Council Actions

October 12, 2012 — The New England Fishery Management Council has posted audio files from the 10/11/2012 Groundfish Committee Meeting on its website, www.nefmc.org.

To connect directly to these files, click on Groundfish October 11, 2012 Committee Meeting Audio. For the agenda and meeting materials, click on Groundfish October 11, 2012 Discussion Materials.
 
For now, audio will be posted for meetings held between the first and second Council meetings at which initial and final action is taken on framework adjustments; for example, between the September and November Council meetings this year. The current focus will be on groundfish and scallops, but the same will hold true for other important FMP-related meetings that occur prior to final action by the Council. This is contingent on staff resources and logistics. 

 

View the NEFMC website here

 

 

October 12, 2012 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council took up a new deployment plan for marine observers at its October meeting, asking the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, to conduct further outreach, clarify a few components and plan to review certain items after one year.

The 2013 annual deployment plan uses random sampling of two different pools — a trip-based pool and a vessel pool — to assign observers to fishing vessels. Those selected in the vessel pool are responsible for carrying an observer for 90 days, while those selected from the trip pool would carry the observer for one trip. The observers provide NMFS with data about the fish being caught, and take samples of the catch.

Testimony and action Oct. 6 was in regards to the partial coverage vessels in the two pools with random sampling.

NMFS Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division Director Martin Loefflad said that program is meant to provide good data about the fishery.

“We live to try and give you folks, and all of the folks that work with us, unbiased numbers,” Loefflad said.

Council members questioned the high cost of the program per observer day, as well as the need to use such random methods that don’t account for pre-exisiting knowledge about observers or the fisheries.

Council member Cora Campbell, Commissioner of Alaska Department of Fish and Game, noted that the observer data has a variety of uses, including in-season management and stock assessments in future years.

“I’d like you to explain why you chose to develop a deployment plan that ignores all of that and deploys observers across sectors at the same rate,” Campbell asked.

The answer was that everyone was considered equally, particularly as the new observer program seeks to secure baseline data about the fisheries.

Ultimately, the council passed a motion that recommended that NMFS attach a priority to monitoring some vessels over others, change the three-month observation to two months for the vessel selection pool, work with the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Pacific cod catcher vessel trawl fleet to institute 100 percent observer coverage, and conduct outreach so that the industry has a better idea of the program and possible options to make it less difficult.

That trawl fleet relies on near 100 percent coverage for in-season management, and was willing to pay for the coverage. The council also asked that a provision for this be looked into for future deployment plans, so that it’s not a surprise change late in the process.

Trawl vessels in the Gulf of Alaska less than 125 feet in length are required to carry observers 30 percent of the time under the current management.

The changes came after recommendations from the council Advisory Panel, and significant public testimony from conservation groups and industry.

The Alaska Marine Conservation Council made a statement saying it thought the bycatch priority was a positive change.

The program has the potential to monitor more vessels than in the prior deployment plan, but the AMCC and others noted that the amount of coverage for trawl vessels with a high incidence of prohibited species catch, or PSC, would likely be lower than in the old program, which was contrary to conservation goals.

Brent Paine, from United Catcher Boats, testified about the need for coverage in the Bering Sea, where the co-op management relies on observer data to keep bycatch down and the fishery open.

Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Executive Director Linda Behnken said the council’s action seemed to try to address those concerns, but she didn’t know if it would actually improve the program when it is implemented in 2013.

The longline association represents smaller vessels, and has said that having an observer could prove difficult on the boats due to space constraints and other logistical issues.

Smaller boats between 40 feet and 57.5 feet in length overall, will be part of the vessel selection pool.

The program is funded by NMFS in 2013, and in subsequent years by a 1.25 percent fee on landings, but the cost came in high on the bids to provide observers, so the total observer days is less than hoped for.

The primary funder of the new program will be the halibut and sablefish fleet because its landings are more valuable than the trawl fleet. Trawlers longer than 125 feet are required to carry observers 100 percent of the time and pay for that cost on a per-day basis.

 

Read the full story in the Alaska Journal of Commerce 

 

 

October 11, 2012 —

View the meeting documents on the NEFMC website

 

 

October 10, 2012 — The final agenda and meeting materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's 71st Annual Meeting are available.

Please note the following changes have been made to the meeting schedule. The Atlantic Menhaden Management Board will not be meeting on Tuesday. Instead, it will meet on December 14 in Baltimore, Maryland to consider final action on Amendment 2 (a separate announcement with provide more details about this meeting). The Weakfish Management Board, originally scheduled to meet on Thursday, will now meet on Tuesday from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
 
Some documents may be large, so please be patient downloading. Meeting materials are also available on CD-ROM; to obtain a CD please contact Cindy Robertson at crobertson@asmfc.org. Supplemental materials will be posted next Wednesday, October 17, 2012.

