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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 5
January 2007
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.
The TMGC hammered out the original quota recommendations during its Sept. 7-8 meeting. However, when US members presented the negotiated figures to the New England council three weeks later, the council accepted the negotiated haddock quota but refused to endorse the cod and yellowtail flounder total allowable catches (TACs) and asked that the TMGC go back to the drawing board (for complete details, see CFN November 2006).
During its Nov. 14-16 meeting, the council listened to US TMGC leader George Lapointe of Maine as he presented the TMGC’s conference call conclusions.
After asking a few questions for clarification, the council supported the results and voted to pass along the TAC advice to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for implementation.
TAC numbers
As now proposed, here are the 2007 transboundary stock TACs for Georges Bank cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder.
• Haddock – The total TAC is 19,000 metric tons (mt). The US share is 33% or 6,270 mt, and Canada’s share is 67% or 12,730 mt. These are the figures originally negotiated by the TMGC and accepted by the New England council in September.
• Cod – The total TAC is 1,900 mt. The US share is 26% or 494 mt, and Canada’s share is 74% or 1,406 mt. These are the figures originally negotiated by the TMGC and they remained unchanged after the October conference call. And
• Yellowtail flounder – The total TAC is 1,250 mt. The US share is 72% or 900 mt, and Canada’s share is 28% or 350 mt. That represents a reduction from the original total TAC recommendation of 1,500 mt with the US and Canada shares being 1,080 mt and 420 mt respectively.
Yellowtail
The yellowtail reduction came as a deep disappointment to industry. However, the New England council back in September refused to accept the initial TMGC recommendation of 1,500 mt because it exceeded the scientific advice for the stock, which was 1,250 mt.
NMFS immediately voiced its opposition to the TMGC’s recommendation of 1,500 mt, and many on the council worried that NMFS would implement a US TAC based on 1,250 mt while Canada went with the higher number, creating a situation that would put US fishermen at a disadvantage.
Instead, the council asked the US representatives to the TMGC to call for another meeting and renegotiate. That led to the Oct. 24 conference call. Lapointe said Canada easily accepted the US position about following the scientific advice and agreed to the lower 2007 TAC.
Three years ago, the total US/Canada TAC for Georges Bank yellowtail was 7,900 mt. A reduction to 1,250 mt in 2007 is expected to have enormous and devastating economic implications for many, many fishermen.
Georges Bank cod
The cod decision was more complicated. Back in September, the New England council refused to accept the TMGC’s number because the council was under the impression that the Canadians had exceeded their share of the 2005 Georges Bank cod TAC by 200 mt – all discards – and the overage hadn’t been deducted.
However, upon further investigation and more discussion during the conference call, the TMGC clarified that the 2005 cod TAC did not include discards to begin with, and Canada’s actual cod landings – without discards – did not exceed the TAC.
In a written report, the TMGC said it therefore concluded that “a deduction was not required and the original guidance is recommended.”
The TMGC clarified two other points. First, the level of cod discards in Canada was 114 mt, not 200 mt as the New England council thought was the case.
Second, the TMGC said the problem should not come up again. All future cod assessments will incorporate discards into the equation. This is already true for haddock and yellowtail.
Lapointe credited the Canadians for moving forward on the discard issue and developing a methodology to account for discards for all three stocks.
However, he also recognized US fishermen’s concerns.
“This is a process that has changed and improved through time but that we do need to watch,” he said.
Future
Lapointe said the TMGC would be holding an intersessional meeting this year to, among other things, make sure the discard monitoring process was on track.
Further responding to industry concerns, council Chairman John Pappalardo of Massachusetts announced that the New England council would hold a pre-TMGC meeting in 2007 so US fishermen could bring up relevant issues with TMGC members prior to the TAC-setting session for 2008 quota shares.
New Hampshire council member David Goethel, as he did in September, again voiced his position that TMGC deliberations should go beyond quota setting.
“I don’t want to tell the Canadians what to do,” he said, “but if we could work toward a common management strategy, we’d be better off.”
Janice M. Plante
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