NOAA Fisheries Service proposes to implement a temporary emergency action on May 1, 2006, to immediately reduce fishing mortality on specific groundfish stocks until such time as more permanent management measures can be implemented by the New England Fishery Management Council. NOAA Fisheries Service has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register, which describes the changes.
Proposed Groundfish Measures
This emergency action proposes the following measures to reduce fishing mortality on several groundfish stocks from both the commercial and recreational sectors:
• Differential days-at-sea (DAS) counting for Category A DAS used in all areas (1.4 DAS charged for each day fished)
• A reduction of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod trip limit to 600 lb/DAS, up to 4,000 lb/trip
• A reduction of the Cape Cod (CC)/GOM and Southern New England (SNE)/Mid-Atlantic (MA) yellowtail flounder trip limit, as follows:
• 500 lb per DAS, up to 2,000 lb per trip during July, August, September, December, January, February, March, and April
• 250 lb per trip during May, June, October, and November
• A GB yellowtail flounder trip limit of 10,000 lb/trip
• A delayed start date of August 1 for the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock Special Access Program (SAP)
• A provision to allow vessels to fish inside and outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on the same trip
• A modified Regular B DAS Program, restricted to the U.S./Canada Management Area
• The continuation of the DAS Leasing Program
• GOM cod prohibition for party/charter and private recreational vessels from November 1 – March 31
• An increase in the size limit for GOM cod to 24 inches for party/charter and private recreational vessels
Currently, Category C and D monkfish vessels that have a NE multispecis DAS available must use a NE multispecies DAS when fishing on a monkfish DAS. To address a concern that Category C and D monkfish vessels have been targeting monkfish when fishing under a Regular B DAS under the Regular B DAS Program, the following measures are proposed. In addition, a measure is proposed to address the calculation of available monkfish-only DAS, as follows:
• A prohibition on the use of Regular B DAS while on a monkfish DAS for limited access Category C, D, G, and H monkfish vessels
• Monkfish possession limits for limited access Category C, D, G, and H monkfish vessels fishing in the Regular B DAS Program under a NE multispecies DAS
• A revised method of calculating available monkfish-only DAS for Category C, D, G, and H monkfish vessels based on the reduction of available Category A NE multispecies DAS under this emergency action.
