Fisheries managers seek Delmarva anglers’ input on flounder regulations
January 4, 2017 — BERLIN, Md. – The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control each have public hearings scheduled to gather public comment on a new proposal for summer flounder management by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The ASMFC’s Draft Addendum XXVIII seeks alternative management approaches for a coast-wide 30% reduction in the recreational harvest of summer flounder in 2017. This comes after the ASMFC says a 2016 stock assessment estimated the flounder population as lower than previously expected and fishing mortality higher than it had been in recent years.
According to the the addendum, the commission is considering several different management options to meet reduction goals, including coast-wide size limit increases for flounder and more consistency among different states’ possession and size limits.
Delaware, Maryland and Virginia all make up one region within the ASMFC’s five region flounder management area up and down the Atlantic coast.
Selling shark fins now banned in Rhode Island
January 3, 2017 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Selling shark fins is now banned in Rhode Island as it is in Massachusetts.
A law took effect Sunday that makes it a crime to own or sell a shark fin unless it’s used for scientific research or in preparing a shark for ordinary consumption.
Rhode Island became the 11th state to ban shark fin sales when Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed legislation into law in June. Hawaii was the first in 2010. Massachusetts banned the sales in 2014.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted in August to approve a new rule that allows fishermen to bring smooth dogfish, a type of shark, to land with fins removed, as long as their total retained catch is at least 25 percent smooth dogfish.
The rule change better incorporates the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 into management of the dogfish, staff with the fisheries commission said. Dogfish are harvested from Rhode Island to North Carolina, and are among the many shark species that fishermen bring to land in states from Maine to Texas.
RHODE ISLAND: Fishing community shares thoughts on menhaden
December 30, 2016 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which manages many of the saltwater species we fish in Rhode Island that travel the east coast, held an Atlantic menhaden public hearing Monday at the URI Bay Campus.
The hearing addressed a Public Information Document (PID) that aims to incorporate ecosystem-based management strategies to manage Atlantic menhaden. The PID serves as a predecessor to an amendment (Amendment 3) to the Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan scheduled to be developed next year. About 30 recreational and commercial fishermen, fish processors, environmental groups (like Save the Bay) and fish managers attended the hearing. Two main issues were discussed at the hearing. The first issue was the use of ecosystem-based management strategies to determine stock status and allowable catch limits. The second issue addressed landing timeframes, which would be used to determine allocation of quota.
Recreational anglers up and down the east coast have claimed that fishing for striped bass and other game fish is off when the quantity of Atlantic menhaden (a forage fish for striped bass) is down. Additionally, Atlantic menhaden are filter feeders, with each fish processing thousands of gallons of water filtering out plankton to help prevent algae blooms. The Atlantic menhaden Fishery Management Plan will be the first ASMFC plan that utilizes ecosystem-based management in this fashion.
Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze, Ltd., North Kingstown (the largest producer and trader of sea-frozen fish on the East Coast) and a member of the ASMFC Atlantic menhaden Advisory Panel, said “Historically, Rhode Island has landed a lot more fish than the allocation reflects.” George Allen, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (a recreational fishing association that represents 30 different fishing organizations with 7,500 members), said, “Currently, one state (Virginia) takes 85 percent of the catch because of the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishery. This is inequitable for the rest of the coastal states.”
Most in attendance were in agreement that the Atlantic menhaden allocation in the northeast states, and specifically Rhode Island, should be enhanced to more accurately reflect historical catch over a longer period of time, including the time period when landings were high due to active processing plants in the northern states. So, instead of using average landings between 2009 and 2011, many at the meeting were advocating for a longer time-series average, extending to include years prior to 2009 such as 1985, when more accurate bait fishery landings data became available.
BEN LANDRY: Menhaden are flourishing
December 28, 2016 — A recent column by Chris Dollar (“Outdoors: The more menhaden the better,” Dec. 3) cites claims from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that the current management of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay has left the stock running low. The column also echoes the foundation’s position that the menhaden harvest cap should be lowered. The science suggests the opposite to be the case.
