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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 8
April 2007
Industry applauds changes to net measuring protocol
GLOUCESTER, MA – Beginning May 1, enforcement officials will use heavier gauges to measure the majority of mesh that’s equal to or bigger than 120 millimeters (mm) – or 4.72" – in size.
The new standard “will apply to all mesh used in the US Exclusive Economic Zone from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border, including trawl nets, pursue seines, and the twine top of scallop dredges,” according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). However, it will not apply to gillnets.
The change focuses on the weight of the wedge or spade that’s dropped into the mesh during measuring operations. Instead of a 5 kilogram (kg) weight – equivalent to 11.02 pounds – officials now will use an 8 kg weight that weighs 17.64 pounds, but only on larger mesh. The standard for mesh smaller than 120 mm will remain 5 kg.
In a Feb. 28 permit holder letter, NMFS explained it this way.
“With the exception of gillnets, mesh size will be measured by a wedge-shaped gauge having a taper of 2 centimeters (cm) – 0.79" – in 8 cm (3.15") and a thickness of 2.3 mm (0.09") inserted into the meshes under a pressure or pull of 5 kg for mesh size less than 120 mm and under a pressure or pull of 8 kg for mesh size at or greater than 120 mm,” the agency said.
NMFS made the change at the request of industry and the New England Fishery Management Council, which, based on a recommendation from its enforcement committee, voted in April 2006 to seek a technical correction to the way nets are measured.
The primary reason for the delay in implementing the new protocol is that enforcement officials have had to buy new gauges. At press time, a supplier had been found and the gauges had been ordered.
Industry’s take
Maggie Raymond of Associated Fisheries of Maine led the industry effort seeking the new measuring protocol, and she said fishermen were pleased with the support they received from enforcement officials and managers right from the start.
“It was a pleasure to work cooperatively with the Coast Guard, NMFS enforcement, and the council,” she said. “Everyone immediately recognized that the enforcement method of measuring twine openings should be consistent with how the twine is measured when it is manufactured.”
Industry began pushing for the change after discovering that many European manufacturers follow procedures developed by the European Committee for Standardization to certify trawl measure openings. These companies use an 8 kg weight on mesh greater than 120 mm.
Given that so much of the Northeast’s webbing comes from Europe, industry members, after meeting in New Bedford with enforcement officials to measure nets with both the 5 kg and 8 kg weights, collectively decided to seek standardization with European measuring techniques (see CFN June 2006 for details).
Even though implementation of the change took longer than industry expected, Raymond said industry understood the delay.
What’s most important, she said, is that “the new measurement procedure is good to go on May 1.”
Andy Cohen, special agent in charge with the NMFS Northeast Office for Law Enforcement, said, “Our new protocol will provide consistently accurate measurements with less potential for variations caused by the officer making the inspection. It also will err on the side of the fisherman, which should eliminate questions about the validity of any violations detected.”
Janice M. Plante
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