Saving Seafood

News for the New England Region

States Schedule Public Hearings on Northern Shrimp Draft Amendment 4 Public Information Document

July 8, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic coastal states of Maine though Massachusetts have scheduled hearings to gather public input on the Public Information Document (PID) to Draft Amendment 4 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp. Some hearings will be conducted in-person, and some hearings will be conducted via webinar. If you are unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing, you are welcome to participate in any of the virtual hearings. The public hearing details follow:

 
Date and Hearing Format
State/Agency
Contact
Monday, July 29
Webinar Hearing
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
New Hampshire Fish and Game Dept. & Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
 
The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below.  
603.868.1095
 
508.264.4157
Tuesday, July 30
Webinar Hearing
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Maine Dept. of Marine Resources
 
The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below. 
207.446.0932
Wednesday, July 31
In-person Hearing
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Maine Dept. of Marine Resources
 
Hearing Location:
Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission
297 Bath Road
Wiscasset, ME 04578
 
207.446.0932
Thursday, August 1
Webinar Hearing
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Maine Dept. of Marine Resources, New Hampshire Fish and Game Dept., & Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
 
The webinar registration link is available here, and additional webinar instructions are below. 
703.842.0714
 
 
Given the stock’s continued depleted status, the draft amendment was initiated to consider extending the specifications setting timeline to allow for ongoing or multiyear harvest moratoria and adding management triggers to the management program. A management trigger, defined by a set of biological indicators, would inform when a harvest moratorium could be reevaluated to allow for a potential fishery in future years.
 
As the first step in the Commission’s amendment process, the PID is intended to gather information concerning northern shrimp and provide an opportunity for the public to identify and comment on major issues relative to the management of the species. Following the initial phase of information gathering and public comment, the Section will evaluate potential management alternatives and develop Draft Amendment 4 for public review. After the next round of public comment, the Section will identify the management measures to be included in Amendment 4. A tentative schedule for the completion of Amendment 4 is included in the PID.
 
Webinar Instructions
Please note that in order to comment during virtual webinar hearings you will need to use your computer or download the GoTo app for your phone. Those joining by phone only will be limited to listening to the presentation and will not be able to provide input. In those cases, you can send your comments to staff via email or US mail at any time during the public comment period. To attend the webinar in listen only mode, dial 213.929.4212 and enter access code 846-921-953. If you are unable to participate in your state’s scheduled hearing, you are welcome to participate in any of the virtual hearings.
 
For all virtual hearings, please click HERE and select the hearing(s) you plan to attend from the dropdown menu to register for a public hearing webinar. Hearings will be held via GoToWebinar, and you can join the webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you are new to GoToWebinar, you can download the software by (clicking here) or via the App store under GoTo. We recommend you register for the hearing well in advance of the hearing since GoToWebinar will provide you with a link to test your device’s compatibility with the webinar. If you find your device is not compatible, please contact the Commission at info@asmfc.org (subject line: GoToWebinar help) and we will try to get you connected. We also strongly encourage participants to use the computer voice over internet protocol (VoIP) so you can ask questions and provide input at the hearing.
 
Hearing Presentation Recording
For those who cannot attend any in-person or virtual hearings, the Commission will also post a recording of the hearing presentation on the Commission’s YouTube page so that stakeholders may watch the presentation and submit comment at any time during the comment process. This recording will be available by July 22, with the recording link provided at https://asmfc.org/about-us/public-input.
Submitting Comments
The PID is available athttps://asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/NShrimpAm4PID_PublicComment_June2024.pdf or on the Commission’s Public Input webpage at https://asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. All those interested in the management of northern shrimp are encouraged to provide input either by participating in public hearings, which may be conducted in-person or via webinar, or providing written comment.Public comment will be accepted until 11:59 PM (EST) on August 15, 2024 and should be sent to Chelsea Tuohy, FMP Coordinator, at 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, Virginia 22201; or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Northern Shrimp PID). For more information, please contact Chelsea Tuohy at ctuohy@asmfc.org.

MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor Jon Mitchell responds to work being halted on Northern Edge scalloping grounds

July 3, 2024 — The New England Fishery Management Council has decided to halt work on opening the Northern Edge scalloping grounds to commercial fishermen.

Back in April, Mayor Jon Mitchell before the board in Mystic, Conn. and said that making these areas available would benefit the industry greatly, to create a “key new source of scallops.”

“While there are multiple species that are harvested by New Bedford fishing vessels, scallops are the prime drivers of economic activity within the Port of New Bedford,” he said.

“The fishermen of New Bedford know this, and they take great care in maintaining the resource and recognize the strategic long-term importance of managing the biomass,” he continued.

Read the full article at ABC 6

CONNECTICUT: Connecticut lobster industry forces fishermen into new career

July 3, 2024 — The New England lobster industry has played a vital role in generations of fishermen’s lives. Kids as young as six years old are following in their parent’s footsteps, hauling traps to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Many lobstermen thought they would be on the water until the day they die, but in Connecticut, that isn’t the case.

Poor climate conditions have caused an almost total decline in the lobster population across the Long Island Sound over two decades, ending lobstering careers.

DJ King is a former lobsterman from Branford. His livelihood is still on the water, but not reliant on lobsters.

He says his love for trapping came early.

“I started with ten wooden traps, I was in a small boat, I would go out with my father, we pulled them by hand and caught a few every day,” King said.

What started as just a hobby quickly turned into a lifestyle.

“We did very well with lobsters back then, it was very lucrative, King said. “We would get around 600 or 800 a day usually. like 60-70 per 10 trawl, the guys couldn’t band them fast enough.”

But one day, after years of the good life, the traps came up empty.

“It never rebounded from that ‘99 year when we were catching hundreds daily,” King said. “Then all the sudden the pots were empty, or the lobsters were coming up dead. Even if they were alive, they wouldn’t make it back to the docks.”

Read the full article at FOX 61

MASSACHUSETTS: Statement from New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell on NEFMC decision on Northern Edge

July 3, 2024 — The following statement was released by New Bedford, Massachusetts Mayor Jon Mitchell:

“I am disappointed by the New England Fishery Management Council’s decision last week after scant public notice to reverse itself and halt further discussion of the opening of the Northern Edge scallop access area. The decision comes less than three months after the Council voted to advance the opening of the Northern Edge, which was grounded in more than a decade of research showing that scallops are abundant in the area. Halting work on the Northern Edge so abruptly is an affront to scallop fishermen who were given every reason to believe that the council was working toward a fair, long-term solution.”

Two offshore wind projects off Martha’s Vineyard win federal approval for construction

July 2, 2024 — Two offshore wind farms immediately southwest of Vineyard Wind have received federal approval to begin construction.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has approved a construction and operations plan for New England Wind 1 and 2, formerly called Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind.

The projects won their main federal approval back in April — a Record of Decision documenting assessments by multiple agencies. But to build, they still needed the bureau’s final approval announced today.

Read the full article at CAI

New England Wind projects slated for construction

July 2, 2024 — Construction of wind projects off the coast of the Vineyard is starting to ramp up.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved construction and operations plans for two major offshore wind projects recently: Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind received permission in late June, with Avangrid’s New England Wind receiving approvals this week.

Eighty-four turbines are planned for Sunrise Wind, with a capacity of producing 924 megawatts. The project could power more than 320,000 homes, according to the federal energy agency. It’s located around 18 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, and will be providing power to New York.

According to Ørsted, offshore wind construction will “ramp up” later this year, and Sunrise Wind is expected to be fully operational by 2026.

Meanwhile, the federal approval for New England Wind — consisting of two projects called New England Wind 1 and New England Wind 2 — is expected to have a total power capacity of 2,600 megawatts of energy, and could power more than 900,000 homes annually, according to the federal energy agency.

