April 26, 2022 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The supplemental materials for the May 4th meeting of the Atlantic Striped Management Board are now available athttp://www.asmfc.org/files/
The supplemental materials for the remaining boards and committees meeting next week will be available tomorrow at http://www.asmfc.org/home/
October 19, 2017 — NORFOLK, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has approved Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Tautog, which includes new management goals and objectives, biological reference points, fishing mortality targets, and stock rebuilding schedules. The Amendment institutes a fundamental change in tautog management, moving away from coastwide management towards regional management. Specifically, the Amendment delineates the stock into four regions due to differences in biology and fishery characteristics: Massachusetts – Rhode Island (MARI); Long Island Sound (LIS); New Jersey – New York Bight (NJ-NYB); and Delaware – Maryland – Virginia (DelMarVa).
The 2016 stock assessment update indicated that all regions except MARI were overfished, and overfishing was occurring in the LIS and NJ-NYB regions in 2015. As such, LIS and NJ-NYB would be required to take harvest reductions, while MARI and DelMarVa would not have to take harvest reductions, but are proposing regional measures.
Amendment 1 replaces the goal of the FMP to sustainably manage tautog over the long-term using regional differences in biology and fishery characteristics as the basis for management. Additionally, the Amendment seeks to promote the conservation and enhancement of structured habitat to meet the needs of all stages of tautog’s life cycle. The plan objectives were modified to achieve this new goal.
Under Amendment 1 the four regions will implement measures to achieve the regional fishing mortality target with at least a 50% probability. No consistent schedule is required to achieve targets, but if the current fishing mortality exceeds the regional threshold, the Board must initiate corrective action within one year. A stock rebuilding schedule can be established via an addendum.
In addition, Amendment 1 establishes a commercial harvest tagging program to address an illegal, unreported and undocumented fishery. The tagging program will be implemented in 2019. Reports of illegally harvested fish have been documented in cases against fishermen, fish houses, and at retail markets and restaurants. The tagging program, which will accommodate both the live and dead commercial markets, was recommended by the Commission’s Law Enforcement Committee to increase accountability in the fishery and curb illegal harvest. Tags will be applied by the commercially-permitted harvester at harvest or prior to offloading. Tautog must be landed in the state that is identified on the tag.
The states will submit implementation proposals by December 1, 2017 and all measures in the Amendment except for the commercial tagging program will be implemented by April 1, 2018. The commercial tagging program must be implemented by January 1, 2019.
The final Amendment will be posted to the Commission’s website on the Tautog webpage the week of October 31st. For more information, please contact Caitlin Starks, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at cstarks@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
A PDF version of the press release can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file//59e8e8b5pr52TautogAmendment1_Approval.pdf.
October 19, 2017 — NORFOLK, Virginia — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Today, member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) thanked Douglas Grout of New Hampshire for an effective two-year term as Chair and elected James J. Gilmore, Jr. of New York to succeed him.
“I am honored by the support of my colleagues from the 15 Atlantic coast states, and grateful to Doug for shepherding the Commission through two challenging years,” said Mr. Gilmore. “I embrace the challenges that lie ahead and pledge to rise up to the lofty expectations set by my predecessors – especially Doug. Environmental and political threats to fisheries and management for the 15 sovereign coast states have never been greater. As the Commission has always done, we must use these obstacles as stepping stones. I will ensure the voices of our many stakeholders – recreational, commercial, and conservation alike – are heard. The Commission must seek ways to ensure the integrity of our management process is protected, strengthen our collaboration with NOAA Fisheries, and continue forging alliances on Capitol Hill. With all the challenges facing the Commission, it’s all too easy to lose sight of our Vision: Sustainably Managing Atlantic Coastal Fisheries. Our Vision must guide the Commission through all its decisions.”
Under Mr. Grout’s chairmanship, the Commission made important strides in furthering its strategic goals. The Commission approved new plan amendments for northern shrimp and tautog and, by the end of the year, will likely adopt an important amendment for Atlantic menhaden and a new Cobia FMP. Commission science staff along with state and federal scientists completed benchmark stock assessments for Atlantic sturgeon, Atlantic croaker, spot, red drum; stock assessment updates for American eel, menhaden and river herring; and regional stock assessments and an assessment update for tautog. All of these have provided much needed insight into the health of these species, as well as identified the continued challenges of assessing fish stocks given limited data and increasingly complex stock assessment models.
The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) is now fully integrated under the Commission’s umbrella. State conduct of the Marine Recreational Information Program’s Access Point Angler Intercept Survey is well into its second year and is estimated to have increased the number of angler intercepts by nearly 10%. ACCSP has been collaborating with NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Office on an integrated reporting system, which will allow all related fisheries-dependent data collected from various sources, including vessel, observer, and dealer reports, to be linked. ACCSP has also been working closely with the Mid-Atlantic Council on launching its mandatory for-hire electronic reporting system and have begun discussions with the South Atlantic Council on its efforts to move to for-hire electronic reporting.
The Commission’s Habitat Committee and the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership continue to advance our understanding of the importance of the fisheries-habitat connection and provide us and habitat managers with tools to further habitat conservation. The Habitat Committee released the Sciaenid Fish Habitat Source Document, the most comprehensive compilation of habitat information to date on Commission-managed and other common sciaenid species found throughout the Western Atlantic. ACFHP completed its 5-year Conservation Strategic Plan and 2-year Conservation Action Plan which include goals, objectives, strategies, and actions to restore and enhance Atlantic coastal, estuarine, and diadromous fish habitat through conservation, science and data, outreach and communication, and financial initiatives. The Commission’s Law Enforcement Committee continued to coordinate enforcement activities directed at illegal glass eel harvest and to respond to lobster industry concerns about illegal activity in federal waters by working with our federal partners to place lobster as a high priority for federal enforcement and joint enforcement agreement activities.
Mr. Gilmore has served as Director of the Division of Marine Resources for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the past ten years. As a respected marine scientist and fisheries manager with more than 40 years of experience in both the public and private sector, Mr. Gilmore has built a reputation as a coalition builder and skilled negotiator. Mr. Gilmore is also an Executive Committee member of the New York Sea Grant Board of Directors and holds an adjunct faculty position at SUNY Stony Brook, where he teaches a graduate level fisheries management course. Most importantly, he is an avid marine angler, dividing his efforts between Long Island Sound’s south shore and southern New Jersey. Mr. Gilmore received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from SUNY Plattsburgh and a Master’s in Marine Science from SUNY Stony Brook.
The Commission also elected Patrick Keliher, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, as its Vice-Chair.