Saving Seafood

Analyses not ready for at-sea monitoring meetings

March 26, 2018 — Let’s kick off today’s edition of FishOn with a little programming note, courtesy of the New England Fishery Management Council.

If you had planned on traveling to Boston on Monday, March 26, to attend the council’s groundfish advisory panel meeting on at-sea monitoring, don’t. And don’t bother heading down there on Tuesday, either, for the scheduled meeting of the council’s groundfish committee on the same subject.

Actually, you’re free to go to Boston. Just don’t go to the meetings. Due to the fact that there apparently are no more groundfish, the meetings have been postponed. Kidding. Just kidding. We’ve got a whole ocean of groundfish out there.

In fact, the meetings have been postponed to a yet-to-be-determined date in May because there is more work to be done on the technical analyses used as the basis for discussions by both the advisory panel and the groundfish committee as a whole.

“The necessary analyses aren’t ready yet, either for the groundfish committee or the advisory panel, to discuss Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23,” Janice Plante, council spokeswoman, said in a Friday email. “And Amendment 23 was the focus of the meetings.”

The council staff, she said, has been working feverishly to finish the council framework that includes specifications for the upcoming groundfish season, including catch limits for 20 groundfish stocks. They also have been working at trying to complete a separate measure dealing with recreational cod and haddock measures.

Both proposed rules have been published in the Federal Register and regulators are seeking stakeholder comment on both.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

NEFMC: January 30-31, 2018 meeting, Portsmouth, NH

January 23, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a two-day meeting from Tuesday, January 30 through Wednesday, January 31, 2018. The public is invited to listen-in via webinar or telephone.  Here are the details.

MEETING LOCATION: Sheraton Harborside, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801; Sheraton Harborside.

START TIME: The webinar will be activated at 8:00 a.m. each day.  However, please note that the meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday and 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.  The webinar will end at approximately 6:00 p.m. EST or shortly after the Council adjourns each day.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting is available at:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8388599007058128899.

There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8321.

The access code is 767-546-787.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA: The agenda and all meeting materials are available on the Council’s website at:  https://www.nefmc.org/calendar/january-2018-council-meeting.

SPECIAL EVENT: In conjunction with the Council meeting, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) will be hosting a vendor show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Harbor’s Edge Room at the same hotel. The show features 11 monitoring service providers:

  • Four that provide at-sea monitoring services and are involved with the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program; and
  • Seven that provide electronic monitoring

This event was organized by GARFO/NEFSC to help industry members familiarize themselves with available at-sea, electronic, and portside monitoring options that may be needed in the future under the Council’s Omnibus Industry-Funded Monitoring Amendment and, possibly, Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23 further down the road.

SPECIAL EVENT QUESTIONS: Anyone with questions about the vendor show should contact NEFSC’s Nichole Rossi at (508) 495-2128, Nichole.Rossi@noaa.gov. A flyer about the event is available at monitoring service providers.

THREE MEETING OUTLOOK: A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available here.

Learn more about the NEFMC by visiting their site here.