At the September 2009 Council meeting, the Council initiated an action to adjust the FY 2010 measures for the common pool to address concerns these vessels would rapidly exceed the Gulf of Maine cod and pollock annual catch limits. Yesterday, November 5, the Groundfish Committee voted to recommend the following measures to be effective May 1, 2010: • Gulf of Maine cod trip limit of 800 lbs/Days At Sea to a maximum of 4,000 lbs./trip.
• Pollock trip limit of 1,000 lbs/Days At Sea to a maximum of 10,000 lbs./trip.
• Differential Days At Sea counting at a 2:1 rate in an area in the inshore Gulf of Maine ; this is not the same area used at present, it will be the area adopted by A16 for the differential DAS accountability measure. This is in addition to the 24 hour clock.
• The Regional Administrator can modify trip limits or Days At Sea counting to facilitate harvesting the Annual Catch Limit, or to reduce the likelihood of exceeding the Annual Catch Limit.
These recommendations will be considered by the full Council at the November Council meeting in Newport, RI (Wednesday, November 18, 1 p.m.).
Contact:
Tom Nies
tnies@nefmc.org
978-465-0492 (ext.19)