Public Hearings on Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment

August 17, 2018
MarineFisheries Advisory

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are seeking public input on a draft amendment to address several potential changes to the management of the commercial summer flounder (fluke) fishery, as well as modifications to the fishery management plan (FMP) goals and objectives for summer flounder. Ten public hearings will be held between September 10 and September 27. Written comments will be accepted through October 12, 2018.

Massachusetts Public Hearing
Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 5:30 PM
Bourne Community Center, Room #2
239 Main Street, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

Internet Webinar
Thursday, September 27, 2018, 6:30 PM
Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5467929991483514883
Webinar ID: 658-611-667; Phone: 1-888-585-9008; Room Number: 853-657-937

Written Comment
Due Friday, October 12, 2018, 11:59 PM
Online: www.mafmc.org/comments/summer-flounder-amendment
E-mail: [email protected]
Mail: Chris Moore, MAFMC, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901
Fax: Chris Moore, MAFMC, 302-674-5399
Include “Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment Comments” in the subject line or on the envelope.
Please do not send separate comments to the Council and Commission.

The specific issues under consideration in this amendment include:
Requalifying criteria for federal commercial moratorium permits to address latent effort in the fishery: The amendment includes options to reduce the number of eligible commercial federal moratorium permits by implementing requalifying criteria for existing permits.

Modifying commercial quota allocation: The amendment proposes several options for revising the current commercial allocation to the states, which has been in place since 1993 and is based on average landings from 1980–1989.

Adding commercial landings flexibility as a framework issue in the Council’s FMP: This action does not consider implementing landings flexibility policies at this time but considers allowing the Council to implement landings flexibility through a future framework action instead of an amendment. The Commission’s adaptive management process already allows for landings flexibility.

Revising the FMP objectives for summer flounder: This amendment proposes revisions to the current FMP objectives for summer flounder management to provide more meaningful and up-to-date guidance to managers.

Learn More: Additional information about the amendment and the management alternatives being considered can be found on the Council’s website at http://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-amendment and on the Commission’s website at http://www.asmfc.org/about-us/public-input. This information includes three documents: (1) the Public Hearing Document, which includes all proposed management changes and was developed to solicit public comment; (2) the Commission’s Draft Amendment; and (3) the Council’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Both the Commission’s Draft Amendment and the Council’s DEIS are required under their respective regulatory processes.

Contacts:

Kiley Dancy, Fishery Management Specialist
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
[email protected], 302-526-5257

Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Senior FMP Coordinator
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
[email protected], 703-842-0740

Hearing Schedule

Monday, September 10, 7:00 PM – Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Marine Headquarters Boating Education Center (Rear Building), 333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme, Connecticut 06371

Wednesday, September 12, 6:00 PM – North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Washington Regional Office, 943 Washington Square Mall, US Highway 17, Washington, North Carolina 27889

Thursday, September 13, 6:00 PM – Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Control, DNREC Auditorium, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, Delaware 19901

Thursday, September 13, 6:00 PM – Virginia Marine Resources Commission, 2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor, Newport News, Virginia 23607

Wednesday, September 19, 5:30 PM – Bourne Community Center, Room #2, 239 Main Street, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts 02532

Wednesday, September 19, 6:00 PM – University of Rhode Island Bay Campus, Corless Auditorium, South Ferry Road, Narragansett, Rhode Island 02882

Monday, September 24, 6:00 PM – Ocean County Administrative Building, 101 Hooper Avenue, Toms River, New Jersey 08753

Tuesday, September 25, 6:00 PM – Ocean Pines Library, 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin, Maryland 21811

Thursday, September 27, 6:30 PM – New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SOMAS), Room 120 Endeavor, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794

Thursday, September 27, 6:30 PM – Internet Webinar, Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5467929991483514883; Webinar ID: 658-611-667; Phone: 1-888-585-9008; Room Number: 853-657-937

http://www.mafmc.org/newsfeed/2018/mafmc-and-asmfc-to-hold-public-hearings-for-summer-flounder-commercial-issues-amendment

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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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