The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved for public comment Draft Addendum XXXV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass. The Draft Addendum considers changes to two exemptions to the summer flounder commercial minimum mesh size requirements: the Small Mesh Exemption Program (SMEP) and the flynet exemption. These changes are being considered following industry feedback indicating the SMEP has become an important program to maintain the economic viability of businesses and the definition of a flynet should be updated to reflect modern gear configurations and use patterns. Specifically, the Draft Addendum considers moving the western boundary of the SMEP approximately five miles westward, changes to the review methodology of the SMEP, and updates to the definition of a flynet under the flynet exemption. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is considering an identical set of options through a framework action.
Lobster fishery set for temporary reprieve on size limits
August 14, 2024 — A second delay to implementing minimum gauge and vent sizes for lobsters caught in the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and Outer Cape Cod was initiated last week by the American Lobster Board, which operates under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), a measure that Maine lobstermen — and Congressman Jared Golden — have hoped and pushed for.
The new implementation date would be July 1, 2025, if the measure is approved by the ASMFC’s American Lobster Board.
An earlier delay the ASMFC approved had pushed back to Jan. 1, 2025, the new gauge and escape vent sizes in lobster traps for commercial lobster fisheries in the targeted lobster management areas. When the measure was first approved, it was to take effect based on a “trigger” mechanism.
The trigger is based on survey data showing a decrease of lobster recruits, that is, young lobsters. But many lobstermen fishing in the Gulf of Maine said what they observed on the water was different than the survey data reported. And, the first trigger was reached just months after the mechanism was approved, which led to the first implementation delay.
US lobster fishery faces delay in gauge-size increase; Canadian harvesters call for government to do more to combat illegal fishing
August 13, 2024 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Lobster Board has initiated the process to delay a gauge size increase for the U.S. lobster fishery until 1 July 2025.
The ASMFC first delayed an increase in the lobster gauge size in October 2023, after lobster trawl surveys indicated a decline in the population of sub-legal lobsters. The gauge size increase was first initiated in 2017 as a proactive measure to improve the resiliency of the lobster stock in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, but that process was paused to focus on issues related to entanglement of North Atlantic right whales.
U.S. and Canada held talks on lobster gauge increase
August 12, 2024 — This article was first published in Landings, the Maine Lobster Community Alliance (MLCA) newspaper, in August 2024.
U.S. and Canadian lobster fishery representatives met in Saint John, New Brunswick in late June to discuss the implications of the U.S. gauge increase for Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA 1) scheduled to take effect in January 2025. The meeting was in response to the concerns raised by Maine’s lobster industry at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) American Lobster Board meeting in May.
Background
ASMFC adopted Addendum 27 in May 2023 as a proactive measure which would automatically trigger a gauge increase for LMA 1 if the abundance of young lobster showed a 35% decline. The addendum was developed over five years. It was initiated in 2017 but delayed twice – in 2018 and in 2022 – because the lobster industry was deeply embroiled in management and litigation concerning right whale conservation requirements. Following the Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s (MLA) historic court victory and Congressional action to delay new whale rules for six years, the ASMFC held public hearings in March 2023 and adopted Addendum 27 in May.
Addendum 27 garnered little attention until last fall when, to everyone’s surprise, scientists determined that the abundance of young lobsters had dropped 39% from the historic high, thus triggering the management action just three months after the addendum was adopted. Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner Patrick Keliher urged ASFMC to delay implementation of the gauge increase from June 2024 to January 2025.“I don’t think when we were sitting here in May that we expected to be hitting the trigger as quickly as we did,” he said. He argued that more time was needed to continue discussions with Canada on the implications of having differing gauge sizes between the two countries. The ASMFC moved the date to January 2025.
At the Lobster Institute’s U.S.-Canada Town Meeting in January 2024 in Moncton, New Brunswick, the gauge increase was discussed by an international audience; many in Canada’s lobster industry were surprised to learn about the U.S. gauge increase. They were concerned that a U.S.-only gauge increase would disrupt lobster supply and markets due to the interdependence of the U.S. and Canadian lobster industries.
ASMFC 2024 Summer Meeting Presentations & Recordings Now Available
August 12, 2024 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Presentations and recordings from last week’s Summer Meeting are now available at https://www.asmfc.org/home/
Press Releases, Meeting Summaries, and Motions from ASMFC’s 2024 Summer Meeting Now Available
August 9, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Press releases, meeting summaries, and motions from the Commission’s 2024 Summer Meeting are now available at https://asmfc.org/files/
Presentations and recordings from this week’s meetings will be posted to https://www.asmfc.org/home/
New regulations on lobstering delayed amid pushback from Seacoast lobstermen
August 9, 2024 — New federal regulations on the lobstering industry are being delayed after months of pushback from local lobstermen.
