November 16, 2016 — The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) Commission said it did not support an increase in the total allowable catch (TAC) increase of yellowfin tuna proposed at a recent meeting.
The proposal, from the Tropical Tuna Management Advisory Committee (TTMAC), would have hiked the total allowable catch (TAC) over-catch allowance, enabling commercial fishermen to bring in yellowfin tuna above the current limits during the remainder of the 2016-17 season.
November 15, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
Monkfish total allowable landing (TAL) limits for the 2017-2019 fishing years are on track to increase under Framework Adjustment 10 to the federal Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). So are: (1) days-at sea allocations and trip limits for the Southern Fishery Management Area; and (2) incidental catch limits for monkfish C and D permit holders working under groundfish days-at-sea in the Northern Management Area.
The New England Fishery Management Council approved the framework today at its meeting in Newport, RI. The Mid-Atlantic Council, which jointly manages monkfish, is scheduled to take action at its Dec. 12-15 meeting in Baltimore, MD. The National Marine Fisheries Service must approve the framework before the new days-at-sea allocations and trip limits can be implemented.
The New England Council adopted the following allocations for days-at-sea:
Monkfish days-at-sea allocations have not been restricting fishing effort in the northern area, where the majority of fishermen catch monkfish while groundfish fishing. Therefore, the Council decided to leave monkfish days-atsea at status quo in the north – 45 days – and instead raise the incidental landing limit for Category C and D monkfish permit holders working under a groundfish day-at-sea. The Council took this step to help northern area fishermen better utilize the available TAL. In 2015, for example, only 71% of the TAL was harvested in the north.
August 10, 2016 — AUGUSTA, Maine — The Department of Marine Resources has closed the menahaden fishery because fishermen have already landed more than the state’s annual quota for the fish commonly called pogies.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Atlantic Menhaden Management Board had approved a total allowable catch (TAC) of menhaden for both the 2015 and 2016 fishing seasons of 187,880 metric tons per year. The TAC is further allocated among the ASMFC member states.
The percentage of the TAC allocated to Maine for 2016 is 0.04 percent, or 161,466 pounds. Each state is required to close its directed commercial fishery after its quota has been reached.
December 31, 2015 — Twenty-six fishermen, fish markets and industry groups have again sued the US government alleging that regulators are allowing recreational fisherman to deplete scarce red snapper stocks in the Gulf of Mexico.
The lawsuit, filed against commerce secretary Penny Pritzker, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) comes in the wake previous litigation that has seen the commercial fishing industry succeed in challenging regulators’ red snapper management policies.
Previously, courts ruled that regulators did not have enough enforcement measures in place to ensure that recreational fishermen did not exceed their total allowable catch (TAC) of red snapper, a species under strict management because it is considered to be “overfished.”
The lack of adequate controls on recreational fishing violated provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and prompted regulators to develop new measures for recreational fishing. However, in the lawsuit filed Dec. 28, commercial fishermen argue that a new regulatory proposal to “reallocate” a portion of future red snapper TAC from recreational to commercial use violates existing federal law.
Read the full story at Undercurrent News
December 24, 2015 — The Canadian government will not back down on a decision to order further review of a plan to expand harvesting in the country’s offshore surf clam fishery, the Chronicle-Herald reported.
The recently elected government of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is reconsidering the previous government’s plans to increase the Arctic surf clam quota for 2016, and allow new firms to enter the fishery.
In July, months before the October defeat of previous prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said science supported the expansion of the country’s offshore Atlantic surf clam fishery, with a potential increase to the total allowable catch (TAC) from 2015’s 38,756 metric tons to 52,655t, plus bycatch, in 2016.
Read the full story at Undercurrent News
November 11, 2015 — The Commission proposes to maintain or increase the fish quotas for 35 stocks, and reduce catches for 28 stocks on the basis of the scientific advice received.
Some of the stocks facing increases include megrim in the North Sea and West of Scotland and horse mackerel in Northern Spain.
Due to a lack of improvement, stocks with cuts include Celtic Sea and English Channel cod and haddock by up to almost 30 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
The Irish Sea sole fishery has a huge proposed cut of 100 per cent which would effectively close the fishery, said Europêche.
The Commission has also proposed a complete ban on the fishing of sea bass from 1 January to 30 June and a limitation to 1000kg per vessel per month in some areas only from 1 July.
Quota Top Ups
The EC is also proposing an increase in fishing opportunities to help fishermen in the transition to the new obligation to land all catches. This is the first time the Commission proposes so-called quota “top ups” for all the fisheries under the landing obligation as of 2016.
This extra quota aims to compensate fishermen for the extra fish they will have to land. On the basis of scientific advice to be received by mid-November the Commission will, later in the month, propose the catch increase including all the quantities that need to be landed.
October 29, 2015 — The message coming to New Bedford fishermen from federal regulators isn’t all bad.
On Tuesday, the top administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, visited New Bedford to meet with local members of the fishing community and spoke in a way that suggests the regulators understand the industry’s perspective.
“We are committed to working with the best science and trying to find the right way forward to sustain the health of the fisheries and the fishing community,” she said following a closed-door meeting, a harbor tour and a discussion at the School for Marine Science and Technology in the South End.
There are short-term crises for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery as well as long-term crises. A brief postponement of industry-funded observers takes some pressure off the fishermen and allows more work to find a compromise that satisfies the requirement of the law without driving boats out of business. In the meantime, while the right folks work out that short-term crisis, there is a necessity to keep working on the long-term issues.
The industry can hardly focus beyond the looming requirement that they pay for the implementation of at-sea monitors on groundfish boats and the immediate economic effect it will have on marginally profitable permit holders.
For too long, the message from the courts, some environmental groups and older NOAA enforcement actions had been concerned with only the resource, not the impacts of trying to sustainably harvest that resource. Administrator Sullivan’s statement of NOAA’s commitment to keeping both strong — and underpinning that work with science — opens great opportunities for collaboration and success.
Read the full editorial at the New Bedford Standard-Times