Saving Seafood

Hearings Coming About Increase in Baby Eel Fishing Quota

May 3, 2018 — BREWER, Maine — A proposal to allow Maine‘s elver fishermen to catch more of the baby eels will be up for a public hearing in the state next month.

Fishermen harvest elvers in rivers and streams in Maine so they can be sold to Asian aquaculture companies for use in Japanese food after they’re raised to maturity. Maine’s the only state in the country with a significant fishery for elvers, and fishermen are limited to 9,688 pounds per year.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is considering increasing that total to 11,749 pounds per year. The eels are currently worth more than $2,000 per pound at docks so the increase would mean access to millions of dollars in revenue.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at US News

 

Menhaden Fisheries Coalition: Setting the Record Straight on the Chesapeake Bay Cap

May 1, 2018 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

With another meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) approaching, environmental activist groups are once again circulating commonly repeated falsehoods about the sustainable and responsibly managed Atlantic menhaden fishery.

On April 26, the Pew Charitable Trusts released an analysis including several questionable claims. Most prominently, the piece argues that the menhaden fishery is causing localized depletion in the Chesapeake Bay, and that the fishery is catching too many juvenile menhaden. Neither of these claims, which the analysis uses to justify a cap on the amount of menhaden that can be caught in the Bay, is supported by the latest data from the ASMFC.

Menhaden fishery does not target juveniles

Juvenile menhaden, along with menhaden eggs and larvae, serve as just one of many food sources for species like striped bass and bluefish. They are also not directly targeted by the menhaden fishery. Data from the most recent ASMFC stock assessment shows clearly that the menhaden fishery harvests only a small percentage of menhaden under the age of two, and that the overwhelming majority of the menhaden catch caught in the Chesapeake Bay comprise fish age two and older, which are sexually mature fish.

The data from the latest stock assessment also shows that 92 percent of menhaden are not harvested by the fishery, and are instead left to fulfill their ecological role. Most of the billions of menhaden annually produced die within their first year, either through being eaten by predators or through other kinds of natural mortality.  Billions more remain to reproduce, sustain a well-managed fishery, and serve their ecological role.

There is no scientific evidence for “localized depletion”

There is also no scientific evidence supporting the idea that the menhaden fishery is taking too many from the Chesapeake Bay, a concept known as localized depletion. Localized depletion has been a red herring used by environmentalists for years and has been an issue that has been discussed by fisheries managers for over a decade. The 2005 cap on menhaden harvests in the Bay was designed as an interim, precautionary measure while the Commission studied the potential for localized depletion. However, in the years since the Bay cap was first implemented, studies into whether localized depletion is occurring have been, at best, inconclusive.

The ASMFC has repeatedly acknowledged the lack of firm evidence of localized depletion. In Amendment 3 to the Commission’s menhaden management plan, the ASMFC concluded: “Results from the peer review report in 2009 were unable to conclude localized depletion is occurring in the Chesapeake Bay and noted that, given the high mobility of menhaden, the potential for localized depletion could only occur on a ‘relatively small scale for a relatively short time.'”

Other claims

The analysis argues that menhaden are a critical prey for striped bass, which it describes as “the target of one-third of East Coast recreational fishing trips, generating more than $6 billion in annual economic value.” In fact, a study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science found that menhaden comprise just 13%of the diet of striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay.

The claim that striped bass fishing generates “more than $6 billion in annual economic value” comes from a 2005 Southwick Associates study commissioned by Stripers Forever which, like most evaluations of recreational fishing, treated consumption of goods and services which are not directly related to fishing trips (such as hotels, meals and souvenirs) as “direct” effects, even when recreational fishing comprises only part of a trip or holiday.

All evidence instead points to a menhaden fishery that is sustainably and responsibly managed. According to the most recent ASMFC stock assessment, menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing of the species is not occurring. Unfortunately, groups like Pew continue to promote an inaccurate picture of a healthy fishery.

