Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS October 2011
Atlantic coastal states from Maine through North Carolina have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum V to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The dates, times, and locations of the scheduled meetings follow:
Maine Department of Marine Resources October 3, 2011; 6 – 9 PM The Yarmouth Log Cabin 196 Main Street Yarmouth, Maine
Contact: Terry Stockwell at 207.624.6553
HEARINGS SCHEDULED FOR ATLANTIC MENHADEN DRAFT Commercial Fishing News
New Hampshire Fish and Game October 4, 2011; 7 PM Urban Forestry Center 45 Elwyn Road
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
September 28, 2011; 7 PM
CoCo Key Hotel & Water Resort-Boston Newburyport Room 50 Ferncroft Road Danvers, Massachusetts
Contact: David Pierce at 617.626.1532
Atlantic coastal states from Massachusetts through Maryland have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum XVII to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The dates, times, and locations of the scheduled meetings follow:
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
September 29, 2011; 6:30 PM Fairhaven High School 12 Huttleston Avenue Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536
The Draft Addendum presents a suite of management options to reduce fishing exploitation on the Southern New England stock of American lobster by 10% starting in July 2013. The proposed 10% reduction would come from changes in the minimum
size limit, maximum size limit, and/or closed seasons. Proposals would be developed for each affected Lobster Conservation Management Area (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) to meet the 10% reduction as outlined in the Draft Addendum.
In taking this proposed action, the Board indicated that the 10% reduction in exploitation is the first step in responding to Technical Committee advice for significant exploitation reductions over the long-term to initiate Southern New England stock rebuilding.
The Southern New England lobster stock is at low levels of abundance and experiencing persistent low recruitment caused by a combination of environmental factors and continued fishing mortality. It is this low recruitment that is preventing the Southern New England stock from rebuilding. Under the assumptions of poor recruitment and very high natural mortality, the Technical Committee is not certain that
The Draft Addendum proposes establishing a new interim fishing mortality threshold and target (based on maximum spawning potential or MSP) with the goal of increasing abundance, spawning stock biomass, and menhaden availability as a forage species.
The Draft Addendum will also initiate the scoping process (comparable to that of a Public Information Document) on the suite of management tools that could be used to implement the new fishing mortality threshold and target levels. As in a PID, it will contain preliminary discussions of biological, environmental, social, and
Scheduled Hearings on American Lobster Draft
the stock would recover to the target level under a total fishery moratorium. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum either by attending public hearings or providing written comments. Copies of the Draft Addendum are available at
http://www.asmfc.org/ speciesDocuments/lobster/fmps/ lobsterDraftAddendumXVII_PublicComment.pdf or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 14, 2011 and should be forwarded to Toni Kerns, Senior FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at
tkerns@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XVII). The Board will meet in November at the Commission’s Annual Meeting to review public comment and consider final action on the Addendum.
U.S. and European Union to Strengthen Cooperation to Combat Illegal Fishing
NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco and Maria Damanaki, European Union commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, will sign a historic statement today pledging bilateral cooperation to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, known as IUU fishing—a first for the longstanding partnership between the U.S. and the E.U. on fisheries management. The European Union and United States rank first and third, respectively, as the world’s top seafood importers (Japan is second). Globally, illegal fishing deprives legal fishermen and coastal communities of up to $23 billion of seafood and seafood products annually. This puts honest fishermen at a disadvantage in the global
marketplace. The U.S. and the E.U. recognize their responsibility to protect the oceans’ vital food and biodiversity resources. In today’s statement, the U.S. and the E.U. make it clear that they are committed to cooperating on combating IUU fishing as the only effective way of ending these practices. Among other things, they agree to work together to support the adoption of effective management measures in regional and international organizations to combat IUU fishing; promote tools that prevent IUU operators from benefiting economically from their illegal activities; exchange information on IUU activities; and promote the sustainable use of fisheries resources while preserving marine biodiversity.
“Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is one of the most serious threats to American fishing jobs and fishing communities, as well as to the health of the world’s oceans,” said Dr. Lubchenco, who is also under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. “International cooperation across oceans will help us maintain a level playing field for our fishermen by strengthening enforcement and preventing illegal fishing.”
“IUU fishing is a criminal activity, and we have the duty to do everything possible to stop this practice,” said Damanaki. “Today’s agreement will help us to do just that. By joining forces, we make it harder for
Continued on Page 22. LOOKING FOR A FINE ROWING CRAFT?
economic information, fishery issues, and potential management options for action through an addendum.
The MSP approach, as recommended by the 2009 peer review panel, identifies the fishing mortality rate necessary to maintain a given level of stock fecundity (number of mature ova) relative to the potential maximum stock fecundity under unfished conditions. The Draft Addendum presents two options for the new interim fishing mortality threshold (status quo based on an MSP of 8% and an MSP of 15%) and four options for the interim fishing mortality target (status quo and F based on MSPs of 20, 30 and 40%). For illustration purposes, a 15% MSP would equate to a fishing mortality rate threshold required to maintain approximately 15% of virgin stock fecundity. The current MSP level is 8%.
Based on the revised 2009 Atlantic menhaden stock assessment, menhaden was not overfished but had experienced overfishing in 2008.
Given the current
overfishing definition, which sets the fishing mortality rate (F) target at 0.96 and the F threshold at 2.2, this is the first time overfishing has occurred since 1998. Over the time series, overfishing had occurred in 32 of the last 54 years. F in 2008 (the latest year in the assessment) is estimated at 2.28. The Board will meet in November at the Commission’s Annual Meeting to review public comment and consider final action on the Addendum. Having gathered scoping information on management tools to implement Addendum V, the Board may also consider moving forward on a subsequent addendum to establish associated management measures. The Board’s intent is to finalize these management measures for implementation in 2013.
Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum by either attending public hearings or providing written comments. Copies of Draft Addendum V are available at
http://www.asmfc.org/speciesDocuments/ menhaden/fmps/ menhadenDraftAddendumV_PublicComment.pdf or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740. The public comment deadline has been extended to 5:00 PM (EST) on November 2, 2011 and should be forwarded to Toni Kerns, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for Management, 1050 N. Highland St., Suite 200 A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at
tkerns@asmfc.org (Subject line: Menhaden Draft Addendum V).
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