Deirdre BoelkeCouncil Staff

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Herring Committee MeetingOctober 20, 2016

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• Review updated analyses to support the initial range of alternatives recommended by the Council for alternatives to address localized depletion (LD) and/or user conflicts.

• Review initial PDT discussion of fishery overlap metric

Agenda Item

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1. The AP motion that would close waters within 6 nautical miles from shore in Area 114 between June 1 – Aug 31 to all Atlantic herring vessels;

2. A year round closure of Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A (MWT gear only);

3. A 12 mile inshore closure year round south of Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A (i.e., within Areas 1B, 3 and 2) (MWT only);

4. A 25 mile inshore closure year round south of Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A (i.e., within Areas 1B, 3 and 2) (MWT only);

5. A 50 mile inshore closure year round south of Atlantic Herring Management Area 1A (i.e., within Areas 1B, 3 and 2) (MWT only);

6. Close 30 min squares 99, 100, 114, 115, 123 year round (MWT only)Without objection it was clarified that a seasonal component could be considered in any of the year-round alternatives above, to be defined later after monthly data available.

Initial Council LD alternatives (Sept 2016)

Maps of alternatives

4Alts 3‐5 exclude Area 1A

Preliminary Analysis of LD alternatives

1. General maps with herring landings in FY year blocks (2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015)

2. Herring landings by month – same FY blocks3. Impacts on fishing behavior as a result of closures

- Other fisheries - Bycatch

#1 and #2 mostly completed; #3 in the future, And monthly maps hopefully in the near future

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Methods and Data

NEFSC Heat maps - database of all VTR points informed by observer data to define estimated area fished per VTR point (DePiper, 2014)

Maps - all VTR trips with >0 kept herring Tables and Figures - herring landings inside or outside

of various alternatives Compute landings in MT and percentage by month

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FY2001-2005All Gears MWT Only

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FY2006-2010All Gears MWT Only

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FY2011-2015All Gears MWT Only

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Alt.1 6nm in Area 114 June-Aug Compared to All Herring Landings

• Landings in this area have shifted seasonally over time

• Largest effect would be in May (16% of all landings (1B fishery)

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Alt.1 6nm in Area 114 June-Aug Compared to Area 114 only

• Importance of this area has changed by season over time

Alt. 2 - MWT landings in Area 1A

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Average land

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Month

Average MWT landings in Area 1A

2001‐2005

2006‐2010

2011‐2015

Alt.2 - MWT share in Area 1A

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Average share of land

ings

Month

Average MWT catch as share of total monthly landings in Area 1A

2001‐2005

2006‐2010

2011‐2015

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Average monthly landings for MWT – all areas

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Alt.3 12nm in Areas 1B, 2, and 3

Total MT by three year groups

Average share compared to total landings

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Alt.4 25nm in Areas 1B, 2, and 3

Total MT by three year groups

Average share compared to total landings

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Alt.5 50nm in Areas 1B, 2, and 3

Total MT by three year groups

Average share compared to total landings

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Herring landings2000 ‐ 2009

Alt. 6 – Specific 30-min squares

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Herring landings2010 ‐ 2015

Alt. 6 – Specific 30-min squares

Initial PDT input On 9/7 the PDT provided initial feedback and identified a few

issues for the Cmte to clarify further- may want to seek Enforcement Cmte input- ability to combine alternatives?

On 10/4 the PDT discussed data needs for the overlap analysis: what time periods, fisheries, and areas should be used? The PDT needs more input from Cmte to clarify the problem these measures are trying to address.

– is the user conflict herring fishery wide, or gear specific (MWT)? - is the user conflict more current or more historic? - what are the primary fisheries experiencing the user conflict?- are there specific areas/times user conflicts are more prevalent?

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Fishery Overlap Metric PDT has discussed the idea of a fishery overlap index Two specific formulas being considered that would calculate

the degree of overlap. PDT plans to start with fleets in NEFSC VTR database (herring

vs. gf species that eat herring – cod, pollock) Tuna info – HMS office has provided monthly commercial

catch by reporting area. May be able to improve with stakeholder input. Fallback – seasonal overlap

Striped bass – both commercial and recreational maps could probably be created – some important caveats. Is user conflict primarily boat trips or shore fishermen?

Whale watching – other?

