Management & Regulation

WASHINGTON — September 5, 2013 — Federal efforts to rebuild depleted fish populations have largely been successful, but pressure to overfish some species remains high, and some fish stocks have not rebounded as quickly as projected, according to a new report by a scientific panel.

The report by the National Research Council says 43 percent of fish stocks identified as being overfished were rebuilt or showed good progress toward rebuilding within 10 years, the time limit required by federal law. Another 31 percent were on track to rebuild if sharply reduced fishing levels remain in place, the report says.

But the report also says 26 percent of overfished stocks continue to be overfished, due to ineffective enforcement and errors in fish stock estimates that led officials to set catch limits that were too high.

The report, released Thursday, said fishery management plans continue to be plagued by uncertainty, noting that 20 of 55 fish stocks examined by the research council were not actually overfished despite being classified as such by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Anchorage Daily News

September 2, 2013 — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–Fisheries officials estimated thousands of comments were received on the proposed halibut Catch Sharing Plan. The comment period closed Aug. 26. Officials are reviewing comments and haven’t determined a final number.

The CSP regulations would replace the current charter guideline harvest level with a percentage allocation for each area of the combined catch limit as determined by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. The catch would be split between the commercial and charter fisheries.

Guided sport anglers in Area 3A, including Homer and Cook Inlet, would receive from 14 to 18.9 percent of the catch limit depending on abundance.

Some opponents said the CSP would mean reducing the daily halibut bag limit from two fish to one fish. Many of the comments received opposed a one-fish bag limit in area 3A, said Julie Speegle, NOAA Fisheries public affairs officer.

A 2011 version included a matrix setting rules like a one-fish bag limit under different ranges of abundance, but the latest version eliminates that matrix.

Read the full story at the Peninsula Clarion

SAN FRANCISCO — September 3, 2013 — Federal regulators are enforcing tough new rules to protect sperm whales, saying the West Coast swordfish fishery will be shut down if even one more of the endangered species is caught.

Hailed by environmentalists as a major victory, the new rule also adds more fishery oversight, including the tracking of all swordfish vessels. It comes over the objections of fishing interests, and is a blow to the controversial practice of sweeping up marine life in massive gill nets.

"Drift gillnets kill incredible numbers of important marine mammals and fish in the pursuit of money fish," said Ben Enticknap, Pacific campaign manager at Monterey-based Oceana. "We must eliminate drift gillnets and transition to cleaner gears."

The emergency National Marine Fisheries Service rules will be in place through January 2014. The swordfish fishery has been underway since Aug. 15, though it is unclear if boats have been allowed to operate prior to the rule change.

Once prized as a luxury dish, swordfish landings have been in a steep dive since the mid-1980s. While more than 150 swordfish boats once operated off the West Coast, only about a dozen are expected during the 2013 season.

 

Read the full story at the Santa Cruz Sentinel

 

 

 

August 28, 2013 — ANNAPOLIS — On Wednesday, the Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee voted by an 8-5 margin to extend Maryland’s emergency regulations on menhaden until the permanent regulations are effective as of Monday, Sept. 2.

But, menhaden pound netters have chosen to boycott the fishery anyway from Friday, Aug. 30, to Monday, Sept. 2, an organized protest against the menhaden regulations the likes of which Maryland hasn’t seen before from watermen.

“We’re facing a devastating impact on the Eastern Shore economy because of these regulations,” Del. Michael Smigiel, R-36-Cecil, said.

The emergency regulations DNR introduced — after being told by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in December 2012 that there needed to be a coast-wide harvest reduction of 20 percent — established a 5.12 million-pound menhaden quota for Maryland with a bycatch allowance after the quota is met.

The bycatch allowance was set at 6,000 pounds per bycatch landing licensee and 12,000 per vessel with two licensees on it.

While state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Joe Gill and Deputy Director for Fisheries Service Lynn Fegley argued that DNR used the appropriate steps necessary to promulgate the regulations, including public hearing, best available science and an economic impact study, Eastern Shore lawmakers questioned parts of the process.

Read the full story at the Easton Star Democrat

BOSTON — August 28, 2013 — On August 21, the New England Fishery Management Council's (NEFMC) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met to develop recommendations for the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and Overfishing Limit (OFL) for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder. The meeting took place amid a growing consensus, by both SSC members and leading voices in the fishing industry, that the methodology used in yellowtail stock assessments is critically flawed, and is unacceptable for use in yellowtail management.

