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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 4
December 2009
ASMFC approves 180-day 2010 shrimp season
PORTLAND, ME – With an upbeat stock assessment in hand and a recommendation from industry for a six-month fishery, the Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) met here on Oct. 29 and easily approved a 180-day shrimp season for the coming year.
The season will run Dec. 1, 2009 through May 29, 2010 with no days off and will apply to both mobile and trap gear fishermen.
“It was a no-brainer for us,” said section Chairman Pat White of Maine. “Everyone was happy.”
ASMFC’s Northern Shrimp Technical Committee (TC) came into the room recommending that 2010 landings be capped between 4,400 metric tons (mt) and 4,900 mt, equivalent to roughly 9.7 million pounds to 10.8 million pounds.
Industry readily agreed to heed the scientific advice, said White.
“There’s really a good working relationship between industry and scientists,” he said. “We (section members) basically sat there and acted as jurors. I’m really pleased with how everything transpired.”
In its official 2009 stock assessment report, the technical committee said the “very weak 2006 year class continues to be a concern.”
But it also said, “The arrival of the above-average 2007 and 2008 year classes present welcome opportunities to continue rebuilding the stock.” (See CFN November 2009 for full stock assessment details and 2009 season wrap-up.)
Summer fishery
In addition to the 180-day season, the section also supported the “concept” of a small-scale summer fishery, according to ASMFC shrimp plan coordinator Brad Spear. However, the section was not prepared to act without further information.
The section received two separate requests for a summer fishery, both from Maine fishermen. One came from Craig Pendleton and the other from the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative in Port Clyde.
In a memo to the section, Port Clyde spokesman Gary Libby said the co-op wanted a limited, tightly controlled fishery to supply what they called “niche markets” through their Port Clyde Fresh Catch Community Supported Fishery (CSF). The co-op already has a shrimp CSF lined up for the 2010 winter season, but fishermen are hoping to expand customer access to shrimp beyond the approved December-May window.
Section member and Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) Commissioner George Lapointe expressed initial support for the idea and said he wanted to facilitate the development of a more formal proposal.
“Obviously we don’t want it to impact the current season, but my thought right now is that maybe we can do an experimental fishery,” he said.
Lapointe said the DMR intended to bring all interested parties together for a meeting in order to develop a single, unified proposal, which then would be sent to ASMFC’s industry advisers, technical committee, and enforcement committee for feedback. The section itself could take a look at a fully fleshed-out package in February.
TC concerns
According to Spear, the technical committee was well aware that at least one proposal for a summer fishery would be raised at the section’s season-setting meeting. So, the TC discussed the possibility during its own Oct. 8 meeting and developed guidance for the section.
In general, the TC said it did not oppose a summer fishery, as long as total landings for the season remained within its recommended cap.
However, the committee did recommend that certain requirements and/or conditions be imposed on a summer fishery, including:
“Use of a modified or double Nordmore grate to reduce bycatch of small shrimp and other species;
“Collection of experimental quality data to better understand the modified Nordmore grate effect on size selection of smaller shrimp and bycatch of nontarget species;
“Use of at-sea observers to collect data;
“Daily landing or trip limits; and
“Daily or weekly landings reporting.”
Lapointe and White both said the section would carefully consider the TC’s advice while reviewing the final proposal for a summer fishery.
WGOM, new chairs
At the request of Associated Fisheries of Maine (AFM), both the ASMFC shrimp section and its industry advisory panel supported, for the second year in a row, asking the New England Fishery Management Council to consider exempting shrimp trawl gear from the Western Gulf of Maine (WGOM) habitat closed area – or at least the northwest portion of it. The council is currently working on a massive, omnibus habitat amendment that will apply to all of its fishery management plans.
In last year’s appeal, ASMFC provided extensive justification for its request and noted that shrimp typically are present in the WGOM area “only when they move offshore in late spring,” which naturally limits the scope of the fishery. Furthermore, said ASMFC, the fishery is conducted only during daylight hours by small- to medium-sized vessels “towing small net sweeps.”
Following this year’s meeting, AFM spokesman Maggie Raymond said, “Associated Fisheries of Maine is grateful that the shrimp section recognizes the need for access to this area by the shrimp industry and we appreciate their continued support.”
In other action, the section elected Doug Grout of New Hampshire and George Lapointe of Maine to serve as the section’s new chair and vice-chair respectively.
Industry advisers elected Vincent Balzano of Maine to serve as advisory panel chairman, replacing outgoing Chairman Terry Alexander, also of Maine.
Janice M. Plante
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