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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 7
March 2006
NMFS files groundfish emergency restrictions; to take effect May 1
GLOUCESTER, MA – The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced it has filed an emergency action with the Federal Register to impose additional groundfish restrictions on May 1, the start of the 2006 fishing year.
The announcement came just as Commercial Fisheries News was going to press, but here is an at-a-glance summary of the new measures posted on the NMFS Northeast Regional Office web site:
• Differential counting for Category A-days used in all areas at the rate of 1.4 days charged for each day fished;
• Gulf of Maine cod trip limit reduction to 600 pounds per day-at-sea capped at 4,000 pounds per trip;
• Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder trip limit reductions to 500 pounds per day capped at 2,000 pounds per trip during July, August, September, December, January, February, March, and April and 250 pounds per trip during May, June, October, and November;
• Georges Bank yellowtail flounder trip limit of 10,000 pounds per trip;
• Delayed start date of Aug. 1 for the Eastern US/Canada Haddock Special Access Program;
• Allowance for vessels to fish inside and outside the Eastern US/Canada Management Area on the same trip;
• Modification of the Regular B-day Program, restricted to the US/Canada Management Area;
• Continuation of the days-at-sea leasing program;
• Gulf of Maine cod prohibition for party/charter and private recreational vessels from Nov. 1 through March 31 and a minimum size increase to 24" for Gulf of Maine cod;
• Prohibition on using Regular B-days while on a monkfish day-at-sea for limited-access Category C, D, G, and H monkfish boats;
• Monkfish possession limits for Category C, D, G, and H monkfish boats fishing in the Regular B-day Program under a Northeast multispecies day-at-sea; and
“A revised method of calculating available monkfish-only days-at-sea for Category C, D, G, and H monkfish vessels based on the reduction of available Category A Northeast multispecies days-at-sea under this emergency action.”
NMFS said “all measures in effect prior to May 1, 2006 and not amended by this proposed rule” will remain in effect, including Amendment 13’s default days-at-sea allocation provision whereby the ratio of allocated days will shift from 60 percent A-days and 40 percent B-days to 55:45.
Purpose, more info
According to NMFS, the emergency secretarial action was necessary “to implement measures intended to immediately reduce the fishing mortality rate on specific groundfish species to prevent overfishing and maintain the rebuilding program of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan” until “more permanent measures can be implemented through Framework Adjustment 42.”
Furthermore, NMFS said the emergency action was necessary to maintain two programs, those being leasing and the B-day program, which help mitigate economic and social impacts but would have expired on May 1.
The comment deadline on the emergency action is March 9. For more info, visit the NMFS web site at: <www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/hotnews/multiemer/index.html> or call Doug Christel at (978) 281-9141.Back to story list
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