Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council

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SQUID, MACKEREL, BUTTERFISH FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - AMENDMENT 8

Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management (FMP), prepared by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, is intended to manage the Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish fisheries pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act (MSFCMA) of 1976, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA). The SFA, which reauthorized and amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), made a number of changes to the existing National Standards, as well as to definitions and other provisions in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, that caused the Guidelines to be significantly revised.

The purpose of this amendment is to bring the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management plan into compliance with the new and revised National Standards and other required provisions of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. Specifically, this amendment revises the overfishing definitions for Atlantic mackerel, Loligo and Illex squid, and butterfish and addresses the new and revised National Standards relative to the existing management measures. In addition this amendment would add a framework adjustment procedure that would allow the Council to add or modify management measures through a streamlined public review process.

The FMP modified by this Amendment was implemented on 1 April 1983. The current management unit is all Atlantic mackerel, Loligo pealei, Illex illecebrosus, and butterfish under US jurisdiction.

The objectives of the FMP are:

1. Enhance the probability of successful (i.e., the historical average) recruitment to the fisheries.

2. Promote the growth of the US commercial fishery, including the fishery for export.

3. Provide the greatest degree of freedom and flexibility to all harvesters of these resources consistent with the attainment of the other objectives of this FMP.

4. Provide marine recreational fishing opportunities, recognizing the contribution of recreational fishing to the national economy.

5. Increase understanding of the conditions of the stocks and fisheries.

6. Minimize harvesting conflicts among US commercial, US recreational, and foreign fishermen.

The fishing year for Atlantic mackerel, Illex and Loligo squid, and butterfish is the twelve (12) month period beginning 1 January.

National Standard 1: Overfishing Definitions

In order to address revised National Standard One (which established new standards for overfishing definitions), the Council proposes the following revised definitions of overfishing:

Atlantic mackerel

Overfishing for Atlantic mackerel will be defined to occur when the catch associated with a threshold fishing mortality rate of F_msy is exceeded. When SSB is greater than 890,000 mt, the overfishing limit is F_MSY (F=0.45), and the target F is the tenth bootstrap percentile of F_MSY (F=0.25). To avoid low levels of recruitment, the threshold F decreases linearly from 0.45 at 890,000 mt SSB to zero at 225,000 mt SSB (1/4 B_MSY), and the target F decreases linearly from 0.25 at 890,000 mt SSB to zero at 450,000 mt SSB (½ B_MSY). Annual quotas will be specified which correspond to a target fishing mortality rate according to this control law. Maximum OY will be specified as the catch associated with a fishing mortality rate of F_msy.

The annual quota specification in the current FMP is based upon a catch associated with a fishing mortality rate of F_0.1 (F=0.27). The proposed target fishing mortality rate in this Amendment is 0.25, a slight reduction from the previous value of F_0.1 (0.27). As a result, the adoption of the target F proposed in this amendment would result in a quota specification slightly lower than the value specified in the current FMP. The catch associated with a fishing mortality rate of F_0.1 is 405,000 mt given the most recent estimates of stock size. The catch associated with the target fishing mortality rate of F=0.25 proposed in this amendment would be 369,000 mt, or an 8.8% reduction.
Loligo pealei

Overfishing for Loligo will be defined to occur when the catch associated with a threshold fishing mortality rate of F_max is exceeded (F_max is a proxy for F_msy). When an estimate of F_msy becomes available, it will replace the current overfishing proxy of F_max. Annual quotas will be specified which correspond to a target fishing mortality rate of 75 % of F_max. Target F is defined as 75% of the F_max when biomass is greater than 80,000 mt, and decreases linearly to zero at 40,000 mt (½ of the B_MSY proxy). Maximum OY will be specified as the catch associated with a fishing mortality rate of F_max. In addition, the biomass target is specified to equal B_MSY. The minimum biomass threshold is specified as 1/2 B_MSY. Quotas will be set annually by the Regional Director according to the FMP.

