October 23, 2023 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related to whiting and groundfish stocks.  The public is invited to listen live.  Here are the details.

WHEN:  Friday, October 27, 2023

WHERE:  Hilton Garden Inn Boston Logan Airport.  This is an in-person meeting, coupled with a webinar option.  Please do not attend this meeting in person if you do not feel well.

START TIME:  9:30 a.m.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live.  There is no charge to join the meeting through this webinar.  The Remote Participation Guide is posted here.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (631) 992-3221.  The access code is 957-827-573.  Your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will meet to:

October 16, 2023 — The New England Fishery Management Council is seeking qualified candidates to serve on its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC).  The application deadline is December 20, 2023.

• SSC appointments are for three years with a limit of three consecutive terms. The term under this request for nominations will begin in January 2024 and end December 2026.
• SSC members receive a daily stipend for meetings and are reimbursed for travel expenses.
• Nominees must submit:

• • A resume or CV, including the length and type of relevant experience;
  • A brief letter of interest describing reasons for wanting to join the SSC; and
  • A completed Statement of Financial Interest Form.

• All materials must be received by December 20, 2023 and should be sent via email or mail to Joan O’Leary at:
  • joleary@nefmc.org;
  • New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950

SSC nominees should have expertise in stock assessment methods, population dynamics, statistics, fisheries biology, marine ecology, economics, or other social sciences as they apply to fisheries management. SSC members are expected to provide independent, scientific advice to the Council.

The purpose of the SSC is to assist the Council in the development, collection, evaluation, and peer review of statistical, biological, economic, social, and other scientific information relevant to the development of fishery management plans. The committee may:

• Provide guidance to ensure that fishery management plans are based on the best scientific information available.
• Provide the Council with scientific advice for fishery management decisions, including recommendations for acceptable biological catch, overfishing limits, and achieving rebuilding targets, as well as social and economic impacts of management measures.
• Provide peer reviews of regional scientific work, and methods and analyses prepared by the Council’s Plan Development Teams. Individuals may be appointed to serve on regional peer review panels, including for stock assessments.
• Advise the Council on the preparation of comments on scientific issues.

More information is available in the Council’s Operations Handbook. If you have questions or need further details, please contact Rachel Feeney: rfeeney@nefmc.org; (978) 465-0492 ext. 110.

October 10, 2023 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council received the peer-reviewed results of the 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track Assessment when it met in late-September in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The results provide a new understanding of cod stock structure, which will guide the Council’s work in the year ahead as it develops an Atlantic Cod Management Transition Plan.

The Council also: (1) approved the Transboundary Management Guidance Committee’s 2024 total allowable catch recommendations for three shared U.S./Canada groundfish resources on Georges Bank; and (2) was The Atlantic Cod Research Track Assessment Working Group and Peer Review Panel determined that cod is comprised of four biological stock units, which cover: the Eastern Gulf of Maine; the Western Gulf of Maine (winter/spring spawners); Georges Bank; and Southern New England. – Working Group graphic presented with updates on two framework adjustments to the groundfish plan that are under development.

Atlantic Cod Stock Structure

The Council currently makes management decisions for Atlantic cod based on two biological stock units – one for Georges Bank and one for the Gulf of Maine

However, a years-long investigation into cod stock structure that led to a series of workshops and recently culminated with the 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track Stock Assessment concluded that cod is better defined by four biological stock units:

• Eastern Gulf of Maine;

• Western Gulf of Maine (winter/spring spawners);

• Georges Bank; and

• Southern New England.

Going forward, overfished and overfishing determinations will be made separately for each of the four biological stock units. The first official status determination for each stock will be driven by the outcome of the June 2024 Management Track Stock Assessments for Atlantic cod.

Now that the results of the research track assessment are known, the Council’s work will ramp up as it addresses how to manage cod under this new understanding of cod stock structure. The Council is working on an Atlantic Cod Management Transition Plan through which it will develop criteria for future management units and quota allocation issues, among other topics. Here is the tentative timeline:

January through April 2024 – The Council will work on a first draft of the transition plan, which will include a discussion of whether potential management changes should be addressed through a framework adjustment or an amendment to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan (FMP); and Ø

May through August 2024 – The Council will continue to work on the transition plan. At this point, it will discuss whether any management changes should be incorporated into the annual framework action that will be developed over the summer and fall with specifications and other measures for the 2025 groundfish fishing year, which will begin on May 1, 2025.

October 4, 2023 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet to discuss issues related to Atlantic sea scallops, Gulf of Maine haddock, and the Northeast skate complex.  The public is invited to listen live.  Here are the details.

October 2, 2023 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has agreed to develop an amendment to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to minimize user conflicts in the fishery and address other issues.

In preparation for this action, the Council also agreed to develop a scoping document and schedule a series of scoping meetings to receive initial input from stakeholders on the potential range of alternatives to be considered in the amendment.

