Saving Seafood

Management & Regulation

Updates to NOAA Fisheries Report on At-Sea Monitoring Requirements for Groundfish Fishery

April 12, 2013 — New information has been added to the report entitled, "Summary of Analyses Conducted to Determine at-Sea Monitoring requirements for Multispecies Sectors, 2013."   This document explains and justifies the appropriate level of at-sea observer coverage needed to monitor and enforce catch levels for fishing year 2013 for vessels participating in Northeast multispecies sectors and can be found on NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Office's website.

Two new Appendices F and G have been added to the report containing information that expands the discussion of timeliness of at-sea observer data, and the legal restrictions on the release of confidential data in the groundfish fishery.  Data contained in the report is for the full strata (sector, area, gear) in the fishery, though confidential data is redacted.


Read the full report from NOAA here

 

 

Menhaden limit will strain industry, watermen say

CAMBRIDGE, MD — April 11, 2013 — New limits on menhaden established by the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission have some watermen wondering how they'll be able to make a living. "This is a disgrace," Larry "Boo" Powley, who said he's been a watermen all his life, said. "I caught more menhaden last year than I've ever caught in my entire life, and this year you're putting me out of business." The regulations came after ASMFC changed its stock assessment formula and, using data from 2009 to 2011, determined that menhaden have been over-fished

Chesapeake Bay watermen are no strangers to regulations.

Now, new limits on menhaden established by the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission have some watermen wondering how they'll be able to make a living.

"This is a disgrace," Larry "Boo" Powley, who said he's been a watermen all his life, said. "I caught more menhaden last year than I've ever caught in my entire life, and this year you're putting me out of business."

The regulations came after ASMFC changed its stock assessment formula and, using data from 2009 to 2011, determined that menhaden have been over-fished.

In December 2012, the commission then decided to reduce the coastwide harvest of menhaden by 20 percent. That figure was taken from the average harvest of menhaden between 2009 and 2011, or about 471 million pounds, Lynn Fegley, deputy director of fishery services for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said.

Fegley said a 20 percent reduction would result in an annual harvest of about 377 million pounds.


Read the full story from The Star Democrat

NMFS weighs emergency action to lift northern monkfish trip limits

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — April 11, 2013 — Groundfish fishermen will be able to land significantly more monkfish during the 2013 fishing year if the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) takes emergency action to “suspend” existing monkfish possession limits in the Northern Fishery Management Area, which covers the Gulf of Maine and northern Georges Bank.

According to industry members, that’s because fishermen are bound by unnecessarily restrictive trip limits, which are forcing the fleet to forego hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential income.

Given that Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank cod quotas will be cut by 77% and 55% respectively in 2013, many say that relief on the monkfish end is more important than ever.

“The industry desperately needs any additional revenue that could be derived from this action,” said Jim Odlin of Atlantic Trawlers Fishing Inc. in Portland, ME.

Monkfish possession limits are extremely complicated and vary by permit category and fishing area. The proposed suspension would apply only to vessels that are issued both a federal limited-access Northeast multispecies permit and a limited-access monkfish Category C or D permit. Furthermore, vessels released from trip limit requirements would need to continue using groundfish days-at-sea to catch monkfish, as is currently required.

Read the full story from Commercial Fisheries News

 

 

Officials expected to adopt ecosystem approach for West Coast fisheries

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — April 8, 2013 — Federal fisheries managers for the West Coast are poised for a major change in the way they make sure that plenty of fish remain in the sea.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting in Portland this week. On Tuesday, it's expected to adopt a new ecosystem management approach to managing the catch off Oregon, Washington and California.

That means that when making decisions on sport and commercial fishing seasons, quotas and fishing methods, the council will take into account factors such as habitat, and the impacts on other marine species that may depend on another species for food or be a source of food for others.

