January 2018 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 11. Commercial Fishing News M C F N
States Schedule Hearings on Draft Ad- denda XXVI & III to the American Lob- ster and Jonah Crab FMPs ARLINGTON, VA – States from Maine through New Jersey have scheduled their hearings to gather public input on American Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum III. The details of those hearings follow.
Maine Department of Marine Resources January 10, 2018; 6 PM Scarborough, ME
Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553 Specifi c location to be determined
January 11, 2018; 6 PM Ellsworth High School 24 Lejok Street Ellsworth, ME
Contact: Pat Keliher at 207.624.6553
New Hampshire Fish and Game Depart- ment
January 16, 2018; 7 PM Urban Forestry Center 45 Elwyn Road Portsmouth, NH
Contact: Doug Grout at 603.868.1095
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fish- eries
January 19, 2018; 1PM
Resort and Conference Center of Hyannis 35 Scudder Avenue Hyannis, MA
Contact: Dan McKiernan at 617.626.1536 The MA DMF hearing will take place
at the MA Lobstermen’s Association Annual Weekend and Industry Trade Show
Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wild- life
January 17, 2018; 6 PM
University of Rhode Island Bay Campus Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road Narragansett, RI
Contact: Conor McManus at 401.423.1943
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection January 18, 2018; 7 PM CT DEEP Boating Education Center 333 Ferry Road Old Lyme, CT Contact: Mark Alexander at 860.447.4322
The Draft Addenda seek to improve
harvest reporting and biological data collec- tion in the American lobster and Jonah crab fi sheries. The Draft Addenda propose using the latest reporting technology, expanding the collection of eff ort data, increasing the spatial resolution of harvester reporting, and advancing the collection of biological data, particularly off shore. Recent management action in the
Northwest Atlantic, including the protec- tion of deep sea corals, the declaration of a national monument, and the expansion of off shore wind projects, have highlighted defi ciencies in current American lobster and Jonah crab reporting requirements. These include a lack of spatial resolution in harvester data and a signifi cant number of fi shermen who are not required to report. As a result, eff orts to estimate the economic impacts of these various management ac- tions on American lobster and Jonah crab fi sheries have been hindered. States have been forced to piece together information from harvester reports, industry surveys, and fi shermen interviews to gather the in- formation needed. In addition, as American lobster and Jonah crab fi sheries continue to expand off shore, there is a greater dis- connect between where the fi shery is being prosecuted and where biological sampling
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is occurring. More specifi cally, while most of the sampling occurs in state waters, an increasing volume of American lobster and Jonah crab are being harvested in federal waters. The lack of biological information on the off shore portions of these fi sheries can impede eff ective management. The Draft Addenda present three
questions for public comment: (1) what percentage of harvesters should be required to report in the American lobster and Jo- nah crab fi sheries; (2) should current data elements be expanded to collect a greater amount of information in both fi sheries; and (3) at what scale should spatial information be collected. In addition, the Draft Addenda provide several recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for data collection of off shore American lobster and Jonah crab fi sheries. These include implementation of a harvester reporting requirement for federal lobster permit holders, creation of a fi xed-gear VTR form, and expansion of a biological sampling program off shore. The Draft Addenda, which are com-
bined into one document that would mod- ify management programs for both species upon its adoption, is available at http://
www.asmfc.org/fi les/PublicInput/Lobster- DraftAddXXVI_JonahDraftAddIII_Pub- licComment.pdf or on the Commission website,
www.asmfc.org (under Public Input). Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addenda either by attending state public hearings or providing written com-
ment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 22, 2018 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at
comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Lobster Draft Addendum XXVI).
Moratorium on Northern Shrimp Commercial Fishing Maintained for 2018 Season
In response to the depleted condition
of the northern shrimp resource, the Atlan- tic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section extended the mor- atorium on commercial fi shing for the 2018 fi shing season. The Section also approved a 13.3 metric ton (mt) research set aside (RSA) and tasked the Technical Committee to develop the RSA program design and
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