November 5, 2018 — Over the last couple years, news came out of North Carolina of arrests of fishermen involved in an illegal striped bass poaching ring.
Thirty co-conspirators were part of the illicit activity, but only 12 subjects were charged and sentenced in connection to this case, which saw 52 charges in 13 indictments.
This week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released data on the results of the investigation and court proceedings.
October 17, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 77th Annual Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-annual-meeting for the following Boards/Committees (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental materials have been combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/77AnnualMeeting/2018AnnualMeetingCombined_Supplemental.pdf
American Lobster Management Board – Revised Agenda & Meeting Overview; ME DMR letter on NOAA Technical Memorandum on North Atlantic Right Whales—Evaluating Their Recovery Challenges in 2018; Memo on Recent Meeting of Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team; American Lobster FMP Review; and Report of the Electronic Reporting Subcommittee
Atlantic Herring Management Board – Memo on 2019 Specifications for Area 1A; Amendment 3 Spawning Re-Closure Protocol; and Public Comment
Strategic Planning Workshop – Draft Agenda & Summary of Strategic Planning Workgroup Meeting
Business Session – Draft 2019 Action Plan & Anticipated Board Activities for High Priority Species
Coastal Sharks Management Board – Advisory Panel Meeting Summary
Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board – Public Comment
Executive Committee – Draft Recommendations for Revising the Appeals Process & Awards Committee SOPPs
Weakfish Management Board – FMP Review
Horseshoe Crab Management Board – FMP Review & Public Comment
ISFMP Policy Board – Revised Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Public Comment; and Living Shorelines Factsheet
South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – Public Comment Summary on Cobia PID (including hearing overviews and submitted comment); Black Drum, Spotted Seatrout and Spanish Mackerel FMP Reviews; Advisory Panel Nomination
As a reminder, Board proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning October 22nd at 8:30 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 1 p.m.) on Thursday, October 25th. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4350173068754736387 to register.
September 28, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 77th Annual Meeting will be held October 21-25, 2018 at The Roosevelt Hotel, Madison Avenue. The room block is now closed. Please notify Cindy Robertson (crobertson@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740) if you need assistance reserving a room.
Please note: The preliminary agenda has been revised with the following changes: (1) meeting times have changed on Monday, October 22 for the American Lobster Board, Atlantic Herring Section, and the American Eel Board; and (2) the Atlantic Menhaden Board, previously scheduled for October 23rd, and the Shad and River Herring Board, previously scheduled for October 25th, have both been cancelled. Meeting times on those days have shifted to reflect those cancellations. The revised agenda is attached and follows below.
All meetings throughout the week are open to the public, free of charge. However, if you are planning on attending any of the meeting events (Sunday and Monday Receptions, Tuesday Dinner, or Wednesday Hart Award Luncheon), please register as soon as possible; simply fill-in and submit the registration form to Lisa Hartman at lhartman@asmfc.org. Events are filling up quickly and we cannot guarantee you space unless you register. The meeting registration fee is $200/per participant and $150/per spouse or guest if you register by October 15, 2018. After October 15th and in New York the fees will be $225 and $175, respectively. The registration fee will be used to defray the cost of the Sunday and Monday night receptions, the Tuesday night dinner, and the Wednesday Hart Award Luncheon, as well as event materials. Payment is not required until you arrive at the meeting; however, we ask that you please assist us in planning for the meeting by registering as soon as possible.
If you are driving to the meeting, we strongly encourage you to park in New Jersey at the Port Imperial/Weehawken Terminal and take a short ferry to Midtown Manhattan since parking in NYC is exorbitant. Directions are attached and can also be found here.
The final agenda and meeting materials will be available on October 10th on the Commission website at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-annual-meeting.
ASMFC 77th Annual Meeting:
October 21 – 25, 2018
The Roosevelt Hotel
Madison Avenue @ 45th Street
New York, NY
Please note: The preliminary agenda has been revised with the following changes: (1) meeting times have changed on Monday, October 22 for the American Lobster Board, Atlantic Herring Section, and the American Eel Board; and (2) the Atlantic Menhaden Board, previously scheduled for October 23rd, and the Shad and River Herring Board, previously scheduled for October 25th, have both been cancelled. Meeting times on those days have shifted to reflect those cancellations.
The agenda is subject to change. Bulleted items represent the anticipated major issues to be discussed or acted upon at the meeting. The final agenda will include additional items and may revise the bulleted items provided below. The agenda reflects the current estimate of time required for scheduled Board meetings. The Commission may adjust this agenda in accordance with the actual duration of Board meetings. Interested parties should anticipate Boards starting earlier or later than indicated herein.
