The following is the text of a news release issued by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

States from Massachusetts through Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog. The dates, times and locations of the scheduled meetings follow:

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
November 28, 2006: 6:00 PM
Radisson Hotel
180 Water Street
Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts
Contact: Melanie Griffin at (617) 626-1528

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
November 29, 2006; 6:00 PM
Narragansett Town Hall
Second Floor Conference Room
25 Fifth Avenue
Narragansett, Rhode Island
Contact: Jason McNamee at (410) 423-1943

Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
November 30, 2006; 7:00 PM
Marine Headquarters Boating Education Center
333 Ferry Rd
Old Lyme, Connecticut
Contact: Dave Simpson at (860) 434-6043

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
December 6, 2006; 7:00 PM
Bureau of Marine Resources Headquarters
205 North Belle Mead Road
East Setauket, New York
Contact: Steve Heins at (631) 444-0436

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
December 7, 2006; 7:00-10:00 PM
Ocean County Administration Building
Public Hearing Room #119
101 Hooper Avenue
Toms River, New Jersey
Contact: Peter Himchak at (609) 748-2020

Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control
November 27, 2006; 7:00-9:00 PM
University of Delaware College of Marine Studies
Cannon Laboratory, Pilottown Road
Lewes, Delaware
Contact: Roy Miller at (302) 739-9914

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
***Hearing to be conducted jointly with Delaware; see above listing for
more details
Contact: Howard King at (410) 260-8281

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
December 4, 2006; 6:00 PM
Virginia Marine Resources Commission
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia
Contact: Jack Travelstead at (757) 247-2247

The Draft Addendum proposes a definition for target and threshold spawning stock biomass (SSB), and a new fishing mortality rate to achieve stock rebuilding. The Addendum was developed in response to the findings and recommendations of the 2006 peer-reviewed stock assessment, as well as those of the recently updated virtual population analysis (VPA). The
assessment indicates that the tautog resource remains at low biomass levels. Since the mid-1980s, tautog has undergone a substantial decrease in total and spawning stock biomass. Both indicators are currently at levels about one-third as high as their early time series average. Based on the current fishing mortality target (F = 0.30) and the recent fishing mortality estimates for the last two years, overfishing is not occurring.

In addition to defining a coastwide biomass target, the Draft Addendum proposes allowing individual states or groups of states to determine their own fishing mortality rates and SSB reference points more appropriate for their geographic region than the coastwide assessment. These regional reference points would require Technical Committee review and management Board approval before they could be implemented at the state or regional level.

The Board will meet in late January to review public comment on the Draft Addendum and consider its final approval. Copies of the Draft Addendum can be obtained by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400 or via the Commission's website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM on January 16, 2007 and should be forwarded to Christopher Vonderweidt, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, 1444 'Eye' Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 289-6051 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line:Tautog). For more information,
please contact Christopher Vonderweidt at cvonderweidt@asmfc.org or (202) 289-6400.