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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 11
July 2010
New England council issues backgrounder on ‘groundfish facts’
NEWBURYPORT, MA – With many groundfish stocks clearly on the rebound, industry complaints over small catch limits mounted exponentially in the weeks following the May 1 start of the 2010 fishing year.
Fishermen found themselves discarding bountiful, legal-size fish due to allocation shortages and were often prevented from catching species they actually had quota for due to extremely low annual catch limits (ACLs) on weaker stocks.
The New England Fishery Management Council, which developed Amendment 16 to the groundfish plan with its sector and common pool components as well as Framework 44 with the ACL specifications, was well aware of people’s frustrations.
In an attempt to broadcast more information about healthy stocks vs. weak ones, the council issued a “Groundfish Facts” backgrounder on May 26.
The council said it took this step to “promote a better understanding of why fishermen have observed increases in fish stocks while, at the same time, rules that govern fishing activities remain restrictive for some species.”
GARM info
The council pulled its information from a report titled “Assessment of 19 Northeast Groundfish Stocks through 2007,” which was released in 2008.
The report came out of the third Groundfish Assessment Review Meeting, commonly referred to as GARM III.
The council noted that GARM III classified 11 groundfish stocks as “both overfished and experiencing overfishing.” Four stocks were classified as “not overfished and not experiencing overfishing,” while some stocks were split, experiencing one condition or the other.
“Despite some positive outcomes since the 2004 implementation of Amendment 13 … council members have remained concerned about the condition of many stocks,” the council stated in the backgrounder, adding that, in Amendment 16, it “adopted sector management as an alternative to the much derided days-at-sea program to provide fishermen with greater operating flexibility as stocks rebuild and to promote greater self-regulation.”
Stock status
The council also provided the following information:
“Redfish, American plaice, and both Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine haddock are not overfished, nor is overfishing occurring;”
“The Gulf of Maine cod spawning stock biomass is at least as high or higher than it has been in over 30 years;”
While overfishing is still occurring on Gulf of Maine cod, the stock is no longer overfished;
The Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder stock “has shown some rebounding in the last several years;”
The Georges Bank yellowtail stock is at the highest level seen in 30 years;
“The GARM III report confirmed that Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder are at very low biomass levels;” and
Southern New England windowpane flounder has “experienced increases,” but “the status of northern windowpane and witch flounder, as well as ocean pout, has deteriorated.”
In short, the council indicated it was still worried about the status of certain “low biomass” stocks, even though great gains have been made in rebuilding others.
“A new course”
In a different outreach effort, the council published and distributed a Spring 2010 report titled “Charting a New Course,” which sums up several recent actions and “innovative programs” put in place by the council.
In a cover letter accompanying the report, council Executive Director Paul Howard said its purpose was to “showcase our successes, identify areas requiring improvement, and provide food for thought.”
The report contains summary sections on groundfish, monkfish, scallops, and herring, as well as others about the council’s “new emphasis on scientific review,” essential fish habitat, research set-aside programs, plan development teams, and more.
To obtain copies of the report, call the council office at (978) 465-0492 or download the document online at <www.nefmc.org>. Click on “What’s New?” and look for the “Charting a New Course” report toward the top of the right-hand column. /cfn/
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