New England Council Approves Groundfish Framework 58

Commercial fishermen will be allowed to catch slightly more cod sand haddock off New England in 2019. The NEFMC approved new catch limits for several species with the largest increase being almost 20% for Georges Bank haddock. While Georges Bank cod will be up about 30% to 3.4 million pounds, it remains low by historic landings.

During its September meeting in Plymouth, MA, the Council endorsed the above 2019 TACs for three shared U.S./Canada stocks on Georges Bank. These catch limits are part of Framework 58. Details about the TACs can be found at U.S./Canada TACs.

The NEFMC published the following on Framework 58 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. The target implementation date is May 1, which is the start of the 2019 groundfish fishing year. In short, the framework includes the following components:

• Revised and/or new rebuilding programs for several groundfish stocks, including: (a) Georges Bank winter flounder; (b) Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder; (c) witch flounder; (d) Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Northern windowpane flounder; and (e) ocean pout;

• Revised annual catch limit specifications (see tables at right and next page);

• 2019 U.S./Canada total allowable catches (TACs) for three shared groundfish stocks on Georges Bank;

• An exemption for vessels fishing in Northwest AtlanticFisheries Organization (NAFO) waters from U.S. commercial minimum sizes in the Council’s Northeast Multispecies FMP; and

• An extension of the temporary change that’s currently in place for the scallop fishery’s trigger for Georges Bank yellowtail flounder accountability measures (AMs). Under this extension, the scallop fishery’s AM would be triggered only if scallopers exceed both their own sub-ACL for yellowtail flounder and if the total ACL for this stock is exceeded.