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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 9
May 2007
NMFS sets 2007-2009 herring specs; Area 1A TAC at 45,000 mt next year
GLOUCESTER, MA – People from all walks of the fishing industry and public flooded the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) with comments about its proposed Atlantic herring specifications for the next three years.
After reviewing those comments, NMFS published a rule in the Federal Register on April 10 announcing the final specifications, which didn’t change at all from what the agency proposed back in January.
That means the Area 1A total allowable catch (TAC) in the inshore Gulf of Maine will be reduced from 60,000 metric tons (mt) to 50,000 mt this year – as recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council. But then it will be further reduced to 45,000 mt in 2008 and 2009 as proposed by NMFS.
NMFS received a total of 460 comments on the proposed rule, which came from 451 individuals and vessel owners, as well as from: American Pelagic Association; Cape Seafoods Inc.; Center for Oceanic Research and Education; Conservation Law Foundation; Garden State Seafood Association; Bumble Bee/Stinson Seafood; Maine Department of Marine Resources; Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; Northern Pelagic Group LLC; and the Ocean Conservancy.
Of those people and groups, NMFS said, “Three organizations and 448 individuals supported the proposed rule, especially NMFS’s decision to reduce the Area 1A TAC to 45,000 mt in 2008 and 2009.”
On the other side, NMFS said, “Two organizations and three vessel owners opposed the council’s recommendation to reduce the Area 1A TAC to 50,000 mt for 2007-2009 and strongly opposed NMFS’s further reduction of the Area 1A TAC to 45,000 mt for 2008 and 2009.”
Various combinations of associations and individuals challenged finer aspects of the rule, especially in relation to Area 1A.
Both sides
Among many other things, the opponents argued that an Area 1A reduction was unnecessarily restrictive in light of the stock’s status and that the “risk analysis” conducted for the stock was overly conservative and not peer reviewed.
They also disagreed that the retrospective pattern in the stock warranted a TAC reduction in Area 1A, which they believed was already accounted for in the 29,000-mt buffer between the allowable biological catch for the stock and optimum yield.
A retrospective pattern means the model used to assess the stock tends to overestimate biomass and underestimate fishing mortality in the most recent years of the assessment.
NMFS responded to the opponents by countering, “While the overall stock is healthy, there is a clear need to be precautionary with the inshore component of the stock. … There is substantial overlap between the inshore stock component and Area 1A.”
Deciding factors
In the end, NMFS said it was swayed to take a precautionary approach by three factors:
The retrospective pattern issue, which NMFS said “argues for caution;”
The risk assessment, which concluded that “setting the Area 1A TAC at 45,000 mt for 2008-2009 will provide a slightly improved chance of producing exploitation rates that are more consistent with Fmsy for the stock component within a range of realistic stock mixing ratios;” and
Advice from the council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee back in 2003 that stated, “No severe declines in the stock complex should be expected by maintaining current levels of catches over the short-term; however, the current concentration of harvest in the inshore Gulf of Maine is of concern and may be excessive.”
NMFS said its decision to reduce the Area 1A TAC has “no bearing” on the New England council’s scheduled review of the fishery, stock status information, and specifications, which will be conducted later this year.
“The council is at liberty to recommend changes to the specifications for 2008 and/or 2009 based on its review, if warranted,” said NMFS.
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