Management & Regulation

The rebuilding of American fisheries continued its slow progress through 2011, with summer flounder declared a recovered stock and the Mid-Atlantic region showing better progress than other places around the coasts, the National Marine Fisheries Service stated in its annual report issued Monday.

“More stocks were declared rebuilt in 2011 than any other single year tracked,” according to the 2011 Status of U.S. Fisheries Report. Altogether some 177 stocks out of 219 that have been scientifically assessed are doing well and not in danger of being overfished, NMFS said. That’s 79 percent of the stocks compared to 77 percent in 2010.

Those half-dozen new recoveries include summer flounder and Gulf of Maine haddock, a species that is sustaining New England fishermen through their long travail of reduced catches and new government regulations. Despite good news coming out of the Mid-Atlantic, New Jersey fishermen still feel the effects of New England-driven restrictions on some species such as winter flounder.

“In New England, we have the oldest and longest-standing fisheries in the country, and fisheries that were heavily impacted by foreign fishing before passage of the Magnuson Act” in 1976, Galen Tromble, chief of NMFS’ domestic fisheries division, said during a news conference after the report was released.

Read the complete story from The Asbury Park Press

 

 

 

 

 

A 16-month ban on fishing for several types of deep-water fish off the Florida Keys disappeared Thursday.

The prohibition against taking seven grouper and snapper species from waters deeper than 240 feet ended when the National Marine Fisheries Service published a revised rule in the May 10 Federal Register.

Two overfished species the deepwater ban sought to protect — Warsaw grouper and speckled hind — remain illegal to harvest and possess. However, recreational and commercial anglers now can resume fishing in deep water for snowy grouper, blueline tilefish, yellowedge grouper, misty grouper, queen snapper and silk snapper.

All bottom fishing for deep-water grouper and snapper species in South Atlantic waters deeper than 240 feet, from North Carolina to Key West, was prohibited on Jan. 31, 2011.

Read the complete story from The Keynoter

 

 

 

 

 

An emergency action by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday closing a large area off the coast of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia to scallop fishing was welcomed by the fishing industry.

"This is a benefit to me," said local scallop boat owner Dan Eilertsen, who has one trip to the Delmarva remaining on his boat Justice. "It's a long steam down there and it was getting a little scratchy," he said. Eilertsen held off on making that last trip, hoping that such a move would be approved.

"This is the first news I've heard of it," he said when informed by The Standard-Times of the decision Friday. "But it's good news for me."

Scallop boats such as Justice with unused trips will now be compensated with trips to Closed Area 1, a New England scallop ground much closer to New Bedford that opens to fishermen on June 15. The New England Fishery Management Council had asked the National Marine Fisheries Service to take this action and to move quickly to prevent economic losses to the boats that still had Delmarva trips.

Read the complete story from The Standard-Times

 

 

 

 

 

New England fishermen looking for relief after a debilitating cut in the yellowtail flounder catch may soon find help from the booming scallop industry.

Scallopers inevitably snare yellowtail by accident. So regulators trying to protect the struggling species give them a yearly catch quota they can’t exceed. But the scallop industry works hard to avoid yellowtail. If they catch below their yellowtail quota, they can transfer what’s left over to a fishing industry desperate for it.

This year, there are indications they can shift hundreds of thousands of pounds of unneeded quota in the Georges Bank fishing grounds to fishermen.

No matter how much the scallop fleet can transfer, fishermen won’t escape major pain from the huge Georges Bank yellowtail cut enacted May 1, said Maine fisherman Jim Odlin.

Read the complete Associated Press story at The Boston Globe

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday May 17, 2012, the Fishery Management Action Team (FMAT) that has been tasked with developing alternatives for a new Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) Omnibus Amendment will be meeting at the Northeast Regional Office of NOAA Fisheries Service starting at 9:30 am.

View the bulletin here

 

 

 

 

 

The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WASHINGTON -May 14, 2011 – A record six fish populations were declared rebuilt to healthy levels in 2011, bringing the number of rebuilt U.S. marine fish populations in the last 11 years to 27, according to a report to Congress out today from NOAA’s Fisheries Service. This report documents historic progress toward ending overfishing and rebuilding our nation’s fisheries, due to the commitment of fishermen, fishing communities, non-governmental organizations, scientists, and managers,

“With annual catch limits in place this year for all domestic fish populations and the continued commitment of fishermen to rebuild the stocks they rely on, we’re making even greater progress in ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks around the nation,” said Samuel Rauch, acting assistant NOAA administrator for fisheries. “Healthy and abundant fish populations and marine ecosystems support seafood for Americans, create lasting jobs, and enhance saltwater recreational fishing opportunities.”

NOAA’s Status of U.S. Fisheries report declares Bering Sea snow crab, Atlantic coast summer flounder, Gulf of Maine haddock, northern California coast Chinook salmon, Washington coast coho salmon, and Pacific coast widow rockfish fully rebuilt to healthy levels.

Two indicators of stock health increased slightly over 2010:

     · 86 percent of the populations examined for fishing activity (222 of 258) were not subject to overfishing, or not fished at too high a level, compared to 84 percent in 2010;

     · 79 percent of assessed populations (174 of 219) are not overfished, or were above levels that require a rebuilding plan, compared to 77 percent in 2010.

These data continue a long-term trend in rebuilding U.S. fisheries to sustainable and more productive levels that NOAA began tracking in 2000.

Although it is sometimes assumed that a fish population is low or “overfished” due to too much fishing, other factors also influence the health and abundance of fish populations, including environmental changes, disease, and degraded fish habitat.

