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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 5
January 2007
Monkfish: Major changes on the way in FW 4
GLOUCESTER, MA – For the first time ever, fishermen working in the Northern Fishery Management Area will be subject to very strict monkfish trip limits and days-at-sea once Framework Adjustment 4 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) comes on line May 1. ...continued
Lucky to be alive, fisherman tells his story
I want to speak to the lobstermen who go out fishing and haul traps alone and who don’t have a second set of eyes on the boat. You all hear the stories of people going over and never think it’s going to happen to you. Well it happened to me. I want to tell this story because I hope it might some day save a life. ...continued
Shrimp everywhere; boats taking it slow in tentative market
KENNEBUNK, ME – Shrimp season began on Dec. 1 and was off to a slow start early in the month.
“Our first day of buying was Dec. 11,” said Spencer Fuller of Cozy Harbor Seafood Inc. in Portland.
Maine fishermen had reported seeing a lot of shrimp everywhere, said Fuller. Some guys were doing over 1,000 pounds an hour, with counts in the mid-50s in deep water, 65–80 fathoms, and in the mid-40s closer to shore. ...continued
DMR clarifies nonresident lobster license intent
AUGUSTA, ME – The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and the Lobster Advisory Council (LAC) had a full slate of discussion topics when they met on Nov. 15, including proposed legislation, bay management issues, and lobster license plate grant funding. ...continued
NE council holds off on monkfish DAS leasing
GLOUCESTER, MA – Recognizing the serious economic impact of the measures being proposed under Framework Adjustment 4 to the monkfish plan, industry members asked the New England Fishery Management Council in mid-November to quickly begin work on another framework for the sole purpose of developing a monkfish days-at-sea (DAS) leasing program for implementation in the 2009 fishing year. ...continued
US/Canada TMGC holds firm on ’07 Georges cod TAC
GLOUCESTER, MA – During an Oct. 24 conference call, the US/Canada Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) revisited the 2007 quotas for Georges Bank cod and yellowtail flounder and ended up changing the specification for yellowtail. ...continued
Maine shellfish alliance branches out from Downeast inception
SCARBOROUGH, ME – A lively crowd of about 40 people, most of them clam harvesters, attended a Nov. 28 meeting of the Maine Seafood Alliance to hear about how they could be involved with the new industry group. ...continued
Scallopers likely to regain 300-pound monktail limit
GLOUCESTER, MA – Still somewhat irked that a bureaucratic glitch could have caused them so much grief, limited-access scallopers were nonetheless relieved to know that Framework Adjustment 4 to the monkfish plan will modify their monkfish incidental catch limit on scallop access-area trips in a positive way. ...continued
RI council OKs fluke plan, scup set-aside
NARRAGANSETT, RI – The Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council approved in early December revisions to two state management plans, the one for summer flounder, which has been under close scrutiny all year, and the one for scup. ...continued
American Freedom ready to take on fish at-sea
PORTLAND, ME – Following an 18-day steam from its retrofitting site in Norway, the 346' mothership American Freedom made its way into Portland harbor on Dec. 7 ready to begin a new life as an offshore at-sea freezer of Atlantic herring and mackerel. ...continued
NMFS takes first swordfish step; launches new shark rule-making
SILVER SPRING, MD – Making good on a promise to begin taking steps to revitalize the US swordfish fishery, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has published a proposed rule intended to “provide opportunities for US vessels to fully harvest the domestic swordfish quota … while ensuring that bycatch of nontarget and protected species remain within acceptable levels.” ...continued
‘Five-Point Haddock Trawl’ slashes cod catch
NEW BEDFORD, MA – “How can we catch haddock and not cod?” That is the question on the minds of many managers and fishermen in the Northeast. The Georges Bank Atlantic cod stock is overfished while haddock stocks seem to have rebounded in some areas. However, groundfishing is generally not selective for single species. ...continued
NE council rates sector policy 2007 ‘priority’
GLOUCESTER, MA – Groundfish, scallops, and whiting will continue to be top priorities for the New England Fishery Management Council in 2007. But in a decision that came somewhat by surprise, the council bumped herring and standardized bycatch reporting off its priority list in favor of setting up a new committee to establish a uniform sector policy. ...continued
Gillnetters get Georges Bank cod fixed gear sector
NORTH CHATHAM, MA – The Georges Bank Cod Fixed Gear Sector is now an entity of its own. In late November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approved the formation of the sector and allocated its one eligible member a share of the 2006 Georges Bank cod target total allowable catch (TAC). ...continued
NMFS shuts down SE gillnetters to protect whales
SILVER SPRING, MD – To the dismay of Mid- and South Atlantic fishermen, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed not only prohibiting gillnetting during right whale calving season in the Southeast US Restricted Area set out in the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP), but pushing the boundary of the restricted area north and extending the closure period. ...continued
Scallop Amd. 13 to extend observer program
GLOUCESTER, MA – The scallop industry-funded observer program should be permanently back on track next spring after the New England Fishery Management Council officially incorporates a mechanism to certify observer service providers into the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP). ...continued
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