 

ASMFC: Area 1A Trimester 2 Effort Controls and Meeting Notice

April 27, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts set the effort control measures for the 2018 Area 1A Trimester 2 (June 1 – September 30) fishery as follows:

 Days Out of the Fishery
  • Vessels with a herring Category A permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 Area 1A fishery may land herring four (4) consecutive days a week. One landing per 24 hour period. Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
  • Landing days in New Hampshire and Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.
  • Landings days in Maine begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m.
  • Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with a herring Category C or D permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 fishery may land herring seven (7) consecutive days a week.
 Weekly Landing Limit
  • Vessels with a herring Category A permit may harvest up to 480,000 lbs (12 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week.
  • 80,000 lbs (2 trucks) out of the 480,000 lbs weekly limit can be transferred to a carrier vessel (see below).
 At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions
The following applies to harvester vessels with a herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts port.
  • A harvester vessel can transfer herring at-sea to another catcher vessel.
  • A harvester vessel is limited to making at-sea transfers to only one carrier vessel per week.
  • Carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one catcher vessel per week and can land once per 24 hour period. A carrier vessel may land up to 80,000 lbs (2 trucks) per week. The carrier limit of 2 trucks is not in addition to the harvester weekly landing limit.
  • Carrier vessel: a vessel with no gear on board capable of catching or processing fish.
  • Harvester vessel: a vessel that is required to report the catch it has aboard as the harvesting vessel on the Federal Vessel Trip Report 
  • The initial Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) is 31,962 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for a carryover from 2016 and the research set-aside. The Section allocated 72.8% of the sub-ACL to Trimester 2 and 27.2% to Trimester 3. After incorporating the 295 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the seasonal quotas are 21,192 mt for Trimester 2 and 7,918 mt for Trimester 3. 
  • These effort controls are projected to extend the Trimester 2 fishery through mid-September. Landings will be monitored closely and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the trimester’s quota is projected to be reached.
  • The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort the following days.  
  • Tuesday, June 26 at 10:00 am
  • Tuesday, July 17 at 10:00 am
  • Wednesday, August 8 (time TBD)
  • To join the calls, please dial 888.585.9008 and enter conference room number 845-202-505 when prompted. 
  • The start date and time for the Area 1A Trimester 2 fishery is Sunday, June 3rd at 6:00 p.m. in Maine and Monday, June 4th at 12:01 a.m. in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As a result, fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until June 3 or 4, 2018, depending on the state.  Please contact Megan Ware at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.

A PDF of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/M18_38_AtlHerringDaysOutTri2_April2018.pdf.   

 

Lawsuit challenges fishing methods that could threaten right whales

April 27, 2018 — BOSTON — A noted environmental activist has gone to court to stop the use of vertical buoy fishing lines in Massachusetts waters to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

In a lawsuit filed in late February in U.S. District Court in Boston, Cambridge-based conservationist Richard Maximus Strahan names the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, the commissioners of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, as a representative of its 1,800 members.

The lawsuit is the third filed in federal court this year related to protecting North Atlantic right whales.

Strahan is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop lobstermen’s association members from further lobster pot and gill net commercial fishing operations that could result in the entanglement of any endangered whale or sea turtle, according to the amended complaint. In that same order, Strahan seeks to stop government defendants from licensing those types of commercial fisheries operations unless they can scientifically demonstrate that endangered whales and sea turtles would not be killed or injured.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

 

ASMFC 2018 Spring Meeting Supplemental Materials Now Available

April 26, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Supplemental materials for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spring Meeting are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/home/2018-spring-meeting for the following Boards/Sections (click on “Supplemental” following each relevant committee header to access the information). For ease of access, supplemental meeting materials have combined into one PDF – http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/2018SpringMeeting/SupplementalMaterialsCombined.pdf. NOTE: The Shad and River Herring Management Board, previously scheduled for May 1st (11:15 a.m. – Noon), has been cancelled. The Tautog Management Board will be meeting in its place (same date and time). The Tautog Board’s materials can be accessed through the Board link and is also in the combined supplemental materials file.

Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council –  Revised Draft Agenda and Meeting Overview; Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Draft Public Hearing Document; Draft Amendment to the FMP for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass for Public Comment; Black Sea Bass Management Reform Initiative 

Bluefish Management Board jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council – Draft Agenda

Tautog Management Board – Draft Agenda & Meeting Overview; Draft Proceedings from October 2017; Connecticut 2018 Commercial Measures

Atlantic Herring Section – Technical Committee Task List & Update on River Herring/Shad Catch Caps, Accountability Measures in the Mackerel Fishery, and Potential Impacts on Atlantic Herring

Northern Shrimp Section – Technical Committee Task List

Executive Committee –  Draft Meeting Summary from February 2018

American Lobster Management Board – Technical Committee Task List & Public Comment

Winter Flounder Management Board – Technical Committee Task List; Technical Committee Report on Proposed Aggregate Weekly Limits in the Commercial SNE/MA Fishery; Law Enforcement Committee Guidelines on the Enforceability of Fishery Management Measures

South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board – NOAA Southeast Regional Office Correspondence to ASMFC

As a reminder, Board meeting proceedings will be broadcast daily via webinar beginning April  30th at 10 a.m. and continuing daily until the conclusion of the meeting (expected to be 2:15 p.m.) on Thursday, May 3rd. The webinar will allow registrants to listen to board/section deliberations and view presentations and motions as they occur. No comments or questions will be accepted via the webinar. Should technical difficulties arise while streaming the broadcast the boards/sections will continue their deliberations without interruption. We will attempt to resume the broadcast as soon as possible. Please go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1945339924799258370 to register.

 

Black Sea Bass — The New “War Between the States”

April 9, 2018 — On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, signifying the end of the U.S. Civil War.

One hundred and fifty-three years to the day, north and south are set to do battle yet again, this time over sea bass.

From April 30 through May 3, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) will hold its 2018 spring meeting in Arlington, VA, a city that was once the dividing line between Confederates to the South and the Union Army to the north during the bloodiest war in U.S. history.

Sometime during the first week in May, the ASFMC policy board will address an appeal by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, over the disparity in coastwide black sea bass regulations with New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Late last week, a panel convened by ASMFC officially validated the northern appeal to allow their fight against the southern states to move forward during the first few days of May in Arlington.

Earlier this year, ASFMC’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved Addendum XXX to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan establishing a regional allocation of the coastwide Recreational Harvest Limit (RHL) of black sea bass. The final 6-4 vote across geographic lines separating north and south established three management regions for black sea bass; Massachusetts through New York (61.35% of the RHL), New Jersey as its own state-specific region (30.24% of the RHL), and Delaware through North Carolina (8.41% of the RHL). States within each region are collectively responsible for managing harvest to their regional allocation through cooperative measures.

When ASMFC members were considering their decision during their winter meeting in February, states from Delaware through North Carolina didn’t want New Jersey included in their southern region. On the other hand, northern states were already facing an 11% reduction in black sea bass landings for 2018, where New Jersey alone was expected to get hit with a significantly higher 20% reduction. Though New Jersey historically has the most participation in the black sea bass fishery and qualified for the highest RHL percentage coastwide, delegates from New York through Massachusetts viewed the 20% reduction as a potential liability, so they didn’t want New Jersey part of their northern region either.

Read the full story at The Fisherman

 

New Jersey council sets summer flounder, black sea bass regulations

April 9, 2018 — The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council met Thursday and set summer flounder and black sea bass regulations in front of an overflow crowd at the Bay Avenue Community Center in Stafford Township.

Although black sea bass regulations were set, they may change after the upcoming Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council meeting April 30 to May 3, said Bob Rush, a council member and owner of the Starfish fleet out of Sea Isle City.

That’s where states unhappy with their reduced quota — such as New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island — will make their case that New Jersey should share some of its increased quota with them.

Unlike last year, when flounder regulations were controversial, this year it was sea bass regulations that generated more discussion, Rush said.

Rush said limits on flounder size are the same as last year’s, over which the council fought and won against ASMFC.

But other rules are more liberal this year.

“We are actually getting extra fish and days at sea,” said Rush. “Last year the season ended the beginning of September. This year we are getting an extra week or two out of it.”

But black sea bass rules remain uncertain, said NJMFC acting Chairman Dick Herb, captain of charter boats out of Avalon.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

In wake of menhaden quota increase, some states rejoice as others push back

April 9, 2018 — Changes to the menhaden quota allocation on the East Coast of the U.S.A. have been met by support from some states, while others are pushing back.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) decided in November 2017 to increase the menhaden catch limit from 200,000 metric tons to 216,000 metric tons for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Menhaden typically are utilized for the high amount of omega-3 fats they contain, and their oils are used dietary supplements, animal feed, lipstick, and many other products. The fish also serves as bait for a number of commercial fisheries along the coast, particularly in the crab and lobster industries.

