October 2024 Council Meeting Summary

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council met October 8-10, 2024, in Dewey Beach, DE. The following is a summary of actions taken and issues considered during the meeting. Presentations, briefing materials, motions, and webinar recordings are available at http://www.mafmc.org/briefing/october-2024.

• October 2024 Council Meeting Summary (PDF)

Highlights

During this meeting, the Council:

• Reviewed and approved a strategic plan for 2025-2029

• Adopted butterfish specifications for 2025-2026

• Recommended status quo 2025 specifications for Atlantic mackerel in 2025

• Deferred action on 2025 spiny dogfish specifications pending further consideration by the Scientific and Statistical Committee

• Received an update on the private recreational tilefish permitting and reporting program and considered recommendations for improving angler awareness and compliance

• Recommended that NOAA Fisheries pause soliciting for new monkfish RSA projects until the program’s underlying economic and programmatic issues are addressed

• Received a presentation on a proposed rule to modify and/or expand reporting requirements for Atlantic HMS species and agreed to submit comments

• Received an overview of draft outcomes, recommendations, and possible action items from the 8th National Scientific Coordination Subcommittee (SCS) Workshop

• Received presentations on several topics related to offshore wind energy development

• Received an update from the NOAA Fisheries regional office on habitat and offshore wind activities of interest in the Mid-Atlantic region

• Approved several changes to the guidelines for the Council’s three awards

• Reviewed and provided feedback on proposed actions and deliverables for the 2025 Implementation Plan (Executive Committee)

2025-2029 Strategic Plan

The Council reviewed and approved a strategic plan for 2025-2029. The plan builds upon the foundation of the 2020-2024 plan, integrating lessons learned, progress achieved, and input from Council members and stakeholders. The document is organized around five goal areas: Communication, Science, Management, Ecosystem and Governance. The Council will use the plan to guide its management activities and operations over the next five years. The final document will be posted at https://www.mafmc.org/strategic-plan in the coming weeks.

2025-2026 Butterfish Specifications

The Council reviewed the stock status and performance of the butterfish fishery and adopted multi-year specifications for 2025-2026. Based on the recommendations provided by the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), the Council adopted Acceptable Biological Catches (ABC) of 17,115 metric tons (MT) for 2025 and 13,842 MT for 2026. These ABCs are products of the Council’s risk policy and projections using the 2024 management track assessment, which found the butterfish stock is above its target biomass. The Council is removing a 5% management uncertainty buffer given catches appear well constrained. After potential discards are deducted, the commercial quotas would be 11,324 MT (25.0 million pounds) in 2025 and 8,051 MT (17.7 million pounds) in 2026 (both substantially above recent landings).

The Council also considered a modification to the butterfish mesh regulations to add flexibility in the types of mesh that can be used for directed fishing. The Council deferred action until the next meeting after NMFS raised concerns about enforcement’s ability to discern differences in some relevant mesh configurations. A Law Enforcement Committee meeting will be held in November 2024 to further evaluate any issues.

2025 Atlantic Mackerel Specifications

The Council reviewed the stock status and performance of the Atlantic mackerel fishery and recommended maintaining the previously adopted 2025 specifications and management measures, including a commercial quota of 868 MT. Next year’s 2025 stock assessment will assess rebuilding progress and will be used to inform 2026-2027 specifications.

2025 Spiny Dogfish Specifications

The Council reviewed the stock status and performance of the spiny dogfish fishery and deferred action on modifying 2025 spiny dogfish specifications until the next meeting. Updated catch information led to lower projections for 2025, and industry provided input that the resulting lower quotas could collapse the spiny dogfish fishery by forcing the last processor out of business. The Council requested its SSC calculate an ABC equal to the catch associated with a 50% probability of overfishing under a suspension of the Council’s risk policy (which would otherwise dictate a lower 46% chance of overfishing and a lower catch). 

Private Recreational Tilefish Permitting, Reporting, and Program Evaluation

In August 2020, new recreational permitting and reporting requirements were introduced for private tilefish anglers. During this meeting, the Council received several presentations offering key insights into the program's performance and areas for improvement. These included an overview of the Council’s historical and recent efforts, followed by an update from the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) on the current status of permitting and reporting. The GARFO update  provided detailed information on the number of permits issued, recreational trips taken, and landings reported since the program's inception.

Dr. Willy Goldsmith (Pelagic Strategies) and Jill Stevenson (Stevenson Sustainability Consulting) also presented a final evaluation of the angler permit and reporting program. The report highlighted significant gaps in the program, pointing to persistently low compliance and annual reporting rates. The evaluation provided actionable recommendations for enhancing the program’s effectiveness.

Following the presentations and subsequent discussion, the Council endorsed several recommendations identified through program evaluation final report.  These recommendations will be incorporated into the Council’s 2025 Implementation Plan, aiming to address the identified challenges and improve the overall compliance and efficiency of the tilefish permitting and reporting program.

Monkfish Fishery Performance Report and Monkfish Research Set Aside Improvements

The Council reviewed recent monkfish fishery performance and several ongoing efforts to improve the Monkfish Research Set Aside (RSA) program. The Council mirrored a motion from the New England Fishery Management Council recommending that NMFS pause soliciting for new monkfish RSA projects until the program’s underlying economic and programmatic issues are addressed. The Councils also requested that NMFS consider letting the two current Monkfish RSA projects continue selling RSA days-at-sea into 2025 and 2026 to fund their work on developing monkfish catch per unit of effort (CPUE) indices in support of upcoming assessments.

Proposed Rule: Electronic Reporting Requirements for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

Guy DuBeck and Karyl Brewster-Geisz from NOAA Fisheries Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) presented an update on a recent proposed rule on electronic reporting. The proposed rule is intended to modify and/or expand reporting requirements for Atlantic HMS, including reporting by commercial, for-hire, and private recreational vessel owners and dealers. Following the presentation, the Council agreed it would be important to provided formal written comments on the proposed rule given the Councils existing electronic reporting requirements and the overlap in stakeholders. 

Scientific Coordination Subcommittee 8th National Workshop Outcomes

The Council received an overview of draft outcomes, recommendations, and possible action items from the 8th National Scientific Coordination Subcommittee (SCS) Workshop. The SCS is a subcommittee of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC) and consists of the chairs and other selected members of the SSCs from each of the eight regional fishery management councils. The 8th SCS workshop was hosted by the New England Fishery Management Council and was held on August 26-28, 2024, in Boston, Massachusetts. The theme for the workshop was “Applying Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) Control Rules in a Changing Environment” with the goal of providing actionable guidance to support the Councils in their management considerations given the environmental change and scientific uncertainty each region is experiencing.  The Council will receive an update on the final workshop recommendations and action items once the proceedings report is available in the spring of 2025.

Offshore Wind Energy Updates

The Council received presentations on several topics related to offshore wind energy development, including updates from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, the New Jersey Offshore Wind Research and Monitoring Initiative, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. Council members expressed concern about observations this summer of dead Atlantic croaker near pile driving activities for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and dead hake near pile driving activities for Revolution Wind. Council members asked about the causes of these fish kills and how to prevent similar issues in the future. BOEM staff indicated that evaluations of the potential causes, including necropsies, are ongoing. Council members and public comments also expressed concerns that offshore wind energy development may be contributing to reduced squid catches in recent years.

Habitat Updates

Karen Greene, with NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) Habitat and Ecosystem Services Division (HESD), provided project updates on port development (including Key Bridge collapse recovery efforts), infrastructure, energy, and U.S Army Corps of Engineers federal navigation and civil work projects within the Mid-Atlantic. Of note, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering a possible offshore fishery enhancement beneficial use site using dredged material from the New York Bight, as the Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) is nearing capacity. In addition, several hydropower dams on the Delaware River and Susquehanna River are under consideration for hydropower retrofits and/or relicensing; HESD is engaging in discussions to ensure safe and efficient upstream and downstream passage of diadromous species, while balancing invasive species concerns. NOAA/US Fish and Wildlife Service also released a guidance document on tidal wetland restoration in the Mid-Atlantic that stresses more holistic marsh restoration approaches.

Council Awards Discussion

The Council approved several changes to the guidelines for the Council’s three awards (Ricks E Savage Award, Award of Excellence, James A. Ruhle Cooperative Research Award). The approved changes are intended to clarify the purpose of each award and improve the nomination and selection procedures. The revised guidelines include updated/expanded award descriptions for the Ricks E Savage Award and the Award of Excellence. Additionally, the Council endorsed staff’s recommendation to shift the timing for the Ricks E Savage Award due to the February meeting being held virtually beginning in 2025. Under the revised process, the Executive Committee will review nominations for the Ricks E Savage Award at the October meeting, and the award will be presented at the December meeting. The revised guidelines also specify that any nominations received throughout the year for the Award of Excellence and Cooperative Research Award will be considered at the October meeting. Additional information about Council awards is available at https://www.mafmc.org/awards.

Executive Committee – 2025 Implementation Plan

The Executive Committee met to review and provide feedback on a draft list of actions and deliverables for the 2025 Implementation Plan. The Council develops Implementation Plans each year to ensure progress toward achieving the goals and objectives of its 5-year strategic plan. During the meeting, the Committee received a progress update on the 2024 Implementation Plan and then reviewed a draft list of actions and deliverables for 2025. The full Council will review a draft 2025 Implementation Plan at the December meeting.

Next Meeting

The next Council meeting will be held December 9-12, 2024, in Annapolis, Maryland. A complete list of upcoming meetings can be found at https://www.mafmc.org/council-events.

February 2024 Council Meeting Summary

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council met February 6-7, 2024, in Arlington, VA. The following summary describes actions taken and issues considered during the meeting. Presentations, briefing materials, motions, and webinar recordings are available at on the February 2024 Council Meeting Page.

