Saving Seafood

MAFMC Webinar Meeting: December 14-17, 2020

November 19, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet by webinar December 14-17, 2020. Portions of the meeting will be conducted jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board and Bluefish Management Board. Briefing documents and presentations will be posted on the December 2020 Council Meeting Page as they become available.

Agenda: A detailed agenda is available here. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include:

  • 2021 Implementation Plan
  • SSC Economic Work Group Report
  • Council Recusal Process
  • Habitat Updates
  • 2021 Recreational Specifications for Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Summer Flounder, and Bluefish
  • Recreational Reform Initiative Updates
  • Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Commercial/Recreational Allocation Amendment – Public Hearing Document Approval
  • Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment and Draft Addendum XXXIII – Final Action
  • Atlantic Right Whale Update

Public Comments: Written comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or via email, mail, or fax (see this page for details). Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 to be included in the briefing book. Comments submitted after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on December 10, 2020 will be posted as supplemental materials. After that date, comments may only be submitted using the form below.

Webinar: Join the webinar during the meeting at http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/december2020/. Please note that participants will be required to use the Adobe Connect application. The browser option will not be available. You can download the application for Windows here and for Mac here. If you do not have the application, you will be prompted to download and install it when you click the webinar link. We recommend checking your system in advance, as it may take a few minutes to download. More detailed instructions are available on the meeting page. For telephone-only access, dial 800-832-0736 and enter room number 7833942# when prompted.

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

Feds to allow same level of bluefish fishing in 2021

November 6, 2020 — Fishermen in the U.S. will be allowed to bring about the same amount of bluefish to the docks in the coming year under a proposal from the federal government.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it’s proposing keeping catch limits for the fish at mostly status quo. Bluefish is a popular food fish that is also prized by sport fishermen.

Commercial fishermen from New England to Florida brought more than 2.6 million pounds of the fish to docks in 2019. The largest producer of the fish was North Carolina, where the largest share of the fish came to docks.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed 2021 Bluefish Specifications

November 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is proposing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended catch specifications for the 2021 bluefish fishery. These proposed catch limits are mostly status quo, with only slight changes in the final recreational harvest limit to account for most recent (2019) recreational catch data. A summary of the Council’s recommended specifications is shown in Table 1.

The commercial fishery state allocations for 2021 (Table 2) are based on the final coast-wide commercial quota, and the allocated percentages defined in the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan. No states exceeded their state allocated quota in 2019 or are projected to do so in 2020, so no adjustments are necessary for the 2021 commercial fishery.

All other management measures and requirements, including the recreational daily bag limit of 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels, would remain unchanged.

For more details on the proposed specifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. The comment period is open through November 20, 2020.

Read the full release here

Reminder: October 2020 Council Meeting This Week, October 5-8, 2020

October 5, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

As a reminder, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold its October Council meeting this week, October 5-8, 2020. Due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19, this meeting will be held by webinar.

An agenda, briefing materials, and webinar connection instructions are available on the October 2020 Council Meeting page. The meeting will begin today at 1:00 p.m. with a meeting of the Executive Committee to discuss the 2021 Implementation Plan. Other topics to be addressed this week include:

  • Spiny Dogfish 2021-2022 Specifications
  • Chub Mackerel 2021 Specifications Review
  • Executive Order 13921 Recommendations
  • Research Priorities Update
  • Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management Updates
  • Joint Council/SSC Meeting
  • Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment
  • Recreational Reform Initiative

IMPORTANT WEBINAR UPDATE: For this meeting we will be requiring participants to use the Adobe Connect application. The browser option will not be available. You can download the application for Windows here and for Mac here, or you will be prompted to download the application when you click the link below to join the meeting. We recommend connecting early to ensure that you have the necessary software installed. Additional details and troubleshooting tips can be found in our webinar guide. For telephone-only access, dial 800-832-0736 and enter room number 7833942#.

October 2020 Webinar Link: http://mafmc.adobeconnect.com/october2020/

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

MAFMC Webinar Meeting: October 5-8, 2020

September 15, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The next meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will be held October 5-8, 2020. Due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19, this meeting will be held by webinar.

A detailed agenda is available here. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include:

  • 2021 Implementation Plan – Draft Actions and Deliverables
  • Spiny Dogfish 2021-2022 Specifications
  • Chub Mackerel 2021 Specifications Review
  • Executive Order 13921 Recommendations
  • Research Priorities Update
  • Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management Updates
  • Joint Council/SSC Meeting
  • Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment
  • Recreational Reform Initiative
  • Proposed Rule for the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Update

Briefing documents and webinar connection details will be posted on the October 2020 Council Meeting Page as they become available.

