COMMERCE
Subscriber Services
Classified Ads
Subscribe
Advertise
NEWS
This Month
Editorial
Letters
F/V Safety
Past Issues
ABOUT US
Contact Us
Latest Issue
Subscribe
History
MORE CONTENT
CFN Archives
Links
Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
Fleet Additions
Letters
Lobster Market Report
New Boats
News Catch
Quahog Market Report
|
Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 4
December 2006
ASMFC increases state waters dogfish quota
ATLANTIC BEACH, NC – In a move that industry called “a step in the right direction,” the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks Management Board voted on Oct. 24 to increase the 2006-2007 dogfish quota by 2 million pounds.
The change required a two-thirds majority vote of all board members to pass because it reversed a previous ASMFC “final” action that set the quota at 4 million pounds. The increase to 6 million required 11 yes votes, which supporters managed to muster. The final vote was 11-3 with one abstention and one “null” vote, meaning the commissioners from that state couldn’t agree.
The quota was split with 58% allocated to the states of Maine through Connecticut and 42% allocated to the states of New York through North Carolina. The fishing year runs May 1, 2006-April 30, 2007.
The board also voted to allow individual states to adopt their own trip limits, which could be set at levels higher than the current 600-pound federal limit in order to promote more landings of dogfish bycatch and to promote a small-scale directed dogfish fishery in state waters.
Both actions were welcomed by industry.
“We have a small gillnet fleet in Barnegat Light that might be able to take advantage of an increased quota,” said Greg DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association. “We’re hoping this increase in quota could lead to a larger trip limit in New Jersey, which might help offset some of the economic impacts from last spring’s shad moratorium.”
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) immediately took advantage of the change and, effective Nov. 10, implemented a 2,000-pound daily possession limit for state-waters-only dogfish fishermen.
However, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul strenuously opposed the quota increase.
“I want to express my serious reservations about the direction the board is taking,” she said.
Kurkul emphasized that anyone holding a federal permit would remain bound by the 4-million-pound quota and 600-pound trip limit currently in place in federal waters for 2006-2007, which by itself will create inequities between state and federal waters fishermen.
Massachusetts push
The campaign for a higher dogfish quota was orchestrated by Massachusetts officials, who worked hard this summer to gain ASMFC support for the 2-million-pound increase following the release in July of a new stock assessment.
The assessment, bolstered by enormously high spring 2006 survey indices, concluded that spiny dogfish were not overfished and overfishing was not occurring (see CFN September 2006).
When Massachusetts approached ASMFC with its quota increase request on Aug. 15 in Crystal City, VA, the board delayed action because it first wanted an analysis from its own Spiny Dogfish Technical Committee.
The analysis was conducted and the board reviewed the results on Oct. 24.
In short, the technical committee stated, “Increasing the quota by 2 million pounds in 2006 will not have a significant impact on fishing mortality or overall mortality of spiny dogfish.”
Given the finding, DMF’s David Pierce strongly urged the board to support Massachusetts’ request for an increase in the quota.
Pierce said he might not be so ferociously passionate about the increase if the DMF office “had not been inundated with phone calls, faxes, e-mails, photos, and videos of dogfish from commercial and recreations fishermen trying to get across their plight.”
Pierce said, “We’ve heard nothing but concern bordering on complete desperation. We’re talking in Mass Bay about one-hour tows with 10,000 pounds of dogfish discarded.”
A different read
But Kurkul suggested the board and industry were reading too much into selected statements within the technical committee report.
“I don’t see anything in the technical committee report or the stock assessment that would indicate a change in course in this fishery right now,” she said.
“This is a rebuilding program that’s already taking much longer than we anticipated when we first adopted it,” she continued. “We’re undoing a lot of the things that have been done to promote rebuilding over the past few years.”
Kurkul called the board’s action “contrary to the scientific advice, which still says there are a lot of reasons for caution in this fishery.”
North/south split
Recognizing that even a 2-million-pound quota increase wouldn’t last long given current conditions in the fishery, Pierce suggested the 58%-42% quota split between northern and southern states.
“My intent is that North Carolina and the southern states are not disadvantaged by any northern harvest,” he said.
Sean McKeon of the North Carolina Fisheries Association supported both the quota increase and the split as a positive first step.
“I think it’s a solid move,” he said.
Trip limits, males
Although the technical committee did not find any “significant impact” on mortality due to a quota increase, it expressed concerns about potential trip limit increases. The committee said higher trip limits would allow fishermen to catch the quota more quickly and lead to earlier closures, which in turn would lead to longer periods of total discarding.
The technical committee further worried about the impact on female dogfish. Males currently outnumber females by 7:1 and scientists fear this skewed ratio may be having “reproductive consequences” on the stock.
James Fletcher of the North Carolina-based United National Fishermen’s Association said the board should consider putting a separate trip limit on male dogfish if it was concerned about the impact of an increased fishery on females.
“Why don’t we put in a number like 600 pounds of females and then 5,000-10,000 pounds for males?” he asked.
Not everyone agreed that the fishery was at that point yet, but Paul Parker, executive director of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, said he knew the ratio disconnect was a problem and was beginning to impede the growth of the female biomass.
However, Parker still urged the board to support a quota increase. He said he made the trip to North Carolina for the board meeting because the dogfish situation was interfering with just about all fishing operations.
“We can’t target our principal species because of interactions with dogfish,” he said. “Now we’re seeing them from May through November/December in 15-90 fathoms out to 60 miles. There are a lot of dogfish.
“I really don’t think holding the course on this fishery is going to get us to where we want to go in the future,” Parker said. “I have a lot of faith in our fishermen, and they’re all convinced that these high survey points you’re seeing are accurate.”
Next season
The ASMFC board further voted to adopt a 6-million-pound quota for 2007-2008 but held off on setting possession limits for the next fishing year.
“I don’t think we need to come to closure on this issue today,” said New York Commissioner Gordon Colvin.
Many commissioners expressed far more concern over the size of the possession limit than the 2-million-pound quota increase because of the technical committee’s caution on early closures leading to increased discards.
Colvin suggested having staff, board members, advisers, and technical experts review the issue to address these concerns, and then the board will revisit the limits during its winter meeting week, which begins Jan. 29.
Pierce had attempted to gain support for an 8-million-pound 2007-2008 quota, but the board didn’t go along with that proposal.
Janice M. Plante
Back to story list
|
|
Tell us what you think.
