Category: Government Agencies

Tselikis departs Maine Coast, to head-up ME Lobster Dealers Association full time

YORK, ME – Maine Coast, a live lobster wholesaler headquartered here, announced recently that Annie Tselikis – the company’s marketing manager – left at the end of January to become the full time executive director of the Maine Lobster Dealers Association (MLDA). During her two-year tenure at Maine Coast, Tselikis was concurrently working part time …

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New England council program review ready for panel

BOSTON, MA – On Mar. 13-16, a six-member panel will convene here to review the New England Fishery Management Council’s management processes and operations. Three fisheries managers and three fisheries scientists will evaluate how the council is performing and offer recommendations.  What the council hopes to get from the review are ways to build on …

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New GARFO chief Michael Pentony takes the reins

GLOUCESTER, MA – The first thing that strikes you when talking to Michael Pentony is the depth of his knowledge of fisheries management – not that it should come as any surprise.  As the new regional administrator at NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) – one of the nation’s five regional fisheries leaders …

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NAFO offers new opportunities for US fishermen

GLOUCESTER, MA – Fishing in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Regulatory Area is making a slow comeback from the days when US vessels fished the Grand Banks back in the 1960s and 70s. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based NAFO is one of a dozen intergovernmental ocean regulatory organizations established by a convention of sovereign states …

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New England council approves Groundfish FW 57

NEWPORT, RI – At its Dec. 5-7 meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council approved Framework Adjustment 57 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. In addition to setting 2019-2020 specifications for catch limits, the council fine-tuned trimester allocations of total allowable catch (TAC) in response to overages for six stocks in the common …

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As retirement looms, John Bullard reflects on his years at the helm of GARFO; challenges and accomplishments

  As NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) administrator John Bullard nears retirement in early January, he sat down with CFN’s Joyce Rowley recently for this candid interview reflecting on many of the challenges and accomplishments he faced during his tenure.  —Editor GLOUCESTER, MA – When John Bullard stepped into the role of …

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ASMFC’s Atlantic Menhaden Board adopts AMD3

LINTHICUM, MD – On Nov. 14, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved Amendment 3 to the Atlantic Menhaden Interstate Fishery Management Plan. AMD 3 was initiated in 2016 to address menhaden’s role as forage fish through use of ecological reference points (ERPs). However, until the Biological ERP Workgroup completes …

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Research update – EFSC surveys in the Gulf of Maine, scallop RSA grant apps due Nov 6

NEW BEDFORD, MA – The NOAA research vessel Gloria Michelle was in New Bedford Harbor last month on a tour of visits to local ports to help further the public’s understanding of fisheries research. The 72’ vessel has been performing inshore trawl surveys since 1984, providing scientists a consistent platform for time series on groundfish …

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NOAA Fisheries allows state water exemptions for scallop fisheries in Maine and Massachusetts

WASHINGTON, DC – NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) has approved a final rule that would revise the State Waters Exemption Program under the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. NMFS has determined that both Maine and Massachusetts qualify for this exemption, and that allowing this exemption would have no adverse impact on the effectiveness of federal management …

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Public comment sought on draft AMD 3 to Atlantic Menhaden FMP

ALEXANDRIA, VA – At its Nov. 13-14 meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board will vote on Draft Amendment 3 to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan. AMD 3 was initiated in 2015 to address menhaden’s role as forage fish, consider changes to allocation of quota, and consider other management …

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