The following is a summary of the major Council actions on groundfish at the November 17 – 18, 2009 meeting in Newport, RI. This summary does not include Nov. 19. • The Council approved Framework Adjustment 44 to the Northeast Multi-species FMP. FW 44 adopts specifications for FY 2010 – FY 2012. These specs include the overfishing limits (OFLs), Acceptable Biological Catches (ABCs), and Annual Catch Limits (ACLs), as well as the incidental catch TACs for the Category B DAS program and Special Access Programs. We will distributed a table with the final values to our sector contacts, and post them on our web page, in a few days. None of these are truly final until approved by NMFS and published in the Federal Register. Some specs for 2011 and beyond may be revisited ion the summer of 2010: we expect to receive a pollock assessment, GB YTF will be assessed again, and the scallop area management program may affect YTF allocations.
As part of the specs process, the Council decided to allocate GB and SNE/MA yellowtail flounder to the scallop fishery. In FY 2010 the allocation will be 100 percent of the amount the fishery is expected to catch, but it declines to 90 percent of the expected catch in FY 2011 and FY 2012. This allocation is an “other subcomponent” in the first year but becomes a sub-ACL and is subject to accountability measures in FY 2011 and beyond. If the overall YTF ACL is exceeded for either stock because the scallop fishery exceeded their sub-component allocation the Council plans to consider measures in Amendment 15 for 2011 or beyond to adjust for any overages from 2010. Framework 44 also requires that all limited access scallop vessels be required to land all legal-sized YTF flounder as a measure to reduce by-catch and improve data collection of YTF by-catch in the scallop fishery. Scallop fishery catches of CC/GOM YTF will not be specifically allocated but will be lumped together with incidental catches form other fisheries.
FW 44 also modifies common pool measures that will be effective May 1, 2010 (if approved). The GOM cod trip limit will be 800 lbs./DAS to a maximum of 4,000 lbs/trip. This change automatically returns the handgear A and B permits to 300 lbs. and 75 lbs. of cod, respectively. A pollock trip limit of 1,000 lbs./DAS and 10,000 lbs./trip will be adopted. The Regional Administrator will be authorized to modify trips limits or DAS counting to reduce the likelihood that the ACL of any stock is exceeded, or to facilitate the harvest of nay ACL. Please note the Council considered but did not adopt 2:1 differential DAS counting in the inshore Gulf of Maine. FW 44 will be submitted in December and reviewed by NMFS; the goal is to have the measures in place May 1, 2010.
• The Council voted to initiate an action to consider modifying the GB yellowtail flounder rebuilding strategy. It is unclear at present whether this will be an amendment or a framework adjustment. The expectation is this will not be completed in time to change the GB YTF ACL for FY 2010.
• The Council voted to initiate a joint scallop/groundfish action to allow the transfer of yellowtail flounder between groundfish sectors and scallop sectors. The details on this action are not yet developed.
• In other issues, the Council discussed 2010 priorities. Other than the two preceding bullets, no specific groundfish action is planned. There are no plans to immediately pursue an amendment for area management or ITQs, for example. The Council tasked the Interspecies Committee to consider catch share issues and the possibility of combining management plans; the exact extent of this Committee’s work is still being resolved because of the decisions to initiate the two actions mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3. The Council recommended to NMFS that the eastern US/CA areas not open for trawl gear until August 1, 2010 next fishing year (a similar rule was in place the last two years). They voted to endorse sector requests for an exemption from the May, Block 138 rolling closure.
If there are any questions contact Tom Nies at the New England Fisheries Management Council, e-mail: tnies@nefmc.org, phone: 978-465-0492 (ext.19)