Mass Marine Fisheries - new regs - River HERRING moratorium

[JohnR]

MASSACHUSETTS MARINE FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMISSION
APPROVES NEW REGULATIONS –
December Cod Conservation Zone & Moratorium on River Herring Fishery

At a November 9, 2005business meeting, the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MFAC) approved several Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) proposals including a two-year seasonal cod prohibition in a portion of Massachusetts Bay and a three-year moratorium on the harvest, possession, and sale of river herring. Other approved actions impact rules governing dealer reporting, fish pot escape vent sizes, Outer Cape Cod lobster trap haul-out period, ban on the use of floating groundline, winter-period commercial summer flounder (fluke) trip limits, procedures to amend commercial scup trip limits, tautog possession limits, billfish regulations, and procedures to close shellfish areas due to biotoxins. Details on each of approved regulatory changes are provided below.

(specific to river herring)
2) Three-YearRiver Herring Moratorium on Harvest, Possession, & Sale (322 CMR 6.17):
In response to recent drastic declines of many river herring spawning runs, the harvest, possession or sale of river herring in the Commonwealth or in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth by any person is prohibited through 2008. To accommodate the bait harvesting fisheries, the MFAC approved a slight tolerance (up to 5%, by count, of a batch of fish may be comprised of river herring species).
(the full text below)

MASSACHUSETTS MARINE FISHERIES ADVISORY COMMISSION
APPROVES NEW REGULATIONS –
December Cod Conservation Zone & Moratorium on River Herring Fishery
At a November 9, 2005business meeting, the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission (MFAC) approved several Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) proposals including a two-year seasonal cod prohibition in a portion of Massachusetts Bay and a three-year moratorium on the harvest, possession, and sale of river herring. Other approved actions impact rules governing dealer reporting, fish pot escape vent sizes, Outer Cape Cod lobster trap haul-out period, ban on the use of floating groundline, winter-period commercial summer flounder (fluke) trip limits, procedures to amend commercial scup trip limits, tautog possession limits, billfish regulations, and procedures to close shellfish areas due to biotoxins. Details on each of approved regulatory changes are provided below.

No action was taken on the public petition to eliminate the commercial lobster Area 1/Outer Cape overlap zone. Additionally, the MFAC voted to delay action pending further discussion on the MarineFisheries proposal to require all fish pot permit holders be owner/operators and the proposal to allocate eligible SCUBA divers in the Outer Cape lobster fishery an Individual Trap Allocation commensurate with fishing history.

Regulatory Actions Approved by MFAC:
1) Mass. Bay Cod Conservation Zone Established during December – January 15 for two years (322 CMR 8.15):

Cod Conservation Zone To protect predictable aggregations of cod, a portion of Mass. Bay has been designated a Cod Conservation Zone. The harvest of cod by any person from waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth north of latitude 42º 20’and south of 42º 30’ latitude will be prohibited during the period December 1 through January 15. With the exception of lobster traps and drags for scallops and sea urchins, it will also be unlawful for any person to fish, set, or abandon any gear capable of harvesting cod in this Cod Conservation Zone during the restricted season. This prohibition shall apply to all gillnets, otter trawls, mid-water trawls, seines, and all hook-and-line gears including longlines, rod-and-reel, and handlines. This seasonal prohibition shall remain in effect through January 16, 2007.


2) Three-YearRiver Herring Moratorium on Harvest, Possession, & Sale (322 CMR 6.17):
In response to recent drastic declines of many river herring spawning runs, the harvest, possession or sale of river herring in the Commonwealth or in the waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth by any person is prohibited through 2008. To accommodate the bait harvesting fisheries, the MFAC approved a slight tolerance (up to 5%, by count, of a batch of fish may be comprised of river herring species).

3) Dealer Reporting Requirements (322 CMR 6.20 & 7.07):
To accommodate seafood dealers accepting fish at ports distant from their processing facilities, the dealer reporting requirements were amended to relax the requirement that fish be weighed upon landing. Although weighing of fish will still be encouraged, dealer reporting requirements will mandate that dealers label and record the number of containers of fish purchased. Effective January 1, 2006, all labels and records must include the number of containers per species, date, time, fishermen's name, and fishermen’s DMF ID number.

