Saving Seafood

Spiny Dogfish Board Approves Draft Addendum VII for Public Comment to Consider Action to Reduce Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch

October 25, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved Draft Addendum VII to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfish for public comment. The Draft Addendum considers potential measures to maintain consistency with the federal Fishery Management Plan in response to the proposed rule to implement Spiny Dogfish Framework Adjustment 6.

The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils developed Spiny Dogfish Framework Adjustment 6 in response to a 2021 Biological Opinion and 2022 Action Plan that called for reducing bycatch of Atlantic sturgeon in spiny dogfish gillnet fisheries. The coastwide Atlantic sturgeon population is made up of five distinct population segments, all of which are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and Atlantic sturgeon harvest has been under a coastwide moratorium in federal and state waters since 1998. The Commission’s Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic sturgeon maintains the moratorium through at least 2038, and while the 2024 stock assessment update showed signs of improvement, the stock remains depleted coastwide.
The Board initiated Draft Addendum VII in August 2024 after the Councils recommended measures to NOAA Fisheries to prohibit overnight soaks for federal spiny dogfish permit holders on gillnets with 5”-10” mesh in November and May for a certain area of state and federal waters off of New Jersey, as well as for gillnets of 5.25”-10” mesh in November through March in specified areas off of Maryland and Virginia. The options in the Draft Addendum aim to establish equivalent overnight soak restrictions for spiny dogfish harvesters in state waters that do not possess a federal spiny dogfish permit.
The Draft Addendum will be posted to the website next week at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. A subsequent press release will provide details on the public hearing schedule and how to submit written comments. The Board will meet to review submitted comments and consider final action on the addendum in February at the Commission’s Winter Meeting.
The Board also revised the commercial quota for the 2024/2025 fishing from 11,331,747 to 10,249,260 pounds to be consistent with the federal quota. For more information, please contact James Boyle, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at jboyle@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

NEFMC Seeks Scientific and Statistical Committee Nominees to Serve for 2025-2027

October 24, 2024 — The New England Fishery Management Council is seeking qualified candidates to serve on its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC).  The application deadline is December 20, 2024.

  • SSC appointments are for three years with a limit of three consecutive terms. The term under this request for nominations will begin in January 2025 and end December 2027.
  • SSC members receive a daily stipend for meetings and are reimbursed for travel expenses.
  • Nominees must submit:
    • A resume or CV, including the length and type of relevant experience;
    • A brief letter of interest describing reasons for wanting to join the SSC; and
    • A completed Statement of Financial Interest Form.
  • All materials must be received by December 20, 2024 and should be sent via email or mail to Sherie Goutier at:
    • sgoutier@nefmc.org;
    • New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950

SSC nominees should have expertise in stock assessment methods, population dynamics, statistics, fisheries biology, marine ecology, economics, or other social sciences as they apply to fisheries management. SSC members are expected to provide independent, scientific advice to the Council.

The purpose of the SSC is to assist the Council in the development, collection, evaluation, and peer review of statistical, biological, economic, social, and other scientific information relevant to the development of fishery management plans. The committee may:

  • Provide guidance to ensure that fishery management plans are based on the best scientific information available.
  • Provide the Council with scientific advice for fishery management decisions, including recommendations for acceptable biological catch, overfishing limits, and achieving rebuilding targets, as well as social and economic impacts of management measures.
  • Provide peer reviews of regional scientific work, and methods and analyses prepared by the Council’s Plan Development Teams. Individuals may be appointed to serve on regional peer review panels, including for stock assessments.
  • Advise the Council on the preparation of comments on scientific issues.

More information is available in the Council’s Operations Handbook. If you have questions or need further details, please contact Rachel Feeney: rfeeney@nefmc.org; (978) 465-0492 ext. 110.

