ASMFC and MAFMC Approve Changes to State Allocations of Commercial Black Sea Bass Quota

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) jointly approved several changes to the management program for black sea bass commercial fisheries. These changes include modifying the state allocations of the commercial black sea bass quota, adding the state allocations to the Council’s Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and modifying the regulations for federal in-season closures. The Board adopted the new allocations through Addendum XXXIII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass FMP, while the Council recommended these changes through an amendment to its FMP. These actions address significant changes in the distribution of black sea bass that have occurred since the original allocations were implemented under Amendment 13 in 2003 and also account for the historical dependence of the states on the black sea bass fishery. 

Under the approved changes, Connecticut’s baseline allocation will increase from 1% to 3% of the coastwide quota to address its disproportionally low allocation compared to the increased availability of black sea bass in state waters. The state allocations will then be calculated by allocating 75% of the coastwide quota according to the new baseline allocations (historical allocations modified to account for Connecticut’s increase to 3%) and 25% to three regions based on the most recent regional biomass distribution information from the stock assessment (see Table 1). The three regions are: 1) Maine-New York, 2) New Jersey, and 3) Delaware-North Carolina. The regional allocations will be distributed among states within a region in proportion to their baseline allocations, except Maine and New Hampshire will each receive 1% of the northern region quota. Because the allocations are based in part on the regional biomass distribution from the stock assessment, they will be adjusted if a new assessment indicates a change to the biomass distribution. The Board and Council committed to reevaluating the approved state allocation system within 5 years.

The Council and Board agreed to add the state allocations to the Council’s FMP. As a result, future modifications to the allocations will require a joint action of the Board and Council. Additionally, they approved a change to the federal regulations such that the entire black sea bass commercial fishery will close in-season for all federally permitted vessels and dealers once landings are projected to exceed the coastwide quota plus an additional buffer of up to 5%. The buffer aims to minimize negative economic impacts of coastwide closures on states that have not fully harvested their quotas. The Council and Board considered, but did not adopt, changes to the regulations for paybacks of state quota overages; states will only be required to pay back overages of their state quota if the coastwide quota is exceeded.

Table 1. Revised state allocation percentages of the black sea bass commercial quota based on the most recent regional biomass distribution information.

*These allocations are based on the results of the 2019 Operational Stock Assessment and will be updated if future assessments indicate a change to the biomass distribution.

Addendum XXXIII’s measures are final for state waters (0-3 miles from shore) and become effective January 1, 2022. The Council will submit their amendment to NOAA Fisheries for review, approval, and implementation.

Addendum XXXIII will be available on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, on the black sea bass webpage by the end of February. Updates on the Council’s amendment will be posted at https://www.mafmc.org/actions/bsb-commercial-allocation.

Contacts

For more information, please contact either:

  • Julia Beaty, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, jbeaty@mafmc.org, 302.526.5250

  • Savannah Lewis, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, slewis@asmfc.org, 703.842.0715

MAFMC PRESS CONTACT: Mary Sabo, 302-518-1143

ASMFC PRESS CONTACT: Tina Berger, 703-842-0740

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Rutgers Cooperative Extension to Host Introductory Fisheries Science for Stakeholders (IFISSH) Course

Rutgers Cooperative Extension is offering an introductory fisheries science course for stakeholders of New Jersey's marine fisheries. The Introductory Fisheries Science for Stakeholders (IFISSH) course covers topics related to fisheries biology, oceanography, surveys of marine fishery resources, collection of commercial and recreational fishery catch data, stock assessments, and fisheries management.

Classes will be held weekly via Zoom on Tuesday evenings (6:30 - 9:00 p.m.) from February 16 through April 20. The program fee is $25.00 per person. Register by February 9 at this link or by contacting Kelly Jurgensen (Administrative Assistant, Marine Extension Program), Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County at kjurgensen@co.ocean.nj.us or 732-349-1152.

Visit the IFISSH web page or download the course flyer for additional details.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Douglas Zemeckis (County Agent III - Assistant Professor), Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Rutgers University at zemeckis@njaes.rutgers.edu or 732-349-1152.

NOAA Fisheries Proposes Modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan

NOAA Fisheries has proposed modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to further reduce the impacts of entanglement in fishing gear on right whales in U.S. waters. The proposed modifications focus on the Northeast jonah crab and lobster trap/pot fisheries, which deploy about 93 percent of the buoy lines fished in areas where right whales occur. In 2021, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team will be asked to recommend risk reduction measures for other Atlantic trap/pot and gillnet fisheries.

Comments on the proposed modifications and on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement may be submitted through March 1, 2021. NOAA Fisheries will also hold a series of virtual public hearings to explain the proposed modifications and to accept public comments on the modifications. Learn more at the links below.

How to Comment

  1. Attend a public hearing. 

  2. Submit your comments in writing through our online comment portal. To comment, go to: regulations.gov. Search for NOAA-NMFS-2020-0031. Choose “Comment Now” to submit your comments.

New South Atlantic For-Hire Reporting Requirements – Information for Greater Atlantic Permit Holders

Beginning on January 4, 2021, all fishermen with Atlantic federal charter/head­boat permits for Snapper-Grouper, Coastal Migratory Pelagics, and Dolphin/Wahoo issued by NOAA’s Southeast Regional Office (SERO) will be required to electronically report their fishing effort and landings through the NOAA Fisheries Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program.

How Will This Affect For-Hire Operators in the Greater Atlantic Region?

Individuals holding only for-hire permits issued by the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) will not be impacted by these changes. You can continue submitting your electronic VTRs as you are right now.

Individuals holding both a GARFO for-hire permit and a Southeast Region Office (SERO) charter/headboat permit for any of the species listed above will be subject to new reporting requirements.

Information for Dual GARFO and SERO For-Hire Permit Holders

In early December, SERO will be sending you an informational toolkit that explains the Southeast For-Hire Electronic Reporting Program. The toolkit is also available here.

New Reporting Requirements

As a result of holding the SERO permit, you will need to report the new information listed below, in addition to the GARFO information you are accustomed to reporting. 

  • Socio-economic questions:

    • Trip Fee (dollars);

    • Fuel Used (gallons);

    • Price of Fuel (dollars per gallon).

  • Requirement to submit did-not-fish reports in weeks in which no fishing activity occurs in any fishery.

How to Report

  • As a holder of a SERO permit, you will be required to meet these reporting requirements regardless of where you fish or what species you target.

  • If you have been reporting using eTrips/Mobile 2, simply continue to report with this software as you have been, as the new fields will automatically appear in January and  this system meets both regions’ requirements.

  • If you have been reporting using the Fish Online eVTR application, we strongly encourage you to convert to eTrips/Mobile 2 to satisfy the reporting requirements of both GARFO and SERO. At present, Fish Online does not meet SERO reporting requirements.

When to Report:

Reports must still be submitted within 48 hours of landing to meet GARFO requirements.

For Assistance with Reporting Requirements Contact

  • Your local GARFO Port Agent

  • GARFO reporting group at 978-281-9246

  • If you are a Fish Online user and want to switch to using eTrips, call 1-800-984-0810 or visit https://www.accsp.org/what-we-do/safis/etrips-mobile-instructions/

Additional Information

Journal Article: There Is no I in EAFM Adapting Integrated Ecosystem Assessment for Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management

A new article available in the Coastal Management journal highlights the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s use of Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) as part of its Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM). This article is part of a special issue of Coastal Management that focuses on 10 years of implementation of the NOAA IEA program and is expected to publish in early 2021. For additional information, please contact Brandon Muffley, Council Staff, at bmuffley@mafmc.org.

There Is no I in EAFM Adapting Integrated Ecosystem Assessment for Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management

Authors: Brandon Muffley, Sarah Gaichas, Geret DePiper, Richard Seagraves, Sean Lucey

Read the full article at: https://doi.org/10.1080/08920753.2021.1846156 (note: this article is open access for anyone to view or download).

Abstract

Resource managers worldwide are being asked to consider the ecosystem while making management decisions. Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) provides a flexible framework for addressing ecosystem considerations in decision making. The US Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) adapted the IEA approach and implemented a structured decision framework to address species, fleet, habitat, and climate interactions as part of their Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) in 2016. The Council’s EAFM decision framework first uses risk assessment to prioritize fishery-ecosystem interactions for consideration. The Council’s 2017 EAFM risk assessment identified a range of ecological, social, and management objectives or risk elements. Development of a conceptual model to identify key environmental, ecological, social, economic, and management linkages for a high-priority fishery is the second step in the framework. The Council identified summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) as a high-risk fishery and finalized an EAFM conceptual model that considers high-risk factors and ecosystem elements in 2019. The Council used the conceptual model to identify three priority summer flounder management questions (recreational data uncertainty, recreational discards, and distribution shifts) to be considered for quantitative management strategy evaluation, the third step in the EAFM framework and set to begin in 2020. Finally, as strategies are implemented, outcomes are monitored and the process is adjusted, and/or other priorities identified in the risk assessment can be addressed. The Council’s rapid progress in implementing EAFM resulted from an extensive, positive, and collaborative process between managers, stakeholders, and scientists. Collaboration helps build trust and buy-in from all participants and is essential to IEA and to the success of EAFM.