Dogfish quota to increase in 2014 and 2015

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Even though the fishery has been “under-performing” and the fleet has landed a mere fraction of its 2013 quota, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted during its October meeting here to substantially increase the spiny dogfish annual catch limit (ACL) for the next two fishing years.

The council took this action based on advice from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), which reviewed the results of the latest stock status update and determined that increases in “acceptable biological catches” (ABCs) were justified.

The new ABCs led to new ACLs, which in turn led to higher commercial quotas.  The end result was a 7.3-million-pound increase for the 2014 fishing year, boosting the quota to 49.037 million pounds, and a 9-million-pound increase for 2015, resulting in a 50.612-million-pound quota.

 

CFN_1_14coverRead the rest and much, much more in the January issue of Commercial Fisheries News.

Read online immediately and download for future reference.

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