Saving Seafood

MAINE: Commercial alewife fishing may return to this Maine town

November 4, 2024 — Bailey Bowden, chair of Penobscot’s alewife committee, just received news he’s been hoping to hear for a decade.

On Oct. 23, the quasi-governmental Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approved the management plan for shad and river herring, including alewives, submitted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR). That state plan includes a proposal to reopen Penobscot’s commercial fishery at Wight’s Pond.

“It’s been over 10 years,” Bowden said of the permitting process. It’s been decades more — since 1974, to be exact — since Penobscot’s last commercial harvest of alewives, Bowden said.

In recent years, volunteers on the town’s alewife committee painstakingly counted alewives each spring as they entered the fresh waters of the pond via Winslow Stream from the salt water of Northern Bay.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

ASMFC 82nd Annual Meeting Presentations and Recordings Now Available

October 30, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Presentations and recordings from last week’s 82nd Annual Meeting are now available athttps://www.asmfc.org/home/2024-annual-meeting; just click on the relevant link at the Board or Committee header in the agenda. Recordings can also be found on the Commission’s YouTube Channel athttps://www.youtube.com/ASMFCvideos.

 
Additionally, the final 2025 Action Plan can be found at https://asmfc.org/files/pub/2025ActionPlan.pdf. 

More Striped Bass Restrictions Possible for Chesapeake Bay Fisheries

October 25, 2024 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) held a meeting this week to review recent studies that suggest the Chesapeake Bay’s striped bass (or rockfish) populations continue to struggle.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation,a 2024 stock assessment update showed the number of rockfish remains below sustainable numbers despite multiple recent efforts to reduce their mortality. Studies conducted in Maryland and Virginia suggest similar issues with lower levels of juvenile fish in consecutive years.

“If an upcoming stock assessment prior to the rebuilding deadline of 2029 indicates that the stock is not projected to rebuild by 2029, with a probability greater than or equal to 50 percent, the Board can respond via Board action, essentially by changing management measures via a vote to pass a motion, as opposed to an addendum or an amendment,” Dr. Katie Drew said at the ASMFC meeting.

Read the full article at WBOC

Press Releases, Meeting Summaries and Motions from the ASMFC 82nd Annual Meeting Now Available

October 25, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Press releases, meeting summaries and motions from this week’s meetings are now available athttps://asmfc.org/files/2024AnnualMeeting/2024AnnualMeetingSummary.pdf. This document can also be found at https://asmfc.org/calendar/meeting-archive. Presentations and recordings from the meetings will be posted to https://www.asmfc.org/home/2024-annual-meeting early next week. Wishing you all a good weekend.

 

ASMFC and MAFMC Approve Changes to Summer Flounder Commercial Mesh Size Exemptions

October 25, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) have jointly approved modifications to two exemptions from the summer flounder commercial minimum mesh size requirements. The Board adopted these changes through Addendum XXXV to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan, and the Council recommended identical measures through a framework action which will be submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service for review and implementation.

Current regulations for the summer flounder trawl fishery require a minimum mesh size of 5.5-inch diamond mesh or 6.0-inch square mesh to retain more than 200 pounds of summer flounder from November through April, or 100 pounds of summer flounder from May through October. The Small Mesh Exemption Program provides an exemption from these requirements for authorized vessels fishing in a designated area from November 1 through April 30. This exemption is designed to allow vessels to retain some bycatch of summer flounder while operating in other small-mesh fisheries. Through this action, the Board and Council agreed to expand the exemption area by moving the boundary of the northern portion of the area approximately five miles west, then connecting the western boundary to the southern scup Gear Restricted Area. While this has the appearance of notably increasing the size of the exemption area, a large portion of the area overlaps with the Frank R. Lautenberg deep sea coral zone, where bottom tending gear is already prohibited. The intent of this change is to increase economic opportunities for industry while continuing to protect the summer flounder stock and prevent regulatory discards.

The Board and Council also voted to implement a tiered monitoring approach for the Small Mesh Exemption Program. Current regulations allow the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office Regional Administrator to terminate the program for the remainder of the season if vessels fishing under the exemption are discarding on average more than 10%, by weight, of their entire catch of summer flounder per trip. Under the new tiered monitoring approach, the discard trigger will be increased to 25%, and once the trigger is reached, a more detailed review of discards will be conducted to determine whether the exemption should be rescinded. The intent of this review is to allow for a more comprehensive consideration of the drivers of, and appropriate response to, discards.

Finally, the Board and Council approved a revised definition of the term “flynet” as it relates to the flynet exemption from the summer flounder commercial minimum mesh size requirements. The revised definition encompasses similar high-rise net types which have very large mesh in the wings, with mesh size decreasing through the body of the net. These nets are not designed to catch flatfish and generally catch small amounts of summer flounder.

Addendum XXXV, including the map showing the approved boundaries, will be posted athttps://asmfc.org/species/summer-flounder under Management Plans and FMP Reviews once the map is finalized. Updates on the Council’s framework will be posted athttps://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-commercial-mesh-exemptions.

