Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Shad and River Herring Management Board February 4, 2021 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. Webinar Draft Agenda The times listed are approximate; the order in which these items will be taken is subject to change; other items may be added as necessary. 1. Welcome/Call to Order (M. Armstrong) 8:30 a.m. 2. Board Consent 8:30 a.m. • Approval of Agenda • Approval of Proceedings from August 2020 3. Public Comment 8:35 a.m. 4. Consider Management Response to the 2020 Shad Benchmark Assessment 8:45 a.m. and Peer Review (M. Armstrong) • Review Technical Committee Recommendations (B. Neilan) • Advisory Panel Report (P. Lyons Gromen) 5. Review Technical Committee Recommendations on Improvements to 9:30 a.m. Amendments 2 and 3 (B. Neilan) Possible Action 6. Break 10:30 a.m. 7. Consider Shad Habitat Plan Updates Action 10:45 a.m. • Review Technical Committee Recommendations (B. Neilan) 8. Consider Fishery Management Plan Review and State Compliance for the 11:10 a.m. 2019 Fishing Year (C. Starks) Action 9. Review and Populate Advisory Panel Membership (T. Berger) Action 11:25 a.m. 10. Other Business/Adjourn 11:30 a.m. This meeting will be held via webinar, click here for details. Sustainable and Cooperative Management of Atlantic Coastal Fisheries MEETING OVERVIEW Shad and River Herring Management Board February 4, 2021 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Webinar Chair: Mike Armstrong (MA) Technical Committee Chair: Law Enforcement Committee Assumed Chairmanship: 10/19 Brian Neilan (NJ) Representative: L.Furlong (PA) Vice Chair: Advisory Panel Chair: Previous Board Meeting: Justin Davis Pam Lyons Gromen August 4, 2020 Voting Members: ME, NH, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, PRFC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, NMFS, USFWS (19 votes) 2. Board Consent • Approval of Agenda • Approval of Proceedings from August 2020 3. Public Comment – At the beginning of the meeting public comment will be taken on items not on the agenda. Individuals that wish to speak at this time must sign-in at the beginning of the meeting. For agenda items that have already gone out for public hearing and/or have had a public comment period that has closed, the Board Chair may determine that additional public comment will not provide additional information. In this circumstance the Chair will not allow additional public comment on an issue. For agenda items that the public has not had a chance to provide input, the Board Chair may allow limited opportunity for comment. The Board Chair has the discretion to limit the number of speakers and/or the length of each comment. 4. Consider Management Response to the 2020 American Shad Benchmark Stock Assessment (8:45-9:30 a.m.) Background • The American Shad 2020 Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report was accepted for management use in August 2020. The assessment found that American shad remain depleted on a coastwide basis, likely due to multiple factors, such as fishing mortality, inadequate fish passage at dams, predation, pollution, habitat degradation, and climate change. • At the August 2020 meeting, the Board tasked the Technical Committee (TC) with identifying potential paths forward to improve shad stocks given the results of the stock assessment. The TC met several times in the fall of 2020 and early 2021 to develop recommendations to address the Board Task (Briefing Materials). • The Advisory Panel met twice to consider the recommendations of the TC and provide additional input for Board consideration (Supplemental Materials). Presentations • Technical Committee Recommendations by B. Neilan • Advisory Panel Report by P. Lyons Gromen Board actions for consideration at this meeting • Consider management response to the assessment and peer review 5. Review Technical Committee Recommendations on Improvements to Amendments 2 and 3 (9:30-10:30 a.m.) Possible Action Background • In October 2017 the TC identified several inconsistencies between state SFMPs and the requirements of Amendments 2 and 3. Subsequently, the Board tasked the TC to develop proposed improvements to the Amendments with regard to several items: 1) Management and monitoring of rivers with low abundance and harvest of shad and river herring; 2) Standardization of Sustainable Fishery Management Plan (SFMP) requirements; 3) Incorporation of stock assessment information into SFMPs and discussion on the timeline for renewing plans; 4) Clarification of de minimis requirements as they pertain to SFMPs; and 5) Review of the number of years of data required before developing a SFMP. • The Technical Committee met a number of times throughout 2020 to develop and finalize a list of recommendations