Management & Regulation

April 2, 2012 – A potentially disastrous fishing shutdown in New England has been staved off for at least a year, as federal officials on Monday announced a “transitional catch limit” to reduce the total take of Gulf of Maine cod by 22 percent instead of 80 percent.

It’s the biggest attempt yet to avert shutdowns under federal fisheries law, since New Jersey recreational advocates won a three-year extension for restoring the summer flounder population.

A political push by the New Jersey recreational industry got a three-year delay in harsh management measures to restore the summer flounder stock, and now the biggest spawning of young fish seen since the early 1980s is working its way into the population.

Read the complete story from The Asbury Park Press.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 3, 2012 – The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Monday it will cut next year's Gulf of Maine cod quota by 22 percent to 6,700 metric tons — much less than the 85 percent cut needed to end overfishing as required under sustainable fishing laws.

The new fishing year begins in May. Monday's announcement means the Gulf of Maine cod fishery, which stretches from Provincetown north to the Canadian border, will probably not shut down before the end of the year for lack of quota.

There has been quite a reversal of fortune for a cod stock that until last fall was believed to be a poster child for good fishery management, on target to be rebuilt to healthy levels by 2014. But when fisheries service scientists updated a 2008 Gulf of Maine cod stock assessment last year, they found that while the cod population had been growing slowly, the initial estimates were way too high and fishermen were catching cod at six times the sustainable level.

Read the complete story from The Cape Cod Times.

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD – April 2, 2012 — Government regulators have set a transitional catch limit as an interim solution to the cod crisis in the Gulf of Maine that threatened to ruin many small boat fishermen from Cape Cod to Maine.

“It will enable us to make progress to deal with overfishing while keeping fishermen on the water this year,” said Alan Risenhoover, NOAA's acting deputy assistant administrator for regulatory programs in a conference call with the media this morning.

The decision means that catch limits for the 2012 fishing year, which begins May 1, will be reduced by 22 percent, from 8,500 metric tons to 6,700 metric tons. In a worst case scenario, the cuts could have been as deep as 80 to 85 percent, Risenhoover said.

Read the complete story from The Standard-Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2, 2012 – Federal fishery regulators have ordered the region's fishermen to cut the amount of Gulf of Maine cod they catch by nearly 25%. While regarded by many in the industry as severe, the cuts could have been as high as 85% after data published last year indicated cod stocks were in worse condition than previously thought. Both regulators and fishermen regard today's comparatively mild cuts as a way of buying time while a new stock assessment is carried out. But, environmental advocates don't think the cuts go far enough.

Make no mistake about it, the cuts will put many New England fishermen out of business. That's the opinion of James Odlin of Portland. His company, Atlantic Trawlers owns and operates five fishing vessels in Maine and Massachusetts. Odlin is also a member of the New England Fishery Management Council.

"A lot of people in the industry will not survive this. There's been some information and some studies done that over 50% of the industry is below break even," said Odlin.

Read the complete story from The Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boston, MA, April 2, 2012 – Federal officials on Monday enacted a severe but not catastrophic cut in the Gulf of Maine cod catch, a move that temporarily suspends the threat of collapse of the New England cod fishing industry.

The 22 percent cut from what fishermen were allowed to catch last year takes effect May 1.

 

The reduction will cause major problems for the industry, but fishermen had predicted that an 85 percent reduction possible after new data indicated the cod was in worse condition than previously thought would have obliterated the traditional New England fleet.

The measure filed Monday in the federal register buys time for regulators and fishermen to find some way to avoid devastating cuts, which appear certain in 2013.

Federal officials said they will do a new assessment of the health of the cod, including a more accurate way to count how much cod recreational fishermen are catching.

But Bill Karp, acting director of the federal Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said in a conference call Monday that regulators don't expect the new assessment to make a "profound difference" in findings on the strength of the cod population.

Fishermen are deeply skeptical of the findings, saying they contradict what they see at sea and even recent government science. They point to a 2008 study that indicated that Gulf of Maine cod were robust and headed for full recovery.

But last year, scientists released data that indicated the fish were recovering so slowly that even if fishermen did not catch a single cod through 2014, the cod population wouldn't rebuild to federally-mandated targets by then.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe.

 

April 2, 2012 – The National Marine Fisheries Service announced today at a morning teleconference that they would be cutting next year’s Gulf of Maine cod quota by 22 percent to 6,700 metric tons.

This reduction was much less than the 80 to 85 percent cut to end overfishing as required under sustainable fishing laws imposed by Congress.

NMFS Acting Deputy Administrator for regulatory programs Alan Risenhoover said they were responding to concerns from the fishing industry that cutting the quota to 1,300 metric tons would have shut down fishing in much of the New England region.

