Saving Seafood

NEFMC Discusses Skates, Atlantic Herring, Red Hake, EBFM, Habitat, and Research Priorities at June Meeting

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council met June 23-25, 2020 by webinar. In addition to the news already released about groundfish, monkfish, and scallops, here’s an overview of the other issues the Council worked on during this meeting.

Research Priorities: After considering input from its various fishery-related committees and the Scientific and Statistical Committee, the Council agreed to submit an updated list of Research Priorities and Data Needs for 2020-2024 to NOAA Fisheries.

Skates: At the end of last year, the Council tasked its Skate Committee with defining a clear problem statement, goals, and objectives for Draft Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The amendment is being developed to consider whether limited access is appropriate for the skate wing and/or skate bait fisheries. The committee worked on this task in late-March using additional data provided by the Skate Plan Development Team. The Council reviewed the new problem statement, along with an additional objective, and discussed whether it wanted to continue pursuing the development of a limited access program for skates. The Council did not approve the problem statement but agreed to have the committee continue to work on its initial tasking.

Read the full release here

Fish council seeking input on monitor rule

July 6, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council has been toiling for two years on the amendment that would set monitoring levels for vessels in the Northeast groundfish fishery and now appears to be hitting the home stretch.

Final action on the measure — known as Amendment 23 — now is expected at the council’s September meeting. The meeting, Sept. 29 to Oct. 1,  currently is set for the Beauport Hotel Gloucester on Commercial Street, but could be shifted to a webinar depending on the state of the COVID-19 virus and its associated restrictions.

The council, which extended the public comment period to Aug. 31, already has held three public hearings via webinar on Amendment 23 and plans more in July and August. The next is scheduled for July 16 at 4 p.m. and interested participants can access all related documents in the Amendment 23 library on the council website, nefmc.org.

The council also is reaching out to commercial fishermen and other stakeholders, offering a variety of platforms to help them understand the complexities of the amendment and ease their participation in the online public hearings.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NEFMC Approves Scallop A21 for Webinar Hearings; Adopts 2021-2022 RSA Priorities

July 2, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During its June 23-25, 2020 webinar meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council made decisions that helped advance the development of three important scallop fishery issues. The Council:

  • Selected several preferred alternatives for Draft Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and approved the draft for public hearings by webinar;
  • Approved 2021-2022 priorities for the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program; and
  • Initiated Framework Adjustment 33 to the FMP to set specifications for the 2021 fishing year and default
    specifications for 2022.

Read the full release here

NEFMC Raises Concerns Over NOAA Decision on At-Sea Monitoring

June 20, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has written to NOAA Fisheries expressing concern over the agency’s plan to resume at-sea monitoring beginning July 1. The Council voted last week at its June meeting to deliver to NOAA its concerns with the safety and medical impact of the program.

The NEFMC is the second regional Fishery Management Council to express concerns over the observer plan. Last week, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council wrote a letter to the agency expressing similar concerns. Together, the two councils manage the fisheries in NOAA’s Greater Atlantic region, which is the region affected by the observer order.

In its letter, the NEFMC specifically raises the concern that the potential risks of resuming at-sea monitoring—mainly the increased risk of COVID-19 exposure for both fishermen and observers—outweigh any of the program’s benefits.

“The Council understands that – under normal circumstances – observer data provide important information for both monitoring the fishery and assessing fish stocks,” the letter states. “These are not normal times.”

The Council raises further issues, including concerns from many in the industry that they were not consulted on the decision. It also questions the agency on its policy on safety issues surrounding the program, including testing observers for COVID-19; potential medical waivers for boats with at-risk crew members; quarantine practices for observers; and how on-board observer practices will be modified to minimize the risk of virus transmission.

The full letter is available here

NEFMC Schedules Groundfish Amendment 23 Final Action; Discusses COVID-19, Cod Issues

June 29, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council addressed numerous groundfish-related items as it wrapped up its June 23-25, 2020 webinar meeting. Here are the highlights.

Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23: This amendment is intended to improve catch monitoring and reporting in the commercial groundfish fishery. The Council has held three public hearings to date by webinar – one in April and two in May – and is now scheduling more public hearings for July and August. The public comment deadline has been extended through August 31, 2020. The Council will take final action at its September meeting.

Read the full release here

Monkfish: NEFMC Receives Report on Estimating Discards for TAL Calculations

June 29, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has received a new report that provides insightful information about monkfish discards and how alternative approaches for projecting future discards might be used when setting limits on total allowable landings (TALs) in the fishery.

The Council sets monkfish specifications every three years using data from the previous three years. In September 2019, the Council signed off on 2020-2022 specifications using data from 2016-2018. Discards during that three-year period were notably higher than the past period, increasing from 13.9% to 18.2% in the Northern Monkfish Management Area and from 24% to 50.8% in the Southern Management Area.

Since discards are subtracted from the annual catch target to get to the landing limit for fishermen (see flow chart below), the large change in discard estimates was concerning, especially in the southern area, because the estimates were reflective of a high discard period that was not expected to continue in the future.

Read the full release here

Monitors to return; fishermen critical

June 25, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries’s plan to reinstate at-sea monitoring aboard commercial fishing vessels on July 1 despite the ongoing pandemic prompted withering criticism Tuesday from the region’s fishing industry.

Fishermen and other stakeholders flocked onto the webinar of the New England Fishery Management Council’s June meeting Tuesday morning to voice their displeasure — and perplexity — at the decision by NOAA Fisheries to resume placing monitors aboard vessels despite obvious health risks.

