The following summary highlights Council actions and issues considered at the February 10-12, 2015 Council Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Council has voted to request that the National Marine Fisheries Service implement emergency rules to restrict commercial and recreational landings of blueline tilefish in the Mid-Atlantic.
The Mid-Atlantic Council has approved the Cost Recovery Amendment to the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management (FMP). The amendment addresses cost recovery requirements, streamlines the process for updating stock status determination criteria, and removes the optimum yield (OY) ranges specified in the FMP.
Last week the Council named George Darcy, former NOAA Fisheries Assistant Regional Administrator, as the 2015 recipient of the Ricks E Savage Award.
This week, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council member Dewey Hemilright was announced as one of six individuals in the Busch 2015 Class of Heroes.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold an emergency meeting via webinar on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 from 1:30 until 4:30 p.m. to consider requesting emergency action for deepwater snapper/grouper species, including blueline tilefish, within the Mid-Atlantic Council’s jurisdiction.
The Council has voted to postpone final action on the Deep Sea Corals Amendment in order to allow for further analysis of the alternatives and to provide additional opportunities for stakeholder input.
Members of the public are invited to attend the Council’s next listening session at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 11th for a presentation and discussion about new methods of estimating recreational fishing effort.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting applications from qualified individuals to serve on seven advisory panels. Applications are due by February 27, 2015.
An interactive mapper tool is now available for stakeholders and managers to explore the areas that have been proposed for protection as part of the Mid-Atlantic Council’s Deep Sea Corals Amendment.
The Council will hold its next meeting February 10-12, 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold six public hearings in January to gather public comments on the Deep Sea Corals Amendment to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Hearings will be held January 12 – 20, 2015, and written comments will be accepted until January 28, 2015.
The following summary highlights major actions and issues considered at the December 8-11, 2014 Council meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Mid-Atlantic Council voted at its meeting last week to initiate an action that would protect unmanaged species of forage fish in the Mid-Atlantic.
The Council has scheduled four hearings to be held January 12 - 15 for the public to provide comments on the Cost Recovery Amendment to the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog FMP. Written comments will also be accepted from December 15, 2014 until January 16, 2015.
Members of the public are invited to attend the Council’s next listening session at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10th to learn more about deep sea corals in the Mid-Atlantic. Guest speaker will be Dr. Martha Nizinski, a zoologist at the NOAA Fisheries National Systematics Lab
NOAA Fisheries staff is working feverishly with partners to arrange air transports for unprecedented numbers of “cold-stunned” sea turtles to facilities in the southeast United States.
NOAA Fisheries has announced that it is intending to move, within the next few years, to a new MRIP-based method for surveying Atlantic and Gulf Coast saltwater recreational shore and private boat anglers about their fishing trips.
The public is invited to attend the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's upcoming meeting in Baltimore, Maryland on December 8 - 11, 2014.
NOAA Fisheries has published proposed specifications for the Atlantic mackerel, squid and butterfish fisheries for fishing year 2015. The deadline to submit public comments on December 15, 2014.
