NOAA announced that fishermen will be allowed to catch up to 6,700 metric tons
of Gulf of Maine cod in 2012. This end result of collaborative work with the fishing industry to
find a solution that prevented a much larger cut to the allowable catch for the 2012 fishing year.

In late 2011, a new stock assessment for Gulf of Maine cod found the stock declined
unexpectedly, making major reductions in catch limits necessary for the 2012 fishing year, as
required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. NOAA and
the New England Fishery Management Council, which includes state officials and fishermen,
worked with the fishing industry to identify flexibility within federal fisheries law that could both
protect cod and provide sustained fishing opportunities. As a result, the quota for 2012 will be
set at 6,700 metric tons, which is within the range recommended by the New England Fishery
Management Council. Without this collaborative approach, the catch limit for this fishing year
would have been set below 1,500 metric tons. 

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Whiting Oversight Committee on April 17, 2012 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces two public hearings for the proposed 2012 BFT quota specifications.  The dates and locations of the public hearings are as follows:

April 4, 2012, 2 to 4 p.m.
NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

April  10, 2012,2:30 to 4 p.m.
NMFS Science Center, 1301  East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910

NOAA Fisheries is now accepting applicationsfor the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.

Projects must address bycatch research priorities by:

• Developing innovative and effective technologies, gear modifications, and/or improving fishing practices in commercial and recreational fisheries to reduce bycatch impacts. Proposals that specifically reduce impacts tocatch share fisheries, protected species (those species listed as part of the NOAA“Species in the Spotlight”campaign), highly migratory species, fish stocks that areoverfished, whereoverfishing is occurring, or are under prohibited species catch limits, or seabirds are particularly encouraged.
• Improving understanding and reduction of post-release and other indirect mortality, including barotrauma, predation, and unaccounted mortality in commercial and recreational fisheries including target and non-target species.
• Determining the degree and nature of interactions and developing techniques to reduce interactions between fishing gears and corals, sponges, and other structure-forming invertebrates.
• Conducting comprehensive international bycatch analyses or research which will inform conservation engineering in U.S. fisheries.

Pre-proposals are due by March 1 with full applications due by April 15, 2016. 

For more information, download thecall for proposals  or contact derek.orner@noaa.gov, National Bycatch Coordinator.

NACO Support for Capt. Andrew Mezirow to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council

We appreciate the opportunity to recommend Captain Mezirow and strongly encourage you to support his appointment to serve on the NPFMC.  Should you have any questions on this issue or others please contact me.

To view the entire letter please click here

The U.S. Coast Guard is making good progress on its plans for homeporting Fast Response Cutters (FRC’s) in Southeast Alaska and improving shore and waterfront facilities in Ketchikan to support the new vessels. This was welcomed  by U.S. Senator Mark Begich.

The United States Coast Guard plans on building a 405-foot floating pier and a new 3,000 square foot support building in Ketchikan. The Coast Guard intends to homeport 2 FRC’s in Ketchikan by 2015, and add a third FRC in Juneau by 2020.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council Joint Protocol Committee of the AK B0F and Council will meet in Juneau, AK. One issue that to be discussed is an Update on definition of a fishing guide.

The meeting will be held on June 12, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) and its advisory committees will hold public meetings, June 3-11, 2013 at the Centennial Hall, 101 Egan Drive, Juneau, AK. This document is making the public aware of all of the issues being discussed at the council plenary session. An additional issue is being added to agenda item 7, under the heading ``Council Plenary Session''. The original notice published on May 10, 2013, will not be repeated here and all other text in the original notice remains unchanged.

Correction

     In the Federal Register of May 10, 2013, in FR Doc. 2013-11155, on page 27366, in the third column, agenda item 7, under the heading ``Council Plenary Session'' is corrected to read as follows:

Exploring Alaska's fishing communities

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) has developed an interactive set of maps that will allow you to explore fisheries participation by communities around the state of Alaska. By clicking on the links below, you will be able to view maps showing commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries participation by community. You will also be able to download the community profile we have written for 195 fishing dependent communities.

NMFS proposes to amend the hired master regulations of the Individual Fishing Quota Program (IFQ Program) for the fixed-gear commercial Pacific halibut and sablefish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The IFQ Program allows initial recipients of catcher vessel halibut and sablefish quota share (QS) to hire a vessel master to harvest an annual allocation of individual fishing quota (IFQ) derived from the QS. If this action is approved, an initial QS recipient would not be allowed to use a hired master to harvest IFQ derived from catcher vessel QS that they received by transfer after February 12, 2010, with a limited exception for small amounts of QS. This action is necessary to maintain a predominantly owner-operated fishery. In addition, this action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the BSAI, the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the GOA, and other applicable law

Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., Alaska local time, on May 28, 2013.

        
        
            

			
			Read more: Limitations on Use of Quota  Share and the Individual Fishing Quota Program