Saving Seafood

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 

Herring management plan to be considered

December 6th, 2016 — If you were planning to attend the New England Fishery Management Council’s herring workshop this week in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and have not registered, you might want to save yourself the trip.

The two-day workshop, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday to provide continued public input into the establishment of a “long-term control rule for specifying Acceptable Biological Catch for the Atlantic herring fishery,” is fully booked at the Portsmouth venue where the event is taking place.

To accommodate the overflow interest in the herring workshop, the NEFMC will make the proceedings available live to the public on a free online webinar and a corresponding dial-in option that requires an access code.

The website for the webinar and the phone number and access code for the dial-in option are available on the NEFMC website.

The two-day workshop at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel in Portsmouth continues the process begun in January, when the NEFMC voted to conduct a management strategy evaluation “to support the development of alternatives regarding the ABC control rule.”

The council currently is working to develop Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

Effort to protect deep-sea coral has lobster industry on alert

November 28th, 2016 — Over 400 Maine lobstermen could lose their traditional fishing territory under a proposal to protect deep-sea corals in the Gulf of Maine.

The New England Fishery Management Council is considering a plan that would ban fishing in four designated coral zones spanning about 161 miles of federal waters in the Gulf of Maine – Mount Desert Rock, Outer Schoodic Ridge, Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll. Here, often on steep rock walls deep under water where sunlight cannot penetrate, scientists have found dense, delicate and slow-growing coral gardens of sea whips, fans and pens.

These coral habitats have become increasingly rare, suffering from centuries of damage from fishing gear. The council wants to protect these corals, which provide shelter, food and refuge to fish such as cod, silver hake and pollock, and serve as an essential habitat for larval redfish. A sister organization has already created deep-sea coral protection zones in deep mid-Atlantic waters from Long Island to Virginia.

Like most of the Gulf of Maine, the four coral zones under consideration here are home to lobsters. Two of the zones, Mount Desert Rock and Outer Schoodic Ridge, are prime fishing grounds for Maine lobstermen who fish offshore when the lobsters migrate to deeper waters, while the other two are primarily fished by southern New England lobstermen.

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald 

Fishermen to be allowed to catch more monkfish next year

November 21, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — Fishermen will likely be allowed to catch more monkfish next year.

Monkfish are a species of bottom-dwelling fish that are a popular item at restaurants and seafood markets. The regulatory New England Fishery Management Council has approved rules for the fishery that will allow fishermen to bring ashore more than 15,000 metric tons of the fish next year.

Fishermen have typically caught between 7,000 and 10,000 metric tons of monkfish annually since 2009.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the News & Observer

New England Fishery Management Council Previews Deep-Sea Coral Amendment Analysis; Addresses Marine National Monument Overlap Issues

November 16, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council received a briefing yesterday from its Habitat Committee regarding preliminary Deep-Sea Coral Amendment analyses covering: (1) potential impacts of fishing activity on corals; and (2) available fishery effort and revenue data.

The Council also made two decisions related to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which President Obama established on Sept. 15, 2016 using his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Although the President designated the monument, his proclamation directed the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, to manage the activities and species within the area under the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other federal laws.

In an Oct. 21 letter to the Council, John Bullard, head of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, asked the Council to amend its fishery management plans to “reflect the action of the President and implement the appropriate fishing regulations for the Marine National Monument.”

The Council discussed the request and decided not to develop its own amendment since it did not designate the monument. This means the Commerce Department will fulfill the President’s charge through a secretarial amendment.

Bullard said public hearings would be held under the secretarial action and any proposed amendments would be sent to both the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils for “consideration and comment.”

The Council also debated a motion it had postponed during its September meeting to move all proposals in the Deep-Sea Coral Amendment that overlap with the Marine National Monument to the “considered but rejected” portion of the amendment.

After considerable debate, the Council voted to keep the overlapping alternatives in place for further consideration and analysis, noting that it was important to move forward with the coral protection process it had begun before the monument was designated.

Regarding the current list of alternatives in the coral amendment, the Council did vote to add an additional option to the mix.

For background, the Council is proposing to protect corals through the development of two types of coral zones – discrete areas and broad areas, which are defined as follows.