• February 2024 Council Meeting Summary (pdf) 

HIGHLIGHTS

During this meeting, the Council:

• Approved a public hearing document for the Surfclam Ocean Quahog Species Separation Requirements Amendment, with the addition of an industry-drafted alternative

• Received an update on an action to reduce sturgeon bycatch and endorsed several packages of alternatives for further technical analysis

• Recommended the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP) develop a pilot project to test the viability of an industry-based survey

• Received updates on offshore wind development in the region

• Received a presentation on the black sea bass research track assessment

• Received an update on efforts to increase awareness and compliance with recreational tilefish permitting and reporting requirements

• Received a briefing on the Magnuson-Stevens Act financial disclosure and recusal requirements, as well as a review of the litigation process for Council actions

• Recognized Captain Jimmy Ruhle posthumously as the as the namesake and first recipient of a new cooperative research award

Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Species Separation Requirements Amendment

The Council reviewed a draft public hearing document for the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Species Separation Requirements Amendment. The goal of this action is to address issues related to mixed catches of the two species occurring in these fisheries. After reviewing input from the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Committee and Advisory Panel, which met the prior day, the Council agreed with the Committee’s recommendation to include a new, industry-member recommended alternative in the document prior to going out for public comment. Once the Fishery Management Action Team completes analysis of this new alternative, the Council will schedule a public comment period and hold public hearings. The input received from the public will be summarized and provided to the Council for consideration and final action.  Additional information can be found at the action page for this amendment.

Sturgeon Framework

The Council reviewed and endorsed several packages of alternatives for further technical analysis to include both   their sturgeon bycatch reduction potentials and fishery impacts. The Council also requested inclusion of a sub-alternative where a gear alternative with an overnight-soak prohibition (which should reduce sturgeon bycatch and associated mortalities) would not apply to fishing with gillnet mesh less than 5.25 inches. These measures would generally only apply in areas and times of higher observed sturgeon bycatch, and under this sub-alternative fishermen could either fish larger mesh during the day or fish 5-inch mesh overnight. The document reviewed by the Council detailed potential area and time restrictions for the alternatives and also included potential fishery closures in areas and times of higher observed sturgeon bycatch. On March 5, 2024, the Spiny Dogfish and Monkfish Advisory Panels will review the alternatives/impacts and make recommendations regarding preferred alternatives. On March 13, 2024, the Spiny Dogfish and Monkfish Committees will consider the alternatives/impacts, Advisory Panel input, and public input before making recommendations to the Councils (this action is joint with the New England Council). These meetings will be webinars and connection details are on the Councils’ calendars. The Councils are scheduled to take final action at their respective April 2024 meetings. Additional information is available at the action page for this framework.

White Paper: Draft Proposed Plan for a Novel Industry Based Multispecies Bottom Trawl Survey on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf

Dr. Kathryn Ford presented a white paper titled “Draft Proposed Plan for a Novel Industry Based Multispecies Bottom Trawl Survey on the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf,” which was recently developed by the Northeast Fishery Science Center (NEFSC) in coordination with the joint Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils’ Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP). The paper describes a draft plan for an industry-based multispecies bottom trawl survey (IBS) that would operate in parallel to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s (NEFSC) multispecies bottom trawl survey (BTS). As a result of the presentation and subsequent discussion, the Council passed a motion recommending that NTAP develop a pilot project to test the viability of an industry-based survey as described in the white paper and provide a progress report of the draft pilot project to the Council at the April 2024 meeting.

Offshore Wind Updates

The Council received updates on offshore wind energy development from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and a state-led working group which is seeking to establish a regional third-party administrator for fisheries compensation funds. The Council also received a presentation on the fisheries compensation program for the Vineyard Wind 1 project which is currently under construction off Massachusetts. They also received updates on the Kitty Hawk Wind project off North Carolina and the Community Offshore Wind project off New Jersey, both of which are in the planning stages.

Black Sea Bass Assessment

The Council received a presentation on the black sea bass research track assessment which passed peer review in December 2023. Several improvements were made to the assessment, including moving to a new modeling framework that accounts for differences in productivity and movement between regions and combining multiple fishery-independent surveys into one aggregate abundance index. In addition, the assessment now includes bottom temperature as a factor influencing recruitment, making this the first assessment in this region to directly incorporate an environmental variable. This research track assessment will inform a June 2024 management track assessment that will provide updated estimates of stock status using data through 2023 and be used to set management measures for future years.

Recreational Tilefish Permitting and Reporting Updates

The Council received an update from staff on two outreach/program evaluation efforts related to recreational tilefish permitting and reporting requirements. The goal of the first project is to engage anglers through different outreach initiatives to raise awareness about the permitting and reporting requirements and promote the use of the eFin Logbook reporting app. The goal of the second project is to conduct a series of in-person meetings with recreational tilefish community leaders to evaluate the MAFMC private angler tilefish permitting and reporting requirements and identify potential strategies for increased participation and compliance. Learn more about tilefish permitting and reporting requirements here.

Legal Review/Financial Disclosure/Recusal Training

John Almeida with the NOAA Office of General Counsel provided a briefing on the Magnuson-Stevens Act financial disclosure and recusal requirements, as well as a review of the litigation process for federal fishery regulations.

Awards

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council named Captain Jimmy Ruhle as the first recipient and namesake of a new award that recognizes outstanding contributions to cooperative fisheries research in the Mid-Atlantic region. Jimmy Ruhle was a lifelong commercial fisherman, a former Council member, and a trailblazer in cooperative fisheries research. He had an instrumental role in the creation and success of the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) Mid-Atlantic/Southern New England trawl survey, a cooperative fishery-independent survey of coastal waters from Cape Hatteras north to Cape Cod. Since 2007, the survey has been conducted biannually aboard Jimmy’s vessel, the F/V Darana R, by a team of Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers working in partnership with Jimmy and his crew. Data from the survey have improved the assessments of several Council-managed species, including black sea bass, butterfish, longfin squid, scup, and summer flounder. After Jimmy’s death in 2023, the Council decided to create a new award to honor his legacy. The award will be given to individuals or groups who have demonstrated exceptional collaboration, dedication, or innovation in their research, or in recognition of cooperative research projects that have made significant contributions to the understanding or management of Mid-Atlantic fisheries.

Next Meeting

The next Council meeting will be held April 9-11, 2024, in Atlantic City, NJ. A complete list of upcoming meetings can be found at https://www.mafmc.org/council-events.

December 2023 Council Meeting Summary

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council met December 12-14, 2023, in Philadelphia, PA. Presentations, briefing materials, motions, and webinar recordings are available on the December 2023 Meeting Page.

• Meeting Summary (pdf)

Highlights

During this meeting, the Council:

• Reviewed analysis of several summer flounder commercial mesh regulations and agreed to develop a framework/addendum to further consider potential changes to the Small Mesh Exemption Program and the flynet exemption*

• Approved the use of regional conservation equivalency to achieve the required 28% reduction in recreational harvest of summer flounder in 2024-2025*

• Agreed that the states will work through the Commission process to achieve the required 10% reduction in the recreational harvest of scup in 2024-2025*

• Recommended removing the previously-adopted closure of the recreational scup fishery in federal waters from January 1-April 30 (resulting in a year-round open season in federal waters)*

• Approved status quo recreational black sea bass measures for 2024*

• Modified the preliminary range of alternatives for the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Recreational Measures Setting Process Framework/Addenda

• Approved a Guidance Document for Council review of Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) applications for species designated as Ecosystem Components through the Unmanaged Forage Amendment

• Adopted spiny dogfish specifications 2024-2026, including a 10.7-million-pound commercial quota for 2024

• Adopted Atlantic mackerel specifications for 2024-2025, including a 1.9-million-pound commercial quota for both years

• Reviewed the golden tilefish Individual Fishing Quota program review and initiated a 30-day public comment period

• Approved the 2024 Implementation Plan

• Received a presentation from the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA)

* Items denoted with an asterisk (*) were undertaken during joint meetings with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Management Board or Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board

Summer Flounder Commercial Mesh Size Regulations and Exemptions

The Council met jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) to review analysis of, and public input on, several summer flounder commercial mesh regulations, including: 1) the current 5.5-inch diamond and 6.0-inch square minimum mesh size, 2) the summer flounder Small Mesh Exemption Program (SMEP), and 3) the summer flounder flynet exemption.

The Council and Board recommended no change to the current summer flounder minimum mesh sizes, due to the lack of sufficient evidence to suggest a change is warranted. They agreed that additional selectivity studies should be considered as a research priority, including exploring the selectivity of a wider range of square mesh sizes and further comparing selectivity between square and diamond mesh.

The Council and Board also recommended development of a framework/addendum to further consider potential changes to the two mesh exemptions as a priority in 2024. Specifically, this action would consider revisions to the definition of a flynet as well as modifications to the western boundary of the small-mesh exemption area. The changes are intended to be implemented by November 1, 2024, if possible.

Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Recreational Management Measures

The Council and Board also adopted recreational management measures (i.e., bag, size, and season limits) for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. This was the second year of setting measures under the Percent Change Approach, and the first year of setting measures for two-year cycles for summer flounder and scup. Black sea bass measures were set for 2024 only due to the timing of the management track assessment.

The Percent Change Approach uses a comparison of the RHL to an estimate of expected harvest, in addition to stock size, to determine if measures should be restricted, liberalized, or remain unchanged for the next two years.

Prior to their deliberations for each species, the Council and Board received a brief overview of the Recreation Demand Model (RDM). The RDM was developed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) to predict the effect of proposed recreational measures on angler satisfaction, fishing effort, recreational harvest, and recreational discards of summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. The RDM was first used in setting 2023 measures and will be used again for the upcoming years.

2024-2025 Summer Flounder Recreational Measures

The Percent Change Approach requires a 28% reduction in recreational harvest of summer flounder in 2024-2025. This reduction is needed because the RHL for 2024-2025 (6.35 million pounds) falls below the confidence interval around projected harvest for these years, and the stock size is below the target level. Measures will be restricted to achieve the full 28% reduction in 2024 and then will remain unchanged in 2025 unless new information suggests a major change in the expected impacts of those measures on the stock or the fishery.

