Saving Seafood

Scallops: NEFMC Approves Framework 29 with 2018-2019 Specs Under Four Potential Habitat Amendment Outcomes

December 8, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council today approved a sweeping package of measures for Framework Adjustment 29 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The framework includes specifications for the 2018 scallop fishing year, which begins April 1, as well as default specifications for 2019. It also includes actions related to Closed Area 1 carryover pounds, the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area, and flatfish accountability measures, among others.

Several of the actions in Framework 29 are intertwined with the approval and implementation of the Council’s Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Amendment 2, which is under review by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The amendment may open EFH and groundfish closed areas that have been off limits to scallop fishing for many years. NMFS is expected to announce whether it has approved or disapproved all or part of the amendment by January 4, 2018. The comment period on the amendment closed December 5, but a final rule is not expected until later this winter or early spring.

The Habitat Amendment decisions for two areas in particular – Closed Area I and the Nantucket Lightship Area – will drive the eventual outcome of Framework 29. A substantial biomass of harvestable scallops exists in both the “sliver” portion of Closed Area I and in the western portion of the Nantucket Lightship Area, one or both of which may reopen. Important to note is that even if these areas become available through the Habitat Amendment, they do not automatically become available to the scallop fishery without additional action in Framework 29 to convert them to scallop access areas.

Given this situation and the fact that the Council had to take final action on Framework 29 during its December meeting without knowing the Habitat Amendment outcome, it approved four preferred alternatives to cover all potential scenarios.

  • Closed Area 1/Nantucket Lightship West Scenario – If both of these areas become available, then 24 open area days-at sea and six access area trips:

o One to the reconfigured Closed Area I;

o Two to Nantucket Lightship West;

o One to Nantucket Light South; and

o Two to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

Nantucket Lightship West Only Scenario – If only the Nantucket Lightship Area becomes available, then 31 open area days-at-sea and five access area trips:

o Two to Nantucket Lightship West;

o One to Nantucket Lightship South; and

o Two to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

Closed Area 1 Only Scenario – If only Closed Area 1 becomes available, then 23 days-at-sea and five access area trips:

o One to the reconfigured Closed Area I;

o One to Closed Area II, including the Closed Area II Extension;

o One to Nantucket Lightship South; and

o Two to the Mid-Atlantic Access Area.

No Change Scenario: If additional access to Nantucket Lightship and/or Closed Area I does NOT become available through the Habitat Amendment, then 26 open area days-at-sea and five access area trips:

o One to Closed Area II, including the Closed Area II Extension;

o One to Nantucket Lightship South; and If additional bottom does not become available under the Habitat Amendment, fulltime limited access scallopers would be allocated five access-area trips for the 2018 fishing year under the Council’s preferred alternative for this scenario – three trips in the Mid-Atlantic, one in Nantucket Lightship South, and one in Closed Area II with the Extension included, along with 26 open area days-at-sea. – NEFMC graphic

o Three to the MidAtlantic Access Area.

The Council approved an 18,000-pound possession limit for all full-time trips. Of the four scenarios described above, only one will be fully developed for implementation once the stage is set by the Habitat Amendment. The Council also voted to allocate the existing 1.64 million pounds of Closed Area I carryover if Closed Area I and/or Nantucket Lightship West are reopened. The carryover is a result of roughly 130 trips that were allocated to Closed Area I in 2012 and 2013 through a lottery system that fishermen did not take because of poor fishing conditions.

According to analyses conducted by the Scallop Plan Development Team, the alternatives that provide access to Nantucket Lightship West and/or Closed Area I generate the greatest benefits in terms of higher landings, higher revenue, and reduced impacts on habitat because the fleet will be able to work in areas with denser concentrations of scallops and catch their trip limits faster, thereby reducing the amount of bottom that is swept by dredges. Flatfish bycatch also is projected to be lower.