Written comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or via email, mail, or fax (see this page for details). Written comments must be received by 11:59 p.m. on September 23, 2020 to be included in the briefing book. Comments received after this date but before 5:00 p.m. on October 1, 2020 will be posted as supplemental materials on the Council meeting web page. After that date, comments may only be submitted using the online comment form below.

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 518-1143.

Meeting Summaries and Motions from the Joint ASMFC/MAFMC August Meeting Webinar

August 14. 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Meeting summaries and motions from the Joint meeting of the MAFMC and ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass and Bluefish Boards are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/ASMFC_Bluefish_SFlounderScupBSBBoard_MAFMCMtgSummary_Aug2020.pdf. The document can also be obtained on the Commission website on the Meeting Archives page at http://www.asmfc.org/home/meeting-archive.  Presentations and briefing materials are available on the MAFMC website at: https://www.mafmc.org/briefing/august-2020.

Feds: White hake, winter flounder overfished

July 30, 2020 — Gulf of Maine white hake, Georges Bank winter flounder and Atlantic Coast bluefish have been added to a list of fish stocks considered “overfishered,” according to a federal government report.

The report, released Tuesday, also said that the list of fish stocks subject to overfishing in the U.S. fell to an all-time low in 2019.

The National Marine Fisheries Service tracks the health of species that U.S. fishermen seek for commercial and recreational fishing. The agency places stocks on its overfishing list when the rate of catch is too big.

The agency determined that only 22 of 321 fishing stocks were subject to overfishing last year, the agency said on Tuesday. Fish stocks are sub-populations of fish species that typically live in a geographic area.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NOAA: number of US stocks on the overfishing list reach record low in 2019

July 30, 2020 — Ninety-three percent of the 321 US fishing stocks where a determination can be made are not subject to overfishing, according to figures released Tuesday by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in its Fisheries Economics of the United States 2019 report.

The report outlines the status of managed stocks or stock complexes in the US to determine which stocks are subject to overfishing, are overfished, or are rebuilt to sustainable levels.

NOAA Fisheries manages 461 stocks or stock complexes in 46 fishery management plans. Each year, it determine the status of fish stocks and stock complexes through stock assessments. Of 461 stocks and stock complexes, 321 have a known overfishing status and 244 have a known overfished status.

At the end of 2019, there were 22 stocks on the overfishing list and 46 on the overfished list.

Read the full story at IntraFish

NOAA Fisheries Announces Revised 2020-2021 Bluefish Specifications and Recreational Management Measures

June 26, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is implementing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended revised bluefish specifications and recreational management measures for 2020 and 2021. These catch limits are reduced to account for the results of the recent operational assessment and prevent overfishing on the now overfished bluefish stock.

The commercial total allowable landings are reduced by 25 percent, from 3.71 to 2.77 million pounds, and the recreational total allowable landings are reduced by 39 percent, from 15.62 to 9.48 million pounds. There is no sector transfer this year because the recreational fishery is expected to fully attain its harvest limit.

Table 1 (below) provides the commercial fishery state allocations for 2020 based on the final coast-wide commercial quota, and the allocated percentages defined in the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan. No states exceeded their state allocated quota in 2019; therefore, no accountability measures are necessary for the 2020 commercial fishery.

This action also permanently implements the reduced federal bluefish recreational fishery daily bag limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels as established through recent interim measures. All other recreational management measures and commercial management measures remain unchanged.

For more details, please read the rule as filed in the Federal Register, or the bulletin posted on our website.

Read the full release here

Feds eye cutting bluefish catch to avoid overfishing

May 13, 2020 — Federal regulators are considering the East Coast’s harvest of bluefish to prevent overfishing.

Bluefish are popular gamefish that are also harvested commercially for food. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the catch of the oily fish would be reduced by 25%, to about 2.8 million pounds, under the current plan.

The recreational harvest would be cut by nearly 40% to a little less than 9.5 million pounds. The federal bluefish recreational daily bag limit would also be reduced.

Private recreational vessels will face a daily bag limit of three fish per person, and for-hire vessels, such as charter boats, will see a daily bag limit of five fish per person.

Fishermen seek bluefish from Maine to Florida, with North Carolina accounting for the largest share of the harvest in 2018. Commercial fishermen have typically caught between 3 million and 7 million pounds of the fish per year over the last decade.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times