June 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 13. M C F N Atlantic Menhaden Board Approves
Draft Addendum I for Public Comment Episodic Event Set Aside Program also Extended and Revised to Include New York
The Atlantic Menhaden Management
Board approved Draft Addendum I to Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Man- agement Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Menhaden for public comment. The Draft Addendum proposes modifying the FMP’s bycatch al- lowance provision. Specifi cally, it considers allowing two licensed individuals to harvest up to 12,000 pounds of menhaden bycatch when working from the same vessel fi shing stationary, multi-species gear - limited to one vessel trip per day. Bycatch represents less than 2% of the total coastwide landings. The practice of two permitted fi shermen
working together from the same vessel to harvest Atlantic menhaden primarily occurs in the Chesapeake Bay pound net fi shery. This practice enables the fi shermen to pool resources for fuel and crew. However, the practice is currently constrained by the FMP’s bycatch allowance provision, which includes a 6,000 pound/vessel/day limit. The Draft Addendum seeks comment on whether the provision should be revised to accommodate the interests of fi xed-gear fi shermen who work together, as authorized by the states and jurisdictions in which they fi sh.
The intent of Draft Addendum I is to add
fl exibility to one element of the bycatch al- lowance provision while the Board prepares to address menhaden management more comprehensively through the development of Draft Amendment 3 to the FMP over the next two years. A subsequent press release on the public hearing schedule and Draft Addendum I availability will be distributed once state hearings have been scheduled. In a separate action, the Board extended
the episodic event set aside program until the fi nalization of Amendment 3. It also conditionally approved a request from New York to be added as an eligible state. The program reserves 1% of the coastwide total allowable catch to be used by New England states in areas and times when menhaden oc- cur in higher abundance than normal. Rhode Island opted into the program in 2014 and 2015, and harvested a portion of the set aside each year. As a result of the Board’s decision to extend the program, the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
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Island, and Connecticut remain eligible to participate in the program in 2016. New York is currently reporting un-
usually large amounts of menhaden in the Peconic Bay estuary, raising the potential for more large fi sh kills, similar to last year, as the waters warm. New York sought Board approval to participate in the episodic event set aside program so fi shermen can harvest a portion of the large build-up of menhaden in the Peconic Bay estuary to mitigate the impacts of additional fi sh kills. The Board approved the request subject to a one million pound harvest cap under the episodic event set aside. For more information, please con-
tact Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or
mware@asmfc.org.
NOAA Fisheries Releases Draft North- east Climate Science Action Plan Public comment period open through July 29, 2016
NOAA Fisheries is seeking comments
on a draft plan to help guide our approach to increase the production, delivery, and use of climate-related information and to reduce impacts and increase resilience of fi sh stocks, fi shing-dependent communities, and protected species. As part of its eff orts to increase the production, delivery, and use of climate-related information, NOAA Fisheries has released a draft climate sci- ence action plan for the U.S. Northeast. It outlines a strategy and specifi c actions for increasing understanding of, preparing for, and responding to climate change eff ects on the region’s ocean species -- including marine and anadromous fi sh, invertebrates, marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds -- and the people that depend on them. The draft action plan was developed to
meet the growing demand for information to better prepare for and respond to climate-re- lated impacts. Ultimately, this information will be used to develop science-based strat- egies to sustain our marine resources and human communities that depend on them during this time of changing climate. Each NOAA Fisheries’ region will have a climate science action plan that helps implement the NOAA Fisheries Climate Science Strategy. “Our science center is studying how
climate variability is aff ecting fi shery spe- cies and marine communities in the region,” said Bill Karp, Director of NOAA’s North-
east Fisheries Science Center. “Warming oceans, rising seas, and ocean acidifi cation are aff ecting marine life and also disrupting fi sheries and local economies. We hope this plan will help us provide the kind of information needed to support actions that will ensure sustainable fi sheries and coastal communities in this time of great change.” The Northeast region includes waters
that extend from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the western end of the Scotian Shelf, the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Southern New England, Georges Bank, and the Gulf of Maine. These waters are among the fast- est warming in the world’s oceans, a result of both human-caused climate change and natural climate variability. Fish, shellfi sh, marine mammal, and sea turtle populations are already responding to this changing en- vironment, which is also aff ecting habitats that these species use, predator-prey rela- tionships, and competition in the ecosystem. Human communities that depend on the function and health of this ecosystem are also feeling the eff ects. “With water in the Gulf of Maine
warming at a signifi cant pace, understanding how environmental changes are aff ecting our species is critical to planning for a sus- tainable fi sheries future,” said John Bullard, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region. NOAA Fisheries’
Commercial Fishing News
Northeast Fisheries Science Center collects, analyzes and provides scientifi c information necessary to fulfi ll the agency’s mission to sustain marine species in watersheds, estuaries and the coastal ocean. The NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Offi ce ensures eff ective science-based manage- ment of these resources to achieve the same
Continued on Page 22.
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