March 23, 2016 — A National Marine Monument for New England. Should the President designate the Cashes Ledge Closed Area and the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts as the first Marine National Monument in the Atlantic? Come and hear experts Vito Giacalone from the Northeast Seafood Coalition and Peter Shelley of Conservation Law Foundation tackle the issues and the controversies surrounding Presidential action. A Panel with Vito Giacalone,
MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fishermen face ‘devastating’ cod cut
March 23, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The city’s commercial fishing industry — battered by last month’s arrest of magnate Carlos Rafael on federal conspiracy charges, last week’s drug raids on the waterfront and ongoing monitoring costs — took another punch to the gut this week, as government regulators proposed new cuts to cod catches that could take effect May 1.
“Those cuts will be devastating to the groundfishing fleet of New Bedford, and the whole New England coast,” said John Haran, manager of groundfish Sector 13.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in conjunction with the New England Fishery Management Council, released a proposed update Monday to the federal management plan for the northeastern fishery.
The proposal includes updated catch quotas and fishing limits for the fishery’s 20 groundfish stocks — including cod, flounder, haddock and more — for the next three years. The 2016 groundfish year starts May 1.
The proposal includes a new, 62-percent reduction from last year in the allowable catch for Georges Bank cod, a key species for the New Bedford fishing industry.
“Our fleet is entirely concentrated on Georges Bank West cod,” Haran said, referring to boats not only in his sector, but also in New Bedford-based sectors 7, 8 and 9.
“We also fish for Georges Bank East cod, but not as much,” said Haran, who is running for Select Board member in Dartmouth.
The proposal allows a total catch limit of 762 metric tons of Georges Bank cod in the 2016 fishing year. The total catch limit for Georges Bank haddock, by comparison, is 56,068 metric tons — an increase of 130 percent from a year ago.
Haran said the problem is that cod is a “choke species,” because once a crew reaches its quota for cod, it can no longer fish for other species, such as haddock, because everything is caught at the same time.
Environmentalists, fishermen question new cod fishing rules
March 22, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Environmentalists and commercial fishermen both say they are fearful of proposed changes to the federal rules that govern New England’s beleaguered cod fishing industry.
The rules govern an industry that has fed New England for centuries and is now in steep decline. Most codfish sold to consumers in the region now come from foreign countries such as Norway, Iceland and Russia.
Cod is closely associated with fish and chips.
Regulators who typically split New England’s cod into two stocks want to slightly raise the Gulf of Maine quota but more dramatically cut the Georges Bank quota for the coming fishing year. The catch limit would rise 30 percent, to 500 metric tons, in the Gulf and fall nearly two thirds, to 762 metric tons, on Georges.
The quota cut on Georges Bank also would make it difficult for fishermen to pursue other, higher-quota species such as haddock and pollock, said Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. Fishermen also must stop fishing for other species when the cod quota is met.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Seattle Times
NOAA Fisheries Seeks Comments on Proposed Groundfish Catch Limits and Modifications to the At-Sea Monitoring Program
March 23, 2016 — We are seeking public comment on a proposed rule that would set 2016-2018 catch limits for all 20 groundfish stocks, adjust the groundfish at-sea monitoring program, and adopt several sector measures.
Catch Limits
The new catch limits proposed for all 20 groundfish stocks are based on stock assessments conducted in late 2015.
The proposed allocations for Gulf of Maine cod, Georges Bank cod, Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder, and witch flounder could limit the operation of the groundfish fishery. However, these reductions are necessary to prevent overfishing for these stocks, which are all at historically low levels.
Based on the proposed allocation increases for Gulf of Maine haddock (150 percent) and Gulf of Maine cod (30 percent), we are proposing trip limit increases and season extensions for the recreational groundfish fishery in a separate action.
At-Sea Monitoring
The 2016 fishing year (May 1, 2016, through April 30, 2017) is the first full year that sectors will be responsible for the costs of at-sea monitoring. We worked with the New England Fishery Management Council to develop a set of reasonable modifications to the at-sea monitoring program to make the program more cost-effective while still reliably meeting monitoring groundfish catch.
