Tag Archives: nefmc
New England – Drastic Cuts to Imperiled Cod Fishery
Rip Cunningham, chairman of the New England Council, told the Gazette this week it was a difficult process. “I continue to think it was a tough decision to make,” he said. “Given the circumstances, I think the council made the right decision. The council understands that when they make their decision there are real people that are going to be impacted. I certainly hope everyone is thinking that we have to do a balance between mitigating short-term impacts to the fishermen and the long-term impacts to the resource.” Read more here
Voices of the exterminators and the exterminated .The New England Ground Fish Fleet
Just three years ago, the industry was told that the Gulf of Maine cod stock was rebounding and was expected to be fully rebuilt by 2014. The following year, they were told the models had been wrong and the stock was actually appro
aching
depletion. Fishermen continued to express concern with the science behind the stock assessments on Wednesday. “We’re not talking about, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to have a tough year next year,’” “We’re talking about, you know, that’s it.’”David Goethel. Read more here
Opinion – Hard realities for New England fishermen
For decades the waters off New England have been subject to some of the most intense fishing pressure and environmental impacts of any body of water in the world. These impacts include shipping traffic, pollution, loss of habitat, and myriad other factors. Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute determined in a study titled, “A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems,” that the Gulf of Maine and environs had suffered an overall degradation of more than 90 percent compared to their pristine state. The worst of this has occurred in the last 50 years. Read more here!
One fisherman’s tale shows plight of many -Richard Gaines – gloucester daily times
For a gillnet fisherman, these are trying times — with worse yet to come. Captain Don Smith, a 57-year-old transplanted Mainer whose family roots are in Nova Scotia and has fished commercially from Gloucester for more than 30 y
ears, doesn’t need to be prodded to speak to that…… Making life more difficult for the small boats are the big boats; these “trip” boats that traditionally worked offshore on the more distant Georges Bank. But the catch share trading system imposed by federal regulators in 2010 has liberated them to acquire quota from non-participants or day boats, and — no longer limited by daily catch limits —they have been induced to chase the pulses of cod onto Stellwagen, where they flaunt their scale and have their way. Read more here
Dec. 20, 2012 NEFMC Meeting and Live Streaming Information
The Council is scheduled to take final action on Framework 48 to its Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. See the agenda below for details. Webinar Registration: For online access to the meeting, please register by clicking here. Once registered, you will receive an email confirmation with the information you will need to join the webinar. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Sheraton Colonial Hotel, One Audubon Road in Wakefield, MA. For further information about the location click here. The webinar will be activated beginning at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 5:00 p.m. EST.
At the request of the NEFMC With industry support NOAA announces closing of Elephant Trunk Area to scalloping
At the request of the New England Fishery Management Council with the support of the scallop industry, NOAA Fisheries announced today that it is closing the Elephant Trunk Area to all scallop fishing for 180 days through emergency action, from December 12, 2012, through June 10, 2013. A revision to the Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (Framework Adjustment 24) and following actions will likely keep this area closed for up to another 2 years, once this action has expired.
IG cites NOAA for lack of response – implies clearly that NOAA officials are showing insufficient interest in resolving these problems.
“We are 
currently reviewing NOAA’s controls and processes surrounding fisheries rulemaking as the first phase of our assessment of transparency and the rule of fishery councils in rulemaking,” the Zinser report states. “An effective regulatory environment requires a fair and transparent rulemaking process. Our review will consider the interactions among federal officials, fishing industry members, and non-government organizations in the development of fishing regulations.”
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x520558903/IG-cites-NOAA-for-lack-of-response
NSC Statement Clarifying Position On Amendment 18
The Northeast Seafood Coalition is pleased to provide the following comments on the Amendment 18 scoping document. This cites 2 objectives identified by the Council for Amendment 18:
http://www.savingseafood.org/images/nsc%20comments%20a18%20scoping.pdf
Socio Economic Studies and the Piss Poor Science of Fishery Mismanagement.
Listening to the NEFMC meeting over the past three days, I’ve noticed some blatant flaws of connectivity on a number of issues. Where to begin? Thats as confusing as the information was.