The Council and Board also approved the use of regional conservation equivalency in 2024-2025. Non-preferred coastwide measures, which are written into the federal regulations but waived in favor of state measures, include an 18.5-inch minimum size, 3 fish possession limit, and open season from May 8-September 30. Precautionary default measures include a 20-inch minimum size, 2 fish possession limit, and open season from July 1-August 31. These measures are only intended to be used for states/regions which do not comply with the conservation equivalency process. State waters measures will be determined through the Commission process in early 2024.

2024-2025 Scup Recreational Measures

A 10% reduction in recreational harvest of scup in 2024-2025 is required under the Percent Change Approach. This reduction is needed because the average RHL for 2024-2025 (12.51 million pounds) falls below the confidence interval around estimated harvest under status quo measures for these years, and stock biomass is more than 150% of the target level.  Measures will be restricted to achieve the full 10% reduction in 2024 and then will remain unchanged in 2025 unless new information suggests a major change in the expected impacts of those measures on the stock or the fishery. The Council and Board agreed that the 10% coastwide harvest reduction will be achieved by the states through the Commission process in early 2024.

The Council and Board revisited their previous decision to close the recreational scup fishery in federal waters from January 1 to April 30.  The shortened season was recommended by the Council and Board in December 2022, but due to the timing of federal rule making, it is not expected to go into effect until 2024. During this meeting, the Council and Board discussed concerns that some states may be disproportionately impacted by the federal waters closure. Staff presented an analysis of Vessel Trip Report (VTR) data which were used to estimate total recreational harvest during this time period. The analysis suggests the closure would have minimal impact on overall coastwide harvest given the limited recreational effort for scup that typically occurs between January and April. Based on this analysis and recommendations from the Monitoring Committee, the Council and Board recommended a year-round open season in federal waters for 2024-2025 to give the states greater flexibility when modifying measures to meet the 10% reduction. The Council and Board recommended no changes to the current 40 fish possession limit and 10-inch minimum size in federal waters.

2024 Black Sea Bass Recreational Measures

The Council and Board discussed the approach for recreational black sea bass management in 2024. Recreational measures for 2023 were set for a single year with the intent of setting 2024-2025 measures based on a 2023 management track assessment. However, this assessment was later delayed to 2024 to allow more time to fully develop a research track assessment.

The RDM indicates the confidence interval around the estimated 2024 harvest based on 2023 measures exceeds the 2024 RHL. Combined with the most recent estimate of biomass from the 2021 management track assessment (i.e., 210% of the target level), this would require a 10% reduction in harvest under the Percent Change Approach. However, the Percent Change Approach did not contemplate a situation where the RHL would be revised without updated stock assessment information, as was the case with the 2024 black sea bass RHL. The 2024 RHL is about 5% lower than the 2023 RHL due to three additional years of catch data in the calculations. As such, updated information is only available for one of the two factors that guide decision making under the Percent Change Approach (i.e., an updated comparison of the harvest estimate confidence interval to the RHL, but no updated biomass information). Therefore, the Council and Board agreed with the Monitoring Committee’s recommendation to leave recreational black sea bass measures unchanged in 2024. This would treat 2024 as the second year in a two-year cycle with 2023. They noted that this is the only opportunity for unchanged measures across two years for black sea bass under the Percent Change Approach given the expected timing of management track assessments and the sunset of the Percent Change Approach after 2025. Measures for 2025 and 2026 will be set based on updated stock assessment information and updated runs of the RDM.

If states wish to consider slight season adjustments under this status quo approach (e.g., to maintain a Saturday opening), those proposals must be supported by additional runs of the RDM and approved by the Board.

The Council and Board also agreed to continue the use of conservation equivalency to waive federal waters measures in favor of state waters measures. Under the status quo approach, the non-preferred coastwide measures will remain a 15-inch minimum fish size, a 5 fish possession limit, and a May 15 – September 8 open season. Under conservation equivalency, these measures are waived in favor of state measures. The precautionary default measures will remain a 16-inch minimum fish size, a 2 fish possession limit, and a June 1 – August 31 open season. These measures are only intended for states/regions which do not comply with the conservation equivalency process.

Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass and Bluefish Recreational Measures Setting Process Framework/Addenda

The Council met jointly with the ASMFC’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) to receive an update on the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Recreational Measures Setting Process Framework/Addenda. The Council and Policy Board agreed to refine the preliminary range of alternatives by modifying the Biological Reference Point Approach and Biomass Based Matrix Approach alternatives such that measures will no longer be assigned to all bins the first time either approach is used through the specifications process. Over the next several months, the Fishery Management Action Team (FMAT)/Plan Development Team (PDT) will continue to develop all alternatives under consideration, including providing greater detail on how measures would be set under the Biological Reference Point and Biomass Based Matrix Approaches.

Guidance Document for Council Review of Exempted Fishing Permit Applications for Unmanaged Forage Amendment Ecosystem Component Species

The Council reviewed and approved a Guidance Document for Council Review of Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) Applications for Unmanaged Forage Amendment Ecosystem Component (EC) Species. The document is intended to establish a standard process for Council review of EFP applications for the 50+ species listed as EC species under the Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment (Forage Amendment). Implemented in 2017, the Forage Amendment established a 1,700-pound possession limit for EC species in Mid-Atlantic Federal waters. The goal of this amendment was to prohibit the development of new and expansion of existing directed commercial fisheries for these species until the Council has had an adequate opportunity to assess the relevant scientific information and consider potential impacts. The Forage Amendment requires use of an EFP as a first step towards the Council considering allowing landings beyond the 1,700-pound possession limit. In addition to establishing a standardized process for EFP review, the guidance document is intended to communicate the Council’s priorities regarding EC species to prospective EFP applicants. The final document is available on the Council website at https://www.mafmc.org/forage.  

Spiny Dogfish 2024-2026 Specifications

After reviewing advice from its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and considering input from the public, the Council adopted spiny dogfish specifications for the 2024-2026 fishing years. The Council’s recommendations are summarized in the table below.

The Council recommended no changes to the current federal trip limit of 7,500 pounds. These specifications are expected to keep the stock slightly above its target biomass. The 2023 management track assessment concluded that the spiny dogfish stock was neither overfished nor experiencing overfishing in 2022. However, due to the stock’s reduced productivity, these relatively low future catches are needed for the stock to stay at the target. The 2024 quota is an 11% decrease compared to the 2023 quota and a 64% decrease compared to the 2022 quota. During the meeting, several fishing industry participants expressed serious concerns about the potential consequences of lower quotas.

A key debated component of setting the commercial quota was the set-aside for dead commercial discards. The Council considered several approaches and ultimately decided to set aside the same amount in 2024 as the assessment estimated in 2022, the most recent year available – about 4.7 million pounds (2,134 MT). The Council noted that there has been a downward trend in discards over the last 10 years, making the most recently estimated discard amount a reasonable proxy for near-future discards. To account for the assessment’s prediction of slight increases in biomass for 2025 and 2026, the Council voted to set aside slightly more discards in those years (about 4.8 million pounds and 4.9 million pounds respectively). There are no recreational regulations, but recreational mortality is accounted for when calculating the commercial quota.

Because the spiny dogfish fishery is managed jointly, the New England Fishery Management Council must also make recommendations for spiny dogfish specifications at its upcoming meeting in January 2024.

2024-2025 Atlantic Mackerel Specifications

After reviewing advice from the SSC and considering input from the public, the Council adopted Atlantic mackerel specifications for the 2024-2025 fishing years. The Council’s recommendations are summarized in the table below.

These specifications will replace the preliminary measures approved by the Council in August. As requested by the Council, the SSC provided two sets of ABC recommendations – one using a “varying” approach, which would set the ABC lower in 2024 and higher in 2025, and one using an “averaged” approach, which would produce an average ABC for both years. The Council ultimately selected the averaged approach, resulting in ABCs of 3,200 MT for both years. After accounting for expected Canadian catch, U.S. recreational catch, and U.S. commercial discards, the Council recommended setting the commercial quota at 868 metric tons (1.9 million pounds) for both years. Given the low quota, the commercial fishery will be limited to mostly incidental landings. To constrain catch to the very low quotas while avoiding excessive discarding, the Council recommended setting an initial trip limit of 20,000 pounds for limited access permits and 5,000 pounds for open access permits. Once 80% of the quota has been landed, trip limits would change to 10,000 pounds for limited access permits and 2,500 pounds for open access permits. No changes were recommended for the recreational sector; the impacts of recent recreational measures (a first ever 2023 bag-limit of 20 fish per person) will be evaluated in the future.

Atlantic mackerel has been under a rebuilding program since November 2019, and a revised rebuilding plan was implemented in 2023. The most recent management track stock assessment found that the stock remains overfished, with spawning stock biomass estimated to be at about 12% of the biomass target. While these measures should support rebuilding across a range of recruitments, achieving a rebuilt Atlantic mackerel stock that regularly supports optimum yield near the assessment’s target fishing rate will depend on getting more typical recruitment and increased survival of more mackerel into older age classes.

Golden Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota Program Twelve-Year Review

The Council received a presentation on the golden tilefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program review report prepared by Northern Economics, Inc. The golden tilefish fishery has operated under an IFQ program, which is a type of limited access privilege (LAPP) program, since the implementation of Amendment 1 in 2009. The 2007 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) established new requirements related to the monitoring and review of LAPP programs. In 2017, the Council conducted the first golden tilefish IFQ program review, which covered performance from fishing year (FY) 2010 to FY2015. The current review includes updated data and analyses through FY2021. This presentation marked the beginning of a 30-day public comment period which will end on January 12, 2024. Details and comment instructions are available at https://www.mafmc.org/newsfeed/2023/golden-tilefish-ifq-review.

2024 Implementation Plan

The Council reviewed and approved the 2024 Implementation Plan after making several revisions. The Council recommended removing Deliverable #9 (scup GRA framework) from the main list of deliverables and replacing it with a framework to consider moving the western boundary of the summer flounder small-mesh exemption area and to clarify the regulatory definition of a flynet, along with several associated issues (enrollment period, evaluation criteria). The Council also agreed to modify the wording of Deliverable #74 and move it from Possible Additions to the main list of deliverables. This task will involve coordinating with the New England Council to explore the utility of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) for enforcement. The approved implementation plan is available at https://www.mafmc.org/strategic-plan.

