Saving Seafood

MAFMC: NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Modified Scope of Summer Flounder Amendment

March 29, 2018 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

NOAA Fisheries has released a supplemental notice of intent (NOI) seeking public comments on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s proposal to modify the scope of issues addressed in the amendment formerly referred to as the “Comprehensive Summer Amendment.”

The Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) originally initiated the amendment with the objective of performing a comprehensive review of all aspects of the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) related to summer flounder, including commercial and recreational management strategies. To avoid delaying the amendment while waiting for updated recreational information, the Council and Commission are now proposing to limit the scope of this action to focus on FMP goals and objectives and commercial management issues. This action will now be referred to as the “Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment.” Following completion of this amendment, the Council and Commission may then develop at least one future action relating to recreational fishery issues and commercial/recreational allocation to incorporate updated recreational fishery data when it becomes available later this year.

The purpose of this comment opportunity is to allow the public to comment on the Council and Commission’s decision to modify the scope of the amendment. The Council and Commission are continuing to analyze a previously approved range of alternatives and developing a draft amendment document for public review. The public will have future opportunities to comment on the amendment during a formal public hearing process.

Additional details and instructions for submitting comments are available in the notice published in the Federal Register.

To stay informed about this issue, sign up for our email list at http://www.mafmc.org/email-list and select “General Council News” or “Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass News.”

For additional information about the Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment, go to http://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-amendment.

 

 

ASMFC 2018 Spring Meeting Preliminary Agenda, Public Comment Guidelines, and Meeting Details

March 26, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission :

Please find attached and below the preliminary agenda and public comment guidelines for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2018 Spring Meeting, April 30 – May 3, 2018, in Arlington, VA. The agenda is also available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-spring-meeting. Included in the attachment are the travel authorization form, travel reimbursement guidelines, and directions to the hotel. Materials will be available on April 18, 2018 on the Commission website at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-spring-meeting.

NOTE: Commission leadership is reviewing an appeal submitted regarding the Black Sea Bass Addendum XXX decision.  Depending on the outcome of this review, a Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board meeting may be added to the agenda on Thursday, May 3.

A block of rooms is being held at The Westin Crystal City, 1800 S. Eads Street, Arlington, VA  22202. Cindy Robertson will make Commissioner/Proxy reservations and will contact you regarding the details of your accommodations. Please notify Cindy of any changes to your travel plans that will impact your hotel reservations, otherwise you will incur no-show penalties. We greatly appreciate your cooperation.

For all other attendees, please reserve online via Star Group Website at http://www.starwoodhotels.com/ or call The Westin Crystal City at 888.627.8209 as soon as possible and mention the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to obtain the group room rate of $253.00 plus tax single/dbl. Please be aware you must guarantee your room reservation with a major credit card or one night’s advance payment. Hotel reservations must be made by Thursday, April 5, 2018.  Room availability will not be guaranteed beyond this date.  If you are being reimbursed by ASMFC for your travel, please make your reservation directly with the hotel. Reservations made through travel websites do not apply toward our minimum number of required reservations with the hotel. Please note, cancellations at The Westin must be made by 4 p.m. two days prior to arrival to avoid penalty and an early departure fee of $100 will apply when checking out prior to the confirmed date.

View the release from the ASMFC in its entirety here

 

Under President Trump, changing political tide opens water for anglers

March 21, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is known for hitting the golf course but his administration is now putting the power of the presidency behind another favorite American pastime: fishing.

During his little more than a year in office, the president has promoted the iconic, multi-billion-dollar recreational fishing industry that felt marginalized under the previous administration. Barack Obama routinely sided with environmental advocates concerned about long-term damage from overfishing but Trump, the father of two avid anglers, has tacked in a new direction.

“President Donald Trump was the best thing that ever happened to fishermen,” said Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance which fought the Obama administration to overturn limits on what private anglers could catch in federal waters. “Some of them don’t realize it but they will.”

Almost from the beginning, Trump made it clear the ocean was a frontier to be exploited not only for its energy potential but also for recreational and food sources.