Framework 29 includes provisions to allocate 5.5% of the total access area allocations to the Limited Access General Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) fleet. The 5.5% is equivalent to 2,855 or 3,426 IFQ trips, which would be distributed proportionally to the available areas depending on which Habitat Amendment-dependent scenario is implemented. Unlike full-time, part-time, and occasional limited access scallop permit holders, LAGC IFQ permit holders are allocated a total number of fleet-wide trips rather than individual allocations. If Closed Area II becomes an access area, LAGC trips for that area will be redistributed evenly across other Georges Bank access areas since Closed Area II is difficult for many LACG IFQ boats to access given its distance from shore.

Flatfish Accountability Measures

The scallop fishery is subject to sub-annual catch limits (sub-ACLs) for four flatfish stocks. The Council uses accountability measures (AMs) to prevent or react to ACL overages and prevent overfishing. “Proactive” AMs are designed to avoid overages, while “reactive” AMs are triggered once an overage occurs. Framework 29 contains a new AM for northern windowpane flounder, as well as modified AMs for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail. The Council took action through this framework to streamline all of the reactive flatfish AMs in the scallop fishery and make them consistent with the current AM for southern windowpane flounder.

If an AM is triggered, scallopers will need to use modified dredges – configured with a five-row apron with a 1.5:1 maximum hanging ratio – to fish in designated GRA areas.

The duration of an AM is dependent on the magnitude of a sub-ACL overage as follows:

  • Small AMs – These are triggered if a quota overage is greater than 0% but less than 20%; and
  • Large AMs – These are triggered when overages exceeds 20% of the sub-ACL for a flatfish stock.

The Council approved identical reactive AMs for northern windowpane flounder and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. The Council took this step so that if an AM is triggered for either stock, the action will reduce the impacts of scallop fishing on both flatfish stocks. The reactive AMs for the scallop fishery are described as follows:

Northern windowpane flounder and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder:

o Small AM: If triggered, modified dredges will need to be used for six weeks from November 16 through December 31 in Closed Area II and the Closed Area II Extension; and

o Large AM: If triggered, modified dredges will need to be used year-round in Closed Area II and the Closed Area II Extension

The Council already has taken many steps to reduce flatfish bycatch in the scallop fishery, including: prohibiting possession of flatfish; requiring that dredges be constructed with a maximum of seven rows in the apron and 10” twine tops to allow flatfish escapement; and seasonally closing the Scallop Closed Area II access area from August 15 through November 15 to protect yellowtail flounder and windowpane flounder.

In order to continue reducing overall fishery impacts, the Council approved two measures in Framework 29 related to the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The measures stipulate that RSA compensation fishing will be: (1) prohibited once again in Closed Area II to help reduce potential bycatch of flatfish; and (2) capped in the Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area at the total allowable catch level designated for the limited access fishery.

Northern Gulf of Maine Management Area

The Council voted to set the total allowable catch (TAC) for the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Management Area at 200,000 pounds for the 2018 fishing year and 135,000 pounds for 2019 as a default.

The Council also voted to split the TAC between the limited access (LA) and LAGC components of the fishery with the first 70,000 pounds of the TAC going to the LAGC fishery and the remainder split 50/50 between the LA and LAGC components. Furthermore, the Council stipulated that the limited access portion of the TAC would be available for RSA compensation fishing only. Priority will be given to RSA projects that involve research in the Northern Gulf of Maine area.

More Information to Come

The Council voted to submit Framework 29 to NMFS – also called NOAA Fisheries – for review and implementation. The target date for implementation is April 1, 2018, which marks the beginning of the new fishing year.

The Council will distribute another news release after NMFS announces its decision on the Habitat Amendment. At that point, the Council will know which of its four preferred alternatives for limited access days-at-sea and access area trip allocations will advance in the scallop rulemaking process.

View the full release by the NEFMC here.

 

Massachusetts: Mitchell ‘Will do Everything we Can’ for Fishermen’s Families

December 7, 2017 — With the search called off for the two missing fishermen from the sunken Misty Blue, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell says the city and its residents will do all it can to offer solace to the families.

