Saving Seafood

Management & Regulation

Council Moves Forward with Groundfish Limits; Groundfish Plan Team report

The New England Fishery Management Council moved forward with its first set of annual catch limits in accordance with this requirement by supporting a proposed approach which when approved in November will apply to the groundfish stock complex. Included are thirteen species and 22 stocks of fish, such as cod, haddock, pollock and a number of flounders. 

The following is verbatim from a release from the New England Management Council:

As A Council technical committee, the Groundfish Plan Development Team, which includes Council staff, as well as state, federal and independent fishery specialists, presented its information and preliminary estimates for the 2010-2012 groundfish annual catch limits to address the uncertainty associated with many fishing rules.

Uncertainty is caused by limited enforcement, a lack of effective catch monitoring, and the accuracy with which fishery analysts are able to predict the success of various rules, as well as track the catch of groundfish in other fisheries. The Council also directed the Plan Team to bring information forward describing the impacts of these allocations on the fisheries regulated through its groundfish management program.

http://www.nefmc.org/nemulti/index.htmlreport Final approval of the groundfish annual catch limits will occur at the November 17-19 Council meeting in Newport, RI.

Controls on common pool would benefit those in sectors

Of the 500 or so commercial boats working in the New England groundfishery today, only half of them — perhaps even fewer than that — will still be fishing in 2011, industry innovator Vito Giacalone predicted yesterday. Giacalone made his projection a day after the New England Fishery Management Council, in a dramatic reversal of votes taken in June, agreed to tighten fishing constraints on the "common pool."

Even among councilors who approved the pivotal motion 15-0 Wednesday night, late in the middle day of a three-day meeting in Plymouth, the consensus was that the common pool had been consigned to a common grave.

Rodney Avila, a New Bedford fisherman and councilor, called the action the "death knell" for the common pool.

"Because of what they agreed to last night," said Giacalone, who helped organize 13 sectors at the Northeast Seafood Coalition where he is a founder and its guru, "one half will be gone, maybe more."

He also blamed "absolutely ridiculous" catch limits, the ceilings for the catch shares, set by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The most notorious of these was the quota put on pollock, barely one-third of the commercial catch from last year. Giacalone has said quotas, no matter how tight, pose no threat so long as they fit the availability of the species.

Only tight quotas on healthy stocks could force an early shutdown of the fleet, he argues.

Read the story in the Gloucester Times 

American Caution on Yellowtail Flounder Threatens U.S.-Canada Cooperation

Canadian scientists believe 2,700 metric tons of yellowtail flounder can safely be taken from the international border waters but their American counterparts took a much more conservative approach, recommending only 1,500 metric tons be removed.

The following is excerpted from the Gloucester Daily Times…

Hours before the New England Fisheries Managment Council decided to protect the sectors by reducing the catch allowed the common poolers, an example of the hypercaution in the federal regulatory bureaucracy emerged.

A joint Canadian-American Transboundary committee which provides guidance to both governments about the commercial stocks along the border that runs through Georges Bank announced that it had come to an impasse over how much yellowtail could be caught without weakening the stock.

The joint committee has proved successful, but Councilor James Odlin, who operates one of Maine’s largest fleets, announced a major dispute over yellowtail. Canadian scientists believe 2,700 metric tons can safely be taken from the international border waters but their American counterparts took a much more conservative approach, recommending only 1,500 metric tons be removed.

"It’s the first time we couldn’t reach agreement with the Canadians," Odlin told the council.

"The inability to reach a consensus threatens the future of the cooperative management through the transboundary process," the Canadian and American scientists said in their dispatch.

"The Canadians are absolutely correct not to buy into the insanity of the U.S. policy," said Giacalone. "It’s rational to fish at low levels, but not to pretend to rebuild stocks to impossible levels."

R.I. gets $3 million in federal aid to help migrating fish

Perhaps if you were a salmon with legendary leaping ability you could beat the steep rapids of Ten Mile River and get up and over the Hunt’s Mills Dam. But if you’re just a gravity-plagued herring or shad, the odds are long you’ll ever make it upstream to spawn.

But relief is on the way, not only for fish that migrate from the sea to Rhode Island’s inland waterways but for the state’s floundering economy.

