Copied from an email. Please attend if you can.


Good Morning,

There will be another meeting regarding the regulations regarding cod and haddock on Friday February 10th from 1200-1600 in Portsmouth NH.#^& I have received information that there will be a RECREATIONAL ADVISORY PANEL MEETING AT 0900 prior to the meeting and it is open to the public.#^& We need to pass this on to all members because this is the meeting they RAP will take input from charter boats and recreational anglers.#^& There are rumors of additional closed seasonal closures, reduced bag limits and even#^&#^&reducing the haddock limit even further so we do not kill cod.#^& Please make this meeting and pass this on to anyone who fishes.#^& This is most likely the most critical of the four meetings which we have had representation at.
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Respectfully,

Capt Dave Waldrip
RELENTLESS
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NOAA Fisheries Service and the New England Fishery Management Council will be holding a second meeting to discuss commercial and recreational fishery management alternatives for Gulf of Maine cod at the Portsmouth Harbor Events and Conference Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on February 10, 2012 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
On February 1, the Council recommended that NOAA Fisheries implement interim management measures in 2012 for Gulf of Maine cod to address changes in the stock status to overfished and overfishing is occurring as determined by the 2011 peer-reviewed stock assessment. The Council recommended a range of catch levels for NOAA Fisheries to consider as part of the interim action including a reduction in the total allowable catch for both commercial and recreational fishermen and a possible commercial and recreational management measures for 2012, including opening of some closed areas to commercial vessels and a reduction in the bag limits and changes in size limits for the recreational fishery.
We want to provide another opportunity for commercial and recreational fishermen and others to provide input to help inform what management measures we ultimately adopt for the 2012 fishing year.
The Portsmouth Harbor Events and Conference Center is located at 100 Deer Street at Portwalk Place in Portsmouth, NH. Parking is located directly across from the conference center, and costs 75 cents per hour.
If you are unable to attend, the meeting will be recorded and may be available for download from the Gulf of Maine Cod webpage at NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Office - Sustainable Fisheries Division - (http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/hotnews/gomcod/).
Directions to Portsmouth Harbor Events & Conference Center
North: I-95 north to Exit 7; at the base of the exit, turn right on Market Street,
and proceed through traffic light. Turn right on Deer Street and continue to 100
Deer Street, Portwalk Place. Conference Center is connected to the Residence
Inn Downtown Portsmouth Waterfront.
South: I-95 South to Exit 7 in New Hampshire. at base of exit turn left on
Market Street and proceed through traffic light. Turn right on Deer Street and
continue to 100 Deer Street, Portwalk Place. Conference Center is connected to
the Residence Inn Downtown Portsmouth Waterfront

I'll be there

I listened in via phone, and based on the RAP meeting it looks like 2012 may not be as bad as we had feared. 2013 is an entirely different story.

the thing that will screw us in 2013 is the cod as bycatch - so they will end up trying to limit all groundfishing

I listened to the whole thing and talked to a number of people afterward. Its looks like 2012 will either be 9 fish >19 inches or 10 fish with an additional closed day or two at the beginning of the season. 2013 nobody has any clue as to what NMFS will do.