 

View the final agenda on the ASMFC website

View a PDF of the announcement and agenda 

 

 

 

 

October 10, 2012 — The following is a summary actions related to Atlantic Scallops at the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) meeting held September 25 – 27, 2012 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In the scallop portion of its agenda, the Council voted to recommend that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) close the Elephant Trunk Area by emergency action, as both the Scallop Advisory Panel and Scallop Committee had recommended. In general, the Council permitted the Scallop Advisory Panel and Committee recommendations to move forward, either by direct action or by letting the Scallop Plan Development Team, Advisory Panel, and Committee keep moving forward with their work on Framework 24, with no substantial alteration. Among other things, the Advisory Panel/Committee motions added an alternative to put some of the 2013 access area trips into the Nantucket Lightship Access Area and to add an option to only close Closed Area II from August 15-November 15.

Additional agenda items were handled on the next day of the Council meeting, as either part of Council priority setting or the habitat discussion. Regarding Council priorities, the Council provided for the work time for Framework 24 to be a one-year framework. This will ensure that (i) new information is used to re-assess fishing levels for 2014, (ii) the timing of Mid-Atlantic access area openings is considered in light of growth detected in the 2013 surveys; and (iii) that a scallop framework be available to add access areas within the current habitat closed areas, assuming the habitat amendment is completed.

Regarding habitat, the Council voted to expedite completion of the Omnibus Habitat Amendment, including potential revisions to or elimination of the habitat closed areas, and to add new scallop access areas in the first available framework.

The Council considered Georges Bank yellowtail flounder allocations for 2013, as well. The U.S.-Canada Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) had voted to recommend an overall 500 mt quota for the U.S. and Canada to share for Georges Bank yellowtail, leaving the U.S. share in the low 200’s—an amount considered insufficient by the scallop harvesting industry. In contrast, the New England Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommended consideration of an overall quota of 1,150 mt. The Council did not vote to approve the TMGC-recommended level, and will consider the quota level recommended by the SSC as well.

The Council did not move forward with the SSC recommendation that there be no possession of Georges Bank yellowtail.

The Council also considered options for the 2013 scallop sub-Annual Catch Limits for Georges Bank yellowtail as a part of the next Groundfish Framework 48. The Groundfish Committee had forwarded two options: (i) providing a sub-Annual Catch Limit to the scallop fishery according to its need (as is done now), or (ii) instead allocating only 8% of the Georges Bank yellowtail quota to the scallop fishery.

The 8% allocation is based on a calculation that 8% of the quota represents the scallopers’ share of the quota over time. The credibility of that calculation is questioned by the scallop harvesting industry.  An 8% allocation could leave leave the scallop fishery with under 20 mt of yellowtail for 2013. The Council voted to add an alternative that the scallop sub-Annual Catch Limit be set at 16% as well. The industry maintains that any sub-Annual Catch Limit must be based on an assessment of scallopers’ actual need for yellowtail to prosecute the fishery in 2013.

There has been no action on Monkfish. 

 

Meetings are continuing this week, and an updated summary will be released when they are completed.

 

 

 

 

October 5, 2012 —

NEFMC Council Report from their most recent meeting held September 25 – 27 in Plymouth, MA is now available.
 
Please contact Pat Fiorelli at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106 or pfiorelli@nefmc.org with any further questions.

 

View the NEFMC Council Report here

 

 

October 2, 2012 — The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting will be held Tuesday, October 16 from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, and will be held at the Ocean Place, One Ocean Boulevard, Long Branch, NJ 07740.

Based on the input received during the Council’s Visioning Project, ocean pollution is one of the most widely shared concerns among all stakeholder groups.  At this month’s Council meeting, the nonprofit organization Clean Ocean Action (COA) will give an overview of their long-term efforts to stop pollution and their current campaign to permanently protect the waters of the New Jersey/New York Bight. After the presentation, COA and Council leadership will be available to answer questions from the public.
 
COA is a broad-based coalition of 125 groups and organizations that has been working for nearly 30 years to improve the water quality off the New Jersey/New York coast through research, education, and citizen action. Most notably, the efforts of COA were instrumental in the shutting down of eight ocean dumpsites that were polluting mid-Atlantic waters with dirt, sewer sludge, acid waste, dredged material, and industrial waste.
 
During the listening session, COA will describe their current campaign to establish permanent protection for the NY/NJ Bight with the Clean Ocean Zone (COZ) Initiative.  If passed, the Clean Ocean Zone bill would create a pollution-free area that would stop the regular authorization of destructive industrial practices in the COZ.
 
