Tag Archives: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Analysis: New England Marine Monument Proposals Overlook Existing Protections, Overstep Democratic Management
Fishermen, fisheries managers, and environmentalists agree that the Cashes Ledge region of the Gulf of Maine is home to some of the most important marine environments in New England. Since the early 2000s, federal fisheries managers have recognized the value of these areas and have taken proactive steps to protect their unique habitats, preventing commercial fishermen from entering the areas and allowing them to develop mostly undisturbed from human activity. But according to several environmental groups, including the Conservation Law Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Geographic Society, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, such long-standing and effective protections are suddenly insufficient. Read the rest here 09:17
Is the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission going to Privatize the Maine Shrimp Fishery?
Regulators are considering putting a limit on the number of fishermen who can participate in the Gulf of Maine’s beleaguered shrimp fishery in an attempt to revive the shuttered industry. A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is developing a proposal to control the number of fishermen who can fish for the shrimp that are prized for their sweet, tender meat. The plan will likely be the subject of public hearings next year, and could apply as soon as the 2017 fishing year, said commission spokeswoman Tina Berger. Read the rest here 12:49
Rep. Bob Steinburg and W. Douglas Brady named to Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Gov. Pat McCory has appointed a local member of the state House of Representatives and a former Carteret County commissioner to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Rep. Bob Steinburg and W. Douglas Brady were named recently to serve on the panel that represents the interests and needs of east coast marine fisheries, promotes better utilization of the fisheries and develops programs for promotion and protection of such fisheries, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Read the rest here 12:24
Lobster catch up in Maine, down in southern New England
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has released a preliminary assessment the U.S. Atlantic coast lobster stock, and it presents a mixed picture. “The Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank stock is not overfished and not experiencing overfishing,” Conversely, the Southern New England stock is severely depleted with poor prospects of recovery, necessitating protection.” Total U.S. landings in the fishery have steadily increased in the past 35 years. Up until the late 1970s, landings were relatively constant at about 30.87 million pounds. However by 2000, landings almost tripled to roughly 86 million,,, Read the rest here 15:45
ASMFC Summer Meeting – August 4-6, 2015 – Alexandria, Virginia, Listen LIVE!
The ASMFC is holding it’s Summer meeting in Alexandria, Va. Issue’s: American Lobster Benchmark Stock Assessment Action, Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan for Final Approval Final Action , Atlantic Striped Bass, Atlantic Menhaden, and more. Click here to listen to the meeting live Click here to review the final agenda.
Final ASMFC hearings for Draft FMP to regulate Jonah crab fishery tonight in New Bedford, tomorrow night in Narragansett
The public hearings are scheduled for Wednesday night in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Thursday night in Narragansett, Rhode Island. July 8, 2015 5:00 pm, Fairfield Inn and Suites, 185 MacArthur Boulevard, New Bedford, Massachusetts, July 9, 2015 5:30 pm, University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Corliss Auditorium, South Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island 08:54
Jonah Crab Hearing – Portland, Me. tonight, 18:00 – Portsmouth, NH, 19:30, Tuesday
Interstate fishery regulators are holding hearings in Portland at Casco Bay Lines Conference Room, 56 Commercial Street, Portland, tonight, 18:00, and at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth 19:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Regulators with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission say the interstate management plan would regulate issues such as minimum size. 12:07
Maine’s elver fishery – Smaller catch, bigger value – 2015 haul nets fishermen an average of $2,172 per pound
Maine’s 920 licensed harvesters caught 5,242 pounds of elvers during the 10-week season, which ended May 31. That catch was down significantly from 2014 when 9,688 pounds were landed. The average price per pound for elvers jumped from $874 in 2014 to $2,172, the department said. This year’s quota was set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and will remain unchanged through 2017. The commission is expected to reassess the quota in 2018. Read the rest here 14:19
Jonah crabs booming in value as managers seek fishery plan
New England lobstermen are catching and selling more of a long-overlooked crab species in their traps, leading regulators to try to craft a management plan for the fishery before it becomes overexploited. The is working on regulations for Jonah crabs, a species common along the Eastern Seaboard that is rapidly growing in market share as an economic alternative to more expensive Dungeness and stone crabs. Read the rest here 10:26
Northern Shrimp fishery could re-open on a limited basis
Members of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are taking comments from a series of public hearings and compiling them into recommendations. The shrimp fishery closed in 2013 and has yet to reopen because of concerns about shrimp population levels. Fishermen from harvested Maine shrimp prior to the collapse of the fishery.
