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Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS December 2014


Commercial Fishing News MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS


Continued from Page 1.


ASMFC American Eel Board Approves Addendum IV Mystic, CT – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Eel Man- agement Board approved Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan. The Addendum establishes a 907,671 pound coastwide quota for yellow eel fi sheries, reduces Maine’s glass eel quota to 9,688 pounds (2014 landings), and allows for the continuation of New York’s silver eel weir fi shery in the Delaware River. For yellow eel fi sheries, the coastwide quota will be implemented for the 2015 fi shing year but will not initially include state-specifi c allocations. Instead, the Ad- dendum establishes two management trig- gers: (1) exceeding coastwide quota by more than 10% in a given year, or (2) exceeding the coastwide quota for two consecutive years regardless of the percent overage. If either one of the triggers are met then states would implement state-specifi c allocation based on average landings from 2011-2013. Maine will continue to maintain daily trip level reporting and require a pound-for- pound payback in the event of quota over- ages in its glass eel fi shery. Additionally, the state will implement a fi shery-independent life cycle survey covering glass, yellow and silver eels within at least one river system. The Addendum specifi es that these require- ments would also be required for any juris- diction with a commercial glass eel fi shery harvesting more than 750 pounds. Addendum IV provides states/ju- risdictions the ability to request limited participation in the glass eel fi shery based on conservation programs enacted after


January 1, 2011, and given there is an overall benefi t to American eel populations. Ex- amples of conservation programs include, but are not limited to, habitat restoration projects, fi sh passage improvements, or fi sh passage construction. The Addendum also provides opportunities for a limited glass eel harvest for domestic aquaculture purposes and allows the continuation of New York’s Delaware River silver eel weir fi shery under a transferable license cap, limited to nine permits annually. The Board’s actions respond to the findings of the 2012 benchmark stock assessment indicating the American eel population in U.S. waters is depleted. The stock has declined in recent decades and the prevalence of signifi cant downward trends in multiple surveys across the coast is cause for concern. Causes of decline are likely due to a combination of factors including historical overfi shing, habitat loss, food web alterations, predation, turbine mor- tality, environmental changes, toxins and contaminants, and disease. Addendum IV is the second phase of management action in response to the stock assessment. The Addendum will be posted to the


Commission’s website by mid-November under Breaking News. For more informa- tion, please contact Kate Taylor, Senior FMP Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.org or 703.8 42.0740.


ASMFC American Lobster Board


Approves Development of Jonah Crab FMP and Initiates Draft Addendum XXIV to Address State/Federal Consis- tency in Lobster Management


Mystic, CT – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster


Management Board approved the develop- ment of an Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Jonah Crab and initiated the development of Draft Addendum XXIV to Amendment 3 to the Interstate FMP for American Lobster.


The Jonah Crab FMP was initiated in response to concern about increasing targeted fi shing pressure for Jonah crab, which has long been considered a bycatch in the lobster fi shery. However, growing market demand has doubled landings in the past seven years. Given the absence of state and federal management programs and a stock assessment for Jonah crab, there is concern current harvest may compromise the sustainability of the resource. The Draft Jonah Crab FMP will consider management objectives, proposed regulations to the commercial and recreational fi shery, moni- toring requirements, and recommendations for federal waters fi sheries. It is anticipated an initial Draft Jonah Crab FMP will be presented to the Board at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in Alexandria, VA. As part of the development of the


FMP, the Commission will be forming a Jonah Crab Advisory Panel. Commission Advisory Panels are typically comprised of commercial and recreational fi shermen, processors/dealers and other stakeholders who are concerned about fi sheries conserva- tion and management and have expertise in the Jonah crab fi shery. The Advisory Panel provides the Board with advice concerning fi shery practices and species’ management activities. Those interested in becoming a member should contact their state Commis- sioners.


Draft Addendum XXIV will address inconsistencies between state and federal American Lobster trap transfer regulations. Options will be drafted to propose alignment between state and federal measures for full business conservation tax, trap transfer increments, and dual permits transferability rules. Draft Addendum XXIV will be pre- sented to the Board for its consideration and approval for public comment at the Com- mission’s Winter Meeting in Alexandria, VA.