The proposed changes include:
- Elimination of the coverage requirement for certain sector trips with low groundfish bycatch;
- Adjustment of method NOAA Fisheries uses to set the annual coverage level to use more years of discard information and stock health to predict coverage levels; and
- Reduction of the target at-sea monitoring coverage level of 14 percent for the 2016 fishing year (down from 24 percent for 2015).
Snowy start to demolition for $55 million SMAST expansion in New Bedford’s South End
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (March 22, 2016) — Monday morning’s snow didn’t change plans for the demolition of the Naval Reserve building in the South End, as an excavator sorted through piles of rubble amid falling flakes to get work rolling on the $55 million expansion of UMass Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST).
Broad sections of the two-story reserve building, which most recently housed SMAST offices, lay in heaps Monday. Michael West, assistant superintendent with Everett-based construction contractor BOND, said demolition of the two-story building should take another one or two days. As he spoke, crews sorted rubble into separate piles of copper, steel, heavy metal and more at the site on South Rodney French Boulevard.
“The main goal is to recycle as much of the old building as we possibly can,” West said.
NFI and Maine Lawmaker Ask Sweden for Restraint in Proposal to Ban Live Lobster Imports
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] By Michael Ramsingh — March 21, 2016 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and a Maine lawmaker are asking for restraint on the part of Swedish officials who have proposed an outright import ban on live lobsters from North America.
Earlier this month Norway and Sweden proposed to ban live lobster imports from North America after several Homarus americanus species were found alive in Swedish waters. The basis for the import ban was environmental and considered the lobsters an invasive species.
However, the NFI’s President John Connelly issued a statement on behalf of its membership asking for Swedish and EU officials to carefully consider the potential of widespread fallout from such a trade restriction.
Following is Connelly’s statement:
It is important to note that there is no EU ban on imported live lobsters from North America. Sweden has raised the specter of such a prohibition but no embargo has been implemented.
We will work with our European colleagues to better appreciate their apprehensions. We need to understand how 32 lobsters found in EU waters over an 8-year period constitutes an “invasion.”
We will also work to identify credible, science-based solutions to reduce the chances of live North American lobsters entering EU waters.
The lobster trade has had a positive economic impact on both trading partners for many years. North American lobster exports to the EU generate about $139 million and are a favorite with consumers across Europe. North American lobsters mean jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
As the U.S. works on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Canadians implement their own groundbreaking agreement with the EU, we expect the European Commission to consider the least costly solution in addressing concerns.
Europeans releasing live lobsters into the sea, after arrival from North America, is a local law enforcement issue and perhaps not part of an international commerce dispute that could cripple mutually beneficial trade in lobsters. If locals break local laws, let’s not escalate this to a continent-wide ban on trade in lobsters.
Maine Congresswoman Chelli Pingree also took issue with the proposed ban.
“This is a complete overreaction on the part of Sweden. We have safely exported live lobster to dozens of countries for decades, and even if it’s true that a few Maine lobsters have been found in foreign waters, regulators need to look at the problem more carefully and not just jump to conclusions,” said Pingree. “The idea that somehow lobsters are going to jump out of their tanks and crawl into the sea and survive just doesn’t make sense,” Pingree said. “Some reports have suggested that it’s actually consumers who have bought lobsters and thrown them in the ocean. Whatever the cause, EU officials should figure out what’s really happening before jumping to any conclusions.”
The discussion on how best to address this problem has barely started, and it will likely be months before any further updates are forthcoming from the EU. Although some Northern European countries are supporting the Swedish request, it is highly likely that it will be opposed by many southern European countries who have been importing large volumes of North American lobster for many years with no environmental issues whatsoever.
This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.
STATE REP. BILL STRAUS: Impact of the federal fisheries arrests in New Bedford
March 22, 2016 — By now the local reaction to the waterfront arrests in New Bedford of one of the port’s major figures has begun to shift to inevitable questions of the role of the federal government in the regulation of commercial fishing. Operating under federal law, the current groundfish system of control, the so-called “catch shares” plan, began with Amendment 16 in 2009 by vote of the New England Fishery Management Council. This intricate system of allocating by fish species what can be caught and landed by licensed federal permit holders has clearly changed the market economics for New England fishing; a rapid concentration of fish permit holders has led to what functions as a government-created near monopoly. The fact that a single owner now controls at least 40 New England groundfish permits means that one person’s actions, whether driven by good or bad motives, reverberates through the regional economy.
