Virginia Saltwater Fishing

Virginia has scheduled its hearing to gather public comment on Draft Addendum XXI to the Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. The date, time, and location of the scheduled Virginia meeting follows:

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
March 7, 2011; 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia
Contact: Jack Travelstead at (757) 247-2247

Draft Addendum XXI proposes to establish a program wherein the Commission’s Black Sea Bass Management Board could sub-divide the recreational black sea bass coastwide allocations into regional or state-by-state management for 2011 only. Since 1996, a uniform coastwide size, season, and bag limit has been set by the Commission and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to constrain the recreational fishery to the annual harvest target.

The harvest target was exceeded five times over the last 15 years, most recently in 2009 and 2010 when the harvest target was the lowest in the time series. It is estimated that 2009 and 2010 harvest targets were exceeded by 1.18 and 1.15 million pounds, respectively.

The current management plan only allows for the implementation of measures to be applied coastwide and not on a regional or state-specific basis.  In 2010 all states, with the exception of Massachusetts, adopted coastwide regulations of 25 fish, 12.5 inches TL minimum fish size, and an open season from May 22 to October 11 and November 1 to December 31 in 2010.

Massachusetts opted for a more restrictive 20 fish possession limit, and adopted all other coastwide regulations in 2010. The 2010 regulations resulted in a preliminary estimated harvest of 2.98 million pounds, approximately 1.15 million pounds above the 2010 target.

Given that the 2010 regulations were not effective in staying within the target, harvest will need to be reduced by 40% to achieve, but not exceed, the 2011 target of 1.78 million pounds. In order to meet the required reduction using coastwide measures, the Board has proposed increasing the minimum size limit to 13 inches and contracting the season to July 1 to October 1 and November 1 to December 31.

However, analyses have shown that these proposed changes will impact states differently. The Board initiated the Draft Addendum to provide the necessary management flexibility to mitigate potential disproportionate impact on states that can result from coastwide measures.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum, either by attending public hearings or providing written comments. The Draft Addendum can be obtained via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (703) 842-0740.

Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on March 18, 2011 and should be forwarded to Toni Kerns, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; (703) 842-0741 (FAX) or at tkerns@asmfc.org (Subject line: Black Sea Bass). For more information, please contact Toni Kerns at (703) 842-0740 or Tkerns@asmfc.org.

Atlantic coastal states from Massachusetts through Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum VI to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog.

The date, time, and location of the scheduled meeting for Virginia follows:

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
February 15, 2011; 6:00 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia
Contact: Jack Travelstead at (757) 247-2247

The Draft Addendum proposes two changes to the tautog management program:

(1) address the illegal trade of live tautog

(2) prevent increases in fishing mortality (F) prior to the completion of the next assessment.

The Draft Addendum was initiated in response to concern regarding the condition of the tautog stock and possible increased pressure on the stock due to illegal fishing activities and continued overfishing. Over the past couple of years, the Board has received reports from its Advisory Panel, Technical Committee, and the fishing public expressing concern about the illegal trade of live tautog and increased poaching. Options to address illegal live harvest include prohibiting recreational anglers from possessing live tautog and requiring recreational anglers to mark any live tautog.

Given that coastwide F continues to exceed the target established in Addendum IV, the Draft Addendum also proposes measures to prevent increases in F prior to the completion of the next assessment (spring/summer 2011).  Specific options include requiring states to implement additional restrictions to meet the F target, a reduction of the F target, a requirement that state regulations prohibit possession in excess of existing bag/possession limits, and recommendations for tautog management in federal waters. The Draft Addendum also contains several other management issues for public comment that may be developed and considered in a future addendum.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum, either by attending public hearings or providing written comments. The Draft Addendum can be obtained via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (703) 842-0740. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on March 4, 2011 and should be forwarded to Chris Vonderweidt, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; (703) 842-0741 (FAX) or at cvonderweidt@asmfc.org (Subject line: Tautog Addendum VI). For more information, please contact Chris Vonderweidt at (703) 842-0740 or cvonderweidt@asmfc.org

source: ASFMC

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board has approved Draft Addendum I to Amendment I to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Croaker for public comment. The Draft Addendum proposes two changes to the Atlantic croaker management program: (1) changing the management unit to one region (New Jersey to the east coast of Florida), and (2) modifying the biological reference points used to assess stock condition.

