Saving Seafood

Fish council likely give input on Rafael permits

June 13, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council could adopt a formal recommendation to NOAA Fisheries on the ultimate redistribution of Carlos Rafael’s groundfish permits when it convenes next week in Portland, Maine.

The council, set to meet next Tuesday through Thursday, faces a busy agenda of items, including a summary of public comments on groundfish monitoring, as well as possible final actions on the coral amendment and the framework dealing with skates.

But the question of what should happen to Rafael’s stable of more than 40 groundfish permits once the New Bedford fishing magnate is sentenced — now scheduled for July 28 — may generate the most heat at the three-day meetings.

“That issue has generated a lot of interest and opinion among the fishing community and the council could develop an official comment that could be positioned in a recommendation letter to (NOAA Fisheries),” said Janice Plante, council spokeswoman.

The council is set to hear from its Groundfish Committee late next Tuesday morning, including a discussion on the interim final rule for 2017 and 2018 fishing sector operation plans and “whether measures or restrictions should be recommended for Sector 9 due to misreporting by sector vessels.”

As part of an agreement with federal prosecutors, Rafael pleaded guilty in late March to falsifying fish quotas, conspiracy and tax evasion. The man known on the docks as “The Codfather” may have to surrender up to 13 of his groundfishing vessels — which continue to fish as members of Northeast Fishing Sector 9 — and will pay almost $109,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

The commercial groundfish industry has roiled over the question of what to do with all of Rafael’s groundfish permits now that he has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.

Officials and fishing stakeholders in New Bedford have insisted the permits should remain there, even if divvied up to other groundfishermen. Other stakeholders — such as Maggie Raymond, executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine — argue that Rafael should be stripped of all of his permits.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Gulf of Maine Sea Scallop Surveys Planned

June 9, 2017 — Sea scallops in the Gulf of Maine will be the focus of surveys this summer, initiated by NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council.

The council needs updated scallop biomass estimates from the area to support upcoming management decisions.

At their request, NOAA Fisheries will add portions of the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to two existing surveys already planned on Georges Bank.

The additional work will be done through the Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program under two current grants.

The Coonamessett Farm Foundation will survey portions of Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge with the Habcam optical imaging system, complemented by the deployment of a scallop survey dredge to collect biological samples.

The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology will conduct a high-resolution drop-camera survey of a portion of Stellwagen Bank.

These additional surveys will generate scallop biomass estimates that will be provided to the council to support the development of Gulf of Maine management measures later this year.

Research set-aside programs are unique to federal fisheries in the Greater Atlantic Region.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Management Area to be Surveyed this Summer through Scallop RSA Program

June 2, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

At the request of the New England Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries intends to take action to facilitate survey work this summer in the southern portion of the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area. The additional coverage will occur through the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The agency is working to amend two previously approved RSA awards for 2017 scallop surveys on Georges Bank so that both surveys can be expanded to include coverage in the Gulf of Maine as follows.

  • Coonamessett Farm Foundation will receive an additional 12,000 pounds of scallop RSA allocation to: (1) survey portions of Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge with HabCam, a habitat mapping camera system; and (2) conduct complimentary scallop dredge surveys to collect biological samples. And,
  • The School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth will receive an additional 1,734

During its mid-April meeting, the Council voted to send a letter to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) asking the center to explore options for including the southern portion of the NGOM area in upcoming 2017 scallop surveys. A 2016 survey conducted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the University of Maine indicated that biomass in the NGOM had increased substantially since the last time the area was surveyed in 2012, but no additional survey work was scheduled for 2017.

Fishing effort increased significantly in 2016 and 2017 in the area, especially off Cape Ann and the northeastern portion of Stellwagen Bank. Consequently, the Council determined it needed the most updated biomass estimates possible to help inform the management of the NGOM going forward.

Read the full release here

Feds want to cut sport fishermen’s haddock catch, prohibit cod

May 31, 2017 — Tom Orrell was under the impression he’d entered the charter fishing business with his Gloucester-based Yankee Fleet. He didn’t know it came with such a large roller-coaster.

Up one incline, down the next, riding the rails of ever-changing regulation while plying the Atlantic in search of the fin fish and fishing experience his recreational fishing customers seek.

It doesn’t appear that 2017 is going to provide much solace.

Orrell and the rest of the Cape Ann for-hire charter fleet are bracing for a mid-season audible by NOAA Fisheries that could change the rules of the game right at the height of the season.

“It’s unreal,” Orrell said Wednesday. “It makes it very difficult to run a business.”

Citing recreational catch excesses in haddock and cod in the 2016 season, NOAA Fisheries seeks to enact measures to produce a 20 percent reduction in daily bag limits for haddock while taking away the solitary cod recreational anglers currently are allowed to catch and keep each day.

