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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 10
June 2007
Industry worries about herring 1A fishery
ALEXANDRIA, VA – The only thing that’s safe to say about this summer’s herring fishery in Area 1A is that no one really has a clue about how it’ll go. There are too many new rules and uncertainties.
But people are worried, and that became painfully clear here at the May 7 meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Herring Section during its discussion about days-out of the fishery.
The section uses days-out as its primary tool to control fishing effort in state waters. Back in February, it voted at a meeting in New Hampshire to require two days-out per week – Saturday and Sunday – beginning June 1.
The section further agreed that when 50% of the 50,000 metric ton (mt) Area 1A total allowable catch (TAC) was “landed or projected to be landed,” the number of mandatory days-out per week would increase to three – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
At that point, ASMFC would have its scientists re-run computer models to try to project how quickly the remaining quota might be harvested. And then it would hold another meeting two weeks later to determine if additional action was needed.
According to several commissioners, the section attempted to set up its days-out strategy to reserve roughly 15,000 mt of the Area 1A TAC for the fall.
Different viewpoints
That February meeting, however, was more contentious than usual, and some industry members disagreed with the strategy, fearing the section was trying to reserve too much fish for the fall fishery, which could significantly impact Area 1A operations during the peak months of summer.
Jeff Kaelin, representing Ocean Spray Partnership, asked, “Is this a 15,000-mt set-aside for after Oct. 1? If so, we’re opposed to this. We think that’s too much fish.”
ASMFC Commissioner John Nelson of New Hampshire Fish and Game said he recognized the differences of opinion but didn’t support altering the February action.
“There was an agreement amongst all the states on what to do for this year,” he said. “The intent by all parties was to stretch this out as much as possible and try to have fish available after Oct. 1.”
Vito Calomo of Massachusetts, proxy for state Rep. Tony Verga, supported that assessment.
“My intent was to help the people who invested large amounts in shoreside facilities and the people who needed bait,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to have at least 15,000 mt.”
Complicating factors
Although ASMFC did not change its days-out decision at the May 7 meeting, it became clear that two camps were emerging within industry:
Camp #1 supported reserving a significant chunk of the TAC for the fall to avoid bait shortages in the lobster industry and giving midwater trawl vessels a chance to fish in Area 1A after the June-September closure expired; and
Camp #2 favored reserving less than 15,000 mt so vessels fishing in Area 1A during the summer could harvest fish when prices were high and the fish were readily available.
Some in camp #2 worried that ASMFC might try to shut down the fishery – or require four or five or more days-out – in order to ensure that 15,000 mt remains available for the fall.
Complicating matters is the fact that many midwater trawlers have rigged over to go pursing seine now that the federal herring plan prohibits midwater trawling in Area 1A from June through September. The re-rigging came at considerable expense, and these vessels want a fair crack at the fish in this inshore area where purse seining is more feasible than offshore.
But it’s still unclear how many midwater trawlers have rigged over or intend to do so, and of those, it’s additionally not clear how many will fish only in Area 1A for the season.
Reportedly, several vessels have configured their boats to be able to switch back to midwater trawl gear in a matter of days. This dual-gear ability will let them follow the fish and head out to Georges Bank or to other non-Area 1A locations if herring become readily available there.
August trigger?
According to Matt Cieri, chairman of ASMFC’s herring plan development team and head herring biologist for the Maine Department of Marine Resources, computer projections indicate that the 50% trigger for three days out of the fishery might be tripped around mid-August.
However, Cieri said upfront, “We really have no idea how the fishery is going to respond this year. Things are going to change dramatically.”
Among the factors he listed that are contributing to uncertainty in the fishery are:
New limited-entry program for herring;
10,000 mt reduction in the Area 1A TAC from 60,000 mt to 50,000 mt;
Zero tolerance provision on fishing during herring spawning closures, which Maine has agreed to adopt along with other states;
Unidentified number of vessels that have or will re-rig to purse seine gear to fish in Area 1A; and
Differences in catch rates and fishing efficiency with more people purse seining than midwater trawling in Area 1A.
Despite all these factors, the model does indicate that the current days-out strategy will work to extend the Area 1A TAC, said Cieri.
Fishermen harvested the previous 60,000 mt TAC in Area 1A quicker last year than at any other time since the TACs became effective in 2000. The 2006 fishery closed on Oct. 21.
The only other time it closed in October was in 2000. During the other years, it closed in November or very early December.
As a result of this year’s days-out strategy, the model indicates that roughly 39% of the 50,000 mt TAC could be harvested from October through December.
Is shift dangerous?
Cieri raised an additional issue related to this shifting of the fishery toward the fall months.
From May through July, herring in Area 1A are known to come from more than one stock, so there’s a “mixing ratio that goes on,” he said.
“When you push catches later and later into the season, you end up catching more of the inshore component fish, so you’re increasing the inshore Gulf of Maine removals,” Cieri explained.
If the goal was to better protect inshore Gulf of Maine fish, “You may be undoing some of what you did,” he said.
Although some in the audience had hoped the section would reconsider its February action, Maine section representative Terry Stockwell said, “There are too many unknowns to predict right now. When we reach that 50% trigger, we’ll meet again.”
Janice M. Plante
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