by Brian Robbins JONESPORT, ME – We’ve written about a lot of boats in Commercial Fisheries News over the years: small boats; big boats; real big boats. Wooden boats; fiberglass boats; steel boats. New boats hitting the water and ready to begin their working careers; older classics that have been refurbished, rebuilt, and ready to …
Category: May ’17
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
FISH SAFE – Helping Maine’s future fishermen hit the deck running
Maine young people living on the coast – many with parents who are active fishermen – are excited to be out on the water, following in their parent’s footsteps, having their own boats, traps, and income. I talked with a number of them recently at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport. As signs of spring …