But the most significant impact on the recreational segment of the fishing industry could come in the fall, when charter owners have the Hobson’s choice of a four-week closure that includes the bountiful Labor Day weekend or a six-week closure that wipes out the last half of September and all of October.   

 “It’s not much of a choice,” Orrell said. “It’s like picking out your cleanest dirty shirt to go to work.”

Still, Orrell said, his preference would be to suffer through the later, longer closure rather than lose his Labor Day trips.

“Later on, the weather changes and it becomes more unpredictable and the pollock start moving in,” Orrell said. “And once you take the people off the boat, they don’t just turn around in the fall and come back fishing.”

NOAA Fisheries, which also is proposing a spring closing from March 1 through April 14, is seeking public comment on the proposed changes. An agency spokeswoman said they could be enacted as soon a late June or early July.

At its January meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council voted to ask NOAA Fisheries to enact new measures on cod and haddock because preliminary 2016 data showed recreational anglers substantially exceeded the annual catch limit (ACL) for Gulf of Maine cod and haddock.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Fishermen hoping to reel in Obama-era conservation

May 31, 2017 — New England fishermen are looking for a seat at the table as the Trump administration mulls whether to make any adjustments to an Obama-era marine monument off Cape Cod that has drawn criticism for the potential impact on the fishing industry.

“The monument was put in place with probably less than full input by the fisheries’ people,” New England Fishery Management Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn said. “In reviewing it, we should be included in this process.”

Quinn is one of eight signatories of a letter drafted earlier this month and sent to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross Jr. asking the Trump administration to consult with the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils before taking any action.

Trump signed an executive order last month calling for a review of national monument designations made under the Antiquities Act since Jan. 1, 1996. The order, dated May 1, calls for an interim report to the president within 45 days and a final report within 120 days.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, created by former President Barack Obama last September, protects an area roughly the size of Connecticut 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod.

Read the full story at the Boston Herald

MAINE: Fishermen support alternative coral protection plan

May 26, 2017 — ELLSWORTH, Maine — A plan to protect deep sea coral from damage caused by fishing drew strong support from Maine’s lobstermen Thursday but mostly because planned fishing restrictions won’t affect them.

The New England Fishery Management Council has spent much of the past two years developing an “Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment” aimed at reducing the potential impacts of fishing on corals found in extremely deep water along the Northeast coast. As part of the process, the council proposed several alternatives that would prohibit all fishing in the affected areas. One plan would bar fishing in water depths ranging between 300 and 600 meters (about 985 to 1,970 feet). Another would ban fishing in 20 separate submarine canyons off the southern boundary of Georges Bank.

Some of those canyons lie within the boundaries of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument established by President Barack Obama last September.

While most of the areas that could be protected lie far offshore, two areas are situated within the Gulf of Maine. One is near Mount Desert Rock. The other is on Outer Schoodic Ridge.

Mount Desert Rock lies about 20 miles south of Mount Desert Island in Lobster Management Zone B. The council considered two alternative protection zones, primarily southwest of the rock, one of about 18 square miles and the other about 8 square miles, with water depths of 100 to 200 meters (330 to 660 feet).

The Outer Schoodic Ridge area lies about 25 miles southeast of MDI in Lobster Management Zone A. The protected area would be about 31 square miles in size.

Both areas are important lobster fishing grounds.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

New England fisheries group considers banning lobster boats from a portion of Gulf of Maine

May 25, 2017 — A New England fisheries management group is considering changes to regulations regarding lobstering in an area of the Gulf of Maine.

The New England Fishery Management Council is considering whether lobster traps should be kept off of coral within a 18-square-mile portion of the Gulf in order to protect habitat for other marketable fish stock.

According to a report in the Portland Press Herald, the move could jeapardize a $4 million dollar portion of the state’s lobster fishery, an amount taken by more than 100 lobster boats.

The council held a series of public meetings, including one in Portsmouth Wednesday night, seeking input according to the council’s calendar.

Read the full story at NH1

Maine lobstermen worry about possible closure to protect coral

May 25, 2017 — Charles Kelley began fishing for lobster on Outer Schoodic Ridge about 20 years ago, preferring the solitude of deep waters to the crowded inshore fishery.

The Steuben resident and preacher was willing to sail two hours for the freedom to drop his 30-trap trawls anywhere he wanted along that ridge, which sits about 25 nautical miles southeast of Mount Desert Island. The area is more crowded now, and Kelley’s trawls are shorter, but in the winter the 54-year-old is still dropping most of his traps in these waters. He says he earns about 40 percent of his yearly profits here, too.

