New England Fishery Management Council Archives - Page 93 of 101

Coral plan threatens Maine fishing grounds

December 28, 2016 — BAR HARBOR, Maine — Area lobstermen could lose valuable fishing grounds if a federal proposal to close four areas of Gulf of Maine waters comes to fruition.

The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has drafted a plan that would close a span of 161 square miles offshore to commercial fishing in an effort to conserve deep-sea coral there.

Two of those areas, Mount Desert Rock in Lobster Management Zone B and Outer Schoodic Ridge in Lobster Management Zone A, are preferred fishing grounds for local fishermen when lobster head farther offshore in the winter. The other proposed offshore closure areas lie in Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll to the south.

The Mount Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge areas are prime for lobster fishing, while Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll see a mix of groundfish, monkfish, pollock and lobster.

The NEFMC is working with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to preserve deep-sea corals from the Canadian border to Virginia.

According to the NEFMC, the fragile and slow-growing corals are vulnerable to damage by fishing gear.

“While the extent of deep-sea coral habitat degradation has not been quantified in most areas, bottom tending fishing gear has been known to cause significant disturbance in many locations and is considered to be the major threat to deep-sea corals in areas where such fishing occurs,” read a recent NEFMC memorandum.

Fishermen must hold federal permits to fish in offshore waters. According to NEFMC data, 31 percent of Zone B fishermen hold federal permits.

In 2015, lobster landings in the Mount Desert Rock area generated $15 million of Zone B’s $71 million in landings for that year.

One local fisherman is concerned the closures would add more pressure to crowded Zone B waters, which is currently the setting of a territorial battle between fishermen in Zone B and neighboring Zone C.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

NOAA seeks comment on groundfish permitting rule

December 27, 2016 — NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a proposed rule that would limit the number of permits and the amount of groundfish allocation one individual or entity could own in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery.

According to NOAA Fisheries, the rule is designed “to promote diversity in the groundfish fishery and enhance sector management” by preventing excessive consolidation in the fishery by capping the number of limited access permits and the amount of a sector’s annual catch entitlement any one entity may own.

The final proposed rule, which the NEFMC submitted to NOAA in August, would limit any ownership entity from possessing more than 5 percent of all limited access groundfish permits in the fishery.

Currently, there are approximately 1,373 limited access permits operating in the fishery, so a 5 percent cap would limit any single ownership entity to owning approximately 69 permits.

“As of May 1, 2014, the most permits held by any entity is 55,” NOAA Fisheries said in the publication of the proposed rule. “Therefore, if approved, this alternative is unlikely to restrict any entity.”

The New England Fishery Management Council began work on the rule, also known as Amendment 18, in 2011.

“Subsequently, the stock status for many groundfish stocks declined and the associated annual catch limits were significantly reduced,” according to NOAA Fisheries’ summary of the proposed rule that was published Tuesday in the Federal Register. “As a result, some groundfish fishermen were concerned that implementing an accumulation limit could be problematic if it reduced flexibility and prevented them from obtaining additional quota necessary to maintain viable fishing operations.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Coral plan threatens fishing grounds

December 21st, 2016 — Area lobstermen could lose valuable fishing grounds if a federal proposal to close four areas of Gulf of Maine waters comes to fruition.

The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has drafted a plan that would close a span of 161 square miles offshore to commercial fishing in an effort to conserve deep-sea coral there.

Two of those areas, Mount Desert Rock in Lobster Management Zone B and Outer Schoodic Ridge in Lobster Management Zone A, are preferred fishing grounds for local fishermen when lobster head further offshore in the winter. The other proposed offshore closure areas lie in Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll to the south.

The Mount Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge areas are prime for lobster fishing, while Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll see a mix of groundfish, monkfish, pollock and lobster.

The NEFMC is working with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to preserve deep-sea corals from the Canadian border to Virginia.

According to the NEFMC, the fragile and slow-growing corals are vulnerable to damage by fishing gear.

Fishermen must hold federal permits to fish in offshore waters. According to NEFMC data, 31 percent of Zone B fishermen hold federal permits.

Read the full story at Mount Desert Islander

Fisheries council sets up 2017 priorities

December 20th, 2016 — The New England Fishery Management Council has set its management priorities for 2017, including potential revisions to the management of Atlantic halibut and an examination of the implications of groundfish catches in non-groundfish fisheries.

