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Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden

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Fishery Management Report No. 37 of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden July 2001 Fishery Management Report No. 37 of the ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden July 2001 Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden Prepared by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Atlantic Menhaden Plan Development Team Plan Development Team Members: Dr. Joseph C. Desfosse (ASMFC, Chair), Dr. Michael Armstrong (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries), Ellen Cosby (Virginia Marine Resources Commission), Peter Himchak (New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife), Dr. John Merriner (National Marine Fisheries Service), Dr. Alexei Sharov (Maryland Department of Natural Resources) and Michael W. Street (North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries). This Amendment was prepared under the guidance of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board, Chaired by Mr. William Pruitt of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Technical assistance was provided by the Atlantic Menhaden Advisory Committee, the ad hoc Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Committee and the NMFS Population Dynamics Team. This is a report of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission pursuant to U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award Nos. NA97FG0034, NA07FG0024 and NA17FG1050. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Introduction Concern over a real and/or perceived decline in the Atlantic menhaden population, plus the ecological importance of menhaden, led the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board to recommend that ASMFC conduct an external peer review of the menhaden stock assessment. The peer review was completed in November 1998 and provided recommendations for improving the assessment and management of menhaden (ASMFC 1999). Upon receiving the report of the Peer Review Panel in January 1999, the Board recommended that a full amendment to the current FMP be developed, and that the recommendations of the Peer Review Panel be addressed through the development of this amendment. Members of the public have also expressed concern over the composition of the Management Board, where only some of the Atlantic coast states were represented while including industry representatives as members. This amendment addresses these issues along with a number of management measures and sets up a process for the future management of Atlantic menhaden pursuant to the requirements of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA 1993). Amendment 1 also adopts a new overfishing definition by which the Management Board shall measure the status of the resource. In addition, Amendment 1 requires mandatory reporting from all menhaden purse seine fisheries. 2. Goals, Objectives, Management Unit, Overfishing Definition Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden completely replaces all previous Commission management plans for Atlantic menhaden. The goal of Amendment 1 is: C To manage the Atlantic menhaden fishery in a manner that is biologically, economically, socially and ecologically sound, while protecting the resource and those who benefit from it. In support of this goal, the following objectives are recommended for Amendment 1: Biological Objectives < Protect and maintain the Atlantic menhaden stock at levels to maintain viable fisheries and the forage base with sufficient spawning stock biomass to prevent stock depletion and guard against recruitment failure. < Maintain a uniform data collection system for the reduction fishery and develop new protocols for other harvesting sectors, including biological, economic, and sociological data (ACCSP protocols as a minimum; NMFS reduction fishery monitoring system should be continued). < Evaluate, develop, and improve approaches or methodologies for stock assessment including fishery- independent surveys and variable natural mortality at age or by area. < Optimize utilization of the resource within the constraints imposed by distribution of the resource, available fishing areas, and harvest capacity. Social/Economic Objectives < Maintain existing social and cultural features of the fishery to the extent possible. < Develop a public information program for Atlantic menhaden, including the fishery, biology, estuarine ecology and role of menhaden in the ecosystem. Ecological Objectives < Protect fishery habitats and water quality in the nursery grounds to insure recruitment levels are adequate to support and maintain a healthy menhaden population. < Improve understanding of menhaden biology, food web ecology and multispecies interactions that may bear upon predator-prey and recruitment dynamics. < Protect and maintain the important ecological role Atlantic menhaden play along the coast. Management Objectives < Insure adequate accessibility to fishing grounds. < Develop options or programs to control or limit effort, and regulate fishing mortality by time or area. < Base regulatory measures upon the best available scientific information and coordinate management efforts among the various political entities having jurisdiction over the fisheries. ii Management Unit/Area The management unit for Amendment 1 is defined as the Atlantic menhaden resource throughout the range of the species within U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic Ocean from the estuaries eastward to the offshore boundaries of the EEZ. The management area for Amendment 1 shall be the entire coastwide distribution of the resource. Overfishing Definition A target and threshold approach will be used to define stock status of Atlantic menhaden incorporating both fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass reference points. The Management Board has adopted Fmax (F = 1.04) and Frep (F = 1.33) as the fishing mortality target and threshold, respectively, for the Atlantic menhaden overfishing definition. Furthermore, the Board has adopted a spawning stock biomass target of 37,400 mt (as a proxy for BMSY) and a spawning stock biomass of 20,570 mt as the threshold level, or Minimum Spawning Stock Threshold (MSST). 3. Monitoring Program Specifications/Elements An Atlantic menhaden stock assessment will be performed on an annual basis by the stock assessment subcommittee. The technical committee and advisory panel will meet to review the stock assessment and all other relevant data sources. An annual report will be presented to the Management Board in a timely fashion (usually May or June depending on Commission meeting week scheduling) in order to make annual adjustments to the management program as necessary. In addition to the general content of the report as specified in the outline, the stock assessment report will also contain information on age/size structure, recruitment, spawning stock biomass, fishing mortality rates, catch and landings data and fishery-independent surveys. 4. Management Program Elements/Implementation Recreational Fishery Management Measures (4.1) No recreational fishery management measures are contained in Amendment 1. Recreational landings of Atlantic menhaden for bait are currently believed to be very small; therefore, regulation of this fishery is unnecessary at this time. Evaluation of the extent of this harvest is needed. Commercial Fishery Management Measures (4.2) Amendment 1 does not implement specific commercial fishery management measures to control the harvest of menhaden or limit effort in the fisheries at this time. This amendment does set up a process for implementing future management measures through addenda prepared under Adaptive Management (Section 4.6). The Management Board will review the status of the resource in relation to the overfishing definition and decide whether additional measures are required to meet the goal and objectives of this plan. Habitat Measures (4.4) No mandatory measures related to habitat or habitat protection are implemented through this amendment. De minimis Fishery Guidelines (4.5.3) The ASMFC Interstate Fisheries Management Program Charter defines de minimis as “a situation in which, under existing condition of the stock and scope of the fishery, conservation, and enforcement actions taken by an individual state would be expected to contribute insignificantly to a coastwide conservation program required by a Fishery Management Plan or amendment.” As future management measures are implemented through addenda prepared subsequent to Amendment 1, a state may be granted de minimis status if, the Management Board determines that action by the state would contribute insignificantly to the overall management program. States may petition the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board at any time for de minimis status. Once de minimis status is granted, designated states must submit annual reports to the Management Board justifying the continuance of de minimis status. States must include de minimis requests as part of their annual compliance reports. iii Recommendations to the Secretaries (4.9) The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission believes that the measures contained in Amendment 1 are necessary to prevent the overfishing of the Atlantic menhaden resource. Due to the preponderance of the Atlantic menhaden resource occurring in state waters, the Commission through Amendment 1, recommends to the Secretary of Commerce that no additional management measures be implemented in federal waters at this time. In addition, Amendment
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