Groundfish: Council Signs off on Amendment 25; Prepares for December Final Action on Framework 69 Under Cod Phase 1

October 23, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council took final action on Amendment 25 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) when it met September 24-26, 2024 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The Council is now focused on Framework Adjustment 69 to the FMP. The framework is being developed to establish measures for the 2025 groundfish fishing year and, for certain stocks, 2026 and 2027 as well. The Council is scheduled to take final action on the framework at its December 3-5, 2024 meeting in Newport, Rhode Island. The 2025 groundfish fishing year begins on May 1.

AMENDMENT 25: The 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track Assessment determined that Atlantic cod would be better assessed as four stock units as shown in the map below. The groundfish plan, however, continues to refer to only two stocks – Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Amendment 25 takes the necessary first step of incorporating the four newly defined stocks into the plan as follows:

  • Eastern Gulf of Maine as a new stock unit;
  • Western Gulf of Maine as a new stock unit;
  • Georges Bank as a revised stock unit; and
  • Southern New England as a new stock unit.

Read the full release from the NEFMC here

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Monday, October 21, 2024 – Groundfish

October 15, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related groundfish.  The public is invited to listen live.  Here are the details.

WHEN:  Monday, October 21, 2024

WHERE:  Hilton Garden Inn Boston – Logan Airport.  This is an in-person meeting, coupled with a webinar option.  Please do not attend this meeting in person if you do not feel well.

START TIME:  9:00 a.m.

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

  • IMPORTANT:  The Council is now using Zoom to broadcast meetings.  Zoom requires users to be on the latest version of the application.  You must update your Zoom app to the latest version at least five minutes before joining the webinar to avoid glitches and be able to view presentations.

AGENDA:  The SSC will meet to:

  • Review information provided by the Council’s Groundfish Plan Development Team (PDT) and recent stock assessment reports, and then recommend the overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for fishing years 2025-2027 for:
    • American plaice;
    • Gulf of Maine haddock;
    • Georges Bank haddock;
    • Pollock; and
    • Atlantic halibut; and
  • Discuss other business as necessary.

COMMENTS:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 17, 2024.  Address comments to Council Chair Rick Bellavance or Executive Director Cate O’Keefe and email them to comments@nefmc.org.

MATERIALS:  All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC October 21, 2024 meeting webpage.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Dr. Rachel Feeney at (978) 465-0492, ext. 110, rfeeney@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Scallops: Council Receives 2024 Survey Season Overview and Framework 39 Update; Recaps Upcoming Work Priorities

October 8, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council received an overview of the 2024 Atlantic sea scallop survey season when it met in Gloucester, Massachusetts for its September 24-26, 2024 meeting. The Council also received updates on: (1) Framework Adjustment 39 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which will set specifications and other measures for the 2025 scallop fishing year; and (2) additional ongoing scallop projects, including the development Georges Bank Scallop Biomass Estimates By Sub-Region (2015 – 2024) of a three-to-five-year strategic plan for the fishery.

2024 SCALLOP SURVEY SEASON: Results from the 2024 scallop survey season indicate that overall biomass remains low compared to the 2016-2019 peak years of the fishery. The population of harvestable-size scallops expected to be available for the 2025 fishing year also remains low and may result in reduced allocations to the fishery.

However, surveys did show some positive signs of recruitment – seed and juvenile scallops – in multiple areas that could contribute to the fishery down the road. Here are a few 2024 survey highlights.

• Overall survey biomass decreased from 2023 to 2024.

• Biomass on Georges Bank is over two times higher than in the Mid-Atlantic, although biomass in the Mid-Atlantic bumped up due to new recruitment in the Elephant Trunk and, to a lesser extent, Hudson Canyon South.

• Multiple surveys documented a large recruitment event in Nantucket Lightship South (see maps below). While not as large as the 2013 year-class, the recruitment event is strong. The Council will consider closing the area in 2025 to protect these young scallops for additional grow-out within revised boundaries that better surround the new recruitment event.

• Area I and Area II on Georges Bank both harbor multiple year classes of scallops, which will prove challenging as the Council considers how to protect smaller scallops while providing access to larger, harvestable-size fiveyear-old scallops. The Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team will investigate options for protecting two-year olds in the Area I-Sliver and Area II Extension.

