Mid-Atlantic adopts butterfish cap for 2011
KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC – The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has approved a version of Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan that is likely to prompt changes in the traditional Loligo squid fishery.
During its Oct. 14-16 meeting here, the council signed off on the new proposed amendment, which has a primary goal of minimizing bycatch and bycatch mortality of butterfish in order to rebuild the butterfish stock.
Amendment 10 includes these proposed measures:
> A 2-1/8” minimum codend mesh requirement in the Loligo squid fishery during Trimesters 1 and 3 effective in 2010, which does not include the fishing circle mesh requirement that had previously been part of the proposal;
> A seasonally allocated cap on butterfish mortality in the Loligo fishery starting in 2011;
> A requirement that vessels give 72 hours notice to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) before leaving on a directed Loligo trip to allow for the placement of observers; and
> A provision directing the council’s scientific and statistical committee to review each year how the butterfish mortality cap program is working and make recommendations on any additional measures needed to rebuild the butterfish stock.
Amendment 10 now goes to NMFS for review, approval, and implementation.
Cap details
Under the butterfish mortality cap proposal, the Loligo fishery would be closed once a pre-specified amount of butterfish bycatch was harvested.
The council explained that the butterfish mortality cap on the directed Loligo fishery would be 75% of the butterfish allowable biological catch for a given year.
The total cap amount would be divvied up among the Loligo trimester quotas as follows: Trimester 1, 65%; Trimester 2, 3.3%; and Trimester 3, 31.7%.
“There would be no in-season closures in Trimester 2 due to the difficulties in tracking the relatively small bycatch amount allocated to the Trimester 2 Loligo fishery,” the council said.
However, any overages or underages of the 3.3% butterfish cap allocation during Trimester 2 would be deducted or added to Trimester 3, the council added.
And, if butterfish bycatch turned out to be more significant than planned for, the council said it could “activate the in-season closure mechanism for Trimester 2 in future years.”
Observers
In making its final decisions on Amendment 10, the council decided to drop a highly controversial industry-funded observer program that was included in the version of the amendment that went out for public comment this fall.
As a result, monitoring of butterfish bycatch will be based on existing levels of NMFS observer coverage. The council included a provision in Amendment 10 requiring all vessels to give NMFS 72 hours notice before heading out on a directed Loligo fishing trip to give the agency time to place observers.
Any vessel selected to take an observer will be required to do so if an observer is available. Vessels also will have to notify NMFS if a trip is canceled, and any vessel that cancels a trip after being selected will be assigned an observer for the next trip for which an observer is available.
"Fair shake"
Greg DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, spent several years working with the council on behalf of commercial squid fishermen during the development of this amendment.
While it's hard for many people to accept that butterfish stock rebuilding will be driving management of the squid fishery, DiDomenico said that, all in all, the industry had been heard.
"We didn't get GRAs (butterfish gear restricted areas) or a 3" codend," he said.
And the council agreed to put off the imposition of the butterfish cap until 2011 to allow the cap to be based on the latest stock assessment information, which is expected to become available in 2010.
"If the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implements this cap after a proper stock assessment, then that's the best we can do," DiDomenico said. "We got a fair shake from the council and the council staff."
He pointed out that the 2011 implementation is not a done deal, however, since the one-year delay "was not supported by the agency."
Up to industry
While waiting to see what the final rule from NMFS will be, DiDomenico was urging fishermen to work together to do what they can to reduce bycatch in the Loligo fishery.
"The time has come to focus our collective efforts and address the incidental catch of butterfish," he said in an e-mail to the industry. "Our goal should be to work within the limit of the amount of butterfish allocated to the 'cap' in a manner that allows us to catch the entire Loligo squid quota."
Among the ideas being suggested were: making shorter tows; reducing speed during haul backs; and increased communication among boats as to places to steer clear of in order to avoid butterfish bycatch.
"Ultimately, any change in fishing practices must come from within the industry, must be supported by the individual fishermen, and must be put into practice in the fishery," DiDomenico said.
Lorelei Stevens