December 2012 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 13. lowtail fl ounder. MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS
It accepted those for Eastern Georges Bank cod and Eastern Georges Bank had- dock, but rejected the 500 metric ton (mt) shared TAC for Georges Bank yellowtail; instead a 1,150 mt shared TAC was proposed for this stock.
Final Talley and Allocations
With nine yes and eight no votes, the Council approved the following quotas for the three shared resources for fi shing year 2013:
Georges Bank yellowtail fl ounder – 1,150 mt (U.S. share 495 mt; Canadian share 656 mt);
Eastern Georges Bank cod – 600 metric tons (mt) (U.S. share 96 mt; Canadian share 504 mt); and
Eastern Georges Bank haddock – 10,400 mt (U.S. share 3,952 mt; Canadian share 6,448 mt).
After the Council made its decision on the 2013 yellowtail quota, it then deter- mined the catch allocation of Georges Bank yellowtail fl ounder between the sea scallop and groundfi sh fi sheries.
The Council voted to allocate 40 per- cent of the U.S. yellowtail quota in 2013 to the scallop fl eet, and 16 percent to the scallop fl eet in both 2014 and 2015.
The 2012 Georges Bank Yellowtail Flounder Assessment
As its SSC reported to the Council in August, “The assessment method used in recent years (a split time series based on a Virtual Population Analysis [or modeling technique used to reconstruct historical fi sh numbers at age]) indicates that the stock is overfi shed, that overfi shing is occurring, and that recent recruitment is weak.
The [current assessment] exhibited a stronger retrospective pattern this year [2012] than last year. The ratio of catch over survey biomass decreased substantially in 1995 and has remained low since, while estimates of total mortality from the survey have remained high. There are no positive signs that the stock is rebuilding.” The 2012 Georges Bank yellowtail
fl ounder status report states “Adult pop- ulation biomass (total of fi sh at age 3+) increased from a low of 2,100 mt in 1995 to 10,900 mt in 2003, declined to about 2,500 mt in 2006 and 2007, increased to 4,500 mt in 2011, and was 4,300 mt at the beginning
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of 2012. Spawning stock biomass in 2011 was estimated to be 4,600 mt.” This is mixed news. While the stock increased from 2006 to 2011, it is still half the size it was in 2003. * * * * *
An unambiguous picture of the overall condition of Georges Bank yellowtail fl oun- der is hampered because the assessment has a strong “retrospective pattern.” This means the assessment tends to over-estimate stock size and under-estimate fi shing mortality. In the words of the status review report, “If the retrospective pattern observed in this assessment continues, the 2011 fi shing mor- tality rate estimate is expected to increase from 0.31 to 0.62, while the 2011 spawning stock biomass estimate is expected to de- crease from 4,600 mt to 1,700 mt in future assessments.” The retrospective pattern implies that the stock biomass increase (or the amount of this increase) from 2006 to 2011 may or may not be real.
The assessment also reports that there
are few young fi sh present in the popula- tion; this will constrain rebuilding in the short term. Finally, the assessment notes that Georges Bank yellowtail fl ounder are currently not as healthy as in the past, as measured by a metric called “condition fac- tor.” This has also been noted by fi shermen, who have reported that fi sh are now thinner than in the past.
At the Fishermen’s Northeast Ground-
fi sh Science meeting held very recently in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to discuss fi sheries stock assessment science, a fre- quent comment was that the science needs to be revisited to sort out the disparities and complexities that now beset the effective management of the groundfi sh fi shery. Although various ideas and suggestions
were offered at the meeting to initiate this process, the Council still must make timely decisions based on the best available sci- ence, and balance biological, social, and economic information and the competing perspectives of many stakeholders and in- terested parties.
Herring Specs Package Details Addressed The Council continued the develop- ment of the 2013-2015 herring fishery specifi cations by approving the range of alternatives to be analyzed in the specifi ca- tions package.
It added two alternatives for control rules for acceptable biological catch (ABC)
for consideration, both of which are based on control rules for other forage fi sh. The Council also approved a range of alterna- tives for accountability measures in the herring fi shery for further analysis. As part of the fi shery specifi cations, the total herring annual catch limit is divided into four management areas (sub-ACLs). The Council discussed the sub-ACLs and agreed that options should be considered to split each seasonally to better distribute the available yield throughout the fi shing year.
Commercial Fishing News The two highest priorities for the
Groundfi sh FMP focus on the Habitat Om- nibus Amendment, including possible mod- ifi cations of the groundfi sh closed areas and continued development of Amendment 18 to consider fl eet diversity and accumulation caps.
Habitat Omnibus Amendment 2 is scheduled for completion and implementa- tion as soon as possible. Development of Amendment 6 to the
To establish the mechanism to allow for seasonal splits, the Council initiated a par- allel framework adjust ment to the Herring FMP. The framework will be developed and submitted with the specifi cations package and will consider options to allow sub-ACL splitting as well as rollover provisions for ACLs that are not utilized (up to 10 percent). Final decisions regarding both the
2013-2015 fi shery specifi cations and the framework adjustment are scheduled for the January 2013 Council meeting.
Management Priorities Approved for 2013
A detailed list of priorities for 2013 was unanimously approved by the Council.
Monkfi sh FMP will continue. The action to date includes a days-at-sea program with leasing and consideration of catch shares in the form of sectors and IFQs. The Council also will develop fi shery specifi cations for 2014 and 2015.
Priorities for sea scallops call for
Council staff and plan development team participation in the EFH Amendment de- velopment with respect to potential shifts in area closures, specifi cations for 2014 and participation in a peer review of sea scal- lop survey methods. An evaluation of the limited access general category vessel IFQ program also is planned. Following a new herring stock assessment, Council staff will complete a new fi shery specifi cations pack-
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