Category: Research

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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2017 North Atlantic right whale incidents include 15 deaths, plus 9 entanglements

GLOUCESTER, MA – In August, NOAA Fisheries declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) after two separate stranded North Atlantic right whales were sighted in US waters. Those two, in addition to 11 stranded right whales found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) between Jun. 6 and Aug. …

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Cornell Cooperative Extension receives funding for continuation of monkfish genetic populations study

ITHACA, NY – Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) has received funding to collect and analyze monkfish samples to build on CCE’s earlier successful RSA-funded genetic study (2012-13) to determine if monkfish constitute a single or multiple stocks over their coastwide distribution from Newfoundland to North Carolina and to determine if migrational mixing exists between management areas. …

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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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NEFMC scopes groundfish monitoring amendment

NEWBURYPORT, MA – In March, the New England Fishery Management Council completed a series of scoping meetings for Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. The council initiated the draft amendment last fall to address concerns with reliability and accountability of the groundfish monitoring program. The action follows Framework 55, which clarified …

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2017-2018 scallop quota RSA projects awarded

GLOUCESTER, MA – This year’s sea scallop fisheries research program (announced in March) will fund an estimated $15.32 million in projects – from 1.27 million pounds of sea scallop research set-aside (RSA) quota based on $12 per pound. NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) awarded RSA quota to 17 projects for the 2017-2018 fishing year.  …

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New trawl design effective in avoiding cod while targeting flatfish

PORTLAND, ME  – In the summer of 2016, a new trawl was tested in the Gulf of Maine that promises to substantially reduce the capture of cod without loss of flatfish and other valuable species close to the seabed. Called an Ultra-low Opening Trawl, or ULOT, this modified flatfish trawl is designed specifically to allow …

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Taking a close-up look at the work of CFRF’s research fleets

  KINGSTON, RI – Four years ago, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) launched its On-Deck Data Pilot Project to collect critically needed biological data – first, on American lobster, and then on the emerging Jonah crab fishery. Between 2013 and 2015, a dozen vessels collected and recorded size, sex, and reproductive structure on lobsters …

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Fishermen participating in sampling program fill nets

BRISTOL, ME – The season for the Maine 2017 Northern Shrimp Cooperative Winter Sampling Program began here on Jan. 30. Not long after the sampling got underway, shrimp trawler fishermen Troy Benner, David Osier, and Arthur Poland Jr. were spotted in Muscongus Bay. And, on Feb. 2, Benner was spotted hauling in a net full of …

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ASMFC’s Lobster Technical Committee reports on Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank stock status

ALEXANDRIA, VA – After wrestling with the Southern New England lobster stock recruitment collapse, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) American Lobster Management Board tasked its Technical Committee (TC) with identifying potential issues in the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank (GOM/GBK) stock to forestall similar problems. TC Chair Kathleen Reardon reported back at ASMFC’s recent …

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