I’m just going to ramble my way into it with something that has me scratching my thin haired head. The socio economic information issue. NOAA has decided that there must be a socio economic study, and they apparently decided the survey was important, but not so much important enough to include the fishermen. For clarity, I will be using that term for the guys that actually go to sea http://bore-head007.newsvine.com/_news/2012/09/28/14127887-socio-economic-studies-and-the-piss-poor-science-of-fishery-mismanagement
NEFMC Considers New Rules That Could Allow Fishing in the NE Groundfish Closed Areas
PLYMOUTH, Mass. – Sept 27, The New England Fishery Management Council today took a step in the process to approve measures that could allow groundfish fishermen to harvest healthy stocks of fish 
from areas that have been closed to this fishery for decades.
Explicitly, the 18-member Council voted unanimously to support further analysis of a measure that calls for groundfish sectors, a type of harvesting cooperative established in 2010, to request exemptions from the longstanding prohibition on fishing in three year-round groundfish closed areas on a limited basis. These restrictions provide that:
NOAA Offers No Immediate Action on Flawed Yellowtail Assessment. (They ain’t in a rush address it, either!)
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) Sept. 25, 2012 — Responding to a request by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) to reject the most recent yellowtail flounder stock assessment and adopt alternative measures for setting yellowtail quotas, NOAA officials offered a workshop sometime next year to examine the chronic problems present in a number of fisheries assessments, but offered no immediate remedies to the scientific and management issues raised by FSF. The 2013 quota is expected to be as much as 50 percent less than the quota for 2012. The letter, sent signed by Deputy Science and Research Director Russell Brown for Acting Science and Research Director William Karp, was sent last month. FSF did not immediately release the response. “We had several conversations with Director Karp, and hoped to negotiate an outcome resulting in action sooner than next year.” said FSF attorney Drew Minkiewicz. “Ultimately, that proved impossible.”
Deep sea of distrust – Catch-share controversy, and an uncertain future
Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part look at the tensions between local fishermen and regulators, and the beginning of a series on the fishing industry in general. Part 2 in next weekend’s Seacoast Sunday will feature the input of a NOAA scientist, new regional administrator John Bullard and David Goethel, a Hampton fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council.
PORTSMOUTH — The new regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service says his goal is to rebuild trust with fishermen, but fishermen are able to rattle off a litany of complaints against the federal agency and its scientists that indicate the relationship may be beyond repair.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120923-NEWS-209230338
Fisheries committee proposes alternatives to help struggling fishermen
The groundfish committee proposal would allow fishermen to work inside large areas currently closed to fishing that are not considered critical habitat areas. Under the proposal, access to closed areas would be allowed only from May 1 to Feb. 15 to allow fish time to spawn and all vessels would be required to use approved types of fishing gear.
Former New Bedford mayor John K. Bullard, who recently began work as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s regional administrator for fisheries, attended Wednesday’s meeting and spoke in favor of the measure. “There are now only 400 active groundfish vessels in the Northeast,,,,,,,
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120920/NEWS/209200360/1011/TOWN10
Scallopers facing 30 percent catch reduction in each of the next two years – southcoasttoday
NEW BEDFORD — The scallop catch could be cut up to 30 percent in each of the next two years in what fishermen say would be a heavy blow to the industry. Deirdre Boelke, a scallop plan coordinator with the New England Fishery Management Council, said the reductions are needed because fewer full-grown scallops are available for harvest…… “The projected catch for 2013 and 2014 is in the neighborhood of 40 million pounds,” Boelke told The Standard-Times after a meeting of the council’s Scallop Oversight Committee in New Bedford on Tuesday. That’s down from just under 57 million pounds in 2011, the latest full-year figures available……”It’s a big hit that will affect everyone,” said boat owner William Wells of Seaford, Va., who chairs the scallop advisory panel, made up of industry members. “Each vessel will lose 46,000 pounds and there’s about 347 vessels. With prices ranging from $8 to $12.50 a pound, just do the math.”
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120919/NEWS/209190330/-1/NEWS01
Plea to New NOAA Regional Administrator: Save Us Some Cod
ELLSWORTH — When John Bullard came to Ellsworth last Thursday, he had had been the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service’s Northeast regional administrator for just three weeks and four days.http://fenceviewer.com/site/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=76663:plea-to-new-noaa-regional-administrator-save-us-some-cod&Itemid=938