The Fisheries Ecosystem Plan is nonbinding, but conservation groups are enthusiastic, especially about a key provision to consider future protections for forage fish that aren't already targeted by a fishery. Forage fish are the little fish that the big fish depend on for food. Forage fish that would otherwise be eaten by larger fish, such as tuna and salmon, are caught for bait, food for farm-raised fish, and fertilizer.

"It's the beginning of a paradigm shift in fisheries management," said Paul Shively, a campaign manager for Pew Charitable Trusts. "We've always managed our oceans on a species-by-species level. By developing an ecosystem plan we begin to look at how everything is connected in the ocean."

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Oregonian

 

 

Fishing councilor pushes for change

April 8, 2013 — A scientist and member of the New England Fishery Management Council, citing multiple failures within the current system, is asked his colleagues to consider a series of radical and controversial changes in fisheries management that he asserts is in line with advanced scientific research papers and essential to the survival of the region’s fishing fleet.

”Overall,” council member David Goethel wrote in a March 3 letter to the panel’s chairman, Rip Cunningham, “these papers demonstrate that the current management program will guarantee the destruction of the groundfishing fleet with negligible benefits to the fish.”

Recognizing the time required to make proposed transformations, Goethel, a biologist and commercial fisherman from Hampton, N.H., also urged the council, an arm of NOAA, to ask Congress to suspend 10-year rebuilding deadlines for weakened stocks, and loosen recommended draconian catch limits for the annual fishing cycle beginning May 1, and introduce interim catch limits — allowing more fishing while the science of fisheries management is modernized.

Letters were sent from lawmakers and others last Monday to NOAA’s acting administrator for fisheries, and last Thursday to Gov. Deval Patrick, imploring him to intervene with President Obama sought similar relief to save the groundfishing industry. which faces enormous cuts in landings beginning May 1 that are widely believed to sound the death knell for the nation’s oldest industry.

Goethel, who is completing his final term on the council, having served the maximum three, three-year terms, wrote to Cunningham that he intended to introduce his ideas as motions for debate and vote at the April 24 meeting of the council in Mystic, Conn.


Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Read the letter from Dave Goethel here

 

 

NE fishing regulators eye hake quota increase

BOSTON (AP) — April 4, 2013 — Fishery regulators are looking to increase the allocation for another groundfish stock as they try to lessen the effects of huge, coming cuts in catch limits.

The New England Fishery Management Council said Wednesday that new information indicates they can recommend a 13 percent increase in the white hake quota.

That’s roughly an extra million pounds. It’s unknown how much revenue that could mean. In 2011, the most recent year prices were available, white hake averaged $1.26 a pound.

The council will discuss the possible increase at their monthly meeting. Federal regulators have indicated they would act quickly on any request to bump up the quota.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

 

 

What Regional Administrator Bullard Heard in Individual Ports

April 3, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries Service’s new Northeast Regional Administrator, John Bullard, held a series of public meetings around the region.  His goal was to learn more from fishermen, scientists, environmentalists, seafood dealers and processors, the aquaculture industry and other members of the interested public about not only the challenges they are facing, but also what success looks like. Here are some of the specific comments made by stakeholders during each of the listening sessions:

Read the public comments on the NOAA website here

Second Northeast Regional Planning Body meeting set to develop ocean plan for New England

April 3, 2013 — The second Northeast Regional Planning Body (RPB) meeting will be held on April 11-12, 2013 at the Village Inn in Narragansett, RI.

The agenda for this meeting includes the following:

– Identify draft goals for regional ocean planning in New England and mechanisms for receiving public input about those draft goals through early summer.

– Continue discussions about RPB operational considerations, initial products, a work schedule, and engagement activities as regional ocean planning moves forward.

Additional information about the Northeast Regional Planning Body can be found at this website.

