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eVTR Instructional Webinar on Tuesday Afternoon – August 24

August 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The next instructional eVTR webinar will be held Tuesday, August 24 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. This webinar will provide vessel operators and others with a walkthrough of the eTrips Mobile 2, Fish Online Apple iOS and Fish Online Web App as options for submitting your eVTRs. This webinar will focus on Virginia and North Carolina vessels, though anyone is welcome to join any webinar.

How Do I Join?

More information can be found on our webpage for this series: How to Use Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting Apps. This page includes webinar login information.

Questions?

Contact your local Port Agent.

NORTH CAROLINA: Brunswick officials’ worries over offshore wind unresolved

August 19, 2021 — Brunswick County beach towns are back to square one in a push to ensure potential offshore wind farms are out of the line of sight from shore.

“Nothing has changed,” said Village of Bald Head Island Councilor Peter Quinn. “We’re still in the exact same situation. Nothing has been addressed.”

The village council first adopted a resolution in 2015 urging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to establish a buffer for offshore wind energy leases no closer than 24 nautical miles, or about 27 miles, off North Carolina’s southern coast.

In May, councilors once again passed a similar resolution, a move that triggered other beach towns in the county, including Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Caswell Beach, most recently, Oak Island, and the county board of commissioners to follow suit.

As opposition mounts along North Carolina’s southernmost coast to wind turbines within the viewshed, or line of sight from shore, the federal government is ramping up proposed plans for what could be the first wind energy farms off the state’s coast. BOEM earlier this month began hosting a series of virtual public meetings as part of the agency’s environmental review of the proposed project’s construction and operations plans.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries accepting applications for CARES Act II relief

August 18, 2021 — Members of the seafood industry in Carteret County and elsewhere across the state may apply to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries for financial relief.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting applications for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, also known as the CARES Act II, Fisheries Relief Program. The financial assistance is available to eligible commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operators, seafood dealers and processors and for-hire fishing operators who can document a greater than 35% revenue loss in 2020 compared to the previous five-year average due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The division mailed application packets to eligible license, lease and permit holders. Application packets are available online at deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/marine-fisheries/grant-programs/economic-relief-programs or at division offices for eligible stakeholders who are not licensed by the division. In Carteret County, the DMF headquarters is located at 3441 Arendell St. in Morehead City.

Read the full story at the Carteret County News-Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Fisheries-related coronavirus relief funding available

August 17, 2021 — The state Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting applications for the second round of federal coronavirus pandemic relief for seafood-related operations.

Commercial fishers, marine aquaculture operators, seafood dealers and processors and for-hire fishing operators who can document a revenue loss of more than 35% last year compared to the previous five-year average due to COVID-19 are eligible to apply for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, or CARES Act II, Fisheries Relief Program, the agency announced. The deadline is Oct. 1.

Application packets are on the division’s Economic Relief Programs webpage or at division offices for eligible stakeholders who are not licensed by the division.

The state is to receive $4.5 million in federal relief to be distributed through direct payments to fisheries-related groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is in addition to the $5.4 million in federal fisheries coronavirus relief distributed in the state earlier this year.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

NORTH CAROLINA: Commercial fishermen have taken a nosedive in the past 20 years

August 16, 2021 — North Carolina commercial fishermen have complained for decades that government regulations and a variety of other factors threaten their livelihood and have them headed the way of endangered species.

Glenn Skinner of Newport, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association an advocacy group of commercial fishermen, said statistics back that up.

According to the state Division of Marine Fisheries, the number of people with commercial licenses who sold seafood has dropped more than 50 percent since 2001.

The number was 4,273 in 2001 and it was 1,897 in 2020 — a decline of 2,376.

“These declines are the result of many different factors. with regulations, the fear of future regulations or outright bans on commercial fishing gears being a significant factor,” Skinner said.

Read the full story at The Free Press

North Carolina flounder: Prices rise, but Southern species cut back to rebuild stock

August 9, 2021 — North Carolina’s summer flounder trawl fishery typically occurs in waters off New Jersey and New York, outside of the Southern flounder range, with the catches landed in North Carolina under the state’s summer flounder quota — the lion’s share among East Coast states at 27.44 percent.

For the 2019-21 fishing seasons, the coastwide commercial quota is set at 11.53 million pounds, approximately a 49 percent increase over the previously set 2019 quota.

Harvest of both summer and Southern flounder in North Carolina remained consistent for the past several years. Prices have also remained consistent with the average retail price from $8 to $12 a pound for filets and $4 to $5 a pound for whole fish. Price to fisherman has varied between a low of $3.50 to $5 throughout the season.

Jeff Styron of Garland Fulcher Seafood, Oriental, N.C., says things are looking up after a year of covid.

“We were basically shut down last year,” says Mr. Styron. “With few restaurant purchasing products, we ended up with a lot of frozen fish and slim markets. Now the demand has gone crazy.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New paper sheds light on fisher strategies for shifting stocks

August 2, 2021 — New research from Rutgers University has investigated community and fisher strategies for adapting to stocks changing as a result of ocean warming.

The paper, “Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost – Responses of Fishers’ Communities to Shifts in the Distribution and Abundance of Fish,” focused on the groundfish trawl fishery in Northeast U.S., an area that is already seeing warming temperatures and is considered a hotspot for the effects of global warming.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Biden admin begins review of first N.C. offshore wind farm

July 30, 2021 — The Biden administration is beginning its environmental review of the first offshore wind project proposed off North Carolina, which is in a race to jump-start the industry before a Trump-era moratorium kicks in next year.

The Kitty Hawk offshore wind farm, developed by Avangrid Renewables, would be a 69-turbine wind array off the coast of the state’s Outer Banks. It could power up to 700,000 homes.

The 800-megawatt project would sit roughly 27 miles from North Carolina shores and more than 40 miles from Virginia Beach, where two transmission cables would land to connect with PJM Interconnection’s onshore grid.

An Avangrid analysis of the project forecasts a $2 billion economic impact from the project, much of that in Hampton Roads, the port region in Virginia that will serve as a home base to stand up the project.

The offshore wind farm would serve both Virginia and North Carolina renewable energy targets but is particularly important for North Carolina, where the Trump administration ordered a moratorium on offshore energy leasing shortly before leaving office. That moratorium begins in mid-2022 and lasts for 10 years.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) last month signed an executive order to stand up 8 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2040 in the state.

Read the full story at E&E News

NORTH CAROLINA: Division of Marine Fisheries publishes annual stock overview/ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

July 30, 2021 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries today released its annual Stock Overview of state managed marine fisheries species.
The 2021 North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Stock Overview reviews available information, such as long-term trends in catch, biological data and management, through 2020 to determine the overall condition of North Carolina’s state-managed species. It also provides links to information on federally-managed and interstate-managed species important to North Carolina.

Highlights of this year’s stock overview for state managed species include:

  • Estuarine Striped Bass –A 2020 peer-reviewed benchmark stock assessment using data through 2017 found that the Albemarle-Roanoke estuarine striped bass stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring. This triggered stricter harvest restrictions in the Albemarle Sound Management Area that took effect Jan. 1, 2021. Amendment 2 to the N. C. Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan is being jointly developed with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
  • Shrimp ­– In February 2020, the Marine Fisheries Commission approved proposed rule language to reclassify special secondary nursery areas that have not been opened to trawling in years to permanent secondary nursery areas. The commission adopted the reclassification of nine areas in February 2021 through a revision to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1. The rules became effective in May 2021. Development of the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2 is underway and focuses on further reducing bycatch of non-target species and minimizing ecosystem impacts.
  • Blue Crab ­– Amendment 3 to the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan was approved in February 2020, and management measures were implemented to address the overfished and overfishing status of the stock based on results from the peer-reviewed 2018 benchmark stock assessment. Amendment 3 also contained the framework for establishing criteria for Diamondback Terrapin Management Areas (DTMA) where terrapin excluder devices are required. Two DTMAs were established in May 2020 in Masonboro Sound and the lower Cape Fear River, and beginning in March 2021, all pots used in these areas are required to have an approved excluder device in each funnel from March 1 to Oct. 31.
  • Southern Flounder – Commercial and recreational seasons implemented in 2020 reduced landings but did not fully meet reductions required by the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 2. Development of the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 is under way. Amendment 3 will examine more robust management strategies, such as quotas, slot limits, size limit changes, gear changes, and species-specific management for the recreational fishery.

For more information, contact Lee Paramore at 252-473-5734.

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2021-summer-meeting-webinar for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, all supplemental meeting materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2021SummerMeeting/2021SummerMtgSupplementalCombined.pdf.

Below is the list of documents included in the supplemental materials.

American Lobster Management Board – Revised Meeting Overview and Workgroup Report on Vessel Tracking Devices in Federal Lobster and Jonah Crab Fisheries

Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Revised Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft FMP Review; Technical Committee Memo on Review of Juvenile Abundance Index for the Albemarle Sound/Roanoke River; Staff Memo on Potential Options and Timelines to Address Commercial Quota Allocation; Advisory Panel Nominations; and Public Comment

Tautog Management Board – Industry feedback on Tautog Commercial Harvest Tagging Program

Sciaenids Management Board – Atlantic Croaker and Red Drum FMP Reviews; and Florida FWC Commercial Atlantic Croaker Implementation Plan

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board Concurrent with Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – FMP Reviews for Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass; and Policy Board Directive to Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board

Atlantic Menhaden Management Board – Public Comment

Business Session – Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment Summary, and Draft Amendment for Public Comment

Webinar Information
Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning Monday, August 2 at 1:30 p.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 3 p.m.) on Thursday, August 5. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. To register for the webinar go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1268548762865393678 (Webinar ID: 606-517-315).

Each day, the webinar will begin 30 minutes prior to the start of the first meeting so that people can troubleshoot any connectivity or audio issues they may encounter. If you are having issues with the webinar (connecting to or audio related issues), please contact Chris Jacobs at 703.842.0790.

If you are joining the webinar but will not be using VoIP, you can may also call in at 415.655.0052. A PIN will be provided to you after joining the webinar; see webinar instructions for details on how to receive the PIN. For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, you can do so by dialing 415.655.0052 (access code: 904-450-431).

Public Comment Guidelines
To provide a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings. Please note these guidelines have been modified to adapt to meetings via webinar:

For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide an opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will ask members of the public to raise their hands to let the chair know they would like to speak. Depending upon the number of commenters, the board chair will decide how to allocate the available time on the agenda (typically 10 minutes) to the number of people who want to speak.

For topics that are on the agenda, but have not gone out for public comment, board chairs will provide limited opportunity for comment, taking into account the time allotted on the agenda for the topic. Chairs will have flexibility in deciding how to allocate comment opportunities; this could include hearing one comment in favor and one in opposition until the chair is satisfied further comment will not provide additional insight to the board.

For agenda action items that have already gone out for public comment, it is the Policy Board’s intent to end the occasional practice of allowing extensive and lengthy public comments. Currently, board chairs have the discretion to decide what public comment to allow in these circumstances.

In addition, the following timeline has been established for the submission of written comment for issues for which the Commission has NOT established a specific public comment period (i.e., in response to proposed management action).

  1. Comments received 3 weeks prior to the start of the webinar (July 12) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 27 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, July 30 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting.

Comments should be submitted via email at comments@asmfc.org. All comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution.

North Carolina commercial fishermen landed less seafood in 2020

July 23, 2021 — Commercial fishermen sold nearly 20% less fish and shellfish to North Carolina seafood dealers in 2020, a decline from the previous year that’s being blamed on the state’s stay-at-home order brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a state agency said Friday.

A news release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries says commercial fishermen sold 42.9 million pounds of fish and shellfish last year, a 19% decline from 2019 and about a 23% decrease from the previous five-year average.

The decline was linked to a 41.3% decrease in hard blue crab landings from 2019 that may have been partly due to impacts from COVID-19. The division said it heard from several fishermen who said they found it difficult to move blue crabs at the beginning of the state’s stay-at-home order when many restaurants were closed.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

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