We need to remember that this discussion is critical to the future of our port, and in my mind is distinct from the ultimate guilt or innocence of those charged to date. The presumption of innocence holds for anyone accused of a crime and they are entitled to a vigorous defense on their behalf. Regardless of the outcome of those proceedings, however, our port’s future depends on candidly looking at whether there has been a detrimental role played by the government’s regulations and how we got to this point. After all, the Port of New Bedford has a key role in the movement of seafood nationally; NOAA statistics for 2014 identify the port’s product value for landings at $327 million overall of which $251 million is from scallops. Using a conservative economic multiplier, the value to our local economy is over $600 million a year. By comparison, Gloucester’s seafood dollar value is only one-seventh of ours at $46 million during the same period.
The public documents now available online growing out of the New Bedford prosecutions point to a pattern of deceptive behavior where catch share quotas for specific types of fish were allegedly misreported for private economic gain. Because this type of behavior is alleged to be overseen by someone who owns and controls the most permits, the local groundfish industry in New Bedford is therefore more vulnerable and susceptible. That is a departure from history, where a diverse port economy relied on the decisions of many stakeholders. I don’t believe this concentration is a good thing for the overwhelming majority of those who look to and depend upon the seafood industry. Whatever is occurring at sea with respect to the science of habitat quality, species survival and sustainability is one thing; its quite another for a port’s success or failure to be put in jeopardy as a result of a narrow band of ownership encouraged by the Federal regulations adopted to protect the fisheries.
Read the full opinion piece at The New Bedford Standard-Times
Study eyes fisheries for menhaden— a key forage fish
March 21, 2016 — Gloucester, Mass. — Interstate fishing managers will commission a study of the commercial fisheries for Atlantic menhaden, an important forage fish that is caught all along the East Coast.
Menhaden are an important bait fish and are also caught for use as fish oil and fish meal. States from Maine to Florida have been the site of commercial fisheries for menhaden in the past ten years.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The San Francisco Chronicle
Maine Shutting Down Scallop Grounds For The Season
Maine (March 21, 2016) — Maine fishing regulators are shutting down a host of areas where fishermen harvest the state’s valuable scallops.
The scalloping grounds will close for the year on Sunday. The scalloping season began in December and is scheduled to close for the year next month. The scallops tend to become more difficult to find in stores as the state closes down fishing areas.
The closing areas include the Inner Machias Area, Wohoa/Western Bay, Gouldsboro/Dyer Bay, Upper Blue Hill Bay/Union River, the Inner Jericho Bay Area and Eggemoggin Reach/Southeast Harbor Rotational Area. Casco Bay will be closed to dragging, but not diving for scallops.
Scallop-rich Cobscook Bay is also scheduled to full close for the year by March 25.
Maine scallops were worth about $5.75 million last year.
REP. FRANK GUINTA: Federal regulations are sinking New Hampshire’s historic fishing industry
March 21, 2016 — On New Hampshire’s Seacoast, Granite State fishermen tell the tale of an out-of-control federal agency more dangerous than any sea monster.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration severely limits their catch of ground fish, flounder and cod that dwell in the Gulf of Maine. International competitors face fewer rules and supply most U.S. seafood.
Dave Goethel of the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative in Seabrook estimates that NOAA, which manages U.S. fisheries and the president’s climate change agenda, has reduced his catch by 95 percent.
He tells me many of his friends have quit or taken early retirement. Young Granite Staters interested in maritime careers no longer consider our state’s 400-year-old tradition.
What seaman nowadays would brave such treacherous regulatory waters?
On March 1, NOAA implemented fees around New England that will hit New Hampshire fishermen, mostly small boat operators, hardest. Only a few remain on the United States’ shortest coastline.
In her explanation to me, the agency’s chief administrator, Kathryn Sullivan, estimates that new fees for at-sea monitors could amount to $710 per day.
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