Both proposed measures stem from the recommendations of the 2010 benchmark assessment, which indicates that Atlantic croaker is not experiencing overfishing. Based on the findings of the assessment, Atlantic croaker is now considered to be a single stock on the Atlantic coast.

The previous stock assessment, which formed the basis of Amendment 1, divided the stock into Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions due to difficulty assessing the resource as a single unit. The 2010 assessment used data from both regions to produce a single, coastwide assessment. Draft Addendum I proposes adopting the single stock unit to be consistent with the current science on Atlantic croaker.

Draft Addendum I also proposes modifying the biological reference points (BRPs) used to assess stock condition since the results of the 2010 assessment cannot be compared to the Amendment 1 BRPs, which are specific to the Mid-Atlantic region only. The proposed BRPs are very similar to those in Amendment 1. They use the same definitions for the targets and thresholds (e.g., fishing mortality rate threshold = FMSY), but they differ in that absolute estimates of spawning stock biomass (SSB) and fishing mortality (F) are not estimated.

Estimates are not given because of uncertainty in the assessment resulting from inadequate data on the magnitude of croaker discards in the South Atlantic shrimp trawl fishery. The determination of stock status is thus based on the ratios of F and SSB to their respective target and threshold. The proposed targets and thresholds are:

F target = 0.75*FMSY                        SSB target = SSBMSY
F threshold = FMSY                        SSB threshold = 0.70*SSBMSY

Under the proposal, if F/FMSY is greater than 1, then overfishing is occurring. If SSB/(0.70*SSBMSY) is less than 1, the stock is overfished. In other words, F must be lower than its threshold, and SSB must be higher than its threshold, or the stock will be considered to be experiencing overfishing or be in an overfished condition, respectively. The targets would still represent the levels that management measures are designed to achieve.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Addendum through written comment. The Draft Addendum can be obtained via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740.

Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 31, 2011 and should be forwarded to Robert Beal, ISFMP Director, 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N, Arlington, VA 22201-2196; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Atlantic Croaker).

source: ASMFC press release

The Commission’s South Atlantic State-Federal Fisheries Management Board has approved the Public Information Document (PID) for an Omnibus Amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for Spanish Mackerel, Spot, and Spotted Seatrout for public review and comment. As the first step in the development of an amendment, the PID presents a broad overview of the issues facing these three species. It provides the public with the opportunity to tell the Commission about changes observed in the fisheries; actions that should or should not be taken in terms of management, regulation, enforcement, and research; and any other concerns about the resources or the fisheries. The PID can be obtained via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News. Several coastal states will be conducting public meetings on the PID; information on those meetings will be released once they become finalized.

The PID and subsequent amendment are being developed to update the three species management plans to include compliance measures and other Commission standards since all three plans are voluntary in nature and lack standards that were developed in response to the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (e.g., adaptive management, de minimis criteria). In the case of Spanish mackerel, the PID will also address modifying the Commission’s management program so that it is consistent with federal management in the exclusive economic zone (because the plan is intended to track federal Spanish mackerel measures).

Following the initial phase of information gathering and public comment, the Commission will evaluate potential management alternatives and develop a Draft Omnibus Amendment for public review. Following the second public comment period, the Commission will specify management measures to be included in the final amendment. A tentative schedule for completion of the Omnibus Amendment is included in the PID.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the PID, by either attending public hearings or providing written comments. Copies of the PID can be obtained by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400 or via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News.  Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on January 15, 2010 and should be forwarded to Nichola Meserve, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1444 ‘Eye’ Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 289-6051 (FAX) or at nmeserve@asmfc.org (Subject line: Omnibus Amendment). For more information, please contact Nichola Meserve at (202) 289-6400.

source: ASMFC press release