While the overall quota was increased, it was also redistributed. Some states, like Maine, saw their quotas jump enormously.

“Maine’s quota jumped to 2.4 million pounds (1 million kilograms) – 13 times the quota available in 2016 and 2017,” said Jeff Nichols, director of communications for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “The number of harvesters that reported landings associated with Maine’s total allowable catch (TAC) in 2017 is too few to report because of confidentiality provisions in law. However, 17 vessels participated in the episodic event fishery and 13 in the incidental catch fishery, both of which are triggered once the TAC is met.”

An episodic event was triggered last year in Maine, allowing fishermen to catch far more than the typical quota. The Interstate Fishery Management Plan for menhaden allows the Atlantic Menhaden Management board to set aside one percent of the total allowable catch for “episodic events.”

“Episodic events are defined as any instance when a qualified state has reached its individual state quota, prior to 1 September, and has information indicating the presence of unusually large amounts of menhaden in its state waters,” said Max Appelman, fishery management plan coordinator for the ASMFC.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

ASMFC: Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Scheduled for April 25

April 6, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Section members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet on April 25, 2018, to discuss ‘days out’ measures for the 2018 Trimester 2 Area 1A fishing season which occurs from June 1 to September 30. ‘Days out’ measures can include specification of the number of consecutive landings days, weekly landings limits, and restrictions on at-sea transfers. This meeting will take place at the Portland Public Library (Room #5), 5 Monument Square, Portland, ME 04101. The Library opens at 10:00 a.m. and the meeting will start promptly at 10:15 a.m.

Federally permitted Herring Category A vessels must declare into the Area 1A fishery at least 45 days prior to the start of the fishing season. Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal Herring Category C or D permit must declare into the Area 1A fishery by June 1, 2018. States will send additional correspondence regarding the notification procedure. 

The 2018 Area 1A allowable catch limit is 31,962 metric tons after adjusting for a carryover from 2016. The Section sets the seasonal split as 72.8% allocated from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% allocated from October 1 – December 31. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per day harvested from Area 1A until June 1, 2018.

2018 Atlantic Herring Fishing Season Sub-ACLs, NMFS Final Rule: https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/nr/2018/February/18her2018specsphl.html

The draft agenda can be found at: http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/AtlHerringDaysOut_April2018.pdf. Please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mware@asmfc.orgfor more information.

 

New York Lawmakers Go To Bat Over Fisheries Cutbacks

April 5, 2018 — The federal government is proposing a 12 percent reduction for the recreational black sea bass fishery in 2018,  despite the fact that scientists say the black sea bass fishery has been rebuilt to two-and-a-half times what regulators consider to be sustainable, and New York State is fighting back.

State Senator Ken LaValle and State Assemblyman Fred Thiele agree with DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos that “non-compliance is a legitimate remedy” for this cutback, stating that “this action discriminates against the State of New York. It would have a significant adverse effect on the Long Island economy” in a joint statement issued Monday.

“This has not been an isolated case of discrimination against New York State,” they added. “Unfortunately, this is part of a long history of federal action that has strangled the fishing industry in New York to the benefit of other states. DEC advocacy for our fishing industry is long overdue.”

New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut filed an appeal with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over the catch reduction on March 16, and Mr. Seggos expects an answer by late April or early May. He has told the press he plans to litigate the matter if the state does not win the appeal.

“The State of New York should utilize every legal and administrative tool at its disposal to overturn this ill-considered federal proposal,” said Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle. “New York should not be at a disadvantage with other states on the East Coast. Again and again, we have seen politics replace science to the detriment of New York State fishermen, whether they are recreational anglers, charter boat captains, or commercial fishermen. When the federal government is arbitrary and capricious, the state must say “no.”

In late March, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced they had filed an appeal over commercial summer flounder (fluke) quotas set by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and were also looking into taking action on New York’s quotas on black sea bass and bluefish.

For 2018, New York commercial fishing daily trip limits for fluke were set at 50 pounds. New York commercial fishermen are allowed to take just 7.6 percent of the fluke allocated among the mid-Atlantic states. These tight restrictions, compounded by monthly limits aimed at keeping the landings in check throughout the year, led to a closure of commercial fluke fishing here last fall.

Read the full story at the East End Beacon