October 2011 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 13. Commercial Fishing News MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS


Procedures for Setting Annual Catch Limits and Accountability Measures for all Mid-Atlantic Fisheries are Approved NOAA announced approval of the Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s omnibus amendment to establish uniform procedures for setting annual catch limits and accountability measures. This amendment is further demonstration that a corner has been turned towards having sustainable U.S. fisheries because now all required federally managed fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic will be operating under these measures to help rebuild and prevent overfishing of fish stocks.


Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, all federally managed fisheries must have annual catch limits and accountability measures in place by the end of 2011. The Council determined that it would be more efficient to establish a common set of ground rules for all the management plans at once through an omnibus amendment, rather than developing them for each management plan separately. The amendment also formalizes the process for how scientific advice from the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will be integrated in fishery management plans.


The fish species in the Mid-Atlantic affected by this proposed action include Atlantic mackerel, butterfish, Atlantic bluefish, spiny dogfish, summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, tilefish, Atlantic surfclam, and ocean quahog. Actual catch limits and accountability measures for each fish stock will be set within the respective fishery management plans for these stocks.


NOAA Fisheries releases Endangered Species Act Biennial Report to Congress On August 30, NOAA Fisheries released our Biennial Report to Congress on the Recovery Program for Threatened and Endangered Species. This report summarizes efforts to recover the 64 domestic species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2010. It includes accounts of each species, their status and current threats, the conservation actions undertaken during the last two years, and the priority recovery actions needed over the next two years.


Here’s a snapshot of the status of the 64 domestic species we manage under the Endangered Species Act during the 2008- 2010 reporting period: • 26 (41%) were stabilized or improving;


• 17 (26%) were known to be declining;


• 7 (11%) were mixed, with their status varying by population location


• 14 (22%) were unknown, because we lacked sufficient data to make a determination


Recovery of threatened and endangered species is a long-term challenge. It requires the sustained, cooperative effort of government, academia, non-governmental organizations, businesses, and private land owners. In this report, you can see how these great partnerships can make important contributions to the recovery of listed species and help us address priority actions identified in recovery plans. For example, the Species Recovery Grant Program provides grant funding to partnering state agencies and federally recognized tribes to support projects that have direct conservation benefits for listed species. Another partnership, the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, provides funding to states and tribes of the Pacific Coast region to protect, restore, and conserve Pacific salmon and steelhead populations and their habitats.


NOAA Fisheries proposes 17 million pound increase in skate quota for fishermen based on updated science NOAA Fisheries is proposing a 56- percent, or 17 million pound, increase in the amount of Northeast skate fishermen can land this year, based on updated scientific information. With this emergency action, fishermen would see the quota increase from 31 million pounds to 48 million pounds for the season that began in May and ends on April 30, 2012. The New England Fishery Management Council reviewed updated scientific information on skates showing recent increases to the skate population and asked NOAA to implement emergency measures to increase the skate quota.


Federal and state agencies team up to collect information on fish habitat in New England coastal waters


Ever wonder what unique features a codfish looks for in a home? A team of scientists from federal and state agencies and academic institutions hope to learn more about this when they explore various seafloor habitats where cod and a variety of other marine species live. On Monday, August 29, scientists began a five-day research survey cruise to collect information on the seafloor, sediment and underwater footage of bottom habitat in a historically significant fishing area known as Jeffreys Ledge, a 33-mile glacial deposit that extends from the coast of Rockport, Massachusetts to just southeast of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Scientists will work in shifts, around the clock, to deploy video and sonar equipment so they can learn more about the different


bottom types that make up this area. Collected data will be used by the New England Fishery Management Council to aid in its understanding of the vulnerability of certain habitats to the effects of fishing gear and as a basis for developing management measures to avoid or reduce adverse impacts to habitat.


NOAA Fisheries implements 2010 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas recommendations on sharks NOAA Fisheries has implemented the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommendations 10-07 and 10-08, which prohibit the retention, transshipping, landing, storing, or selling of hammerhead sharks in the family Sphyrnidae (except for bonnethead sharks, Sphyrna tiburo) and oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus


longimanus) caught in association with fisheries managed by ICCAT. This rule affects the commercial Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) pelagic longline fishery and recreational HMS fisheries for tunas, swordfish, and/or billfish in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.


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