2019 New England Recreational Fishing Workshops

About

 

Registration is now open! Register below.

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

1. Short-term: Develop potential new management approaches to achieve, but not exceed, recreational catch limits in Fishing Year 2019, including Gulf of Maine cod/haddock.
2. Long-term: Think creatively about how to meaningfully use new Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) data in management of groundfish stocks with a recreational catch component in the long-term (defined as Fishing Year 2020 and beyond).
3. 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.
4. 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

Registration is free and is now open. Please choose your location and register:

January 8: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

January 10: Narragansett, Rhode Island

January 12: Plymouth, Massachusetts

Space will be limited, and we encourage registering in advance. Once you are registered, meeting materials and updates will be emailed directly to you, when available. Additional meeting materials, including the agenda, will be posted mid-December.

The workshops will be held on the dates listed below. Exact timing will be posted on the agenda, and will be approximately from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Each workshop will have the same agenda, and while the discussions may vary depending on the state and local target species, we request that you only register for one workshop so that as many people as possible may attend, and we can get a wide variety of viewpoints and suggestions.

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.