Responsible Offshore Science Alliance

The Executive Director of the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (ROSA) provided an update to the Council on ROSA’s mission and 5-year strategic goals and objectives. ROSA is a non-profit organization that advances research, monitoring, and methods on the effects of offshore wind energy development on fisheries across US federal and state waters. Key strategies include: 1) coordinating offshore wind fisheries research and monitoring, 2) facilitating assessment of regional and cumulative impacts, and 3) maintaining ROSA offshore wind project monitoring framework and guidelines.

Next Meeting

The next Council meeting will be held February 6-7, 2024, in Arlington, VA. A complete list of upcoming meetings can be found at https://www.mafmc.org/council-events.

August 2023 Council Meeting Summary

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council met August 8-11, 2023, in Annapolis, MD. Presentations, briefing materials, motions, and webinar recordings are available on the August 2023 Council Meeting page.

• Meeting Summary (pdf) (revised 11/21/23)

Highlights

During this meeting, the Council:

• Set 2024-2025 specifications for summer flounder, scup, and bluefish and 2024 specifications for black sea bass*

• Reviewed an evaluation of commercial scup discards and scup GRAs and agreed to consider the issue further in 2024*

• Reviewed progress and provided input on a framework/addenda to consider revisions to the process for setting recreational management measures for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish*

• Discussed the findings of a recent pilot study that evaluated potential sources of bias in the Marine Recreational Information Program’s Fishing Effort Survey questionnaire*

• Set preliminary Atlantic mackerel specifications for 2024-2025 and requested that NOAA Fisheries take emergency action to limit directed fishing for mackerel in 2023

• Adopted a status quo river herring and shad cap for the Atlantic mackerel fishery in 2024-2025

• Reviewed the outcomes of the recently completed East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative and provided input on next steps for near-term and potential longer-term actions

• Discussed NOAA Fisheries’ Draft Climate Governance Policy and directed staff to develop a letter based on the SSC and staff comments presented at the meeting

• Agreed to continue the suspension of the Research Set-Aside program and work with regional management partners to prioritize cooperative research and identify funding opportunities to support the Council’s research needs

• Developed comments in response to the NOAA Fisheries Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking regarding potential future changes to the guidelines for National Standards 4, 8, and 9

• Presented the MAFMC Award of Excellence to Dr. Lee Anderson

• Presented the Ricks A Savage award to Dr. Mark Terceiro

• Bid farewell to departing Council member Dewey Hemilright; swore in new Council member Robert Ruhle and reappointed members Sonny Gwin, Michelle Duval, Paul Risi, and Dan Farnham

• Elected Wes Townsend as Council Chair and Mike Luisi as Council Vice-Chair

• Received a presentation on the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program

• Reviewed comments from the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Committee on several HMS management initiatives and directed staff to submit the comments to NOAA Fisheries.

 * Items denoted with an asterisk (*) were undertaken during joint meetings with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Bluefish Management Board, Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Management Board, or ISFMP Policy Board.

Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Specifications

The Council met jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) to set specifications and commercial measures for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. The Council also met jointly with the Commission’s Bluefish Management Board to set specifications and recreational measures for bluefish. The table below summarizes commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits (RHL) for all four species (2023 values are provided for comparison purposes). The Council will forward its recommendations to NOAA Fisheries for final approval, while the Commission’s actions for state waters are final. See the sections below the table for additional details about the recommendations for each species.

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Summer Flounder 2024-2025 Specifications

The 2023 management track assessment indicated that the summer flounder stock was not overfished but overfishing was occurring in 2022. While the overfishing limit has not been exceeded in recent years, it appears the projections associated with the previous assessment were overly optimistic. The assessment has been slightly underestimating fishing mortality and overestimating stock biomass, the effect of which was compounded by adding three years of data to the assessment model (2020-2022). In addition, stock recruitment has been below average since 2011 and the high estimate of 2018 recruitment in the last assessment was revised downward to recent below-average levels with the new assessment results.

The Council and Board considered two approaches for setting the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) for summer flounder – one with varying ABCs for each year, and one with a constant ABC across 2024-2025. The Council and Board reviewed Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommendations using both approaches and ultimately selected the constant approach, resulting in an ABC of 19.32 million pounds for both years. This represents a 42% decrease compared to the 2023 ABC. Under the recently revised commercial/recreational allocations, 55% of the ABC is allocated to the commercial sector, and 45% is allocated to the recreational sector. After accounting for each sector’s expected discards, the Council and Board adopted a commercial quota of 8.79 million pounds and a RHL of 6.35 million pounds for 2024 and 2025.

The Council and Board recommended no changes to the commercial measures for 2024. These include a 14” minimum fish size, minimum mesh size (5.5” diamond or 6.0” square mesh), and mesh exemption programs. Staff and a contractor are currently working to evaluate the commercial minimum mesh size exemption programs and the commercial minimum mesh size regulations. A final report is expected in December 2023. Any potential changes adopted as a result of these evaluations would likely be effective in 2025 or later. Recreational bag, size, and season limits for upcoming years will be discussed during the December 2023 Council and Board meeting.

Scup 2024-2025 Specifications

The 2023 management track assessment found that scup was not overfished and overfishing was not occurring in 2022. For 2024, the Council and Board approved an ABC of 43.82 million pounds. This represents a 48% increase compared to the 2023 ABC. Under the recently revised commercial/recreational allocations, 65% of the ABC is allocated to the commercial sector and 35% is allocated to the recreational sector. After accounting for each sector’s expected discards, this ABC results in a commercial quota of 21.15 million pounds and an RHL of 13.18 million pounds. For 2025, the Council and Board approved an ABC of 39.74 million pounds, resulting in a commercial quota of 18.80 million pounds and an RHL of 11.84 million pounds.  The Council and Board agreed that no changes are needed to the commercial management measures, which can be modified through the specifications process. Recreational bag, size, and season limits for upcoming years will be discussed during the December 2023 Council and Board meeting.

Black Sea Bass 2024 Specifications

No updated stock assessment information is available for black sea bass this year; therefore, the SSC agreed to set the 2024 ABC equal to the 2023 ABC. The Council and Board made no changes to the annual catch limits or annual catch targets compared to 2023. They approved a 2024 commercial quota of 6.00 million pounds, a 25% increase from 2023, and a 2024 RHL of 6.27 million pounds, a 5% decrease from 2023. While these values are based on the same methodology used to set the 2023 measures, updated dead discard projections for each sector led to a change in the quota and RHL. An updated management track stock assessment is anticipated to be available in 2024 for setting 2025-2026 specifications.

The Council and Board also set a black sea bass commercial in-season closure buffer for the first time. Previously, the commercial black sea bass fishery has been required to close in-season once the coastwide quota is projected to be landed. Under changes to the regulations made through Amendment 23, which are expected to be effective on January 1, 2024, the entire commercial fishery would close in-season once landings are projected to exceed the coastwide quota plus an additional buffer of up to 5%. The intent of this buffer is to minimize negative economic impacts when coastwide quota is reached before all states have fully harvested their allocations. The Council and Board agreed to use a 5% commercial in-season closure buffer for 2024. Given recent patterns in the fishery, an in-season closure is not expected for 2024; however, the Council and Board agreed that in the unlikely event that it is needed, a 5% buffer could have some socioeconomic benefits with little risk to stock status.

The Council and Board agreed that no changes are needed to the other commercial measures which can be modified through the specifications process. Recreational bag, size, and season limits for 2024 will be discussed during the December 2023 Council and Board meeting.

Bluefish 2024-2025 Specifications

The 2023 management track assessment found that bluefish was not overfished and overfishing was not occurring in 2022. However, the stock was not fully rebuilt to the biomass target. Based on the results of this assessment, bluefish remains under the Council and Commission’s approved 7-year rebuilding plan, which began in 2022, due to the stock’s previously overfished status.

Based on the SSC’s recommendation, the Council and Bluefish Board approved an ABC of 17.48 million pounds for 2024 and 21.83 million pounds for 2025. These ABCs are about 43% and 29% lower than the 2023 ABC, respectively. Members of the Council and Bluefish Board supported the Monitoring Committee’s progress on the development of a tool to convert qualitative and quantitative sources of management uncertainty into a quantitative value. This tool is intended to help the Monitoring Committee determine whether uncertainty buffers are needed each year between the Annual Catch Limits and the Annual Catch Targets for each sector. For 2024-2025 the Council and Board agreed with the Monitoring Committee’s recommendation that no buffer for management uncertainty is needed. After accounting for each sector’s expected discards, the Council and Bluefish Board adopted a commercial quota of 2.42 million pounds in 2024 and 3.03 million pounds in 2025 and an RHL of 11.96 million pounds for 2024 and 15.70 million pounds for 2025.

The Council and Bluefish Board also reviewed recent recreational harvest trends and recommended status quo 2024 recreational management measures given that recent recreational harvest has been very close to the 2024 RHL. The status quo measures include a 5 fish bag limit for the for-hire sector and a 3 fish bag limit for private anglers. Because bluefish is still under a rebuilding plan, the percent change approach under the recreational harvest control rule was not applied. 

Scup Commercial Discards Report and Other Management Issues

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Scup GRAs (Northern and Southern) and NMFS statistical areas

The Council and Board reviewed an evaluation of commercial scup discards and the scup gear restricted areas (GRA). First implemented in 2000 and 2001, the Northern and Southern GRAs are intended to reduce scup discards in small mesh fisheries during certain times of the year. GRA regulations and boundaries have been reviewed and modified several times over the years. The following are several key findings from the report:

• Although commercial scup discards have decreased since a peak in 2017 and represent a small percentage of annual scup biomass, absolute discards in recent years remain relatively high compared to other periods since implementation of the GRAs.

• The GRAs appear to have contributed to the rebuilding of the scup stock since the early 2000s. However, given the more recent spatial patterns of scup discards, consideration of alternative measures or modifications to the GRAs may be warranted.

• Continued use of GRAs should consider changes that have high probability of reducing where discards will be rather than reacting to where they have been.

