Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS April 2014 Commercial Fishing News MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS Continued from Page 11.


Request for comments on the revisions to NOAA’s Policy for the Assessment of Civil Administrative Penalties and Per- mit Sanctions (NOAA Penalty Policy) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric


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Administration (NOAA) announces the availability of draft revisions to NOAA’s Policy for the Assessment of Civil Adminis- trative Penalties and Permit Sanctions (Pen- alty Policy) for public review and comment. The draft revisions to the Penalty Policy are intended to provide updated guidance for the assessment of civil administrative penal- ties and permit sanctions under the statutes and regulations enforced by NOAA. As ex- plained more fully in the text of the Penalty Policy, the purpose of the Policy is to ensure that: (1) Civil administrative penalties and permit sanctions are assessed in accordance with the laws that NOAA enforces in a fair and consistent manner; (2) penalties and per- mit sanctions are appropriate for the gravity of the violation; (3) penalties and permit sanctions are suffi cient to deter both partic- ular violators and the regulated community from committing violations; (4) economic incentives for noncompliance are elimi- nated; and (5)compliance is expeditiously achieved and maintained to protect natural resources. A complete PDF copy of the draft revisions to the NOAA Penalty Policy is available.


The Federal Register Notice requesting comments on the NOAA Penalty Policy is available.


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The draft revisions to the Penalty Policy will remain available for public review until April 28, 2014. To ensure that comments will be considered, NOAA must receive written comments by April 28, 2014. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: Electronic Sub- missions: Submit electronic public com- ments to penaltypolicy@noaa.gov; Fax: 301 427–2211; Attn: Robert Hogan; Mail: Enforcement Section, Offi ce of the General


Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospher- ic Administration, 1315 East West Highway, SSMC-3-15424, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Attn: Robert Hogan.


Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery


Fishing Year 2014 Observer Set-Aside Compensation Rates


The Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries


Offi ce (GARFO) and the Northeast Fisher- ies Science Center (NEFSC) of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service have worked together to calculate the initial observer set-aside compensation rate for fi shing year (FY) 2014. We will revisit these rates in June once Framework 25 is imple- mented, if approved, to see if any mid-year adjustments are necessary. FY 2014 Initial Compensation Rates The compensation rate for open areas for limited access vessels fi shing under DAS is 0.07 DAS per DAS fi shed (the vessel is charged 0.93 DAS for each DAS fi shed with an observer onboard). This rate is slightly lower than the open area rates from recent years (e.g., 0.08 DAS per DAS fi shed in FYs 2012 and 2013) due to higher anticipated open area effort in FY 2014, in addition to our attempt to equalize this compensation rate with that for access areas. Although there are no FY 2014 allocat- ed access area trips at the start of the fi shing year, limited access scallop vessels may take FY 2013 compensation trips broken in the last 60 days of FY 2013 in the fi rst 60 days of FY 2014 (i.e., through April 29, 2014). The compensation rate for these compensation trips is 150 lb in addition to the vessel’s possession limit for the trip for each day or part of a day an observer is onboard. Although limited access general cate- gory (LAGC) individual fi shing quota (IFQ)


vessels will not be able to fi sh within the access areas at the start of FY 2014, they may possess an additional 150 lb per trip in open areas when carrying an observer. We selected these compensation rates because we expect that they provide suf- fi cient compensation for the observer fee while also providing suffi cient observer coverage based on anticipated coverage levels needed for the start of FY 2014. For limited access vessels on access areas trips, the compensation rate provides an average buffer of approximately $1,010 per day over the $675 per day cost of the observer at the expected price of scallops. For limited access vessels on open area trips, the buffer is approximately $1,325. For LAGC vessels, the compensation rate provides an average buffer of approxi- mately $1,010 per trip over the $675 per day cost of the observer at the expected price of scallops, assuming trips are one day in length. We intend for these excess funds to account for variations in the fi shery, such as lower scallop price and landings per day fi shed (also called landings per unit effort (LPUE)), without creating fi nancial incen- tive to extend an observed trip. PLEASE NOTE: These are initial rates because we may consider changing the compensation rate as we gather fi shery information throughout FY 2014, such as scallop price, length of trips, LPUE, and overall rate of observer set-aside usage.


Researchers Discuss Habitat and Life History Diversity of Atlantic Salmon and other Diadromous Fishes at Maine Forum


More than 165 participants from the Northeast and Northwest U.S. and Atlantic Canada gathered in Orono, Maine, January 8-9 to attend the 7th biennial Atlantic Salm- on Ecosystems Forum. Attendees from as far as Washington and Idaho heard and viewed more than 50 oral and poster presentations given on the science, management, and restoration of diadromous fi sh species and their habitats in New England, Atlantic Canada and the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.


Mark Renkawitz of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and Tara Trinko Lake from the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Offi ce (GARFO), served as co-convenors of the forum, which has broadened its original focus on salmon to include other diadromous species. “Atlantic salmon constitute a small portion of the overall fi sh biomass in the Gulf of Maine but are part of a much larger diadromous species community,” Renkaw- itz said. “Despite the name, the forum is not completely salmon-centric and encompass- es sturgeon, river herring and other sea-run species and their habitats, and the role each plays in the ecosystem.”


The meeting focused on estuary and marine ecology, diadromous species ecolo- gy, freshwater ecology, and applying science to management. Topics ranged from migra- tion, predation, and habitat to the impact of dam removals and improved fi sh passage. The forum was co-sponsored by NOAA, the Diadromous Species Restoration Re- search Network (DSRRN), Project SHARE (Salmon Habitat and River Enhancement), the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


“Improving and maintaining habitat diversity and life history diversity of the various species in the ecosystem is critical,” Trinko Lake said. “In the last 10-15 years, there has been a lot of attention paid to the relationship between salmon distribution,


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