Category: Regulations

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 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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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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ASMFC’s Lobster Board votes down Addendum XXV

ALEXANDRIA, VA – At its Aug. 2-4 summer meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) American Lobster Management Board voted down Addendum XXV to the American Lobster Fishery Management Plan. In a surprise upset, the board chose not to go forward on the increase in egg production and other management strategies it had considered …

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New England council initiates Groundfish FW57;  selects A23 monitoring range of alternatives

PORTLAND, ME – At its Jun. 18-21 meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council refined the purpose and need statement for Amendment 23 (A23) adjustment to the groundfish monitoring program, and initiated Framework Adjustment 57 (FW57) to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan. With one exception, the two actions complete the 2017 priorities list …

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Draft summer flounder amendment moves forward

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The draft Comprehensive Summer Flounder Amendment is moving forward with a much shorter set of objectives, after a joint review by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) in May. Summer flounder are found from the US/Canada border to the southern border of North Carolina, and …

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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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Deep-sea corals amendment readied for council;

Workshop participants seek to mitigate impacts to fishing in the areas NEWBURYPORT, MA – At its Apr. 18-20 meeting, the New England Fishery Management Council will select preferred alternatives for the draft Omnibus Deep-Sea Corals Amendment. Initiated in 2010, the amendment seeks to protect various types of deep-sea corals found on the continental slope, 20 canyons …

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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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