Atlantic Herring: Council Takes Final Action on Fishing Year 2025-2027 Specifications; Requests In-Season Adjustment

October 4, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council took final action on fishing year 2025-2027 specifications for Atlantic herring when it met September 24-26, 2024 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Council also asked the Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries to use his existing authority to implement an in-season adjustment to reduce default 2025 specifications to the level recently recommended by the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC).

The Council’s revised 2025 specifications, which are part of the new 2025-2027 package, are much lower than the default or backup 2025 specifications the Council developed in 2022 to cover the 2023-2025 fishing years. At the time, the Council knew it would need to update 2025 catch limits, but it included backups in a three-year package in case the next action was delayed.

BOTTOM LINE: The default 2025 annual catch limit (ACL) is 23,961 metric tons (mt). The revised 2025 ACL, which is based on the latest stock assessment, is 2,710 mt, marking an 89% reduction. For comparison, 2,710 mt equates to 14% of the 2024 ACL now in place.

The Council is deeply concerned about the magnitude of the needed adjustments and the inevitable social and economic impacts associated with the upcoming reductions in catch.

The revised ACL, if approved by NOAA Fisheries as expected, will result in the lowest catch limits in the history of the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. The new catch limits will not support a directed commercial fishery for Atlantic herring. Area-by-area sub-ACLs are shown in the table below.

 

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Wednesday, October 9, 2024 – Scallops, Witch Flounder, and More

October 2, 2024 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related to Atlantic sea scallops, witch flounder, and more.  The public is invited to listen live.  Here are the details.

WHEN:  Wednesday, October 9, 2024

WHERE:  Hilton Providence, Rhode Island.  This is an in-person meeting, coupled with a webinar option.  Please do not attend this meeting in person if you do not feel well.

START TIME:  9:00 a.m.

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

 

  • IMPORTANT:  The Council is now using Zoom to broadcast meetings.  Zoom requires users to be on the latest version of the application.  You must update your Zoom app to the latest version at least five minutes before joining the webinar to avoid glitches and be able to view presentations.

 

AGENDA:  The SSC will meet to:

 

  • Review information provided by the Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT) and recommend the overfishing limits (OFLs) and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for Atlantic sea scallops for fishing years 2025-2026;

 

  • Review witch flounder information provided by the Council’s Groundfish PDT, as well as stock assessment information, and recommend OFLs and ABCs for witch flounder for fishing years 2025-2027;

 

  • Review draft outcomes of the 8th National Workshop of the Council Coordination Committee’s Scientific Coordination Subcommittee (SCS8) held in August 2024 and discuss potential next steps;

 

  • Review outcomes of the May 2024 workshop on Implementing Social Science Methods for Fisheries Decision-Making, discuss a proposal for establishing a formal committee on social science, and discuss potential next steps for the SSC; and

 

  • Discuss other business as necessary.

 

COMMENTS:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is8:00 a.m. on Monday, October 7, 2024.  Address comments to Council Chair Rick Bellavance or Executive Director Cate O’Keefe and email them to comments@nefmc.org.

MATERIALS:  All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC October 9, 2024 meeting webpage.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Dr. Rachel Feeney at (978) 465-0492, ext. 110, rfeeney@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

 

NEFMC Seeks Applicants for Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee

September 27, 2024 — The New England Fishery Management Council is looking for qualified candidates to serve on its new Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee (Steering Committee).  The application deadline is Friday, October 18, 2024.  Appointment terms are for two years, starting in November 2024, with the possibility for reappointment.

 
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE: The Steering Committee will be comprised of members of the Council and its Scientific and Statistical Committee, NOAA Fisheries and Council staff, members of the fishing industry, and other government and non-government experts with experience in the following key areas:
 
  • Climate scenario planning and climate-resilient fishery management approaches;
  • Ecosystem approaches to fishery management;
  • Fishery stock assessment methods;
  • Governance, policy, and marine user management;
  • Biology, oceanography, and climate science; and/or
  • Social sciences and economics.
 