For more information, please contact


Kate Taylor, Senior FMP Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.


ASMFC Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Addendum IV for Implementation in 2015


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Mystic, CT – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved Adden- dum IV to Amendment 6 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. The Addendum establishes new fi shing mortality (F) reference points, as recommended by the 2013 benchmark stock assessment. In order to reduce F to a level at or below the new target, coastal states will implement a 25% harvest reduction from 2013 levels. Chesapeake Bay states/ jurisdictions will implement a 20.5% har- vest reduction from 2012 levels since their fi sheries were reduced by 14% in 2013 based on their management program. All states/ju- risdictions will promulgate regulations prior to the start of their 2015 fi sheries. “I congratulate members of the Man- agement Board for making tough choices yesterday to ensure the long-term health and viability of our striped bass fi shery resourc- es,” stated Board Chair Douglas Grout of New Hampshire. “The Board struck an im- portant balance in taking immediate action to reduce fi shing mortality back to the target while also recognizing the unique character- istics of the Chesapeake Bay fi sheries. The action will assure a more rapid increase in


the abundance of spawning fi sh which has been declining in recent years.” The Addendum responds to results of


the 2013 Atlantic striped bass benchmark assessment indicating F in 2012 was above the new F target, and female spawning stock biomass (SSB) has been steadily declining below the target level since 2006. This means even though the stock is not over- fi shed and overfi shing is not occurring, SSB is approaching its overfi shed threshold and stock projections show SSB will likely fall below the threshold in the coming years. In addition, a similar decline has been observed in total harvest. The Addendum includes changes to the coastal commercial quota and the coastal recreational fi shery to achieve reductions in 2015. Commercial quotas established in Amendment 6 will be reduced by 25% while maintaining current size limits to minimize discard mortality. The Board also maintained no transfer of unused commer- cial quotas as a conservation benefi t to the resource. The coastal recreational fi shery harvest will be reduced by implementing a one fi sh bag limit while keeping a 28” size limit. Under Amendment 6, states may use conservation equivalency to develop state-specifi c measures that are different than a one fi sh bag limit and 28” size limit for their coastal fi sheries but still achieve a 25% reduction in harvest.


The Chesapeake Bay states/jurisdic- tions will reduce their 2012 Bay commercial harvest level by 20.5% and will submit con- servation equivalency proposals to achieve a 20.5% reduction from the Bay recreational fi shery. The Technical Committee will con- tinue to work on Chesapeake Bay specifi c reference points for future management. The Addendum will be implemented on January 1, 2015. The Technical Committee will review any submitted conservation equivalency proposals by the states and the Board will review and consider approval of those proposals at the Commission’s Winter Meeting in Alexandria, VA. Addendum IV will be made available on the Com- mission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Breaking News by mid-November. For more information, please contact Mike Waine, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mwaine@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.


ASMFC Spiny Dogfi sh Board Approves Addendum V to Ensure Consistency with the Shark Conservation Act


Mystic, CT – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish Management Board approved Addendum V to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Spiny Dogfi sh. The Addendum ensures consistency in spiny dogfi sh management with the Shark Conser- vation Act of 2010 by prohibiting processing at-sea, including the removal of fi ns. Prior to approval, states could process spiny dogfi sh at-sea, so long as the ratio of fi ns aboard the vessel did not exceed 5% of the ratio of carcasses aboard the vessel. The Board set an implementation date of May 1, 2015 for states to promulgate this measure. In related business, the Coastal Sharks Management Board approved a July 1, 2015 opening date for the large coastal sharks species group. All other species groups will open in conjunction with federal waters’ fi sheries (Table 1). Additionally, based on the recommendation of its Coastal Sharks Technical Committee, the Board approved a 36 fi sh possession limit for sharks in the large coastal sharks species group (silky, tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, and smooth hammerhead sharks) for 2015. Table 1: Opening dates for commercial coastal sharks species groups, 2015 fi shing


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