Addendum Establishes Bycatch Data Collection Program
Press Releases
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Annapolis, MD – The Commission’s Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Shark Management Board approved a eight million pound quota for the 2008/2009 fishing year (May 1, 2008 – April 30, 2009), with 58% of the quota allocated to states from Maine through Connecticut and 42% allocated to New York through North Carolina. A trip limit of up to 3,000 pounds was also established. The 2007 assessment update indicates that the spiny dogfish biomass has continued to increase. Though the stock has not rebuilt to its target spawning stock biomass, it is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. The Technical Committee…
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Annapolis, MD – The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section voted to reduce the amount of herring available to the 2008-2009 fishery in Area 1A, an inshore region off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The total allowable catch (TAC) for Area 1A is now set at 45,000 metric tons. An additional 5,000 metric tons was added to the Area 3 quota, bringing the total allowable catch for that area to 60,000 metric tons. The Section committed to review stock status annually to determine if quota adjustments are necessary. The specifications are consistent with those set by NOAA’s Northeast Regional…
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Findings Indicate that Most Shad Stocks Are Not Recovering
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Alexandria, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announces its intent to notify the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior of its finding that the State of Maine is out of compliance with the required zero tolerance spawning provision contained in Technical Addendum 1 to Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Herring. The notification will occur on September 24, 2007 if the State has failed to fully and effectively implement regulations that would bring it back into compliance. The spawning restrictions are necessary to protect the spawning aggregations that are highly susceptible to fishing…
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Alexandria, VA – The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved proposals from Rhode Island and Maryland for alternative management. The Rhode Island proposal alters the minimum size limit and quota for the state’s commercial floating fish trap sector. The Maryland proposal opens a two-week recreational fishery in the Susquehanna Flats, a small area in the upper Chesapeake Bay. Unable to attain their allocation of the state’s coastal commercial quota, Rhode Island’s commercial floating fish trap fishermen asked the Rhode Island Division of Environmental Management to propose a reduction in the minimum size limit from 28 inches to 26 inches…
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State Reduction Plans Approved
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Alexandria, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved the implementation of a conservation-equivalent plan for Long Island Sound in Connecticut and New York (lobster conservation management area 6), instituting a v-notch-based lobster stock restoration program in place of the 1/16” minimum length increase approved in May 2007 through Addendum XI. Under the Commission’s fishery management planning process, alternative measures can be adopted if they can be shown through technical review to be “conservation-equivalent” (having equivalent conservation value) to the initial plan. “I appreciate the Board’s support for this important plan. It provides a win-win…
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Alexandria, VA – The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board approved Addendum XIX to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Addendum extends the current state-by-state black sea bass commercial management strategy indefinitely and maintains the current summer flounder recreational allocation strategy. It also redefines the stock status determination criteria for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. Black Sea Bass Commercial Management Strategy Since 2003, the black sea bass commercial fishery has been managed through a state-by-state allocation system, with each state allocated a percentage of the coastwide quota.…
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