Page 12. MAINE COASTAL NEWS August 2017 Commercial Fishing News
Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Workshop Scheduled for Septem- ber 26-29, 2017 in Arlington, VA
M C F N
ARLINGTON, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Data Work- shop will be conducted September 26-29, 2017 at the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Jef- ferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA. The Data Workshop is the fi rst in a series of work- shops to develop the next striped bass bench- mark stock assessment. The assessment will evaluate the condition of Atlantic striped bass stocks from Maine to North Carolina and inform management of those stocks. The workshop will review all available data sources for Atlantic striped bass and identify data sets that will be incorporated in the stock assessment. The Workshop is open to the public, with the exception of discussions of confi dential data, when the public will be asked to leave the room. For data sets to be considered at the
workshop, data must be sent in with accom- panying methods description to Dr. Katie Drew (
kdrew@asmfc.org) by September 1, 2017. Data sources include, but are not limited to, data on recreational and com- mercial landings and discards, catch per unit eff ort, biological samples (age, length, and/ or sex), and life history information (growth, maturity, fecundity, spawning stock biomass weights, natural mortality). All available data will be reviewed and vetted by members of the Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assess- ment Subcommittee for possible use in the assessment. It is anticipated that there will be two
Stock Assessment Workshops – one in late 2017 and another in the summer of 2018. The benchmark stock assessment will be peer reviewed in the winter of 2018. The details of the assessment workshops and peer review will be released as they become available. For more information on submitting
data, including the appropriate format, and/ or attending the Data Workshop (space is limited), please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at
mappelman@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.
U.S. Commerce Department Announces Appointments to Regional Fishery Man- agement Councils for 2017
The U.S. Commerce Department today announced the appointment of 22 new and returning members to the eight regional fi shery management councils that partner with NOAA Fisheries to manage ocean fi sh stocks. The new and reappointed council members begin their three-year terms on August 12. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Con- servation and Management Act established
the councils to prepare fi shery management plans for their regions. NOAA Fisheries works closely with the councils through this process and then reviews, approves and implements the plans. Council members represent diverse groups, including com- mercial and recreational fi shing industries, environmental organizations and academia. They are vital to fulfi lling the act’s require- ments to end overfi shing, rebuild fi sh stocks and manage them sustainably. Each year, the Secretary of Commerce
appoints approximately one-third of the total 72 appointed members to the eight regional councils. The Secretary selects members from nominations submitted by the governors of fi shing states, territories and tribal governments. 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 (*denotes reap- pointment)
The New England Council includes
members from Connecticut, Maine, Massa- chusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. 2017 appointees will fi ll four at-large seats. Peter Kendall* (New Hampshire); Elizabeth Etrie* (Massachusetts); John Pappalardo* (Massachusetts); and Ernest F. Stockwell (Maine).
Mid-Atlantic Council The Mid-Atlantic Council includes
members from the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. 2017 appointees will fi ll obligatory seats for Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Penn- sylvania and one at-large seat. Obligatory seats: Earl Gwin (Mary-
land); Francis Hemilright* (North Carolina); Steven Heins (New York); and G. Warren Elliott* (Pennsylvania) At-large seat: Laurie A. Nolan*(New
York) The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission’s (Commission) Atlantic Her- ring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts revised the eff ort control measures for the 2017 Area 1A Trimester 2 (June 1 - September 30) fi shery as follows. The revised measures are under- lined. Please note the time and passcode for the next Days Out Meeting on July 12th
have
changed. The meeting will begin at 1:30 PM and the new passcode is 222918. Days Out of the Fishery Vessels with a herring Category A per-
mit that have declared into the Trimester 2 Area 1A fi shery may land herring four (4)
consecutive days a week. One landing per 24 hour period. Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fi shery. Landing days in New Hampshire and
Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.
Landings days in Maine begin on Sun- day of each week at 6:00 p.m.
Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with a herring Category C or D permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 fi shery may land herring seven (7) consecutive days a week.
Weekly Landing Limit Vessels with a herring Category A per-
mit may harvest up to 600,000 lbs (15 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week. 80,000 lbs out of the 600,000 lb weekly
limit can be transferred to a carrier vessel (see below). At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions (no changes were made)
The following applies to harvester vessels with a herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire or Massachusetts port. A harvester vessel cannot transfer her- ring at-sea to another catcher vessel. A harvester vessel is limited to making
at-sea transfers to only one carrier vessel per week.
Carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one catcher vessel per week and can land once per 24 hour period. A carrier vessel may land up to 80,000 lbs (2 trucks) per week. The carrier limit of
2 trucks is not in addition to the harvester weekly landing limit. Carrier vessel: a vessel with no gear on board capable of catching or processing fish. Harvester vessel: a vessel that is required to report the catch it has aboard as the harvesting vessel on the Federal Vessel Trip Report. The initial Area 1A sub-annual catch
limit (ACL) is 31,115 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for a carryover from 2015 and the research set-aside. The Section allocated 72.8% of the sub-ACL to Trimester 2 and 27.2% to Trimester 3. After incorporating the 295 mt fi xed gear set-aside and the 8% buff er (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub- ACL) the seasonal quotas are 20,625 mt for Trimester 2 and 7,706 mt for Trimester 3. These effort controls are projected
to extend the Trimester 2 fi shery through mid-September. Landings will be monitored closely and the fi shery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the trimester’s quota is projected to be reached. The Atlantic Herring Section members
120 7530 Olympic View Dr. Unit 105, Edmonds, WA 98026 · (425) 774-7595
from Maine, New Hampshire, and Mas- sachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fi shing eff ort the following days: Wednesday, July 12 at 1:30 PM; Wednesday, July 26 at 10:00 AM; and Wednesday, August 9 at 10:00 AM. To join the calls, please dial 888.394.8197 and enter passcode 222918 as prompted. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A until June 4 or 5, 2017, depending on the state. Please contact Ash- ton Harp, Atlantic Herring Fishery Manage- ment Plan Coordinator, at aharp@asmfc. org or 703.842.0740 for more information.
ASMFC Releases Atlantic Menhaden Socioeconomic Report
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission releases the report, “Socioeco- nomic Analysis of the Atlantic Menhaden Commercial Bait and Reduction Fishery,” which characterizes coastwide commercial menhaden fisheries, including bait and reduction sectors and the fi shing commu-
nities they support. The report’s fi ndings will be used to inform the Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board as it considers potential management changes to menhaden commercial bait and reduction fi sheries through Draft Amendment 3. Addi- tionally, information from the report will be incorporated into the socioeconomic section of Draft Amendment 3, which is scheduled to be released for public comment in August. In March 2016, the Commission award-
ed a grant to the research team of Dr. John Whitehead of Appalachian State University and Dr. Jane Harrison from North Caroli- na Sea Grant to conduct a socioeconomic study of Atlantic menhaden commercial fi sheries. Over the past year, the team has collected and analyzed data to describe the coastwide commercial fi sheries. The team interviewed stakeholders and conducted in- dustry surveys to characterize participation in the menhaden fi shery, vessel and gear characteristics, as well as identify substi- tute products, subsidies, and other sources of employment. Interview and survey data also provided information on recent market changes, state-quota impacts, and fi shing communities. In addition, a public opinion internet survey was conducted, involving over 2,000 respondents from Maine, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. A secondary data analysis was conducted us- ing Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program data on pounds landed, ex-vessel revenues, and trips. An economic impact analysis was also performed to evaluate the eff ects of varying levels of quota on both the bait and reduction sectors. Some of the report’s primary fi ndings in- clude:
Interviews and surveys of commercial
fishermen and other industry members found many agreed demand for menhaden bait, oil, and meal had increased in recent years.
The public survey used hypothetical
quota variations, with associated changes in fi sheries revenue, jobs, and ecosystem services. Survey results indicated a willing- ness to trade-off some amounts of fi sheries revenue in exchange for improvements in ecosystem services; however, willingness was infl uenced by the respondents’ attitudes and characteristics (i.e. perceptions about the importance of menhaden as bait for recreational/commercial fi shing, as a con- tributor to their state’s economy, as a source of food for predators, etc.) Analysis of historic landings data found
prices for menhaden were negatively related to landings levels, but the relationship was small and insignifi cant in some instances. This suggests quota reductions might reduce commercial fi shery revenues, as decreases in landings are not fully compensated by higher prices. Analysis of the economic impacts of
quota changes indicated increases and de- creases in total allowable catch correspond- ed to income and employment increases and decreases, and these eff ects were concentrat- ed in New Jersey and Virginia. The full report can be found on the
Commission’s website at http://www.
asmfc.org/fi les/Atlantic%20Menhaden/ ASMFC_MenhadenSocioeconomicRe- port_June2017.pdf. For more information, please contact Shanna Madsen, Fisheries Science Coordinator, at smadsen@asmfc. org or 703.842.0740.
Department of Commerce Decision May Impact ASMFC’s Ability to Conserve Atlantic Coastal Fisheries
On July 11th , Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, notifi ed the Atlantic States
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