New England Fishery Management Council Archives - Page 59 of 101

DAVID H. WALLACE: Grateful for Jon Mitchell’s advocacy of clam industry

December 12, 2018 — I would like to publicly thank Mayor Jon Mitchell for attending Tuesday’s New England Fishery Management Council’s meeting to advocate on behalf of the clam industry and the 500 local families that depend upon it. Mayor Mitchell spoke fervently in favor of Alternative 2, citing the $10 million economic value of the industry to New Bedford’s working waterfront.

Mayor Mitchell has great respect for the commercial fishermen, processors, and other related supply chain businesses that generate incredible economic value throughout New Bedford and the greater northeast coast. He understands that all industry members are not only small business owners that provide jobs and wages to Greater New Bedford residents but are also stewards of the ocean with a belief in the long-term sustainability of its resources.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

New England fishery council under fire for clam, wind decisions

December 10, 2018 — A decision this week by the New England Fishery Management Council to vote down a resolution that would’ve allowed clam harvesting in a 280 square mile area off Nantucket Shoals is drawing fire from the clam industry and others, South Coast Today, a New Bedford, Massachusetts-based newspaper, is reporting.

In particular, critics are pointing to the council’s decision to allow offshore wind development to continue in a 1,400 square mile area in a similar region, according to the newspaper.

“It’s amazing to me that they’ve turned this complete blind eye on really the most intrusive project that’s ever come on the East Coast, which is wind,” Scott Lang, a former New Bedford mayor and attorney for the clam industry, is quoted as saying. ”… They’re acting like that’s something we’re just going to have to live with, but a fishery that’s been around for a couple hundred years is a threat to the habitat.”

Read the full article at Undercurrent News

Fishing quotas for cod, haddock to get a boost next year

December 10, 2018 — Commercial fishermen will be able to catch a little bit more cod and haddock off New England next year.

Fishermen seek the valuable groundfish species and others off the East Coast, with most coming to land in New England states. The New England Fishery Management Council has approved new catch limits for several species for the fishing year that begins May 1.

The largest catch limit will be for Georges Bank haddock. It’ll increase by almost 20 percent to more than 117 million pounds (53 million kilograms).

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WTNH

New England Shellfish Harvest OK’d, With More Monitoring

December 10, 2018 — A regulatory board is allowing shellfish harvesting in a key management area off of New England, though more monitoring of the fishery will now apply.

The New England Fishery Management Council has approved new measures to allow the harvest of surfclams within the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area. The council says mussel fishermen will also be able to operate in the new areas.

The council says it wants fishermen and researchers to work together to get a better idea of where surfclams can be harvested without disturbing sensitive undersea habitat.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Maine Public

Maine fisheries groups support DMR Commissioner Keliher

December 10, 2018 — Who says miracles don’t happen?

In what must be a first in modern history, virtually every commercial fishing organization in Maine joined together to urge Governor-elect Janet Mills to keep Patrick Keliher on the job as commissioner of Marine Resources after she takes office in January.

First reported in the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s Landings, shortly after the election, the MLA, Downeast Lobstermen’s Association, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, Maine Aquaculture Association, Alewife Harvesters of Maine, Maine Elver Fishermen Association and the Independent Maine Marine Worm Harvesters Association signed a letter to Mills voicing the organizations’ unanimous support for the current DMR commissioner.

“Commissioner Keliher has the relationships, knowledge of the industry landscape and major issues to effectively lead Maine’s seafood sector into the future,” the fisheries groups told the governor-elect.

As of late this week, DMR spokesman Jeff Nichols said Keliher had “no comment at this time” regarding the industry’s endorsement.

Governor Paul LePage appointed Keliher to his job in January 2012, some six months after the departure of the Governor’s initial appointee, Norman Olsen, in July 2011.

Over the past seven-plus years, Keliher has overseen the implementation of a number of tough conservation and enforcement programs in several fisheries including the 10-year rotational management plan for scallops, the introduction of magnetic swipe cards to track landings in the elver fishery and federally mandated gear changes by lobstermen for the protection of endangered whales. He also pushed the Legislature for stronger powers to discipline fishermen who violate Maine’s fisheries laws and DMR rules.

His experience with fisheries regulatory groups was a significant factor in the groups’ recommendation.

