During their meeting
last week in Philadelphia to adopt 2007 fishery management measures, the
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass
and Bluefish Boards (Board) heard concerns from Congressman Frank
Pallone on behalf of himself, Congressman Jim Saxton and Senators Frank
Lautenberg and Robert Menendez regarding the "possibility of a drastic
cut in the summer flounder quota" and the resulting "impact to the local
economy that would be devastating". Following his comments and those
from numerous members of the public, for a second year in a row the
Council and the Board recommended decreases in the total allowable
landing levels (TAL) for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass.
Bluefish was the single bright spot as its quota was increased by nearly
three million pounds.
The table below
summarizes the recommended fishery management measures for 2007:
|
|
Total Allowable Landings
(millions of pounds) |
Commercial
Quota |
Minimum
Fish Size
(TL) |
Mesh
Size |
Recreational
Harvest
Limit |
Research
Set-Aside
Quota
(in pounds) |
|
Summer Flounder* |
19.90 |
11.94 |
14" |
5.5" |
7.96 |
up to 3% |
|
Scup
|
16.00 |
12.30 |
9" |
5.0" |
3.70 |
up to 3% |
|
Black Sea Bass
|
6.50 |
3.19 |
11" |
4.5" |
3.31 |
up to 3% |
|
Bluefish |
27.76 |
9.50 |
--- |
--- |
18.26 |
363,677 |
*The total allowable
landings and associated quotas and harvest limits recommended for summer
flounder reflect Council action only. The ASMFC will determine its
summer flounder position during its annual meeting (October 22-26).
Based
on the most recent National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Status of
U.S. Fisheries Report, two of the above four stocks are classified as
overfished (scup and black sea bass), but only one is experiencing
overfishing (summer flounder).
When
the Council took action last year for the 2006 fishing year it proposed
reducing the 2005 TAL of 30.3 million pounds for summer flounder by 4.3
million pounds anticipating that the 14% reduction would allow for
appropriate rebuilding. However, the ASFMC and NMFS adopted a TAL of
23.59 million pounds for 2006. Hence, if the Council's 19.9 million
pound TAL recommendation is accepted by NMFS for 2007, it will
effectively implement a reduction of over 34% in a two year period.
Reductions of this magnitude are the reason for concern expressed by
Congressman Pallone on behalf of himself and many members of Congress.
The 19.9 million pounds does have a 50% likelihood of achieving the
target fishing mortality.
For the scup fishery both the Council and the Board
recommended a TAL of 16.00 million pounds. This is a slight reduction
from the current year landing level of 16.27 million pounds. Discards
in the directed scup fishery together with a lack of recent stock
assessment information continue to create uncertainty. The lack of a
current assessment led both management authorities to take a
precautionary approach in establishing the 2007 TAL for scup. Although
the stock is currently categorized as overfished, its overfishing status
is unknown. The recommended TAL for scup is within the range of
long-term potential catches associated with a stock at approximately ½ Bmsy.
For black sea bass it was recommended that TAL be
reduced from 8.0 million pounds in 2006 to 6.5 million pounds in 2007.
In addition, beginning on January 1, 2007, circular vent size for black
sea bass pots must be increased to 2-1/2", and 2 escape vents must be
installed in the parlor portion of the trap. Given the uncertainty of
the survey estimates and the June stock assessment review comments which
questioned the current biological reference points and their soundness
for management purposes, the Council and the Board established a TAL of
6.5 million pounds.
Based on a recent stock assessment update, the
Council and Board adopted a TAL of 27.76 million pounds for bluefish of
which 9.5 million would be allocated to the commercial fishery and 18.26
million pounds would be allocated to the recreational sector.
Possession limits would not change in the recreational sector, i.e. the
bag limit would remain at 15 fish. In recent years neither sector has
landed its allocation, nor has either sector landed enough fish to
achieve the 2007 recommended allocations.
The Council also addressed the unresolved Loligo
trimester allocation it postponed from it June meeting. For the
2007 fishing year, it was recommended that Loligo be allocated as
follows:
January -
April 43%
May -
August 17%
September -
December 40%
In addition, during the May-August trimester, should
45% of this period's allocation be landed prior to June 30, then the
directed fishery for Loligo would be closed until July 1 at which
time it would be re-opened for the balance of the period with a 90%
trigger. If no closure occurs during the first half of this period,
then the directed fishery would remain open under the 90% trigger. In
addition, should the directed fishery for Loligo be closed during
August 2007, vessels possessing an Illex moratorium permit and
fishing seaward of the 50 fathom contour may, for purposes of reducing
regulatory discards, land up to 10,000 pounds of Loligo squid per
trip provided they possess a minimum of 10,000 of Illex on board.
The Council and Commission also reviewed the
proposed rebuilding plan for scup [Amendment 14 to the Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP)] and provided
staff guidance for purposes of completing the public hearing document
(PHD). It is anticipated that the PHD will be approved at the next
Council meeting (October 10-12).
The Council and Commission likewise reviewed
comments received during the scoping period for Amendment 15 to the
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP. Twenty-eight potential
issues were provided to the public during scoping and, based on feedback
and written comments, the Council and Commission reduced the number of
issues for further consideration to sixteen. Issues that warranted
further consideration and action include: user allocations for summer
flounder and scup; commercial allocations by state for all three
species; review of biological reference points for all three species;
for-hire management for all three species; management of the summer
flounder and scup recreational fisheries; data collection requirements
and protocols; rollover of unused quota; and, limitation on vessel
replacement upgrades.
It was also moved and approved by the Council that
letters be sent to Congress providing the Council's position regarding
reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Letters are also to be
sent to the NMFS requesting research be initiated to study the
effectiveness of circle hooks in reducing bycatch mortality in summer
flounder, scup, black sea bass, bluefish, and tilefish; and, expressing
support for the convening of a Northeast region workshop for
recreational anglers to discuss the use of circle hooks and handling
techniques to reduce bycatch mortality.
