The New England Fishery Management Council has set its management priorities for 2017, including potential revisions to the management of Atlantic halibut and an examination of the implications of groundfish catches in non-groundfish fisheries.
The list of priorities, which largely charts the council’s expected — perhaps more accurately, hopeful — course in the upcoming year, was approved by the full council after about three hours of discussion at its November meeting.
The prioritization of issues, according to NEFMC Executive Director Tom Nies, is a valuable tool for providing the council with the structure to address pressing issues while also retaining the flexibility to delve into other issues as they present themselves to the council.
“The process is very helpful in focusing the efforts of the council on major tasks and still give it the flexibility through the rest of the year to change course as we have to,” Nies said.
The list of priorities would see the council:
— Consider possible regulatory changes to the northern Gulf of Maine scallop management area.
— Improve the Gulf of Maine cod and haddock recreational management process.
— Initiate actions to resume landings of the rebuilt barndoor skate stock.
— Coordinate long-term wind power issues with other regulatory agencies.
— Conduct a comprehensive review of council operations.
Nies said the development of the council’s management priorities for 2017, which began in August with considerable input from technical staff, the public and all standing committees, proceeded along a familiar path.
“I don’t think there was really anything unusual about the process this time,” Nies said. “We always have more things we want to do than when can get to.”
The new list of management priorities will supplement several actions already underway, including the regulatory board’s annual efforts to set catch limits for a litany of species.
The tasks include work on Amendment 8 to address “localized depletion and user conflicts in the fishery and develop a new acceptable biological catch control rule using a management strategy evaluation.”
It also includes concurrent work on the council’s Omnibus Deep-Sea Coral Amendment and progress on Amendment 22 to consider limited access for the small-mesh multispecies fishery.
The council’s executive committee reviewed and modified the initial draft of the management priorities in September.
Council members then ranked each proposed task by level of importance. That draft went back to the executive committee and ultimately to the council at large.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.