In 2012, based on fears of overfishing, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission implemented a menhaden quota. Soon after the quota was implemented, scientists found the concerns of overfishing were misplaced. Further research found that menhaden are prospering coastwide. In fact, the ASMFC declared conclusively that menhaden are neither “overfished nor experiencing overfishing.”
The ASMFC has recently expressed its confidence in the health of menhaden by voting to raise the coastwide quota by 6.45 percent. This decision was backed up by a commission analysis based on nearly 9,000 simulations that found that an increase in the menhaden quota would have an almost zero percent chance of leading to overfishing.
REVISED: States Seek Input on 2017 Recreational Summer Flounder Fishery Management
December 27, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board announces the availability of Draft Addendum XXVIII for public comment. The document, which was approved by the Board in early December, presents a suite of management approaches, including regional options, to achieve the 2017 recreational harvest limit (RHL). The Atlantic coastal states of Massachusetts through North Carolina have scheduled public hearings to gather public comment. The details of those scheduled hearings follow:
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
January 11, 2017 at 6 PM
Bourne Community Center, Room # 1
239 Main Street
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Contact: Nichola Meserve at 617.626.1531
Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife
January 12, 2017; 6:00 PM
University of Rhode Island Bay Campus
Corliss Auditorium South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Robert Ballou at 401.222.4700 ext. 4420
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
January 10, 2017 at 7 PM
CT DEEP Boating Education Center
333 Ferry Road
Old Lyme, Connecticut
Contact: David Simpson at 860.434.6043
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
January 9, 2017 at 6:30 PM
Bureau of Marine Resources
205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1
East Setauket, New York
Contact: Steve Heins at 631.444.0435
New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
January 5, 2017 at 6:30 PM
Galloway Township Branch Library
306 East Jimmie Leeds Rd
Galloway, New Jersey
Contact: Tom Baum at 609.748.2020
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
January 17, 2017 at 6 PM
DNREC Auditorium
89 Kings Highway
Dover, Delaware
Contact: John Clark at 302.739.9914
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
January 3, 2017 at 6 PM
Ocean Pines Library
11107 Cathell Road
Berlin, Maryland
Contact: Steve Doctor at 410.213.1531
Virginia Marine Resources Commission
January 12, 2017 at 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia
Contact: Robert O’Reilly at 757.247.2247
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries
January, 9, 2017 at 6 PM
NC Marine Fisheries, Central District Office
5285 US Highway 70 West
Morehead City, North Carolina
Contact: Chris Batsavage at 252 808-8009
Draft Addendum XXVIII was initiated to consider alternative management approaches for the 2017 recreational summer flounder fisheries, while also seeking to address needed reductions due to a decrease in the coastwide RHL in 2017. In August, the Board and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a 30% reduction in the 2017 coastwide RHL relative to 2016. This action was taken in response to the 2016 Stock Assessment Update which found fishing mortality was higher in recent years and population estimates were lower than previously projected.
Changes in summer flounder distribution, abundance and availability have created problems under the static state-by-state allocations, with overages often occurring. In response, states would implement regulations to reduce harvest, resulting in differing regulations between neighboring states. In 2014, the Board shifted away from traditional state-by-state allocations to a regional approach for managing summer flounder recreational fisheries. A benefit of the regional approach is it provides the states the flexibility to share allocations. The intent is to set regulations that account for shifting distribution, abundance and availability while providing stability and greater regulatory consistency among neighboring states, and enabling the states to meet but not exceed the coastwide RHL.
Anglers and interested stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXVIII either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained here or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 19, 2017 and should be forwarded to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org (Subject line: Summer Flounder Draft Addendum XXVIII).
The Board will review submitted public comment and consider final action on the Draft Addendum at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in February 2017. For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
Rhode Island quota for menhaden the focus of debate
December 27, 2016 — About 30 recreational and commercial fishermen, fish processors, environmental groups (like Save the Bay) and fish managers attended Monday’s public hearing on Atlantic menhaden at the URI Bay Campus held by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The two main issues at the hearing were the use of ecosystem-based management strategies to determine stock status and allowable catch limits, and landing time frames, which would be used to determine allocation of quota.
