August 1, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The federal competition for 2019-2021 Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside (RSA) Awards is now open. The deadline for submitting full proposals is 5 p.m., Thursday, September 20, 2018.
The New England Fishery Management Council established the RSA program in 2007 under Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan. Under the program, the Council sets aside 0% to 3% of the annual catch limit (ACL) from each herring management area to support research identified by the Council as priority projects. NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.
IMPORTANT: The amount of quota that will be set aside for 2019-2021 projects is not known yet and will be determined only after the Council sets specifications for the next three fishing years. The Council will receive an update on 2019-2021 specifications during its September meeting in Plymouth, MA and then take final action in December at its meeting in Newport, RI. RSA proposals are due before the Council takes final action.
During the 2016-2018 specification-setting process, the Council elected to set aside the maximum level of 3% for RSA compensation. The Council once again will need to specify the percentage allocated to the RSA Program in the 2019-2021 specifications package.
Atlantic Herring Research Set-Aside Priorities
The Council adopted five research priorities for the 2019-2021 Atlantic Herring RSA Program when it met back in December 2017. These – in no particular order of priority – cover the following scope:
- Portside sampling and bycatch avoidance projects primarily related to haddock and river herring/shad;
- Stock structure and spatial management projects – in particular, continued work on:
- distinguishing among subcomponents of the herring resource – Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Southern New England – and identifying stocks of origin from mixed catches,
- identifying the relative size of stock components, movements, and mixing rates,
- ascertaining the degree of homing, and
- investigating potential effects of climate change;
- Research spawning dynamics, including projects related to life history, gear interactions, and spatial patterns, including studies to evaluate whether gear interactions disrupt spawning and negatively affect recruitment due to egg disposition and survival;
- Localized depletion studies to evaluate the influence of potential localized depletion of herring on predators; and
- Projects designed to evaluate discard rates and mortality of released fish in the purse seine fishery.
NOTE: RSA compensation fishing is exempt from: (1) the Area 1A January-May seasonal closure and the Area 1B January-April seasonal closure; and (2) area closures that occur when a sub-ACL has been reached.
2018 Assessment Results, Amendment 8
The Council is awaiting results from the 2018 benchmark stock assessment for Atlantic herring. The stock’s status will factor into the Council’s decision-making for 2019-2021 specifications. Information about the assessment is available at SAW/SARC 65 and 2018 benchmarks.
The Council also is scheduled to take final action on Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring FMP in late September and may select a new acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule. Control rules guide the specification-setting process. Learn more at Amendment 8.
View the release in its entirety here.