The Northeast RPB has the responsibility of developing an ocean plan for New England. At its inaugural meeting in Portland, Maine, in November 2012, members of the RPB (federal agencies, the New England Fisheries Management Council, New England states, and federally-recognized tribes) convened a public meeting to begin discussing ocean planning for New England (a meeting summary is available here). At this upcoming meeting, the RPB will discuss results of preliminary stakeholder engagement efforts to date as specific goals for regional ocean planning in New England are being formed.

 

 

NOAA Administrator John Bullard’s Listening Session Highlights

WASHINGTON — April 3, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

bullard_photo.jpg
When John Bullard became NOAA Fisheries Service's Northeast Regional Administrator on Aug. 6, 2012, he immediately hit the road to meet his constituents.  Between August and February, he held more than 20 meetings and public listening sessions with fishermen and other stakeholders in 17 ports from Ellsworth, ME to Manteo, NC. He wanted to hear answers to two questions:  What are the top concerns for the fisheries, and what does success look like for the fisheries? John received significant feedback from approximately 550 fishermen and others on a variety of topics.  Below are the main themes he heard across the Northeast region.

We want to make sure that we accurately captured all that we heard.  We welcome your comments and revisions to these themes and to the summaries of each of the individual port meetings.  The link to these port meeting summaries is at the bottom of this page. To provide comments, please email us at nmfs.ner.feedback@noaa.gov.

As you can see, many people had many different thoughts and opinions on a wide range of topics.  Our job now is to determine which issues NOAA Fisheries is authorized to address and to continue crafting solutions to these varied and complex problems.

We already have committed to paying for 100% of observer coverage costs in fishing year 2013 to help fishermen lower costs and raise their revenues.  This is a first step in promoting a viable fishery now and in the future.

Vision of the fishery

There is a need to consider catch composition, vessel size, and ownership structure, and how each should be determined.

>  To avoid further fleet consolidation, fishermen should be allowed to fish for a variety of species and to keep all that they catch.  And,

>  Large vessels are depleting inshore stocks in the Gulf of Maine and should be limited in their abilities to fish in nearshore waters

Science, research

>  Fishermen believe NOAA Fisheries science is flawed, particularly when it comes to surveys and stock assessments.

>  Fishermen need to be more engaged in the science that underlies regulatory decision-making.

>  NOAA Fisheries needs to better explain how survey and other data are incorporated into stock assessments.

>  Fishermen believe scientific models are outdated.

>  There is a need to engage fisheries scientists and fishermen in plain language dialogues.

>  External reviews of government science are needed.

>  The research vessel Henry B. Bigelow samples too far offshore and does not use appropriate gear to produce reliable results.

>  Surveys should be undertaken by a fleet of NEAMAP fishing vessels and fishermen.  It is the best way to bring credibility to the science and buy-in from fishermen.  (NEAMAP stands for Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program, a cooperative state/federal data collection program.)  And,

>  More funding is needed for cooperative research.

Ecosystem, climate change

>  Changing environmental conditions are producing unusual fish migration patterns and displacing fishing effort, a situation that needs to be considered in future regulations.

>  Predator/prey interactions need greater attention in the regulatory arena.  Dogfish and seals are of particular concern.

>  Natural cycles of distribution and abundance should be considered in fishery management decision-making.

>  There is a need to move away from single-species management to ecosystem management to reduce predators and increase valuable stocks.

>  There is a need to protect food sources and habitats to foster healthy fish populations.  And,

>  NOAA Fisheries should employ an ecosystem-based approach that includes people as a factor in the accurate evaluation of the ocean environment.

Lower costs

>  There is a dire need to reduce costs – observers, assumed discards, quota shares – for fishermen.

>  Fishermen simply cannot afford to pay for at-sea monitors in 2013.  And,

>  Funding is needed for the equipment required to implement electronic monitoring.

Increase revenues

>  There is a need to open some closed areas, such as Closed Area II, to provide access to more abundant and healthier stocks.

>  Too much quota for some species cannot be harvested.  There is a need to find ways to enable fishermen to catch their full allocations.

