In-Person Scoping Meeting for Modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan on Wednesday, October 5 at 6-9 pm in Portland, Maine

In-Person Scoping Meeting for Modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan in Portland, ME

Wednesday, October 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m

We will be conducting an in-person scoping meeting to collect public input on modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to reduce the risk of death and serious injury caused by U.S. commercial fishing gear to endangered North Atlantic right whales in compliance with the mandates of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

What is Scoping?

Scoping is an opportunity for citizens to provide input on the range of issues to be addressed for significant regulatory actions in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which evaluates the overall impacts of regulations.

We are seeking suggestions for measures for all U.S. commercial fisheries regulated by the Plan (U.S. East Coast gillnet, Atlantic mixed species trap/pot, and Mid-Atlantic and Northeast lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fisheries) that would reach a 90% minimum risk reduction needed to bring mortality and serious injury below the potential biological removal level for this species.

How to Comment

Attend our in-person scoping meeting

Wednesday, October 5, 2022 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

University of Southern Maine’s Abromson Community Education Center
Hannaford Hall
88 Bedford St
Portland, Maine 04101

Comments provided at the meeting will be recorded.

Provide written comments

Attendance at a scoping meeting is not the only way to provide comments. You may also submit comments in writing through our online portal, Regulations.gov. The scoping period is open through October 11, 2022.

More Information

For more background, please review the information on our Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan web page, the Right Whale Unusual Mortality Event web page, and the many recorded webinars.

See a recording of the virtual scoping meeting held on September 27, 2022 and the meeting materials on our website.

Questions?

Regarding scoping: Contact [email protected]

Media: Contact Allison Ferreira, Regional Office, 978-281-9103

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The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

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