  • “Discrete Areas” designate narrowly defined coral zones in the Gulf of Maine, for single canyons, and on individual seamounts; and
  • “Broad Areas” designate a coral zone along the entire shelf-slope region between the US/Canada Exclusive Economic Zone boundary and the New England/Mid-Atlantic Council boundary.

Broad zones are meant to prevent the expansion of fishing effort into additional deep-water habitats. The Council is considering various minimum depth contours for defining these zones.

The Council further debated whether to continue developing potential lobster trap/pot restrictions in the inshore Gulf of Maine coral zones, which are offshore the state of Maine’s waters near the Outer Schoodic Ridge area and west of Mt. Desert Rock.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources and Maine lobstermen requested that the Council provide an exemption for lobster and crab fishing within these zones, arguing that the inshore lobster fishery in this area is the primary economic driver for two Downeast Maine coastal counties encompassing at least 15 harbors.

The Council acknowledged the importance of these coral zone areas to the lobster fishery but was not prepared to completely eliminate lobster gear restrictions from consideration at this stage of the amendment process. Instead, it will continue to develop inshore Gulf of Maine coral zone alternatives that may restrict these gears but will include an option to exempt lobster trap/pot fishing.

Monkfish Specifications Expected to Rise in FY 2017-2019

November 15, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Monkfish total allowable landing (TAL) limits for the 2017-2019 fishing years are on track to increase under Framework Adjustment 10 to the federal Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). So are: (1) days-at sea allocations and trip limits for the Southern Fishery Management Area; and (2) incidental catch limits for monkfish C and D permit holders working under groundfish days-at-sea in the Northern Management Area.

The New England Fishery Management Council approved the framework today at its meeting in Newport, RI. The Mid-Atlantic Council, which jointly manages monkfish, is scheduled to take action at its Dec. 12-15 meeting in Baltimore, MD. The National Marine Fisheries Service must approve the framework before the new days-at-sea allocations and trip limits can be implemented.

The New England Council adopted the following allocations for days-at-sea:

  • Northern Fishery Management Area: status quo, 45 monkfish days-at-sea; and
  • Southern Fishery Management Area: 37 monkfish days, a 15% increase from 32.

Monkfish days-at-sea allocations have not been restricting fishing effort in the northern area, where the majority of fishermen catch monkfish while groundfish fishing. Therefore, the Council decided to leave monkfish days-atsea at status quo in the north – 45 days – and instead raise the incidental landing limit for Category C and D monkfish permit holders working under a groundfish day-at-sea. The Council took this step to help northern area fishermen better utilize the available TAL. In 2015, for example, only 71% of the TAL was harvested in the north.

Read the full release as a PDF here

New England Fishery Management Council Approves Skate Limited Access Scoping Document; Hears Progress Report on Whiting Amendment 22 Analyses

November 15, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

During discussions that addressed two of the last remaining open access fisheries in the region, the New England Fishery Management Council today:

  • Approved a scoping document for Amendment 5 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to consider limited access in both the skate bait and non-bait fisheries; and
  • Received a progress report on Amendment 22 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP, which will include alternatives to limit access to small-mesh multispecies.

The skate complex is made up of seven species: barndoor, clearnose, little, rosette, smooth, thorny, and winter skates. The bait fishery primarily targets little skate, along with a small percentage of juvenile winter skate, while the non-bait fishery primarily targets adult winter skate for the wing market.
Control dates already are in place for both fisheries – July 30, 2009 for the bait fishery and March 31, 2014 for the non-bait fishery. The Council asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to publish the control dates after skate fishermen expressed concern that unrestrained increases in fishing effort by new entrants

Advancing to the next step of the process, the Council is now preparing to conduct scoping hearings early in the new year to give the public an opportunity to raise concerns or make suggestions about the range of alternatives for Skate Amendment 5. The purpose of the amendment is to consider developing a limited access program for the skate bait and non-bait fisheries, potentially with qualification criteria, permit conditions and categories, and other related measures.

Whiting Limited Access Under Consideration in Amendment 22

The Council also received a progress report on Amendment 22, which contains alternatives to potentially limit access to the small-mesh multispecies fishery. Participants in this fishery target red hake, silver hake, and offshore hake. Silver and offshore hake typically are referred to as “whiting.”