WHY IS THE COUNCIL CREATING A NEW COMMITTEE: The Council is facing unprecedented challenges associated with climate change and has identified the need to introduce additional flexibility into the management process to address changes in abundance, distribution, and productivity of managed stocks. In recognition of these challenges, NOAA Fisheries is providing funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to assist Councils in the transition to climate-resilient fishery management approaches.  Also, as part of its 2024 work priorities, the Council agreed to consider ecosystem approaches across all of its fishery management plans. The Council established the Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee to provide overarching guidance and support for design and implementation of climate-ready management approaches.  The Steering Committee’s tasks are outlined in the solicitation announcement.
 
WHAT’S INVOLVED: The Climate and Ecosystem Steering Committee will be led by a Council-appointed chair and vice chair.  The committee is expected to meet at least twice annually as a full group with intersessional meetings as needed and report directly to the Council.  The Council will share the group’s recommendations with regional partners.
 
HOW DO I APPLY: Applicants must submit a resume and a summary of qualifications for the appointment.  Completed applications should be emailed to Sherie Goutier at sgoutier@nefmc.org  or mailed to Cate O’Keefe, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.  All application materials must be received no later than October 18, 2024.

Council Receives Skate, Whiting, and Monkfish Monitoring Reports, Discusses Path Forward; Reviews Monkfish RSA Status

September 25, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council received annual reports for three of its fisheries – skates, whiting, and monkfish – when it met September 24-26, 2024 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It then discussed options for standardizing and streamlining these reports in the future.

The Council also reviewed the status of the Monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program and agreed to ask NOAA Fisheries to pause issuing solicitations for new RSA projects until outstanding economic and programmatic issues can be addressed by: (1) the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils, which jointly manage monkfish; and (2) the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) of NOAA Fisheries. The two Councils also will ask GARFO to consider enabling partners involved in the two current monkfish RSA projects to continue selling RSA days-at-sea into Monkfish. NOAA Fisheries photo 2025 and 2026 if needed.

FISHERY MONITORING REPORTS: Here’s how to access the three monitoring reports and presentations.

• Skate Annual Monitoring Report for Fishing Year 2023: This report provides an update on the status of the seven species in the skate complex (see graphic next page). It also includes information on landings and discards in the skate wing and skate bait fisheries, impacts from other fisheries on skates, research updates, and more. The report is posted here with an accompanying presentation.

• Small-Mesh Multispecies (Whiting) Annual Monitoring Report for Fishing Year 2023: This report was produced in a presentation format. It contains stock status and fishery information, including economic and effort trends, for northern silver hake, southern whiting, which folds in offshore hake, northern red hake, and southern red hake.

• 2024 Monkfish Fishery Performance Report: This report provides an overview of the biology, stock condition, management system, and fishery performance for monkfish, with an emphasis on the 2022 and 2023 fishing years. The report is posted here, along with a presentation.

Council Elects Rick Bellavance and Daniel Salerno as Chair and Vice Chair for 2024-2025; Welcomes Bill Lucey and Ted Platz

September 24, 2024 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council opened its September 24-26, 2024 meeting in Gloucester, Massachusetts by holding its annual election of officers after first congratulating three reappointed Council members and welcoming two new ones to the table. The recently announced appointments were for:

• Geoff Smith of Maine, who was reappointed to serve a second three-year term on the Council;

• Togue Brawn of Maine, who also was reappointed to serve a second term;

• Mike Pierdinock of Massachusetts, who was reappointed to serve a second term;

• Bill Lucey of Connecticut, who was appointed to his first term on the Council; and

• Ted Platz of Rhode Island, who was appointed to his first term.

Each New England state receives one obligatory seat on the Council, and the other appointments are for at large seats. Togue is filling an at-large seat, while the other four appointees are filling obligatory seats for their respective states. The new terms run from August 11, 2024 through August 10, 2027.

LEADERSHIP: The Council elected Rick Bellavance of Rhode Island and Daniel Salerno of New Hampshire by acclimation to lead the Council as chair and vice chair for the year ahead.