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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 11
July 2009
MA governor asks NOAA to fund flounder research
NEW BEDFORD, MA – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has asked top federal fishery officials to fund a $3.2 million cooperative research proposal to gather better information about winter flounder and find ways to reduce flatfish bycatch in the trawl, scallop, and gillnet fisheries.
Representatives from the governor’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs hand-delivered the proposal, along with a cover letter from Patrick, to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Jane Lubchenco, who was in Boston on June 12.
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) and state officials from the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) jointly developed the package, which is called the “Proposal to Conduct Groundfish Cooperative Research in Southern New England.”
Commercial fishermen provided extensive input into many aspects of the proposal, and everyone involved is hoping to receive a quick thumbs-up from NOAA on the financing request in order to get commercial fishermen and their vessels on the water this summer to carry out the survey and gear work.
“We said time is of the essence,” said Tor Bendiksen of Reidar’s Manufacturing Inc. in Fairhaven, who pulled together veteran captains to help SMAST researcher Kevin Stokesbury identify traditional winter flounder bottom in the Great South Channel. Fishermen commonly refer to winter flounder as blackbacks.
“Right now is when you start to see signs of fish coming into these zones,” said Bendiksen. “These guys know that bottom. It’s where they fish. They want to get better science. They’re very interested in helping out. They said, ‘Let’s go get this thing done.’”
Winter flounder
Winter flounder, which is considered to be badly depleted, is driving the severe groundfish restrictions imposed on May 1 under the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) interim rule. Amendment 16, which will replace the interim rule in 2010, is also being heavily influenced by the poor status of winter flounder.
Fishermen and some scientists are convinced that the existing stock status information on winter flounder is incomplete, and Gov. Patrick was swayed by these concerns during an April 16 meeting of New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang’s Ocean and Fisheries Council.
At that meeting, Patrick heard about SMAST’s video survey work, which helped scallopers regain access to closed areas. Impressed, he said he’d be willing to champion a cooperative research proposal for groundfish – if it was tightly designed.
“The governor said, ‘What I need is a clear message with information to back it up,’” recalled Stokesbury.
The governor asked SMAST to take the lead in developing such a proposal within 30 days. From there, SMAST worked closely with DMF officials and fishermen to prepare a five-pronged initiative that was then sent to the governor’s office for review.
DMF Director Paul Diodati said he and his staff were heavily involved in the proposal’s development and fully backed its submission to the governor.
Partnerships
This type of partnership is common between SMAST and DMF, which, together, make up the Massachusetts Fisheries Institute (MFI). The MFI collaborates on policy issues, research, and educational outreach in all the areas of marine science.
If funded by NOAA, the cooperative research package not only would provide better information about flatfish stocks, it also would help hard-pressed fishermen by paying them charter fees for the use of their vessels and crews to carry out the work.
The governor’s office emphasized that MFI further hoped to conduct the work in close partnership with NMFS to “ensure that these data are available to support their scientific efforts so that the information is included in future fisheries management decisions.”
The proposal states, “This is critical given our shared initiatives to develop sectors, catch shares, and ecosystem-based fisheries management.”
Industry surveys
At the top of the list, the proposal requests $2.1 million to fund industry-based surveys for winter flounder and yellowtail flounder.
Commercial fishermen, using their own vessels, would conduct “standardized survey tows using electronic catch monitoring equipment to record fishing effort, species composition, catch weights, length distributions, maturity observations, age structures, and oceanographic data.” Onboard MFI observers would verify all procedures and catch.
Furthermore, commercial vessels would “shadow” the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s fall trawl survey, making side-by-side tows with the Henry B. Bigelow.
The proposal states, “We believe that the accuracy of the winter flounder stock assessment could be considerably improved by increasing the level of observations and surveys, particularly in the primary fishing zone for winter flounder in the Great South Channel.”
Fishermen have expressed concern that the channel, where many winter flounder are located, is not being adequately surveyed.
“The number one thing is to try to get out there with some of the people who know where the fish are,” said Stokesbury. “We want to know: How many winter flounder are out there? Where are they located? When are they there?”
The proposal emphasizes that DMF has “proven experience in successfully designing and implementing an industry-based survey for Gulf of Maine cod” and is well positioned to carry out a flounder survey as well.
Gear work
The governor’s package next seeks $1.1 million in NOAA funding for conservation engineering to “examine alternative fishing strategies and gear designs to protect winter flounder while obtaining optimum yield from other stocks.”
The proposal explains that three types of gear would be examined.
Trawl gear – Fishermen and gear experts would model “primary groundfish net designs used by the fleet” in a flume tank to determine “needed adjustments from bottom-tending to semi-pelagic designs.”
“Information from this study will allow better adjustment of trawl net heights and improved understanding of behavioral differences between flatfish species, thereby aiding development of more targeted gear.”
Scallop dredge gear – “Proposed gear modification will involve creation of a curtain of chain or other material along the leading edges of the dredge: the v-shaped bail … (so) contact with flatfish in the path of the scallop dredge will be created before the mouth of the dredge, reducing bycatch.” And
Bottom gillnets – Gillnets also will be modeled in a flume tank “to examine dynamics of gillnets under varying conditions and investigating the effectiveness of using norsel-mounted gillnets (a Norwegian design that lifts gillnets off the bottom) to target cod and haddock in Southern New England.”
Investigators also would test whether winter flounder bycatch could be greatly reduced by: “fishing only during the day; not using 32" rollers; and avoiding fishing in time-space locations where winter flounder are known to occur.”
Other projects
The governor’s proposal clearly states that industry-based surveys and gear work are the commonwealth’s funding priorities.
Diodati added, “I think we’re better served by trying to improve the information going into the assessment.”
However, the proposal identifies three other “potential projects” that could be carried out with additional funding.
Modify present area boundaries to allow more effective fishing on Georges Bank, $100,000 – This project, strongly supported by fishermen, seeks to shift the winter flounder “no take” area north of Closed Area I to the west so it matches up with the 2-for-1 Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic counting area. This way, fishermen would catch winter flounder on Georges Bank, which is allowed, and also fish in the area north of Closed Area I for haddock and cod while still having the Georges Bank winter flounder onboard.
Assess new flounder data using systems analysis program, $100,000 – SMAST, which has an ongoing systems analysis program within the MFI, would use its research team to examine and incorporate data collected through the other proposed projects “to design an improved fisheries management program.” And
Review the Southern New England winter flounder assessment, $100,000 – Given that all stock assessments contain scientific uncertainty, this project would “look at alternative interpretations” of the assessment, including “the collection of data, interpretations of life history information, and the assumptions mathematical models are built upon.”
Janice M. Plante
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