“It’s my bread and butter,” Kelley said of the ridge. “I really don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t fish there. Have to move someplace else, I guess, but that would just be taking bread off someone else’s table, from those I’ve known and worked beside all my life. It would cause untold hardship not just for me, but for all the fishermen up and down this stretch of coast, from Winter Harbor all the way to Jonesport.”

Kelley is worried that he could lose his winter fishing territory if interstate regulators decide to ban all fishing in a 31-square-mile area at the ridge and an 18-square-mile area southwest of Mount Desert Rock to protect deep-water coral gardens found in those waters. The rare, slow-growing gardens of sea whips, fans and pens provide essential habitat for cod, silver hake, pollock and larval redfish.

The New England Fishery Management Council voted last month to exempt lobstering from the coral fishing ban it is considering, but the proposal won’t be finalized until June. Until then, the council is holding a series of public hearings on the proposal, including one Thursday in Ellsworth. State officials hope lobstermen show up in large numbers to lobby the council to keep the lobster exemption in its final plan.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

New England Fisheries Council to Consider Deep Sea Coral-Protection Rules

May 19, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England Fishery Management Council wants to hear from the public about proposed rules for new management areas to protect deep-sea corals in the Gulf of Maine and in the slope/canyon region south of Georges Bank.

At issue are several alternatives under consideration in the Draft Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment. The Council wants feedback from the public on which alternatives should be selected and why.

The public comment period will end on June 5, and the Council will take final action on the amendment during its June 20-22, 2017, meeting in Portland.

The Council is using its discretionary authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act to identify and implement measures to reduce effects of fishing gear on deep sea corals in New England. One proposed amendment attempts to identify and protect concentrations of corals in select areas and restrict the expansion of fishing effort into areas where corals are likely to be present.

“Deep sea corals are fragile, slow-growing organisms that play an important role in the marine ecosystem and are vulnerable to various types of disturbance of the seafloor,” the Council wrote in a public hearing notice on May 18. “At the same time, the importance and value of commercial fisheries that operate in or near areas of deep sea coral habitat is recognized by the Council. As such, measures in this amendment will be considered in light of their benefit to corals as well as their costs to commercial fisheries.”

The Council’s preferred alternative for the inshore Gulf of Maine would prohibit mobile bottom-tending gear (trawls and dredges) within both the Schoodic Ridge and Mt. Desert Rock areas.

While an option to prohibit all bottom-tending gear, including lobster traps/pots, is still in the amendment, it is not the Council’s preferred alternative.

“The Council recognized the economic impact associated with preventing the lobster fishery from working within the inshore areas and acknowledged that shifts in effort to other locations could be problematic,” it wrote. “Preferred alternatives are an indication of which way the Council is leaning, but the Council is not obligated to select them for final action, so it is critically important that Maine fishermen who fish in these areas attend the public hearing or submit comments to let the Council know their views!”

Seven public hearings will be held from May 22 to 26:

Wednesday, May 24
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Sheraton Harborside
250 Market Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801

Thursday, May 25
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Ellsworth High School
299 State Street
Ellsworth, ME 04605

Friday, May 26, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/98257139389273345

Written comments can be submitted via mail, email, or fax:

Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director
New England Fishery Management Council
50 Water Street, Mill 2
Newburyport, MA 01950

Email: comments@nefmc.org Fax: (978) 465–3116

Please note on your correspondence “Comments on Deep-Sea Coral Amendment”

Written comments must be submitted before 5:00 pm EST on Monday, June 5, 2017.

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

NEFMC SSC Meeting, May 25, 2017, Live Streaming Information

May 22, 2017 — 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 on Thursday, May 25, 2017.  The public is invited to listen via webinar or telephone.  Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION:  Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Airport, 100 Boardman Street.  Hotel information is available here.

START TIME:  10:00 a.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting will be available at:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7961649841048531714.  

There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (213) 929-4232.  

The access code is 192-378-860.  

Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will: (1) develop comments for Council consideration on NMFS’s Stock Assessment Improvement Plan and Best Scientific Information Available Guidance; (2) review the Council’s draft five-year research priorities and data needs recommendations; (3) discuss the definition of “substantial change” with respect to stock status when developing ABC recommendations; (4) receive a presentation on NMFS’s Ecosystem Status Report and discuss how the SSC might use the information in making catch advice recommendations; (5) depending on progress, receive an update on the development of terms of reference for operational stock assessments when models are not feasible; (6) review the study “Determining the post-release mortality rate and best capture and handling methods for haddock discarded in Gulf of Maine recreational fisheries” and recommend whether the research should be considered in the upcoming stock assessment for Gulf of Maine haddock; (7) receive a presentation about the Council’s management strategy evaluation (MSE) of herring ABC control rules; and (8) other business as necessary.

MATERIALS:  Meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at SSC May 25, 2017 meeting.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.