Squidfish Forums

[left]The Mid Atlantic Fisheries Management Council is holding a public meeting regarding squid management options. [/left]

[left]I received this as an e-mail from the council and wanted to post it here in case anyone would be interested.[/left]







[left][size="1"][size="1"]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACT: Mary Clark[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="1"][size="1"]May 7, 2013 (302) 674-2331 (ext. 261)[/size][/size][/left]

[left]Council to Discuss Squid Management with Fishing Industry at Upcoming Meetings[/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Narragansett, Rhode Island[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Date: [/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]May 22, 2013[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Time[/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]: 10 a.m.-noon (can go later if[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]necessary)[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Location[/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]: Superior Trawl- 55 State Street,[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Narragansett, RI 02882[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Cape May, New Jersey[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Date[/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]: June 5, 2013[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Time[/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]: 7 p.m.-9 p.m. (can go later if[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]necessary)[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Location: [/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]Congress Hall Hotel- 29 Perry[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]St, Cape May, NJ 08204, (888) 944-1816.[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]The Council has scheduled two public meetings to talk with members of the fishing industry about options for[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]improving management of the longfin and [/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]Illex [/size][/size][size="3"][size="3"]squid fisheries. The meetings will build on input provided by[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]fishermen, processors, scientists, and managers during a Squid Management Workshop held in January 2013. The[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]workshop focused on options for implementing responsive harvest strategies in the squid fisheries. The Council is[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]seeking additional industry input on responsive harvest strategies as well as general concerns and[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]recommendations for improving squid management. A full summary and additional materials from the workshop[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]are available at: [/size][/size][size="3"][color="#1e37ff"][size="3"][color="#1e37ff"][size="3"][color="#1e37ff"]http://www.mafmc.org/workshop/squid-management-workshop-january-2013[/color][/size][/color][/size][/color][/size][size="3"][size="3"].[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Those who are unable to attend the meetings may also submit comments through our website at:[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][color="#1e37ff"][size="3"][color="#1e37ff"][size="3"][color="#1e37ff"]http://www.mafmc.org/comments/squid-management[/color][/size][/color][/size][/color][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]These meetings are not associated with a specific action or proposed amendment, but comments provided during[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]the meetings will be considered by the Council during future discussions of squid management, including the June[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]2013 Council meeting when 2014 specifications are approved.[/size][/size][/left]

[left]Background[/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Both squid stocks are currently managed with annual catch quotas, and the longfin squid quota is partitioned into[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]trimester quotas to distribute landings throughout the year. Although longfin squid landings have only exceeded[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]the annual quota once, the high frequency of trimester closures during periods of high squid abundance has[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]prompted industry concerns and requests for more responsive management approaches.[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]The term “responsive harvest strategies” includes a broad spectrum of management approaches that account for[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]seasonal and year-to-year fluctuations of a stock. Implementation of a responsive harvest strategy in the squid[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]fisheries could potentially help avoid in-season closures without having adverse impacts on the stock. However,[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]these strategies can also be data intensive and challenging to implement effectively. Participants in the squid[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]management workshop noted that changes in management can have uneven impacts on different locations and[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]different types of vessels and recommended that the Council seek broader input from the fishing industry before[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]considering any management changes.[/size][/size][/left]

[left][size="3"][size="3"]Please direct questions to Jason Didden, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and[/size][/size][/left]

[size="3"][size="3"]Butterfish, through email (jdidden@mafmc.org) or telephone (302) 526-5254.[/size][/size]

all squid have decided to scratch Newport off there list of sites to visit

Thanks for posting this - I was going to do the same. These meetings are focused on the commercial fishery but we're happy to get input from recreational squidders as well. Right now the Council sets an annual quota for longfin squid (the species that is encountered inshore) that is expected to be sustanable (22,049 mt or a bit less than 50 million pounds) and it is believed that the recreational catch is very small compared to the overall quota. The main fishing survey on the East Coast doesn't collect invertebrate data so it's hard to know exactly...



Good squidding,

Jason



Jason Didden

Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish

[email="jdidden@mafmc.org"]jdidden@mafmc.org[/email]

[url="http://www.mafmc.org"]www.mafmc.org[/url]

(302) 526-5254 (direct)

(302) 397-1131 (cell)

(302) 674-5399 (fax)

Wow Jason! I had no idea that anyone from the council was on the site. My apologies if I over stepped.

I did understand that the meetings are more geared toward the commercial side but thought that there might be somebody here that would be interested to attend.

Regardless it is great to have you here and I look forward to any other info you would like to share.

No worries - people spereading the word on meetings like this can get the word out better than anything else!



The Council is currently gearing up for setting 2014 specifications and there is a lot of info linked on this page: [url="http://www.mafmc.org/ssc-meetings/2013/april-may"]http://www.mafmc.org/ssc-meetings/2013/april-may[/url]. The fishery informational document and the NEFSC Biological Update under Longfin Squid summarize what we know about longfin squid (used to be called Loligo but some taxonomists decided to confuse everybody and chage the name to Doryteuthis (Amerigo) pealeii). The link to last years process, [url="http://www.mafmc.org/ssc-meetings/may-2012"]http://www.mafmc.org/ssc-meetings/may-2012[/url], also has recent assessments posted, which have lots of background info, but the upshot is that we know the squids are highly variable but we don't understand the patterns, but it doesn't look like fishing has caused any major problems so far for squid.



There is some developing work on trying to assess the squid population in real time, which was the focus of the workshop we ran in January 2013 ([url="http://www.mafmc.org/workshop/squid-management-workshop-january-2013"]http://www.mafmc.org/workshop/squid-management-workshop-january-2013[/url]). The Falklands Islands presentation at that link gives a good overview of what I think is the only true real-time assessment and management of squid that exists.



Jason