Based on the proposed definition of overfishing, the target fishing mortality rate would be F=0.135. The quota associated with this fishing mortality, assuming average biomass conditions in the upcoming year, would be approximately 21,000. Maximum OY, defined by the overfishing threshold, would be specified as the catch associated with F_max, which is estimated to be 26,000 mt. The new definition of overfishing would not change the specification of OY or Maximum OY for Loligo relative to the current definition of overfishing.

Illex illecebrosus

Overfishing for Illex will be defined to occur when the catch associated with a threshold fishing mortality rate of F_MSY is exceeded. Annual quotas will be specified which correspond to a target fishing mortality rate of 75% of F_MSY. Maximum OY will be specified as the catch associated with a fishing mortality rate of F_MSY. In addition, the biomass target is specified to equal B_MSY. The minimum biomass threshold is specified as ½ B_MSY.

The most recent estimate of MSY for Illex is 24,000 mt, which is the same as the current specification of Maximum OY (24,000 mt) for Illex. However, the proposed fishing mortality target (75 percent of F_MSYor F=0.56) would result in a yield of 18,000 mt, which is 1,000 mt lower than the current OY quota specification for Illex.

Atlantic butterfish

Overfishing for Atlantic butterfish will be defined to occur when the catch associated with a threshold fishing mortality rate of F_msy is exceeded. Annual quotas will be specified which correspond to a target fishing mortality rate of 75% of F_MSY. In addition, the biomass target is specified to equal B_MSY. The minimum biomass threshold is specified as ½ B_MSY. Maximum OY will be specified as the catch associated with a fishing mortality rate of F_msy.

The overfishing threshold for butterfish is currently specified as F_msy, so this part of the overfishing definition is unchanged. The most recent estimate of MSY for butterfish was 16,000 mt which is the current specification of Maximum OY. The yield associated with the target fishing mortality rate (75% of F_msy) proposed in this Amendment is 12,000 mt, which is well above the current annual quota specification of 5,900 mt.

Essential Fish Habitat Definition

The SFA significantly altered the requirement of FMPs to address habitat issues. The SFA contains provisions for the identification and protection of habitat essential to the production of federally managed species. The act requires FMPs to include identification and description of essential fish habitat (EFH), description of non-fishing and fishing threats, and suggest conservation and enhancement measures. These new habitat requirements are addressed in this Amendment in section 2.2.

Management Measures

The specific management measures adopted by the Council for this Amendment are:

Framework Adjustment Process

In addition to the annual review and modifications to management measures detailed in section 3.1.1.6, the Council could add or modify management measures through a framework adjustment procedure. This adjustment procedure allows the Council to add or modify management measures through a streamlined public review process. As such, management measures that have been identified in the plan could be implemented or adjusted at any time during the year. The following management measures could be implemented or modified through framework adjustment procedures:

1. Minimum fish size.

2. Maximum fish size.

3. Gear restrictions.

4. Gear requirements or prohibitions.

5. Permitting restrictions.

6. Recreational possession limit.

7. Recreational seasons.

8. Closed areas.

9. Commercial seasons.

10. Commercial trip limits.

11. Commercial quota system including commercial quota allocation procedure and possible quota set asides to mitigate bycatch.

12. Recreational harvest limit.

13. Annual specification quota setting process.

14. FMP Monitoring Committee composition and process.

15. Description and identification of essential fish habitat (and fishing gear management measures that impact EFH).

16. Description and identification of habitat areas of particular concern.

17. Overfishing definition and related thresholds and targets.

18. Regional gear restrictions.

19. Regional season restrictions (including option to split seasons).

20. Restrictions on vessel size (LOA and GRT) or shaft horsepower.

21. Any other commercial or recreational management measures.

22. Any other management measures currently included in the FMP.

23. Set aside quota for scientific research.

24. Regional management.

25. Process for in season adjustment to the annual specification.

Vessel Size Restrictions in the Atlantic Mackerel Fishery

This Amendment would restrict the size of domestic harvesting vessels permitted in the Atlantic mackerel fishery. Vessels issued Atlantic mackerel permits are not to exceed 165 feet in length overall (LOA) and 750 gross registered tons or have shaft horsepower exceeding 3000 shp.