“We will do everything we can to support the families through this,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be hard, but there are other families who have experienced it who can certainly offer a shoulder to them.”

Mitchell made the comments during his weekly appearance on WBSM, although he was calling in from Washington, DC. The mayor was in the nation’s capital to speak with officials about issues that directly affect the fishing industry in New Bedford.

The U.S. Coast Guard called off the search for 44-year-old Michael Roberts of Fairhaven and 32-year-old Jonathan Saraiva of New Bedford Tuesday evening, after rescue efforts had failed to locate them following the Misty Blue’s sinking Monday evening.

“It’s unfortunate we need these kind of reminders of just how dangerous commercial fishing is,” Mitchell said. “It’s the most dangerous profession out there, and there are way too many families in greater New Bedford who have experienced what these families are experiencing today, and it’s an awful thing.”

The Fishermen’s Tribute Monument at Pier 3 has acted as a de facto gathering place in the past for families affected by fishing tragedies, something Mayor Mitchell knows personally.

Read the full story at WBSM

Florida Fishermen’s Group Sues Over 40% Cut in 2018 Golden Tilefish Allocation

December 6, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Florida fishermen are fighting an emergency ruling that would impose a 40% reduction in allowable golden tilefish harvests in 2018.

On November 29 the Southeastern Fisheries Association’s East Coast Fisheries Section (SFA-ECFS) filed the suit, which alleges that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) “committed procedural and substantive violations of federal fisheries and administrative law.” The organization claims that NMFS used “flawed scientific methods” in their 2016 golden tilefish assessment.

“This was supposed to be a simple update – adding new data to the stock assessment model that was thoroughly vetted and peer-reviewed,” SFA-ECFS fisheries consultant Russell Hudson said in a press release. “Instead, NMFS made major model changes behind closed doors without required scientific, industry expert and public oversight required when such changes occur.”

NMFS’ 2016 golden tilefish assessment found overfishing. However, Hudson added that overfishing was not discovered using the original SEDAR 25 peer-reviewed model. The golden tilefish assessment for 2017, which was conducted in October, used “new ‘best’ methodology identified by NMFS.” SFA-ACFS says that the assessment “failed to produce any scientifically useful results.”

The government has 45 days to answer or seek dismissal.

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

 

Feds taking final comments on new ocean habitat plan

December 4, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine — The federal government is closing the public comment period on a plan to change the way it manages ocean habitat off of New England.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is looking to change the way it manages the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and southern New England waters. The three areas are critical for commercial fishing operations and marine animals such as whales and dolphins.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Haven Register

 

Southeastern Fisheries Association’s East Coast Fisheries Section Sues Over 40 Percent Cut in Golden Tilefish Allocation for 2018

December 4, 2017 — ORLANDO, Fla. — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association: 

Fishermen of Florida filed suit in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. over an emergency rule imposing a forty percent reduction in allowable golden tilefish harvests next year. The suit alleges that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) committed procedural and substantive violations of federal fisheries and administrative law.

The suit, filed on November 29, was brought by the Southeastern Fisheries Association’s East Coast Fisheries Section (SFA-ECFS). The SFA is an advocacy group for fishermen that has represented harvesters, dealers, and processors participating in Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic regional fisheries for more than 60 years.

The rule being challenged was requested by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in June because it faced a looming 2018 deadline to end overfishing identified in a controversial 2016 golden tilefish assessment. Under federal law, fishery managers have two years from such a finding to adopt measures to end overfishing.

The suit alleges the 2016 assessment, which found overfishing and triggered the events leading up to the emergency rule, used flawed scientific methods that never should have been introduced. “This was supposed to be a simple update – adding new data to the stock assessment model that was thoroughly vetted and peer-reviewed,” said SFA-ECFS fisheries consultant Russell Hudson. “Instead, NMFS made major model changes behind closed doors without required scientific, industry expert, and public oversight required when such changes occur.” He also noted that the assessment runs using the original SEDAR 25 peer-reviewed model did not find overfishing.

