Saving Seafood

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – Thursday, November 12, 2020 – Small-Mesh Multispecies (Whiting) Issues, Stock Assessments

November 4, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet via webinar on Thursday, November 12, 2020 to discuss issues related to small-mesh multispecies – red hake, silver hake, and offshore hake.  The public is invited to listen live.  But first…

HERE’S AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:  The Council is seeking qualified candidates to serve on its SSC for a three-year term from January 2021 through December 2023.  The deadline for submitting nominations and related materials is 8:00 a.m. on December 20, 2020.  Additional information is available in the request for nominations.

Now, here are the details for the SSC’s November 12th webinar meeting.

START TIME:  9:00 a.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live.  There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (914) 614-3221.  The access code is 611-762-686.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will meet to:

  • Review recent information from: (1) the Fall 2020 Management Track Stock Assessments for northern and southern red hake, northern and southern silver hake, and offshore hake, and (2) the Council’s Whiting Plan Development Team;
  • Recommend the overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) levels for each of those stocks for fishing years 2021-2023; and
  • Discuss other business as necessary.
COMMENTS:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.  Address comments to Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn or Executive Director Tom Nies and email them to comments@nefmc.org.  Additional information is available in the meeting notice.

MATERIALS:  All documents for this meeting will be posted on the SSC November 12, 2020 webpage.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 101, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4917, jplante@nefmc.org.

NEFMC SSC Meeting, October 12, 2017, Live Streaming Information

October 4, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet on Thursday, October 12, 2017.  The public is invited to listen via webinar or telephone.  Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION:  Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Airport, 100 Boardman Street, Boston, MA.  Hotel information is available here.

START TIME:  10:00 a.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting will be available at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3726401422414349827.

There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8321.

The access code is 818-682-657.

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

AGENDA:  The SSC will (1) review information provided by the Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT) and recommend overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) levels for Atlantic sea scallops for fishing year 2018, as well as default OFL and ABC levels for 2019; (2) review information provided by the Council’s Whiting PDT and recommend OFLs and ABCs for the northern and southern stocks of silver hake and, separately, for red hake for fishing years 2018-2020; and (3) discuss other business as necessary.

MATERIALS:  Meeting materials, as they become available, will be posted on the Council’s website at SSC October 12, 2017 documents.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Fading Fishermen: A Historic Industry Faces A Warming World

June 27, 2016 — SEABROOK, N.H. — The cod isn’t just a fish to David Goethel. It’s his identity, his ticket to middle-class life, his link to a historic industry.

“I paid for my education, my wife’s education, my house, my kids’ education; my slice of America was paid for on cod,” said Goethel, a 30-year veteran of the Atlantic waters that once teemed with New England’s signature fish.

But on a chilly, windy Saturday in April, after 12 hours out in the Gulf of Maine, he has caught exactly two cod, and he feels far removed from the 1990s, when he could catch 2,000 pounds in a day.

His boat, the Ellen Diane, a 44-foot fishing trawler named for his wife, is the only vessel pulling into the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative in Seabrook. Fifteen years ago, there might have been a half-dozen. He is carrying crates of silver hake, skates and flounder — all worth less than cod.

One of America’s oldest commercial industries, fishing along the coast of the Northeast still employs hundreds. But every month that goes by, those numbers fall. After centuries of weathering overfishing, pollution, foreign competition and increasing government regulation, the latest challenge is the one that’s doing them in: climate change.

Though no waters are immune to the ravages of climate change, the Gulf of Maine, a dent in the coastline from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, best illustrates the problem. The gulf, where fishermen have for centuries sought lobster, cod and other species that thrived in its cold waters, is now warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, scientists have said.

Read the full story at the Associated Press 

Council Approves Changes to Scup Gear-Restricted Areas

April 21, 2016 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

During a meeting last week in Montauk, New York the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a framework action to modify the boundary of one of the region’s two Scup Gear Restricted Areas (GRAs). The proposed change to the Southern Scup GRA boundary is expected to increase the availability of longfin squid to small-mesh fisheries.

