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


merce Gary Locke certifi ed under Pelly that the commercial whaling activities by Icelandic nationals are undermining the effectiveness of the IWC conservation program. In response to that certifi cation, the President directed federal agencies to undertake a number of diplomatic actions to encourage Iceland to change its whaling policy.


CITES is an international agreement signed by 179 nations that is designed to control and regulate international trade in certain listed animal and plant species. Approximately 35,000 species currently benefi t from CITES protection. For addi- tional information on CITES, please refer to http://www.fws.gov/international/cites/ how-cites-works.html.


Maine Implements First Ever Quota for Glass Eel Fishery


The Commission’s American Eel Man- agement Board approved a conservation equivalency proposal from the State of Maine to allow quota management of its glass eel fi shery. A quota of 11,749 pounds will be in place for Maine’s 2014 glass eel fi shing season, which begins on March 22nd


. This quota, developed with input from


Maine’s fi shing industry and Tribal Nations, represents a 35% reduction from the 2013 Maine’s glass eel harvest. In addition to quo- ta management, Maine will also be imple- menting a harvester swipe card system with daily dealer reporting in order to increase accuracy and timeliness of landings data and reduce opportunities for illegal harvest. Prior to this fi shing year, the Maine


glass eel fi shery was regulated by the 1998 Fishery Management Plan (FMP) which re- quires all states to maintain as conservative or more conservative management measures at the time the FMP was approved. Under the FMP, Maine’s glass eel fi shery was regulated by gear restrictions and a license cap. The change from input controls (gear restrictions and license cap) to output controls (quota management) should allow for increased management fl exibility and conservation of the resource.


The Board continues to work on the elements of Draft Addendum IV, which will propose coastwide conservation measures for American eel fi sheries. The Board will consider approval of the Draft Addendum for public comment at its next meeting in May 2014. For more information, please


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Northeast Regional Offi ce Name Change


NOAA Fisheries has changed the name of the Northeast Regional Offi ce to the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Offi ce. We’re doing this at the direction of Congress to better refl ect the broad extent of our region, which spans from Maine to North Carolina and includes the Great Lakes. So as of today, we’ll start to use our new name in various communications. For instance, you’ll see our new name refl ected on the home page of our regional offi ce web- site, in emails and letters. When you call our offi ce or one of our staff give a talk, you’ll hear the new name. Seafood dealers and fi shermen will also see news about the name change when they log into various NOAA Fisheries catch and fi sh sales reporting sys- tems such as SIMMs or Fish-on-Line. Our goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible for constituents, but it will take some time to modify all of our operating systems, forms and procedures to refl ect the new name. However, over time, you will see Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Offi ce and/or the Greater Atlantic Region used on all of our webpages, and in print and electronic communications materi- als, regulatory actions and legal documents. This change is in line with recent efforts to expand our presence in the Mid-Atlantic region. Our new Assistant Regional Admin- istrator for Stakeholder Engagement, Kevin Chu, is based in Maryland and oversees our communications and fi shing industry outreach teams.


Georges Bank Pilot Flatfi sh Survey Data Available


NEFSC Has More Work in Progress to Understand Flatfi sh Stock Condition The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has released a data report detailing last Au- gust’s pilot research survey that focused on fl atfi sh, conducted aboard the F/V Mary K and the F/V Yankee Pride. The survey was designed by a panel that included scientists, fi shermen, and gear manufacturers. This pilot survey was intended to demonstrate how an industry-based, ded- icated survey for fl atfi sh could augment other data collection in the region, and to better understand the resources required


to establish and maintain such a survey. A second, related industry-based cruise to compare catch between a commercial trawl and the gear used by the NOAA FSV Henry B. Bigelow was delayed by the October 2013 federal government shutdown, but will be completed later this year. After that we will consider whether a fl atfi sh-specifi c survey should be integrated into data collection in the region and how information gathered might allow us to better interpret broad-scale survey data collected by the U.S. and Canada on Georges Bank.


These industry-based cruises are two of several things the NEFSC is doing to work with partners in the region to better understand the condition of fl ounder stocks. We are especially focused on yellowtail fl ounder, which are not recovering even as catches are being signifi cantly curtailed. On Georges Bank, the yellowtail fl oun- der stock is a key one for both groundfi sh and sea scallop fi shermen. All signals point to a biomass that is at or near the lowest biomass on record. The current assessment model, however, consistently overestimates total biomass and underestimates fi shing mortality rates, making forecasts of future stock sizes more uncertain. Georges Bank yellowtail fl ounder stock assessment and management are conducted jointly with Canada through an international


Commercial Fishing News


agreement, using a Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee (TRAC) to conduct assessments and a Transboundary Manage- ment Guidance Committee make manage- ment recommendations. We have proposed a new, empirical assessment approach to be evaluated by the TRAC through a benchmark assessment during the week of April 14-18 at the NEFSC Woods Hole Laboratory. It will not be a typi- cal stock assessment modeling meeting. The empirical approach examines both standard and new data to evaluate hypotheses about what is causing the current stock assessment model to produce poor estimates. Results from the April TRAC meeting will be used at the annual full meeting of the committee in June, where status of three Georges Bank stocks shared by the U.S. and Canada will be reviewed, including cod and haddock in the Eastern Georges Bank management units, as well as Georges Bank yellowtail fl ounder. The TRAC will also develop advice used by fi shery managers to evaluate the risk of overfi shing given different catches.


Limited Closure for Crab and Lobster Harvesters at the mouth of the Penob- scot River to Take Effect February 22


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