A top member of the Obama administration joined state environmental officials on Thursday to celebrate a project that will soon provide clear passage for migrating fish on the Ten Mile and Pawcatuck rivers. The work is being financed with $3 million in federal stimulus funds and is expected to create nearly 200 jobs.

Read the complete story at The Providence Journal.

White House task force gets input in R.I. on a national oceans policy

Environmentalists said they didn’t want decades of restoration work overlooked while the federal government favors a controversial liquefied natural-gas terminal in Mount Hope Bay.

The head of a fishermen’s wives group in Massachusetts said she had been waiting 33 years for the federal government to take a more unified approach to restoring fisheries and cleaning up coastal waters.

More than 250 people from Maine to South Carolina crowded a public hearing at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Thursday and 70 of them requested time to officially comment on a special Ocean Study Task Force created by President Obama to recommend a new, national ocean policy to better protect the country’s oceans.

Read the complete story at The Providence Journal.

Cuban, U.S. scientists hope for more collaboration

Few bodies of water are charged with more politics, struggle and grief than the 90 miles of water that separate Cuba and the United States.

The fish, of course, know nothing of this tension. And the scientists in each country who study them would prefer that politics not get in their way.

"Science can’t operate effectively by them doing their thing, and us doing our thing, on essentially the same body of water," said Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla.

"We share this water out there," Hueter said, sitting at a table with a view of a bay stretching out into the Gulf of Mexico. "Some of it, at least, might end up on the shore of Cuba. And certainly, some of the fish may end up in Cuba."

In that spirit, four Cuban scientists made a trip to the U.S. this week, stopping in Washington to meet with the Environmental Defense Fund, which helped facilitate the visit, and with scientists at the Mote Marine Laboratory on Friday.

Read the complete story from the Miami Herald.

BLOG: Former NOAA Enforcement Supervisor Criticizes Fines and Penalties Practices

On August 28th, Steven Garfield Coker, a former supervisor with NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement wrote a letter to the (North Carolina) Outer Banks Sentinel blog "Ahab’s Journal" in which he made numerous accusations against NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement.

Subsequently, a Congressional request was submitted to the Office of the Inspector General asking that they consider Mr. Coker’s comments and accusations in their ongoing investigation.

Read Mr. Coker’s statement on NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement.

Mr. Coker states that he has been asked to "elaborate on the issue of fines and penalties" levied by NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement.  He has done so today in a letter published by Ahab’s Journal.

Read Mr. Coker’s statement on NOAA Fisheries fines and penalties.

Shellfishers receive disaster relief

Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles announced on Monday, Sept 21, the distribution of USD 1.2 million in federal disaster aid to 260 Massachusetts commercial shellfishermen who have incurred losses from the closures last year due to a legal bloom.

“I am pleased to announce the distribution of this federal aid to shellfish harvesters who were affected by the long-term closure of shellfish flats due to red tide that occurred last year,” said Bowles. 

“Governor Patrick recognised the hardship imposed on the shellfish industry and requested this federal aid in the fall of 2008. We are grateful to the work of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation in helping to make sure that shellfishermen will soon be compensated for their losses,” he added. 

Read the complete story at FIS World News.

Council Groundfish Actions – September 23, 2009

The following summary of Council actions on groundfish at the September 23, 2009 meeting in Plymouth, MA was provided by council staff.

As always, the staff reminds readers that this brief summary does not capture the entire discussion. Sound files should be available on the council web page in a few days. Motions will be available in about a week. Please contact Tom Nies at TNies@NEFMC.ORG if there are any questions or corrections.

1. US/CA Issues: NEFSC scientists provided summaries of the 2009 assessments for Eastern Georges Bank cod, Eastern Georges Bank haddock, and Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder. The status reports for these stocks are available at http://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/TRAC/tsr.html. Next the Council accepted the recommendations of the Trans-Boundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) for 2010 TAC for EGB cod (1350 mt total; US 338 mt) and EGB haddock (29,600 mt total; US 11,988 mt). The TMGC could not reach agreement on a TAC for GB yellowtail flounder. As a result the Council adopted a TAC of 1500 mt total, with the assumption that Canada will harvest 300 mt, giving the US a TAC of 1200 mt. These TACs will be submitted to NMFS and assuming NMFS approval will be effective May 1, 2009.

