Management & Regulation

While the Maine lobster industry is known for self-regulation and environmentally sustainable practices, it also poses one of the biggest threats to endangered whale species — which can become entangled in the thousands of miles of ropes used by the industry to trap lobsters, according to federal regulators.

Two years ago, lobstermen were required to make a costly switch in their ground lines — those linking traps to one another — from floating rope to lines that sink to the ocean bottom. Now lobstermen are facing more rule changes, this time concerning their vertical lines, the ropes that connect the traps to their lobster buoys on the surface.

At a series of four meetings from Machias to Portland this week, regulators will seek practical solutions from the public. The meetings will continue along the entire Atlantic coast through the summer.

While Maine lobstermen say they are ready to help protect whales, they are skeptical of what they call the one-size-fits-all federal regulatory process.

Read the complete story from The Portland Press Herald.

 

 

 

 

BOSTON — Rulemakers who protect the fish off New England's crooked coastline are considering ways to make sure the small-boat fishermen who chase those fish don't vanish in the meantime.

The New England Fishery Management Council is beginning to devise so-called "accumulation limits" to restrict what any single fisherman or fishing business can haul home annually.

The idea is to keep the wealthiest fishing interests from accumulating such a dominant share of the catch that they swallow the small, independent boat owners who've sustained New England's fishing communities for centuries.

This persistent industry fear heightened last year, when a new management system was installed that allots each fisherman a transferrable share of the total catch, which they can lease or sell. Some say that makes it far easier for well-moneyed fishing interests to accrue catch shares from smaller, less profitable fishing businesses.

Read the complete story by Jay Lindsay of the AP at The Huffington Post.

 

 

 

 

 

Patricia Kurkul, NOAA's Gloucester-based Northeast regional administrator for the last 11 years, has signaled her decision to step down at the end of the year, the Times learned today.

Kurkul announced her plans in an internal email sent last week to the 265 employees of the regional office, ensconced in the $12 million brick complex that overlooks Gloucester Harbor from Blackburn Industrial Park — and from which have come mountains of regulation and enforcement mandates.

"Now, with the first full year of groundfish sector management complete," she wrote to colleagues and friends, "the time is right."

No announcement of Kurkul's planned departure has been made via NOAA communications.

Kurkul has presided over a fishing industry in tumultuous transformation, being converted to catch share management as the resource recovered from centuries of overfishing and grew toward sustainability, even as the size of the fleet was systematically reduced, triggering resistance and protests.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

The following was released by NOAA:

WASHINGTON – June 23, 2011 – After 31 years of distinguished public service, Patricia Kurkul, the Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service, has announced she will retire at the end of 2011. I want to thank Pat Kurkul for her outstanding service to the Northeast region, NOAA’s Fisheries Service and our nation.

As regional administrator in the Northeast since 1999, Pat has helped lead the region during a period of important rebuilding of cod, flounder, haddock and other groundfish, our nation’s oldest fishery.

A Massachusetts native, Pat came to NOAA in 1980 with a background in economics, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master of science degree in resource economics from the University of Rhode Island. She worked as a fishery policy analyst and then directed the Northeast Region’s Sustainable Fisheries Division before she was named to the regional administrator position.

In the next months, NOAA will conduct a search to find a successor for Pat in this important position. We expect this time will allow for an effective transition in leadership.

 

 

 

 

 

Each week on WBSM in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood joins host Phil Paleologos to discuss issues related to the fisheries with news-making guests.

Food & Water Watch, a non-profit consumer organization that promotes safe and sustainable seafood, just issued a groundbreaking report on the human cost of NOAA's catch shares program.  Moments after the study's release, Zach Corrigan and Christina Lizzi shared their thoughts on the report's implications with Phil and Bob.  In the words of the press statement announcing the group's findings:

Fishing is being privatized and catch shares are consolidating the industry. Need proof?  Look no further than, “Fish, Inc. — The Privatization of U.S. Fisheries Through Catch Share Programs,” a special report released today by Food & Water Watch. The report offers frightening insight on just how much the catch shares program has affected the loss of fishing jobs throughout the country, especially in New Bedford and Gloucester.

For example, in 2010, just five months after one particular catch shares program was first introduced in a New England port, 55 of 500 boats in the local fishery ended up with 61 percent of the revenue. This is how catch shares really work.

NOAA’s catch shares programs have already grown 150 percent in the past decade. Now, they are looking to amp up the program and expand it by 33 percent over the next five years. It’s time to stop the hemorrhaging of fishing jobs. We are asking Congress to defund NOAA’s catch shares programs. Let’s not spend money on a program that puts fishermen out of work.

[listen to this latest episode at Saving Seafood Radio]

 

 

 

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Sunday approved new limits on the number of chinook salmon that Gulf of Alaska pollock fishermen can accidentally net before being shut down by federal regulators.

In a meeting in Nome, the council voted to cap that accidental harvest at 25,000 chinook, which is roughly the average caught over the last six years, according to Jon Warrenchuk, of Oceana, a fishery conservation group that advocated for the cap.

Last year, some 54,000 chinook salmon were caught by the Gulf trawlers, according to Warrenchuk.

