Page 10. MAINE COASTAL NEWS March 2013 ASMFC 2013 WINTER MEETING SUMMARY Continued from Page 9.


coordinate with ASMFC as the Amendment develops. The MAFMC’s Amendment15 with Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be released for public com- ment in the fall/winter.


The Board reviewed a proposed planby


Georgia Department Natural Resources to initiate an American shad stocking pro- gramin the Altamaha River, GA. The Shad and River Herring Technical Committee reviewed the request and recommended the Board consider approval. The Board unani- mously approved the stocking program. For more information, pleasecontact Kate Tay- lor, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.orgor 703.842.0740. Motions: Move to approve the Geor-


gia American shad stocking proposal with modifi cations recommended by the Technical Committee.Motion made by Mr. Augustine and seconded byMr. Fote. Motion carries unanimously.


STURGEON MANAGEMENT BOARD 19 February


The Sturgeon Management Board met


to review the recent fi ndings fromthe NOAA Fisheries and ASMFC Mid-Atlantic Gillnet Bycatch Reduction Workshop and approve nominationsto both the Stock Assessment Subcommittee and Advisory Panel (AP). In January, NOAA Fisheries and ASM- FC held a joint workshop focused on stur- geon and sea turtle bycatch in Mid-Atlantic gillnet fi sheries. The goal of the workshop was to bring togetherrepresentatives of the fi shing industry, scientists, conservation community, and managers in order to iden- tify technological solutions to reduce or mitigate bycatch while maintaining catch. A workshop summary report will be available soon.


The Board approved the following


members to theStock Assessment Sub- committee: Mike Bednarski(MA), Matt Fisher (DE),Dewayne Fox (Delaware State University), Kathy Hattala (NY), Andrew Kahnle(NY), LauraLee (NC), Christine Lipsky (NOAA Fisheries), Jerre Mohler (USFWS), Bill Post (SC), Eric Schneider (RI) and Dave Secor (University of Mary- land – CBL). The Board also approved Michael Doebley, a recreational fi sherman from Delaware.Board members will be reviewing the current membership on the Atlantic Sturgeon AP and providing nomi- nations to fully populate the AP by its next meeting.


For more information, please contact


Kate Taylor, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.orgor 703.842.0740. Motions: Move that the Stock As- sessment Subcommittee be populated as proposed.Motion made by Mr. Augustine and seconded by Mr. Adler. Motion carries unanimously.Move to appoint Michael Doebley to the AP for Atlantic Sturgeon.


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Motion made by Mr. Augustine and second- ed by Mr. Clark. Motion carries unanimous- ly.


ATLANTICMENHADEN MANAGE- MENT BOARD 20 February


The Atlantic Menhaden Board re-


viewed a Technical Committee (TC) report detailing the current status of the stock, a re- quest for funds to digitize historical tagging data, and further development of the adult index of abundance. The TC currently lists the status ofthe Atlantic menhaden stock as experiencing overfi shing, but it is unknown if the stock is overfi shed based on the new maximum spawning potential reference points adopted through Amendment 2. The uncertainty in the stock status determination is because a sensitivity run that incorporated dome shaped selectivity resulted in a not overfi shed outcome, but all other sensitivity runs defi ned the stock as overfi shed.The TC plans to address the uncertainty inthe selec- tivity through the 2014 benchmark assess- ment, which will hopefully lead to a more defi nitive determination on stock status. To help address selectivity in the At-


lantic menhaden fi shery, the TC requested funds to digitize a historical tagging data set for inclusion in the 2014 benchmark stock assessment. The Commission’s Executive Committee decided to fund the requestas recommended by the Board to recognize the importance of additional data in the upcom- ing benchmark assessment.


The Board also assigned a subcommit-


tee of Commissioners fromNew England states to revise andedit the episodic events set aside for Board review at the May meeting. Additionally the Board reviewed the compliance criterion that needs to be included ineach state’s plan to implement Amendment 2 for 2013. The Multispecies Technical Committee (MSTC) updated the Board on inclusion of additional predators for the MSVPA model. The MSTC plans to include top predatorson menhaden in the MSVPA model dependent upon data availability. Lastly, the Board repopulated the


membership for the Stock Assessment Subcommittee in preparation of the 2014 benchmark stock assessment. Additionally, the Board populated the Plan Review Team- in preparation of implementing and tracking compliance with Amendment 2. For more information, please contact


Mike Waine, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mwaine@asmfc.orgor 703.842.0740. Motions


Move to recommend that the Com- mission allocate $35,000 as recommended by the TechnicalCommittee to digitize the


tagging data.Motion made by Mr. Boyles and seconded by Mr. Augustine. Motion carries.Move that states that wish to opt into the 2013 episodic events set aside quo- ta must submit effort control criteria to the PRT by April 15th


for Board approval


at theMay Meeting. These criteria will include, but is not limited to, maximum harvester and carrier vessel sizes and a maximum daily trip limit.Motion made by Mr. Stockwell and seconded by Mr. Augus- tine. Motion carries (14 in favor, 1 opposed, 1abstention).


Main Motion: Move to task the PRT


to provide the Board, for approval at the May meeting, an appropriate daily trip limit reduction at 75%of the episodic event set aside quota.Motion made by Mr. Stockwell and seconded by Mr. Augustine. Motion postponed until May meeting. Motion to Substitute: Move to sub- stitute that for 2013 the episodic event fi shery, all states willretain their initial Am2 allocations and all states that qualify for episodicevents will be able to harvest from the 1%set aside.Motion made by Mr. Carpenter and seconded by Mr. Nowalsky. Motion to Postpone: Motion to post- pone the substitute andthe mainmotion to the May meeting.Motion made by Mr. Abbott and seconded by Mr. Adler. Motion carrieswithoutobjection.Move to approve the Stock Assessment Subcommittee membership as presented.Motion made by Mr. Augustine and seconded by Mr. Adler. Motion carries.Move to accept the Plan- ReviewTeam membership, as amended today.Motion made by Mr. Augustine and seconded by Mr. Adler. Motion carries.


HORSESHOE CRAB MANAGEMENT BOARD 20 February


The Horseshoe Crab Management


Board met to discuss the importation of Asian horseshoe crabs into the United States for use as bait and the potential lifting of the New Jerseymoratoriumon horseshoe crab harvest. A presentation was given by Glenn Gauvry, member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which highlighted the threats associated with im- porting Asian horseshoe crabs. The Board moved that the Policy Board send a letterto the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, encouraging the addition of Asian horseshoe crabs speciesto the list of Injurious Species. The Board alsomoved to create a resolu- tion to encourage states to take any and allaction to ban the importation and useof Asian horseshoe crabs as bait. The Board discussed the regional consequences of the New Jersey horseshoe crab moratorium. A motion encouraging the state of New Jersey to consider alternate managementstrategies


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