New England Fishery Management Council Meeting
Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor
180 Water Street, Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508/747-4900; Fax: 508/747-8937
September 25-27, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
9:00 a.m. Introductions and Announcements (Chairman Rip Cunningham)
9:05 Swearing in of new and reappointed Council members (John Bullard, NOAA/NMFS Regional Administrator)
10:00 Reports on Recent Activities
Council Chairman, Executive Director, NMFS Regional Administrator, NMFS consultation on an upcoming proposed rule for an exempted spiny dogfish fishery, NOAA General Counsel, Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council liaisons, and representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, NMFS Enforcement/VMS, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Northeast Regional Ocean Council
11:45 U.S. Coast Guard Report on Recent Activities Followed by Remarks from New First District Commander Rear Admiral Daniel Abel (Capt. Pete DeCola and RDML Abel)
12:15 p.m. Lunch Break
Overview of the draft plan and a discussion about how it will be used to guide the Center’s work for the next five years, and Council discussion
Presentation of recent staff findings followed by Q and A and discussion
Approval of final measures to be included in Amendment 3 to the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
Update on the recent joint Monkfish Oversight Committee/Advisory Panel meeting and their progress to develop alternatives for inclusion in Amendment 6 to the Monkfish FMP
Review the committee’s discussions and recommendations concerning NOAA’s enforcement priorities for 2013, gear stowage requirements across all FMPs, and the “Northeast Region Logbook Family of Forms”, an information collection system proposed by NOAA
Meet the new RA, listen to what he has been hearing during his visits to coastal fishing communities in the Northeast and ask questions; this is an opportunity for stakeholders and any interested parties to learn about Mr. Bullard’s views and opinions on fishery management issues
5:15 Meeting Adjourned Until Wednesday Morning
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Overview of SAW/SARC 54, which addressed Atlantic herring and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder
Committee report on acceptable biological catch recommendations for groundfish stocks for fishing years 2013-2015, for Atlantic herring for 2013-2015 and sea scallops for 2013-2014
Discuss the recent court decision about Amendment 4 to the Atlantic Herring FMP and consider actions to address the court order; initial development of Atlantic herring fishery specifications for the upcoming fishing years (2013-2015), including possible action to maintain the 2012 specifications through 2013 and develop a separate package for 2014-2016; specifications include annual amounts for an overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), management uncertainty, and a stock-wide annual catch limit (ACL), domestic annual harvest, domestic annual processing, border transfer, possible set-asides for research and the fixed gear fishery, and sub-ACLs for the four herring management areas
12:15 Lunch
1:15 Herring Agenda Items - Con'td from morning session
Review and possibly modify the management measures proposed for Scallop Framework Adjustment 24/Groundfish Framework 49 alternatives; Framework 24 is primarily an action to set fishery specifications for fishing years 2013 and 2014 but includes other measures --- a possible modification of the Georges Bank access area seasonal closures; measures to address yellowtail flounder bycatch in the limited access general category (LAGC) fishery; potential allowance of quota transfer during the year for LAGC individual fishery quota vessels; and measures to expand the observer set-aside program to include LAGC scallop vessels in open areas; the Council also may review preliminary estimates of projected yellowtail flounder catch in the scallop fishery for 2013-2015
Summary of the 2012 Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock and the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder assessments
4:45 Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) Report (Rip Cunningham)
Review and possibly approve the TMGC’s recommendations for fishing year 2013 quotas for Eastern Georges Bank cod and haddock and the Georges Bank stock of yellowtail flounder
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Consider a motion deferred from the April Council meeting that would remove Individually Transferrable
Quotas (ITQs) from the range of alternatives under development in Amendment 6 to the Monkfish FMP
Review Framework Adjustment 48, an action that would include fishing years 2013-2015 OFLs and ABCs,establish a scallop fishery Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic windowpane flounder, adjust the SNE/MA and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder sub-ACLs for the scallop fishery, address sector monitoring issues, modify recreational measures if necessary, and possibly include other adjustments to the groundfish management measures; as part of this action the Council also will consider recommendations for allowing increased access to the groundfish closed areas to mitigate expected low ABCs in fishing year 2013
12:00 p.m. Lunch Break
Consider recommendations on the following issues: 1) whether to split deep-sea coral alternatives out of Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment 2; and 2) possibly initiate development of a coral-focused omnibus amendment; and endorse a Memorandum of Understanding related to deep-sea corals; also review draft adverse effects minimization alternatives under development in Omnibus EFH Amendment 2
Initial discussion; the Council will approve final priorities at its November 13-15 meeting in Newport, RI
3:30 Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology (SBRM) Report (Doug Potts, NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Regional Office)
Approval of alternatives for analysis and possible inclusion in the new SBRM Amendment now under development
4:30 Other Business