NEWPORT, RI – Scallopers will be making fewer access-area trips during the 2013 fishing year but will receive roughly the same number of open-area days-at-sea.
During its Nov. 13-15 meeting here, the New England Fishery Management Council finalized Framework Adjustment 24 to the federal scallop plan, which includes fishery specifications, general category measures, and other provisions to govern the fishery.
We’re hoping our best to get through 2013, but 2014 is going to be a crisis year if we don’t get access to the northern edge. —Ron Smolowitz
Assuming the framework is approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), fulltime limited-access scallopers will receive 33 open-area days – only one less than last year’s allowance of 34 – reflecting the stable status of the resource in open areas.
Read the rest and much, much more in the February issue of Commercial Fisheries News. Read online immediately and download for future reference.
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