According to the complaint, the use of emergency procedures to adopt the rule was also flawed. It alleges that NMFS failed to make a finding that there was “good cause” to waive the regular process of seeking public comment before making a rule final, a step skipped with the golden tilefish rule. It alleges that there was ample time between the Council’s June request for interim measures and the start of the 2018 golden tilefish fishing year to go through normal notice-and-comment rule making.

The 2016 “update” assessment that found overfishing has been subject to significant debate and criticism not only by the industry, but also by Council members and some of its scientific advisors. The biggest change it introduced was the use of a statistical methodology meant to account for potential bias. Since its use was accepted by the Council’s panel of experts on its Scientific and Statistical Committee, NMFS said that method had been superseded by another approach. The head of NMFS Beaufort Lab, which oversaw the assessment, Dr. Erik Williams, called this an “evolving” field of research.

In light of the questions raised about the 2016 update, the Council took the unusual step of asking for a revised update to the golden tilefish assessment to be conducted this year using the new “best” methodology identified by NMFS. That new assessment, conducted in October, failed to produce any scientifically useful results.

“While NMFS keeps focusing on this one issue it can’t seem to get right, the industry is concerned about a whole host of other changes that never should have been made in the 2016 assessment,” said Jimmy Hull, who heads SFA-ECFS. “An update is supposed to be a simple plug-and-play exercise. Instead, a small group of scientists incorporated a bunch of assumptions that don’t fit the real world. That wouldn’t have happened in a more thorough and open process.”

Shaun Gehan, an SFA attorney who brought the case, said that this is a matter that should be settled. “Both the industry and the Council believe there is no justification for the cuts made in the interim rule,” he said. “What should happen is that the SSC should be asked if the model runs that used the peer-reviewed model are the ‘best scientific information available.’ That would lift the overfishing finding and allow the Council to take measured steps without a legal hammer hanging over its head.”

Once the government is served with the suit, it has 45 days to answer or seek dismissal.

Learn more about the SFA by visiting their site here.

 

Alaska’s seafood marketing agency expands its reach

December 1, 2017 — On a domestic and international scale, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute expanded its reach over the past year to promote domestic and overseas sales of wild Alaska seafood, and educate the industry on seafood technical issues.

In presentations Nov. 28, at the start of ASMI’s three-day All Hands meeting in Anchorage, some 200 participants heard progress reports on these and other related issues, including ASMI’s sustainability program.

Fisheries market researcher Andy Wick, presenting for the McDowell Group in Juneau, noted that the cumulative first wholesale value of wild Alaska seafood from 1959 through 2016 totaled $170 billion, equal to the value of all major professional sports teams in North America.

Eighty percent of the state’s commercial seafood harvests from 2011 through 2015 was in high volume groundfish, including Pollock and cod, while salmon garnered on average 15 percent of the catch, halibut and black cod 1 percent, and crab 1 percent.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

 

Rafael Arrest Shines Light on Fishing System

December 1, 2017 — Dozens of New Bedford-based commercial fishing boats were ordered to stop fishing last week in the wake of the federal prosecution of fishing magnate Carlos Rafael, known as The Codfather, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, cash smuggling, and falsifying records and misidentifying and mislabeling fish to avoid fishing quotas.

Members of the dwindling Vineyard fishing community who have been watching the proceedings say the tale is a sad commentary on the state of the industry and highlights flaws in its regulation.

“It’s a symptom of poor policy,” said Wes Brighton, a Vineyard fisherman and one of the only Islanders to hold a federal commercial groundfishing permit. Mr. Brighton fishes for lobster, conch, monkfish, and some cod from his boat Martha Elizabeth.

The system creates an imbalance, he said, giving independently-owned family fishing businesses little access to the fisheries and allowing larger corporations the ability to consolidate fishing permits and quota.