4) Fish Pot Escape Vent Specifications (322 CMR 6.12):
In compliance with the Interstate plan, the MFAC approved the following specifications for all fish pots fished in waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth:
i. at least two escape vents in the parlor section of the pot; and
ii. an increase in the minimum size of circular escape vents for pots used to harvest black sea bass from 2 3/8” to 2 1/2” (pots used in the scup fishery would retain the status quo 3.1” circular escape vent minimum size).
These measures will not go into effect until the next fishing year on January 1, 2007.

5) Outer Cape Lobster Trap Haul-out Period (322 CMR 6.02):
Beginning in 2006, fishing for lobster with traps is prohibited in the Outer Cape LCMA from January 15th through March 15th. Fishermen are required to remove all lobster traps from waters of the Outer Cape LCMA as defined in 322 CMR 6.33 during this closed period. This measure is a part of the effort control plan for the Outer Cape lobster fishery approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

6) Prohibition on the Use of Floating Groundline (322 CMR 12.00):
Effective next fishing year on January 1, 2007, it shall be unlawful for any person to fish, store, or abandon any fixed fishing gear in waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth with positively buoyant groundline (lines connecting traps in a string). Any recreational or commercial fishermen using fixed gear will be required to use neutrally or negatively buoyant groundline Neutrally and negatively buoyant groundline is defined as line that has a specific gravity greater than that of seawater, 1.03, and does not float up in the water column.

7) Commercial Summer Flounder (Fluke) Trip Limits (322 CMR 6.22)
The MFAC approved sub-dividing the winter-period fluke quota to better manage harvest within
the 70/30 summer/winter quota split. Effective January 1, 2006, the following are the approved periods and their associated possession limits:
i. Winter I period(January 1 - April 22) would begin at a 2,500 lb daily trip limit and reduce to a 100-lb. trip limit when 10% or more of the annual quota has been reached. This is the current trip limit and trigger for the current January – April “winter” period.
ii. Summer period(April 23 - October 31) would be essentially unchanged and begin during the squid season (April 23rd through June 9th) at a 100-lb daily trip limit then increase on June 10th to a 300 (nets)/200 (hooks) lb. daily trip limit. When the summer period landings reaches 70% of the annual quota, the fishery would be closed until November 1.
iii. Winter II period (November 1 - December 31) would begin on November 1st designed to consume the balance of the quota. Daily trip limit will be 2,000 lb. until 100% of the annual quota is reached at which point the landing and possession of fluke would be prohibited.
8) Declaration of Commercial Scup Specifications during the Winter I & II Periods (322 CMR 6.28):
To allow for more efficient and timely trip limit changes in line with ASMFC/Federal approved rules, the MFAC approved the use of a declaratory process to set rules governing the manner and times of taking scup, the legal size limits, and the numbers and/or quantities of scup to be taken during the Winter I (January – April) and Winter II (November – December) commercial scup fishery periods. Prior to implementing annual specifications, MarineFisheries will hold a two-week comment period. Notices of final annual specifications will be provided in the Massachusetts Register, local newspaper, MarineFisheries email Listserv and posted on the MarineFisheries website (www.mass.gov/marinefisheries).MarineFisheries will begin utilizing the declaratory process to set annual specifications on January 1, 2006.

9) Commercial and Recreational Tautog Possession Limits (322 CMR 8.06):
Effective January, 1, 2006, the MFAC approved clarifying the commercial and recreational possession limits for Tautog by establishing both the 40-fish commercial possession limit and 3-fish recreational limit as possession limits per 24-hour day.

10) Repeal of State Billfish Rules (322 CMR 6.11):
Effective January 1, 2006, all rules governing the harvest of billfish in state waters will be repealed. These state rules had been implemented at a time when there were no federal rules. However, federal rules are now in existence and effectively manage the primarily federal waters fisheries. Although the harvest of billfish in state waters is uncommon, federal rules will apply for all fishing activity in state and federal waters. Consult the National Marine Fisheries Service for permitting and reporting requirements (www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms).

