March 20, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
Here’s a roundup of upcoming meetings and new developments that are relevant to the New England Fishery Management Council’s stakeholders.
SCALLOPS: New Bedford and Chatham, MA are the next two stops on the scoping meeting circuit for Amendment 21 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The New Bedford meeting is today, Wednesday, March 20, and Chatham is up tomorrow, Thursday, March 21. Both meetings begin at 6 p.m. Also, a webinar is scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m., and more scoping meetings will be held next week in Virginia and New Jersey. The series caps off in Gloucester on April 3. Visit the Amendment 21 webpage to see the complete lineup and download the scoping document, press release, and staff presentation.
COMMERCIAL eVTRs: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is developing an Omnibus Framework to considerrequiring commercial vessels that carry federal permits for Mid-Atlantic Council-managed species to submit Vessel Trip Reports electronically (eVTRs). This action, if approved, will apply to New England fishermen who obtain Mid-Atlantic permits for summer flounder/scup/black sea bass, bluefish, mackerel/squid/butterfish, and other species. The Mid-Atlantic Council has scheduled a webinar for Monday, March 25 beginning at 9 a.m. to collect input from its Advisory Panels. Details are available at AP webinar about commercial eVTRs.
ATLANTIC HERRING: The New England Council’s Herring Advisory Panel (AP) will meet for a half-day on Wednesday, March 27 at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield, MA. The Herring Committee will meet in the same location the following day, Thursday, March 28. The AP and Committee both will discuss upcoming herring actions, work priorities, 2019-2021 specifications, and more. The agenda and meeting materials are available at Herring AP and Herring Committee.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The Council’s Executive Committee will meet Wednesday, March 27 in Wakefield, MA. More information will be available soon at Executive Committee meeting.
SCIENTIFIC AND STATISTICAL COMMITTEE (SSC): The Council’s SSC will meet via webinar on Friday, March 29, 2019 to discuss and comment on the Council’s research priorities. Learn more at SSC webinar.
GROUNDFISH: The Council’s Groundfish Advisory Panel (AP) will meet on Monday, April 1 at the Hilton Garden Inn at Logan Airport. The Groundfish Committee will meet in the same location the following day, Tuesday, April 2. Both will discuss Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23, the Council’s Gear Standards Policy, and 2019 groundfish priorities. More information will be available soon at Groundfish AP and Groundfish Committee.
ECOSYSTEM-BASED FISHERY MANAGEMENT (EBFM): The Council’s EBFM Committee will meet on Thursday, April 4 and again on Monday, April 15. Both meetings will be held at the Radisson Airport Hotel in Warwick, RI beginning at 9:30 a.m. The committee will discuss issues related to the development of a draft example Fishery Ecosystem Plan (eFEP) for Georges Bank. More information and related documents will be posted as they become available at EBFM April 4, 2019 and EBFM April 15, 2019.
RECREATIONAL GROUNDFISH: The Council has scheduled a series of listening sessions to solicit comments and gauge public interest on whether it should develop a limited access program for the recreational groundfish party/charter fishery under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The sessions, which include a webinar, will run from April 4 through May 10 from Maine to New Jersey. For more information and complete details about the times and locations of the listening sessions, read the press release, public notice, and download the background document.
MID-ATLANTIC COUNCIL: The Mid-Atlantic Council will be discussing several issues relevant to New England stakeholders during its April 8-11 meeting in Avalon, NJ. The Commercial eVTR Omnibus Framework described above is on the agenda, and the New England Council will be holding one of its Recreational Groundfish Party/Charter Fishery listening sessions in the same location on Monday, April 8. Take a look at the agenda at MAFMC Avalon, NJ.
NEW ENGLAND COUNCIL: The full New England Fishery Management Council will meet April 16-18, 2019 at the Hilton Hotel in Mystic, CT. The agenda and meeting materials will be available soon at NEFMC Mystic, CT.
MONKFISH: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries) announced that it is implementing 2019 monkfish specifications as recommended by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils in Framework Adjustment 10 to the federal Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Monkfish FMP is a joint plan between the two Councils with New England having the administrative lead. The framework contains specifications for fishing years 2017-2019. At the time the framework was implemented, NMFS approved 2017 specifications, along with “projected specifications” for 2018 and 2019. This week, NMFS said it does not expect 2018 catch limits to be exceeded, so 2019 specifications will go into place on May 1 as initially developed by the Councils. These include a total allowable landing limit of 6,338 metric tons (mt) in the Northern Fishery Management Area and 9,011 mt in the southern area. Find out more in the Federal Register notice and permit holder bulletin.