Such a drastic drop in quota was necessitated when NMFS scientists updated a 2008 Gulf of Maine cod stock assessment that found that the population was well on its way to being rebuilt by 2014.

The updated work showed that while the cod population had been growing slowly, the initial estimates were way too high and that the stock could not be rebuilt by a congressionally mandated 2014 deadline even if fishing stopped immediately.

“While the stock is not what we hoped, we – (NMFS), the (New England Fishery Management) council, the industry and NGO’s (non-governmental organizations), have responded to come together with this new interim rule,” Risenhoover said. He described the new quota as “transitional” and intended to make some progress towards ending overfishing while keeping fishermen on the water.

For another year, at least, it is possible they could face a similarly dramatic cut in May of 2013, unless new information changes the stock estimate considerably between now and then.

Read the full article at the Cape Cod Times.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 2, 2012  – The Northeast Seafood Coalition has released the following statement regarding NOAA's announcement of the Gulf of Maine Cod catch limit.

The announcement today by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod catch limit for fishing year 2012 presents some of the most far reaching economic, scientific and policy implications for NE groundfish fishermen in years.

For the many small fishing businesses who may survive, this decision represents a remarkable result when viewed in comparison to where this process began. Shortly after the results of the new GOM cod assessment became known, the prevailing expectation was that the entire GOM groundfish fishery would be shut-down through the strict application of arbitrary statutory rebuilding and end-overfishing requirements. This assessment unexpectedly concluded the GOM cod stock was both overfished and subject to overfishing; completely reversing the conclusions drawn only 3 years prior in 2008 that the stock was very healthy and nearly fully rebuilt. When viewed in this context, the announcement today of a 6700mt catch limit for 2012 represents an extraordinary result for the GOM groundfish fishery which otherwise had been facing certain annihilation.

For many other fishermen, however, even a 6700mt fishery will not be sufficient to sustain their operations. The new catch limit will mean a 22% reduction from the commercial fishery allocation made in 2011. This is a substantial reduction for a fishery that is already in a state of severe financial stress due in significant part to a painful transition to the sector allocations and management system put in place in 2010 to meet the new statutory requirements for Annual Catch Limits and Accountability Measures. Virtually all vessel sizes, gear types and ports-of-call will suffer including, of course, those that depend most heavily on GOM cod and have the least operational flexibility to target other stocks in other areas.

Over the past six months, NSC took a series of strategic steps aimed at helping to alleviate the catastrophic result of a full closure of the GOM fishery. Recognizing the extreme importance of this stock to the region, NSC partnered with the Associated Fisheries of Maine and the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund to engage one of the world's most highly respected stock assessment scientists, Dr. Doug Butterworth, to work through the assessment and subsequent multiple reviews including the review conducted last week by the Scientific and Statistical Committee. This effort has led the scientific community to identify a range of critical questions that will now be their focus over the coming year and which we hope will substantially improve our understanding of the true status of this stock.

"We have excellent scientists in the NMFS Northeast Science Center doing the very best work they can with what they've got. It's nothing personal, but either the new assessment is dead wrong or the old assessment was dead wrong. There are a number of crucial scientific questions that must be answered and we hope everyone involved will make a positive commitment to continually improving our scientific understanding of this vital stock," said NSC Executive Director Jackie Odell who attended the 2011 stock assessment. "The only thing we're sure of is that our fishermen complied with the regulations, and the regulations were developed in full compliance with the science that was provided to the managers," she added.

In fact, many in the fishery management community, including NSC, question whether current law places demands on science that far exceed its capacity to predict nature years into the future. In response, a growing number of Members of Congress have led the call for a thoughtful legislative reform of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) rebuilding requirements; a process in which NSC is fully engaged.

Perhaps the most critical breakthrough on the GOM cod catch limit came when NMFS, in an exceptional display of flexibility, agreed to a request first made by NSC to implement a somewhat obscure and never used provision of the MSA to address the crisis. The provision allows a temporary catch limit to be set at a level that will reduce overfishing but would still enable the industry to survive until fundamental scientific questions can be answered.

Use of this authority was endorsed by 19 Members of Congress in a January 31, 2012 letter to Commerce Secretary John Bryson and by the New England Fishery Management Council when it made its formal recommendation to NMFS the following day. As a result of this collective effort, the new catch limit for the upcoming 2012 fishing year beginning on May 1 is nearly 5- times higher than what was initially feared.

"Avoiding this economic catastrophe without jeopardizing the stock would not have been possible without a coordinated effort on the part of many; not the least of which was the foresight and flexibility exhibited by NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Sam Rauch who agreed to use this interim catch level authority for the first time. We are grateful to Sam for his leadership on this issue and for providing a notable level of transparency and stakeholder access to this process. Of course, central to this result was the steadfast support our industry continues to receive from many Members of the New England Congressional Delegation," said Odell.

