February 1, 2013 — The following is an unofficial summary of the groundfish fishery actions taken by the Council at its January 28-31, 2013 meeting in Portsmouth, NH. This represents a summary of the major decisions and is not meant to represent everything discussed at the meeting.
1. FY 2013 – 2015 Specifications (Framework Adjustment 50): The Council approved FW 50 for submission. The major element of this framework is that it establishes catch limits for the next two to three years. Many catch limits will be reduced from those in place for FY 2012. Assuming the Council recommendations are approved, there will be large reductions for GOM cod, GOM haddock, GB cod, CC/GOM yellowtail flounder, witch flounder, and plaice. There will be some increases (SNE/MA winter flounder, redfish, halibut), but the quotas are expected to result in large reductions in fishing vessel revenues in FY 2013. The action also proposes to modify the SNE/MA winter flounder rebuilding strategy and proposes that landings of this stock be allowed. If approved ,sectors will be allocated this stock and common pool vessels would be allowed to land it as well. This action will be submitted by the Council as soon as possible and the expectation is that, if approved, the new quotas would be implemented May 1, 2013.
2. Omnibus Habitat Amendment: The Council received a report on the Omnibus Amendment and progress on developing modifications to groundfish closed areas that may be considered as part of that amendment. The current plan is for the Council to review groundfish closed area changes at the April 2013 meeting, and approve measures for a DEIS at the June meeting. Concerns were expressed that changes from this amendment may not be implemented until late 2014. The Council agreed by consensus that no additional items would be added to the amendment.
3. The Council received a report on the recent GOM and GB cod assessments. Both stocks are at low levels of abundance and fishing mortality is high. There was some discussion about the reference points for GOM cod. The Council passed a motion asking the Council’s SSC and the NEFSC to advise whether reference points should be revised in light of current environmental conditions. The Council also passed a motion asking the NEFSC to provide advice on the appropriate reference points for GOM cod when natural mortality is assumed to be 0.4, as is the case with one of the GOM cod assessment models.
4. NMFS advised the Council that it would be able to pay for only 50 percent of sector monitoring costs in FY 2013, and the industry would be responsible for the rest. There is some question as to what this percentage means – that is, what amount of funding is actually available for next year. Further guidance is expected in the near future.
5. While not discussed at the Council meeting, at last week’s Groundfish Oversight Committee meeting NMFS advised that they are reviewing the existing provisions that allow sector ACE to be carried over into the next fishing year. Because of the low quotas for FY 2013, NMFS may restrict the amount of carry-over that will be allowed at the end of this fishing year.