The SSC reviewed the TRAC's 2013 Georges Bank yellowtail flounder assessment, as well as the Groundfish Plan Development Team's (PDT) report on OFL and ABC alternatives for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder for fishing years 2014-2016. The SSC agreed on an ABC of no more that 500 metric tons, but due to the high degree of uncertainty in the stock assessment, was unable to provide a specific OFL recommendation.

 

In advance of the meeting, several stakeholders publicly voiced their concerns over the reliability of the most recent yellowtail assessment. Most notably, Dr. Steve Cadrin, an SSC member and a professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, wrote to Dr. Jake Kritzer, the Chairman of the SSC, that "there is neither the scientific nor the procedural basis to support the 2013 TRAC [Transboundary Resources Assessment Committee] recommendation for Georges Bank yellowtail catch advice." The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), an industry group representing the majority of full-time, limited-access Atlantic scallop permit holders, expressed similar concerns to Northeast Fisheries Science Center Director Dr. Bill Karp, calling the assessment "not viable for use as a basis for catch advice," and stating that the yellowtail management process is "arbitrary and capricious" as a result.

 

At the meeting, Dr. Kritzer detailed some of Dr. Cadrin's criticisms of the yellowtail assessment. Specifically, he called attention to Dr. Cadrin's assertion that the TRAC's 2013 recommendations for yellowtail did not comply with the TRAC's own standards for catch advice, which it laid out in the 2005 yellowtail benchmark assessment. Concern over the assessment was widespread on the SSC, with members Dr. Daniel Georgianna, Jean-Jacques Maguire, and John Hoenig all expressing reservations regarding the results. The Committee members aired doubts over whether the yellowtail stock is actually in danger, raised the question of whether or not the results of the assessment should be accepted, and expressed a lack of confidence in the accuracy of the assessment models.

 

Drew Minkiewicz, representing the Fisheries Survival Fund, reviewed FSF's criticisms of the assessment and the stock assessment process. He noted that the FSF leveled the same criticisms against the 2012 assessment, only to see the issues go unaddressed and worsen with the 2013 assessment. FSF beleives the flaws in the 2013 assessment are deep enough that the TRAC's process of accepting it violated several national guidelines, and that the SSC's current approach is not fixing the fundamental problems in the assessment.

 

Listen to Dr. Christopher Legault, of NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, offer his rationale as to why the TRAC offered a range, rather than a specific value, as catch advice for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder.

 

Listen to Dr. Christopher Legault discuss how high levels of variability and inconsistency in the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder data have made it difficult to use a stock assessment model other than the current virtual population analysis (VPA).

 

Listen to Drew Minkiewicz, of the Fisheries Survival Fund, discuss the SSC's inability to reach a formal consensus due in large part to SSC member Dr. Steve Cadrin's submission of a written statement asserting that the Georges Bank yellowtail assessment should not be used for catch advice. Dr. Cadrin was absent from the meeting. Mr. Minkiewicz also voices concern for basing catch advice on a model that has already been corrected twice and has shown a retrospective pattern year after year.

 

Listen to SSC Chair Dr. Jacob Kritzer highlight the key points of SSC member Dr. Steve Cadrin's written statement to the SSC. Dr. Cadrin, who is also a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Oceanography in the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, stresses that the 2013 TRAC assessment of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder is not a reliable basis for fishery management decisions.

 

Listen to SSC members Dr. Daniel Georgianna, Jean-Jacques Maguire, and John Hoenig discuss their apprehension in basing Georges Bank yellowtail catch advice on an inconsistent model.

 

Listen to Drew Minkiewicz, of the Fisheries Survival Fund, discuss the importance of addressing issues fundamental to the SSC's deliberative process, and examine Georges Bank yellowtail flounder's role in the scallop fishery.

 

Listen to Vito Giacalone, of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, discuss the effects the SSC's catch recommendations will have on the groundfish industry.  

 

Listen to SSC Chair Dr. Jacob Kritzer accept piecemeal suggestions from SSC members to be included in the Committee's final recommendations regarding catch advice for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder.

 

 

August 28, 2013 — Virginia and Maryland menhaden fishermen had to pack up their equipment on the Potomac River last week. The Potomac River Fisheries Commission closed all menhaden fisheries in the Potomac River Aug. 22 complying with new catch limits mandated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). The commission determined that overfishing was taking place and set new limits.

Twenty pound net fishermen take about 99 percent of the menhaden in the Potomac River. This accounts for about 26 percent of the coast-wide quota.

This year menhaden were not as abundant in the Potomac as last year, according to Ellen Cosby, assistant executive secretary of the commission. The commission tracks menhaden catches closely. Instead of the fishery being closed in June, it closed this month.