The Atlantic menhaden plan will be the first ASMFC plan that utilizes ecosystem-based management in this fashion.
Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze, Ltd., North Kingstown (the largest producer and trader of sea-frozen fish on the East Coast) and a member of the ASMFC Atlantic menhaden Advisory Panel, said “Historically, Rhode Island has landed a lot more fish than the allocation reflects.” George Allen, representing the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (a recreational fishing association with 7,500 members), said, “Currently one state (Virginia) takes 85 percent of the catch because of the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishery. This is inequitable for the rest of the coastal states.”
Most in attendance agreed that the Atlantic menhaden allocation in the Northeast states, and specifically Rhode Island, should be enhanced to more accurately reflect historical catch over a longer period of time including the time period when landings were high due to active processing plants in the northern states. So instead of using average landings between 2009 and 2011, many at the meeting were advocating for a longer time-series average extending to include years prior to 2009 such as 1985 when more accurate bait fishery landings data became available.
However, there was much disagreement in the room when it came to determining ecological reference points in estimating how many fish would be allowed to be taken out of the water. A representative from Save the Bay said, “Atlantic menhaden have great ecological value for Narragansett Bay and we advocate for existing guidelines for forage fish species until menhaden-specific ecological reference points (ERPs) are developed by the ASMFC’s Biological and Ecological Reference Point (BERP) workgroup.”
States Seek Input on 2017 Recreational Summer Flounder Fishery Management
December 22, 2016 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board announces the availability of Draft Addendum XXVIII for public comment. The document, which was approved by the Board in early December, presents a suite of management approaches, including regional options, to achieve the 2017 recreational harvest limit (RHL). The Atlantic coastal states of Massachusetts through North Carolina have scheduled public hearings to gather public comment. The details of those scheduled hearings follow:
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
January 11, 2017 at 6 PM
Bourne Community Center, Room # 1
239 Main Street
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
Contact: Nichola Meserve at 617.626.1531
Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife
January 12, 2017; 6:00 PM
University of Rhode Island Bay Campus
Corliss Auditorium South Ferry Road
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Robert Ballou at 401.222.4700 ext. 4420
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
January 10, 2017 at 7 PM
CT DEEP Boating Education Center
333 Ferry Road
Old Lyme, Connecticut
Contact: David Simpson at 860.434.6043
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
January 9, 2017 at 6:30 PM
Bureau of Marine Resources
205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1
East Setauket, New York
Contact: Steve Heins at 631.444.0435
New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
January 5, 2017 at 6:30 PM
Galloway Township Branch Library
306 East Jimmie Leeds Rd
Galloway, New Jersey
Contact: Tom Baum at 609.748.2020
–
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
January 17, 2017 at 6 PM
DNREC Auditorium
89 Kings Highway
Dover, Delaware
Contact: John Clark at 302.739.9914
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
January 3, 2017 at 6 PM
Ocean Pines Library
11107 Cathell Road
Berlin, Maryland
Contact: Steve Doctor at 410.213.1531
–
Virginia Marine Resources Commission
January 12, 2017 at 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia
Contact: Robert O’Reilly at 757.247.2247
–
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries
January, 9, 2017 at 6 PM
NC Marine Fisheries, Central District Office
5285 US Highway 70 West
Morehead City, North Carolina
Contact: Chris Batsavage at 252 808-8009
–
Draft Addendum XXVIII was initiated to consider alternative management approaches for the 2017 recreational summer flounder fisheries, while also seeking to address needed reductions due to a decrease in the coastwide RHL in 2017. In August, the Board and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a 30% reduction in the 2017 coastwide RHL relative to 2016. This action was taken in response to the 2016 Stock Assessment Update which found fishing mortality was higher in recent years and population estimates were lower than previously projected.
Changes in summer flounder distribution, abundance and availability have created problems under the static state-by-state allocations, with overages often occurring. In response, states would implement regulations to reduce harvest, resulting in differing regulations between neighboring states. In 2014, the Board shifted away from traditional state-by-state allocations to a regional approach for managing summer flounder recreational fisheries. A benefit of the regional approach is it provides the states the flexibility to share allocations. The intent is to set regulations that account for shifting distribution, abundance and availability while providing stability and greater regulatory consistency among neighboring states, and enabling the states to meet but not exceed the coastwide RHL.