Some of the guidelines being considered include establishing a system of state-by-state quotas and shortening the season to only 90 days. Video, Read the rest here 11:31
Asian demand, low supply set record price on Maine baby eels
Prices for tiny glass eels caught in river inlets along the Maine coast soared to record levels this year because a slow season resulted in reduced catch, fishermen and dealers say. The baby eels called elvers sold for $2,500 or more per pound at times this season due to low supply, fishermen and dealers say, beating the old record of $1,868.73 in 2012. This year’s average price, which the state has not yet calculated, seems sure to dwarf last year’s and possibly eclipse 2012, fishermen said. Read the rest here 12:50
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approve increase in menhaden catch limits
A multi-state regulatory board is approving higher catch limits for Atlantic menhaden, a fish that plays important roles as bait and part of the ocean food web. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board voted to raise catch limits from 170,800 metric tons per year to 187,880 metric tons per year. The limits apply this year and in 2016. Read the rest here 15:36
Future of shrimp fishery debated at Fishermen’s Forum
Commercial shrimp fishermen who already have gone two years without a harvest shared sharply divided opinions about the future of their fishery Saturday at the 40th annual Maine Fishermen’s Forum. “I think there’s too much regulation going on,” Jim Hanscom of Bar Harbor said. “Pitting fishermen against fishermen is just no good. Limited entry, it’s just cutting people out … I think it’s foolish. Maybe just leave it alone, and let it be.” Read the rest here 20:52
Fishermen suspensions trigger Maine elver quota changes
Because some elver fishermen are expected to have their licenses suspended this year due to outstanding fines, fishermen with active licenses will not have 5 percent of their quotas set aside as a buffer to prevent overfishing. All licensed elver fishermen, whether or not they are members of Maine’s federally recognized Indian tribes, are facing a reduction in individual quotas for the 2015 elver season because of a decision made last fall by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Read the rest here 11:39
New Atlantic menhaden assessment to be reviewed at upcoming management meeting, reveals healthy stock and sustainable fishery
This week at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Winter Meeting in Alexandria, Va., the Menhaden Management Board will consider the just-released 2014 Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report for management use. The assessment’s revised models and data sources are substantially improved from previous assessments and indicate that fishery-independent causes, including environmental conditions, have the greatest impact on the otherwise healthy stock and sustainable fishery. Read the rest here 09:40
New England Fishery Management Council reject expanded protections for herring
In a decision lauded by state regulators and decried by environmentalists, federal regulators ruled this week that a plan to extend greater conservation efforts to river herring is not necessary at this time. There is a need for more data to assess river herring and shad stocks, but the factors affecting the species include water quality and fish passage, which are difficult to address through federal management plans, said Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the state Department of Marine Resources. Read the rest here 14:25
The American eel’s ‘endangered’ designation isn’t backed up by the science
Over the past decade, eel fishermen in Maine and all along the Atlantic coast have been part of a responsibly managed fishery, adhering to stringent regulations developed across state, provincial and international lines.,, Despite these notable management efforts, in late 2014, the environmental group International Union for the Conservation of Nature placed American eel on its “Red List” of endangered species. Read the rest here 14:55
Elver Eel exporters may need new license
The Maine Department of Marine Resources is preparing legislation that would require individuals who ship the baby eels overseas to purchase a $5,000 exporter’s license. The state already licenses both elver fishermen and dealers, so DMR officials said the exporter license will ensure the state is monitoring every aspect of an industry that has drawn poachers and federal scrutiny in recent years. Read the rest here 10:45
Report: Atlantic menhaden are in better shape than regulators thought
Environmentalists and commercial fishermen have clashed for years over Atlantic menhaden and whether there are still plenty of the little fish left in the sea. Now a draft of a that incorporates more comprehensive data from coastal states stretching back to the 1950s, as well as alternative model scenarios, appears to indicate menhaden might not be in such bad shape after all. Read the rest here 08:00
Fish Distribution: Warmer waters shake up Shore fishing