Following the report, the Council tasked the SSC with reviewing and providing feedback on the commercial discard report. The Council also asked the SSC to provide input on potential analysis or modeling approaches that could examine the predictability of scup bycatch using environmental data or any other alternative approaches to reduce scup discards. The Council agreed that the identified research as well as a related Framework action to consider GRA modifications, or other measures to further reduce scup discards, should be added to the Council’s 2024 Implementation Plan. Given the Council’s decision, the Board recommended the Commission add this topic to its 2024 Action Plan.

During this agenda item, the Council and Board also discussed a motion to initiate a framework/addendum to consider bi-directional quota transfers between the commercial and recreational sectors for the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries.  While some Council and Board members felt that the issue should be prioritized given the recent recreational overages for scup and black sea bass, others expressed concern that the public had not been given notice or an opportunity to provide comments on the potential initiation of a framework/ addendum. The Council’s Executive Director also noted that new actions generally need to be planned for during the development of each year’s annual implementation plan to ensure that staff time and resources are allocated appropriately. After a lengthy discussion, the motion ultimately failed. However, the action will likely be considered during the October 2023 Council Meeting when the Executive Committee begins development of the Council’s 2024 Implementation Plan.

Recreational Measures Setting Process Framework/Addenda

The Council and the Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) met to review progress and discuss next steps for a framework/addenda to consider revisions to the process for setting recreational management measures for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish. This is a follow-on action to the Harvest Control Rule Framework/Addenda, which implemented the Percent Change Approach for setting recreational measures. The Percent Change Approach was used for the first time to set 2023 bag, size, and season limits for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. It may be used for bluefish once that stock is no longer under a rebuilding plan. In taking final action on the previous framework/addenda, the Council and Policy Board agreed that the Percent Change Approach should sunset by the end of 2025 with the goal of implementing a longer-term process for setting recreational measures starting with the 2026 measures.

During this meeting, the Council and Policy Board agreed to change the name of this new management action from “Harvest Control Rule Framework/Addenda 2.0” to “Recreational Measures Setting Process Framework/Addenda” to better describe the scope of the action. They also provided staff with guidance on further development of alternatives within this action, including further development of options to refine the Percent Change Approach, consideration of the appropriate starting point for measures under all alternatives, and greater consideration of the fishing mortality rate resulting from the recreational fishery when setting measures. They agreed that further consideration should be given to the implications of the alternatives for management uncertainty buffers, as currently defined in the Fishery Management Plan. The Council and Policy Board supported the plans to use the Summer Flounder Management Strategy Evaluation model to assist with development of this action. They also agreed that the SSC should assist with development of this action. The Council will develop specific terms of reference for SSC involvement at a later date with input from the Policy Board.

The Council appointed two members to a new work group of Council members and Commissioners. The purpose of this work group is to serve as a liaison between the Council/Policy Board and the technical team which has been formed to assist with development of management alternatives (i.e., the Fishery Management Action Team/Plan Development Team). The Council and Policy Board also agreed that further consideration should be given to the best ways to involve recreational fishery stakeholders throughout development of this action.

Marine Recreational Information Program Pilot Study

Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) staff provided a brief update on findings of a recent pilot study that evaluated potential sources of bias in the recreational Fishing Effort Survey (FES) questionnaire for shore and private boat modes. The FES currently asks respondents to report their fishing activity over a 2-month period and then over a 12- month period. In the pilot study, conducted over the course of 6 months, the order of these questions was reversed so respondents were asked first about their fishing trips in the previous 12 months. This study found switching the sequence of questions resulted in fewer reporting errors and effort estimates that were generally 30 to 40 percent lower for shore and private boat modes than estimates produced from the current design. However, results varied by state and fishing mode. These results are based on a pilot study that had a limited time frame and geographic scope, and much more extensive work needs to be done to determine the true impacts of the survey design. MRIP is planning a larger-scale follow-up in 2024. The follow-up study will further evaluate the order of the questions, as well as asking about 1-month periods, rather than the current 2-month periods. The revised survey design will be administered alongside the current design, and then potential modifications for future surveys and calibrations for past estimates will be evaluated.

Atlantic Mackerel 2024-2025 Specifications

The 2023 management track stock assessment for Atlantic mackerel found that the stock remains overfished, with spawning stock biomass estimated to be at about 12% of the biomass target. Although the assessment found that overfishing was no longer occurring in 2022 (likely due to the low U.S. catch in 2022 and the near-total closure of the Canadian commercial fishery), the stock is not rebuilding as projected. Because the assessment is scheduled for additional peer review in September 2023, the Council agreed to set preliminary 2024-2025 specifications which will be revisited in December 2023 after the SSC considers the peer review (the Council also asked for 2024-2025 rebuilding ABCs that approximate an average of the calculated 2024-2025 ABC sequence and would still support a 61% chance to rebuild mackerel by 2032).

Based on the recommendations of the SSC, the Council adopted ABCs of 2,726 metric tons (MT) for 2024 and 3,900 MT for 2025. After accounting for expected Canadian catch, U.S. recreational catch, and U.S. commercial discards, the Council recommended setting the commercial quota at 394 MT for 2024 and 1,568 for 2025. The 2024 quota represents an 89% reduction from the already-low 2023 quota. No changes to recreational measures are currently being considered.

To constrain catch to the very low quotas while avoiding excessive discarding, the Council recommended setting an initial trip limit of 20,000 pounds for limited access permits and 1,000 pounds for open access permits. Once 80% of the quota has been landed, the limited access trip limit would be reduced to 5,000 pounds.

Projections indicate that landing the full 2023 quota will likely lead to overfishing in 2023. Given this information, the Council requested that NOAA Fisheries take emergency action to limit directed fishing for mackerel in 2023 as soon as possible via trips limits of 20,000 pounds for limited access permits and 5,000 pounds for open access/incidental permits.

Council discussion acknowledged the negative impacts on fishing communities due to the depleted status of mackerel and agreed that if any states pursue fishery disaster declarations/relief, Council staff will assist with those applications.

River Herring and Shad (RH/S)

After reviewing a staff update on river herring and shad (RH/S), the Council adopted a status-quo RH/S cap of 129 metric tons (MT) for 2024-2025 on the Atlantic mackerel fishery. While the RH/S Committee recommended an 89 MT cap to maintain incentive for the mackerel fishery to avoid RH/S, due to mackerel’s depleted status there will not be substantial directed fishing for mackerel in 2024-2025. The Council will revisit potential changes to the RH/S cap once there is sufficient quota for a substantial directed mackerel fishery. The Council will also consider exploration of modeling approach for shad and river herring bycatch avoidance approaches during 2024 priorities discussions.

Longfin Squid 2024-2026 Specifications

The Council adopted near status-quo longfin squid specifications for 2024-2026. Slightly more squid were set aside for potential discards, resulting in a commercial quota of 22,894 metric tons (approximately 51 million pounds) for these years. The Council notes that a research track stock assessment for longfin squid is beginning later this year and is scheduled to be reviewed in early 2026. A follow-up management track assessment would then be conducted and used to determine catches for 2027 and beyond.

Illex Hold Baseline Framework

The Council continues development of a framework to consider a volumetric vessel hold baseline requirement and upgrade restriction for all Illex limited access permits. A similar volumetric requirement is in place for the directed mackerel fishery, and most regional limited access programs have other baselines (horsepower and length) to control increases in fishing power/capacity. About 30 of the current 76 Illex limited access permits already have this requirement and upgrade restriction due to their mackerel limited access permits, so this action would affect the other 46 permits. The Council reviewed the draft alternatives and discussed several technical issues related to implementation of such a baseline. The Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Committee will meet before the Council takes final action later in 2023. Additional information and updates are available on the Illex Hold Baseline Framework page.

East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning

The Council reviewed the outcomes of the recently completed East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative, including two documents summarizing the main themes and potential actions that emerged through the process. These documents include a report of the East Coast Scenario Planning Summit meeting held in February 2023, as well as a Potential Action Menu that expands on, clarifies, and prioritizes the governance and management actions identified during the summit. The Potential Action Menu is intended to serve as a living document that will continue to guide collective and individual priorities for East Coast management organizations for potential actions identified through the scenario planning process.

The Council also reviewed staff recommendations for near-term and potential longer-term actions for the Mid-Atlantic Council to undertake in response to the scenario planning process. Based on the Council’s feedback, several actions will be added to the draft 2024 implementation plan for consideration by the Executive Committee in October. In addition, an East Coast Climate Coordination Group has been formed consisting of leadership from all participating East Coast management organizations. This group will be responsible for tracking progress on the scenario planning actions, estimating resources needed, and supporting coordinated implementation of actions. The group will meet this fall to identify possible collective priorities for addressing potential actions that require coordination among multiple groups.

NOAA Fisheries Climate Governance Policy

The Council discussed development of comments on a draft NOAA Fisheries procedural directive titled “Guidance on Council Authority for Preparing Fishery Management Plans for Stocks that May Extend across the Geographic Areas of more than one Council, pursuant to MSA §304(f)” (also referred to as the “Fisheries Climate Governance Policy”). The draft policy is intended to provide guidance on when and how the Secretary of Commerce will review and assign management authority over fisheries found across more than one Council jurisdiction. NOAA Fisheries has invited the regional fishery management councils to provide comments on the draft policy, with a deadline of November 17, 2023.

During this meeting, the Council discussed SSC comments and preliminary staff comments on the draft policy, both of which highlight a number of serious concerns about the policy itself and its potential implications for Mid-Atlantic fisheries and stakeholders. The following are several key points that were discussed by the Council:

• The draft policy is overly prescriptive, lacks specific objectives, and does not adequately describe the problem that it is attempting to address.

• The draft policy treats changes in Council management authority as a first course of action for addressing shifting stock distributions. Revisions of management authority could be extremely disruptive and should be exercised as a last resort when other approaches to address governance and representation concerns (such as those identified through the East Coast Climate Change Scenario Planning Initiative) have been deemed inadequate.

• The proposed process could lead to near-constant reviews for some species, creating the possibility of frequent changes in management authority.

