Saving Seafood

NOAA invites more comment on access to whiting fishery

September 26, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council is reopening the public comment period for the proposal to potentially limit access to the whiting fishery.

The council, meeting in Plymouth, said discrepancies of the estimated number of qualifying vessels in two of the proposed alternatives led the council to add an additional hearing via webinar “to explain the discrepancy and solicit additional comments from all interested stakeholders.”

Details on the date and format of the webinar are not yet available.

The council also said it expects to take final action on the proposed whiting amendment during its December meeting in Newport, Rhode Island.

The amendment, referred to as Amendment 22, proposes a limited access plan for the three stocks collectively regarded as whiting — northern silver hake, southern silver hake and offshore hake — as well as northern red hake and southern red hake.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Whiting: NEFMC Agrees to Reopen Comment Period on Amendment 22; Receives Monitoring Report

September 25, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has decided to reopen the public comment period for
Whiting Amendment 22, which is being developed to potentially limit access to the small-mesh
multispecies fishery. The amendment contains several alternatives related to: (1) limited access
qualification criteria; (2) possession limits by permit type; and (3) permit conditions.

The Council held five public hearings on the amendment in July but then discovered a discrepancy between the number of estimated qualifying vessels cited in the amendment’s Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) versus the public hearing document itself. The DEIS contains the correct number of
estimated qualifiers. Those numbers are lower than those listed in the original public hearing document.

Read the full release here

NEFMC may limit access to whiting fishery

July 13, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council has scheduled five public hearings — including one in Gloucester — to collect public comment on a proposal that could establish a limited access program for five small-mesh stocks including whiting.

The Gloucester public hearing is set for next Thursday, July 19, at 4 p.m. at the state Division of Marine Fisheries’ Annisquam River Station on Emerson Avenue. The schedule calls for additional public hearings in Tinton Falls, New Jersey; Montauk, New York; Warwick, Rhode Island; and New Bedford.

The council already has demonstrated its lack of enthusiasm for the proposal contained in draft Amendment 22 to its Northeast multispecies fishery management plan. In its vote last December to send the amendment out for public comment, the council listed “no action” as its preferred alternative.

Still, in announcing the public hearings, the council said “public input is highly encouraged on all options.”

The amendment, which proposes a limited access plan for the three stocks collectively regarded as whiting — northern silver hake, southern silver hake and offshore hake — as well as northern red hake and southern red hake.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Pacific Whiting Fishery Opens Today to Same Harvest Levels as in 2017

May 16, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Pacific whiting fishery opens today and the National Marine Fisheries Service has released the final harvest specifications and tribal allocatons.

Based on the most recent stock assessment and negotiations with Canada, the U.S, total allowable catch (TAC) for this year is 441,433 mt. The harvest specifications are identical to 2017.

Tribal allocation, 77,251 mt; research and bycatch set-aside, 1,500 mt; harvest guideline, 362,682 mt.

The HG s further allocated to the trawl sectors as: catcher-processors, 34 percent, 123,312 mt; motherships, 24 percent, 87,044 mt; and shoreside, 42 percent,152,327 mt.

NMFS said it will add Pacific whiting to shoreside quota share accounts this week.

U.S. and Canadian scientists and fishery managers met earlier this year to discuss the stock assessment and joint TAC. Last year, Canada caught more than 50 percent of its quota. The U.S. had a productive year as well, catching more than 80 percent of its quota. Bycatch was not as much of a problem in 2017 as it had been in 2016, they said.

Year classes from 2010 and 2014 continue to contribute to the high TACs and success of the fisheries.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

Massachusetts: Battling Ice On A New Bedford Fishing Boat

January 3, 2018 — The normally bustling docks along New Bedford harbor were practically deserted Tuesday as an arctic cold front kept some boats off the water.

On one pier, a deckhand heaved a sledge hammer against the ice-caked roof of the Gabby G, a fishing boat on the New Bedford pier. Ice covered practically every exposed surface of this 105-foot dragger.

The boat’s captain, Mario Gonsalves, said he wanted to get another run in before a snow storm that’s predicted to hit Thursday.  But first, the crew had to de-ice the boat.

“You’re seeing a lot of ice build-up from spray from the ocean,’’ he said. “The boat goes up and down and the spray from the waves…just freeze(s) instantly, almost. This is what happens when you fish and it’s really cold out.’’

