December 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 13. Commercial Fishing News
known and trusted as a coalition builder and deal maker. In honor of Mr. Diodati’s lifelong
M C F N
by the price of glass eels). The 2012 benchmark stock assessment
dedication to the conservation of Atlantic striped bass, his innate ability to sense and adapt to changing winds, and the un- erring guidance and direction he provided throughout his long career, Mr. Diodati will receive a striped bass weathervane. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mr. Diodati was not able to attend the award ceremony. Dr. David Pierce, current MA DMF Director and lifelong friend and colleague of Mr. Diodati accepted the award on his behalf. The Commission instituted the Award
in 1991 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding eff orts to improve Atlan- tic coast marine fi sheries. The Hart Award is named for one of the Commission’s longest serving members, who dedicated himself to the advancement and protection of marine fi shery resources.
American Eel Stock Assessment Update Finds Resource Remains Depleted NORFOLK, VA – The Atlantic States Ma- rine Fisheries Commission’s American Eel Management Board reviewed the results of the 2017 American Eel Stock Assessment Update, which indicates the resource re- mains depleted. The assessment updates the 2012 American Eel Benchmark Stock As- sessment with data from 2010-2016. Trend analyses of abundance indices indicated large declines in abundance of yellow eels during the 1980s through the early 1990s, with primarily neutral or stable abundance from the mid-1990s through 2016. Total landings remain low but stable. Based on these fi ndings, the stock is still considered depleted. No overfi shing determination can be made based on the analyses performed. The American eel fi shery primarily
targets yellow eel. Glass eel fi sheries along the Atlantic coast are prohibited in all states except Maine and South Carolina. In recent years, Maine is the only state reporting sig- nifi cant glass eel harvest. The highest total landings of all life stages occurred from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s after which they declined. Since the 1990s, landings have been lower than historical landings and have been stable in recent decades. The value of U.S. commercial American eel landings has varied from a few hundred thousand dollars (prior to the 1980s) to a peak of $40.6 million in 2012 (largely driven
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found the resource depleted and Addenda III (2013) and IV (2014) were approved with the goal of reducing mortality across all life stages. These addenda established a 9-inch minimum size limit for commercial and rec- reational fi sheries, a yellow eel commercial coastwide cap of 907,671 pounds, and glass eel quota of 9,688 pounds for Maine begin- ning for the 2015 fi shing year. The yellow eel cap has two management triggers: (1) the coastwide cap is exceeded by more than 10% in a given year and (2) the coastwide cap is exceeded for two consecutive years, regard- less of the percent over. If either trigger is met, there is an automatic implementation of state-by-state quotas. The 2015 yellow eel landings were below the cap. However, 2016 landings were 925,798 pounds, which exceeded the cap by less than 10%. A more detailed overview of the Amer-
ican eel stock assessment is available on the Commission website at
http://www.asmfc. org/uploads/file/59e8c077AmericanEel- StockAssessmentOverview_Oct2017.pdf. It was developed to aid media and inter- ested stakeholders in better understanding the results. The assessment update will be available on the Commission website on the American Eel webpage the week of October 23rd
. In other business, the Board maintained
Maine’s glass eel quota of 9,688 pounds for the 2018 fi shing season. The Board also initiated an addendum to consider alter- native allocations, management triggers, and coastwide caps relative to the current management program for both the yellow and glass eel commercial fi sheries starting for the 2019 fi shing season. For more information on the stock as-
sessment update, please contact Dr. Kristen Anstead at
kanstead@asmfc.org and for information on American eel management, please contact Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior Fishery Management Coordinator, at kroo-
tes-murdy@asmfc.org.
ASMFC Approves Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp
NORFOLK, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Man- agement Plan (FMP) for Northern Shrimp. The Amendment is designed to improve
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management of the northern shrimp re- source in the event the fi shery reopens (the fi shery has been under moratorium since 2014). Specifi cally, the Amendment refi nes the FMP objectives and provides the fl exi- bility to use the best available information to defi ne the status of the stock and set the total allowable catch (TAC). Furthermore, the Amendment implements a state-specifi c allocation program to better manage eff ort in the fi shery; 80% of the annual TAC will be allocated to Maine, 10% to New Hampshire, and 10% to Massachusetts. Fishermen with a trap landings history will continue to operate under gear-specifi c allocations (i.e., 87% of the state-specifi c quota will be allocated to the trawl fi shery, and 13% to the trap fi shery), however, the Section anticipates exploring alternative measures through the adaptive management process that would allow states to modify allocation between gear types on an annual basis. The Section also has the discretion to roll over unused quota from the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts to Maine by a date deter- mined during annual specifi cations. Additionally, the Amendment strength-
ens catch and landings reporting require- ments to ensure all harvested shrimp are being reported, and requires shrimp-direct- ed trawl vessels to use either a double-Nord- more or compound grate system (both
designed to minimize the catch of small, presumably male, shrimp). Other changes include the implementation of accountabil- ity measures (i.e., penalties if states exceed their quota), specifi cation of a maximum fi shing season length, and formalizing fi sh- ery-dependent monitoring requirements. The Section will meet November 29
Continued on Page 20.
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