• Some of the review criteria are potentially problematic and/or unclear in their underlying intent, rationale, and technical justification. The heavy reliance on commercial revenue and recreational fishing effort, as well as the inclusion of “certain Council actions” as a review trigger, are particularly concerning.

• The draft policy does not acknowledge the complexities of evaluating changes in stock distribution and does not explain how such analyses would utilize the best scientific information available and what kind of peer review would be conducted.

• The draft policy is poorly organized, difficult to follow, and lacks critical details needed to ensure consistent and predictable implementation of the policy.

The Council generally expressed support for the staff and SSC comments and directed staff to draft a letter for submission to NOAA Fisheries. The Council also agreed to solicit public comments on the draft policy to be submitted to NOAA Fisheries separately. Additional information and updates are available on the Council’s Climate Governance Policy page.

Research Set-Aside Program Redevelopment Update

The Council received an update on the status of the potential redevelopment of the Council’s Research Set-Aside (RSA) program. In 2014, the Council voted to suspend the RSA program due to a number of concerns associated with the program that included administrative, oversight, enforcement, and science issues. In June 2022, the Council reviewed and supported the continued development of a redesigned RSA program framework that would try to address the issues of the original program. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) and state partners would play a critical role in the dockside administration and enforcement components of a redesigned program, particularly for jointly managed species.

Given the importance of Commission and state partner cooperation, the Council requested feedback from the ASMFC regarding their interest in redeveloping the RSA program. The Commission’s Policy Board met in July and recommended the Council only consider an RSA program for those species that are not jointly managed with Commission (i.e., summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, bluefish, and spiny dogfish would not be part of an RSA program). The Policy Board suggested that this approach would address monitoring and enforcement issues, minimize the administrative burden on the states, and allow the Council to potentially continue redevelopment of an RSA program.

However, the Council noted that without the support and participation from the Commission and state partners, and with the loss of revenue generated from jointly managed species (historically accounted for 95% of all RSA revenue) to support research, implementing a successful RSA program would be extremely challenging and potentially impossible. Given these challenges, the Council agreed to continue the suspension of the RSA program and work with regional management partners to prioritize cooperative research and identify funding opportunities to support the Council’s research needs.

National Standard 4, 8, and 9 Guidelines

The Council developed comments in response to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding potential future changes to the guidelines for National Standards 4 (allocation), 8 (communities) and 9 (bycatch). It’s been 25 years since the guidelines for the National Standard 4 were last revised and 15 years for National Standard 8 and 9 guidelines. Given the amount of time since the last revisions and an increasing number of management challenges, NMFS is seeking comment on those areas that may benefit from further review and/or update with a focus on climate-related impacts, including changes in stock distribution, and equity and environmental justice (EEJ) considerations.

The Council identified a range of comments for each National Standard, but overall felt that the existing guidelines provide the Council with sufficient direction to address current management challenges, including those related to climate change, and include enough flexibility to consider future issues and priorities and, as such, should remain largely unchanged. Staff will develop a comment letter for NMFS consideration to be submitted by the comment period deadline of September 12, 2023.

Council Awards

Award of Excellence

Lee Anderson

The Council presented its Award of Excellence to Dr. Lee Anderson in recognition of his outstanding contributions to fisheries science, management, and policy in the Mid-Atlantic region. The award was established in 2016 and has only been given one other time. Dr. Anderson has been involved in the Mid-Atlantic Council process for almost the entirety of the Council’s 47-year history. He was one of three economists appointed to the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee when it was first formed in 1976. He was later appointed to the Council, holding Delaware’s obligatory seat from 1986 to 1995 and 2007 to 2016. He served for three years as Council Chair (1992-1995) and a total of ten years as Vice-Chair (1990-1992, 2008-2016). After his departure from the Council in 2016, he was reappointed to the SSC and served until early 2023.

Throughout his years on the Council and SSC, Dr. Anderson brought a wealth of knowledge that helped the Council understand and account for the economic forces that shape fisheries management decisions. His expertise and leadership were particularly instrumental in the Council’s development of an individual transferable quota program (ITQ) system for the Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries, which was the first catch share program in the United States.

In addition to his contributions to the Council, Dr. Anderson is a true pioneer in the study of the economic principles that govern fisheries management. His book, The Economics of Fisheries Management, has served as an important learning tool for fisheries economists nationally and internationally. He has written or edited six books and over sixty scientific papers on fisheries economics and the economics of fisheries management. Over the course of his career, he acted in an advisory capacity to a wide range of fishery management organizations, federal agencies, and international governments.

Ricks E Savage Award

Mark Terceiro

Dr. Mark Terceiro was presented with the Council’s Ricks E Savage award. The award is given each year to a person who has added value to the Council process and management goals through significant scientific, legislative, enforcement, or management activities. Dr. Terceiro began his career in 1986 with the Population Dynamics Branch of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. During that entire time, he has served as the lead assessment biologist for summer flounder, a species that supports economically and socially important commercial and recreational fisheries throughout the region. He also served as the lead assessment biologist for bluefish early in his career and as the lead assessment biologist for scup since the early 2000s.

Dr. Terceiro has been a member of the Council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee for much of his career, and has patiently, consistently, and effectively explained complex assessment results to Council members and the public. Dr. Terceiro captured his vast institutional knowledge of the history of science, management, and politics of this fishery in “The Summer Flounder Chronicles,” a three-part series published in 2001, 2010, and 2018 in the journal Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. He has worked tirelessly to improve the science that supports the management process, and the Council has benefitted from his long tenure with the Science Center.

Council Membership and Leadership

Departing Council Member

Dewey Hemilright (center) with Council Executive Director Chris Moore (left) and former chairman Mike Luisi (right)

The Council bid farewell to departing Council member Captain Dewey Hemilright. Capt. Hemilright is a commercial fisherman based in Wanchese, North Carolina. He was appointed to the Council in 2012 to fill a mid-term vacancy and went on to serve three additional full terms, for a total of 11 years. Capt. Hemilright participated on most of the Council’s Committee during his time on the Council, including serving for seven years as chair of the HMS Committee. He also served as liaison to the South Atlantic Council and as Council representative on the NOAA Fisheries HMS Advisory Panel. Capt. Hemilright was thanked for his dedicated service to the Council.

New and Reappointed Council Members

The Council welcomed one new Council member: Captain Robert Ruhle of Wanchese, North Carolina. Capt. Ruhle owns and operates the F/V Darana R along with his father, James Ruhle, who previously served three terms on the Mid-Atlantic Council. Robert has been fishing commercially since 1994. Over the course of his career, he has been active in numerous Mid-Atlantic and New England fisheries and has fished from Hatteras to Canada, primarily focusing on Illex squid, Longfin squid, Atlantic Mackerel, Atlantic herring, Atlantic Croaker, and Butterfish. He also participates in the Summer Flounder, Black Sea Bass, and Scup fisheries. Capt. Ruhle has served multiple terms as an advisor, and currently is an Advisor for the Mid-Atlantic Council, serving on Atlantic Mackerel/Squid/Butterfish, Summer Flounder/Scup/Black Sea Bass, River Herring/Shad, and Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Advisory Panels.

The Council also swore in four reappointed members: Sonny Gwin (Maryland, 3rd term), Michelle Duval (Pennsylvania, 2nd term), Paul Risi (New York, 2nd term), and Danny Farnham (New York, 2nd term).

Election of Officers

During the yearly election of officers, Council members elected Paul Weston (Wes) Townsend as Council Chair and Mike Luisi as Vice Chair. Mr. Townsend is currently in his third term as an appointed member holding Delaware’s obligatory seat. He is the owner/operator of the F/V PAKA out of Indian River Inlet in Delaware and has extensive experience with commercial fishing in state and federal waters. He previously served as Council Vice Chair from 2020 to 2023. Mr. Luisi has served as Maryland’s designated state official since 2010 and previously served as Council Chair from 2016 to 2023.

Other Business

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program

The Council received a presentation on funded projects and opportunities through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program. These projects focus on voluntary collaborative projects in areas that advance sustainable fisheries through data modernization and innovative technologies in fisheries data collection. NFWF is currently soliciting full proposals for the 2023 Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program with an application deadline of October 16th.

Highly Migratory Species (HMS)

Based on Council direction at the June 2023 meeting, the Council’s HMS Committee met on July 11, 2023, to discuss and develop comments in response to multiple NOAA HMS management initiatives. The Council reviewed a summary of the Committee’s discussion and recommended the comments be submitted to NOAA HMS leadership on behalf of the Council.

Next Meeting

The next Council meeting will be held October 3-5, 2023, in New York City, NY. A complete list of upcoming meetings can be found at https://www.mafmc.org/council-events.

February 2023 Council Meeting Report

Open Report

October 2022 Council Meeting Summary

Meeting Summary

August 2022 Council Meeting Summary

August 2022 Council Meeting Summary

June 7-9, 2022 Council Meeting Summary

June 2022 Council Meeting Summary

April 2022 Council Meeting Summary

April 2022 Meeting Summary

February 2022 Council Meeting Summary

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met February 8-9, 2022 via webinar. The following summary describes actions taken and issues considered during the meeting. Presentations, briefing materials, motions, and webinar recordings are available at the link below.

Reconsideration of 2022 Black Sea Bass Recreational Management Measures

In December 2021, the Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission’s) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) jointly approved a 28% reduction in coastwide black sea bass harvest compared to the 2018-2021 average. This reduction was deemed necessary to prevent exceeding the 2022 recreational harvest limit (RHL). They also jointly agreed to use the conservation equivalency process to waive federal waters measures and allow states to work together as regions to develop measures to collectively reduce harvest to prevent a 2022 RHL overage.

The Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Technical Committee (TC) met several times in January 2022 to develop an agreed upon methodology for states to use when developing regional proposals for recreational black sea bass measures. The TC considered methodologies for identifying and smoothing outlier recreational harvest estimates at the state, wave, mode, and year level for 2018-2021. As a result of this analysis, the TC recommended a modified coastwide harvest reduction target of 24% but agreed that reductions ranging from 20.7% to 26.8% could be justified based on its outlier analysis.

