Saving Seafood

New regulations credited for decrease in striped bass harvest

August 20, 2021 — Striped bass catches were down along the Atlantic coast last year, an early sign that tough regulations imposed across 15 states are helping the species recover from years of overfishing.

A new report from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission estimates that in 2020 nearly 5.1 million striped bass were “removed,” a figure that includes commercial and recreational catches as well as those that likely died after being caught and released.

The harvest count has fluctuated widely through the years, from a low of 1.1 million in 1990 to a high of 10.9 million in 2006.

In 2019, the Atlantic States commission, which manages estuary and near-shore fisheries from Maine to Florida, mandated that each state cut its commercial quotas by 18% compared with 2017 levels, and it limited recreational fisherman to taking home one fish per day.

Read the full story at The Bay Journal

States Achieve Required Coastwide Reductions in Atlantic Striped Bass Total Removals

August 6, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board’s review of the performance of the 2020 fishery yielded positive news, with the states achieving Addendum VI’s goal of reducing total removals by 18% relative to 2017 levels. In fact, the states realized an estimated 28% reduction in total removals coastwide in numbers of fish from 2017 levels. Total removals include commercial harvest, commercial dead discards, recreational harvest, and recreational release mortality. Addendum VI was initiated in response to the 2018 benchmark assessment and aims to reduce total removals in order to end overfishing and reduce fishing mortality to the target level in 2020. The next stock assessment update for striped bass, scheduled to occur in 2022, will provide an update on the status of stock relative to the biological reference points.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted data collection for the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) dockside sampling program, but MRIP was able to fill those data gaps using information from 2018 and 2019. While this does increase the uncertainty around the estimates of total recreational catch, there is still high confidence in those estimates and the estimates of the realized reductions.

After considering 2020 fishery performance, the Board provided guidance on a number of topics related to the development of Draft Amendment 7 (e.g., recreational release mortality, conservation equivalency, management triggers). Amendment 7 was initiated in August 2020 to update the management program to reflect current fishery needs and priorities as the status and understanding of the resource and fishery has changed considerably since implementation of Amendment 6 in 2003. The Amendment is intended to build upon Addendum VI’s action to end overfishing and initiate rebuilding. The Plan Development Team will continue to develop options for the Draft Amendment based on the guidance received from the Board.

Concurrent with the development of Draft Amendment 7, the Board initiated an addendum to Amendment 6 to consider allowing the voluntary transfer of commercial striped bass quota between states/jurisdictions that have commercial quota. This action is in response to a request from the State of Delaware to reconsider Delaware’s current commercial quota allocation.

Based on progress made on Draft Amendment 7 and Draft Addendum VII to Amendment 6, the Board’s next opportunity to meet and consider possible approval of both documents for public comment will be in October during the Commission’s Annual Meeting. For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

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.

ASMFC 2021 Summer Meeting Webinar Supplemental Materials Now Available

July 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

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 tohttps://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.

Are striped bass doomed? Some conservationists are worried.

July 26, 2021 — Fish, particularly species known as both sporting fish and table fare like the striped bass, need to be managed, collectively, among the states where they are sought. There’s often tinkering year to year, a tidelike give-and-take of state regulations — such as rules governing how many fish one person can keep — to appease recreational anglers, charter boat captains and commercial fishermen. That tinkering extends to other species of fish the striped bass eat. In some places, like the Chesapeake, Cape Cod and Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island, striped bass are intertwined with both the economy and the culture.

Stripers Forever believes the time for tinkering is over when it comes to striped bass. The call for a 10-year moratorium is an alarm meant to wake up anyone who believes the stock is healthy, says Mike Spinney, a member of the national board of Stripers Forever. “Immediately after we made that suggestion, the conversation changed,” Spinney, a Massachusetts resident, told me. “We got lambasted by some, but we received positive reception from others. The fact that people are debating whether this is the right approach is a plus for us. Why do we have to wait for a collapse to take action that is necessary now?”

Most of the Atlantic’s striped bass spawn in the Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries each spring, and juveniles often stay there for years before heading into open ocean. Counting fish is not easy, obviously, and extrapolations are made based on the size of large breeding females known as cows. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which oversees management of the species for the Eastern states, has deemed the striped bass “overfished,” based on a 2018 assessment. The commission also found the striped bass’s mortality rate was high, meaning too many fish that are caught and released are not surviving.

“The stock is declining, and we’ve been seeing that in the stock assessments,” says Toni Kerns, the ASMFC’s fisheries policy director. As a result, the commission told states they needed to reduce the overall “removals” of the fish from the water, whether they are taken for food or accidentally killed. Lowering removals is often done in myriad ways, including instituting open and closed seasons, regulating the size of fish that can be kept and requiring the use of specific hooks aimed at reducing mortality. In Maryland, in June, each fisherman on Motovidlak’s boat was allowed to keep two striped bass between 19 and 28 inches. Everyone caught two legal fish, and plenty of smaller ones were thrown back. Occasionally, small dead stripers floated past the Dawn Marie and other boats.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

MIKE SPINNEY: The gradual and sudden decline of striped bass

May 19, 2021 — Striped bass, also known as rockfish, are arguably the most economically important finfish on the Atlantic seaboard. According to a 2005 economic study by Southwick Associates, commercial and recreational fishing for stripers generated more than $6.8 billion in total economic activity, supporting more than 68,000 jobs. At the time, striped bass were abundant in the Chesapeake Bay and throughout their migratory range, from North Carolina to Maine.