Mr. Rafael was arrested and charged in February 2016 after an undercover investigation. According to the government, federal agents posed as organized crime figures interested in buying his fishing business. For about four years, the Department of Justice said, Mr. Rafael lied to the government about the quantity and species of fish his boats in an effort to evade the strict federal quotas that are designed to protect the sustainability of certain fish species.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

 

Alaska: As council looks to public for Cook Inlet salmon plan, UCIDA stays wary

November 30, 2017 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is looking for input from Cook Inlet fishermen on how it should develop a management plan for the area’s salmon fisheries.

The federal council, which regulates fisheries in the federal waters between 3 and 200 nautical miles offshore, is currently working on an amendment to the fishery management plan for Cook Inlet’s salmon fisheries. The process is likely to take multiple years of meetings and the council members decided to form a Salmon Committee that includes stakeholders in the fishery to keep the public in the loop on it.

Specifically, the council members are looking for ideas from the public on how the committee will work, according an announcement sent out Tuesday. That can include any fishermen on the salmon stocks of Cook Inlet.

“To develop a scope of work for the Salmon Committee, the council is soliciting written proposals from the public to help the council identify specific, required, conservation and management measures for the Salmon Committee to evaluate relevant to the development of options for a fishery management plan amendment,” the announcement states.

Read the full story at the Peninsula Clarion

 

US fishing rules coming to impact New England scallops, cod harvests

November 29, 2017 — The US’s National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) has released a proposal that could mean dramatic changes for the way fishing is managed off the coasts of the New England states, the Associated Press reports.

The proposed “Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment” from NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, would address the way such species as scallops and haddock are harvested in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and other areas, and how rare whales are protected.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News 

 

SCeMFiS Announces Funding for Two Research Projects Impacting Fisheries Management

November 27, 2017 — CAPE MAY, N.J. — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Industry Advisory Board (IAB) of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) has allocated $26,467 in funding for two research projects during the Fall IAB Meeting held October 31-November 1, 2017 in Cape May, New Jersey. The awards span the broad mission of the SCeMFiS and include research on marine mammals and continued funding for the omnibus stock assessment proposal for Atlantic herring.

Funded projects are as follows:

  • Independent Advisory Team for Marine Mammal Assessments – Phase V – this team addresses uncertainties in slow growing marine mammal populations and the interactions between marine mammals and fishing operations. PI: Paula Moreno, USM
  • Stock Assessment Team – stock assessment teams provide external support to NMFS for benchmark assessment working groups with a focus in 2018 on the Atlantic herring. PI: Steve Cadrin, UMass Dartmouth

This fall marked a trend to include industry sponsorship of social events and hold meetings close to prospective new members in an effort to attract and showcase research projects. The Cape May oceanfront provided a beautiful venue for the Fall IAB Meeting. Lund’s Fisheries Inc. and Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc. graciously provided food, beverages and evening social events on the Cape May Whale Watcher as well as Cold Spring Village/Brewery and The Grange Restaurant.

Jeff Reichle, President of Lund’s Fisheries, Inc. commented, “It was an honor to host the Fall IAB Meeting of SCeMFiS in the port of Cape May. The fishing industry in New Jersey, both commercial and recreational, has a huge impact on our coastal communities and we are very pleased to be part of this science based organization focused on cooperative research with NMFS and other fisheries management bodies to ensure that we have healthy, sustainable fisheries now and in the future.”

The Industry Advisory Board of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS), supported by the National Science Foundation I/UCRC Program, provides research related to major challenges in fisheries management and brings participants from industry, government, and other organizations in need of science-based solutions into contact with academic scientists capable of providing that expertise.

The SCeMFiS Industry Advisory Board is composed of members from the shellfish and commercial finfish industries and the NMFS-Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The organizational structure provided by the Center permits members to control the science agenda in exchange for financial support under the sponsorship of the NSF.

For a list of the SCeMFiS research projects already underway, please click the following link, http://scemfis.org/research.html. The Industry Advisory Board will review each of its funded projects at its next meeting to be held April 24 & 25 in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.