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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 6
February 2010
Mid-Atlantic to consider squid catch shares
DOVER, DE – The federal government is advising anyone with an interest in future participation in the Loligo and Illex squid fisheries to “locate and preserve” their records.
On Jan. 8, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register for the Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish fisheries.
According to the agency, this rulemaking potentially could involve the creation of catch share programs for Loligo and Illex “to manage future access” to these fisheries.
In the same notice, NMFS reaffirmed the most recent control date for the Loligo and Illex fisheries, which is May 20, 2003. Control dates can be changed, but they are generally used to separate established fishermen from newer-comers in the event that a future management program involves treating the two groups differently.
NMFS filed the ANPR in response to actions taken by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which is responsible for managing Loligo and Illex under the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP).
During its meeting last August, the council voted to begin the scoping process for Amendment 14 to the FMP. In addition to addressing monitoring and/or developing a mortality reduction strategy for river herring, the council decided it would consider the concept of catch shares for the Loligo and Illex fisheries and reaffirmed the squid control date.
The ANPR explains that the term “catch share” describes a fishery management program “that allocates a portion of the total fishery catch to individuals, cooperatives, communities, or other entities.”
Not good candidates
The council is under no obligation to develop a catch share program, which is a good thing, according to Greg DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, who has been closely tracking the issue.
“We don’t think the Illex and Loligo fisheries are appropriate candidates for catch share programs,” he said.
DiDomenico noted that both species are short-lived and that the fisheries are completely dependent on the availability of the squid in any given year and on market demand.
He also pointed out that the Loligo and Illex fleets are relatively small and distinct, which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to co-manage or co-monitor a catch share program. So, such a program would be extremely expensive for the industry.
While it probably is a good idea to get together records to prove history in either of the squid fisheries, there is time, he added.
“The Mid-Atlantic council handles things in a careful and methodical way,” DiDomenico said. “These are things that are going to play out over a number of years.”
Butterfish concerns
Of more immediate concern is the effect butterfish quotas could have on the squid fisheries.
DiDomenico said that fishermen and shoreside support businesses from New York to North Carolina have chipped in to pay to have him and a scientist observe and analyze recent butterfish stock assessment work, and it doesn’t sound good.
“We could be looking at a situation where the butterfish quota is set so low that it will restrain the Loligo fishery in 2011,” he said.
Amendment 11
In related news, the notice of availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for Amendment 11 to the FMP was published in the Federal Register on Jan. 15.
The primary purposes of the amendment are to:
• Institute limited entry into the mackerel fishery based on current and historical participation in the fishery to establish a “cap on capacity;”
• Update essential fish habitat (EFH) descriptions for the four species;
• Evaluate gear impacts on Loligo egg EFH and, if necessary, minimize “to the extent practicable” any adverse effects of Loligo egg EFH caused by fishing;
• Establish a recreational mackerel allocation; and
• “Avoid at-sea processing problems,” meaning primarily any disruption of supply of mackerel to shoreside processors but also possibly dealing with problems related to marine mammal interactions.
DEIS supporting documents and more info are available online at <www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/regs/com.html>. The public comment deadline is March 1. /cfn/
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