Management & Regulation

March 23, 2014 — Misinformation has spread in both traditional and online media about the current proposed Red Snapper allocation change under consideration by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council.

The Louisiana Restaurant Association, as well as the four other Gulf State restaurant associations, have come under fire for allegedly playing an integral role in lining up against the recreational fishermen in favor of letting commercial fisherman ship “as much as 80 percent of the commercial red snapper harvest out of the country.

The source of the misinformation has yet to be identified, but it has rapidly spread from Louisiana to Florida to Kansas City to Capitol Hill.

According to a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fishery trade categories are based on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for imports and the US Census Bureau ‘Schedule B’ for exports.  Currently there is no specific breakout for Red Snapper due to lack of individual trade data because international exports are so small. As a result Red Snapper trade is listed in the ‘other’ category, not separated out.

Where does Gulf Red Snapper Go?

A majority of Gulf Red Snapper ends up on the plates of the more than 56 million residents of the Gulf States, as well as millions more on the East Coast.

“We are on target to buy more than a million pounds, or twenty percent, of the total Gulf Red Snapper harvest,” said Houston based Sysco Louisiana Seafood chairman Jim Gossen, who sits on the board of the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI). “We sell 99.5 percent of that to our customers within the state of Texas, and none is shipped overseas.”

The percentage of Gulf Red Snapper leaving the country is less than five percent, a majority of that going to Montreal and Toronto, which has a craving for the prized Gulf seafood.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

March 13, 2014 — The following was released by the Atalnatic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will be convening the River Herring Technical Expert Working Group on March 27th from 1 – 4 PM to discuss the working group structure and river herring conservation planning.  This meeting will be open to the public, and there will be an opportunity for the public to provide input at a specified time on the agenda.  The webinar and call-in information for this meeting can be found below.  The draft agenda and additional information for this meeting, as well as future meetings, can be found at: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/protected/riverherring/tewg/index.html. Please contact Marin Hawk or Diane Borggaard with any questions.

Call-In Number: 1-888-394-8197
Passcode: 815277
Webinar: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/join/

 

March 10, 2014 — In a time when Congress has a hard time passing laws that everyone agrees on, it seemed unlikely in late 2013 that a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act would include changes that would allow the law to approach the management of recreational fishing in a way that was different from commercial fishing.

But there has been encouraging movement this month on reauthorizing the act to include language specifically for saltwater recreational anglers, Center for Coastal Conservation president Jeff Angers told Trade Only Today.

From its inception in 1976 to this point, the act that manages fish stocks and allotments in federally managed saltwater areas has largely addressed commercial fishing. Now there is a push nationwide to extend the act by adding language that would specifically cover recreational anglers in terms of catch limits, allotments and conservation, Angers said.

The act expired in September and has yet to be reauthorized because of some controversy around making the changes, Angers said, which means the most recent reauthorization still applies.

Read the full story at Trade Only Today 

 

February 26, 2014 — A proposed closure of a swath of Stellwagen Bank is leaving local charter boat owners and fishermen concerned about loss of revenue.

The New England Fisheries Management Council is set to meet on February 25 and 26 in Danvers to discuss and vote on, among other items, potentially closing a 55 square-nautical-mile area of Stellwagen Bank in the eastern Massachusetts Bay as a reference area for research.

The closure would allow for the establishment of a Dedicated Habitat Research Area (DHRA) to look at how different types of fishing gear potentially impact habitats and how the habitats recover, said Craig MacDonald, the superintendent of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

There are two proposed 55 square-nautical-mile reference areas in the DHRA, and the fisheries management council will either pick one of the reference areas to close to fishing, or choose to take no action.

Currently, the proposed reference areas are used extensively in the spring for cod and haddock fishing by members of the Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association, based in Marshfield, said SBCBA President Charlie Wade.

“The impact we fear, obviously, is loss of revenue because this is a prime springtime spot for us to fish,” Wade said. “And, ultimately, loss of jobs, if we can’t run our businesses profitably. The more ocean you take away from us to fish, the harder and harder it is for us to make a living.”

The proposed closure seeks to eliminate all hook and line fishing and ground fishing, which is a general term for species that live on the bottom of the ocean, including cod, haddock and flounder.

It would mean no fishing by either charter boats or private anglers, Wade said.

The closure could have a ripple effect on the local economy, according to Wade.

“The community at large should be concerned too because our out-of-state anglers spend a lot of money in hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations,” Wade said. “All of that revenue could disappear as well.”

Read the full story at the Marshfield Mariner

ARLINGTON, Va., — February 26, 2014 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board will meet via conference call on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. to consider approval of regional proposals for the 2014 summer flounder recreational fishery and state proposals for the 2014 black sea bass recreational fishery in accordance with Addendum XXV to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan.