For more information, please contact either Chelsea Tuohy, ASMFC Fishery Management Plan Coordinator at ctuohy@asmfc.org or Kiley Dancy, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, at kdancy@mafmc.org.

 

Spiny Dogfish Board Approves Draft Addendum VII for Public Comment to Consider Action to Reduce Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch

October 25, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved Draft Addendum VII to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfish for public comment. The Draft Addendum considers potential measures to maintain consistency with the federal Fishery Management Plan in response to the proposed rule to implement Spiny Dogfish Framework Adjustment 6.

The Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils developed Spiny Dogfish Framework Adjustment 6 in response to a 2021 Biological Opinion and 2022 Action Plan that called for reducing bycatch of Atlantic sturgeon in spiny dogfish gillnet fisheries. The coastwide Atlantic sturgeon population is made up of five distinct population segments, all of which are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and Atlantic sturgeon harvest has been under a coastwide moratorium in federal and state waters since 1998. The Commission’s Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic sturgeon maintains the moratorium through at least 2038, and while the 2024 stock assessment update showed signs of improvement, the stock remains depleted coastwide.
The Board initiated Draft Addendum VII in August 2024 after the Councils recommended measures to NOAA Fisheries to prohibit overnight soaks for federal spiny dogfish permit holders on gillnets with 5”-10” mesh in November and May for a certain area of state and federal waters off of New Jersey, as well as for gillnets of 5.25”-10” mesh in November through March in specified areas off of Maryland and Virginia. The options in the Draft Addendum aim to establish equivalent overnight soak restrictions for spiny dogfish harvesters in state waters that do not possess a federal spiny dogfish permit.
The Draft Addendum will be posted to the website next week at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. A subsequent press release will provide details on the public hearing schedule and how to submit written comments. The Board will meet to review submitted comments and consider final action on the addendum in February at the Commission’s Winter Meeting.
The Board also revised the commercial quota for the 2024/2025 fishing from 11,331,747 to 10,249,260 pounds to be consistent with the federal quota. For more information, please contact James Boyle, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at jboyle@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Gauge increase, a top concern for lobstermen, is delayed to July 2025

October 24, 2024 — Implementing a change in the legal size of lobsters caught in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank was pushed back six months, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced this week, after determining that postponing implementation “would reduce negative impacts to the U.S. and Canadian lobster industries in 2025 and allow Canada more time to consider implementing complementary management measures.”

The ASMFC, the regulatory agency that oversees the fishing industry, voted Monday to delay the resolution from Jan. 1, 2025 to July 1, 2025.

This second postponement of the gauge change — it originally was meant to take effect this year — will at least temporarily assuage lobstermen, many who attended October union meetings held along the coast from Rockland to Ellsworth and Jonesport, where the gauge change was a top concern.

“[Lobstermen] are worrying that that’s going to price them out of a business that is precariously turning a profit,” said Virginia Olsen, Maine Lobstering Union Local 207’s executive liaison and political director. “For instance, my husband was going through some landing receipts from 1992 to today [and] there’s a 50 cents difference [more paid per pound]. But a trap that costs $70 now costs $200. Bait that was so inexpensive is now one of our biggest expenses. That margin of how much profit you have is shrinking for us every year.”

Read the full article at the Mount Desert Islander

Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update Finds Resource Remains Overfished with a Less Than 50% Chance of Rebuilding by 2029

October 24, 2024 — The following was released by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board reviewed the results of the 2024 Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update, which indicates the resource is not experiencing overfishing but remains overfished relative to the updated biological reference points. Female spawning stock biomass (SSB) in 2023 was estimated at 191 million pounds, which is below the SSB threshold of 197 million pounds and below the SSB target of 247 million pounds. Total fishing mortality in 2023 was estimated at 0.18, which is below the fishing mortality threshold of 0.21 and above the fishing mortality target of 0.17. The 2024 Assessment Update included data through 2023 and used the same model from the approved peer-reviewed 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment. The model structure was the same as the 2022 Stock Assessment Update, which accounted for the period of low recruitment the stock is experiencing and for new management changes starting in 2020.

 
The Board continued to express concerns about low recruitment and the lack of strong year-classes to support the stock and the fishery. Six of the last seven year-classes since 2015 have been below average, with only the 2018 year-class being above average. The 2018 year-class is starting to grow into the slot limit for the ocean recreational fishery and will become more available to ocean harvest in 2025.


 
The 2024 Assessment Update also included short-term projections to determine the probability of SSB being at or above the SSB target by 2029, which is the stock rebuilding deadline. The model structure for projections from 2024-forward was modified to explicitly account for the narrower slot limits implemented in 2023 and 2024. A range of projection scenarios were considered to explore two primary sources of uncertainty for the rebuilding trajectory through 2029: the level of fishery removals for the current, in-progress 2024 fishing year and the fishing mortality rate from 2025 through 2029.
 