Anglers and interested stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XXVIII either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained by clicking here or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on January 19, 2017 and should be forwarded to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at krootes-murdy@asmfc.org (Subject line: Summer Flounder Draft Addendum XXVIII).
The Board will review submitted public comment and consider final action on the Draft Addendum at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in February 2017. For more information, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy atkrootes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
November/December issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus
December 20th, 2016 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The November/December issue of ASMFC Fisheries Focus is now available at
http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//585955e0FishFocusNovDec2016.pdf.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Upcoming Meetings
page 2
From the Executive Director’s Desk
The Future of Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Lies in Partnerships
page 3
Species Profile
Atlantic Striped Bass
page 4
Winter Meeting Preliminary Agenda
page 6
Bick and Long Receive Melissa Laser Fish Habitat Conservation Award
page 8
Proposed Management Actions
Cobia
Atlantic Menhaden
Jonah Crab
Summer Flounder
page 9
Fishery Management Actions & 2017 Specifications
Northern Shrimp
Atlantic Menhaden
Spiny Dogfish
Horseshoe Crab
page 13
On the Legislative Front
page 14
ACCSP Presents the State of Electronic Reporting Science Highlight
page 15
Science Highlight
Maine’s Snap-a-Striper Program
page 17
Past issues of Fisheries Focus can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/search/%20/%20/Fishery-Focus.
———-
Tina Berger
Director of Communications
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N
Arlington, VA 22201
Maine lobster fishery achieves MSC sustainability certification
December 15, 2016 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:
The Gulf of Maine lobster fishery has achieved certification to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. Certification proves that all commercial vessels licensed by the State of Maine and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that fish within the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Lobster Conservation Management Area 1 and sell lobster to the Maine Certified Sustainable Lobster Association meet rigorous sustainability requirements. The MSC’s science-based standard is the world’s most credible and recognized standard for environmentally sustainable wild-caught seafood.
Craig A. Rief, President of the Maine Certified Sustainable Lobster Association said: “Maine lobster is known domestically and around the world as an iconic species that defines high quality seafood. With MSC certification, our customers have the assurance that Maine lobster is harvested in a sustainable way and will be available long into the future.”
The Maine Certified Sustainable Lobster Association (MCSLA) is a group of New England lobster wharf operators, processors, dealers and wholesalers. In September 2014, the MCSLA submitted the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery to independent, third-party assessment against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. The members of the MCSLA are: Cape Bald Packers Ltd; Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods; Cozy Harbor Seafood, Inc.; Craig’s All Natural, LLC; D. C. Air & Seafood, Inc.; East Coast Seafood, LLC; Eastern Traders; Inland Seafood; and Maine Coast Shellfish LLC. The sustainability certification for the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery is in parallel with a separate MSC certification for the fishery that was achieved in 2013.
The Gulf of Maine is the center of the US lobster industry, accounting for more than two-thirds of the nation’s lobster landings. Over four thousand commercial fishermen actively harvest Maine lobster. Lobster catches in Maine have continued to increase, to 127 million pounds in 2013, well above all previous values. The Maine Department of Marine Resources reports the total landed value for Maine lobster in 2013 was $364 million, a $22 million increase over 2012 and $30 million over 2011. Maine lobster is sold live, fresh and frozen in domestic and international markets.
Brian Perkins, MSC regional director – Americas, said: “The MSC’s vision is for oceans to be teeming with life for future generations. We are extremely pleased to see the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery succeed in the MSC process and we hope to be their partner in creating and maintaining new markets.”
The independent assessment of the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery was conducted by SAI Global Assurance Services, an accredited third-party conformity assessment body. SAI Global Assurance Services assembled a team of fishery science and policy experts to evaluate the fishery according to the three principles of the MSC Fisheries Standard: the health of the stock; the impact of fishing on the marine environment; and the management of the fishery. The MSC process is open to stakeholders and all results are peer reviewed.
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