Addendum XXV, approved by the Board in February 2014, establishes regional management measures for the 2014 summer flounder recreational fishery with the intent of providing more equity in recreational harvest opportunities along the coast. The regions are Massachusetts and Rhode Island; Connecticut through New Jersey; Delaware through Virginia; and North Carolina. Under the regional management approach, all states within a region will be required to have the same possession limit, size limit, and season length. Collectively, these measures are intended to achieve, but not exceed, the 2014 recreational harvest limit.

The Addendum also continues the use of ad hoc regional management measures by northern (Massachusetts – New Jersey) and southern regions (Delaware – North Carolina) for the 2014 black sea bass recreational fishery.  States in the southern region will implement measures consistent with federal regulations (currently under development), while northern region states have proposed state-specific management measures. The regulations of the two regions combined are intended to achieve the required coastwide harvest reduction in order to not exceed the 2014 recreational harvest limit.

The public is welcome to listen in on the discussion by phone (888.394.8197; passcode 499811) and view the webinar using the following link: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/617005454. The meeting agenda is posted to the Commission website at: http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/March2014SF_Scup_BSB_BoardAgenda.pdf. Time permitting, there will be a limited opportunity to provide comments at the end of the agenda. The Board Chair will provide additional information on the procedures for accepting public comment at the beginning of the conference call. We ask the public and other nonparticipating attendees to please mute their phones in order to minimize distractions to the Board’s deliberations. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.          

 

 

February 25, 2014 — NOAA Regional Director John Bullard, in a letter to the New England Fishery Management Council, indicated the federal agency will not stand with fishing advocates in their preference for opening up a greater portion of Stellwagen Bank as part of the new rules being drafted to determine where commercial fishermen will be allowed to fish beginning in the winter of 2015-16.

The fishing advocates have voiced a preference for the alternative that would reduce the current closed habitat management area known as “Stellwagen Large” by half, in effect opening up a much greater portion of the fishing area to commercial fishing.

“We are concerned about opening vulnerable habitat on Jeffreys Ledge to mobile gear fishing because it would compromise years of recovery in this important and sensitive area,” Bullard wrote to NEFMC chairman Terry Stockwell. “We are also concerned that this alternative may reduce protection on critical juvenile groundfish habitat, including habitat for Gulf of Maine cod, so much that it could not be compensated for elsewhere in the Gulf of Maine, regardless of what alternatives are selected in Central and Eastern Gulf of Maine.”

Instead, Bullard wrote, “the council, at a minimum, may need to consider a package of preferred alternatives that includes the status quo alternative in the Western Gulf of Maine in order to minimize, to the extent practical, the adverse effects of fishing on (the essential fish habitat), while meeting the objectives of improved ‘refuge for critical life history stages’ and ‘protection of critical groundfish habitats.’”

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — February 25, 2014 — The Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC), based in Gloucester, Mass. and representing commercial groundfishermen in New England, sent a letter to New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) Chairman Terry Stockwell yesterday, requesting that the Council address failures in current management measures for Northern and Southern windowpane flounder. According to the letter, existing Accountability Measures (AMs), which are intended to reduce the risk that the fishery will exceed catch limits, are “entirely inadequate and therefore ineffective” at preventing catch overages in the Northern windowpane fishery, and are "largely unnecessary” for the rebuilt Southern windowpane fishery. NSC estimates that the Northern windowpane AMs will cost 5 to 10 million dollars in lost revenues.

Mr. Stockwell has confirmed that the Council will address this issue at its meeting tomorrow, which could result in a Framework adjustment by the end of April.

The full letter from the Northeast Seafood Coalition to NEFMC Chairman Terry Stockwell:

February 24, 2014
Terry Stockwell, Chairman
New England Fishery Management Council
50 Water Street, Mill 2
Newburyport, MA 01950

Dear Terry,

It is with great urgency that I write to you today to request the Council address the existing Accountability Measures (AM) for Northern and Southern windowpane flounder through an expedited and focused Framework action.

We understand that a focused Framework adjustment can be accomplished in two Council meetings with one of them being a Committee meeting. Therefore we believe the Council could act to initiate a Framework during the February Council meeting, which would place the first Framework meeting at the next Groundfish Committee meeting and the second to occur at the full Council meeting scheduled in April. NSC greatly appreciates the limitations on Council resources which is why we offer that this Framework be focused on the groundfish sub-ACL and AMs for windowpane only.

NSC is committed to assisting the Council and NMFS toward immediate management adjustments that can prevent long term biological or economic losses. More specifically, to adjust the Multispecies FMP through focused, limited measure Frameworks where policy solutions may already exist and profound negative consequences can be avoided. NSC stronglybelieves this is the case with the Northern and Southern windowpane flounder AMs.