“The fisheries resources of the United States are among the most valuable in the world,” the president declared last year in a White House proclamation designating June 2017 as National Ocean Month. “Growing global demand for seafood presents tremendous opportunities for expansion of our seafood exports, which can reduce our more than $13 billion seafood trade deficit.”

In contrast, a similar proclamation by Obama in 2016 warned about “jeopardizing marine populations and degrading oceanic habitats.”

The Trump administration also increased recreational fishing access to three fish stocks protected under tight catch limits.

  • Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross personally approved a plan in June extending the recreational fishing season for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico from three to 42 days last summer even though his own agency warned it would lead to significant overfishing.
  • In July, Ross once again intervened. This time, he sided with New Jersey to loosen restrictions on the harvest of summer flounder, known as fluke, over the objections of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Commission Chair Douglas Grout said he was “very much concerned about the short and long‐term implications of the Secretary’s decision on interstate fisheries management.”
  • In the fall, the South Atlantic  Fishery Management Council working closely with the Trump administration allowed recreational snapper fishing from Jupiter Inlet Florida to the North Carolina- Virginia for the first time since 2014. Kellie Ralston, Florida Fishery Policy Director of the American Sportfishing Association, called it “a victory” for anglers while Environmentalists called it a “risky move” given that red snapper in the South Atlantic is still recovering.

Read the full story at USA Today

 

ASMFC: Meeting materials for the March 20th conference call of the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board

March 16, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Meeting materials for the March 20th conference call of the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board are now available at – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/SFlounderScupBSB_BoardMaterials_3_20_18.pdf. The conference call will begin at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to listen to the discussion by phone (866.214.0726, followed by passcode: 993961) and view the webinar using the following link https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6931931919817605123.

Time permitting, there will be a limited opportunity for the public to provide comments. The Board Chair will outline the procedures for accepting public comment at the beginning of the conference call. We request the public and other nonparticipating attendees to please mute their phones in order to minimize distractions to the Board’s deliberations.

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.

 

ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board to Meet Via Conference Call March 20

Board to Consider Approval of 2018 Recreational Black Sea Bass Regional Proposals

March 13, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board will meet via conference call on Tuesday, March 20th at 9 a.m. to consider approval of regional proposals for the 2018 black sea bass recreational fishery. The proposals are required under Addendum XXX, which was approved in February 2018 and uses a combination of exploitable biomass information from the latest stock assessment and historical harvest to regionally allocate the coastwide recreational harvest limit (RHL). The three management regions are:  (1) Massachusetts through New York, (2) New Jersey, and (3) Delaware through North Carolina. Their respective allocations of the 2018 coastwide RHL are 61.35%, 30.24%, and 8.41%.

To improve accountability, Addendum XXX holds states within each region collectively responsible for managing harvest to their regional allocation through the cooperative development of recreational measures. To increase regional consistency in measures, each region will establish a standard set of measures, with each state in the region provided the flexibility to adjust its measures up to one inch in minimum size and three fish in possession limit. Collectively, the combined regional measures are intended to achieve, but not exceed, the 2018 RHL.

The public is welcome to listen to the discussion by phone (866.214.0726, followed by passcode: 993961) and view the webinar using the following link. The meeting agenda can be found here; meeting materials will be available March 15 here.

Time permitting, there will be a limited opportunity for the public to provide comments. The Board Chair will outline the procedures for accepting public comment at the beginning of the conference call. We request the public and other nonparticipating attendees to please mute their phones in order to minimize distractions to the Board’s deliberations.

For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, FMP Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

A PDF of the press release can be found here.

 

ASMFC Approves Black Sea Bass Draft Addendum XXX for Public Comment & ASMFC and MAFMC Initiate Bluefish Amendment

December 19, 2017 — ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Comission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met jointly to establish recreational specifications for black sea bass, scup, and summer flounder; consider approval of Black Sea Bass Draft Addendum XXX for 2018 recreational management; discuss the initiation of a new Bluefish Amendment; and jointly take action on several items related to all four species (detailed below). The Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters. The Council will forward its federal waters recommendations regarding summer flounder specifications to NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Administrator for final approval.