Twenty years earlier, striped bass were practically nonexistent. Scooped up in commercial nets and plucked by rod and reel by a growing number of recreational anglers throughout the 1970s, stripers had been fished to the brink of oblivion when a moratorium was enacted in 1985. Remarkably, once left alone to reproduce in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, as well as the Hudson River, the fish were spawning in record numbers. In 1995, five years after the moratorium was lifted, the species was declared “fully recovered” by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the interstate body tasked with managing them.

The rebound was touted as a success. Rockfish became a symbol of the ASMFC’s fisheries management prowess. But almost as soon as the commission resumed the task of allotting states their portion of the striped bass pie, things started to go downhill until, in 2019, the commission declared striped bass overfished.

Read the full opinion piece at the Chesapeake Bay Journal

Striped Bass Fishery Managers Zero In On Conservation at May Meeting

May 12, 2021 — Atlantic coast rockfish fishery managers are in the midst of shaping their management plan for the Bay’s most popular fish. So all eyes were on the Striped Bass Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) at its May meeting.

The board narrowed the changes that may come in Amendment 7 of its Striped Bass Management Plan down to three critical parts: Management Triggers (when to declare overfishing), Conservation Equivalency (use of alternative fishery restrictions), and Recreational Release Mortality (the fish that die after being caught and released—alarmingly high in recent years).

Notably, the Board voted clearly not to change current conservative levels on stock rebuilding and biological reference points. The Board’s clear intent was to reduce fishing mortality and allow these valuable fish to rebound.

Read the full story at the Chesapeake Bay Magazine

ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Continues to Move Forward on the Development of Draft Amendment 7

May 7, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board met to review public comments and Advisory Panel (AP) recommendations on the Public Information Document for Draft Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and provide guidance on which issues to include in the Draft Amendment. The purpose of the amendment is to update the management program in order to reflect current fishery needs and priorities given the status and understanding of the resource and fishery has changed considerably since implementation of Amendment 6 in 2003. The Board intends for the amendment to build upon the Addendum VI (2019) action to end overfishing and initiate rebuilding.

Prior to the Board’s deliberations, Commission Chair Patrick Keliher provided opening remarks urging the Board to take action to address the downward trend of the Commission’s flagship species. He stated, “While we are not at the point we were in 1984, the downward trend of this stock is evident in the assessment. For many of the Commission’s species, we are no longer in a position to hold hope that things will revert to what they have previously been if we just hold static. The change is happening too fast and action needs to be taken.” He further requested the Board to consider “what is best for this species, and also what is best for the future of the Commission.”

After its review of the AP report, input received at the 11 virtual public hearings (targeting stakeholders from Maine to Virginia), and the more than 3,000 submitted comments, the Board approved the following issues for development in Draft Amendment 7: recreational release mortality, conservation equivalency, management triggers, and measures to protect the 2015 year class. These issues were identified during the public comment period as critically important to help rebuild the stock and update the management program. In its deliberations, the Board emphasized the need to take focused and meaningful actions to address the declining stock and allow for the expedient development and implementation of the amendment.

While the coastal commercial quota allocation issue will not be included for further consideration in the Draft Amendment, the Board requested staff from the Commission and the State of Delaware prepare background information, options, and timelines for possible inclusion in a separate management document. The remaining issues that will not be developed as part of the amendment will remain unchanged from current management measures. However, they can be included in the adaptive management section of Draft Amendment 7 and addressed in a separate management document following approval of the final amendment.

As the next step in the amendment process, the Plan Development Team (PDT) will develop options for the four issues approved by the Board for inclusion in Draft Amendment 7. The Board will meet again during the Commission’s Summer Meeting in August to review the PDT’s progress on the Draft Amendment and recommend any further changes to the document. Based on progress made on the Draft Amendment, the Board’s next opportunity to meet and consider possible approval of the document for public comment will be in October during the Commission’s Annual Meeting.

For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Final Day for Striped Bass Comments

April 9, 2021 — The following was released by the American Saltwater Guides Association:

By now, you probably know that striped bass are in trouble. The public comment deadline for the Striped Bass Amendment 7 Public Information Document is today at 5 PM and we need your help. For details and suggested talking points, take a look at our Guide to the Public Information Document, or watch the Striped Bass Town Hall that we recorded last week. You can make a difference.

Send your comments to comments@asmfc.org. Just like with the last addendum, we are running a raffle through The Saltwater Edge. This time, the grand prize is a striped bass trip with a Costa Pro. Click the link for prize details. It doesn’t matter what position you take. We just want to know that you commented. To enter, just cc stripercomments@gmail.com when you submit your comments to ASMFC. We will pick random winners after the deadline on April 9.

Read the full release here

ASMFC 2021 Spring Meeting Webinar Preliminary Agenda

April 5, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The agenda is subject to change. Bulleted items represent the anticipated major issues to be discussed or acted upon during the webinar. 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.

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 (April 19) will be included in the briefing materials.
  2. Comments received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, April 27 will be included in the supplemental materials.
  3. Comments received by 10:00 AM on Friday, April 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.

Read the full release here