The list of priorities, which largely charts the council’s expected — perhaps more accurately, hopeful — course in the upcoming year, was approved by the full council after about three hours of discussion at its November meeting.

The prioritization of issues, according to NEFMC Executive Director Tom Nies, is a valuable tool for providing the council with the structure to address pressing issues while also retaining the flexibility to delve into other issues as they present themselves to the council.

“The process is very helpful in focusing the efforts of the council on major tasks and still give it the flexibility through the rest of the year to change course as we have to,” Nies said.

The list of priorities would see the council:

Consider of possible regulatory changes to the northern Gulf of Maine scallop management area;

Improve the Gulf of Maine cod and haddock recreational management process;

Initiate actions to resume landings of the rebuilt barndoor skate stock;

Coordinate long-term wind power issues with other regulatory agencies, and;

Conduct a comprehensive review of council operations.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times

New England Fishery Managment Council Approves 2017 Management Priorities

December 16, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Managment Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council recently approved its 2017 management priorities, which will guide the Council’s committees and working groups in the year ahead. The Council annually takes this step for two reasons: to focus its time on mutually agreed-upon issues of importance; and to give the public a snapshot of what to expect in the foreseeable future.

“Our priority-setting exercise helps us determine how to best allocate available resources,” said Council Executive Director Tom Nies. “We always have more proposals on the table than we’re able to handle each year, so by collectively deciding upfront which actions rank the highest, we’re able to work much more efficiently on the Council’s most pressing issues without getting sidetracked.”

Setting annual catch limits and other fishery specifications – a requirement under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act – remains the Council’s highest cross-cutting priority.

But for 2017, the Council also supported many high-priority items that fishermen and other stakeholders said were especially important. Here are a few of the highlights that were approved during the Council’s mid-November meeting in Newport, Rhode Island:

Sea scallops: Consider regulatory changes to the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area;
Groundfish: Revise Atlantic halibut management measures;
Groundfish: Review groundfish catches in “other” non-groundfish fisheries and assess implications;
Recreational fishing: Improve Gulf of Maine cod and haddock recreational management process;
Barndoor skates: Initiate action to allow landings of this rebuilt species;
Habitat: Coordinate wind power issues with other agencies over the long term, not just 2017; and
Council: Conduct a programmatic review of Council operations.
Atlantic herring – Continue work on Amendment 8 to address localized depletion and user conflicts in the fishery and develop a new acceptable biological catch control rule using a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) process;
Habitat – Complete the Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment and a separate framework adjustment to address surf clam fishery access to pending Habitat Management Areas;
Whiting – Move forward with Amendment 22 to consider limited access for the Small-Mesh Multispecies Complex and consider changes to possession limits;
Skates – Prepare an amendment to consider limited access for both the skate bait and skate wing fisheries with provisions that may consider catch share alternatives; and
Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management – Continue work on the development of operating models and a draft example Georges Bank Fishery Ecosystem Plan and develop a MSE process to engage fishermen and other stakeholders while conducting testing and validation.

A table identifying all of the Council’s 2017 management priorities is available at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/161201_Approved_Priorities.pdf

See the full release at the NEFMC

Overfished halibut under scrutiny as catch increases

December 13th, 2016 — Federal fishing regulators say they are looking to change the way they manage Atlantic halibut in the wake of a surge in catch of the fish.

The government lists Atlantic halibut as “overfished” and conservationists want to protect it. But many fishermen say the catch is up because the stock has been rebuilt over recent years.

East Coast fishermen caught more than 215,000 pounds of Atlantic halibut in 2015 in the most productive year of fishing for the flatfish since 1972. Catch of the fish in nearshore Maine waters is helping drive the increase, regulators say.

The regulatory New England Fishery Management Council decided last month to review management of halibut, which is popular with diners and chefs for its thick, meaty steaks. Exactly what form regulation changes could take isn’t yet known.

“We’ve identified that this is an issue, and this will be a priority for 2017,” said Janice Plante, a spokeswoman for the council.

