UMass-Scallop Industry Partnership has reduced yellowtail bycatch three years in a row.
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Feb 27, 2013 — The University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology's (SMAST) Yellowtail Bycatch Avoidance Program is expanding for the 2013 scallop fishing year.
Since its inception in 2010, the program has resulted in a demonstrated reduction in yellowtail flounder bycatch. In the program's first year, the scallop fleet landed its full allocation of Nantucket Lightship scallops, with only 31% of the yellowtail allocation caught. A similar achievement was reached in 2011, when yellowtail bycatch in access areas was only 30% of the allocation. As a result, in both 2011 and 2012 there were no early closures to access areas or subsequent year closures to open areas. The number of participating vessels has increased from 122 vessels in the program's first year to 243 last year.
The 2013 program will include open area scallop fishing grounds in Georges Bank and Southern New England, in addition to the open and access areas in Georges Bank included in previous years.
The program is industry-supported, with funding provided by the Fisheries Survival Fund, the American Scallop Association, and the Scallop Research Set Aside Program.
SMAST issued the following release:
Atlantic sea scallopers are encouraged to participate in an important program aimed to reduce costly conflicts between Atlantic sea scallop and yellowtail flounder fisheries allocations. Since 2010, the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology's (SMAST) Yellowtail Bycatch Avoidance Program has pioneered cooperative efforts between academia and industry to pinpoint areas in which yellowtail founder bycatch is high. With the start of the new fishing year this Friday, March 1, 2013, the program will expand to include open area scallop fishing grounds in Georges Bank and Southern New England, in addition to already-included open and access areas in Georges Bank.
Since the program's development, SMAST has worked in conjunction with participating East Coast Atlantic sea scallopers to identify yellowtail bycatch hotspots in order to notify other scallopers of these locations. Using data provided by scallop fishermen on the water, fishermen can work together to avoid triggering costly time and area closures of prime scallop fishing grounds. Using advanced tracking technology developed by Boatracs, a vessel monitoring system provider, scallopers report to SMAST areas in which yellowtail bycatch is high, and, in turn, other scallopers are notified to avoid these areas. Most recently, SMAST created two new bycatch reporting grids covering the northern and southern flanks of Georges Bank and portions of the Great South Channel. The addition of these new reporting grids will substantially benefit Atlantic sea scallopers seeking to avoid time and area closures caused by unintended yellowtail bycatch.
The result of this cooperative effort is a demonstrated reduction in yellowtail flounder bycatch. In 2010, the program's first year of operation, 122 participating scallop vessels provided information on yellowtail bycatch that ultimately resulted in a harvest of the full allocation of Nantucket Lightship scallops, with only 31% of the yellowtail allocation being caught. By 2011 and 2012, industry participation increased to include 243 vessels, with financial support being provided by the Fisheries Survival Fund, the American Scallop Association, and the Scallop Research Set Aside Program. With this support, as well as technological innovations provided by Boatracs, neither the 2011 nor 2012 fishing years experienced early closures to access areas or subsequent year closures to open areas. In 2011, yellowtail bycatch in access areas was only 30% of the 2011 allocation.
Recent threats to scallop allocations make the need for increased industry participation more important than ever. Scallopers' allocation of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder will be reduced by nearly 50% in 2013 if the National Marine Fisheries Service's Northeast Regional Administrator rejects the New England Fishery Management Council's recommendation to set the 2013 Acceptable Biological Catch of Georges Bank yellowtail at 1,150 metric tons. Despite reduced scallop allocations for the access areas on Georges Bank in fishing year 2013, reduced yellowtail limits pose a major challenge to the scallop fleet. Expanding the SMAST Yellowtail Bycatch Avoidance System to open-area fishing grounds in 2013 may help to prevent triggering time and area closures in 2014. The program will continue to operate in the Georges Bank access areas (Nantucket Lightship Area and Closed Areas I and II) when they are opened under Scallop Framework 24.
Contacts:
Cate O'Keefe
cokeefe@umassd.edu
508-910-6340
Greg DeCelles
gdecelles@umassd.edu
508-910-6340
For more information about the program and to sign up to participate:
Visit the SMAST Yellowtail Bycatch Avoidance Program website
View SMAST's mailing to the entire scallop fleet regarding open area participation in their Yellowtail Bycatch Avoidance Program
View a map of the Georges Bank and Southern New England reporting grids