Black Sea Bass

As part of the discussion on black sea bass recreational specifications, the Commission approved Draft Addendum XXX to the Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for public comment. The Draft Addendum considers alternative regional management approaches for the recreational fishery, including options for regional allocation of the recreational harvest limit (RHL) based on historical harvest and exploitable biomass. A subsequent press release on the document’s availability and the public hearing schedule will be distributed once hearings have been finalized. The Council recommended the following recreational measures for federal waters from February 1-28, 2018: a 12.5” minimum size limit and a 15 fish possession limit. Specifications for the remainder of 2018 fishing season will be determined in February.

The Commission and Council also initiated the development of an addendum/framework to address several recreational management issues. The addendum/framework will consider implementing a conservation equivalency management program for black sea bass similar to that used with summer flounder by allowing state or regional measures to be implemented in both state and federal waters; allow for a summer flounder, scup and black sea bass transit provision in federal waters around Block Island similar to the provision allowed for striped bass; and consider the possible implementation of slot limits in federal waters for summer flounder and black sea bass. This addendum/framework will be developed in 2018 with the goal of implementation prior to the 2019 recreational fishing seasons.

Additionally, the Commission/Council reviewed draft alternatives for an addendum/framework to consider the opening of the Wave 1 recreational fishery in 2019 through a Letter of Authorization. Work on these documents will continue in 2018.

Bluefish

The Council and Commission initiated a new amendment to the Bluefish FMP. The intent of the Draft Amendment is to review and possibly revise commercial/recreational allocation of the resource, as well as the distribution of the commercial quota among the states. A Scoping Document will be released sometime in 2018.

Scup

For scup, Commission and Council maintained status quo recreational management measures in federal waters (e.g., 9-inch minimum size, 50 fish possession limit, and year-round open season). For state waters, the Commission approved the continued use of the regional management approach. Based on interest expressed by fishery managers and stakeholders, the Technical Committee will conduct an analysis on the potential impacts of lowering the size limit for northern region state waters on the 2018 coastwide harvest. The Technical Committee will present this analysis at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in February. 

Summer Flounder

For summer flounder, the Commission and Council extended the provisions of Addendum XXVIII, allowing for the use of conservation equivalency to achieve, but not exceed, the 2018 summer flounder RHL of 4.42 million pounds. Conservation equivalency allows individual states or multi-state regions to develop customized measures that, in combination, will achieve the coastwide RHL. Further, it was specified that any modifications to state measures in 2018 should result in no more than a 17% liberalization in coastwide harvest relative to the projected 2017 harvest of 3.23 million pounds. This maximum liberalization was set based on continued concern for the stock status of summer flounder. Additionally, information suggests 2017 appears to be an anomalous low year in terms of effort and harvest, raising concern that overages in 2018 may occur under a larger liberalization in regulations if catch and effort rates increase in 2018. In extending the provisions of Addendum XXVIII, the regional delineation for 2018 will be:  (1) Massachusetts (2) Rhode Island (3) Connecticut‐New York, (4) New Jersey, (5) Delaware‐Virginia, and (6) North Carolina. Any state or region wishing to modify its management measures must submit proposals for Technical Committee review in January, and Board consideration in February.

The Commission and Council set non-preferred coastwide measures in the event that state conservation equivalency measures are not approved by NOAA Fisheries. These measures include a 4-fish possession limit, a 19-inch total length minimum size, and an open season of May 15 – September 15. The Council and Board also approved precautionary default measures (i.e., a 2-fish possession limit, a 20-inch total length minimum size, and an open season of July 1 – August 31), which will be implemented in any state or region that does not adopt measures consistent with the conservation equivalency guidelines.

Lastly, work continues on the development of a new Summer Flounder Amendment. The Commission and Council reviewed the latest revisions to the Draft Amendment, including FMP goals and objectives, and commercial alternatives. An updated draft document is scheduled to be released in 2018 for public comment.

A PDF of the press release and meeting motions can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/5a3948abpr60ASMFC_MAFMC_Actions.pdf.

Learn more about the ASMFC by visiting their site here.

 

New York Commercial Fishermen Want Gov. Cuomo to Sue Federal Government Over Fluke Quota

October 10, 2017 — Several dozen fishermen, women and lawmakers last week urged Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to make good on a promise to sue the federal government over New York’s disproportionately low share of the fluke fishery.

At a meeting at East Hampton Town Hall last Wednesday, the gathering of fishing interests sought to unify their agenda before a meeting with top state officials scheduled for next month.

The commercial fishery for fluke was shut down in September for the first time in recent memory. It reopened Oct. 1 with a 50-pound daily limit. New York gets 7.6 percent of the commercial fluke quota, while North Carolina and Virginia get more than 20 percent each.

Chuck Morici, a Montauk commercial fisherman, used an empty fish basket to demonstrate the inequities. New York’s current daily quota fills the basket by about a third, he said, while boats from Virginia can take 153 baskets — about 10,000 pounds.

Read the full story from Newsday at Seafood News

Commerce chief Ross makes waves, roils fisheries rules

September 21, 2017 — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has wasted little time in giving a jolt to the nation’s fisheries.

In June, the 79-year-old billionaire investor who now oversees NOAA Fisheries singlehandedly extended the fishing season for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, ignoring protests from scientists and environmentalists that it could spur overfishing of the popular species.

Then in an unprecedented decision in July, he handed a big win to New Jersey fishermen and the state’s Republican governor, Chris Christie, by overturning catch limits for summer flounder that had been approved by an interstate fisheries commission.

While Ross wants more fishing and more seafood exports, critics say his early moves have smacked of meddling and favoritism and will ultimately sabotage hard-won conservation gains.

And many fear that states and fishing groups will directly seek political relief instead of following NOAA procedures and adhering to fishing quotas set by government experts and scientists.

“It just really seems that it’s kind of setting a bad precedent,” said Trey Blackiston, a former commercial fisherman from Chestertown, Md.

Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, said he’s still waiting for Ross to sign an emergency declaration for California crabbers and salmon fishermen. But he’s worried about the signals from Washington.

“We’re asking maybe the wrong questions, right?” Oppenheim said. “If the Trump administration is finding it easier to disrupt the status quo than to follow the normal procedures to get this done, we don’t want any part of that. We’re sort of sitting on the West Coast with one of the best fishery management council processes in place … watching the country crumble and wondering what the hell’s going on. But I’m not inclined to seek political favors.”

Read the full story at E&E News

Federal Regulators Conduct Fishing Net Testing for Flounder

September 15, 2017 — WASHINGTON — A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research project in the Northeast was recently conducted to test the efficiency of different sweep types of fishing nets.

The team targeted summer flounder from Long Island to Nantucket and red hake in the western Gulf of Maine off Cape Ann.

Preliminary results show that smaller fish were caught more often using a chain sweep.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

NEW YORK: Commercial fishers reeling from shutdown of fluke fishery

September 6, 2017 — It was the busy Labor Day Weekend, and Southold Fish Market owner Charlie Manwaring had been forced to stock his popular East End restaurant and market with out-of-state fluke for the first time in recent memory.

“This is my backyard, and on a holiday weekend I have no fluke,” he complained to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) at a meeting Friday morning with two dozen angry Long Island fishermen and women at the Mattituck fishing dock. “I have to rely on Rhode Island and Jersey and Massachusetts and Carolina.”

Late last month, state regulators, working with a limited New York quota from a multistate fishery council, shut down the commercial fluke fishery for September.

As a result, Manwaring and other local shop owners will “pay more, the fish will cost customers more, and they’ll be older,” said Bob Hamilton, a trawler operator out of Greenport, who typically sells his fluke to Southold Fish Market. “It’s just people in fisheries management who have no understanding of running a business.”

“The fluke paid our bills,” said Cindy Kaminsky, who fishes commercially out of Mattituck. “It’s hard to be just put out of business, and it’s a month out of a short fishing period. We don’t fish in winter and every year it gets a little bit worse.”

Read the full story at Newsday