July 2013 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS
ASMFC American Lobster Board Ap- proves Addendum XX and Releases Draft Addenda XXI for Public Comment ALEXANDRIA, VA – The Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved Addendum XX to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Lobster. The Addendum for- malizes measures outlined in an agreement between the offshore lobster fi shery and groundfi sh sector trawl fi shermen for bot- tom sharing in Closed Area II of Georges Bank in order to prevent gear confl icts and to protect large concentrations of egg bearing females.
The agreement specifi es certain times of year when lobster trap gear and sector trawl fi shermen may fi sh in (or not fi sh in) certain portions of Closed Area II. The fi shing industry developed this agreement in anticipation of the fi nal approval of the New England Fishery Management Council’s (NEFMC) Groundfi sh Framework 48 which contains measures to help mitigate the eco- nomic impact of the dramatic reductions in groundfi sh annual catch limits for the 2013 fi shing year which began on May 1, 2013. NOAA Fisheries has published an interim rule allowing for groundfi sh sectors to re- quest, through their operations plans, access to areas currently closed solely to reduce fi shing mortality. NEFMC explicitly con- sidered the potential for gear confl icts and included language in the Framework that states “when considering sector requests for access to closed areas, NMFS Regional Of- fi ce should include, inter alia, consideration of the potential for gear confl icts, shifts in fi shing effort out of the closed areas and impacts on protected species and lobsters.” The Board also approved Draft Ad- dendum XXI for public comment. The
Draft Addendum proposes changes to the transferability program for Lobster Conser- vation Management Areas (LCMAs) 2 and 3. These changes are designed to allow for fl exibility in the movement of traps as the consolidation program for LCMAs 2 and 3 occur to address latent effort (unfi shed allocation) are implemented. The proposed measures are also intended to provide a mechanism for industry to maintain a prof- itable fi shery as trap reductions occur. The Draft Addendum is the second in a series of addenda that respond to the depleted condition of the Southern New England (SNE) lobster resource by scaling the capacity of the SNE fi shery to the size the SNE resource. Since the scope of the SNE resource encompasses all or part of six of the seven LCMAs established by Amendment 3, additional addenda will be developed to address effort reductions in the remaining LCMAs (4, 5, and 6).
Addendum XX and Draft Addendum XXI will be available on the Commission website (
www.asmfc.org) under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740. It is anticipated that the states will be conducting public hearings on Draft Addendum XXI; a subsequent press release will be released once the hearing schedule has been fi nalized. For more information, please contact Kate Taylor, Senior FMP Coordinator, at
ktaylor@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
ASMFC Spiny Dogfi sh & Coastal Sharks Board Approves Smoothhound Shark Addendum II & Initiates Draft Adden- dum III Alexandria, VA – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfi sh and Coastal Sharks Management Board has approved Addendum II to the At-
lantic Coastal Sharks Fishery Management Plan. The Addendum allocates state shares of smoothhound sharks (also known as smooth dogfi sh) and changes the maximum fi n-to-carcass ratio for smoothhound shark processing-at-sea. The Addendum was developed in an- ticipation of NOAA Fisheries upcoming federal smoothhound shark quota, estab- lishing state shares to prevent one region from harvesting the quota and excluding other regions (Table 1). The shares were es- tablished based on historical landings from 1998-2010. The Addendum also addresses changes to the maximum fi n-to-carcass ratio for smoothhound sharks which were approved by Congress in the Shark Conser- vation Act of 2010. Currently, there are no harvest restric- tions for smoothhound sharks. Addendum I allows for the removal of all fi ns for process- ing-at-sea from March through June as long as the total wet weight of the fi ns found on board the vessel does not exceed 5% of the total dressed weight of smoothhound car- casses which are found on board the vessel. Addendum II was developed and approved to ensure consistency between the state and federal smoothhound shark plans. The Atlantic Coastal Shark Plan and its two addenda continue to prohibit the fi nning of sharks. Finning is defi ned as the removal of the fi ns of a shark while discarding the car- cass at sea. Fin-to-carcass ratios are used in high volume fi sheries to allow fi shermen to
Commercial Fishing News
process the catch at sea, so long as the weight of the fi ns corresponds to the correct ratio of carcasses on board the vessel. Processing at sea is used to prevent the meat from being contaminated with ammonia and spoiling while still at sea. Draft Addendum III was also initiated to ensure consistency between the state and federal plans. NOAA Fisheries’ Amend- ment 5a to the Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan changes coastal shark species groupings and the recreational size limit for hammerhead sharks. Draft Addendum III proposes changing the spe- cies groupings and recreational size limit in state waters accordingly. The Board will review the Draft Addendum and consider its approval for public comment at the Com- mission’s 2013 Summer Meeting. Addendum II will be available on the Commission website (
www.asmfc.org) under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740. For more information, please contact Marin Hawk, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at
mhawk@asmfc.org.
Table 1: Final State Share Percentages as Approved in Addendum II State-Share Percentages
ME 0.021% MA 0.433%
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