February 5, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council voted on January 26, 2021 to include a universal sector exemption for redfish in Framework Adjustment 61 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. If approved by NOAA Fisheries, the exemption would allow groundfish sector vessels to target redfish with 5.5-inch codend mesh within a larger Redfish Exemption Area in the future than was available in the 2020 fishing year.
Following this decision, the Council voted to submit Framework 61 to NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) for review and implementation. The target implementation date is May 1, 2021, the start of the new fishing year.
The Council signed off on all other Framework 61 measures, including 2021-2023 specifications for groundfish stocks based on updated assessment information, during its December 2020 meeting. A recap is available here.