to address each of the focus areas identified in the Board task (Briefing Materials). Presentations • Technical Committee Recommendations on Improvements to Amendments 2 and 3 by B. Neilan Board actions for consideration at this meeting • Consider initiating a management action to address the TC recommendations 6. Break (10:30-10:45 p.m.) 7. Consider Shad Habitat Plan Updates (10:45-11:10 a.m.) Action Background • Amendment 3 to the Shad and River Herring FMP requires all states and jurisdictions to submit a habitat plan for American shad. A majority of the habitat plans were approved by the Board in February 2014, and it was anticipated that they would be updated every five years. • The states began the process of reviewing their American shad habitat plans and making updates in 2020, however, many states encountered delays due to COVID-19. The states that have submitted updated habitat plans for Board consideration are: ME, NH, MD, NC SC, and GA (Briefing Materials). The remaining states will provide their updated plans to the TC for review before the next Board meeting. • The TC reviewed and recommends approval of these updated plans. Presentations • Shad Habitat Plan Updates for Board Consideration by B. Neilan Board actions for consideration at this meeting • Consider approval of updated shad habitat plans 8. Consider Fishery Management Plan Review and State Compliance for the 2019 Fishing Year (11:10-11:25 a.m.) Action Background • State Compliance Reports were due on July 1, 2019 • The Plan Review Team reviewed each state report and compiled the annual FMP Review (Briefing Materials). 2 Presentations • Overview of the FMP Review Report by C. Starks Board actions for consideration at this meeting • Approve FMP Review for 2019 fishing year, state compliance reports, and de minimis requests 9. Review and Populate Advisory Panel Membership (11:25-11:30 a.m.) Action Background • Two individuals have been nominated to the Shad and River Herring Advisory Panel: Dr. Ed Hale of University of Delaware Sea Grant, and Eric Roach, a recreational angler from New Hampshire (Briefing Materials). Presentations • Nominations by T. Berger Board Actions for Consideration at the Meeting • Approve Shad and River Herring Advisory Panel nominations 10. Other Business/Adjourn 3 Shad and River Herring 2021 TC Tasks Activity level: Medium Committee Overlap Score: Medium (Multi-species committees for this Board) Committee Task List • Development of recommendations related to Board task on improving shad stocks • Spring 2020: Updates to state Shad Habitat Plans • Annual state compliance reports due July 1 TC Members: Mike Brown (ME), Mike Dionne (NH), Brad Chase (MA), Patrick McGee (RI), Jacque Benway Roberts (CT), Wes Eakin (Vice Chair, NY), Brian Neilan (Chair, NJ), Josh Tryninewski (PA), Johnny Moore (DE), Rob Bourdon (MD), Ellen Cosby (PRFC), Joseph Swann (DC), Eric Hilton (VA), Holly White (NC), Jeremy McCargo (NC), Bill Post (SC), Jim Page (GA), Reid Hyle (FL), Ken Sprankle (USFWS), Ruth Hass-Castro (NOAA) Shad SAS: Michael Bailey (Chair, USFWS), Ken Sprankle (TC Chair, USFWS-CT), Joey Ballenger (SC), Mike Bednarski (VA), Wes Eakin (NY), Kevin Sullivan (NH), Joe Zydlewski (USGS), Jacque Benway-Roberts (CT), Kiersten Curti (NOAA-Fisheries), Angela Giuliano (MD), Jason Boucher (DE) DRAFT PROCEEDINGS OF THE ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION SHAD AND RIVER HERRING MANAGEMENT BOARD Webinar August 4, 2020 These minutes are draft and subject to approval by Shad and River Herring Management Board. The Board will review the minutes during its next meeting. Draft Proceedings of the Shad and River Herring Management Board Meeting Webinar August 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Call to Order, Chairman Mike Armstrong ................................................................................................................... 1 Approval of Agenda ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Approval of Proceedings from October 2019 ............................................................................................................. 1 Public Comment .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Consider 2020 Shad Benchmark Stock Assessment .................................................................................................. 1 Presentation of the Stock Assessment Report ......................................................................................................... 1 Presentation of Peer Review Panel Report ............................................................................................................... 7 Consider Acceptance of Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report for Management Use. .... 27 Consider