The GRAs were implemented in 2000 and are intended to reduce discard mortality of juvenile scup. The current GRA regulations include a Northern GRA, which is effective from November 1 through December 31, and a Southern GRA, which is effective from January 1 through March 15. Trawl vessels which fish for or possess longfin squid, black sea bass, or silver hake (also known as whiting) are required to use mesh 5 inches or larger in the GRAs during those times of the year. The scup stock has expanded substantially since the GRAs were first implemented, and analysis conducted by scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center indicate that the GRAs were partially responsible for this rebuilding.

The GRAs have been modified several times in response to requests from commercial fishermen. In recent years, advisors have recommended further modification of the GRAs to restore access to certain areas for longfin squid fishing, arguing that modifications to the GRA boundaries would not harm the scup stock

In response to an industry request, the Council initiated a framework action in 2014 to address potential changes to the scup GRAs. The framework considered a range of alternatives, including modifications to the GRA boundaries and elimination of one or both GRAs.

After a lengthy discussion of the impacts of the proposed alternatives, the Council voted to modify the boundary of the Southern Scup GRA. The proposed change, shown in Figure 1, is based on a proposal developed by members of the Council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel.

“By increasing access to important fishing grounds, the Council balanced the concerns of the squid industry with the possible impacts on the scup stock,” said the Council’s Executive Director, Chris Moore. “If the modification is approved by NMFS, the Council will be working closely with NMFS to monitor scup discards to make sure that mortality of juvenile scup does not increase as a result.”

Read the release and see the chart at the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

Council Approves Changes to Scup Gear-Restricted Areas

The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

April 20, 2016 — During a meeting last week in Montauk, New York the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a framework action to modify the boundary of one of the region’s two Scup Gear Restricted Areas (GRAs). The proposed change to the Southern Scup GRA boundary is expected to increase the availability of longfin squid to small-mesh fisheries.

The GRAs were implemented in 2000 and are intended to reduce discard mortality of juvenile scup. The current GRA regulations include a Northern GRA, which is effective from November 1 through December 31, and a Southern GRA, which is effective from January 1 through March 15. Trawl vessels which fish for or possess longfin squid, black sea bass, or silver hake (also known as whiting) are required to use mesh 5 inches or larger in the GRAs during those times of the year. The scup stock has expanded substantially since the GRAs were first implemented, and analysis conducted by scientists at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center indicate that the GRAs were partially responsible for this rebuilding.

The GRAs have been modified several times in response to requests from commercial fishermen. In recent years, advisors have recommended further modification of the GRAs to restore access to certain areas for longfin squid fishing, arguing that modifications to the GRA boundaries would not harm the scup stock

In response to an industry request, the Council initiated a framework action in 2014 to address potential changes to the scup GRAs. The framework considered a range of alternatives, including modifications to the GRA boundaries and elimination of one or both GRAs.

After a lengthy discussion of the impacts of the proposed alternatives, the Council voted to modify the boundary of the Southern Scup GRA. The proposed change, shown in Figure 1, is based on a proposal developed by members of the Council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Advisory Panel.

“By increasing access to important fishing grounds, the Council balanced the concerns of the squid industry with the possible impacts on the scup stock,” said the Council’s Executive Director, Chris Moore. “If the modification is approved by NMFS, the Council will be working closely with NMFS to monitor scup discards to make sure that mortality of juvenile scup does not increase as a result.”

NEFMC proposal would limit access to hake fishery

December 8, 2015 — The New England Fishery Management Council is hosting a public meeting tonight in Gloucester as an initial step in possibly drafting an amendment that would modify the small-mesh multispecies fishery into a limited access fishery.

The meeting, to solicit public comment and gather information that ultimately would be used in the drafting of an environmental impact statement, is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the state Division of Marine Fisheries office at 30 Emerson Ave.

Currently, the small-mesh multispecies fishery, which includes whiting (silver hake), red hake and offshore hake, is an open fishery, accessible to any fisherman with the appropriate permit.

The proposal to limit access to the fishery is based in concerns “over unrestrained increases in fishing effort” in the small-mesh fishery, the council said.

“The need for the amendment is to reduce the potential for a rapid escalation of the small-mesh multispecies fishery, possibly causing overfishing and having a negative impact on red hake and whiting markets, both outcomes having negative effects on fishery participants,” council said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times