ASMFC will allow pound net fishermen a 6,000 pound daily bycatch limit per licensee by ASMFC. The commission met earlier this year with pound net fishermen to inform them of the new limits.

“Everybody was on board, everyone knew what was going on, nobody was surprised,” said Cosby.

Since any overage in this years catch would be deducted from next year’s limit, the fishermen were “very much in support of the program…they wanted to get close but not go over.”

While Virginia fishermen on the Potomac have been quiet about the closure Maryland, the fishermen are in an uproar and threatening a lawsuit against Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources.

Captain Bob Newberry, who leads Maryland’s Harvesters Land and Sea Coalition, said Friday that a lawsuit is likely and will probably be filed in federal court. The suit will have a number of allegations but the bottom line will be that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 20 per cent reduction in the allowable menhaden catch that the Maryland DNR says requires its actions is not supported by any scientific evidence and is therefore unlawful.

Read the full story at the Westmoreland News 

 

August 27, 2013 — ANNAPOLIS — Maryland watermen will have their chance to be heard in front of the Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 in Annapolis.

The emergency regulations put on the menhaden fishery this season by the state Department of Natural Resources expire on Thursday, Aug. 29. The permanent regulations wouldn’t take effect until Monday, Sept. 2, leaving a gap of time that watermen wouldn’t have to operate under the provisions of the emergency regulations.

Recently, DNR requested that the emergency regulations be expanded until the permanent ones could be put into effect. The action brings the regulations in front of the AELR Committee, which had to hear the request this week due to when the emergency regulations expire, according to a spokesman for the Department of Legislative Services.

For watermen, this is a chance for their voice to be heard on regulations that some, like Bob Newberry, who is a co-organizer for the Harvesters Land and Sea Coalition, say are negatively affecting their livelihood and aren’t necessary.

“We’re just asking for our day in front of the AELR Committee to explain our side of the situation,” Newberry said.

Read the full story at the Easton Star Democrat

August 26, 2013 — In May and June, a series of public meetings were convened by the NE Regional Planning Body (RPB) to discuss draft goals for regional ocean planning in New England. A summary of these meetings is available at northeastoceancouncil.org/regional-planning-body/meetings. In addition to describing the meetings and the topics discussed, this report also summarizes written comments received. Individual letters that were submitted and responses to an-line comment form received also are available on the same web site.

The RPB thanks all who attended these meetings and/or provided comment on this important phase of regional ocean planning in New England. The next formal RPB meeting will be held in November, and meeting information will be distributed as it is developed. This next meeting will focus on revising and refining specific regional ocean planning objectives. For more information, please contact John Weber at jweber@northeastoceancouncil.org.

 

Marshfield, Mass., — August 26, 2013 — NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is seeking applicants for eight primary seats and six alternate seats on its advisory council. The council ensures public participation in sanctuary management and provides advice to the sanctuary superintendent.

The sanctuary is accepting applications for the following seats: Research, two primary members; conservation, primary member; education, alternate; marine transportation, primary member and alternate; recreational fishing, primary member and alternate; mobile gear commercial fishing, primary member; business industry, alternate; at-large, primary member and alternate; and youth, primary member and alternate.

Candidates are selected based on their expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying, community and professional affiliations, and views regarding the protection and management of marine resources. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve a three-year term.

Read the full story at Wicked Local 

 

NEW ORLEANS — August 21, 2013 — Boats using surface fishing lines with miles of baited hooks would get individual yearly limits for bluefin tuna bycatch under rules proposed to end the practice of dumping dead bluefin caught on hooks meant for other species.

Bluefin tuna, which can weigh 500 pounds and sell for thousands of dollars — the record is $736,000 — have been severely overfished to feed a worldwide market for sushi.

Groups specifically fishing for bluefin, from anglers to general fishing boats, would lose nearly 69 tons of their current total quotas — or about 7 percent of the total U.S. quota for Atlantic bluefin — to create the new longline quotas proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries division.

But once a longline boat reached its quota it would have to stop using the lines, which can extend up to 20 miles and carry thousands of hooks.

"The longliners will be held to a very strict threshold," said Bradley S. McHale, a fishery management specialist with NOAA Fisheries.

The rules made public Tuesday would also bar surface longlines from part of the Gulf of Mexico during April and May, the peak of spawning season. In an area off Cape Hatteras, N.C., they could be used from December through March only by boats that have proven able to use the gear without catching bluefin.

Read the full story at the Boston Herald