Sunday, October 21
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Hosts’ Reception
Monday, October 22
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. American Lobster Management Board:
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch (On Your Own)
1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Atlantic Herring Section:
3:45 – 4:45 p.m. American Eel Management Board:
6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Welcome Reception
Tuesday, October 23
8:00 – 10:15 a.m. Strategic Planning Workshop
10:15 – 11:15 a.m. Business Session:
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Coastal Sharks Management Board:
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch (On Your Own)
12:30 – 5:00 p.m. Law Enforcement Committee:
(A portion of this meeting may be a closed session for Committee members only)
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Spiny Dogfish Management Board:
2:45 – 4:00 p.m. Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board:
6:15 – 9:00 p.m. Annual Dinner
Wednesday, October 24
8:00 – 10:00 a.m. Executive Committee: (A portion of this meeting may be a closed session for Committee members and Commissioners only)
8:30 a.m. – Noon Law Enforcement Committee (continued):
10:15 – 11:00 a.m. Weakfish Management Board:
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Horseshoe Crab Management Board:
12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Captain David H. Hart Award Luncheon
1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board:
3:45 – 4:45 p.m. Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) Coordinating Council:
Thursday, October 25
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Tautog Management Board:
9:15 – 11:00 a.m. Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board:
o Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership
o Law Enforcement Committee
11:00 – 11:15 a.m. Business Session (continued):
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board:
Public Comment Guidelines
With the intent of developing policies in the Commission’s procedures for public participation that result in a fair opportunity for public input, the ISFMP Policy Board has approved the following guidelines for use at management board meetings:
For issues that are not on the agenda, management boards will continue to provide opportunity to the public to bring matters of concern to the board’s attention at the start of each board meeting. Board chairs will use a speaker sign-up list in deciding 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 a meeting week will be included in the briefing materials.
2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, October 16, 2018 will be distributed electronically to Commissioners/Board members prior to the meeting and a limited number of copies will be provided at the meeting.
3. Following Tuesday, October 16, 2018 5:00 PM deadline, the commenter will be responsible for distributing the information to the management board prior to the board meeting or providing enough copies for the management board consideration at the meeting (a minimum of 50 copies).
The submitted comments must clearly indicate the commenter’s expectation from the ASMFC staff regarding distribution. As with other public comment, it will be accepted via mail, fax, and email.
September 26, 2018 — New England fishing regulators on Tuesday approved two measures aimed at conserving the dwindling Atlantic herring stock.
The New England Fishery Management Council approved a rule that “establishes a long-term policy that will guide the council in setting catch limits into the future” at a meeting in Plymouth.
Such an option will result in more herring being left in the water “to serve as forage and be part of the overall ecosystem,” according to the council. Under that proposal, catch limits can be adjusted based on new information.
Additionally, the council approved a measure aimed at preventing midwater trawlers from fishing too close to shore for herring. The boats are banned from fishing within 12 miles of shore, an area stretching from the Canadian border through Rhode Island, that includes areas east and southeast of Cape Cod, according to the council.
Recent surveys have found that the Atlantic herring population in the Gulf of Maine is at risk of collapse. The fish provide a crucial source of food to species that include cod, striped bass, and humpback whales.
Read the full story at The Boston Globe
September 10, 2018 — East Coast fishery managers have decided to give Virginia until next year to adopt regulations that limit catches of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay rather than seek an immediate moratorium on harvests.
Conservation groups and the fishing industry have been engaged in a long-running battle over how many menhaden can be caught without ecological consequences.
Humans don’t eat menhaden, but the small, oily fish are a critical food for a host of marine life from whales to striped bass. While the overall stock is considered healthy, conservationists have argued that such evaluations do not account for its role as forage for fish, birds and marine mammals.
Last fall, forage fish advocates persuaded the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to slash the maximum allowable harvest in the Bay — where much of the East Coast harvest takes place — from 87,216 metric tons to 51,000 metric tons a year, even as it increased the total allowable coastwide catch.
But the action angered Omega Protein, which operates a facility in Reedville, VA, that “reduces” large amounts of menhaden caught by its fishing fleet into other products, such as fish oil supplements and animal feed. Omega is by far the largest harvester of menhaden in the Chesapeake and the entire East Coast. The company has not exceeded the new limit for Bay waters in years because it has drawn more of its catch from the Atlantic, but officials said the lower number restricts their future options and has no scientific basis.
Read the full story at the Bay Journal
July 9, 2018 — On the bank of the James River beside the Lions Bridge in Newport News, field assistant Matthew Oliver waded chest-deep into the warm, lapping water Friday morning, hauling a seine net.
The net wasn’t tall, but it was long — 100 feet — with floats along the top edge and sinkers along the bottom, the better to keep little baby fish from scurrying underneath and swimming away.
Oliver moved heavily in a wide arc through the water, the better to scoop up whatever was swimming in the shallows.
This was just one sweep of select sites along the shores of the James, York and Rappahannock rivers as the monthslong Juvenile Striped Bass Seine Survey kicks off.
The survey is conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Gloucester Point and is the second-longest continuous striped bass index in the country. It began in 1967 and, except for a five-year hiatus starting in 1973 for lack of funding, has been conducted every summer since.
The goal is to keep a weather eye on how this iconic sport fish is doing by counting the young-of-year that spawn early in the year and will, in just a few more years, become an official part of the region’s lucrative recreational and commercial fisheries.
“Knowing how many young striped bass are produced this year helps them understand what’s coming in the future,” said VIMS marine biologist Mary Fabrizio. “It helps us better manage the fishery.”
June 19, 2018 — Booming aquatic grasses and bellwether fisheries are driving sustained progress in Chesapeake Bay health, which experts say is finally showing “significant” overall improvement.
The 2017 Chesapeake Bay Report Card issued by Virginia and Maryland rates the estuary a C for the third straight year as recovery holds steady or improves in five of seven indicators, the James River nails a B- for the first time and the fisheries index scores its first-ever A+.
Experts call their assessment “important evidence that the positive trend in ecosystem health is real” and that cleanup efforts across the watershed are working.
“It is the first time that the … scores are significantly trending in the right direction,” said Bill Dennison at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in a statement Friday. “We have seen individual regions improving before, but not the entire Chesapeake Bay.”
The UMCES compiled the report card along with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and other governmental agencies and academic groups both in this state and Maryland. This is the 12th year of its release.
The fisheries index is comprised of the average score for blue crab, striped bass and bay anchovy indicators. These species are considered ecologically, economically and socially important to the bay.
Last year’s fisheries index was 90 percent. This year, it rose to 95 percent, the highest ever recorded for the annual reports — the average of 100 percent for striped bass and blue crab, and 84 percent for bay anchovy.
Read the full story at the Daily Press
May 9, 2018 — Commercial fishermen asked state regulators Tuesday night to make recreational fishermen tag their striped bass the way commercial operators do, to make sure they’re not taking too many fish.
But the idea died when Doug Jenkins, president of the Twin Rivers Watermen’s group, in Warsaw, outlined his proposal to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s finfish management advisory committee.
“We’re losing our rockfish (striped bass) quota and losing our crab industry,” Jenkins told the committee.
He said the 20 percent cut in striped bass quotas imposed three years ago have hit commercial fishermen hard.
Jenkins said there are enough striped bass to allow commercial fishermen to catch more, and that striped bass preying on crabs is one reason why crab populations are down.
But the request comes at a bad time, when nobody seems to know for certain what the real state of the striped bass stock is, said Jeff Deem, chairman of the advisory committee.
Read the full story at the Daily Press
March 14, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Modeling Workshop will be conducted May 15-17, 2018 at the Renaissance Providence-Downtown, in Providence, Rhode Island. The assessment will evaluate the condition of Atlantic striped bass stocks from Maine to North Carolina and inform management of those stocks. The workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussion of confidential data when the public will be asked to leave the room.
February 21, 2018 — On Feb. 7, the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met to approve Option B in Maryland’s Conservation Equivalency Proposal for the summer/fall recreational striped bass fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.
The motion passed unanimously with one abstention.
The ASMFC acknowledges for stock assessment purposes that the mortality rate of fish that are released after being caught is about 9 percent, but many fishermen and scientists contend that the number is much higher in the summer months when hot temperatures affect survival.
At a fishing symposium I attended this past November, one Department of Natural Resources official said that while the accepted mortality rate is 9 out of every 100 released rockfish, the number could be as high as 30.
“We don’t really know,” said Mike Luisi, Estuarine and Marine Fisheries Division manager for DNR.
Both the Technical Committee and Law Enforcement Committee of the ASMFC did not endorse the mandatory use of circle hooks, but with pressure from stakeholders, the Advisory Panel decided that “the conservation benefits” outweigh any concerns and Maryland will be instituting the mandatory use of circle hooks with non-artificial bait and lures.
Back in 1999, Maryland’s DNR performed a study comparing the mortality of rockfish caught on conventional hooks versus circle hooks. The results are hard to argue with.
When air temperatures were below 95 degrees Fahrenheit, 0.8 percent of rockfish caught on non-offset circle hooks died compared to 9.1 percent of rockfish caught on standard J hooks.
Additionally, the minimum size for keepers will be reduced to 19 inches from May 16 to Dec. 15.
Read the full story at the Calvert Recorder