2. Science and Statistical Committee Report: Dr. Pat Sullivan presented the SSC’s determinations for multi species acceptable biological catches for fishing years 2010-2012. The values are available in the SSC’s report, which is attached.

3. Preliminary ACL development: The Groundfish Plan Development Team (PDT) presented its preliminary determination for FY 2010-2012 ACLs. Basically, to address management uncertainty the PDT’s approach is to apply a default reduction from the ABC to the ACL for each component of the fishery, and then to examine stocks to see if a deviation is warranted (that is, an adjustment that is larger or smaller than the default). The Council concurred with this approach in general, but also modified some of the adjustments. The Council also discussed the allocation of yellowtail flounder to the scallop fishery, and directed the scallop and groundfish PDT to bring information forward describing the impacts of these allocations on each fishery. The Groundfish PDTs will next prepare a specification package for the Council’s approval in November. Please note the PDT report is on the Council web page, but some of the numbers in that report will change because of Council decisions at this meeting.

4. Amendment 16 issues: The Council next considered a letter from the Regional Administrator reporting industry concerns that common pool management measures for cod and pollock were insufficient to control mortality on these stocks. The concern raised was that many vessels could catch more of these stocks in the common pool than in sectors, would choose to fish in the common pool, and that this would lead to rapidly exceeding the ACLs. The Council decided to include in the specifications package modifications to trip limits and differential DAS (possibly for other stocks besides just cod and pollock), and to authorize the Regional Administrator to adjust these measures in season if necessary to prevent the ACL from being exceeded. These options will be presented in November for Council approval. Also, the Council and NMFS will prepare a letter to permit holders describing options for permit holders that may not have committed to sectors by September 1 based on the A16 rules. The details of this letter are still being developed.

5. Amendment 16 is still being completed by NMFS and Council staff. Formal submission should occur within the next few weeks.

Read the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) Recommendations for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery as submitted to the Council.

New England Fishery Council Elects 2009-2010 Officers

The following release is from the New England Fishery Management Council. Plymouth, MA.  At its September meeting in Plymouth, MA, the New England Fishery Management Council named its current Chairman and Vice Chairman to again serve in those positions through September 2010. By acclamation the Council approved new terms for Chairman John Pappalardo and Vice Chairman Rip Cunningham. Both have been instrumental in steering the Council as it addresses the challenges of rebuilding the region’s groundfish stocks and developing innovative management strategies to accomplish that goal.

Mr. Pappalardo and Mr. Cunningham have been actively involved with the development of “sectors” in the groundfish fishery. Similar to harvesting cooperatives, sectors are organized groups of fishermen that operate under strict catch limits in exchange for greater flexibility with respect to fishing rules. Scheduled for implementation in 2010, sectors are designed to promote greater accountability and economic efficiency while catches are reduced as the stocks rebuild.

Mr. Pappalardo is a fisherman and policy analyst for the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association. He was appointed to the Council in 2002 and is currently serving his third three-year term on the Council. Vice Chairman Rip Cunningham is a former editor and publisher of Saltwater Sportsman magazine and a long-time freelance conservation writer. He has served as Groundfish Committee Chairman for the last four years and is an active sport fisherman. He was appointed to the Council in 2004.

The Council’s 18 voting members also elected three Executive Committee members, in addition to the Chair and Vice Chair positions. The Executive Committee oversees the Council budget, appoints advisory panel members and addresses other administrative matters relating to Council operations. Mr. Terry Stockwell, who holds the position of Director of External Affairs with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, will serve on the Executive Committee for a second year. Mr. Jim Odlin, a Portland, ME fisherman also was chosen, along with Dr. David Pierce, Deputy Director of the MA Division of Marine Fisheries.

The fall meeting was the first for newly-appointed Council member Glenn Libby of Tenant’s Harbor, ME, chairman of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association and president of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative. Council members may be appointed for a maximum of three terms. After nine years, they are required to take a year off before being considered again for service.

The Council, one of eight regional organizations established by federal legislation in 1976, is charged with conserving and managing fishery resources from three to 200 miles off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Download the release in PDF format.