Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS May 2009
Commercial Fishing News
MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS
NOAA Announces Interim Rules to to be landed. tion concerns than NOAA’s January pro- keeping the lines of communication open,
Reduce Overfishing and Rebuild North- Give businesses more flexibility by al- posal,” Kurkul said. “Today’s final rule starts listening to their concerns and needs.”
east Groundfish Stocks While Balancing lowing roll-over of unused bycatch alloca- with the council’s proposal for an interim The interim measures are in addition to
Economic and Conservation Concerns tions during the first three quarters of the action and adds important conservation pro- the 18 percent reduction in days-at-sea al-
NOAA has announced interim fishing fishing year, and freer transfer of groundfish tections for stocks of particular concern.” ready slated to go into effect May 1, and
measures that protect the Northeast ground- permits and leasing of days-at-sea. NOAA’s January proposal would have retention of the existing area in the Gulf of
fish stocks most in trouble, while still allow- Enlarge the fishing area in southern New resulted in a 20 percent reduction in total Maine where every day fished is counted as
ing the fishing industry to target some England waters where each fishing day-at- fishing revenues. The final interim rule will two days.
healthy stocks as the fishery rebuilds. The sea is counted as two days against an indi- result in a 9 percent reduction, nearly match- Fish Follow the Leader: Acoustic Re-
new rules, which take effect May 1, balance vidual vessel’s total days-at-sea allotment to ing the New England Fishery Management search on Atlantic Herring Aids Under-
economic and conservation concerns, and give greater protection to winter flounder, the Council’s original 8 percent proposal. standing of Group Behavior
are an important step toward ending over- stock most in need of protection. Also, new recreational fishing measures Technique Could Help Estimate Fish
fishing by 2010 as required by the Prohibit vessels from keeping southern will help protect cod and southern New En- Stocks Over Wide Areas of Ocean
Magnuson-Stevens Act. New England winter flounder, northern win- gland winter flounder. These include limiting Like other species, Atlantic herring play
“This decision balances healthy fishing dowpane flounder, and ocean pout. anglers on charter/party boats to 10 Georges “follow the leader,” quickly forming large
communities and sustainable fisheries,” Un- Limit witch flounder landings to 1,000 Bank cod per angler per day, extending by social groups called shoals containing hun-
der Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and pounds per day-at-sea, or up to 5,000 pounds two weeks the current prohibition on keeping dreds of millions of fish that migrate as a
Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Jane per trip. Gulf of Maine cod, and prohibition on keep- group. Little has been known until recently
Lubchenco said. “It builds a solid bridge to a “While the new interim rule is a critical ing southern New England winter flounder. about how these groups of fish form and
larger, long-term solution for managing the step to restoring depleted fish stocks and The council and NOAA are working behave, but thanks to a new acoustic tool,
fishery through catch shares, which will help ensuring a profitable fishing industry for together to develop new groundfish manage- scientists can now monitor fish populations
restore the ecosystem and the economic future generations, I understand it is a diffi- ment measures which will include an ex- over huge areas, hundreds to thousands of
health of the fishing communities. The sys- cult one for many fishermen and their fami- panded number of fishing sectors — a group square miles, in a matter of minutes.
tem will give fishermen more of a stake in how lies,” said Lubchenco. “That’s why I have of vessel permit holders who voluntarily The research findings, reported in the
the fishery is managed.” directed my staff to conduct a review of agree to fishing restrictions and procedures March 27 issue of Science, document the
The new measures will: Continue to al- NOAA’s budget to see how we can mitigate in exchange for a share of the total catch group behavior of Atlantic herring (Clupea
low commercial fishermen to target healthy costs to the industry during this transition.” allocated to the industry. This system based harengus), which are known to regularly and
stocks such as haddock on Georges Bank NOAA is expected to complete the re- on catch shares will replace the current abruptly form into large clusters of fish.
and in the Gulf of Maine. The healthy state of view by the end of this week. method of limiting fishing through days at NOAA scientists and colleagues from the
the haddock fishery shows that stocks re- According to Patricia Kurkul, northeast re- sea for those vessels that join a sector. There U.S. and Norway used Ocean Acoustic
spond when appropriate management action gional administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries are already two groundfish sectors operating Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS), a
is taken to reduce catches, if needed. Service, NOAA took public comments into in New England and 17 more proposed that technique that uses sound to detect, locate
For hook gear fishermen, expand the size consideration in formulating the new rules, as could encompass the majority of groundfish and image fish. They also used conventional
of the area where they have special access to well as assurances from the New England boats in the Northeast. fish-finding sonars and capture by nets for
haddock and lengthen the fishing period in it Fishery Management Council that it will fully NOAA’s long-term goals for the fishery the 2006 experiment during the herring
from three months (October to December) to address conservation objectives. include establishing fishing capacity at a spawning season on Georges Bank.
nine months (May to January). “Based on the public input and further level consistent with both conservation ob- Mike Jech, a research fishery biologist at
Decrease minimum legal size for had- economic analyses, the final interim mea- jectives and a profitable industry. These the Northeast Fisheries Science Center
dock by one inch, allowing more fish caught sures better balance economic and conserva- goals also entail the expansion of coopera- (NEFSC) laboratory of NOAA’s Fisheries
tive research so the best possible science is Service in Woods Hole, Mass. and a study
used in regulating the fishery, and the im- co-author, says the researchers used historic
provement of gear technology so fishermen data from the center’s annual surveys to find
can continue to target healthy stocks. locations where herring shoals were most
Rebuilding groundfish stocks and put- likely to form. Georges Bank is one of the
ting in place robust, well-monitored and ef- primary spawning grounds for herring, an
fective sectors is a top priority for NOAA, important ecological and commercial spe-
and it prompted Lubchenco to hold a series cies, making the herring population there an
of meetings to listen to the concerns of the ideal group to study.
region. NOAA’s Fisheries Service also did “The herring seemed to come out of
careful analyses of the likely economic and nowhere along the ocean floor to what ap-
biological effects of interim measures. pears to be a very specific location in the
“Each and every day, fishermen and water column within a matter of minutes just
women bring healthy seafood to our tables before sunset, and then queue up and spread
and provide for their families,” Lubchenco horizontally as a very dense cluster of fish,”
said. “We cannot, and will not, allow this said Jech. “The speed at which these clusters
proud and vital industry to disappear. We will of millions of fish formed and moved in a
be a good partner with fishing communities, synchronized fashion suggests they are us-
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