>  The continuous fluctuations in annual catch limits prevent fishermen from engaging in effective business planning practices.

>  Fishermen need increased access to closed areas in order to fish different species and use different gear types.

>  Offshore closures should be lifted to encourage large vessels to fish offshore.

>  It is difficult for small vessels to make up lost revenue from closed areas.

>  Regulations enacted to protect species listed under the Endangered Species Act often stay in effect after populations of the listed species have recovered.  This unnecessarily limits fishermen’s abilities to fully harvest their fish quotas.

>  Industry needs more notice of pending closures related to compliance issues.

>  There is a need to address the inequality of the allocation of commercial catch quotas among states.

>  Fishermen need to be able to land more fish to keep auctions open and shoreside infrastructure functional.  And,

>  A diverse fleet is necessary to maintain market share and a sustainable marine environment.

Management issues

>  Management measures take too long to develop, preventing NOAA Fisheries from reacting and managing in real time.

>  Some management decisions are based on poor science and a fear of legal action against the agency.

>  Management needs to look at long-term trends, not just provide knee-jerk reactions.

>  Local fishermen accepted and implemented input controls (days-at-sea) early to conserve stocks and now feel their commitment and efforts to conserve stocks are unrecognized.

>  There is significant opposition from small vessels and the recreational community to reopening the Western Gulf of Maine Closed Area due to the need to protect spawning fish and habitat.

>  Catch shares should have been based on permits rather than catch history.

>  There are an insufficient number of harbor porpoise takes to warrant a closure.

>  Some fishermen prefer input controls (days-at sea) to catch shares.  And,

>  There is a need to revisit the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to incorporate more flexibility.

Safety, new entrants

>  There are significant safety concerns associated with an aging fleet coupled with the inability of fishermen to undertake effective long-term business planning.  And,

>  There is a need for funding and resources for people who are interested in joining the commercial fishing industry.

Mid-Atlantic concerns

>  The Mid-Atlantic needs greater attention from NOAA Fisheries to deal with their particular concerns.

>  There is a need to think about how to manage rebuilt fisheries.

>  Bluefin tuna allocation needs to be more fairly distributed between New England and Mid-Atlantic fishermen.  Quota could be distributed on a monthly basis.

>  Both fishermen and fish species are being displaced by the impacts of regulatory and environmental changes.  And,

>  The charter industry should be managed differently than the commercial fisheries.

Maine concerns

>  There is a need for greater diversification between the lobster and groundfish fisheries.  And,

>  The American lobster processing industry needs to become more competitive against Canadian companies in terms of product forms, marketing, and distribution.

Recreational fisheries

>  Recreational daily bag limits should be set early in the calendar year to allow the charter industry to create effective business plans.

>  The methods used to survey the recreational sector are flawed and insufficient.

>  Ways to enable recreational fishermen to catch their underutilized quota need to be developed.

>  The charter industry should be considered when trip limits are established.

>  Recreational and commercial fisheries should be treated separately but allocated quota in the same way.  And,

>  The Western Gulf of Maine Closure area should be maintained to protect spawning cod.

Other

>  Many industry members expressed appreciation for John Bullard’s willingness to meet with fishermen in their homeports.

>  The fishing industry needs help from NOAA Fisheries to market underutilized species to the public.

>  If available, disaster funding should be given to fishermen who lost their vessels and businesses.  And,

>  There is a need to develop aquaculture opportunities for fishermen.

Recreational fishing group to meet with regulators

April 2, 2013 — Representatives of the recreational fishing industry are stepping up efforts to highlight the importance of the industry in southern New England economy.

Industry representatives are set to meet federal and state regulators during the inaugural Southern New England Recreational Fishing Symposium set for Tuesday here. Organizers say the initiative will seek to characterize the economic impact of recreational fishing and its potential. Participants will also discuss the future of recreational fishing, challenges of managing the industry, and access to the shore.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe