January 30, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council received a number of updates and reports on the first day of its January 28-30, 2020 meeting in Portsmouth, NH. Here’s a quick rundown of the day’s highlights.
The Council received a presentation on the Northeast Ocean Data Portal, which contains over 5,000 maps showing a variety of ocean uses, including fishing activity, and provides a wide range of information related to marine life, habitat, offshore wind, aquaculture, and more.
During the presentation, representatives from the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) informed the Council that they, along with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), are working collaboratively to update commercial fisheries data on the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portals and engage industry through focus groups and other outreach efforts in the development of data products. The groups have federal funding for 2020 to advance regional data sharing to help in management decision making.