The Board agreed with the Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Subcommittee that the most likely projection scenario is lower removals in 2024 compared to 2022 and 2023, followed by an increase in fishing mortality in 2025, and a subsequent decrease and stabilization of fishing mortality from 2026 through 2029. A decrease in removals for 2024 is projected based on preliminary low 2024 catch data, likely due to the strong 2015 year-class growing out of the current recreational ocean slot limit and the implementation of Addendum II measures to reduce fishing mortality in 2024. An increase in 2025 fishing mortality would correspond to the 2018 year-class entering the current recreational ocean slot limit, and the subsequent decrease and stabilization from 2026 through 2029 would align with the 2018 year-class growing out of the slot limit and the lack of strong year-classes behind it. In this scenario, the probability of rebuilding by 2029 is less than 50%.
 
Based on these projections, the Board will hold a special Board meeting in December 2024 to consider Board action to change 2025 management measures to reduce fishing mortality and increase the probability of rebuilding to at least 50%. Under Addendum II to Amendment 7, the Board can change management measures through Board action, instead of developing an addendum, if the stock assessment indicates a less than 50% probability of the stock rebuilding by 2029. Ahead of the December meeting, the Board tasked the Technical Committee with updating the projections based on additional 2024 catch data and developing recreational size limit and seasonal closure management options for consideration.
 
A subsequent press release will provide details on the meeting date and format (in-person or virtual), and the anticipated timeline for the availability of meeting materials and the public input process (which may differ from the standard public comment timelines to allow for the compilation and summary of public comment in advance of the meeting).
 
The 2024 Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update will be available athttps://asmfc.org/species/atlantic-striped-bass under stock assessment reports early next week.
For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, atefranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Lobster gauge increase delayed: Maine lobstermen relieved

October 23, 2024 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has officially voted to delay the planned gauge change in Lobster Management Area 1, giving Maine lobstermen more time to prepare. Originally slated to take effect on June 1, 2024, the increase in the minimum catch size—introduced to address a 35 percent decline in juvenile lobsters—will now go into effect on July 1, 2025. Back in August, the second delay was proposed to be voted on and delayed, but as of this week, it has been made official.

While opposed to the gauge increase, the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) expressed cautious approval of the delay. “We are hopeful that this will provide more time to address unintended consequences of an increase, specifically the fact that unless Canada also changes its gauge size, Canadian lobstermen will still be able to catch smaller lobster,” the MLA said.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment Finds Mixed Results for the Northern and Southern Stocks: Northern Stock Not Overfishing and Overfishing Not Occurring; Southern Stock Overfished and Experiencing Overfishing

October 23, 2024 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The 2024 Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report indicates the northern stock of red drum (New Jersey through North Carolina) is not overfished and not experiencing overfishing, while the southern stock (South Carolina through the east coast of Florida) is overfished and experiencing overfishing.

 
The two stocks were assessed separately, using different methods. The southern stock was assessed using the Stock Synthesis (SS) assessment model. Stock status is based on the latest three-year (2019-2021 September-August fishing years) averages of population measures. The three-year average spawning potential ratio (SPR) is less than the 30% SPR threshold, indicating the stock is experiencing overfishing. Spawning potential ratio is a measure of spawning biomass expected under current fishing mortality levels compared to spawning stock biomass expected if no fishing mortality were occurring. The three-year average female spawning stock biomass (SSB) was 8,737 metric tons (19.27 million pounds), less than the SSB threshold of 9,917 metric tons (21.87 million pounds), indicating the stock is overfished. 


 
A robust, technically-sound SS model could not be developed for the northern stock, so the stock was assessed using a traffic light analysis (TLA). The TLA assigns a color (red, yellow or green) to categorize relative levels of metrics that reflect the condition of red drum adult abundance and fishery performance (i.e., fishing mortality). Although these metrics were not red in the last three years of the assessment, indicating the stock was not overfished nor experiencing overfishing, consistent yellow fishery performance metrics indicated increasing fishing mortality in recent years. Continued monitoring of the northern stock and the increasing trend in fishing mortality is recommended in future years through updates to the TLA.
 
Red drum fisheries are predominately recreational. Removals (harvest + dead discards) increased to relatively high levels at the end of the assessment time series for both stocks. In the northern stock, removals have increased to time series highs. In the southern stock, they have increased to levels similar to time series highs observed in the early 1980s.
 
Commercial landings currently only occur in the northern stock, but are a small proportion of total removals and have fluctuated without trend.
 
The Commission’s Sciaenids Management Board accepted the benchmark stock assessment and peer review reports for management use and tasked the Red Drum Technical Committee with additional analyses to evaluate possible paths forward for red drum management.
 
A more detailed description of the stock assessment results, as well as the Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Reports, will be available on the Commission website athttps://asmfc.org/species/red-drum under Stock Assessment Reports.
 
For more information on the stock assessment, please contact Jeff Kipp, Senior Stock Assessment Scientist, at jkipp@asmfc.org; and for more information on red drum management, please contact Tracey Bauer, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at tbauer@asmfc.org.