“Marine fish are very sensitive to a change in temperature — they can only survive in a narrow range, so they are seeking out cooler waters toward the poles and deeper in the ocean,” he said. “And deeper generally means farther from shore.” As the species shift north, fishing industries are hampered in making adjustments because federal fishing quotas that determine how much of each species can be caught are based on decades-old data. “The regulations are based on the idea that fish distributions are static. Read the rest here 11:06
Potential closures for scallop fishery – may be affected by the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2
Scallopers still may be affected by the New England Fishery Management Council’s Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2 when it goes into effect next year. While lobster gear currently is not included in the list of gear potentially affected by the amendment, the possibility remains open that this could change as a result of public input and any supporting scientific information. The Council plans to work with the , NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the coastal states in the Northeast on this issue. Read the rest here 14:37
Here it is! The Rundown of the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
From Atlantic Herring to Summer Flounder and everything in between! Meeting Summaries, Press Releases, and Motions. Read it here 11:58
Feds shut down Maine shrimp season again
For the second year in a row, federal rregulatorsvoted Wednesday to cancel the shrimp season, leaving fishermen, processors and distributors without income during the tough winter months. “It’s a big blow in the winter when it’s slow for lobstering and ground fishing with our size boats and the shrimp is big. It fills a big void in the middle of the winter,” said shrimp harvester and processor Dave Osier. Video, Read the rest here 10:52
Conservative regulations likely even though striped bass spawning stock is up
Last week the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that the 2014 juvenile index which measures striped bass spawning success in Chesapeake Bay is 11.0, nearly equal to the 61-year average which is a big improvement from recent years,,,Striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay area migrate north to Rhode Island and as far as Maine,,, Read more here 19:14
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission may/will shut down Maine shrimp AGAIN!
A technical committee that advises federal regulators strongly recommends extending a moratorium that began in 2014. A draft of the committee’s report says “long-term trends in environmental conditions” are unfavorable for the shrimp. The report pins the decline of the cold-water shrimp on rising ocean temperatures. Read the rest here 13:46
Maine elver fishing quota may be slightly reduced – Department of Marine Resources is advocating for status quo
Maine elver fishermen will oppose the quota cut at the meeting, said Jeffrey Pierce, director of the Maine Elver Fishermen’s Association. “They can’t keep cutting it every year. Our markets need to know there is stability they can count on,” Pierce said. Read the rest here 06:58
Regulators set to make decision on Maine eel quota
Federal regulators will soon approve rules for next year’s Maine baby eel fishing season, which could include changes to the lucrative fishery’s quota system. The board is “considering the economic importance of the glass eel fishery, especially in Maine,” said Kate Taylor, eel fishery management plan coordinator with the fisheries commission. Read the rest here 15:54
Northern Shrimp are on the ASFMC agenda, Will YOU be allowed to fish under Amendment 3?
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section will meet Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Portland to consider approval of the Public Information Document (PID) for Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp for public comment. The latest amendment looks at whether ASMFC for the northern shrimp fishery. Read the rest here asfmc pdf here 15:25
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission set restrictions on New England herring
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section’s members from the three states say vessels may fish for Atlantic herring for four days weekly, from 12:01 a.m. Monday until midnight Thursday. Fishermen had previously been able to fish for herring for seven days. The restrictions apply in a section of the inshore Gulf of Maine that is heavily fished for herring. The rules apply to the end of the calendar year. Read the rest here 09:05
Federal fisheries regulators holding LI hearings on fluke take
Representatives from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council were in Montauk Tuesday night and will be in East Setauket Wednesday to solicit comments on the plan,, At the Montauk meeting, dozens of commercial fishermen blasted rules that reduce fluke quotas to 50 to 100 pounds a day and force those with federal permits to steam to faraway ports to land their fish. Read the rest here 10:34
