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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 2
October 2007
MA backs off Outer Cape maximum lobster size
WESTON, MA – During its Sept. 6 meeting, the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Commission took action on a number of proposals that went out to public hearing late in August regarding the lobster, squid, and smooth dogfish fisheries.
During an Aug. 20 meeting with Outer Cape Lobster Management Area fishermen, state Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) Director Paul Diodati explained that the agency was considering proposing a 7" maximum size and 1/8" v-notch definition for the area, measures above and beyond what is currently required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) interstate lobster plan for the area.
The idea, he explained, was to bring the Outer Cape more in line with the other lobster areas in the state in hopes of moving toward statewide standards that were more enforceable.
Currently, the Outer Cape has no maximum gauge and is the only area to still have the ASMFC 1/4" v-notch requirement. Area 1 has a zero tolerance v-notch definition and Areas 2 and 3, as well as Areas 4, 5, and 6, have this definition: “any female lobster that bears a notch or indentation in the base of the flipper that is at least as deep as 1/8" with or without setal hairs.”
According to DMF analyses, the 7" maximum size lowered to 6-3/4" in the future “would have minimal impacts on the harvest from the Outer Cape.”
However, during the Aug. 20 meeting and at a later public hearing in Plymouth, Diodati said the proposals were vigorously opposed by Outer Cape lobstermen, who said the measures could potentially have a serious economic impact on their businesses if added on top of the Outer Cape’s existing effort control plan.
Diodati assured them he would not recommend their adoption to the commission, and he was true to his word.
Rec area divided
Instead, DMF proposed changes that would apply to Areas 2 and 3 commercial and recreational lobstermen to bring the state regulations in line with Addendum XI to the interstate lobster plan. It’s important to note that these maximum lobster gauge changes apply to both trap and nontrap fisheries, including mobile gear fisheries.
To keep consistency between commercial and recreational rules in the Outer Cape area, DMF proposed splitting the recreational area into two parts – an Outer Cape Cod Recreational Lobster Area and a Southern New England Recreational Lobster Area.
The agency said this would enable compliance with Addendum XI measures for recreational fishermen in Southern New England without impacting recreational fishermen in the Outer Cape Area.
The Outer Cape Recreational Lobster Area is defined as “all state waters eastward of 70° longitude off Nantucket and eastward and northward of Outer Cape Cod from Chatham to Provincetown’s Race Point, including a portion of upper Cape Cod Bay.
Areas 2, 3
The commission voted unanimously to approve the split recreational area as well as the following DMF proposals.
l Implement a 5-1/4" maximum size for lobsters harvested by commercial fishermen – trap and nontrap – in Area 2 and in the new Southern New England Recreational Lobster Area. This maximum size also applies to fishermen landing lobsters in Massachusetts harvested from Areas 4, 5, and 6.
l Implement a maximum size schedule for lobsters harvested by commercial fishermen – trap and nontrap – in Area 3 as follows: 7" from June 30, 2008 through June 30, 2009; 6-7/8" from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2010; and 6-3/4" from July 1, 2010 and beyond. And
l Adopt the 1/8" v-notch definition for commercial fishermen – trap and nontrap – fishing in Area 3 and recreational fishermen – again, trap and nontrap – fishing in the new Southern New England Recreational Lobster Area.
Smooth dogfish
In response to a petition from the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, the commission adopted new regulations to govern a smooth dogfish fishery.
Currently, there are no regulations for smooth dogfish in Massachusetts or at the ASMFC or federal levels, although ASMFC is developing an interstate coastal shark plan that is expected to be adopted for public hearing purposes at its annual meeting in October and will include smooth dogfish.
DMF proposed and the commission approved a ban on the finning of smooth dogfish and a 100-pound daily landing and possession limit.
According to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) statistics, annual landings of smooth dogfish have ranged from around 0.6 million pounds to 1.2 million pounds during the period 2000-2005. Landings have been increasing since 2003, DMF said, but are still “much lower” than those reported in the peak years for the fishery, 1994 and 1995.
Of those landings, Massachusetts fishermen have contributed very little– only 15,300 pounds in 2005, which represented just 1% of all landings that year. North Carolina and Virginia, on the other hand, accounted for about 82% of landings in 2005.
Most smooth dogfish landed in Massachusetts were taken by handlines.
Establishing some controls on smooth dogfish, in this case, the 100-pound possession limit, will give the agency a place to start as it continues to explore allowing a controlled experimental fishery to collect additional data that will be used to consider allowing a small-scale directed fishery, DMF said.
Gillnet lobsters
The commission also approved making permanent a DMF emergency action implemented on July 3 to establish a volume limit on the possession of lobsters caught by gillnets in the Outer Cape Cod lobster area.
The gillnet limit will continue to be the amount of lobsters that can fit into two standard 3.9-cubic-foot “lobster crates,” not to exceed 100 lobsters. Fishermen must be able to close the lid on the crates to be in compliance with the new rule.
For the most part, the measure represents a decrease in the number of lobsters that gillnetters working in the Outer Cape area can keep since those lobsters tend to be large. The new rule is expected to result in a drop in the total poundage landed by gillnetters, according to DMF.
The one change DMF proposed from the emergency action was to allow gillnetters to store lobsters in live wells until enforcement authorities ask them to put them in the proper crates. The change was made at the request of a fisherman who said he stored his lobsters in a live well while at sea. However, fishermen will be required to carry the totes on board in order to prove their compliance with the new restriction while at sea.
While the commission voted to approve the DMF recommendation, the vote was a divided one. Commission members Mark Amorello and Mark Weissman voted for the motion, Patsy Frontierro voted against it, and Bill Adler abstained. Members John Pappalardo, Rodney Avila, Randy Sigler, and Chuck Casella did not attend the meeting. As chairman, Vito Calomo did not vote.
Squid, weakfish
The commission approved a DMF proposal to allow the DMF director to take action to bring the state’s regulations in line with federal trip limits for mobile gear targeting Loligo squid.
At the recommendation of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NMFS is now splitting the annual Loligo quota among three “trimesters,” rather than setting quarterly quotas.
DMF will now have the authority to set trip limits according to the trimester schedule. By giving its approval to the proposal, the commission also gave the DMF director more flexibility to set scup and black sea bass trip limits.
Finally, the commission approved a DMF proposal to bring state weakfish regulations in line with the ASMFC-approved six-fish bag limit, which is a decrease from the current 10-fish bag limit.
Quota management
During the meeting, the commission discussed the ongoing problems with properly administering smaller and smaller quotas for what were referred to as “Mid-Atlantic” species, including scup, summer flounder, and black sea bass.
“We’re at the limits of our staff’s capacity to track landings,” DMF Deputy Director Dan McKiernan told commission members. “We’re facing significant quota cuts for these species. We need a different way to manage them more effectively.”
As a result of recent recommendations by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and ASMFC, Massachusetts is facing a 35% reduction in black sea bass, a 46% reduction in scup, and an 8% reduction in summer flounder quotas in 2008.
Lower quotas will mean fishermen will have shorter seasons and the potential for the state to exceed its quota share will increase. Quota overages are deducted from future quota shares, further compounding the problem.
Said Diodati, “The pie is going to be too small to divide up.”
DMF plans to talk with fishermen and try to come up with some alternative strategies for administering these quotas and will take those alternatives out to public hearing, probably later this year.
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