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.

The ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board will meet via a web-based conference call on February 3, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting will be for the Board to consider approval of the 2011 state conservation equivalency proposals for summer flounder, as well as review possible options for recreational black sea bass management.

In December, the Board tasked staff with developing options for regional and state-by-state black sea bass measures. The Board may choose to move forward with including these options in a draft addendum for public comment to be approved on the conference call. The Board decided to meet via conference call in February to allow the necessary administrative time for the states to implement their summer flounder recreational measures before the start of the 2011 fishery.

To join the call, please go to the ASMFC website under meetings for instructions for the web and telephone portions of the call, http://www.asmfc.org/meetings.htm. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Senior FMP Coordinator for Management, at (703) 842-0740 or <tkerns@asmfc.org>.

source: ASFMC

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) on December 15 in in Virginia Beach, VA to recommend and adopt recreational management measures for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass.

The Council and Board adopted the use of conservation equivalency to achieve the recreational harvest limit for summer flounder in 2011. This harvest limit (11.44 million pounds), approved in August by the Council and Board, represents a 33% increase relative to the limit implemented in 2010.  Conservation equivalency would require states to develop and implement state-specific management measures (i.e., possession limits, size limits, and seasons) to achieve the harvest limit for their state.

After considerable discussion of the proposed recreational harvest limit and the status of the scup stock, the Council and Board voted to increase the 2011 Total Allowable Landing Level (TAL) for scup to about 26 million pounds, an increase of 92% relative to the 2010 level. Although the Council and Board had agreed to a lower TAL in August, they agreed the revised TAL  recommendation would more effectively accommodate the region’s vibrant recreational scup fishery while staying within the maximum sustainable yield for this stock.

Based on the associated recreational harvest of 5.74 million pounds, the Council and Board adopted status quo (same as 2010) measures for federal and state waters in 2011 for scup.  These measures in federal waters would include a 10 fish possession limit, a 10.5-inch total length (TL) minimum fish size, and an open season July 6 to September 26.

The Council and Board adopted coastwide management measures for the 2011 recreational black sea bass fishery. These include a 13-inch TL minimum fish size, a 25 fish possession limit, and an open season from July 1 to October 1 and November 1 to December 31. The measures will remain in effect for 2011 until the ASMFC approves an addendum to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Plan that implements regional specifications for black sea bass that would achieve the necessary reduction in fishing mortality for 2011.

Once the addendum is in place, the Council and Board agreed that management measures in Federal waters would revert to the same measures in place for 2010 – a 12.5-inch TL minimum fish size, 25 fish possession limit, and an open season from May 22 to October 11 and November 1 to December 31.

Mid-Atlantic Council Chairman, Rick Robins, noted that “The Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission worked together very effectively to craft measures that would mitigate potentially disruptive impacts within the black sea bass fishery by developing a provisional motion that would enable the Commission to address the geographic variability of the performance in this important recreational fishery.  Additionally, our actions this week set the stage for significant and long awaited increases in recreational opportunities in the summer flounder fishery, following a decade of difficult but successful stock rebuilding.”

source: MAFMC press release

The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board has modified the 2010 season length for the black sea bass recreational fishery. The season will now run from May 22 to October 11, 2010 and from November 1 to December 31, 2010.

The season represents an extension from what was originally planned. When the original season was developed, the Board only had 2009 harvest estimates for January through June. Harvest estimates for July through December 2009 were projected using previous years’ data to calculate a total harvest estimate.

Based on these preliminary projections, the original season was developed with the intent of reducing recreational harvest by 44% from 2009 levels.

Final 2009 harvest estimates were made available at the end of April.  The estimate indicates that harvest is less than previously projected and only a 21.4% reduction is required for the 2010 recreational season.

The newly approved season is anticipated to achieve a 26% reduction and allows for a reasonable conservation buffer to account for uncertainty in the harvest estimates and the effectiveness of regulations.

The season was further expanded into November and December to allow for increased access by party/charter boats and private boat/shore-based anglers that did not have a late fall/early winter season last year.

For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Senior Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for Management, at tkerns@asmfc.org or (202) 289-6400.

source: ASMFC press release

In a vote supported by all member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board, states will now have the option to liberalize the 2010 black sea bass season in state waters by an additional 90 days. The proposed new season will run from May 22 through October 11, with an additional open period of November 1 through December 31.  The proposal would keep the size and bag limit the same of 12-1/2 inches and 25 fish per angler.

The changes come following a bitter struggle by East Coast fishermen to save the recreational fishery for black sea bass. When NOAA Fisheries abruptly closed the recreational sea bass fishery last October without any opportunity for public comment, the RFA immediately began working on a legal challenge to fight the closure.

The RFA, United Boatmen and a coalition of industry allies (the “Plaintiffs”) filed suit on November 4, 2009 in New Jersey Federal Court arguing that the sea bass closure should be declared unlawful and set aside for being arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

“The emergency closure of the recreational sea bass fishery was unprecedented for a fishery that is not ‘overfished’ and where ‘overfishing is not occurring’,” said Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director. “This case is about more than just sea bass; it’s about taking a stand against a federal agency abusing its power and hurting individuals and small business owners.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and four of its Committees met in Duck, North Carolina from April 13 until April 15, 2010.

The Council voted to send a letter to NMFS, upon receipt of NMFS’ black sea bass proposed rule, to support adoption of the ASMFC 2010 Black Sea Bass recreational measures of a 3.7 million pound total allowable landings (TAL), a 12.5″ minimum fish size, a 25 fish possession limit, and a season of May 22 through September 12.

source: MAFMC