Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog October 2017 Sustainably Managing Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog Prepared by: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Tautog Plan Development Team Plan Development Team Members: Ashton Harp and Toni Kerns (respective Chairs), Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Linda Barry, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Sandra Dumais, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Sabrina Lovell, NOAA Fisheries Jason McNamee, Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife Craig Weedon, Maryland Department of Natural Resources This is a report of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission pursuant to the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award No. NA15NMF4740069. Acknowledgements Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog was developed under the supervision of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Tautog Management Board, chaired by Adam Nowalsky (May 2015-present). Members of the Tautog Advisory Panel, chaired by Gary Libby, and the Tautog Plan Development Team, chaired by Ashton Harp (ASMFC), contributed to the development of this amendment. Considerable support was provided by the Tautog Technical Committee, chaired by Jason McNamee (RI DFW) and Linda Barry (NJ F&W). We are also grateful for the efforts of three regional Workgroups that developed the proposed management measures that went out for public comment. In particular, thanks is extended to the MARI Workgroup of Dan McKiernan (MA DMF), and Mark Gibson and Jason McNamee (RI DFW); the LIS and NJ-NYB Workgroup of Dave Simpson (CT DEEP), Steve Heins and Sandra Dumais (NYS DEC), and Russ Allen and Larry Barry (NJ F&W); and the DelMarVa Workgroup of John Clark (DE DNREC), Mike Luisi and Craig Weedon (MD DNR), and Joe Cimino (VMRC). Additional contributions came from ASMFC staff Dr. Katie Drew, Toni Kerns, Caitlin Starks, Jessica Kuesel, and Tina Berger. Appreciation is also extended to the many fishermen, representatives of conservation groups and members of the public who have written letters and attended public hearings to express their opinions and contribute ideas. Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog ii Executive Summary Amendment 1 consolidates the 1996 Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and associated addenda, as well as and new management measures into a single document. It is now the comprehensive document for tautog management in state waters. Statement of the Problem Since the Tautog FMP was implemented in 1996, the resource has experienced changes in stock status, as well as management measures used to control harvest. Based on the 2015 Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report, tautog is overfished and overfishing is occurring on a coastwide scale. The 2016 Regional Stock Assessment proposed a four-region stock delineation approach to reduce the risk of overfishing and account for tautog’s very limited coastwide movement. Additionally, an illegal, unreported, and undocumented fishery has persisted for more than a decade for tautog. To address these issues an amendment to the FMP was initiated to implement measures to regionally manage and better protect the stock. See Section 1.1 for additional information. Description of the Resource, Life History and Habitat Requirements Tautog are distributed along the Northeast Atlantic coast of North America from the outer coast of Nova Scotia to Georgia, although they are most abundant from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. They inhabit coastal and estuarine waters throughout this range. Tautog are attracted to some type of structure in all post larval stages of their life cycle, staying close to a preferred home site and moving only short distances longitudinally, if at all, during seasonal migrations. Adult tautog generally migrate inshore in the spring from offshore wintering locations to spawn between April and July in estuaries or nearshore marine waters. Spawning occurs in heterosexual pairs or in groups of a single female with several males, although pair spawning is more common. Tautog typically migrate offshore when water temperatures drop below approximately 50°F in the late fall, although seasonal migration is not uniformly exhibited. Some adults remain inshore and active throughout the year, particularly in the southern portion of the range. The species’ distribution, behavior and, perhaps, growth and survival, are related to its high dependence on blue mussels; a significant decline in the availability of blue mussels can cause tautog to abandon a particular area. See Section 1.3 for additional information. Fishery Description The tautog fishery is predominantly recreational, with anglers accounting for about 90% of landings coastwide. The recreational fishery occurs throughout the year and primarily uses hook and line gear. Coastwide recreational harvest peaked in 1986 at over 7 million fish and has since declined. Average recreational harvest from 2013-2015 was 708,136 fish, with 2014 nearly double the harvest of 2013 and 2015. Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog iii Coastwide commercial landings showed a similar pattern to recreational harvest, although the magnitude is smaller, representing approximately 9% of the total harvest over the entire time series. Commercial landings peaked in the late 1980s at 1.2 million lbs (525 mt), and declined to an average of 273,373 lbs (124 mt) in 2013-2015. See Section 1.3 for additional information. The distribution of harvest along the coast has fluctuated somewhat in recent years; harvest from Delaware through Virginia has declined while it has increased in the Long Island Sound region. From 2013-2015, the Massachusetts- Rhode Island region accounted for 27% of coastwide removals, Long Island Sound accounted for 35%, New Jersey-New York Bight accounted for 32%, and Delaware-Maryland-Virginia accounted for 5%. Goals and Objectives The goal of Amendment 1 is to sustainably manage tautog over the long-term using regional differences in biology and fishery characteristics as the basis for management. Additionally, the Amendment seeks to promote the conservation and enhancement of structured habitat to meet the needs of all stages of tautog’s life cycle. The Amendment objectives are designed to support the goals of this amendment. See Section 2.3 for additional information. Specification of the Management Unit The management unit is defined as all U.S. territorial waters of the northwest Atlantic Ocean, from the shoreline to the seaward boundary of the exclusive economic zone, and from the US/Canadian border to the southern end of the species’ range. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, NOAA Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have declared an interest in tautog. Definition of Overfishing Overfishing is defined relative to the rate of removals from the population as determined by the fishing mortality on the stock. The level of spawning stock biomass in a stock as the result of fishing mortality is the basis for determining if a stock has become overfished. A biomass target or threshold determines the condition of the stock, whereas the mortality rate determines how fast the population is moving toward achieving the appropriate level of biomass. Biological reference points for tautog are region-specific. See Section 2.5 for additional information. Catch and Landings Information The majority of recreational tautog landings are captured through the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). Recreational effort data is collected through phone surveys, but will transition to mail surveys in 2018. Recreational catch data is collected through an access- site intercept survey. All commercial harvesters are required to report a minimum set of standard data elements to NMFS for all trips regardless of catch. All permittees in the limited-access commercial fishery in Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Tautog iv New Jersey are required to submit monthly reports identifying tautog landings by day, gear, and location, as well as any bycatch. See Section 3.2.1 for additional information. Recreational Fisheries Management Measures Amendment 1 delineates the stock into four regions due to differences in biology and fishery characteristics, and limited coastwide movement. Recreational management measures are determined individually by the four management regions in response to the 2016 Stock Assessment Update. Some regions approved consistent measures for all states within the region, while other regions approved state-specific measures achieving the same goal for all states within the region. Regional working groups will develop options for management measures within a region. If a state within a region wants to implement different management measures than those within the region, the general procedure within Section 4.11, Conservation Equivalency will be followed. All modifications to management measures reviewed by the Technical Committee and approved by the Management Board. See Section 4.2 for additional information. Commercial Fisheries Management Measures Commercial management measures were also approved by the Board for each region, following the same process as recreational measures. A state or region may implement an annual commercial quota following the procedures