HERRING AMENDMENT 10: The Council has been working on an action that previously was referred to as “revisiting the Inshore Midwater Trawl Restricted Area that was developed under Amendment 8.” The restricted area was implemented but subsequently vacated by a federal court on March 29, 2022.

During its September 25-28, 2023 meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Council voted to change the title of the new action to “an action to minimize user conflicts related to the Atlantic herring fishery.”

The Council already had approved a problem statement to guide this work, and it expanded the scope of the action when it met in June in Freeport, Maine.

At the September meeting, the Council took the additional step of designating the action as an amendment to, more specifically, “address spatial and temporal allocation and management of Atlantic herring at the management unit level to minimize user conflicts, contribute to optimum yield, and support rebuilding of the resource.”

September 28, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council covered several Atlantic sea scallop and habitat issues during its September 25-28, 2023 meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Details follow on pages 2 through 5, but at-a-glance, the list of discussion items included:

• A high-level overview of findings from the 2023 scallop survey season conducted under the Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program;

• A snapshot of access area and closed area options being analyzed in Framework Adjustment 38 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan, which contains specifications for the 2024 fishing year, default specification for 2025, and other measures;

• A vote to develop options in Framework 38 to increase vessel monitoring system (VMS) ping rates in the scallop fishery to improve enforcement;

• Approval of the Scallop Survey Working Group’s Scallop Survey Guiding Principles;

• A presentation from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center covering fishery independent surveys, including 2023 federal scallop survey issues and future R/V Hugh R. Sharp contingency plans;

• A progress report on the framework action being developed to potentially authorize scallop fishery access to the Closed Area II Habitat Closure Area on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank, as well as a charge to the Scallop and Habitat Plan Development Teams (PDTs) to analyze four conceptual areas for potential scallop access on the Northern Edge factoring in habitat concerns;

September 27, 2023 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has voted up a new set of specifications for the Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery for the 2024 through 2027 fishing years. The Council’s package maintains total allowable landings at 2,000 metric tons annually, which is roughly equivalent to 4.41 million pounds. This is the same landing limit implemented for fishing years 2020-2023. The fishing year for deep-sea red crab begins on March 1.

The Council’s decision was based on a recommendation from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), which supported a 2,000-metric-ton acceptable biological catch (ABC) for this fishery. The SSC and Council both considered the findings of the 2023 Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Management Track Stock Assessment before making decisions.

The fishery for Atlantic deep-sea red crab typically consists of four active vessels operating out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, which is where the product is processed.

The fishery is market driven, and landings often do not reflect availability of the resource but, rather, the limitation on market outlets. Market demand has increased in recent years, as has the carapace width of landed crabs, which also is likely due to market demand.

September 26, 2023 — The following was released by New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council opened its September 25-28, 2023 meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts by congratulating reappointed Council members and welcoming a new member to the table. The Council also held its annual election of officers.

Three current members were reappointed to serve an additional three-year term on the Council. They are:

• John Pappalardo of Massachusetts, who is beginning his third full term as an at-larger Council member;

• Daniel Salerno of New Hampshire, who is beginning his second term as an at-large member; and

• Alan Tracy of Maine, who is beginning his second term on the Council as an at-large member.

Jackie Odell of Massachusetts was appointed to her first three-year term on the Council in an at-large seat. All four members took the oath of office at the meeting’s start. NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator Mike Pentony administered the oath. The new terms run from August 11, 2023 through August 10, 2026.

LEADERSHIP: For the third year in a row, the Council unanimously ushered in Eric Reid and Rick Bellavance, both from Rhode Island, to lead the Council Chair Eric Reid, left, and Vice Chair Rick Bellavance, right. – NEFMC photo Council as chair and vice chair.

Eric is a fisheries consultant based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He was the Council’s vice chair for two years before taking over as chair. Over his 54- year career in commercial and recreational fisheries, he has been actively engaged in all facets of the industry both at sea and shoreside. He previously owned and operated his own vertically integrated business for 11 years. Chair Reid is a founding member of several industry organizations and serves as the New England Council’s liaison to the Mid-Atlantic Council. He also is a U.S. commissioner to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and serves as Rhode Island State Senator Susan Sosnowski’s proxy on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). This summer, Eric was appointed to NOAA’s newly established Marine and Coastal Area-Based Management Advisory Committee, which advises the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

Rick Bellavance is the owner/operator of Priority Charters, LLC, a charter fishing business located in Point Judith. A lifelong Rhode Island resident, he has engaged in a variety of recreational and commercial fishing industries for over 30 years and currently serves as the president of the Rhode Island Party and Charter Boat Association. Rick is a member of the Greater Atlantic Steering Committee for the Marine Resource Education Program (MREP). He strongly supports improvements to the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). Rick represents the Council on the NOAA Fisheries Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of ICCAT, as well as several Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Council committees.