Following the presentation, COA and Council leadership will be available to answer questions from the public on the Clean Ocean Zone initiative or any other fishery issues of interest to the public. 
 
You can attend in person or via the internet.  For online webinar access register here.

 

 

PLYMOUTH, Mass. – September 27, 2012 – The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) met on Thursday to review recommendations from their Groundfish and Habitat Committees regarding a number of fishery related issues, including, but not limited to, closed area access. The subject of closed areas set the stage for a number of comments made by members of the Council, as well as the general public, which raised important issues related to the effectiveness of these areas and the time-sensitive nature of their reassessment.

The Council’s afternoon review of the Habitat Committee’s report dealt almost exclusively with Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) closures and aimed to draft adverse effects minimization alternatives as a part of Omnibus EFH Amendment 2. That same morning, the Groundfish Committee approached the council with recommendations that asked for an increase in access to the groundfish closed areas as a way of mitigating the low allowable biological catch (ABC) limits that are expected for fishing year 2013. Several access area-related comments made during those discussions can be found below.

Listen to John Bullard, the Regional Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Regional Office, comment on the need for a timely reassessment of closed areas access. This comment was made during the Council’s review of the NEFMC’s Habitat Committee report.

Listen to Habitat Committee Chair, Dave Preble, comment on the Council’s lack of punctuality in drafting Omnibus EFH Amendment 2 and how this relates to Council resources.

Listen to Emilie Litsinger, of the Environmental Defense Fund, address the reevaluation of New England’s closed area network, with regard to the groundfish fishery.

Listen to Maggie Raymond, of Associated Fisheries of Maine, note that while she was a supporter of the closed areas 18 years ago, she now believes that things needs to be done differently if they are to bring more fish across the dock.

Listen to Peter Shelley, of the Conservation Law Foundation, threaten legal action during his condemnation of the Council’s approach to Omnibus EFH Amendment 2 in relation to the groundfish fishery.

Listen to former Massachusetts State Representative and Waterfront attorney, John Quinn, refute Peter Shelley’s argument as he enters into the record National Standard 8 and his NEFMC oath of office.

Listen to Peter Baker, the Northeast Fisheries Director for the PEW Environment Group, express his disapproval of the Council's sector operations plan.

 

 

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. — September 28, 2012 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council

A wide range of issues that will affect the region’s fishermen were addressed by the New England Fishery Management Council this week in Plymouth, MA.

Sea Scallops – As recommended by both the Scallop Advisory Panel and the Scallop Committee, the Council agreed to request that Emergency Action be taken by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to close the Elephant Trunk Access Area as soon as possible to protect the high level of recruitment that is now occurring there. The area is currently open to scallop days-at-sea fishing. For its part, the agency is very aware of the time- sensitive nature of the Council’s request.

U.S./Canada Issues – The Council approved a motion asking the U.S. contingent to the U.S./Canada Steering Committee to negotiate a one-time request to trade some amount of Georges Bank haddock from the 2013 U.S. share in return for an amount of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder from the Canadian’s 2013 share. Consideration of any details and final approval of this action will take place at the NEFMC’s November 13-15 meeting in Newport, RI.

The Council also approved the 2013 quotas for stocks governed by the U.S./Canada Resource Sharing Understanding for analysis and inclusion in Framework Adjustment 48 to the Groundfish Plan: 1.) Eastern Georges Bank cod – 600 metric tons or mt (U.S. share 96 mt, Canadian share 504 mt), 2.) Eastern Georges Bank haddock – 10,400 mt (U.S. share 3,952 mt, Canadian share 6,448 mt), 3.) Georges Bank yellowtail flounder – 500 mt (U.S. share 215 mt, Canadian share 285 mt). The Scientific and Statistical Committee recommendation of an Acceptable Biological Catch of 1,150 mt for a yellowtail bycatch only fishery also would be included in the Framework 48 analysis.

Groundfish, Framework Adjustment 48 – Under other Framework Adjustment 48 business, the Council voted to include an option that would set the scallop fishery Georges Bank yellowtail flounder sub-ACL between 8 and 16%.