“They’ve offered us no guidelines and protocols for keeping observers and the industry safe,” Gloucester Fisheries Director Al Cottone, a longtime Gloucester fisherman, said in an interview following the webinar. “Basically, NOAA Fisheries has just passed the buck, placing the burden on the industry and (monitoring) providers on how to be safe on a 40-foot boat.”

He said the agency has not provided provisions for mandatory testing of observers, nor will it provide medical exemptions for at-sea monitoring to fishermen who have a pre-existing condition or are at extreme risk because of age.

“We have an elderly working fleet here,” Cottone said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA Announces Resumption of Greater Atlantic Fisheries Observer Requirements; Fishery Management Councils Object to Decision

June 23, 2020 — Yesterday, NOAA Fisheries announced that vessels in the Greater Atlantic region will once again be required to carry fishery observers and at-sea monitors beginning July 1. The agency had previously waived the requirements since the start of the COVID-19 crisis in March.

While the agency, in its letter to stakeholders, stated that “Observers and at-sea monitors are an essential component of commercial fishing operations,” the decision was opposed by Fishery Management Councils in the region. In its own letter to NOAA Fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) called on the agency “to extend the observer coverage waiver until the number of active COVID-19 cases in the region has been substantially reduced and the number of new cases is steadily declining.”

“Although some states are beginning to slowly reopen, social distancing protocols are still almost universally recommended or required. However, the close living quarters on most fishing vessels would make social distancing virtually impossible,” the Council’s letter states. “Recognizing that the virus could spread rapidly within these environments, many fishing crews have been self-quarantining before fishing trips. Unless observers are subject to mandatory 14-day quarantine periods between assignments, we are concerned that they could unknowingly become vectors for transmission of the virus between fishing vessels.”

In addition to expressing concern over the safety of reallowing observers on fishing vessels, the Council also noted that the resumption of onboard observers and monitors goes against the telework policies implemented by both the Council and NOAA during the ongoing COVID-19 related shutdown.

“It is our understanding that NOAA, like the Council, continues to operate under a maximum telework policy. Also, we believe that NOAA staff such as Northeast Fisheries Science Center employees are currently prohibited from participating in on-board cooperative research,” the letter stated. “During our June Council Meeting, which was conducted entirely by webinar, we discussed plans for how and when to resume in-person meetings. The Council was generally in agreement that at this time the public health risks outweigh the benefits of face-to-face meetings and that we should continue to utilize virtual meetings for the near term. Considering these steps that have been taken to minimize health risks for fishery scientists and managers, why should the same consideration not be extended to the fishing industry?”

At its meeting today, the New England Fishery Management Council approved a motion “to task Council staff to write a letter expressing the Council’s concern regarding the redeployment of the observer program on July 1.” The motion was agreed to by consensus with 3 abstentions.

Read NOAA’s announcement here

Read the Council’s letter here

NEFMC deep-sea coral amendment provides sweeping habitat protections

June 19, 2020 — A new amendment from the New England Fishery Management Council, which has been approved by NOAA Fisheries, will provide “sweeping protections” for deep-sea corals in areas off the New England coast, including the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.

The new amendment, the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment, is expected to take effect this summer and applies to two regions in the Gulf of Maine and the Continental Slope area south of Georges Bank. The area protecting the Continental Slope area includes 82 percent of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, begins at a depth of 600 meters, and extends to the 200-mile exclusive economic zone limit.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Deep-Sea Coral Amendment to Provide Sweeping Habitat Protection, Including in Canyons and Seamounts Monument

June 17, 2020 — The following is an excerpt from a release published today by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was created on September 15, 2016 by a Presidential Proclamation, which included a ban on commercial fishing within the monument area. Fishermen in the lobster and deep- sea red crab fisheries, however, were given seven years to phase out their operations.

The proclamation superseded the Council’s ability to manage fisheries through its usual process under the Magnuson- Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) within the marine monument’s boundaries.

A second Presidential Proclamation was issued on June 5, 2020 – the Proclamation on Modifying the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.

This second proclamation removed the prohibition on commercial fishing and allowed management of fisheries within the marine monument to revert to the Council through the MSA process.

“We’ve said from the beginning that fishery management councils are best suited to address the complicated tradeoffs involved in managing fisheries, and we appreciate regaining our control to do so in the monument area,” said Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn.

However, the Council has been concerned by some of the news coverage surrounding this most recent Presidential Proclamation. Several articles indicated that fishing in the marine monument will be unrestricted and lead to “devastating” habitat impacts and the resumption of destructive fishing practices.

“This is not true at all,” said Tom Nies, the Council’s executive director. “The monument area will not be ‘wide open to industrial fishing.’”

In the canyons and seamounts region, the Council’s Coral Amendment will:

  • Prohibit the use of bottom-tending commercial fishing gear within the designated deep-sea coral area, including otter trawls; beam trawls; hydraulic dredges; non-hydraulic dredges; bottomtending seines; bottom longlines; pots and traps; and sink or anchored gillnets; and
  • Protect the majority of coral habitats occurring in the canyons and on the slope in the New England region. The protected area will encompass 75% of plotted occurrences of corals, 75% of estimated soft coral habitat based on a habitat suitability model, and 85% of the areas with slopes greater than 30°. Steep slopes are a strong predictor of coral occurrence.

The prohibition on the use of bottom-tending gear types will provide substantial protection for deep-sea corals from being damaged by commercial fishing activities. The Council provided one exemption for red crab pots. The small-scale deep-sea red crab fishery has only four active vessels, and the canyons and slope are vital to its operation.

Read the full release here