“Many of the most impactful decisions that affect the Maine commercial fishing industry are made by regulatory agencies outside of Maine through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),” the writers told Mills.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

New England Shellfish Harvest OK’d, With More Monitoring

December 7, 2018 — A regulatory board is allowing shellfish harvesting in a key management area off of New England, though more monitoring of the fishery will now apply.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S News and World Report

New England Council Finalizes 2019-20 Scallop Plan, Landings Will be 60 Million lbs or Higher

December 7, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England Fishery Management Council has finalized the scallop plan for 2019-20, the fishing year beginning on April 1^st.

NMFS staff estimates that catches will be similar to this year, which are expected to be around 60 million lbs.

However, the plan adds one additional closed area trip for each of the approximately 310 full time vessels in the fishery. At 18,000 lbs per trip, this has the potential to increase landings by around 5.5 million lbs.

Open access days will remain the same, meaning that the resource scientists expect to see a lower volume landed from the same number of days at sea.

Part of this is due to projected changes in size of scallops landed.

Bristol Seafoods, in Portland, has excellent customer facing information on Scallops, and CEO Peter Handy offered his take on the 2019 season.

Handy said that if the season plays out as the council expects, Bristol’s customers should see the same volumes of 10-20’s and 20-30’s as last year, but there may be a decline in U-10’s and U-12’s.

Whether such a decline materializes will depend on the size of the scallops in some of the closed areas now being fished for the second year. Last year, says Handy, the area that produced the largest amount of U-10’s and U-12’s were from Closed area 1 and the Nantucket lightship. This year, those areas will only be accessed once if at all, as part of a ‘flex’ trip allocated by the council. Handy says “Overall, it looks like the trips to areas that have the most plentiful big scallops was reduced from two down to one.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

NEFMC Approves Groundfish Framework 58

December 7, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has approved Framework Adjustment 58 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The framework will be submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries) for review and implementation. The target implementation date is May 1, which is the start of the 2019 groundfish fishing year. In short, the framework includes the following components:

Revised and/or new rebuilding programs for several groundfish stocks, including: (a) Georges Bank winter flounder; (b) Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder; (c) witch flounder; (d) Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Northern windowpane flounder; and (e) ocean pout;
Revised annual catch limit specifications (see tables at right and next page);
2019 U.S./Canada total allowable catches (TACs) for three shared groundfish stocks on Georges Bank;
An exemption for vessels fishing in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) waters from U.S. commercial minimum sizes in the Council’s Northeast Multispecies FMP; and
An extension of the temporary change that’s currently in place for the scallop fishery’s trigger for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder accountability measures (AMs). Under this extension, the scallop fishery’s AM would be triggered only if scallopers exceed both their own sub-ACL for yellowtail flounder and if the total ACL for this stock is exceeded.

Read the full release here

Scallops hold steady for New England, but sizes could shrink

December 7, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council yesterday released information on the upcoming scallop season, including an estimated 60 million pounds in landings.

The council approved Framework Adjustment 30 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which still needs to be approved by NMFS before the season kicks off on April 1, 2019.

Peter Handy, president and CEO of Bristol Seafood, speculated that a reduction in trips to Nantucket Light Ship South and Closed Area 1 may also reduce the volume of U10 and U12 product on the market.

Last season, about half the catch in these areas were larger scallops.

“Overall, it looks like the trips to areas that have the most plentiful big scallops was reduced from two down to one,” Handy reported in a press release. However, he added, it is important to note that scallop sizes can change year to year within the same area.

The Northern Gulf of Maine TAC increased about 5,000 pounds to 205,000. However, last year the council’s prediction for the 2019 season was 135,000 pounds. The default for 2020 is set at 170,000.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NEFMC recommendation could pave way for another big scallop year; 60m lbs projected

December 6, 2018 — New England scallop landings in 2019 could reach as much as 60 million pounds (27,215 metric tons), a similar result to 2018, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) projects.

The new season will begin on April 1.

At its meeting held today, Dec. 5, the NEFMC voted unanimously to approve a set of rules known as “Framework 30”, which, if the projection by the council’s plan team holds true, could lead to the 60m lbs harvest.

The framework will allow vessels with “full-time limited access” scallop permits to fish during 24 open-area days-at-sea and seven 18,000-pound access area trips.

That includes three trips to a zone called “Nantucket Lightship-West”, three to the “Mid-Atlantic Access Area”, and an additional “flex” trip that can be used in either of those areas or a more northerly zone, “Closed Area I”.

For the “part-time limited access fleet” in 2019, vessels will be allocated 9.6 open-area days-at-sea and three 17,000-pound trips. One trip will be used in Nantucket Lightship-West, another in the Mid-Atlantic Access Area and the third in either of those areas or in Closed Area I.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News