Over the past few months, NSC has come to learn that the existing AM for Northern windowpane flounder is entirely inadequate and therefore ineffective for preventing ACL overages while the triggering of the Southern windowpane flounder AM now appears to be largely unnecessary. The following includes additional information for consideration:

NORTHERN WINDOWPANE FLOUNDER:

• The existing AMs are reactive and only trigger once the ACL is exceeded which is rarelyknown in-season.
• We estimate the existing large AM area will cost 5 to 10 million dollars in lost revenues.
• The existing AM areas do not account for much of the area where windowpane bycatch has been occurring in recent years. There will be tremendous economic losses without commensurate biological benefits in the form of windowpane mortality.
• The AM only applies to groundfish. Groundfish caught 100.5% of the 2012 sub ACL yet the large AM area was triggered.
• The groundfish industry will be prepared to submit an alternative AM that will provideimproved accountability to the sub-ACL.

SOUTHERN WINDOWPANE FLOUNDER:

• The most recent status determination for this stock is that S. windowpane is rebuilt.
• The ACL overage reported in 2012 is covered by the increase in the ACL in 2013.
• The economic impacts to our SNE membership that will result from lost income generated from the SNE winter flounder and SNE yellowtail flounder fishery will be substantial. A framework will allow a focused look at the AM and future catch projections using updated information.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely, 

Jackie Odell
Executive Director

View a PDF of the letter from the NSC to NEFMC Chairman Terry Stockwell

 

February 24, 2014 — NOAA officials say that the federal fisheries agency will once again cover the cost of the mandated onboard fishing monitors who have been a part of many fishermen’s traveling parties out of Gloucester and other Northeast ports since 2010.

The announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service came at the recommendation of the New England Fishery Management Council, and after a renewed push by a Massachusetts’ congressional delegation.

It also comes as the fishery council prepares to hold its monthly meetings Tuesday and Wednesday in Danvers, where the policy panel will discuss a potential reopening of closed areas and a number of other issues.

NOAA’s announcement Friday confirmed that the agency will cover the cost of fishery observers and at-sea monitors for groundfish vessels operating within the Northeast sectors.

NOAA regulations mandate that observers be present on a percentage of groundfish vessels to verify that fishermen’s catch — including discarded bycatch — is accurately recorded and that fishermen operate within their allocated quotas. NOAA officials say the agency’s goal is to have observer coverage on 26 percent of groundfish trips in the coming fishing year, which begins May 1.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

SEATTLE — February 20, 2014 — Bycatch reporting, transparency and the role of the National Environmental Policy Act in fisheries management are among the proposed Magnuson-Stevens Act amendments the North Pacific Fishery Management Council scrutinized during its February meeting.

The act, or MSA, is currently in the process of being reauthorized and amended. House and Senate committees have held hearings on the changes, and in December the House Natural Resources Committee released its draft version of possible new language in the bill. The Senate has not yet produced its version, but will likely do so this spring.

The North Pacific council manages federal fisheries offshore from Alaska. The MSA, which was last reauthorized in 2006 and is up for renewal, regulates most fisheries in American federal waters 3 to 200 miles offshore, and authorizes the eight regional fishery management councils.

The council is expected to provide comments for a February Senate hearing on the House draft and share North Pacific concerns.

Generally, council Executive Director Chris Oliver said that the current iteration of the legislation is working for the North Pacific, and that much of the last round of MSA revisions were based on how Alaska manages its fisheries, so significant changes probably aren’t needed.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce 

 

February 20, 2014 — There are 478 managed stocks in 46 Fishery Management Plans (Annual Report on Status of U.S. Fisheries). Presently, NOAA Fisheries has the capacity to update only about 100 assessments each year. This includes annual assessments for some important stocks and less frequent assessments for many stocks, but for some stocks their status is listed as unknown because assessments cannot be conducted, mostly due to lack of sufficient data. NOAA Fisheries strives to provide at least baseline monitoring for all managed stocks, full assessments for important stocks, and assessments that extend to ecosystem linkages where needed and feasible. Historically, there has not been an objective approach to determining a portfolio of assessment activities to achieve these goals. Each NOAA Fisheries Science Center and its respective regional Fishery Management Council work together to decide on upcoming assessment priorities, but they lack an objective support system for their deliberations.

How will prioritization work?

– Provides a standardized protocol to set a target “level” for each stock assessment; not all stocks need the highest quality assessments.

– Establishes a target frequency for conducting those assessments; not all stocks need annual updates.

– Bases the target levels and frequency upon factors such as the importance of the stock to commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries; its importance to the regional ecosystem, and biological factors that determine its tendency to fluctuate over time.

– Bases decisions about assessment priorities on the status of the current assessment relative to these two factors— target level and target frequency. In other words priority for conducting an assessment would be given to those that are overdue relative to their target frequency or which now have new data to raise them to a higher level.

– Considers factors such as whether the stock is on a rebuilding plan, is at risk of overfishing, or seems to be drifting from a previous forecast as part of the prioritization.

– Prioritization is focused on support for decision-making within each region.  Between region prioritization is not part of this process.

 

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries