Category: Fish

NMFS assessing the impacts of climate change on fish stocks

NARRAGANSETT, RI – Decades of data on temperature, salinity, ocean acidity, and wind patterns for the Northeast US continental shelf indicate that climate changes are already affecting commercial fisheries in substantive ways and will continue to do so far into the future. According to researchers, 24 out of 36 New England and Mid-Atlantic stocks have …

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Herring Amd. 5 includes 100% observer coverage

PORTLAND, ME – More than four years after first making a commitment to develop a comprehensive catch monitoring program for the Atlantic herring fishery, the New England Fishery Management Council voted on June 20 to approve Amendment 5 to the federal herring plan for submission to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The amendment is …

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Longliners won’t benefit from swordfish revitalization

SAINT PETERSBURG, FL – The good news is that the swordfish are thriving. Two decades of effort by US fishermen paid off with the 2010 stock assessment finding that the North Atlantic swordfish population is completely rebuilt. The bad news is that, despite the resurgence of the resource, there has been chronic underharvest of the …

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Bluefin market report: Cautious optimism as season starts

HARWICH, MA – After a slow start following the June 1 opening of the commercial season, the bluefin tuna fishery was picking up speed in mid- June as Commercial Fisheries News went to press. As of June 8, dealers reported sporadic landings of bluefin between western Maine and Cape Cod with a few early fish …

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GOM gillnetters under Oct/Nov closure to protect harbor porpoise

MYSTIC, CT – Gillnet fishermen will be prohibited from working in a large area of the inshore Gulf of Maine annually during October and November until harbor porpoise bycatch rates drop dramatically or major changes are made to existing rules under the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan (TRP). From September 2010 through May 2011, the …

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NMFS, ASMFC ultimately agree on 2012 dogfish quota, trip limit

GLOUCESTER, MA – It wasn’t seamless, but after the dust settled, fishery managers took steps to implement matching spiny dogfish quotas and possession limits in both state and federal waters for the 2012 fishing year. Late in May, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it had approved a commercial quota of 35.694 million …

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