Saving Seafood

MAFMC Solicits Public Input on MSB FMP Goals/Objectives and Illex Permits Amendment

March 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting public input on an amendment to address revisions to the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) fishery management plan (FMP) goals/objectives and modifications to Illex fishery permitting. Five webinar-based public hearings will be held between March 30 and April 13, 2020. Written comments will be accepted through April 20, 2020.

This amendment is being developed to address the following objectives:

  • Consider revising the overall MSB FMP goals and objectives
  • Consider the appropriate number of permits and related management measures in the Illex fishery and reduce the number of directed permits if appropriate

For more information, contact Jason Didden at jdidden@mafmc.org (also 302-526-5254) or visit this amendment’s action page: http://www.mafmc.org/actions/illex-permitting-msb-goals-amendment. The action page has a public hearing document, and a video presentation will be posted there by March 21, 2020.

Public Hearing Schedule

Due to public health concerns, hearings will be conducted by webinar. To join the webinar, go to http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/msb-illex-2020/. Telephone connection instructions appear upon connecting, or you can call 800-832-0736 and enter room number 7833942#. You must call by phone to participate. You can contact Jason Didden to test your connection ahead of time. Please participate in the webinar designated for your region (but you can join any if necessary):

  1. Monday March 30, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – Massachusetts and north
  2. Tuesday March 31, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – Rhode Island and Connecticut
  3. Wednesday April 1, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – New York
  4. Thursday April 2, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – New Jersey and Delaware
  5. Monday April 13, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – Maryland and south

Written Comments

Written comments should be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 20, 2020 through one of the following methods, with the subject “MSB Goals and Illex Permits”:

  1. Email to Jason Didden: jdidden@mafmc.org
  2. Online at http://www.mafmc.org/comments/illex-permitting-msb-goals-amendment
  3. Mail to Dr. Chris Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE, 19901
  4. Fax to Dr. Chris Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council at 302-674-5399

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Atlantic Chub Mackerel Measures

March 9, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries proposes measures adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council as part of Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan to manage chub mackerel.

Because a directed fishery for Atlantic chub mackerel recently emerged in the Mid-Atlantic, in 2018 the Mid-Atlantic Council implemented initial measures to maintain existing catch levels while it developed a long-term management approach. In the intervening three years, the Council has collected more detailed information on chub mackerel and has developed management measures to help achieve and maintain the sustainability of the chub mackerel resource.

This action would designate essential fish habitat; set catch limits for 2020-2022; and implement an annual catch limit, accountability measures, possession limits, permitting and reporting requirements, and other administrative measures for Atlantic chub mackerel caught from Maine through North Carolina.

For more details, please read the rule as published in the Federal Register.  Supporting analysis for this rule is available on the Council’s website.

The comments due date is April 8, 2020. To submit comments, please use the Federal e-rulemaking portal, or send comments by regular mail to Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA, 01930. Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Comments on Chub Mackerel Proposed Rule.”

Read the full release here

Fisheries of the U.S. 2018 Report: West Coast, Hawaii Generally Stable with a Few Exceptions

February 26, 2020 — Rockfish landings and values are up, squid landings are down on the West Coast. Sablefish prices have dropped, following an increase in landings on the West Coast and Alaska. Hawaii’s total value for seafood products is up, even though lower volumes of fish are being harvested.

Such are just some of the data included for the Pacific Coast in NMFS’ Fisheries of the United States, 2018, report that was released Friday. The report combines data from Alaska and the West Coast—and sometimes Hawaii, too—into the larger Pacific Coast, but a few of the tables and information reveal clues that tell their own stories or trends specific to smaller areas or individual fisheries.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA Fisheries Announces Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Quotas for 2020

February 26, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces 2020 fishing year quotas in the Atlantic mackerel, longfin squid, Illex squid, and butterfish fisheries, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action maintains previously approved catch levels for 2020 for Illex squid, longfin squid, and butterfish, rolls over the 2019 catch level to 2020 for Atlantic mackerel, removes the initial 89 mt river herring and shad catch cap, maintains the 129 mt river herring and shad catch cap, and makes other minor adjustments to the management plan.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register, and our permit holder bulletin.

Lund’s-linked vessels sue NOAA over industry funded at-sea monitors

February 24, 2020 — A group of US Atlantic herring trawlers linked to major New Jersey scallop and squid supplier Lund’s Fisheries have sued the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) arguing that a new rule requiring them to pay for the cost of at-sea monitoring violates federal laws.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 19 in a Washington, D.C., federal court, alleges that NOAA’s Feb. 7 publication of a “final rule” that will pave the way for industry-funded monitoring claims that the rule exceeds the agency’s authority granted under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the main legislation that regulates fishing in US federal waters.