More than 60 trawlers, many from Seattle, scoop up the gulf pollock,which is turned into fish sticks, surimi and other products.

Read the complete story from The Seattle Times.

 

 

 

 

 

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has voted to establish the first-ever limit on chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery, a news release said.

In 2010 the groundfish fleet caught over 51,000 chinook salmon. This all-time high number reinvigorated a call from coastal Alaskans and members of the NPFMC to pursue a limit for future years. While a limit on chinook bycatch was established for the Bering Sea pollock fishery in 2009, this will be the first salmon bycatch restriction in the Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery.

"This is a critical time for getting king salmon bycatch under control," said Theresa Peterson, Kodiak Island salmon fisherman and community coordinator for Alaska Marine Conservation Council. "Central Gulf chinook runs are hurting and salmon fishermen are restricted. This is a time for the groundfish trawl fleet to be part of the solution."

Read the complete story from The Bristol Bay Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FSF had urged NOAA to close the area and protect scallop resources.

NEW BEDFORD, MASS. — Last week the NOAA Fisheries Service announced that, at the request of the scallop industry, they would close the Nantucket Lightship Access Area to fishing for the 2011 fishing year. The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) had asked NOAA to take this emergency action to preserve scallop resources in the area which was originally scheduled to open on June 15.

"We thank NOAA for their quick action to close the Nantucket Lightship area," said the Fisheries Survival Fund Board of Directors. "Responsible stewardship of the Atlantic Ocean and its scallop resources is the Fisheries Survival Fund's top priority. We are grateful for the governors and members of Congress who assisted us and for NOAA's partnership in our crucial rotational management program."

FSF worked closely with NOAA and the New England Fishery Management Council and urged an emergency action to close the area before its scheduled opening on June 15. FSF members also traveled to Washington, DC for two days of meetings to enlist the help of members of Congress and governor's offices.

At FSF's request, members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation, led by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), and members of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation, led by Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) and Jon Runyan (R-NJ), sent letters to NOAA urging the emergency action. The offices of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy together with Representatives Joe Courtney (R-CT), Rob Wittman (R-VA) and David Cicilline (D-RI) also weighed in with the agency on behalf of FSF.

FSF's members travelled to Washington to gather support for various policy issues that affect the scallop industry. Over two days members took meetings with Senate, House, and governor's offices representing Atlantic coast states from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

 

 

 

 

As the nation marks the 35th anniversary of its visionary fishery management law, Eric Schwaab, NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, points to the key roles of the men and women who serve on eight regional fishery management councils.

“At the heart of the 35-year-old Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is the role of the highly participatory, regional management councils,” said Schwaab. “By designing plans to rebuild and sustain fisheries, the men and women who serve on the councils are helping this nation turn the corner to a brighter future for fishermen and fishing communities.”

The regional fishery management councils were created as part of the landmark Magnuson-Stevens Act in 1976 to ensure that those closest to the issues facing fishing communities helped design conservation and management plans for commercial and recreational fisheries.  The council process brings together stakeholders in fishery issues to work together in a public forum to develop management plans for U.S. fisheries. 

Commerce announces 2011 regional fishery council appointments

The Commerce Department today, June 2, announced the appointment of 21 new and returning members to the eight regional fishery management councils. Read about new council appointments.

Each year, coastal state governors nominate people to serve on councils whose occupational or other experience, scientific expertise, or training make them knowledgable about the conservation and management of their regional fisheries. After careful review, the Secretary of Commerce then appoints members from these lists to fill open seats. Approximately one-third of the appointed council seats become vacant each year.  Once appointed, council members serve three-year terms, and members may be reappointed to serve up to three consecutive terms.

Decisions Driven By Science Fishing

The eight Regional Fishery Management Councils serve as the front line of fisheries management, where regionally specific management measures such as fishing seasons, quotas, and closed areas are initiated, developed, and ultimately adopted in a fully transparent and public process. Council

decisions are subject to rigorous scientific analysis. Scientists and policy analysts evaluate potential fishery regulations for both environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Proposed regulations are vetted by expert panels of scientists, stakeholders, and by the public, before a Council makes a final decision. The open process provided by the Council system allows everyone to have a say in the stewardship of our marine resources and how fisheries are managed.

To learn more about the Fisheries Management Councils, visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/reg_svcs/councils.htm

Or visit the US Regional Fisheries Councils website: http://www.fisherycouncils.org/

Visit www.nmfs.noaa.gov.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each week on WBSM in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood joins host Phil Paleologos to discuss issues related to the fisheries with news-making guests.

Drew Minkiewicz of the Fishery Survival Fund describes the industry's rational self-interest in conserving the very resource it depends on.  By detailing the industry's support for specific harvesting restrictions and area closures in conjunction with NOAA, this claim is revealed to be no mere talking point.  In the second segment, beginning at 16:20, Steve Weiner of the American Bluefin Tuna Association expresses his industry's positive reaction to NOAA's recent decision to not list Atlantic bluefin tuna as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

[listen to this latest episode at Saving Seafood Radio]