The council has also asked that Maine’s state fishing managers adjust the way they oversee halibut. Part of the issue is that if fishermen exceed their quota for the fish, it can trigger restrictions on fishing that impact fishermen who operate in federal waters. About 40 percent of the halibut catch for the 2015 fishing year was taken in state waters, mostly in Maine.

Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, said Maine should consider limiting the amount of halibut fishing in state waters. Otherwise, federal fishermen will be negatively affected by the surge in state catch, he said.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times

Overfished halibut under scrutiny as catch increases

December 12th, 2016 — Federal fishing regulators say they are looking to change the way they manage Atlantic halibut in the wake of a surge in catch of the fish.

The government lists Atlantic halibut as “overfished” and conservationists want to protect it. But many fishermen say the catch is up because the stock has been rebuilt over recent years.

“We’ve identified that this is an issue, and this will be a priority for 2017,” Janice Plante, a spokeswoman for the council, said.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times

East Coast fishermen file appeal over cost of government-required ‘at-sea monitors’

December 12th, 2016 — David Goethel built his life off the profits of cod, trolling the waters of New England for 30 years netting the region’s once-abundant signature fish.

“My slice of the American Dream was paid for from fishing,” Goethel said from behind the wheel of his 44-foot fishing trawler on a windy Friday afternoon in December. “Cape Cod house, two cars, four college educations – it all came out of the fish hole in this boat.”

But a controversial federal mandate is threatening to put him out of business, he claims.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, requires groundfishermen — those who catch cod, haddock and other common bottom-dwelling species — to carry on board “at-sea monitors.” The observers, hired by three for-profit companies, are third-party workers whose task it is to observe fishermen’s compliance with federal regulations and ensure annual quotas are not exceeded.

The dispute lies in the cost of the monitors and who should pay for them: Fishermen are billed on average $700 a day when a regulator is present.

NOAA, meanwhile, says monitors were placed on fishing boats like Goethel’s only 14 percent of the time in 2016 — and claims the fishing industry supported this system of regulation in 2010 when a vote went before the New England Fishery Management Council, an advisory board to NOAA that sets the rules.

Read the full story at Fox News

Can Atlantic Cod Return to Canada’s East Coast?

December 8th, 2016 — According to the New England Fishery Management Council, the 2016 quotas for George’s Banks Cod are 1200 metric tonnes for 2016 and 500 metric tonnes for Cod in the Gulf of Maine.

In an article posted by the NOAA last month, optomism for the health of these stocks are low due to warming waters and bycatch concerns.

Many East Coast processors, however, feel that the fishery is in remission and hope for increased total allowable catches before re-building infrastructure from the moratorium in the early 1990s.

For now, fillet production has been predominately labour intensive hand cutting, tightening profit margins considerably.

Pricing last month on Canadian Atlantic Cod was around $3.25 per pound for 12-32oz skinless fillets caught in Newfoundland, and $3.15 per pound for shatterpacked bones 4-8oz fillets in Boston.

The Fishery is faced with adverse weather conditions at the moment – full fishing efforts should resume in Spring 2017 at which point we will have a clearer outlook on pricing.

— Another interesting note on this fishery – Scientists are now pushing for increased commercial Atlantic Cod quotas because of Snow Crab stocks in the Maritimes.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

Maine braces for potential closing of four areas to lobster fishing

December 6th, 2016 — The New England Fishery Management Council is debating a plan that may limit or eliminate lobster fishing in four areas off the Maine coast that host abundant colonies of deep-sea corals.

The areas in the Gulf of Maine that are being considered for protection include Mount Desert Rock, Outer Schoodic Ridge, Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll. More than 400 lobstermen fish those areas, which span about 161 miles of federal waters, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The council is considering approval of the Deep-Sea Coral Amendment, which may require gear restrictions in the protected areas. The Maine Department of Marine Resources and Maine lobstermen requested the council provide an exemption for lobster and crab fishing within the protected zones, arguing that the inshore lobster fishery is the primary economic driver for two coastal counties encompassing at least 15 harbors in Maine, but at a meeting in November, the council said it “was not prepared to completely eliminate lobster gear restrictions from consideration at this stage of the amendment process.”

Scientists only recently discovered that fragile coral habitats existed in the areas in question, and during their research, they found evidence that fishing has damaged and denuded the coral.

Read the full story at Seafood Source