Read the full article at MV Times

Atlantic Cod Management Track Peer Review – Report Finalization – July 8, 2024 at 12:30 p.m

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

The Atlantic Cod Management Track Peer Review Panel will reconvene to complete its work on reviewing new management track stock assessments for Western Gulf of Maine cod, Eastern Gulf of Maine cod, Southern New England cod, and Georges Bank cod.  Members of the public are welcome to tune in, but there is not a scheduled public comment period.
 
DATE AND TIME:  The peer review panel will meet by webinar on Monday, July 8, 2024 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Webinar information for this session is posted under Day 6 on the meeting webpage.  Scroll down to “Schedule.” 
 
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING:  The original peer review meeting for Atlantic cod stocks was held June 18, 20, and 21, 2024.  The peer review panel requested additional analyses for three of the four new cod stock units undergoing management track assessments.  The panel will review the information on July 8 in order to finalize its work on the peer review report.
 
MEETING MATERIALS:  Updated documents are posted on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Stock Assessment Support Information webpage.  
 
The peer review meeting is being hosted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.  The New England Fishery Management Council is sharing this information to ensure our Council community is aware of its happening.

Council Discontinues Work on Northern Edge Framework

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

The New England Fishery Management Council voted on June 27, 2024 during its four-day meeting in Freeport, Maine to “discontinue development” of an action that potentially would have given scallop fishermen access to part of the Habitat Management Area on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank.

The Council viewed a staff presentation that summed up work to date and outlined additional decision points the Council needed to make regarding when and for how long scallopers would be able to access a new Northern Edge scallop rotational management area if one were to be developed.

The Council engaged in a lengthy debate, narrowing its focus to the pros and cons of further developing the alternatives for final action in September or stopping work on the action. In the end, the Council determined that, “after careful consideration of the ecological importance of the Northern Edge Habitat Management Area and the difficulties of identifying times and areas for scallop access that do not undermine those values,” it voted to halt further development of the framework.

The Council considered information about:

• The action’s goals and objectives;

• The latest memo provided by the Habitat and Scallop PDTs, which included cod spawning information along with details about scallop, habitat, and herring presence and condition; and

• The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s technical report on the lobster resource and fishery in and around the Northern Edge.

 

Is there a new hybrid fish in New England? Meet the ‘coddock.’

July 2, 2024 — Linda Hunt was hoping they would call the strange fish she came across last winter a “Lindacod.”

“Then some of the fishermen that don’t like me would have to say, ‘You got any more of those Lindacods?’” Hunt quipped.

Hunt, a fishmonger with Coastline Sea Food, was offloading boxes from a boat in Gloucester when she saw the fish, the likes of which she had never seen.

“I just thought it was cool and took the picture,” Hunt said.

A couple of weeks later, Hunt, who has been in the fishing industry for 32 years, saw the same curious creature, with speckled dots similar to a cod, but also resembling another white fish.

Read the full article at  The Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: A million acres of ocean for offshore wind: ‘Wow, that’s awfully close to Cape Cod.’

July 1, 2024 — As a July 1 deadline approached for comments to be submitted to the federal government regarding a proposal to auction offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine — including off the outermost Cape towns — the region’s leaders wanted more time to weigh in.

The Cape & Islands Municipal Leaders Association, an organization of 105 elected officials representing all 22 towns on the Cape, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, has sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management requesting to extend the deadline to July 22.

BOEM opened the public comment period on the proposed sale notice for leases on May 1, a day after announcing its plan for first-time ever offering of nearly a million ocean acres in the Gulf of Maine for offshore wind production.

“This comment period extension will allow for additional public meetings to address comments and concerns and provide for a more streamlined permitting, construction and operation of what is likely the most significant investment in energy facilities ever to be made,” the association’s June 25 letter reads.

Read the full article at Yahoo News!