Saving Seafood

Fishery council to finalize priorities for 2021

October 21, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council has scheduled a special meeting for next week to finalize its priorities for 2021, as well as approve recommendations that fit within the executive order promoting U.S. seafood competitiveness and economic growth.

The special meeting, set for Oct. 27, will be held as a webinar. It is set to begin at 12:40 p.m. Deadline for submitting written comments is Thursday at 8 a.m.

The council, which usually finalizes its next-year priorities at its December meeting, moved up final action on its priorities so it may identify which of those may also directly respond to Executive Order 13921 issued in May by President Donald Trump.

“The council will first adopt its priorities for 2021 related to every fishery management plan and every action,” Janice Plante, council spokeswoman, said Tuesday. “The council has to decide which of those priorities will make the cut.”

Plante said the development of the master list of 2021 council priorities should naturally help inform the council when it turns to crafting its recommendations for the executive order.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

New England Fishery Management Council Seeks Feedback on For Hire Groundfish Limited Entry Template

October 20, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is seeking feedback, via their contractor Tidal Bay Consulting, on a template for a limited entry program for party/charter vessels in the recreational groundfish fishery. Feedback on the template will assist the Council in further refining the elements considered under a strawman proposal. The development of the strawman and public input will assist the Council in deciding whether to develop a limited entry program for the recreational party/charter groundfish fleet in future actions.

You can find more information about recent Council activities related to limited entry in the for hire recreational fishery, and provide feedback here.

Questions?

Jessica Joyce, Tidal Bay Consulting, 207-200-8795

Jamie M. Cournane, New England Fishery Management Council, 978-465-0492

NEFMC October 27, 2020 Webinar Meeting – Listen Live, Get Documents – Council Priorities

October 19, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a special half-day meeting by webinar on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 to: (1) discuss and approve final 2021 Council Priorities; and (2) identify and approve a list of actions responding to the May 7, 2020 Executive Order 13921, Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth.

START TIME:  12:30 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT:  The public is invited to listen live and provide input during designated opportunities for public comment.

  • The Council’s “Guidelines for Providing Public Comments” can be found here.
  • The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration during this webinar meeting is Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 8:00 a.m.

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

  • Here are instructions in the Remote Participation Guide for successfully joining and participating in the webinar.
  • THIS IS KEY!  If you want to speak during opportunities for public comment, you need to: (1) register for the webinar; and (2) actually “join” the webinar.  People who call in by telephone without joining the webinar will be in listen-only mode.  Those who take both steps – register and then join the webinar – will see the meeting screen and be able to click on a “raise hand” button, which will let the meeting organizer know you want to be unmuted to speak.
  • We have a Help Desk in case you get stuck joining the webinar or have trouble along the way.  Phone numbers are listed on the Help Desk Poster, or just email helpdesk@nefmc.org.  We’ll get right back to you.

WEBINAR CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8422.  The access code is 638-472-965.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  All meeting materials and the agenda are available on the Council’s website at NEFMC October 27, 2020 Webinar Meeting.  Additional documents will be posted as they become available.

IMPORTANT GROUNDFISH ITEM UNDER OTHER BUSINESS:  The Council will consider making a change to 2020 groundfish priorities under “Other Business.”  The change is related to Framework Adjustment 61 to the groundfish plan, which is under development and slated for final action in December.  As part of this action, the Council will discuss whether to: (1) add a universal sector exemption pertaining to fishing for redfish; and (2) in exchange, remove an item involving investigating ways to increase Georges Bank haddock utilization.  The Council also may discuss other issues as needed under Other Business.

THREE MEETING OUTLOOK:  A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available HERE.

COUNCIL MEETING QUESTIONS:  Anyone with questions prior to or during the Council meeting should contact Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

NEFMC Highlights Importance of Scallop RSA Surveys During COVID-19 Pandemic

October 15, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) noted the value of the industry-funded Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program, calling it the “sole source” of scallop survey data during the coronavirus pandemic.

The typical survey run by NOAA Fisheries was canceled thanks to COVID-19 and it would leave key information about the status of the fishery for the year. However, the RSA program has worked as a complementary data set for about two decades.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NEFMC Gives Go Ahead for Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan

October 14, 2020 — Last week, the New England Fishery Management Council signed off on Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

The amendment includes new measures to “better manage total scallop removals from the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area by all components of the fishery.” Along with expanding flexibility in the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fishery. The NEFMC noted that the amendment still needs NMFS/NOAA approval before it can be implemented.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Scallop RSA Surveys Gather Essential Data During COVID-19

October 13, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The industry-funded Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program earned its weight in gold this year by providing the sole source of 2020 scallop survey data during the coronavirus pandemic.