The rules would increase the minimum acceptable size for lobsters that can be caught and require bigger escape vents to be added to traps.
Regulators with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission told News9 the goal of the new rules, laid out in policy called Addendum 27, are aimed at protecting the population of younger lobsters and allowing them to grow to a size where they can reproduce and be suitable for harvesting.
“We’re looking at those lobsters that are kind of forecasting that would be available to the fisheries next year,” said Caitlin Starks, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator. Plan Coordinator.
The commission voted this week to delay the start of new rules from January to July.
Starks said the number of those younger lobsters have declined in research counts in recent years, triggering the new regulations.
However, local lobstermen have cast doubt on those studies and railed against the rules laid out in Addendum 27.
River Herring Benchmark Stock Assessment Finds Populations Remain Depleted at a Coastwide Level Though Some Rivers Show Signs of Improvement
August 8, 2024 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The River Herring Benchmark Stock Assessment finds the coastwide populations of both alewife and blueback herring (collectively referred to as river herring) are depleted relative to historic levels, with the habitat model indicating that overall productivity of both species is lower than an unfished population before the occurrence of any habitat modifications (e.g., dams or human alterations to the environment). The depleted determination was used instead of overfished and overfishing because of the many factors that have contributed to the declining abundance of river herring, which include not just directed and incidental fishing, but also habitat loss, predation, and climate change.
In terms of recent trends, there is no clear signal for either species across the coast. Even within the genetic stock-regions, trends in abundance and mortality differed from river to river, with some rivers showing increasing trends and low mortality rates, and others showing flat or declining trends and total mortality rates above the reference point. Although very few significant trends overall were detected since the adoption ofAmendment 2 in 2009, the majority of indices of abundance for both alewife and blueback herring are likely to be higher now than they were in 2009. However, half of the blueback populations and 65% of the alewife populations have a high probability of being above the total mortality reference point, indicating total mortality on adult fish was too high. Total mortality is the removal of fish from a population due to both fishing and natural causes.
The northern New England region shows more positive trends and a higher probability of abundance in the most recent years being greater than in 2009. It is unclear why that is the case, especially as the more northern regions also have higher probabilities of being above the total mortality reference point. States in the northern New England region have conducted extensive habitat restoration and dam removal, but so have states further south, and they have not seen the same degree of positive trends in run counts and indices. In addition, states in the northern stock-region have also accounted for the majority of directed catch in recent years, while states in the Mid-New England, Southern New England, and Mid-Atlantic stock-
regions have closed their fisheries. Genetic analysis indicates most of the ocean bycatch around Cape Cod and Long Island Sound was of alewife from the Southern New England stock-region and blueback herring from the Mid-Atlantic stock-region, two areas that have had more negative trends in recent years despite habitat restoration efforts and directed fishery closures.
The assessment includes two proof-of-concept approaches to develop biologically-based caps on bycatch in ocean fisheries. The data-limited methods produced estimates of bycatch caps that were lower than the current coastwide bycatch estimates and lower than the current caps in the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel fishery. However, more work needs to be done on the data-limited bycatch cap approach, including consulting with the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils on risk levels and how to implement species-specific caps in fisheries where the bycatch monitoring includes American and hickory shad as well as river herring. The assessment also recommended exploring species distribution modeling to identify hot spots of river herring bycatch that could be avoided with time-area closures as an alternative or complement to in-season monitoring of river herring bycatch.
No management action was taken given the continued coastwide harvest moratorium for states without an approved Sustainable Fishery Management Plan, as required by Amendment 2. Additionally, the New England Fishery Management Council is early in the process of drafting Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, which is proposing the development of measures to reduce river herring bycatch in the federal fishery.
A more detailed description of the stock assessment results, as well as the Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, on the Shad & River Herring webpage. For more information, please contact James Boyle, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atjboyle@asmfc.org.
ASMFC Coastal Pelagics Board Approves Atlantic Cobia Addendum II
August 8, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Commission’s Coastal Pelagics Management Board approved Addendum II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Cobia. The Addendum modifies the recreational allocation framework, allows the Board to update allocations quickly if the underlying data are revised, expands the range of data used in harvest evaluations, and allows the Board to set management measures for a longer period of time. Addendum II responds to increased cobia harvest in some Mid-Atlantic states in recent years, as well as concerns about high uncertainty associated with cobia recreational harvest estimates. All Addendum II measures are effective immediately, and will be used to set recreational measures for 2025 and beyond.