The lawsuit further claims that the rule improperly infringes on “Congress’s exclusive taxation authority” and violates three other federal laws — the Anti-Deficiency Act, the Miscellaneous Receipts Act and the Independent Offices Appropriations Act, all of which regulate how the government collects and spends money.

The rule, according to the lawsuit, could cost herring harvesters as much as $700 per trip for the monitors, third-party observers hired by the vessel owner.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Quotas for the 2020 Fishing Year

December 17, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The proposed action would:

  • Rollover the 2019 Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) level (29,184 mt) to 2020 for Atlantic mackerel;
  • Update the Atlantic mackerel recreational deduction to include updated catch accounting methodology from 1,209 mt to 1,270 mt for 2020 to help avoid an ABC overage;
  • Maintain the 129 mt river herring and shad catch cap and eliminate the initial 89-mt trigger provision that would close the fishery if 89 mt of river herring and shad were observed to be caught before 10,000 lb of mackerel has been caught; and
  • Maintain the previously approved 2020 specifications for Illex squid (26,000 mt ABC), longfin squid (23,400 mt ABC) and butterfish (32,063 mt ABC), including the 3,884 mt butterfish catch cap in the longfin squid fishery.

Read the proposed rule as published today in the Federal Register. Supporting documents for this rule are available on the MAFMC website.

To submit comments, please use the Federal e-rulemaking portal, or send comments by regular mail to Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA, 01930. Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for 2020 Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Specifications.”

Comments are due by 5 pm January 16, 2020.

Reminder: Longfin Squid Incidental Catch Permit Application

December 12, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We approved Amendment 20 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan on October 22, 2018. This action created a new Tier 3 longfin squid incidental moratorium permit.

How Do I Qualify for a Longfin Squid Moratorium Tier 3 Permit (SMB1C)?

To qualify for an SMB1C longfin squid permit, a vessel must have been issued an open access SMB3 permit and landed at least 5,000 lb of longfin squid in any year during 1997-2013. We will use available dealer landings data to determine whether a vessel qualifies for a SMB1C permit. To be issued the new Tier 3 longfin squid incidental permit, vessel owners must apply for this new permit by February 29, 2020.

Where Do I Get an Application?

The application form is available online and will also be mailed to you. For more information see our bulletin.

MAINE: Goodbye herring, hello squid: Fishermen’s catch likely to change in warming Gulf of Maine

November 8, 2019 — In a warmer future, Maine fishermen will probably be catching squid or mackerel, not cod or herring.

They will probably have to travel farther and fine-tune their gear to catch the cold-water species that remain in the Gulf of Maine, like lobster and sea scallops, and be ready to fish the new species that will be calling a warmer Gulf of Maine home by then, like black sea bass.

“We face some challenges moving forward that will require adaptation to maintain our vibrant fisheries,” Katherine Mills, a research scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, said in an address Thursday, the fourth day of the five-day Gulf of Maine 2050 Symposium in Portland.

Mills gave the audience a peek at work that GMRI scientists and economists are doing to explore how New England fishing communities will be affected by rising sea temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, which is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the world’s oceans. The Gulf is expected to warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2055.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

East Coast squid fishery to be restricted through end of ‘19

August 20, 2019 — Federal fishing managers are restricting the fishery for a commercially important species of squid for the rest of the year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says restrictions on the fishery for illex squid, which are also called shortfin squid, begin on Wednesday morning. Vessels won’t be allowed to bring more than 10,000 pounds per trip of the squid from federal waters to docks.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Day

NOAA Fisheries Announces Illex Squid Directed Fishery Closure

August 19, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is closing the directed fishery in federal waters through the end of the fishing year, December 31, 2019.

Effective at 0001 hour on August 21, vessels are prohibited from fishing for or landing more than 10,000 lb of Illex squid per trip in or from federal waters through December 31, 2019. Vessels may not land Illex squid more than once per calendar day.

Landings information analyzed by NOAA Fisheries projects the Illex squid fishery will meet 95 percent of the annual quota for the 2019 fishing year on August 21.

If you have started a trip prior to August 21, you may offload and sell more than 10,000 lb of Illex squid from that trip, as long as the vessel entered port before 0001 hr on August 21.

For more information, please read the notice as filed in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletin posted on our website.

Read the full release here