Fishery management tools enhanced; shut-down impacting the fish

Capt. Dave Monti with a summer flounder caught off Rhode Island this summer. Scientists say “slot limits could have negative impacts on the summer flounder stock, especially under current conditions.”

Fishery management tools enhanced; shut-down impacting the fish

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) manages migratory species such as summer flounder, tautog, scup and striped bass coast wide in state waters (zero to three miles offshore). The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) manages many of the same species in federal waters, three to two-hundred miles offshore that we catch off Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  Last month, the Commission and Council, approved three important measures and outlined them in a December 13, 2018 press release.  The three measures aim to add to the suite of tools available for managing summer flounder, scup and black sea bass. 

First, the joint actions modified Fishery Management Plans (FMP) to allow the use of conservation equivalency for black sea bass (BSB) management.  Conservation equivalency will allow recreational measures in federal water to be waived and instead require recreational anglers to abide by the measures of the state in which they land their catch.  This will add continuity to regulations between state and federal waters with a joint annual decision to determine whether to enact conservation equivalency.

Second, a joint action recommended that NOAA Fisheries implement a transit provision in Block Island Sound. The measure would allow non-federally permitted recreational and commercial vessels to transit Federal water while in possession of summer flounder, scup and black sea bass that was legally harvested from state waters. For example this measure would allow fish legally caught in state waters off Block Island to be transported across federal waters back into state waters off Pt. Judith and along the southern coastal shore of Rhode Island.

Lastly, the use of slot limes, i.e. the use of maximum sizes in addition to minimum sizes, which was allowed by the Council is now allowed by the Commission too. Now both fish governing bodies can utilize slot limits for consistency if deemed appropriate.

Slot Limits… not the tool for summer flounder at this time

Prior to the joint meeting in December, the results of two summer flounder slot limit studies were presented via background memorandum to participants.  The memorandum concluded, that with summer flounder overfishing now occurring and the summer flounder Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) consistently below target levels for the past six years, slot limits would be harmful to the fishery at this time.

The studies referred to in the memorandum included a 2009 ‘Slot limit management for recreational summer flounder harvest’ study by Wong (http://www.mafmc.org/s/Slot_limit_guidance_Wong_2009-002.pdf ); and a second study by Wiedenmann in 2013 titled ‘Evaluation of management and regulatory options for the summer flounder recreational fishery’ available at http://www.mafmc.org/s/A-Model-to-Evaluate-Recreational-Management-Measures.pdf .

The memorandum said, “The 2009 study analyzed a range of slot limit options for the recreational summer flounder fishery and considered a range of bag limits and options for trophy fish in combination with slot limits. The results indicated that, compared to a standard minimum size limit (which we now have), the slot limit options considered would ‘certainly result in greatly increased numbers of fish harvested’ due to the higher availability of smaller fish compared to larger fish.

Although discards may decrease under certain slot limits, total removals (i.e., harvest and discards) would likely increase due to the increase in harvest. An increase in removals in numbers of fish would increase the fishing mortality rate. Under some slot limit options, marginal benefits to spawning stock biomass (SSB) were predicted; however, these benefits were eliminated when a trophy class (one large fish) was considered in combination with slot limits.”

Additionally, the second study related, “A management strategy evaluation analysis found that slot limits could result in an increase in the number of summer flounder harvested per angler, as well as a small reduction in the total number of female summer flounder harvested. They found that slot limits generally resulted in lower harvest and more discards by weight, and higher and more frequent annual catch limit overages, compared to minimum size limits.”

The memoranda said, “In summary, these two studies suggest that total removals in numbers of fish may increase under slot limits, the fishing mortality rate may increase, and any increases in SSB may be minor. For these reasons, slot limits could have negative impacts on the summer flounder stock, especially under current conditions (i.e., overfishing is occurring and SSB is below the target level).”

Visit www.asmfc.org for ASMFC meeting outcomes and background information on summer flounder, scup and black sea bass

Government shut-down impacting fishing

The government shut down is upon us and it is starting to have an impact on the fish too. 

Last week I was scheduled to attend two Federal Government sponsored workshops and both were cancelled.  The shutdown is having a profound effect on people in this county and needs to end as it demonstrates a total failure in government.  The President and members of congress and the senate are elected to serve the people, the shutdown is serving no one so let’s open the government and put the issue of border security, immigration and the wall on the front burner to work out in a bipartisan fashion this year. 

Last week a meeting to review the Environmental Impact Statement on the first ‘utility scale’ offshore wind farm off Massachusetts being developed by Vineyard Wind was canceled in Rhode Island.  The meeting was organized and being run by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a federal government agency.

Commercial fishermen have voiced their concern about the layout of the wind farm and the inconsistent spacing between turbines in the windfarm.  Additionally, recreational fishermen have expressed concerned about no rod and reel surveys being done to study the impact on recreational fishing , and the absence of aerial or acoustic studies to measure impacts on pelagic species such as Mahi, tuna, sharks as well as whales.

The hope is that this important BOEM meeting and others are rescheduled and deadlines extended to insure proper public input and discussion. 

The second fisheries meeting canceled last week was the NOAA Fisheries sponsored  New England Recreational Fishing Workshop which was scheduled to be held at the URI Coastal Institute Building in Narragansett on January 10.

The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate a collaborative process for developing management measures for the recreational ground fish fishery that balance the need to prevent overfishing while providing for robust catches that enable profitability in the for-hire fleet and provide worthwhile fishing opportunities for anglers. The hope is that this meeting is rescheduled.

As this week progressed, we heard other ways how the shutdown disrupted National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) quota monitoring and stock assessments in locations across the country (summer flounder, striped bass and black sea bass in our area), deprived Coast Guard members of paychecks, and is delaying the timely implementation of catch limits for scallops in waters off New England.

Let’s hope the shutdown ends so we can move forward to fish and the scientist, fish managers and Coast Guard can get back to normal.