Saving Seafood

NEFMC: Hosting Inshore Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishing Workshop, Feb 22-23

December 22, 2015 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC):

The New England Fishery Management Council will host a workshop on February 22-23, 2016 to explore concerns about inshore scallop fishing. It will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick, RI.

Discussions will build on and contribute to ideas expressed in the Council’s May 2015 white paper on this issue. The Council has enlisted the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum (Fisheries Forum) to assist in developing the workshop agenda and facilitate discussions.

For more information, including background material and registration forms, see Sea Scallop Workshop, Feb 22-23, 2016. If you have questions, please contact Deirdre Boelke at dboelke@nefmc.org.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute Releases Information About FishTank Workshop

July 27, 2015 — The following was released by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute:

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute will be facilitating a FishTank Workshop entitled “Taking Stock: A Workshop to Collaboratively Improve Assessments”, taking place on November 9 & 10, 2015 at the Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor, 180 Water Street, Plymouth, MA 02360.

Registration starts, August 1 and can be done on-line at http://www.gmri.org/fisheries-convening/fish-tank/register 

A little background:

The most recent Fish Tank series (http://www.gmri.org/fisheries-convening/fish-tank/meeting-materials)  brought together commercial and recreational fishermen, scientists, and policy representatives from across the region to spark productive conversations and brainstorm ideas to improve the increasingly complex stock assessment process and data streams feeding into the assessment. The goals of these sessions included:

·         identifying potential data gaps in the Gulf of Maine cod stock assessment,

·         formulating industry-led research questions to address data gaps through collaborative research or the use of fishery-dependent data, 

·         sharing ideas with NOAA Fisheries on improving communications around stock assessments.

From these meetings, it is our intent through this workshop to develop plans to take action on industry recommendations, discuss how data from research projects can be integrated into the stock assessment process, and determine best approaches to obtain funding for project ideas. We also hope to have panel sessions to showcase other initiatives in the region around improving stock assessments, as well as results from relevant collaborative research projects in the region that may inform stock assessments.