The Mayor’s Ocean and Fisheries Council (MOFC) met March 30th at the United Fishermen’s Club in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The meeting was held to form a position on the joint management of scallops and groundfish. This document presents the recommendations developed at the meeting.
The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) formed a joint committee to address the interactions between scallops and groundfish. The committee is currently in the scoping stage of developing a joint groundfish – scallop amendment.
Anticipating the potential implications of this amendment, the MOFC met to discuss the draft scoping documents. Scoping material will be discussed at the upcoming Joint Groundfish-Scallop Oversight Committee meeting on April 5, 2010 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.
Scoping Documents
Regarding the potential use of sectors to facilitate the transfer of groundfish, the MOFC was strongly opposed. MOFC participants felt that the transfer / purchase of quota does not require sectors and could be facilitated on the individual level.
The MOFC felt that the straw-man goals presented by the joint committee do not address the important problems – in response the MOFC recommends the following issues take precedence: (1) year-round closures, (2) habitat closures, (3) establishment of access area time periods, (4) yellowtail rebuilding schedule, (5) baseline targets, (6) fishing year start, (7) gear modifications.
Year-Round Closures
The MOFC is advocating that the benefits of the year-round closures on Georges Bank be evaluated and that modifications be considered. The analysis should cover the social, economic, and biological costs and benefits of the current closures and the proposed modifications. One option suggested was to eliminate the year-round closures and institute seasonal spawning closures. With the implementation of sectors for the majority of the groundfish fleet, year-round closures as an effort control may be unnecessary.
Habitat Closures
The MOFC is advocating that the habitat closures on the northern edge of Georges Bank be converted to scallop access areas. Ongoing research suggests that habitat preservation is best achieved through the reduction of effort. If the closures were converted to rotational access areas, scallop dredges would spend less time on bottom, due to an elevated catch per unit effort (CPUE), therefore reducing impacts on benthic habitat. Participants supported continued research on the benefits of such management tactics.
Access Area Timing
The MOFC is proposing that a cooperative research project be conducted to identify the temporal and spatial variations in scallop yield and by-catch ratios. Such a project would facilitate optimization of access area trips in terms of the tradeoffs between by-catch and scallop yield.
Yellowtail Rebuilding
The MOFC participants proposed that the yellowtail rebuilding schedule be extended from 7 to 10 years.
This adjustment remains within the current Magnuson-Stevens Act guidance, but would provide the Council with much needed latitude in setting annual catch limits.
Baseline Targets
The MOFC is advocating the development of a by-catch baseline for the scallop fleet. The baseline should be independent of catch share accounting and utilized as a metric that reductions in scallop by-catch reductions be measured against. A baseline period from 1999 to 2009 has been proposed.
Fishing Year
The MOFC is advocating that the scallop and groundfish fishing year start dates be aligned to a achieve continuity between the FMPs, especially in regard to the specification of annual catch limits. Participants suggested March 1 as the start date for both fisheries. The scallop fishery currently opens on March 1, while the ground-fishery opens May 1. Historically the ground-fishery was intended to open March 1, but problems with gear modification delayed the start to May 1.
Gear Modifications
The group acknowledged the potential, of several gear modifications, for reducing scallop by-catch. The MOFC is advocating increased focus on the innovation of by-catch reducing technologies.
Acknowledgements
The Mayor’s Ocean Fisheries Council’s positions were developed primarily from a report compiled by Ron Smolowitz (Draft Issues Paper for Consideration by the Joint Groundfish/Sea Scallop Committee – 01/29/2010). This paper was distributed to the MOFC and discussed at the February 8, 2010 Roundtable Meeting, it has also been attached for your reference.