What to Do About Bait Supply?

Lobstermen throughout New England are concerned about the supply and cost of fish species used for lobster bait in the coming years. Haddock bycatch restrictions put in place by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) caused the overall supply of that bait to constrict. In 2016, the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), and later the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), put measures put in place in to ensure a consistent supply of herring through the summer and fall months. Lobstermen complained loudly about the resulting increase in prices. Many are worried that such a situation may occur again this year.

The NEFMC is in the midst of completing Amendment 8 to its herring management plan; it presented an update on its work during the Maine Fishermen’s Forum on March 3. Currently herring fishermen operate under a three-year stock assessment (completed in 2015) and quota allocations set for the 2016-2018 fishing seasons. Through Amendment 8, NEFMC is re-evaluating the Allowable Biological Catch (ABC) formula to ensure that the ecological role of herring in the marine environment is accounted for. The ABC control rule determines how much herring is available for commercial harvest. The Amendment also will address the problem of localized depletion of herring.

Localized depletion is a reduction of population size, independent of the overall status of the stock, over a relatively small spatial area as a result of intensive fishing. There is concern that midwater trawl fishing inshore reduces the availability of herring, negatively impacting groundfish, tuna, whale-watching and other industries.Deirdre Boelke, fisheries analyst at NEFMC, summarized the process for completing Amendment 8. In 2016, the Council reviewed documents relevant to herring management and developed specific alternatives that address the ecological role of herring. It then held two workshops with stakeholders in May and December, 2016, using Management Strategy Evaluation techniques to incorporate public input early in the regulatory process. Based on feedback from those meeting, the Council took four types of ABC control rules off the table: constant catch; conditional constant catch; biomass-based for five years; and biomass-based for three years with restrictions. The Council now will focus on analyzing annual and three-year-based control rules. Regarding localized depletion of herring schools, the Council is considering “a wide range of alternatives,” said Boelke, including a six-nautical-mile closure off Cape Cod during the summer months, a prohibition on midwater trawl fishing in Area 1A year-round and prohibiting midwater trawl gear within 12, 25 or 50 miles of Areas 1B, 2 and 3.

The Council may approve alternatives for Amendment 8 at its April meeting, after which those alternatives would go out for public comment during the fall of 2017. The Amendment would be implemented in 2018, and used in the 2019-2021 specification process.

One of the problems faced by herring fishermen operating offshore in Area 3 in the early summer months is the presence of haddock, which feed in similar locations as herring. NEFMC allows a certain amount of haddock to be caught as bycatch by herring fishermen. Last fall, the Council voted to increase the haddock bycatch limit from 1% to 1.5% through Framework 56 of the Groundfish Plan. If approved, in 2017, the haddock bycatch cap will increase to 801 metric tons, compared to 512 metric tons in 2016.Megan Ware, staff at ASMFC, presented an overview of menhaden regulations. Amendment 3 to the Menhaden Fisheries Management Plan is based on single species reference points, which means that the stock is managed based on fishing mortality and spawning stock health. The total allowable catch for menhaden is allocated among the states based on each state’s average landings from 2009 to 2011. Maine receives less than 1% of the total allowable catch; the bulk goes to Virginia for fish oil and New Jersey for bait harvesters.“

One question about menhaden is whether the single species reference points take into account the ecological role of menhaden,” Ware said. “The second question is whether the allocation is fair and equitable.” These concerns prompted the ASMFC Menhaden Board to review Amendment 3 to the menhaden plan. “The draft will have different reference points,” Ware continued, “and a wider range of allocation methods.” Methods being looked at include a coastwide quota, a regional quota, different state quotas, and quota based on fleet capacity, among others. In addition, Amendment 3 may include changes to the time period used to make menhaden allocations to the states. “It could be 1985-1995, 1985-2016, or a weighted average based on 1985-1995 and 2012-2016,” Ware said. The Amendment is being drafted by ASFMC; public hearings are expected to be held from August through October 2017, with a final action in November.

Terry Stockwell, external affairs director at the Department of Marine Resources and vice-chairman at NEFMC, reviewed the 2016 herring season. “There were above-average landings at the beginning of the season which led DMR to institute emergency measures on July 9 to slow down landings,” he said. Those measures included a limit on how much herring could be landed and when, plus restrictions on the use of carrier vessels. To prepare for next year, in October 2016, ASFMC began development of an Addendum to its herring management plan which, Stockwell said, is very much like DMR’s 2016 emergency rules. The public comment period for the draft Addendum began on February 8 and ends on April 7. The ASFMC’s Herring Section will review the public comments, select final management options and present those to ASFMC at its May meeting.