11) Shellfish Harvest & Landing Restrictions Due to Marine Biotoxins (322 CMR 6.11)
This action allows MarineFisheries to restrict shellfish harvest and landings from all waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth as necessitated by the presence of marine biotoxins. In addition to closures enacted within waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, the Director may restrict the taking of certain shellfish species and the landing of those products by any vessel registered under the laws of the Commonwealth from areas determined to contain levels of toxic phytoplankton, including waters within the Exclusive Economic Zone, that may place the public health at risk from consumption of shellfish products. This action shall take effect on January 1, 2006.

The recent red-tide event in Massachusetts affected the Commonwealth on an unprecedented scale. In the past red-tide has primarily been limited to near-shore waters where the Commonwealth can act in conjunction with local officials to restrict harvest and landing of shellfish due to the presence of marine biotoxins as needed. The spread of red-tide offshore beyond town waters necessitated emergency action to enable MarineFisheries to fully restrict shellfish landings and harvest to protect public health.

For further information please visit our website at www.mass.gov/marinefisheries.

[JeffH]

That makes CT and Mass with a herring ban, where does RI stand..........

[whiplash]

Finally one for the good guys!!!

[Back Beach]

Free to a good home:

1 custom laundry basket complete with lid, rope, and rusty hinges...

[CANAL RAT]

thats ok i get by just fine with big herring color dannys,pikies and fin-s-fish on jig heads

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by JeffH

That makes CT and Mass with a herring ban, where does RI stand..........

Hopefully folowing suit with Mass & CT. The herring numbers are too low in RI as well.

I've had some discussions with people at RI DEM and the recurring theme is that there is a large offshore mortality - what that is they don't know or won't say. My fear is that even if we go through a cycle of closures for a few years, what good will it do with that offshore mortality....

[striperman36]

One word ---- BYCATCH = offshore mortality

It's a small mesh fishery right?

[tattoobob]

I am all for the ban, I do think the high water and storms in the spring had a lot to due with the low counts. I am also glad it is a total ban and just not the recs. this should be good for both fisheries

[Mr. Sandman]

I hope this sheds some light on the their ability to manage a fishery.... under their management, things got so bad they had to shut it down altogether. This is not good science or good management. It is a group of commercially biased greedy fools trying to extract the most they can based on bad numbers. And it is never "their" fault...they are always acting on "other peoples" advice. Forget this approach, fire everyone and start anew with a different (More Conservative) philosophy that focuses on the fish, not the maximum yeild.

IMO it is not a few fishermen taking 10 or 12 herring 2X per week at a run that is decimating the population (considering a single cormorant can eat more then that itself), but regardless, we recs will take it up the butt and stop taking the fish so that the commercial harvest can be re-established.

The next couple years could be tough for bait fishermen...no herring, no scup no eels...do bass eat spiny dogfish?

Actually, what bothers me the most is not the herring ban but the social aspect of hanging out at the run. Where else can I go at 5:00am in April? I get to see a lot of fishing friends I have not seen all winter. This is the first fishing related thing I do each year, now what? This herring ban could cause some serious social problems, as it will probably drive us to the bars now

[tattoobob]

the bycatch is some thing that can't be stopped unless they stop netting all together

[capesams]

always cutting the thoat's of the land based crowd..full steam ahead for the offshore guy's..thing's will never change untill the money donations from the corperations that own these large boats to your rep's are cut off.

if the owner of these boats had to be behind the wheel in order to go out, 2/3's of them would never leave the dock's.THAT would bring the fish back.

[Nebe]

its a good thing there are no herring runs in RI

[PNG]

This means NOTHING until the Federalies get onboard

[MakoMike]

IMHO is about time. Now RI should do the same.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Nebe

its a good thing there are no herring runs in RI

Yeh, and just wait until some of the mass and ct guys, jonesing for livelining, come down to the already depressed herring runs in RI.

