Here is a summary of the major Council actions on groundfish at the November 15-17, 2011 meeting in Newport, RI. As always, this brief summary does not capture the entire discussion. Sound files will be available on our web page tomorrow, and motions will be available in about a week.
1. Council priorities for 2012: The Council agreed on priorities for 2012. With respect to multispecies actions, the actions that will be undertaken, in priority order, are as follows:
-coordinate action on the habitat omnibus amendment to include possible modifications of the groundfish closed areas
-prepare framework action to adjust sector rules based on lessons learned from the October 2011 Sector Workshop, including determination of why OY is not being caught and the development of measures to attempt to achieve OY and review 10% quota rollover provision in response to Regional Administrator letter of June 20, 2011 (this list is not all-inclusive – there are a number of other sector issues that may be considered)
-prepare framework to respond to new assessment info for 9 stocks
-develop options to move unused ACE between scallop/groundfish fleets and between groundfish commercial and recreational fleets
-continue Amendment 18 to consider fleet diversity and accumulation caps
Over the course of the meeting there were a few other discussions related to these priorities worth noting. First, there were several discussions about how to address (a). Three ideas surfaced: split the habitat area issue and groundfish closed area issue into two separate actions and proceed independently, combine the groundfish and habitat PDTs and Committees and do all work together, or have the groundfish PDT and Committee work separately from (but in coordination with) the Habitat PDT and Committee until ready to meet to address the area issues. The latter approach, recommended by the Executive Committee, was adopted. Second, while Amendment 18 is a low priority the Council affirmed plans to proceed with scoping for the amendment this winter. We expect to develop a schedule and notice over the next week or two, and hope to hold scoping meetings in January.
2. The Council selected preferred alternatives for Framework Adjustment 47 and voted to submit the framework. FW 47 updates specifications for several stocks and proposes changes to some elements of annual catch limit and accountability measure administration. For the most part the Council adopted the Committee’s recommendations on preferred alternatives (see the draft document on the Council web page). The Council did make one change in that when selecting the SNE/MA winter flounder No Action alternative (SNE/MA winter flounder landings would continue to be prohibited), it was specifically adopted as a proactive AM. Also, specific GOM cod catch limits will not be determined until after the assessment that is planned for December 2011. The document will be completed and submitted to NMFS over the next 6-8 weeks; a proposed rule will be published early next spring with implementation planned for May 1, 2012.
3. The recreational fishery exceeded its sub-ACL for GOM haddock in FY 2010, and NMFS will select and implement accountability measures as a result. The Council heard advice from its recreational advisory panel (RAP) and several fishermen before developing a recommendation for those measures. The Council recommends that of the three measures possible as recreational AMs, NMFS should consider a bag limit first, minimum size second and closed season last. The Council recommendation differs from the RAP advice because many felt that increasing the minimum haddock size would lead to dead discards with no reduction in mortality ( a motion to adopt the RAP recommendation failed 6/8/3). This recommendation will be passed to NMFS, who will consider it and will publish a regulatory change in the next month or two.
4. Fishermen expressed concerns that GOM winter flounder catch rates are up and the low quota is constraining fishing for other stocks. At the request of industry, the Council passed a motion asking NMFS to take emergency action to increase the FY 2011 GOM winter flounder catch limits based on the results of the June assessment of that stock. Please note that NMFS may or may not act on this request; fishermen should not assume there will be an increase until NMFS announces a change.