Council to Develop Controlled Access System for Mackerel
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) met in Hampton, VA last week to review the status of Amendment 9 to its Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan; comment on the National Marine Fisheries Service’ (NMFS) proposed rule regarding the incidental take of bottlenose dolphin and sea turtles; and hear fishing industry concerns regarding citizenship requirements for fishing vessel crews.
The Council voted to include in Amendment 9 a controlled access program for the mackerel fishery. The addition of this measure to Amendment 9 will require additional time to revise the current draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and draft public hearing document. It will also require the development of a scoping document and hearing schedule for a controlled access system. It is now anticipated that the Council will review and approve the Draft EIS and related public hearing document for the revised Amendment 9 during this year’s October Council meeting.
The consensus recommendations of the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team regarding NMFS’ proposed rule to reduce the incidental mortality and injury of bottlenose dolphin, and reduce the incidental take of sea turtles by gillnets in North Carolina and Virginia state waters were supported by the Council with two exceptions. In lieu of the proposed rule, the Council supports exemptions for the use of large mesh gillnets with tiedowns in the area between 2 and 3 nautical miles from the shore between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and the Virginia border, and the use of gillnets in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s oceanic black drum fishery. The Council also directed that a letter be sent to Dr. Bill Hogarth, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, regarding the enforcement of a Jones Act Provision (46 USC 8103(b)(1)) that requires 75 percent of the seamen on a fishing vessel be U.S. citizens and/or lawful permanent resident aliens. Fishing industry members expressed their concern that the U.S. labor pool for such workers is extremely limited, and a delay in its enforcement, or an exemption from the 75/25 rule, would minimize adverse economic impacts and sustain local community participation in affected fisheries. An exemption already exists for fishing vessels prosecuting highly migratory
species.
On Wednesday, January 19, the Special Investigation Unit of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission received the Council’s 2004 Fisheries Achievement Award for its outstanding professionalism and its efforts to protect living marine resources. Colonel Steven G. Bowman, on behalf of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, accepted the award and graciously thanked the Council for its recognition of his Special Investigative Unit.
The Council’s Ecosystems Committee provided a forum for Dr. Mike Fogarty, Project Director for Ecosystem- Based Fishery Management, and Dr. Roger Locandro, Rutgers University, to present to the Council and the public information on ecosystem-based fishery management and historical perspectives thereof. The presentations were well received and will help frame the Council’s approach to future ecosystem-based management initiatives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACT: Daniel T. Furlong
January 25, 2005 (302) 674-2331 x19
The Council’s Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization Committee reviewed a number of suggested changes to the Act and selected a tentative list of proposed changes that Congress may wish to consider in its reauthorization deliberations. The Council will review and adopt these proposals at its next meeting.
At the request of the Council’s Executive Committee, the Council approved a motion to amend its Statement of Operation Practices and Procedures (SOPPs) to adopt, for the benefit of its staff, the alternative personnel management system for the US Department of Commerce (62 FRN 67434).
The Council and public also received presentations by George Darcy, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, on NMFS’ regulatory “Front Loading” process, and Hannah Goodale, Senior Fishery Policy Analyst, on the status of the NMFS’ Northeast Regional Office’s draft bycatch reduction plan.
Council to Develop Controlled Access System for Mackerel
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) met in Hampton, VA last week to review the status of Amendment 9 to its Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan; comment on the National Marine Fisheries Service’ (NMFS) proposed rule regarding the incidental take of bottlenose dolphin and sea turtles; and hear fishing industry concerns regarding citizenship requirements for fishing vessel crews.
The Council voted to include in Amendment 9 a controlled access program for the mackerel fishery. The addition of this measure to Amendment 9 will require additional time to revise the current draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and draft public hearing document. It will also require the development of a scoping document and hearing schedule for a controlled access system. It is now anticipated that the Council will review and approve the Draft EIS and related public hearing document for the revised Amendment 9 during this year’s October Council meeting.
The consensus recommendations of the Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Team regarding NMFS’ proposed rule to reduce the incidental mortality and injury of bottlenose dolphin, and reduce the incidental take of sea turtles by gillnets in North Carolina and Virginia state waters were supported by the Council with two exceptions. In lieu of the proposed rule, the Council supports exemptions for the use of large mesh gillnets with tiedowns in the area between 2 and 3 nautical miles from the shore between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and the Virginia border, and the use of gillnets in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s oceanic black drum fishery. The Council also directed that a letter be sent to Dr. Bill Hogarth, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, regarding the enforcement of a Jones Act Provision (46 USC 8103(b)(1)) that requires 75 percent of the seamen on a fishing vessel be U.S. citizens and/or lawful permanent resident aliens. Fishing industry members expressed their concern that the U.S. labor pool for such workers is extremely limited, and a delay in its enforcement, or an exemption from the 75/25 rule, would minimize adverse economic impacts and sustain local community participation in affected fisheries. An exemption already exists for fishing vessels prosecuting highly migratory
species.
On Wednesday, January 19, the Special Investigation Unit of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission received the Council’s 2004 Fisheries Achievement Award for its outstanding professionalism and its efforts to protect living marine resources. Colonel Steven G. Bowman, on behalf of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, accepted the award and graciously thanked the Council for its recognition of his Special Investigative Unit.
The Council’s Ecosystems Committee provided a forum for Dr. Mike Fogarty, Project Director for Ecosystem- Based Fishery Management, and Dr. Roger Locandro, Rutgers University, to present to the Council and the public information on ecosystem-based fishery management and historical perspectives thereof. The presentations were well received and will help frame the Council’s approach to future ecosystem-based management initiatives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACT: Daniel T. Furlong
January 25, 2005 (302) 674-2331 x19
The Council’s Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization Committee reviewed a number of suggested changes to the Act and selected a tentative list of proposed changes that Congress may wish to consider in its reauthorization deliberations. The Council will review and adopt these proposals at its next meeting.
At the request of the Council’s Executive Committee, the Council approved a motion to amend its Statement of Operation Practices and Procedures (SOPPs) to adopt, for the benefit of its staff, the alternative personnel management system for the US Department of Commerce (62 FRN 67434).
The Council and public also received presentations by George Darcy, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, on NMFS’ regulatory “Front Loading” process, and Hannah Goodale, Senior Fishery Policy Analyst, on the status of the NMFS’ Northeast Regional Office’s draft bycatch reduction plan.