January 2014 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 13. MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS


tal organizations commented that the areas should remain closed until a plan to preserve habitat and threats to vulnerable species was developed and implemented.


Based upon this public input, NOAA


Fisheries modifi ed its original proposal and concluded that fi shermen would still have opportunities to fi sh if only sections of the Nantucket Lightship area were re-opened. In order to fi sh in portions of the Nan- tucket closed area, extra-large mesh gillnets and selective bottom trawl gear will be required to reduce the catch of overfi shed fl ounders. Gillnets in the western re-opened area are also required to carry pingers, acoustic devices, which when used properly keep harbor porpoise bycatch low. “Opening sections of this closed area


won’t pose a risk to struggling stocks of cod and Georges Bank yellowtail fl ounder because they don’t occur there in large numbers,” said Bullard. “We are confi dent that groundfi sh catch in this area can be effectively monitored through our existing at-sea monitoring program, without having to require that every fi shing vessel carry an observer. Unfortunately for the other two areas on Georges Bank, the poor condition of cod and yellowtail fl ounder requires more substantial independent monitoring of the


catch.”


Some measures that NOAA Fisheries has implemented to date to help the ground- fi sh industry this year include: approved fi shing gear modifi cations and adjusted trip limits to enable fi shermen to better target healthy stocks of redfi sh and monkfi sh, respectively; increased quota for abundant stocks of dogfi sh, skate, Southern New England winter fl ounder and white hake; allowed the industry to carryover a portion of their unused 2012 allocation into the 2013 fi shing year; covered at-sea monitoring costs in 2013, which were supposed to be picked up by the fi shing industry beginning this year; reduced the minimum fi sh sizes for most fi sh stocks to turn fi sh that would have otherwise been discarded into landed revenue; eliminated the dockside moni- toring program that would have otherwise returned this year, reducing some operating costs for fi shermen; and collaborating with Small Business Administration and the US Department of Agriculture on various efforts to assist the fi shing industry (e.g., available grant and assistance programs and seafood marketing).


Council Receives Final Report on “Excessive Shares” in the


D. M. R. News Continued from Page 11.


trepreneurs and Maine shellfi sh harvesters with scientifi c verifi cation that green crabs are threatening Maine’s third most lucrative fi shery.


The cross-section of stakeholders at- tended or logged in to a webcast of the De- cember 16 Green Crab Summit, co-hosted by Maine Sea Grant and the DMR. The event was held to examine the challenges and op- portunities of non-native green crabs, whose population has exploded in recent years and which feed on bivalves like soft shell clams. Last year, soft shell clams generated approximately $15 million in landed value and approximately $45 million in overall economic benefi t to Maine’s economy. Kanwit discussed results of a green crab trapping survey, conducted over two days in nearly thirty coast-wide locations. “We had conversations with industry last spring about the extent of the green crab problem and the consensus was that green crabs are


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a serious problem,” said Kanwit. “But we were uncertain about the extent and degree of the problem so we designed a survey to verify industry observations.” DMR staff worked with University of Maine, Machias Professor of Marine Ecology Dr. Brian Beal to develop a plan for the survey. “We worked with volunteers from nearly 30 municipalities to conduct the survey,” said Kanwit.


“Our primary goal was to provide a snap shot of the locations and relative abundance of the green crab populations along the coast, and to raise the level of awareness of municipalities about green crabs and their impact on shellfi sh resources which are so important to our coastal economy,” said Kanwit. “As scientists, we also wanted to confi rm the observations reported to us by industry.” Volunteers were asked to set up to ten traps on soft bottom favored by softshell


Continued on Page 18. Groundfi sh Fishery


NEWBURYPORT, MA The New England Council has received and accepted the fi nal report from the economic consulting fi rm Compass Lexecon titled Recommendations for Excessive Share Limits in the Northeast Multispecies Fishery. The report was pre- pared at the Council’s request to provide independent advice to help determine an appropriate excessive shares limit for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery. An exces- sive share limit would be used to prevent the accumulation of excessive shares or the further increase of excessive shares if they already exist. The report is posted online at www.nefmc.org/nemulti/plana- men/Amend%2018/compass_lexecon/ fi nal_dec13.html and includes descriptions of the basis for both the qualitative and quantitative analyses conducted by Com- pass Lexecon.


The consultants defi ned an excessive share as “a share of access rights that would allow a permit owner or sector to infl uence to its advantage the prices of the fi shery’s output or the prices paid for leased Annual Catch Entitlements, or ACE.” Briefl y, the consultants maintain that “the evidence [it] analyzed does not support a conclusion that market power is currently being exercised through the withholding of ACE in any part of the groundfi sh fi shery,


Commercial Fishing News


nor is there evidence of market power in the sales of fi sh or transfers of permits.” They propose an accumulation cap that may prevent excessive shares from occurring in the future and note that goals such as fl eet diversity may be better achieved through other management strategies. A draft fi nal report was made available for public comment on December 17, 2013. That version was informed by the comments that Compass Lexecon received at the No- vember Groundfi sh Committee meeting, where they presented preliminary results. This fi nal version incorporates additional comments they received since 12/17, though the revisions are minor and do not materially impact the conclusions drawn in the draft. The Council will consider the report as it explores measures for accumulation caps and preserving fl eet diversity in Amendment 18 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. A formal peer review of the fi nal report is expected to occur early in 2014.


The New England Fishery Manage- ment Council develops rules for both large and small-scale commercial and recreation- al fi sheries that operate between three and 200 miles off the coastlines of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.


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