The Council held five scoping hearings in December 2015 to solicit initial input on the amendment and now is developing qualification criteria alternatives using a preliminary analysis of fleet history. The Whiting Plan Development Team (PDT), Whiting Advisory Panel, and Whiting Committee still have a considerable amount of work to do before the Council can select alternatives for the draft amendment that will be taken to public hearing. However, the Council took an early look at three alternatives that the PDT will begin to analyze. Two use a five-year, 2008-2012 qualification period – up to the Nov. 28 cutoff for the control date – and one uses a 1996-2012 qualification period. Each alternative has a high- and low-level permit status, potentially having different possession limits. As a first cut, the Whiting Committee identified three sets of qualification criteria representing the cumulative poundage (all five years combined) needed to qualify under the proposals:

  • First Alternative – 500,000 pounds for the high level permit and 100,000 pounds for the low level permit under the 2008-2012 qualification period;
  • Second Alternative – 1,000,000 pounds for the high level permit and 20,000 pounds for the low level permit under the 2008-2012 qualification period; and
  • Third Alternative – 1,000,000 pounds for the high level permit and 200,000 pounds for the low level permit using the 1996-2012 period.

NEFMC Nov. 15-17 Meeting, Live Streaming Information

November 9th, 2016 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a three-day meeting that begins Tuesday, Nov. 15 and runs through Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016.  The public is invited to listen-in via webinar or telephone.  Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION:  Hotel Viking, 1 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI  02840   

START TIME:  The webinar will be activated at 8 a.m. each day.  The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.  The webinar will end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST or shortly after the Council adjourns each day.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5076443364503342594

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (631) 992-3221.  

The access code is 752-565-833.  

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

AGENDA:  The agenda and all meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at:

http://www.nefmc.org/calendar/november-2016-council-meeting.

THREE MEETING OUTLOOK:  A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available here.

QUESTIONS:  If you have questions prior to or during the meeting, call or email Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Janice M. Plante

Public Affairs Officer

New England Fishery Management Council

(607) 592-4817

Email:  jplante@nefmc.org

Web:  www.nefmc.org

Council Votes to Continue Collaborative Efforts on River Herring and Shad

October 12th, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Based on a comprehensive review of existing and planned conservation and management efforts, last week the Council determined that management of river herring and shad (RH/S) through a Council fishery management plan (FMP) is not warranted. However, the Council reaffirmed its commitment to participating with partners in the conservation and management of RH/S, noting that it will continue to protect RH/S stocks by proactively using the tools provided in the recently-approved Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management (EAFM) Guidance Document. The Council will also continue to use catch caps to incentivize harvesters to reduce river herring and shad bycatch.

The four species under consideration included two species of river herrings (blueback herring and alewife) and two species of shads (American shad and hickory shad). These stocks are currently managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

In the late 2000s concerns were brought to the Council that bycatch in high-volume fisheries such as Atlantic mackerel may be negatively impacting RH/S populations. These concerns led the Council to implement a limit on the catch of RH/S in the Atlantic mackerel fishery. The Council has also worked to improve data by increasing vessel and dealer reporting requirements and collaborating with NOAA Fisheries on an amendment to increase observer coverage in the Atlantic mackerel fishery. The New England Fishery Management Council has taken similar steps to address RH/S catch in the Atlantic herring fishery.

The Council has also worked to address RH/S conservation through participation on an interdisciplinary River Herring Technical Expert Working Group (TEWG). The TEWG has provided and compiled information used by NOAA Fisheries and the ASMFC in the development and execution of a proactive conservation plan focused on river herring. The TEWG has funded several important projects to enhance our understanding of RH/S bycatch and the species’ overall population health.

Prior to the meeting the Council received a large number of public comments on the issue, all of which supported the development of a Council FMP for RH/S. The Council considered these comments thoroughly but ultimately determined that the management of RH/S under a Council FMP is not appropriate at this time.

 The Council’s decision not to add these stocks to the fishery management plan for Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish was largely based on the fact that RH/S are already managed by the ASMFC and that the catch caps set by the Council have kept incidental catch very low compared to historic levels. There is no evidence that RH/S are targeted in Federal fisheries, and the Council concluded that an FMP would not substantially improve the condition of RH/S stocks.

 Additional background information and documents about river herring and shad can be found at http://www.mafmc.org/rhs/.