Also at NSC's request, the agency conducted a series of special public meetings to provide managers, scientists and virtually all stakeholders including NSC a direct voice in designing a creative response to this crisis. This transparent approach proved to be highly constructive for all involved.

"This certainly represents a major accomplishment. But, make no mistake, a 22 percent reduction in the GOM cod allocation will still force many of our good fishermen over the edge at the hands of science that will remain extremely uncertain until a new benchmark stock assessment is conducted that puts all elements of the science back on the table for review and revision. For this reason NSC is also calling on all the Governors in the region to fully coordinate a request to the Secretary of Commerce to provide disaster assistance to the affected fishermen in each state. We need to pull together and do everything we can to mitigate this crisis," said NSC Policy Director Vito Giacalone.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Secretary of Commerce is authorized to declare a "commercial fishery failure" and provide financial assistance to fishermen through an affected state when requested by the Governor. In a letter dated March 26, 2012, NSC's Odell urged the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, to view this as "truly a regional crisis" in requesting assistance. "With this in mind, we feel strongly that this crisis requires a coordinated regional response by all affected states," the letter continues.

For more information contact:

Jackie Odell, Executive Director Northeast Seafood Coalition (978) 283-9992

 

MOREHEAD CITY — April 1, 2012 – Atlantic sturgeon stocks are said to be improving, but as of next month the fish will be listed as an endangered species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has published a final rule in the Federal Register listing four distinct population segments of Atlantic sturgeon as endangered and another as threatened.

The Carolina and South Atlantic population segments, both of which are prevalent in North Caroina waters, will be listed as endangered effective April 6.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries sent out notice of the listing and reminded fishermen they should avoid interactions with the fish.

Read the complete story from the Jacksonville Daily News.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lewes, DE March 29, 2012 — In the Kent County fishing village of Leipsic, residents are struggling just to get by.

But a regional fisheries agency hasn't assessed the economic impact of proposed regulations to limit the catch of menhaden, Mayor Craig Pugh said.

The commission is drafting regulations to limit the harvest of the small, oily, bottom-of-the food-chain menhaden. It is a fish that is the source for everything from fish oil used in vitamins to fish for livestock feed.

"We are now 47 percent impoverished and have been for the last three years," he said. The proposed harvest reduction — aimed at rebuilding the fish stock — "doesn't help me out much in my community."

Pugh was one of a dozen people who came to an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission hearing in Lewes on Wednesday night.

That harvest, called the reduction fishery, amounts to 80 percent of the total catch. It was once the largest commercial fishery in Delaware, but overfishing took a toll and the industry closed in the early 1960s.

These days, Delaware's commercial fishermen — namely a group of about 100 commercially licensed crabbers — use the fish as a bait in their crab pots. Coastwide, the bait fishery amounts to 20 percent of the catch. Most used in Delaware comes from Virginia.

With a reduction in catch, the concern is that bait supply will go down and the price will go up, Pugh said.

That's another cost — on top of already rising fuel prices — that commercial fishermen don't need, he said.

Delaware fishermen aren't the only ones who use menhaden as bait. Lobster fishermen in New England use it as one of several bait options, said Toni Kerns, senior fisheries management plan coordinator with the Atlantic States Commission.

Read the full article at the Delmarva Daily Times.

March 27, 2012 – A public hearing will be held in Delaware by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission regarding a proposed amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden.

The purpose of the hearing is to gather public comment on proposed menhaden management measures. The hearing will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 28, at the DNREC Lewes Field Facility, 901 Pilottown Road, Lewes, located adjacent to the Lewes Boat Ramp.

The ASMFC's Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved the public information document for Amendment 2 to the management plan for public comment and review. As the first step in the development of the draft amendment, the PID presents the current status of the fishery and resource, and solicits public input on which major issues and alternatives should be included for consideration and analysis to achieve menhaden population management goals.

The PID's primary focus is to initiate discussion on the timing and implementation of achieving the recently adopted fishing mortality threshold. Based on the most recent stock assessment of fishing mortality in 2008, overfishing is occurring, but the stock is not overfished.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input by either attending the hearing or providing written comments. The PID may be viewed here.

The public comment deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, April 20, and should be mailed to Mike Waine, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; fax to 703-842-0741 or email to mwaine@asmfc.org with subject line: Menhaden PID.

Delaware-related questions may be addressed to Fisheries Administrator John Clark, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901, email john.clark@state.de.us, or call Fisheries at 302-739-9914.

Read the full story at the Cape Gazette.