2019 New England Recreational Fishing Workshops
NOAA Fisheries’ Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office is hosting three workshops to provide an opportunity for stakeholder input on developing potential short- and long-term management approaches for the recreational fishing community. Workshops will be scheduled for October/November 2019.
About
Please note: The 2019 Recreational Fishing Workshops had been originally scheduled for January, but were cancelled due to the partial federal government shutdown in January. We plan to reschedule the workshops in the fall of 2019, likely in October and/or November.
Workshop Purpose and Goal
Through a collaborative process, we will develop potential management approaches for the recreational groundfish fishery that balance the need to prevent overfishing with enabling profitability in the for-hire fleet and worthwhile fishing opportunities for anglers.
Objectives
- Long-term: Think creatively about how the recreational groundfish fishery could be managed to improve alignment with angler and for-hire captain needs, including how to meaningfully use the new Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) data.
- Short-term: Develop short-term steps for achieving potential long-term management approaches that achieve, but not exceed, recreational catch limits, including Gulf of Maine cod and haddock.
- Assess and evaluate available research around: methods for avoidance and reduction of bycatch mortality, calculation methods for dead discards, and release methods. We will also identify gaps for future research.
- Develop methods to regularly engage with captains and anglers throughout the season to get feedback on catch and trends, and develop ideas on how to enhance coordination between NOAA Fisheries, state partners, scientists, and the recreational fishing community.
Registration
Information on registration and the agenda will be available here later in the summer. Registration will be free, but please be sure to register early once registration opens because space will be limited.
After the Workshops
These workshops will provide an opportunity to brainstorm short- and long-term approaches for possible future recreational fisheries management strategies. The findings of these workshops would be summarized and shared with the New England Fishery Management Council, including its Groundfish Committee and Recreational Advisory Panel. Any recommendations would be considered within the current Council process for developing recreational management measures with input from all groundfish stakeholders and the public.
Contacts
For more information, contact Moira Kelly, Recreational Fisheries Coordinator, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office or Jessica Joyce, Meeting Planner and Facilitator, Tidal Bay Consulting, LLC.