Mitigation measures to offset the projected low 2013 ACLs for stocks of cod, yellowtail flounder and other species in the groundfish complex also were approved for analysis. These included smaller minimum sizes to reduce discards and seasonal openings of three areas that have been previously closed year-round to groundfish fishing. If approved at the November Council meeting these restrictions would provide that:

Access will only be granted for the parts of areas that are not defined as habitat closed areas, or that have not been identified as potential habitat management areas currently under consideration in a habitat action that is currently in development;

Access to Closed Area I and Closed Area II (on Georges Bank) will only be granted for the period May 1 through February 15;

Access to the Western Gulf of Maine Closed Area (off MA and NH) will only be granted during periods not subject to rolling closures that are applicable to sectors and already specified in the Groundfish Management Plan. (Groundfish continued on next page)

Please Note – Left out of the NEFMC press release distributed on 9/27/2012 were the following issues that are important to lobstermen as well as groundfish fishermen and were unanimously approved in an additional motion at the meeting. When considering sector requests for access to closed areas, the Council recommended that the NMFS Regional Office include, among other things, consideration of the potential for gear conflicts, shifts in fishing effort out of the closed areas and impacts on protected species and lobsters.

Atlantic Herring – Several approved motions will affect the development of the 2013-2015 herring specifications package. They include adoption of:

A value for Acceptable Biological Catch and an ABC control rule based on a constant catch strategy; and

As part of management uncertainty, a deduction of 6,200 metric tons for Canadian catch (the New Brunswick weir fishery) based on a 3-year average catch (2009-2011, rounded to the nearest hundred metric ton), as the preferred alternative in the action.

The following proposed alternatives would adjust accountability measures in the specs package:

A proactive accountability measure to close the directed fishery in a given management area when the catch is projected to reach 92% of the area annual catch limits under the following two conditions:

a. the stock is overfished or overfishing is occurring and;

b. the sub-ACL for a management area has been exceeded in either of the preceding two years.

If overfishing is not occurring and the stock is rebuilt (spawning stock biomass exceeds the target), the accountability measure (a pound for pound payback) will not be triggered until the sub-ACL is exceeded by 5% or more.

Habitat – The Council agreed to remove the coral protection alternatives from Habitat EFH Omnibus Amendment 2 and continue to work on the amendment as the highest priority for the Council. This action dovetailed with another motion that directs the staff to schedule a one-day Council meeting (or add a day to the January 2013 Council meeting) following a Habitat Advisory Panel/Plan Development Team meeting to develop and finalize area management alternatives. The goal would be to approve the area management alternatives as soon as possible and schedule public hearings.

Related to the above discussion was the approval of alternatives in the next available framework adjustment to the Scallop FMP that would focus on the potential creation of new access areas in existing habitat closures on Georges Bank, should those areas be modified or eliminated in the Habitat Omnibus Amendment. As stated in the Council motion, this consideration would be based on survey information and would follow the existing protocols for the creation of new rotational access areas and associated allocations.

Spiny Dogfish – The Council approved final measures to be adopted in Amendment 3 to the Spiny Dogfish Plan. Included were: allocations of up to 3% of the commercial quota to fund cooperative research through a research set-aside program; updates to the essential fish habitat definitions; the previous fishing year's management measures, including the quota, until they are replaced via rulemaking; and elimination of the seasonal allocation of the commercial quota. The Mid-Atlantic Council is expected to approve final measures in the joint plan at its October meeting.

Council Management Priorities for 2013 – In addition to the draft management priorities that were provided to the Council at the meeting (see www.nefmc.org, under Council Discussion Documents), two other items were proposed. These call for an amendment to consider limited access in the skate fishery in 2013, and also a 2013 framework adjustment to set fishing year 2014 sea scallop specifications (setting days-at-sea, access area trips, a Northern Gulf of Maine total allowable catch, the limited access general category IFQ, and potential modification of scallop access area boundaries, among other things). Final priorities will be voted on at the Council’s November meeting.

 

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — September 27, 2012 — The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) met on Thursday to review the recommendations of the NEFMC's Habitat Committee regarding Essential Fish Habitats. The Council also discussed their management priorities for 2013, as well as the standardization of by-catch reporting methodology (SBRM).

Listen to the Council's review of Omnibus EFH Amendment 2's Goals and Objectives as well as a discussion on whether or not to split deep-sea coral alternatives out of the Amendment.

Listen to Michelle Bachman, the NEFMC's Habitat Plan Development Chair, discuss the development of adverse effects and the minimization of options and alternatives for Omnibus EFH Amendment 2.

Listen to the public's comments regarding Michelle Bachman's presentation and Omnibus EFH Amendment 2. This section includes comments made by John Bullard, the Regional Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Regional Office.

Listen to the Council's discussion on Omnibus EFH Amendment 2, in regards to the scallop industry and the time-sensitive nature of their actions.

Listen to the Council conclude their discussion on Omnibus EFH Amendment 2.

Listen to the Council's initial discussion of 2013 management priorities.

Listen to the SBRM report and the Council's closing statements.