Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS August 2014 Commercial Fishing News
U.S. Commerce Department announces 2014 regional fi shery council appointments June 26, 2014
MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS
The U.S. Commerce Department an- nounced the appointment of 22 new and returning members to the eight regional fi shery management councils that partner
with NOAA’s Fisheries Service to manage ocean fi sh stocks. The new and reappointed council members begin their three-year terms on August 11.
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The councils were established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to prepare fi shery management plans for marine fi sh stocks in their regions. NOAA’s Fisheries Service works closely with the councils as plans are developed, and then reviews, approves, and implements the fi shery management plans. Council members represent diverse groups, including commercial and recreational fi sh- ing industries, environmental organizations and academia, and they carry out the act’s requirements to end overfi shing, rebuild fi sh stocks, and manage them sustainably. “All of us at NOAA Fisheries are eager to start working with our new council mem- bers, and to continue the work we’ve been doing with returning members,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for fi sheries. “The partnerships we have with the councils are more important than ever in order to continue the positive momentum we’ve been making with federally managed species in recent years.” Each year, approximately one-third of the total 72 appointed members to the eight regional councils are appointed by the Sec- retary of Commerce. The Secretary selects members from nominations submitted by the governors of fi shing states, territories and tribal governments.
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Council members are appointed to both obligatory (state-specifi c) and at-large (regional) seats. Council members serve a three-year term and can be reappointed to serve three consecutive terms. Asterisks preceding a member’s name indicate a re-
appointment. New England Council
The New England Council includes members from Connecticut, Maine, Massa- chusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The appointees for 2014 will fi ll four at-large seats. At-large seats: Thomas D. Dempsey (Massachusetts); Elizabeth “Libby” M. P. Etrie (Massachusetts); Peter T. Kendall (New Hampshire); and Mary Beth Nick- ell-Tooley (Maine).
Management Measures Implemented to Reduce Large Whale Entanglements in Commercial Trap/Pot and Gillnet Fishing Gear
Massachusetts Restricted Area (Jan 1- Apr 30)
A leading cause of death and serious
injury for large whales (i.e., North Atlantic right, humpback fi n and minke whales) is entanglement in fi shing gear. The whales can get entangled in the vertical lines, which are ropes that connect surface buoys to traps/ pots on the sea fl oor. We worked with a Take Reduction Team, which is a diverse group of fi shermen, environmentalists, scientists and federal and state resource managers, to develop measures aimed at reducing the risk of these types of entanglements. Federal laws protecting marine mam- mals require NOAA Fisheries to take action to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries of whales in fi shing gear to as close to zero as possible.
Rather than taking a broad-brush ap- proach, the team focused on, among other things, reducing the number of vertical lines in those areas where whales have been more abundant and trap/pot gear density is high- est.
We gathered additional public feedback on these measures during 16 public hearings held along the east coast, last summer. “We wanted to be responsive to what we heard last year, when we originally proposed these management measures,” said John Bullard, regional administrator, NOAA Fisheries. “So we made changes to our proposal. We have been able to decrease the number of affected vessels, reduce com- pliance costs for fi shermen, and still reduce the risk of whale entanglements.” Modifications from the previously proposed measures include: reducing the number of area closures from three to one, modifying the minimum number of traps per trawl requirements in certain areas to address safety concerns, and allowing a phased-in implementation of the new measures to allow fi shermen more time to comply.
New England Measures
We are requiring an increase in the minimum number of traps per trawl required based on area fi shed and miles fi shed from shore to reduce the number of vertical lines in the water, with some exceptions. The goal of this requirement is to reduce the number of vertical lines, thereby lowering the risk of entangling adult whales, which frequent these waters to feed. We are implementing a seasonal closure for all trap/pot fi sheries; the Massachusetts Restricted Area encompass- es Cape Cod Bay and the Outer Cape from January 1 to April 30. We are also increasing the size and frequency of required gear- marks for both trap/pot and gillnet fi sheries. Fishermen use paint, colored tape or other means to mark their vertical lines. The new gear marking requirements are intended to make identifi cation of the type of fi shing gear involved in an entanglement easier. These measures become effective on June 1, 2015.
Herring Days Out The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts adjusted the “days out” effort control measure to seven (7) landing days each week in Area 1A for the remainder of the 2014 second trimester (June 1 through September 30). Trimester 2 has a total al- lowable catch (TAC) of 21,793 metric tons (mt). This amount is 72.8% of the 31,200 mt annual catch limit sub-component for Area 1A after adjusting for a 10% rollover of 2012’s quota, 295 mt fi xed gear set-aside, 3% research set-aside, and 8% bycatch al- lowance. The adjustment from fi ve landing days was made to allow Atlantic herring fi shermen to fully utilize the sub-quota. Effective 001 hours Monday, July 7, 2014, vessels may fi sh and land Atlantic sea herring seven days a week. There will be zero “days out” for the fi shery. Landings will be monitored closely and
the directed fi shery will be closed when 92% of the trimester’s adjusted quota is project- ed to be reached, after which landings will be restricted to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip until October 1 (start of Trimester 3). The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Mas- sachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call on Wednesday, July 23 to review the fi shing effort and adjust landing days as necessary. Call details, including time, will be announced at a later date. Please contact Melissa Yuen, Atlantic
Herring FMP Coordinator, at (703) 842- 0740 for more information.
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