NOAA’s denial of the New England Fishery Management Council’s June request to suspend at-sea monitoring has satisfied environmental groups, but it serves as the latest example of their inappropriate and misguided influence in management of the Northeast fisheries.
The Management Council had asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for emergency relief, as the cost of at-sea monitoring shifted from the government to the fishermen, a $700-$800 cost per trip. Fishermen and regulators alike anticipate that it will make a more trips unprofitable.
NOAA Regional Administrator John K. Bullard responded July 30 by saying the criteria for suspending the program under emergency action was not met.
According to an Aug. 3 report in the Gloucester Daily Times by reporter Sean Horgan, the campaign manager for environmental organization Oceana, Gib Brogan, said, “Currently, only 24 percent of fishing trips in the fishery carry observers on board. This proposal would have dropped it even further, seriously jeopardizing any chances of recovery for this region.”
There is more than one problem with this approach.
Read the full editorial at the New Bedford Standard-Times
Our view: NOAA’s unfunded mandate
August 5, 2015 — NEWBURYPORT, R.I. — It is said that fisherman can be stubborn. While there’s some truth to that, they can’t compare to the hardheadedness of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which continues to insist cash-strapped captains fork over hundreds of dollars every time the agency decides to place a monitor on their boat.
The on-board monitoring program has long been controversial, with questions raised about its effectiveness and safety. What rankles the industry most, however, is NOAA’s insistence that fishermen pay for the program out of their own pockets.
A few days ago, NOAA Fisheries denied a request by the Newburyport-based New England Fishery Management Council to suspend the monitoring program on an emergency basis.
“This was a foreseeable problem that does not justify an emergency action,” NOAA Regional Adminstrator John K. Bullard wrote to Tom Nies, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council.
We’re amazed NOAA has finally recognized the cost of the monitoring program is a “problem” for fishermen, even if they have no intention of helping to defray the costs.
Read the full story at The Daily News of Newburyport
2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Funding Opportunity – Proposals Due September 21, 2015
July 31, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
NMFS, with assistance from the New England Fishery Management Council (Council), is soliciting proposals for 2016 – 2018 that address Atlantic Herring RSA research priorities. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, proceeds generated from the sale of RSA quota will be used to fund research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.
Projects funded under the Atlantic Herring RSA Program must enhance the knowledge of Atlantic herring fishery resources or contribute to the body of information on which Council management decisions are made. Priority shall be given to funding research proposals in the following areas identified as research priorities by the Council for the 2016-2018 fishing years.
2016-2018 Atlantic Herring RSA Program Research Priorities – priorities are not listed in order of importance.
1. Atlantic herring portside sampling – Develop and/or demonstrate a portside sampling program.
2. River herring bycatch avoidance – Develop and/or demonstrate methods that will enable river herring bycatch avoidance in the Atlantic herring fishery.
3. Electronic monitoring – Investigate the feasibility of electronic video monitoring in the Atlantic herring fishery as a means to document vessel fishing and catch processing operations.
4. Stock Structure / Spatial Management
a. Investigate mixing of the Gulf of Maine-Georges Bank Atlantic herring resource with the Scotian shelf Atlantic herring resource.
b. Investigate whether Atlantic herring form contingents, and if schools segregate based on size, age, and spawning location.
c. Evaluate assumptions for developing spatial allocations (sub-ACLs) based on different stock structure models.
5. Availability and Detectability of Atlantic herring in Surveys and the Fishery
a. Investigate whether predation potential (e.g., cod) or school size affects the location of Atlantic herring in the water column.
b. Investigate whether the distribution of thermal habitat affects the availability of Atlantic herring to the survey or to the fishery.
6. Fishery acoustic indices – Develop and/or conduct a fishery-independent abundance survey using commercial vessels and fishery acoustics.
7. Volume to Weight Conversion
a. Investigate sources and magnitude of variability of herring catch volume to weight conversions made by vessel captains and dealers.
b. Investigate density-dependent growth /trade-off with reproduction and the potential effect on volume to weight conversions.
For instructions on submitting proposals, please see the attached Federal Funding Opportunity, or search www.grants.gov for funding opportunity NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016-2004537. Complete proposals/applications must be received on or before 5 p.m. EDT on 9/21/2015.
Please forward to any interested parties. For questions, please contact Cheryl Corbett at cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov or 508-495-2070.
Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside Proposals Due September 21st
July 29, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA:
NOAA Fisheries, with assistance from the New England Fishery Management Council, is seeking proposals for the 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, proceeds generated from the sale of RSA quota will be used to fund research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.
Projects funded under the Atlantic Herring RSA Program must enhance the knowledge of Atlantic herring fishery resources or contribute to the body of information on which Council management decisions are made. Priority will be given to proposals that investigate research priorities identified by the Council. The priorities are listed in the Federal Funding Opportunity Announcement, along with application instructions.
Questions? Please contact Cheryl Corbett at cheryl.corbett@noaa.gov or 508-495-2070.
Deadline to apply to NEFMC’s Trawl Survey Advisory Panel Friday, July 31
July 27, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The deadline is this week, Friday, July 31, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. if you would like to apply for a New England Fishery Management Council seat on the new Trawl Survey AP.
In addition to addressing the objectives identified for this group, panel members may discuss concerns about trawl survey performance and data collection, methods to address or mitigate these concerns, and assist in promoting a better understanding of the results. The panel will include members of both the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils, the Atlantic States Fisheries Commission, and fishing industry experts, as well as non-federal and Northeast Fisheries Science Center scientists.
Please see www.nefmc.org/news/nefmc-seeks-applicants-for-trawl-survey-advisory-panel for more details, including the full announcement, an application, and instructions about returning a completed application. If you have any questions please contact Pat Fiorelli at pfiorelli@nefmc.org.
NEFMC: Public Hearings Scheduled for Amendment 18 to the Groundfish Plan August 3-18
July 17, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC):
Dear Interested Parties:
The New England Fishery Management Council will hold five public hearings and one webinar to solicit comments on draft Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan.
Any interested party is encouraged to comment on the range of proposed alternatives that would impose limits on the amount of groundfish fishery permits and/or Potential Sector Contribution (PSC) that individuals or groups may hold, as well as other measures that could promote fleet diversity or enhance sector management.
Public hearings will be held at the following locations: Portland, ME; Portsmouth, NH; New Bedford, MA; Mystic, CT; and Gloucester, MA from August 3 through August 18. A webinar for the same purpose is scheduled for August 20. The details are provided here Am.18. Public Hearing Schedule.pdf.
To help with the development of comments, you also will find a summary of all the proposals and the rationale behind them here Groundfish Amend 18. Public Hearing doc.pdf, including details about how to comment. Note, the cover page repeats the hearing schedule. You are in the right place to access the summary document, just scroll down.