Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishermen planning to stage protest in Plymouth

September 25, 2015 — PLYMOUTH – Local fishermen angry over federal catch-limit policies are gearing up for a demonstration at Wednesday’s meeting of the New England Fisheries Management Council in Plymouth.

Fishermen said the regional fisheries council has stonewalled input from smaller, family-run fishing operations in favor of larger, corporately owned boats.

Stephen Welch, who lives in Hanover and fishes out of Scituate and Hyannis, plans to be at Wednesday’s demonstration.

Welch, who owns a 45-foot trawler called the Mystic, said federal regulations on fishing implemented five years ago have hurt fishermen like him and are not doing a good job of protecting certain fish stocks.

“I used to have two boats and eight employees. Now I have one boat and one employee,” said Welch, a member of Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, a fishermen-led organization.

Read the full story at The Patriot Ledger

2016/2017 Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program – Proposals Due October 31, 2015

September 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NMFS, in coordination with the New England Fishery Management Council, is soliciting Atlantic Sea Scallop research proposals to utilize scallop Total Allowable Catch that has been set-aside by the Council to fund scallop research endeavors through the 2016/2017 Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside 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 compensate vessels that participate in research activities and/or harvest set-aside quota.

Click here for Information about this opportunity. To apply for this NOAA Federal Funding Opportunity, go to www.grants.gov, and use the following funding opportunity #: NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2016-2004548.

Questions? Contact Olivia Rugo, Regional Office, at 978-675-2167 or Olivia.Rugo@noaa.gov.

Live Streaming Information for next week’s SSC meeting, Sept 1, 2015

August 28, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Dear Interested Parties:

Meeting: The public is invited to listen in to the September 1, 2015 Scientific and Statistical Committee Meeting (SSC). It is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Boston Logan Airport, 100 Boardman Street.  

Location: See Hilton Garden Inn for further information about the venue.

Webinar Registration: For online access to the meeting – https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1465020447061066241.

The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:00 a.m. and end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST.

Charges for Listening: There are no charges if you access the webinar via your computer. If dialing in, your normal phone charges will apply.

Dial in number: Toll: +1 (646) 307-1706

Access Code: 227-977-093 

Meeting Materials: Please consult the Council’s website Sept. 1, 2015 SSC Meeting. You will find an agenda and copies of the materials to be considered.

 

Fishing managers taking comments on changes to herring rules

August 25, 2015 — PORTLAND, MA — Federal fishing managers are looking for comments about the issue of localized depletion in Atlantic herring fishing.

Localized depletion is when fishing takes more fish than can be replaced locally or through migration. The request for feedback comes as the New England Fishery Management Council is working on an amendment to make sure future Atlantic herring catch limits are based on “scientific uncertainty” and the status of the herring stock.

Read the full story at the New Jersey Herald

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.

 The agency has rejected at every turn the industry’s argument that this is a classic unfunded mandate, with the $700-per-trip costs likely to bankrupt some vessel owners and force others to remain in port, even when they could be fishing.

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 

Read a letter from NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard officially rejecting the request for emergency funding

 

 

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.