NOAA Scientist Look for Ways to Ease Commercial Fishing Economic Impact

NOAA is moving forward in efforts to minimize the economic loss for the Georges Bank Fishery. Commercial fishermen have been facing cuts in fishery quotas in an area that is jointly fished and managed with Canada. Due to fish stock not growing to catchable sizes than officials expected the allocation of certain species such as yellow tail flounder will be reduced by 61 percent this season. The scallop and ground fisheries divide the yellowtail flounder allocation for by-catch. Yellow tail by-catch is high in the scallop industry due to their preference for living on the ocean floor and on sandy bottoms, a habitat also preferred by sea scallops. The allocation for yellowtail flounder for the scallop industry will increase by 53 percent while it will drop for the ground fishing industry by 80 percent.

NOAA is working toward mitigating some of the losses being faced by commercial fishermen through a new management plan giving NOAA authorities the ability to re-allocate any unused portion of Georges Bank yellowtail flounder caught by the scallop industry. The new measures also authorize mid-sized vessels to use a new type of trawling gear. The new gear enables fishermen to reduce their yellowtail by-catch rate of yellow tail while targeting other species. There will be several new research projects supported by NOAA’s cooperative Research Program funds in collaboration with the New England Fishery Management Council. Funding will be awarded to the University of Massachusetts School of Science and Technology, and to the Coonamessett Farm Foundation, Inc in collaboration with the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and the Gulf of Maine Research institute.

NOAA also plans the formation of a new group modeled after the Gulf of Maine’s Cod Working Group in an effort to work closely with the fishing industry to introduce initiatives to advance current programs and identify other management areas for future alternatives. The International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act of 2011 provided NOAA with the authority to extend the time frame for rebuilding shared stocks.