NOAA Fisheries typically conducts an annual survey for Atlantic sea scallops on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp, a research vessel owned and operated by the University of Delaware. This year, however, the federal survey was canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. The cancellation of this important federal survey meant that essential information related to the current status of the resource would be missing for 2020.

Read the full release here

Industry tackles the role of fish monitors

October 12, 2020 — Commercial fishermen invest a great deal in their businesses, both in terms of money — boats, equipment and crew to name a few expenses – as well as time — marketing, selling and scouting, again to name just a few tasks.

They also invest in the industry’s future, weighing in on myriad edicts that make commercial fishing one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country.

So when Congressman Jared Huffman, D-California, took his Magnuson-Stevens Act listening tour to New England – albeit virtually on account of the pandemic – Captain Eric Hesse was there. Hesse, representing the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, was appreciative of the chance to share thoughts.

“We all have things we think about and we muse about as we spend our time on the water and certainly accountability in New England’s groundfishery is one of those big issues for me,” Hesse said, sitting at his computer late last month, pictures of his boats in the background.

Accountability – keeping strict tabs on the catch – has been talked about for decades. Hesse, who has monitoring cameras on his boat for every trip, believes that 100 percent coverage would drive better science and help bring back the iconic cod fishery. Others disagree on the need for full coverage either through human observers or cameras.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

Electronic monitoring long-awaited boon for Cape fishermen

October 12, 2020 — More than a decade of advocacy by local fishermen finally paid off when the New England Fishery Management Council at its meeting last month approved the use of video cameras on fishing vessels to monitor catches.

Electronic monitoring is a critical part of the council plan known as Amendment 23 that passed Sept. 30 and set a target of covering 100% of all fishing trips to catch bottom-feeding species such as cod, haddock and flounders that are collectively known as groundfish.

“The Council has known for quite a while now that we needed to improve the groundfish monitoring program,” council spokesperson Janice Plante said. “We’d had some issues in the past with unreported or misreported catches. We know there’s an incentive to illegally discard certain stocks, especially those with low catch limits.”

Plus, just 31% of groundfish trips were required to be covered by human observers riding on fishing vessels tracking the number of discarded and caught fish and Plante said the council knew that sometimes fishermen fished differently on observed trips and unobserved trips.

“These are all things the Council wanted to address by improving the catch monitoring program,” Plante wrote in an email.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

New Electronic Monitoring Outreach Materials Available for Groundfish Sectors

October 9, 2020 — The following was released by the NOAA Fisheries:

On September 30, 2020, the New England Fishery Management Council voted to approve Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, including two options for sectors to use electronic monitoring, instead of human at-sea monitors, to meet their third-party sector monitoring requirements.

Under an electronic monitoring program, cameras and gear sensors are placed on your vessel to monitor catch and discards, and collect catch information. There are two different kinds of electronic monitoring programs for sectors in Amendment 23: Audit and Maximized Retention. We created a fact sheet and an infographic in order to help groundfish sectors understand the similarities and differences between these two programs as they consider which monitoring tools they would like to use in future fishing years. The fact sheet and infographic are now available on our northeast groundfish monitoring program webpage.

Questions?

Electronic Monitoring: Contact Claire Fitz-Gerald, Sustainable Fisheries, 978-281-9255

Amendment 23: Contact Mark Grant, Sustainable Fisheries, 978-281-9145

Media Inquiries: Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175

New England’s Groundfish Fleet Will Be 100% Monitored, Not Yet Clear Who Will Ultimately Pay

October 8, 2020 — In an historic vote one week ago, the New England Fisheries Mainagement Council adopted Amendment 23 which will require human observers or electronic monitoring on all trips made by the groundfish fleet.

“After more than three-and-a-half years of hard work on developing measures to improve the groundfish monitoring program, the New England Fishery Management Council … overwhelmingly voted to submit the amendment to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries) for review, approval, and implementation,” the Council announced in a press release yesterday.

Read the full story at Seafood News