“Fishermen, fishing communities, and seafood and sport-fishing businesses are investing in the solutions that are helping end overfishing and rebuild our nation’s fish populations,” Rauch said. “These investments will continue to pay off and provide more economic opportunity and economic stability for the future.”

NOAA studies predict that fully rebuilt fisheries are expected to add an estimated $31 billion to the economy and an additional 500,000 jobs. Commercial and recreational fishing currently generates $183 billion per year to the U.S. economy and supports more than 1.5 million full and part-time jobs.

Read more information about the report at NOAA's website

Listen to the audio of the report release press conference

 

 

 

 

 

May 8, 2012 – NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The federal fisheries agency says that by the start of next year's shrimp season, all trawls should be required to include trap-doors for endangered and threatened sea turtles.

"Turtle excluder devices" are required on many trawls. But smaller boats are allowed to haul up some kinds of nets every hour or so to ensure that turtles don't drown, rather than installing the trapdoors.

The proposal comes after two years in which more than 1,100 dead sea turtles were found in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama waters – 644 in 2010, 525 in 2011. Many of those that hadn't decomposed too badly to dissect had drowned near the bottom, probably in shrimp nets, officials said.

The proposed rule will affect about 2,400 boats in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service proposal. It was scheduled for publication Thursday in the Federal Register, but a pre-publication copy was on the Federal Register's website Tuesday.

Boats in Florida also use skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls and wing nets, which also are called butterfly trawls, but Florida already requires them to use turtle excluder devices, commonly known as TEDs, the proposal said.

Read the full story from the AP at the Anchorage Daily News.

 

 

May 8, 2012 – A 2-year-old ban on catching the prized red snapper in the Atlantic Ocean could be eased later this year if a federal panel agrees that the latest counts allow a return to a limited amount of fishing.

The prospect offers a glimmer of hope for Central Florida fishermen unhappy with the ban, which took effect in January 2010.

Modifying the red-snapper ban will be discussed at an upcoming Orlando meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the regional group that oversees fishing regulations in federal waters from North Carolina to the Keys. During its June 11-15 meeting, the panel will consider an "emergency rule" that would allow some fishing.

Federal officials have faced intense pressure from fishing groups to lift the ban on the fish, a favorite catch among sport fishermen and a tasty meal in demand at restaurants and seafood markets.

A 2008 study found that red snapper had been overfished since the 1980s at a rate eight times greater than what the population could sustain. Federal officials approved a open-ended ban, saying it was necessary to protect the species.

But commercial captains and recreational anglers have continued to dispute the need for it. They say the science behind the ban is flawed, and they point to the large numbers and the size of the red snapper they see when they fish in the Atlantic.

In the best-case scenario, a limited fishing season might be allowed later this year, said Roy Crabtree, Southeast regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service. The fishery council would have to decide the details of when and where red snapper could be caught.

Read the full story at the Orlando Sentinel.

 

 

The MA Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries has scheduled two public meetings to review portions of the 2011 Program Element Evaluation Report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which recommends changes to how oysters are harvested and handled in eastern Cape Cod Bay. 

    • Wednesday, May 9th at 6:30 pm at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History at 869 Main Street/Route 6A in Brewster.

    • Tuesday, May 15th at 6:30 pm at the Nauset Regional High School Auditorium at 100 Cable Road in North Eastham.

The recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration include the development of a Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) Control Plan by MA Department of Public Health, Bureau of Environmental Health, Food Protection Program, and the MA Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries.  Such a plan might include faster cooling and delivery of oysters, changes in oyster handling for harvesters, and additional HACCP and recordkeeping requirements for primary buyers of oysters.

The area impacted would most likely include the state waters of eastern Cape Cod Bay adjacent to the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro.  All other state harvest areas would be exempt from this plan.

During the meetings, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and Food Protection Program will welcome suggestions to help ensure that any control plan is practical and enforceable while meeting the Food and Drug Administration temperature control guidelines.  Implementing these controls for the upcoming summer season would require the adding of conditions to permits issued to harvesters and dealers.”

View the complete Advisory

 

 

 

 

 

May 1, 2012 – The 2012 fishing cycle dawns today, less than a week after the other shoe has dropped on the New England groundfishery.

The first shoe was the 22 percent in the allowable catch of Gulf of Maine cod, a fishery based in Gloucester, which will be followed by even more extreme measures in coming years, after a benchmark stock assessment last year overturned optimistic findings from a 2007 stock assessment.

The other shoe, outlined last week, is an 80 percent cut in the allowable catch of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, a fishery based in New Bedford, after an updated assessment.

"An 80 percent cut in yellowtail is a bigger crisis for the draggers of New Bedford than Gulf of Maine cod is for Gloucester," said Richie Canastra, owner of the region's dominant fish auction, which is based in New Bedford, and treasurer of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, which is the region's largest industry group and based in Gloucester.

"We're set for a disaster for the industry," he added in a telephone interview.

Canastra said he doubts the accuracy of the trawl survey on which the yellowtail catch limit was based.

"It all comes back to NOAA research vessel Bigelow," which took over from the Albatross three years ago, he said. "Yesterday, a dragger came in to port (New Bedford) with 40,000 pounds of yellowtail."

The trawl surveys, which are done in the spring and fall, have become an increasingly dominant element in the formula used to determine the vitality of stocks. Since 2004, the ratio of weight given to the survey versus the catch reports of the fleet has tilted toward the trawl survey.

In 2004, Canastra said, the Georges Bank yellowtail assessment formula weighed catch to survey at a 40 to 60 ratio.

The ratio has been regularly weighted more heavily toward the survey until last year — the year on which the 80 percent cut in the catch is based. It was 10 to 90, with the landings counting for the smaller percentage and the trawl survey counting for the 90 percent.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times.