Gonsalves and his five-member crew fish for squid and whiting, also known as Silver Hake. Once they catch the fish they store them in boxes with packing ice – not to keep the fish cold, he said, but to stop them from freezing.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio 

 

Ocean perch stock rebuilt, could lead to more commercial fishing opportunities in 2019

December 21, 2017 — Federal restrictions designed to protect Pacific ocean perch from overfishing have worked well enough for the Pacific Fishery Management Council to consider the fishery “rebuilt,” meaning it will relax restrictions. Once the new rules take effect in 2019 it should have significant economic value to the coast, experts say.

“It’s a big deal for fisheries along the coast,” said Phil Anderson, who works with Ocean Gold Seafood in Westport and serves as chairman of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. “It’s another one in the line of species that were determined to be overfished here about a decade ago that has since been rebuilt.”

Pacific ocean perch have been overfished since the mid-1960s when foreign fleets targeted groundfish stocks, in particular Pacific ocean perch, off the U.S. West Coast. The mandates of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing U.S. fisheries management, eventually ended foreign fishing within 200 miles of the coast. The first Federal trip limits to discourage targeting and to conserve a U.S. West Coast groundfish stock were implemented for Pacific ocean perch in 1979. Rebuilding plans for Pacific ocean perch were adopted in 2000 and 2003.

Pacific ocean perch is one of many species of groundfish, managed and regulated by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The fish, which live near the bottom of the ocean, mingle and protection of the perch has constrained the West Coast trawl fishery for decades.

Read the full story at The Daily World 

 

Another Important West Coast Groundfish Stock is Rebuilt

December 12, 2017 — PORTLAND, Ore. — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

An important West Coast groundfish stock that was formerly overfished has now been rebuilt.

Pacific ocean perch, which is managed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS or NOAA Fisheries), has constrained the West Coast trawl fishery for decades. Pacific ocean perch has been overfished since the mid-1960s when foreign fleets targeted groundfish stocks, in particular Pacific ocean perch, off the U.S. West Coast.  The mandates of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing U.S. fisheries management, eventually ended foreign fishing within 200 miles of the U.S. coast.  The first Federal trip limits to discourage targeting and to conserve a U.S. West Coast groundfish stock were implemented for Pacific ocean perch in 1979 by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and NMFS.  Rebuilding plans for Pacific ocean perch were adopted in 2000 and 2003.

Managing groundfish fisheries under rebuilding plans has been an immense challenge for the Pacific Council and the NMFS. These plans required sharp reductions in commercial and recreational fisheries targeting groundfish, and included widespread fishing closures through the establishment of Rockfish Conservation Areas off the West Coast and other measures.

“We are pleased to see that our management strategies have been successful in rebuilding this important groundfish stock, and want to acknowledge the industries’ cooperation and sacrifice in this effort,” said Council Chair Phil Anderson.  “We also want to recognize NMFS for committing the resources to monitor and research groundfish stocks to improve the science used to sustainably manage these stocks.”

Since 2003, managing overfished species through area closures such as the Rockfish Conservation Areas has helped to reduce fishing impacts and rebuild overfished groundfish species.  In addition, the groundfish fleet has had to limit fishing for other more abundant species to avoid unintentional catch of the overfished stocks. “It is remarkable that the rebuilding of Pacific ocean perch was accomplished 34 years ahead of schedule,” said Barry Thom, Regional Administrator of NMFS’ West Coast Region.  “It is the strong partnership between fishery managers and industry and the strong commitment to catch limitations that allowed it to happen.”

These strategies have been used to successfully rebuild eight groundfish stocks, including Pacific whiting, bocaccio, darkblotched rockfish, lingcod, canary rockfish, widow rockfish, petrale sole, and Pacific ocean perch.  Canary rockfish was declared rebuilt in 2015 and earlier this year, bocaccio and darkblotched rockfish were also declared rebuilt. These successes reflect the support and sacrifice of West Coast ports and fishermen who recognized the difficult actions and fishing cutbacks necessary to restore the stocks.

Only two overfished stocks—cowcod and yelloweye rockfish—continue to be managed under rebuilding plans.  Both have shown dramatic rebuilding progress, with cowcod projected to be rebuilt by 2019 and yelloweye rockfish as soon as 2027.  Improvements in the status of these two stocks, coupled with the successful rebuilding of the other eight groundfish stocks declared overfished in the past, will lead to increased fishing opportunities beginning in 2019.  The Pacific Council is scheduled to make their final decisions on 2019 and 2020 groundfish fisheries next June at their meeting in Spokane, Washington.

Process

The Pacific ocean perch assessment was developed by NMFS scientists at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and was reviewed in the Council’s stock assessment review process with a final endorsement by the Council Scientific and Statistical Committee.  On December 11, NMFS formally determined the stock’s status as rebuilt.

Council Role

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of managing fisheries 3‐200 nautical miles offshore of the United States of America coastline.  Altogether, the Pacific Council manages more than 100 species of groundfish. The Pacific Council recommends management measures for groundfish and other ocean fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.

On the Web:

 

Whiting: Council Approves 2018-2020 Specifications; Votes to Send Limited Access Amendment 22 to Public Hearing

December 8, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

The New England Fishery Management Council took two actions today related to small-mesh multispecies, which include two stocks of silver hake and offshore hake – collectively known as “whiting” – and two stocks of red hake.

  • First, the Council approved 2018-2020 specifications for the fishery, including total allowable landings (TALs) for the next three fishing years.
  • Second, the Council voted to send Whiting Amendment 22 out to public hearing. The amendment was developed to potentially limit access to the small-mesh multispecies fishery. During it’s September meeting, the Council selected “no action” as its preferred alternative for qualification criteria, but the public will have the opportunity to comment on five other alternatives to potentially limit access to the fishery. Other related measures, such as possession limits by permit type and permit conditions, also are proposed.

The “Whiting Amendment” is being developed as Amendment 22 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, better known as the groundfish plan. The full range of alternatives will go out to public hearing in early 2018. The Council will provide a detailed public hearing document and additional information once the remaining analyses are completed and hearings are scheduled.

Small-Mesh Multispecies Specifications for Fishing Years 2018-2020 With Percent Increases/Decreases from 2016-2017

The 2018-2020 specifications: (1) are based on the best available science using updated assessment information; and (2) account for recent changes in stock biomass and catch, which includes landings and discards.

The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommended overfishing limits and acceptable biological catches (ABCs) for four of the target stocks in the small-mesh multispecies fishery (see table previous page). Specifications are not set for offshore hake because the stock’s status currently is “unknown.” However, the southern silver hake ABC is adjusted by 4% to account for offshore hake that are landed as “whiting.”

Southern Red Hake Stock Status: Management Action Likely Needed

The latest small-mesh multispecies assessment update, which includes information through 2016, was prepared by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and is undergoing a final internal review. It indicates that southern red hake: (a) is overfished; and (b) overfishing is occurring.

If the assessment is certified by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, the New England Council intends to initiate an amendment to take steps to end overfishing and rebuild the stock. A 2019 benchmark assessment is planned, at which time the biological references points could be reconsidered.

Developing measures to rebuild southern red hake will be challenging because most of the catch is comprised of discards.

View the full release from the NEFMC here.

 

NEFMC SSC Meeting, October 12, 2017, Live Streaming Information

October 4, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet on Thursday, October 12, 2017.  The public is invited to listen via webinar or telephone.  Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION:  Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Airport, 100 Boardman Street, Boston, MA.  Hotel information is available here.

START TIME:  10:00 a.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting will be available at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3726401422414349827.

There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8321.

The access code is 818-682-657.

Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will (1) review information provided by the Council’s Scallop Plan Development Team (PDT) and recommend overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) levels for Atlantic sea scallops for fishing year 2018, as well as default OFL and ABC levels for 2019; (2) review information provided by the Council’s Whiting PDT and recommend OFLs and ABCs for the northern and southern stocks of silver hake and, separately, for red hake for fishing years 2018-2020; and (3) discuss other business as necessary.

MATERIALS:  Meeting materials, as they become available, will be posted on the Council’s website at SSC October 12, 2017 documents.

QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Groundfish and whiting on fish managers’ agenda

September 21, 2017 — The New England Fishery Management Council, which has not convened a full council meeting in Gloucester since November 2006, will address a proposed amendment to limit access to the whiting fishery when it convenes here next week.

The council, set to meet Sept. 26 to 28 at the Beauport Hotel Gloucester, also is expected to spend significant time on groundfish issues, including the groundfish monitoring amendment.

The whiting amendment, according to the council’s agenda, will be one of the first issues facing the council when the three days of meetings open Tuesday at the harborside hotel in The Fort neighborhood.

The council’s whiting committee will present its report centered around Amendment 22, which deals with limiting access, permitting and possession limits within the whiting fishery actively fished by many Gloucester boats.

Whiting, popular in areas of New York City and Philadelphia, also is at the center of local efforts to promote under-utilized species of fish from local waters to retailers, restaurants and the consuming public.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times