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Initial Tuna work HMS Office has sent commercial tuna landings from 1996-2015 Summarized by reporting area and month Very coarse comparedto herring reportingAreas - limitations

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Bluefin tuna landings (dressed weight)

Area 1996‐2000 2001‐2005 2006‐2010 2011‐2015 Total

1 54,010 1% 13,139 0% 2,416 0% 80,823 2% 150,388 1%

2 899,461 14% 485,765 9% 207,718 8% 657,995 16% 2,250,939 12%

3 1,408,474 22% 506,456 9% 321,435 12% 443,337 11% 2,679,702 14%

4 1,826,228 28% 788,045 14% 918,798 34% 1,643,206 39% 5,176,277 27%

5 2,149,052 33% 3,122,402 55% 778,324 29% 870,192 21% 6,919,970 36%

6 32,830 1% 50,687 1% 44,305 2% 83,042 2% 210,864 1%

7 22,143 0% 184,607 3% 37,221 1% 292,713 7% 536,684 3%

Other 97,880 2% 495,940 9% 354,318 13% 100,132 2% 1,048,270 6%

Total 6,490,078 100% 5,647,041 100% 2,664,535 100% 4,171,440 100% 18,973,094 100%

Source: NMFS/GARFO/HMS office. Data as of October 2016.

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Bluefin tuna landings by month (dressed weight)

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Month 1996‐2000 2001‐2005 2006‐2010 2011‐2015 TotalJune 371,237 6% 200,947 4% 170,300 6% 345,587 8% 1,088,071 6%

July 1,645,787 25% 635,682 11% 229,511 9% 626,707 15% 3,137,687 17%

Aug. 1,257,806 19% 645,229 11% 392,388 15% 516,404 12% 2,811,827 15%

Sept. 2,006,236 31% 1,210,802 21% 666,003 25% 1,096,067 26% 4,979,108 26%

Oct 1,091,708 17% 2,247,095 40% 551,757 21% 801,267 19% 4,691,827 25%

Nov. 54,732 1% 138,323 2% 279,619 10% 340,650 8% 813,324 4%

Dec. 62,572 1% 462,541 8% 214,214 8% 187,716 5% 927,043 5%Jan.‐May 0 0% 106,422 2% 160,743 6% 257,042 6% 524,207 3%

Total 6,490,078 100% 5,647,041 100% 2,664,535100% 4,171,440 100% 18,973,094 100%

Bluefin tuna landings for Area 4

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Month 1996‐2000 2001‐2005 2006‐2010 2011‐2015 Total

June 158,669 9% 56,360 7% 75,697 8% 153,110 9% 443,836 9%

July 641,452 35% 185,828 24% 105,677 12% 296,916 18% 1,229,873 24%

Aug. 361,261 20% 212,621 27% 168,200 18% 211,271 13% 953,353 18%

Sept. 494,086 27% 158,571 20% 300,019 33% 476,433 29% 1,429,109 28%

Oct 170,216 9% 149,282 19% 224,704 24% 373,026 23% 917,228 18%

Nov.‐Jan. 544 0% 25,383 3% 44,501 5% 132,450 8% 202,878 4%

Total 1,826,228 100% 788,045 100% 918,798 100% 1,643,206 100% 5,176,277 100%

Bluefin tuna landings for Areas 1-3

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Month 1996‐2000 2001‐2005 2006‐2010 2011‐2015 Total

June 171,849 7% 109,158 11% 80,903 15% 101,174 9% 463,084 9%

July 772,334 33% 311,437 31% 109,088 21% 251,428 21% 1,444,287 28%

Aug. 598,242 25% 335,977 33% 177,978 33% 264,473 22% 1,376,670 27%

Sept. 686,993 29% 173,736 17% 133,617 25% 354,697 30% 1,349,043 27%

Oct 132,527 6% 74,062 7% 28,128 5% 163,260 14% 397,977 8%

Nov.‐May 0 0% 990 0% 1,855 0% 47,123 4% 49,968 1%

Total 2,361,945 100% 1,005,360 100% 531,569 100% 1,182,155 100% 5,081,029 100%

What’s next for development of LD measures?

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Meeting ‐ Location Date Primary Agenda Topic(s)

Herring AP and Cmte –Wakefiled, MA

11/8 – 11/9 Final recommendations for haddock action. More work on A8 LD measures.

NEFMC Council ‐Newport

11/15‐11/17 Final action for FW5

A8 MSE Workshop #2 –Portsmouth, NH

12/7 – 12/8 Review MSE outputs

Herring AP and Cmte –TBD

1/10 – 1/11

(tentative)

Recommend final range of alternatives for A8

NEFMC Council –Portsmouth, NH

1/24 – 1/26 Approve range of alternatives for A8 – MSE and LD

Committee Tasking

Review preliminary analyses Refine alternatives? Seasonal options? Provide input back to PDT to support analyses of fishery

overlap (slide 20)

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