Addendum II changes both the geographic scope of the recreational allocation framework and the timeframe of data used as the basis for allocations. The Addendum changes the allocation framework from a state-by-state to a regional framework, with a northern region of Rhode Island through Virginia and a southern region of North Carolina through Georgia. The new regional allocation framework is intended to reduce uncertainty by using harvest estimates based on a larger sample size combining multiple states in a region, instead of individual state-level harvest estimates.
Each region is allocated part of the recreational quota based on each region’s percentage of the coastwide harvest in number of fish over the last ten years, combining 50% of 2014-2023 data and 50% of 2018-2023 data. Data from 2016 and 2017 are excluded due to fishery closures during those years, and data from 2020 are excluded due to COVID-19 impacts on recreational data collection. Using more recent data, as compared to previously using 2006-2015 data, accounts for changes in harvest and potential range expansion of the species in recent years.
There is a possibility that the recreational harvest estimates could be revised in the future by NOAA Fisheries, which would affect the percent allocations for each region. If the harvest estimates are revised, Addendum II allows the Board to quickly update the percent allocations via Board vote to reflect the any revisions to the data used to establish the allocations.
Each region’s percent allocation is applied to the coastwide recreational quota (currently 76,908 fish) to determine the regional harvest targets in number of fish. When a region’s harvest is compared to its target, Addendum II specifies that a rolling average of up to five years of harvest data under the same management measures will be compared to the target, instead of limiting it to a three-year average. This allows for inclusion of two additional data years to account for the variability and uncertainty of cobia harvest estimates from year to year.
Finally, Addendum II allows the Board to set specifications (e.g., coastwide total harvest quota) via Board action for up to five years, which is a longer time period than the current three years. Setting management measures for a longer period of time is intended to align management action with the availability of new stock assessment information.
Addendum II will be available in late August on the Commission website athttp://www.asmfc.org/
For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atefranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
Atlantic Sturgeon Stock Assessment Update Shows Signs of Improvement for Coastwide Population and Mixed Results at the Distinct Population Segment Level
August 8, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic Sturgeon Stock Assessment Update finds that while the coastwide population remains depleted relative to historic levels, the population has shown signs of improvement with a significant positive trend over the time series. Further, there is a high probability that abundance in 2022 was greater than abundance in 1998 at the start of the coastwide moratorium. Total mortality is low and has a low probability of exceeding its reference point. Depleted status is used instead of overfished because many factors (such as bycatch, habitat loss and ship strikes), not just directed historical fishing, have contributed to the continued low abundance of Atlantic sturgeon.
At the individual distinct population segment (DPS) level, results are mixed. Most indices showed either a positive trend or no significant trend over the time series. The average probability that the New York Bight and Carolina DPSs indices were greater than the reference year was high, meaning it was likely that abundance in 2022 was higher than it was at the start of the mortarium. For the Gulf of Maine, Chesapeake Bay, and South Atlantic DPSs, the average probability was lower – less than 50% for all three DPSs – meaning that it was unlikely that abundance in 2022 was greater than it was at the start of the moratorium. Total mortality estimates for each DPS were higher than for the full coastwide population and the probability of exceeding the reference point was higher, partly due to the smaller sample size and higher uncertainty in the tagging model at the DPS level than at the coastwide level. For the Gulf of Maine DPS there was a greater than 50% chance that total mortality exceeded the reference point, while there was a lower probability that total mortality exceeded the reference point for the other DPSs.
Atlantic sturgeon are a challenging species to assess because datasets for this species are limited. However, progress has been made on research recommendations addressing questions about genetics, life history, abundance, and sources of mortality, and work will continue to develop better datasets to support the next benchmark assessment in 2028.
No management action was taken given the continued coastwide harvest moratorium and protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. Additionally, efforts are being taken to reduce sturgeon bycatch in other directed fisheries. In April, the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils recommended their preferred alternative to NOAA Fisheries to reduce sturgeon bycatch in the federal monkfish and spiny dogfish fisheries, and a final rule is expected by the end of 2024. The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board also initiated an addendum to develop options to maintain consistency with the federal action for state-permitted spiny dogfish harvesters in state waters, with the goal of reducing sturgeon bycatch.
A more detailed description of the stock assessment results can be found athttps://asmfc.org/uploads/
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