Even though the recent haddock assessment shows we are swimming in haddock NMFS has decided not to issue an emergency action to change the Sept 1 closure.
This is John Bullards letter respone to Capt Dave of Relentess Charters
I have received many emails, letters and phone calls similar to your’s requesting that we modify the Gulf of Maine (GOM) haddock catch limit for FY 2014 and allow an in-season adjustment to the GOM haddock recreational catch limits to prevent the scheduled September 1 start to the recreational closed season.
At the June Council meeting, the Council voted to request that we modify the Gulf of Maine haddock fishing year 2014 catch limits if the stock assessment indicated the stock could support higher catches. I assure you that we are taking this request very seriously and are carefully considering the results of the stock assessment final report, issued on August 21, 2014 (
http://nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/c...1407/parta.pdf).
As my August 27 letter to Tom Nies summarizes, while the Gulf of Maine haddock stock assessment did conclude that stock health had improved, we believe additional assessment findings do not support an emergency action to allow additional haddock recreational fishing this fall. The stock assessment revised the proportion of discarded haddock that are presumed to die after being discarded, changing this "discard mortality" value from zero to 50 percent. Preliminary catch information from May and June indicate strong haddock catches, including a substantial increase in haddock discards. Assuming recreational landings remained high through the summer, and applying the 50% discard mortality rate, analysis of projected catch leads us to believe that the recreational fishery could exceed even a substantially higher haddock recreational catch allocation under the current minimum size, per angler possession limits, and fishing seasons. Additionally, knowing that GOM cod are taken in recreational haddock fisheries, we are hesitant to relax recreational fishing measures prior to learning the results of the peer review of the the recent GOM cod stock assessment.
Based on these findings, at this time we cannot support a change to the recreational management measures, including the September 1 closed season start date. We are still analyzing a potential increase in haddock catch limits, including for the recreational fishery. However, as previously stated, the current haddock recreational management measures are expected to produce total mortality (catch and dead discards) that would be reached even under an increased catch limit.
The Council, my staff, and I continue to look for opportunities to make more abundant fish stocks available to fishermen while catch limits are kept low on key stocks that are not rebuilding quickly. However we cannot relax measures necessary to allow rebuilding to continue on those stocks that appear to be recovering. We realize that both commercial and recreational northeast groundfish fishermen and associated businesses are facing tough economic times due to low catch limits for many key stocks, including cod and haddock. As you may know, state directors and I reserved 33 percent of the northeast groundfish disaster funds to address varied needs of fishing communities within each state. I encourage you to contact your state to ensure you’re your needs are considered as the states develop plans to distribute these funds. State specific contact information can be found on our website, at:
https://www.nero.noaa.gov/stories/20...to_states.html
As noted above, and in my letter to Tom Nies (which he provided), we will continue to assess GOM haddock stocks to determine whether any changes to GOM haddock recreational management measures are warranted.
Sincerely,
John
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