During this meeting, the Council and Board reviewed the TC’s recommendations and voted to modify the coastwide reduction target to 20.7%. Under the conservation equivalency process, the Council and Board also approved non-preferred coastwide measures. These measures are intended to be waived in favor of regional measures which would collectively prevent an RHL overage. The Council and Board modified the non-preferred measures to reflect the revised harvest reduction target of 20.7%. The revised non-preferred coastwide measures include a 14-inch minimum size limit, a 5 fish possession limit, and an open season of May 15-October 8. The Council and Board’s December 2021 recommendation for precautionary default measures, consisting of a 16-inch minimum size, a 3 fish possession limit, and an open season of June 24-December 31, remained unchanged. These measures are intended to be implemented in any state or region that does not put forward a proposal that can be approved by the Board through the Commission’s conservation equivalency process.

• Webinar Recording

Recreational Harvest Control Rule Framework/Addenda

The Council and the Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) met to review the range of alternatives in the Recreational Harvest Control Rule Framework/Draft Addenda. The goal of this proposed action is to establish a process for setting recreational bag, size, and season limits for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish such that measures aim to prevent overfishing, are reflective of stock status, appropriately account for uncertainty in the recreational data, take into consideration angler preferences, and provide an appropriate level of stability and predictability in changes from year to year. The alternatives under consideration include various methods to allow for greater stability in measures and more explicit consideration of stock status when setting the measures compared to the current process.

The Council and Policy Board requested that the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) provide a qualitative evaluation of the potential effect of each of the five primary alternatives in this proposed action on the SSC’s assessment and application of risk and uncertainty in determining acceptable biological catch levels. The intent is to provide the Council and Policy Board with information to consider the tradeoffs among the different alternatives with respect to the relative risk of overfishing, increasing uncertainty, fishery stability, and the likelihood of reaching or remaining at the target biomass level.

The Policy Board approved its draft addenda for public comment. Public hearings will take place through the Commission process in the coming months. Additional information on hearing dates and locations will be posted on the Council and Commission’s websites once it is available. The Council’s framework action will consider the same range of alternatives as the Commission’s addenda. The Council does not typically hold public hearings for framework actions. Therefore, the Council agreed that additional hearings beyond those planned through the Commission process are not necessary.

• Webinar Recording

Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch

Spencer Talmage (NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office) provided an update on the formation and planned activities of the Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch Working Group. Atlantic sturgeon, a slow growing and late maturing species, have been listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 2012. On May 27, 2021, NOAA Fisheries released a “batched” biological opinion which considered the effects of several fishery management plans on ESA-listed species. The Biological Opinion specifies a number of requirements necessary to minimize the impacts of any incidental take. These include a requirement that NMFS convene a working group to address Atlantic sturgeon bycatch in the Federal large mesh gillnet fisheries. The group aims to produce a review of available bycatch information relevant to federal large mesh gillnet fisheries and then use this review to develop an action plan to reduce Atlantic sturgeon bycatch in relevant fisheries by 2024. There will be opportunities for public input throughout the process. Members of the Council and public asked questions and provided feedback related to the process and information used. Some voiced concerns over the goal of Action Plan completion in May 2022, stating this may not be realistic.

• Webinar Recording

Other Business

• Financial Disclosures: John Almeida (NOAA Office of General Counsel, Northeast) provided a briefing on financial disclosure and recusal requirements.

• 2022 Meeting Topics: Executive Director, Dr. Chris Moore, provided an overview of planned meeting topics for 2022.

• SSC Appointments: The Council approved reappointment of 16 SSC members whose three-year terms will expire in March 2022.

• GSCHMA: The Council received an update on a recent leadership discussion regarding the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area.

• Offshore Wind: Staff provided updates on recent offshore wind activities. The Council briefly discussed the overlap of the draft Central Atlantic wind energy call areas and the Frank R. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Areas. In December 2021, the Council requested that these coral areas be excluded from all stages of wind energy development, including these early planning stages for the Central Atlantic.

• NTAP: The Council reviewed a list of new and reappointed members of the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel (NTAP).

• Hudson Canyon: The Council discussed a recent NOAA comment period seeking comments on whether a nomination for Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary should remain in the inventory of potential future marine sanctuaries. This area was added to the inventory in 2017 and is undergoing a five-year review process to determine whether it still meets a set of 11 criteria against which proposals for sanctuaries are evaluated. In 2017, the Council wrote a letter expressing concern about designating of a sanctuary in Hudson Canyon given the inability to guarantee that the Council would retain management authority in the area. The designation process for marine sanctuaries is separate from the nomination process, and designation has not been initiated for the Hudson Canyon area. If designation of this area were considered, the Council would provide comments during this highly participatory process that typically takes 3-5 years.

Next Meeting

The next Council meeting will be held April 5-7, 2021. This will be a hybrid meeting with options to participate virtually or in person in Galloway, New Jersey. A complete list of upcoming meetings can be found at https://www.mafmc.org/council-events.

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August 2021 Council Meeting Summary

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June 2021 Council Meeting Summary

View a PDF version of this meeting report

The following summary highlights actions taken and issues considered at the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting June 7-10, 2021. This meeting was conducted by webinar due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Presentations, briefing materials, and motions are available on the meeting page.

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During this meeting, the Council:

• Selected preferred alternatives and approved the Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment for submission to NOAA Fisheries*

• Received an update on the Recreational Reform Initiative and discussed next steps*

• Reviewed and recommended no changes to 2022 specifications for Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog

• Reviewed and recommended no changes to 2022 specifications for butterfish and longfin squid

• Recommended increasing the acceptable biological catch (ABC) for Illex squid for 2021 and 2022

• Reviewed a report on commercial landings of unmanaged species and Ecosystem Component species

• Discussed an exempted fishing permit for thread herring from Lund’s Fisheries and agreed to write a comment letter during a future comment period

• Received presentations from NOAA Fisheries staff on habitat and aquaculture activities in the Greater Atlantic region

• Received several presentations on regional offshore wind activities

• Agreed to rescind submission of the Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment to allow for reconsideration of black sea bass state allocations in coordination with the ASMFC’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board

• Agreed to write a letter to the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office and/or the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council recommending that the new socioeconomic data fields be made voluntary on for-hire trip reports

• Received an update on the development of one-stop reporting functionality in the NOAA FishOnline eVTR application and discussed the implications for dual permit holders

• Received a presentation on the Marine Recreational Information Program 2020 catch estimates and methodology used to bridge data gaps caused by COVID-19

• Reviewed plans for a series of four Research Set-Aside workshops to be held later this year

* Items denoted with an asterisk (*) were undertaken during joint meetings with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Bluefish Management Board or ISFMP Policy Board.

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Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment

The Council met jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission) Bluefish Management Board (Board) to consider final action on the Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment. After reviewing a summary of oral and written comments submitted by 378 individuals and organizations, the Council and Board selected preferred alternatives and voted to recommend approval of the Amendment. The Council will forward the Amendment to NOAA Fisheries for final consideration and implementation while the Commission will consider final approval of the Amendment at its August meeting. A summary of the preferred alternatives is provided below.

• Fishery Management Plan (FMP) Goals and Objectives. The Council and Board adopted the goals and objectives recommended by the Fishery Management Action Team.

• Commercial/Recreational Allocations: Alternative 2a-4 (86% Recreational, 14% Commercial). This alternative allocates 86% of the annual catch limit (ACL) to the recreational sector and 14% of the ACL to the commercial sector. These allocations are based on catch data from 1981-2018 and landings data from 2014-2018 and 2009-2018. The revised allocations represent a 3% increase for the recreational sector and an equivalent decrease for the commercial sector compared to the previous allocations established through Amendment 1.

• Allocation Change Phase-In: Alternative 2b-1 (No Phase In). The Council and Board considered but did not recommend an option to phase in the revised sector allocations over multiple years.

• Commercial Allocations to the States: Alternative 3a-3 (2009-2018 Landings Data), 3b-2 (Phase-In), 3c-1 (No Trigger), 3d-2 (0.1% Minimum Default Allocation). These alternatives allocate a baseline quota of 0.1% to each state and then allocate the rest of the commercial quota based on landings data from 2009 to 2018. The decision to base state commercial allocations on more recent data is intended to improve efficiency within the commercial fishery and better reflect the current distribution of the stock. The allocation changes will be phased in over 7 years to reduce short-term economic impacts to the affected commercial stakeholders. The Council and Board also committed to reviewing the approved state allocations within 5 years.

• Rebuilding Plan: Alternative 4d (7 Years). This rebuilding plan utilizes a constant fishing mortality approach and is projected to rebuild the stock within 7 years.

• Sector Transfers: Alternative 5a-2 (Bi-Directional Transfers) and 5b-2 (10% Transfer Cap). These alternatives allow for quota transfers in either direction between the commercial and recreational sectors. Previously, quota could only be transferred from the recreational sector to the commercial fishery. The transfers will now be capped at 10% of the acceptable biological catch for a given year.

• Management Uncertainty: Alternative 6b (Post-Sector Split). This alternative allows the Council and Board to apply a buffer to either sector, in the form of a quota reduction, to account for management uncertainty during specifications.

• De Minimis Provisions: Alternative 7a (Status Quo). The Board considered but did not recommend changes to the de minimis provision in the Commission’s current Bluefish FMP.

See the press release for additional details, including a table with the revised state commercial allocations. More information and background documents are available on the Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment page.

Recreational Reform Initiative

The Council met jointly with the Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan Policy Board (Policy Board) to receive an update on the Recreational Reform Initiative. The presentation covered progress made to date and plans for future development of a Harvest Control Rule approach to setting recreational bag, size, and season limits for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish. The NOAA Fisheries Regional Administrator put forward a proposal for a Harvest Control Rule alternative for further development by the Fishery Management Action Team/Plan Development Team. The Council and Policy Board agreed that this proposal warrants further development.

