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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 9
May 2009
Groundfish: What’s ahead for 2009
GLOUCESTER, MA – On April 6, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced the final interim rule for groundfish that goes into effect on May 1. The rule is significantly different from the proposal floated by the agency in mid-January and includes several mitigating measures.
The interim rule measures are in addition to the “default” 18% reduction in allocated A-days-at-sea from Amendment 13.
The major elements of the new interim rule are as follows.
• Differential counting GOM – Days-at-sea will continue to be counted at the rate of 2-for-1 in the existing Gulf of Maine differential counting area.
• Differential counting SNE – Except for fishermen working with hook gear, days-at-sea in Southern New England will be counted 2-for-1 in a new “interim” Southern New England differential counting area. This area is different from the 2-for-1 area Southern New England fishermen have been working under since 2006.
NMFS emphasized that any vessel “declared into and fishing under” an A-day in the interim area “will be charged at the rate of 2-for-1 for the entire trip.” This counting rate is more restrictive than the one previously in place for Southern New England but is consistent with how differential days are counted in the Gulf of Maine.
• Monkfish – Vessels with a limited-access monkfish Category C or D permit that fish in the differential counting areas under concurrent monkfish/groundfish days must utilize monkfish days at the rate of 1-for-1.
NMFS said, “This rule allows monkfish Category C and D vessels to accrue a monkfish-only day while fishing under a groundfish day in a 2-for-1 differential counting area.”
• Possession prohibition – Possession of ocean pout, northern windowpane flounder, and Southern New England/Mid Atlantic winter flounder is prohibited.
• No SNE/MA winter flounder SAP – The Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic Winter Flounder Special Access Program (SAP), which allowed limited-access groundfish boats fishing for summer flounder to possess and land up to 200 pounds of winter flounder while not on a groundfish day, has been eliminated.
• No state waters winter flounder exemption – The State Waters Winter Flounder Exemption, which allowed groundfish boats fishing for winter flounder in state waters to use gear with mesh smaller than the regulated size, has been eliminated.
• Incidental catch total allowable catches (TACs) – Incidental catch TACs for boats fishing on B-days have been revised. Allocations of those TACs to special management programs, such as SAPs and the B-day program, also have been revised.
• Haddock TAC for hook SAP – The haddock TAC for the Closed Area I Hook Gear Haddock SAP for 2009 is 3,604.5 metric tons.
Mitigating measures
• Hook gear haddock SAP expanded – The timeframe for the Closed Area I Hook Gear Haddock SAP has been expanded to May 1-Jan. 31, a significant increase over the previous October-December season. The size of the SAP area also has been considerably expanded.
Other positive, minor changes to the program have been made. The interim rule, however, implements a prohibition on the use of squid as bait in the SAP “in order to decrease the likelihood of catching cod.”
• Haddock minimum size dropped – The minimum size for haddock will revert to 18" for both commercial and recreational fishermen.
• Eastern US/CA Haddock SAP extended – The Eastern US/Canada Haddock SAP, which would have expired April 30, has been extended “to facilitate access to Georges Bank haddock.”
• B-days modified – The regular B-day program has been revised.
• Leasing rules relaxed – The prohibition on leasing days-at-sea between sector and common pool vessels has been removed and the maximum limit on days that a sector vessel and common pool vessel may lease has been eliminated.
• Transfer tax removed – The conservation tax previously imposed on days-at-sea transfers has been removed. However, NMFS stressed that it will not rebate or refund days to vessels that underwent transfers prior to the interim rule.
• Gillnet vessel declaration extended – Given that the interim rule affects days-at-sea counting for 2009 and that many gillnetters already submitted their required annual declarations, NMFS is allowing gillnetters to change their designation from “day gillnet vessel” to “trip gillnet vessel” or visa versa until June 8. And
• Recreational limits set – Charter/party boats will be limited to 10 Georges Bank cod per person per day, and private recreational vessels fishing in federal waters, as well as charter/party boats, will be prohibited from possessing Gulf of Maine cod from November through April 15. Retention of winter flounder from the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic stock area is prohibited.
Send comments
The final interim rule is a secretarial action developed by NMFS under the authority of the secretary of commerce. Secretarial actions can only be implemented for roughly 180 days and then can be renewed once for roughly the same time period.
The 2009 groundfish interim rule technically expires Oct. 28, but NMFS already indicated its intention to renew the action. This means measures could be modified during the second half of the fishing year under the renewal.
As a result, NMFS is encouraging people to submit comments on the interim rule through June 8 via one of three ways:
• Electronically – Follow instructions and prompts at <www.regulations.gov>. Start by typing “Multispecies Secretarial Interim Action” in the “Search Documents” box;
• Mail – Mark the envelope with “Comments on NE Multispecies Final Interim Rule” and mail to: Pat Kurkul, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2275; or
• Fax – Fax to comments to (978) 281-9135. /cfn/
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