ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Initiates Development of Addendum II Addendum to Address Management Options and Research Needs for the Chesapeake Bay Alexandria, VA – The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved development of Addendum II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Draft Addendum will present options to limit the catch of menhaden, including restricting the Chesapeake Bay purse seine harvest to no more than 110,400 mt annually in 2006 and 2007. It also proposes initiating a research program immediately to determine the status of menhaden populations in the Chesapeake Bay and assess whether localized depletion is occurring in the Bay. While the Board specified that the Draft Addendum include a cap of 110,400 mt (five-year average of Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest) for 2006 and 2007, it directed staff to identify a suite of management options for consideration by the public, including various cap limits and timeframes, and gears to be addressed. The Addendum will also include a review of current state rules and regulations for Atlantic menhaden and the roles these measures have played in localizing menhaden harvest to the Chesapeake Bay, and coastal waters of Virginia and North Carolina. At today’s meeting, the Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee responded to the list of tasks it received at the Board’s last meeting. These included questions regarding the possibility of localized depletion of menhaden stocks in Chesapeake Bay, the likely causes of low recruitment of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay; and Bay-specific ecological reference points and recruitment indices. “The Technical Committee has done an outstanding job in addressing the issues placed before it,” stated Board Chair Jack Travelstead of Virginia. “It has conducted a thorough analysis of its charges with the best data available and has identified research needed to address outstanding questions on the status of Atlantic menhaden populations in the Chesapeake Bay.” The Board will meet in May to review the Draft Addendum. Upon its approval, the Addendum will be released for public review and comment. It is anticipated that many states will be conducting public hearings on the Addendum. For more information, please contact Nancy Wallace, Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at (202)289-6400 or
nw******@as***.org
.
ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Initiates Development of Addendum II
Addendum to Address Management Options and Research Needs for the Chesapeake Bay
Alexandria, VA – The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved development of Addendum II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Draft Addendum will present options to limit the catch of menhaden, including restricting the Chesapeake Bay purse seine harvest to no more than 110,400 mt annually in 2006 and 2007. It also proposes initiating a research program immediately to determine the status of menhaden populations in the Chesapeake Bay and assess whether localized depletion is occurring in the Bay.
While the Board specified that the Draft Addendum include a cap of 110,400 mt (five-year average of Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest) for 2006 and 2007, it directed staff to identify a suite of management options for consideration by the public, including various cap limits and timeframes, and gears to be addressed. The Addendum will also include a review of current state rules and regulations for Atlantic menhaden and the roles these measures have played in localizing menhaden harvest to the Chesapeake Bay, and coastal waters of Virginia and North Carolina.
At today’s meeting, the Atlantic Menhaden Technical Committee responded to the list of tasks it received at the Board’s last meeting. These included questions regarding the possibility of localized depletion of menhaden stocks in Chesapeake Bay, the likely causes of low recruitment of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay; and Bay-specific ecological reference points and recruitment indices.
“The Technical Committee has done an outstanding job in addressing the issues placed before it,” stated Board Chair Jack Travelstead of Virginia. “It has conducted a thorough analysis of its charges with the best data available and has identified research needed to address outstanding questions on the status of Atlantic menhaden populations in the Chesapeake Bay.”
The Board will meet in May to review the Draft Addendum. Upon its approval, the Addendum will be released for public review and comment. It is anticipated that many states will be conducting public hearings on the Addendum. For more information, please contact Nancy Wallace, Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at (202)289-6400 or
nw******@as***.org
.