ARLINGTON, Va. — July 17, 2014 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
In June, NOAA Fisheries announced it will provide funding to the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) beginning in FY2015. NEAMAP is a cooperative state/federal fishery-independent survey and research program for coastal waters from Maine to North Carolina. Information from the NEAMAP surveys is critical to understanding the distribution, abundance, and condition of marine fish and shellfish populations throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
The Program is comprised of three surveys: the Maine-New Hampshire Inshore Trawl Survey, the Massachusetts Inshore Trawl Survey, and the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic (SNE/MA) Nearshore Trawl Survey, which samples inshore waters from Martha’s Vineyard, MA to Cape Hatteras, NC. The new funding will support the SNE/MA Nearshore Trawl Survey, which is currently funded through the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Research Set-Aside (RSA) program; and the Maine-New Hampshire Inshore Trawl Survey, which is now partially funded by NOAA Fisheries Northeast Cooperative Research Program.
“We are thrilled NOAA Fisheries has pledged support for the NEAMAP surveys starting in FY2015,” stated Steven Heins of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Chair of the NEAMAP Board. “NOAA Fisheries’ direct support will free up funding opportunities through the Mid-Atlantic RSA and the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Cooperative Research Programs to address other high priority survey and research needs. It is our hope that NOAA Fisheries will continue NEAMAP funding over the long-term to ensure the longevity of the valuable time series of data the surveys produce.”
Collectively, the three NEAMAP surveys gather and disseminate distribution, abundance, biomass, and life history information (e.g., growth, size, diet) for more than 150 fish and invertebrate species. Data collected by NEAMAP and other state and federal fishery resource surveys form one of the world’s largest, longest-running marine biological and oceanographic data sets.
The data are used by fisheries scientists and managers throughout the region for abundance indices, stock assessments, annual specification setting, and other management activities for more than 30 fisheries, including American lobster, Atlantic croaker, bluefish, black sea bass, butterfish, river herring, scup, sea scallop, skates (all species), spiny dogfish, spot, summer flounder, weakfish and winter flounder. For more information on NEAMAP, please contact Shanna Madsen, Fisheries Science Coordinator, atsmadsen@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.