Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS July 2015


ASMFC Begins Preparations for 2016 Black Sea Bass Benchmark Stock Assessment


Commercial Fishing News MISCELLANEOUS COMMERCIAL FISHING NEWS


ARLINGTON, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has begun work on a black sea bass benchmark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the health of the black sea bass population (north of Cape Hatteras) and inform the man- agement of the species. The Commission’s stock assessment process and meetings are open to the public (with the exception of discussion of confi dential data). The Commission welcomes the sub- mission of data sets that will improve the accuracy of the assessment. These include, but are not limited to data on growth, mat- uration, migration, genetics, tagging, re- cruitment, natural mortality, and abundance/ biomass. An essential need is information on the adult component of the stock, specif- ically with regards to spatial extent. For data sets to be considered, the data must be sent in the required format, with accompanying methods description, to the Commission by June 19, 2015. For those interested in submitting data, including the appropriate format, and/or attending the Black Sea Bass Data Workshop, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at krootes-murdy@asmfc. org or 703.842.0740. The deadline for data submission is June 19, 2015. All available data will be reviewed and vetted by the Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Technical Committee and Stock Assessment Working Group for possible use in the assessment. The Data Workshop will be conducted June 29 – July 2, 2015 at the Hilton Garden Inn Providence Airport/Warwick, 1 Thurber


Street, Warwick, RI. The fi rst Assessment Workshop will be conducted in the early fall, with the possibility of additional assessment workshops to follow. The peer review will be conducted in 2016. For more information on the black sea bass stock assessment process, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy at kroo- tes-murdy@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.


ASMFC Atlantic Herring Section Re- leases Draft Amendment 3 for Public Comment


States to Conduct Hearings this Summer The Atlantic Herring Section has re-


leased Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for public comment. Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, and possi- bly the states of Rhode Island through New Jersey, will be conducting public hearings on the Draft Amendment this summer. The details of these hearings will be released as soon as they become fi nalized. Draft Amendment 3 was initiated to strengthen spawning sea herring protections in Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) and address concerns raised by the commer- cial Atlantic herring industry. The Draft Amendment proposes (1) changing the spawning monitoring program (default start dates, area boundaries, and length of the closure period); (2) removing the fi xed gear set-aside rollover provision, and (3) requiring a vessel’s fi sh hold to be emptied before leaving on a fi shing trip. The empty fi sh hold provision is also being addressed by the New England Fishery Management Council under Framework Adjustment 4 to the Federal Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring.


The Commission’s Plan Development


Team conducted a review of the current spawning monitoring program and rec- ommended new tools and adjustments to improve protection for spawning fi sh. The review revealed spawning events occur at different times each year and typically last six weeks. Therefore, a modifi cation to the spawning protection program would be appropriate to protect the herring resource. The suite of options include a new forecast system to allow fi sheries biologists to pool samples of herring from Maine and Massa- chusetts and project the date of peak spawn- ing. A range of options for adjusting the default closure start dates are based on anal- ysis of spawning data from the past decade, and provides fl exibility in the proportion of spawning fi sh protected. The Draft Amend- ment proposes merging the Western Maine (WM) and Massachusetts-New Hampshire (MA-NH) spawning areas because there have been no signifi cant differences in the starting dates of spawning events. Lastly, an option proposes to extend the closure period in MA-NH (or WM-MA-NH) to six weeks refl ecting the current characteristics of the rebuilt herring population, which is charac- terized by a broader age class structure and longer overall spawning season since the current spawning program was developed. At the request of the fi shing industry,


the Draft Amendment also includes options to remove the fi xed gear set-aside provision and establish a requirement for empty fi sh holds. Currently, 295 mt is set-aside for the fi xed gear fi shery in Area 1A until Novem- ber 1, after which the remaining set-aside is made available to all Area 1A gear types. Maine fi xed gear fi shermen have requested access to the set-aside until the overall total allowable landings limit has been harvested. Draft Amendment 3 also includes a proposal to establish a requirement for fi sh holds to be empty of fi sh prior to trip departures. Mem- bers of industry initiated the empty fi sh hold provision because it would prevent mixing of catch from multiple trips, which can improve accounting of catch and bycatch. In addition, the provision could encourage less wasteful fi shing practices by creating an incentive to catch amounts of herring as demanded by markets.


Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Amendment either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The Draft Amendment can be obtained at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/ DraftAtlanticHerring_Amendment3_Pub- licComment.pdf or via the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, on the Public In- put page. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on July 24, 2015 and should be forwarded to Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Amendment 3). For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, ISFMP Director, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.


120


ASMFC American Lobster Board Re- leases Draft Jonah Crab FMP for Public Comment: States Schedule Hearings


The states of Maine through Rhode Island and Maryland have scheduled their public hearings to gather input on the Draft Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Jonah Crab. The details of those hearings follow.


Maine Department of Marine Resources July 6, 2015; 6-8 PM


Casco Bay Lines Conference Room 56 Commercial Street Portland, Maine


Contact: Terry Stockwell at 207.624.6024


New Hampshire Fish and Game Department July 7, 2015; 7:30 PM Urban Forestry Center 45 Elwin Road


Portsmouth, New Hampshire Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095


Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries July 8, 2015; 5 – 9 PM Fairfi eld Inn and Suites 185 MacArthur Boulevard New Bedford, Massachusetts


Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536 The Jonah Crab FMP was initiated in response to concern about increasing tar- geted fi shing pressure for Jonah crab, which has long been considered a bycatch in the lobster fi shery. However, growing market demand has increased landings by 6.48 fold since the early 2000s. The majority of crab are harvested by lobstermen using lobster traps. With the increase in demand for crab, a mixed crustacean fi shery has emerged that can target both lobster or crab or both at different times of year based on slight legal modifi cations to the gear and small shifts in the areas in which traps are fi shed. The mixed nature of the fi shery makes it diffi cult to manage a Jonah crab fi shery completely separate from the American lobster fi shery without impacting the number of vertical lines and traps capable of catching lobster in state and federal waters. A complete picture of the Jonah crab fi shery in federal and state waters is diffi cult to ascertain due to the mixed nature of the fi shery. In the absence of a comprehensive management plan and stock assessment, increased harvest of Jonah crab may compromise the sustainability of the resource.


The Draft Jonah Crab FMP presents management objectives, proposed regula- tions to the commercial and recreational fisheries, monitoring requirements, and recommendations for federal waters fi sher- ies. The proposed options seek to address the following issues: The crab resource is not directly regulated in federal waters but is rather regulated incidentally by the American lobster regulations. There are no crab specifi c regulations in federal waters or permit/license requirements. There are no minimum size protections for Jonah crab, nor are there regulations to protect spawn- ing biomass, including restrictions on the harvest of females or egg carrying females. Supermarkets and other major buyers are positioning to discontinue selling processed and whole Jonah crab unless it is managed sustainably which would impact the ex-ves- sel price. A lack of universal permit and reporting requirements makes it diffi cult to characterize catch and effort to the full ex- tent in order to manage the fi shery. A Jonah crab trap is not distinguishable from a lobster trap making it diffi cult to independently manage crab and lobster fi sheries. Because crab traps are similar in design and function to lobster traps, but are not specifi cally reg- ulated, there may be implications with the lobster fi shery and marine mammal interac- tions compromising the effectiveness of the Large Whale Take Reduction and Lobster plans.


Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft FMP either by attending public hearings or providing written comments. The Draft FMP can be obtained at http:// www.asmfc.org/fi les/PublicInput/DraftJo- nahCrabFMP_PublicComment.pdf or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc. org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on July 24, 2015 and should be forwarded


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