Has anyone seen anything close to a comprehensive report on the herring situation? Inshore and offshore? We hear fragmented bits and pieces of here and there but little or big picture (not that I expect the big picture to be correct)...

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Yeh, and just wait until some of the mass and ct guys, jonesing for livelining, come down to the already depressed herring runs in RI.

But John, isn't it a moot point since even simple possession of river herring in Mass waters is not going to be allowed? I suppose that some Mass guys might simply fish RI, but I know that myself and the guys that I (boat) fish with, wouldn't. We don't trailer our boats, and it's unlikely that we would bother to steam all the way to RI and have to learn new bottom. Plus, we would still have to transport them to/from Mass which will be illegal. I, for one, would not be willing to take the chance.
Am I way off base here?

[JohnR]

Not off base at all. Some, a few, will come to RI and get the herring into Mass or CT, some will come to RI to fish. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all,most, or even half of the CT & Mass guys will be invading RI, and that is not the impression I'm trying to make. My point is that RI likely has as much of a herring problem as Mass or CT. My hope is that RI herring get's closed (with defined triggers to reopen) and my fear is that even if that happens, it still does not address the "offshore mortality" that is happening with these fish....

RI had some odd rules in the recent past which allowed excessive take from a few runs when done downstream of the saltwater demarcation point which I saw with my own eyes had people taking thousands of fish at amounts and on days that were illegal on the freshwater side. Guys taking litterally several hundreds of fish in an afternoon because they were not in the "freshwater" portion of a run. Fortunately, that was addressed last year.

But, there were times when I saw Mass guys taking advanatage of those older rules and filling up with herring. Not picking on Mass guys as a whole (remember I am/was one), just an observation. And it was not illegal at the time. In talking to people pretty active in the herring situation, they say they have seen out of state plates going to runs late at night on "off' nights getting herring.

Originally Posted by MoroneSaxatilis

But John, isn't it a moot point since even simple possession of river herring in Mass waters is not going to be allowed? I suppose that some Mass guys might simply fish RI, but I know that myself and the guys that I (boat) fish with, wouldn't. We don't trailer our boats, and it's unlikely that we would bother to steam all the way to RI and have to learn new bottom. Plus, we would still have to transport them to/from Mass which will be illegal. I, for one, would not be willing to take the chance.
Am I way off base here?

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Originally Posted by JohnR

...they say they have seen out of state plates going to runs late at night on "off' nights getting herring.

Point taken. And these sorts of people would probably be willing to take the risk of illegally possessing herring in Mass as well.

[JohnR]

It's been known to be a little addictive...

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Bass Candy

[Canalman]

THANK GOD!!!
Someone finally saw the light... now hopefully they'll be good about enforcing it. Ya don't need herring to catch fish anyway

-Dave

[fishaholic18]

They better put a moratorium on them in Rhody or we'll need one of these at the runs.

[slapshot]

Importing live herring for personal use into CT requires a permit issued by the CTDEP. I don't know what the fee is, but the permit is only good for a few days. I think most guys in CT think thats too complicated. Of course some bad apples just skip the permit and do as they please.

[MoroneSaxatilis]

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily...5/a01lo900.htm

[MakoMike]

Different herring

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Originally Posted by MakoMike

Different herring

I'm well aware that the article speaks to Atlantic herring and not river herring, however, I found the following passages to be of interest:

"Mid-water trawlers, which use highly efficient gear, have been accused of depleting inshore stocks of herring, which serve as an important food source for groundfish and tuna, as well as whales and other marine mammals.
The trawlers work in pairs to trap schools of herring by towing a large net between two vessels. The nets trap and kill marine mammals as well as scoop cod, haddock and other non-targeted fish or bycatch, environmentalists said.
The CHOIR coalition -- an unlikely alliance of environmental groups and commercial and recreational fishermen -- has fought to restrict mid-water trawlers from fishing along the southern coast of Maine during summer months. The group contends that vessels using purse seine nets -- circular nets that are closed off by drawstrings -- have less bycatch and are better for the marine environment"