December 2014 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 13. MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS season.


For more information, please contact Marin Hawk, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mhawk@asmfc.org or 70 3.842.0740.


Working with Fishing Industry and State Partners to Find Common Ground to Protect Whales


Based on a request from the Massa- chusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and with support from the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (i.e., fi shermen, state and federal resource managers, scientists, and gear specialists), NOAA Fisheries is proposing to make additional changes to its Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to help reduce large whale serious injuries and deaths due to entanglement in fi shing gear. Click here to read more about pro- posed measures. Specifi cally, the Division of Marine Fisheries requested that we delay by 1 month the start date for a fi shery closure in Massa- chusetts Bay (from January 1 to February 1), and extend the size of the closure area. They also requested an exemption for fi shermen from the current minimum number of traps per trawl requirement, which takes effect June 1. The exemption would be for portions of Southern New England waters (Buz- zards Bay, Vineyard Sound, and Nantucket Sound) as well as state waters north and east of Cape Cod. This exemption would enable small-vessel fi shermen to continue to fi sh fewer traps for safety reasons.


Because the January Massachusetts Bay closure is imminent, and the analysis needed for the other state request will take more time to complete, we decided to con- sider the closure request fi rst. We are seeking public comment on this request through November 21.


“After consulting with our Take Reduc-


tion Team, we determined that modifying the closure area start date and extending the size of the closure area would provide vir- tually the same conservation benefi t as the planned closure but with less adverse economic impact on the commercial fi sh- ing industry,” said John Bullard, regional administrator, NOAA Fisheries. “We are always open to good ideas. The state came to us with a good proposal that was a win-win for everybody, so we are moving forward with making these plan changes.” We are also proposing through this


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action to shift the current timeframe that lob- ster fi shermen are required to remove their fi shing gear from federal waters surrounding the Outer Cape Cod area, from the period January 16–March 15 to February 1–March 30. This would align the new start date of the proposed Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan closure in Massachusetts Bay with these existing lobster management measures. It also would ensure consistency between federal and state regulations. According to Dave Gouveia, marine mammal and sea turtle program coordina- tor, “If whale protection measures are to be effective, they need the support of fi sh- ermen and the environmental community. The input we received during 16 outreach meetings from Maine through Florida, over the course of several months, helped us craft the plan revisions that we implemented in June. Similarly, the changes now proposed are intended to address concerns raised by Massachusetts fi shermen.”


The measures approved in June includ- ed a reduction in the amount of fi shing gear in portions of federal and state waters, time/ area closures to reduce interactions between fi sheries and whales in areas where concen- trations of whales and gear were highest, and an expanded gear marking scheme to make it easier to identify gear when whales get entangled. We expect to discuss the Common-


wealth’s other request, pertaining to the minimum number of traps per trawl require- ment, with the Take Reduction Team during their January meeting.


Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the number of deaths or serious injuries due to commercial fi shing activities must not affect a species’ ability to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population.


At


present, the number of serious injuries and mortalities for right whales and humpback whales is too high. We expect the closure to reduce the risk of vertical line entanglements in areas and times where known abundance of large whales has overlapped with areas of high trap/pot gear density.


ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Es- tablishes Moratorium for 2015 Commercial Fishing Season


Draft Amendment 3 PID Approved for Public Comment


Portland, ME – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp


Section approved a moratorium for the 2015 commercial fi shery. This action was taken in response to the fi ndings of the 2014 Stock Status Report, indicating current fi shable biomass is the lowest on record. A suite of indicators were used in the 2014 Stock Status Report. These include abundance and biomass indices from fi shery-indepen- dent surveys for 2012-2014, which were at all-time lows, and recruitment indices for the 2010-2012 year classes, which were well below average. The recruitment index increased slightly in the 2014 survey, but these recruits are not expected to enter into the fi shery until 2017. The Northern Shrimp Technical Committee considers the stock to have collapsed with little prospect of recov- ery in the immediate future. A 25 metric ton research set aside quota was also approved to maintain data collection for assessment and management purposes.


“The bleak status report and continuing unfavorable environmental conditions con- vinced the Section to maintain a moratorium in 2015 to protect the remaining spawning biomass and allow as much reproduction to take place as possible,” stated Northern Shrimp Section Chair Mike Armstrong of Massachusetts. “The Section will work with its industry and technical advisors to ensure the highest quality data is collected through the research set aside quota.”


Commercial Fishing News


In the Gulf of Maine, increasing water temperatures and a decline in phytoplankton abundance (a food source for shrimp) are factors which likely have and will continue to contribute to the poor recruitment in the stock. The increased abundance of northern shrimp predators (spiny dogfi sh, redfi sh and silver hake) may play a role in declining biomass. Northern shrimp stocks in other areas of the world (Greenland, Flemish Cap, Grand Banks) have also seen decreas- ing trends in abundance and recruitment, providing additional evidence that environ- mental conditions are impacting northern shrimp across their range. The 2014 Stock Status Report for Gulf of Maine Northern Shrimp is available at http://www.asmfc. org/uploads/file/545aa7d1NShrimp- StockStatusReport_2014.pdf.


The Section also approved the Public Information Document (PID) for Draft Amendment 3 for public comment. The Draft Amendment was initiated to consider establishing a limited entry program for the northern shrimp fi shery for use in the future if and when the stock recovers and the fi shery is re-opened. While the fi shery is managed through a total allowable catch and defi ned season, it remains an open access fi shery and has experienced signifi cant fl uctuations


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