Report to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Regarding Fishery and Survey Data Updates, through 2017, for the Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis (Amerigo) pealeii) Stock by Lisa C. Hendrickson Population Dynamics Branch National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center Woods Hole, MA 02543 April 9, 2018 1.0 Background This report contains updates of the landings and survey relative abundance and biomass indices of longfin inshore squid (Doryteuthis (Amerigo) pealeii) through 2017. The report also contains updates of the additional information requested by members of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (MAFMC) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to aid them in recommending an Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) for the D. pealeii stock in 2019. The additional information includes maps of the recent spatial distributions of the landings for the directed bottom trawl fishery and stratified mean body weights from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s (NEFSC) fall bottom trawl surveys. D. pealeii has a lifespan of less than one year (Macy and Brodziak 2001). The species inhabits the continental shelf and upper slope and ranges between southern Newfoundland and the Gulf of Venezuela, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (Jereb et al. 2010). The species is most abundant between Georges Bank and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina where a small-mesh bottom trawl fishery occurs throughout the year; offshore during late fall through early spring and inshore during the remainder of the year. The U.S. East Coast longfin squid population that inhabits the region between the Gulf of Maine and Cape Hatteras, NC (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Subareas 5 and 6, Figure 1) is managed as a single stock based on evidence from genetic studies (Arkhipkin et al. 2015). The stock is managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 2.0 Commercial Fishery Data During 1967-1986, D. pealeii landings in Subareas 5+6 (Figure 1) were predominately from international fleets. During 1963-1986, total landings averaged 16,489 mt and reached a time series peak of 37,613 mt in 1973 (Table 1, Figure 2). Since 1987, landings have been solely from a domestic, small-mesh bottom trawl fishery that occurs throughout the year. During 1987-2016, landings averaged 15,487 mt with a peak of 23,733 mt in 1989 (Table 1, Figure 2). During this period, landings were highest during 1988-1995, averaging 20,304 mt, but gradually declined between 1999 and 2010 from 19,173 mt to 6,751 mt, respectively. Landings averaged 12,011 mt during 2012-2015 then increased to 18,224 mt in 2016. Preliminary landings for 2017, which do not include landings from state-permitted vessels, totaled 8,176 mt. Annual quotas (TACs) for 1 the U.S. fishery were exceeded only once, during the first year (2000) of in-season quotas, but 94%-99% of the annual quotas of 17,000 mt were attained during 2002, 2005 and 2006 (Table 1). During 2016, 81% of the annual quota was landed; the highest percentage during 2012-2017 when quotas ranged between about 22,000 and 22,500. In addition to stock abundance, availability to the fishery and global Loliginid squid prices, D. pealeii landings trends have been affected by in-season quotas since 2000. In-season quotas were quarterly during 2001-2006 and trimester-based during 2000 and since 2007. Landings trends have also been affected by trimester-based catch quotas for Atlantic butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus) since 2011 and discard quotas since March 5, 2013. During Trimester 1 of 2012, the longfin squid fishery was closed when the butterfish catch cap was attained (Table 2, Figure 3). Since 2000, one or more longfin squid fishery closures have occurred per year, with the exceptions of 2010, 2013, and 2015 and 2017, due to attainment of the buffer amount for a trimester quota (Table 2). During 2007-2017, quota allocations for Trimesters 1-3 were 43%, 17%, and 40%, respectively. These quota allocations were implemented in 2000 and based on the observed landings percentages, by trimester, during 1994-1998 (MAFMC 2008). Most of the inshore fishery landings occur during Trimester 2 which is also when inshore spawning is most prevalent. Data from the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program indicate that inshore fishery catches consist of both spawners and incidental catches of their egg masses which females attach to the seabed. During 1996-1999 (no in-season quotas) and 2001-2006 (quarterly quotas) longfin squid landings during Trimester 2 totaled 15% and 17%, respectively, of the combined annual landings during these time periods. However, since 2011, most of the annual landings have occurred during Trimester 2 (with the exception of 2013). During 2011-2012 and 2014-2017 the T2 landings comprised 46%, 62%, 48%, 40%, 47% and 48%, respectively, of the annual landings (Figure 3). Landings during Trimesters 1, 2 and 3 comprised 24%, 45%, and 31%, respectively, of the combined landings during 2011-2017. This trend coincided with a decline in the number of large vessels operating in the offshore fishery during 2007-2012 (Arkhipkin et al. 2015) and with a 2010 regulatory change that allowed a Trimester 2 quota increase. This regulation allaowed up to 50% (no cap in 2010) of the Trimester 1 quota underage that was greater than 25% could be rolled-over to Trimester 2. Trimester 2 rollovers from Trimester 1 have occurred every year since 2011 and these increased Trimester 2 quotas were exceeded during 2012 (140%), 2014 (104%) and 2016 (148%). D. pealeii landings from 1996 onward are considered the most accurate because reporting of squid landings purchased by federally permitted dealers became mandatory in 1996. The submittal of Vessel Trip Reports (VTRs), which are the current source of fishing effort and location data, also became mandatory in 1996 for longfin squid/butterfish moratorium permit holders. Landings and fishing location data (by subtrip) for longfin squid trips with 1:1 matches between the VTR and Dealer Weighout Databases were retrieved from a database created from a merger of these two databases according to the methods described in Wigley et al. (2008). Data from these trips were used to map the spatial distribution of longfin squid landings by the directed fishery. 2 The spatial distribution of D. pealeii landings by the directed fishery was mapped as the sum of the landings in each ten-minute square (TNMS), by Trimester, during 2009-2012 (Figure 4) versus 2013-2016 (Figure 5). The 2017 landings data could not be included in the maps because the merged database described in the previous paragraph was not created as of the date of this report. The fishery was defined using the regulatory definition of a directed trip; trips with longfin squid landings greater than 1,134 kg (2,500 lbs). The mapped landings data for each Trimester represented 83%, 88% and 81%, respectively, of the 2009-2012 directed fishery landings and 88%, 91% and 86%, respectively, of the 2013-2016 directed fishery landings. The landings distribution patterns indicated in Figures 4 and 5 are typical for the fishery, which generally occurs offshore during October-March and inshore during April-September (NEFSC 2011). Landings distribution patterns for the two time blocks were similar during Trimester 1, but were different during Trimesters 2 and 3. During Trimester 2, landings south of Long Island were high along the entire coast during 2009-2012, but were high only along the eastern coast during 2013-2016. During 2013-2016, landings remained high near shore during Trimester 3 and were also concentrated along most of the shelf edge from southern Georges Bank to North Carolina. Landings were mainly concentrated around Hudson Canyon (in Statistical Area 616 and the offshore portion of 613) during Trimester 3 of 2009-2012. Based on the presence of TNMS with landings at depths greater than 400 m, some misreporting of fishing location data is evident in all six maps. 3.0 Survey Data The efficiency of the NEFSC survey bottom trawl gear for D. pealeii, a diel vertical migrator, is highest during the daytime (Jacobson et al. 2015). Indices of relative abundance (stratified mean number per tow) and biomass (stratified mean kg per tow) were derived using daytime tows (tows with solar zenith angles of 43°-80°) from NEFSC fall bottom trawl surveys conducted during 1975-2015 based on the methods used in the most recent stock assessment (NEFSC 2011). Indices include catches from inshore strata 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44-46, 59-61 and 65-66 plus offshore strata 1-23, 25-26, and 61-76. FSV H. B. Bigelow indices for 2009 onward were converted to RV Albatross IV units using daytime conversion factors, computed for all sizes combined, from a 2008 vessel calibration study conducted with both vessels during the fall (NEFSC 2011). Coefficients of variation of the survey indices account for the variance associated with the Bigelow conversion factors (Table 3). Stratified mean body weights of I. illecebrosus were computed as the annual stratified mean weight per tow divided by the stratified mean number per tow of squid caught during NEFSC fall research bottom trawl surveys. Since 2009, NEFSC survey strata ranging in depth from 6 m to 18 m can no longer be sampled because they are too shallow for operation of the FSV H. B. Bigelow. These strata constitute habitat for longfin squid, primarily squid ≤ 10 cm dorsal mantle length, during the fall (Brodziak and Hendrickson 1999). Therefore, longfin squid relative abundance and biomass indices are also provided for the 2007-2017 fall Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP) research bottom trawl surveys. The NEAMAP surveys, which have been funded by NOAA Fisheries and conducted by staffs from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, were designed to sample the nearshore strata formerly sampled during NEFSC surveys.