COMMERCE
Subscriber Services
Classified Ads
Subscribe
Advertise
NEWS
This Month
Editorial
Letters
F/V Safety
Past Issues
ABOUT US
Contact Us
Latest Issue
Subscribe
History
MORE CONTENT
CFN Archives
Links
Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
Fleet Additions
Letters
Lobster Market Report
New Boats
News Catch
Quahog Market Report
|
Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 34 Number 11
July 2007
Tautog, scup, squid changes in the works
WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council have taken management actions in recent months on a number of species, including tautog, scup, and squid.
During its spring meeting week May 7-10, ASMFC’s tautog management board agreed to begin developing draft Addendum V to the interstate tautog plan.
The purpose of Addendum V is to provide states with flexibility in achieving a 25.6% reduction in tautog fishing mortality.
If approved, states would be able to make the cuts by scaling back their commercial fisheries. Right now, under Addendum IV to the plan, reductions are directed only in recreational fisheries.
“While the recreational sector accounts for approximately 90% of tautog harvest coastwide, some states (Massachusetts is one) have significant commercial fisheries,” ASMFC said. “By including flexibility, Addendum V would allow states to tailor reductions to their specific needs.”
Scup
ASMFC approved Amendment 14 to its interstate Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The amendment focuses entirely on scup, which has been declared overfished.
However, rather than imposing new restrictions on fishermen, the amendment basically delays setting up a scup rebuilding timeframe until scientists can figure out how to compare survey results from the old federal fisheries survey vessel Albatross IV to the new research vessel Henry B. Bigelow, which recently began shakedown cruises.
While interstate plans are implemented by states for their own state waters fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP is implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and applies to all federal water fisheries and federal license holders.
The ASMFC plan differs from Amendment 14 to the council’s FMP, which is currently under review by NMFS and includes a plan to rebuild the scup stock as required by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). While the council is bound to comply with the MSA, ASMFC is not.
The council’s Amendment 14 establishes a seven-year rebuilding program and cuts the fishing mortality rate to less than half of that agreed to by ASMFC. The council amendment also includes a change to the procedures for modifying scup Gear Restricted Areas (GRAs), allowing the council and NMFS to change GRAs through an expedited framework adjustment process.
Because ASMFC’s Amendment 14 and the council’s Amendment 14 are different, “this may result in differing annual total allowable landing limits for the fishery, as well as conflicting management measures between state and federal waters,” ASMFC said.
Squid amendments
The council took draft Amendment 9 to its Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP out to hearing in May. The proposal included alternatives to, among other things: set multi-year specifications for all four species, which includes two squids – Loligo and Illex; extend the moratorium on new entrants into the Illex fishery; revise the overfishing definition for Loligo; designate essential fish habitat for Loligo eggs; implement area closures; increase the minimum codend mesh sizes for Loligo; establish new small-mesh GRAs; modify the Loligo bycatch limit in the Illex fishery; and require electronic daily reporting in the Illex fishery.
However, NMFS Northeast Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul raised a number of concerns about the amendment in a May 16 letter, particularly about bycatch issues.
In response, the council voted at its June 12-14 meeting to remove several issues from Amendment 9 and to deal with them in Amendment 10. These issues include the Loligo minimum mesh size requirement, the Illex exemption from the Loligo minimum mesh size requirement, and seasonal GRAs to reduce incidental take of butterfish.
“This action should allow Amendment 9 to be voted upon at the next council meeting … and allow Amendment 10 to be voted to take it out for comment and related public hearings,” the council said.
The Mid-Atlantic council’s next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 7-9 in Port Jefferson, NY.
For more information on any of these issues, call ASMFC at (202) 289-6400 or the Mid-Atlantic council at (302) 674-2331. Information also is available on their respective web sites at <www.asmfc.org> and <www.mafmc.org>.
Back to story list
|
|
Tell us what you think.