Surfclam and Ocean Quahog 2021 Specifications Review

The surfclam and ocean quahog (SCOQ) fisheries are approaching the second year of multi-year specifications previously set for the 2021-2026 fishing years. The Council reviewed updated catch and landings information for both stocks, as well as recommendations from staff, the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Advisory Panel (AP), and the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), and determined that no changes to 2020 measures are warranted. To maintain the current measures, the Council also voted to recommend suspending the minimum shell length for surfclams in 2022. These specifications are described in detail in the final rule published May 13, 2021.

Longfin Squid, Butterfish, and Illex Squid Specifications and Other Management Issues

The longfin squid and butterfish fisheries are approaching the second year of previously-set multi-year specifications. The Council reviewed updated catch and landings information for both stocks, as well as recommendations from staff, the Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish AP, and the SSC, and determined that no changes to previous actions are warranted. The longfin squid quota would remain the same and the butterfish quota would increase 81% for 2022 from 2021. These specifications are described in detail in a proposed rule published May 27, 2021. After reviewing similar information for Illex squid, the Council recommended increasing the acceptable biological catch (ABC) by 10%, from 30,000 MT to 33,000 MT for both 2021 and 2022 (the Illex quota would increase similarly).

The Council also considered two issues identified in the Council's response to the 2020 Executive Order on Seafood Competitiveness. First, the Council reviewed the current 10,000-pound Illex trip limit implemented once the directed Illex fishery closes. Based on a review of observer data from longfin trips after Illex fishery closures in 2017-2019, staff reported that instances of Illex catch above 10,000 pounds were relatively infrequent, and the majority of discards occurred due to market concerns rather than regulations. The Council did not recommend any changes to Illex management measures at this time. Second, the Council reviewed the appropriateness of the current 3-inch mesh requirement for retaining more than 5,000 pounds of butterfish (designed to reduce catch of small butterfish during directed fishing). Based on a review of observer data from 2017-2019 longfin trips, staff found that instances of butterfish catch above 5,000 pounds were relatively infrequent and that the majority of observed discards occurred due to market concerns. The Council did not recommend any changes to the butterfish mesh regulations. Staff will continue to monitor observer data for issues with regulatory discarding.

Unmanaged Landings

The Council reviewed a report on commercial landings from Maine through North Carolina of species that are not managed at the state or federal level, as well as commercial landings of the species designated as Ecosystem Components through the Council’s Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment. The goal of this report is to look for signs of developing commercial fisheries for unmanaged species. The Council asked questions about some landings trends but did not express concern about any increases in landings.

The Council also discussed an exempted fishing permit (EFP) application from Lund’s Fisheries. The application requests the ability to catch up to 3,000 MT (6.6 million pounds) of Atlantic thread herring in 2022. This requires an exemption from the 1,700-pound possession limit implemented through the Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment. The goal of the EFP is to demonstrate the potential for a commercial thread herring purse seine fishery in Mid-Atlantic federal waters. EFPs are issued by NOAA Fisheries. The agency publishes Federal Register notices for EFP applications, with associated comment periods. A Federal Register notice has not yet published for this application. The Council agreed to work through the Ecosystem and Ocean Planning Committee to write a comment letter on this EFP application after first getting input from the SSC.

Habitat Updates

Staff from NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) Habitat and Ecosystem Services Division (HESD) provided updates on habitat-related activities and projects of interest in the region. The first presentation from Karen Greene focused primarily on the draft NOAA Mitigation Policy for Trust Resources. The Council will be submitting a comment letter on that draft policy, which is open for comment until July 12, 2021. Ms. Greene also provided brief updates on climate and coastal resiliency projects and infrastructure and port development in the Greater Atlantic region. The second presentation from Peter Burns included updates on aquaculture projects and Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs).

Offshore Wind

The Council received several presentations on offshore wind energy development. First, Brian Hooker (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management or BOEM) provided updates on a proposed sale notice for additional offshore wind energy leases in the New York Bight as well as updates on select environmental studies. Next, Peter Burns (NOAA Fisheries GARFO) provided an update on recent activities and offshore wind data query tools. Finally, the Council received presentations from two wind developers on several projects of interest in the region. Vineyard Wind provided an update on the Vineyard Wind 1 project, including compensatory fisheries mitigation, fisheries science, and other topics. Ørsted provided an update on the South Fork Wind project, with emphasis on fisheries monitoring efforts. Ørsted also presented on the Ocean Wind project, including environmental and fisheries monitoring efforts.

The Council discussed observations from a party boat captain based in Ocean City, MD suggesting that black sea bass stop feeding or temporarily leave areas where sub-bottom profilers are used for offshore wind survey work. The Council agreed to send a letter to Mid-Atlantic wind lease holders, BOEM, and NOAA Fisheries requesting that sub-bottom profilers not be used for survey work during September 15 through November 15 this year to avoid impacts on important recreational fisheries in the region. This is a time of year when the recreational black sea bass season is open but recreational fisheries for other important species are closed.

Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocations

The Executive Director of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) briefed the Council on a recent decision by the Commission’s Policy Board’s to remand the black sea bass commercial state allocations to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Management Board) for corrective action. The Council discussed the implications of this decision and agreed to revisit these allocations jointly with the Management Board.

As background, in December 2020 and February 2021 the Council and Management Board jointly approved several changes to the management program for black sea bass commercial fisheries through the Council’s Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment and the Commission’s Addendum XXXIII. These changes included modifying the state allocations of the commercial black sea bass quota, adding the state allocations to the Council’s FMP, and modifying the federal in-season closure regulations. Under the allocation changes approved in February 2021, Connecticut’s baseline allocation would increase from 1% to 3% of the coastwide quota to address its disproportionally low allocation compared to the increased availability of black sea bass in state waters. In March 2021, the State of New York appealed these allocation changes, arguing that New York’s baseline quota should increase similarly to that of Connecticut as it had also experienced a significant disparity between allocation and abundance/availability of black sea bass in Long Island Sound. The Commission’s Policy Board considered this appeal in May 2021 and found that it was justified. They remanded the specific section of Addendum XXXIII addressing baseline allocations back to the Management Board for corrective action to address impacts to New York’s baseline allocation in a manner comparable to the consideration given to Connecticut. A detailed summary of this action is available in the ASMFC Spring 2021 Meeting Summary (beginning on p. 13).

If the Council and Commission do not maintain identical recommendations for these allocations, this will pose challenges for implementation at the federal level and may result in disapproval of portions of the Council’s amendment by the Secretary of Commerce. For this reason, the Council agreed to rescind submission of the amendment to NOAA Fisheries for review and to revisit these allocations in coordination with the Management Board later this year. Based on the remand, only the base allocations will be reconsidered. Other actions taken through the Black Sea Bass Commercial State Allocation Amendment/Addendum XXXIII will not be revised.

Electronic Reporting Issues

South Atlantic For-Hire Electronic Reporting Requirements

The Council discussed concerns about new for-hire electronic reporting requirements in the Southeast region. Last year the Southeast Regional Office (SERO) implemented the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (SAFMC) For-hire Reporting Amendment, which requires weekly electronic reporting for all South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper, Atlantic Coastal Migratory Pelagics, and Atlantic Dolphin Wahoo Charter/Headboat permit holders. This action affects a portion of GARFO for-hire permit holders who also hold Southeast charter/headboat permits. In addition to changing the timing and mechanism of reporting, this action added a new requirement to report socioeconomic data from each trip, including trip fee, fuel used, and the price of fuel. The Council has received a number of complaints about these socioeconomic questions. Specific concerns include the increased reporting burden, the lack of clarity in the utility of these questions, lack of buy in, and the probability of inaccurate data if a for-hire captain does not readily know the amount of fuel used or the price of fuel. Given the impact of these requirements on some Mid-Atlantic for-hire operators with dual permits, the Council agreed to send a letter to SERO and/or SAFMC recommending that the socioeconomic data fields be made optional.

GARFO Update on eVTR and One-Stop-Reporting

GARFO Regional Administrator Michael Pentony provided an update on the development of one-stop reporting functionality in the NOAA FishOnline eVTR application. Beginning on November 10, 2021, all commercial vessels with federal permits for species managed by the Mid-Atlantic or New England Council will be required to submit vessel trip reports electronically as eVTRs within 48 hours of the end of a trip. Vessel operators will be able to choose between several NOAA Fisheries-approved eVTR applications. GARFO has previously indicated that the FishOnline application would be ready to support one-stop reporting for dual permitted vessels (those holding both a GARFO permit and a SERO and/or HMS permit) by the time commercial eVTR requirements are implemented. During the meeting, Mr. Pentony informed the Council that development of one-stop reporting through FishOnline is behind schedule and will not be available until mid-2022. This will have the most direct impact on the 41 dual permit holders currently using FishOnline who may have been expecting one-stop reporting to be available later this year. The majority of the remaining dual permit holders are either using ACCSP’s eTrips application, which already offers one-stop reporting, or they are using paper VTRs and can select eTrips when they transition to electronic reporting. In the upcoming months the Council will work with GARFO to conduct outreach and training on eVTR applications and reporting requirements. Dual permit holders will be encouraged to choose eTrips if they wish to use one-stop reporting.

Other Business

Presentation: MRIP 2020 Estimates

Dr. Richard Cody (NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology) gave a presentation on the recently-released 2020 MRIP catch estimates and the methodology used to bridge the data gaps in 2020 caused by COVID-19. The presentation can be viewed here.

Research Set-Aside

The Council received an update on four upcoming workshops (3 webinars and 1 in person) which will explore potential redevelopment of the Research Set-Aside (RSA) program. The first workshop will be held on July 15 and will focus on research. The funding and enforcement workshop webinar meetings are scheduled for August 31 and October 14, respectively. Finally, an in-person workshop will be held in November (location and specific date TBD) to summarize and report the recommendations of the series of workshops.

Next Meeting

The next Council meeting will be held Monday, August 9 – Thursday, August 12, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The meeting will be conducted using a hybrid format, with some in-person components as well as continued virtual meeting access. Stay tuned for additional details about how to participate on our website and via our email list.

February 2021 Council Meeting Summary

The Council met by webinar February 10-11, 2021. Click here to view a summary from the meeting.

October 2020 Council Meeting Summary

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August 2020 Council Meeting Summary

August 2020 Meeting Summary