Northeast Drift Gillnet Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of interactions that result in incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Current Classification on the List of Fisheries

Category	II
Estimated Number of Participants	1,036
Target Species	shad, herring, mackerel, and menhaden and any residual large pelagic driftnet effort in New England
Applicable Take Reduction Plans	Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP)
Observer Coverage	During the period 1990-2013, estimated observer coverage (number of trips observed/total commercial trips reported) for Northeast sink gillnet, Northeast anchored float gillnet, and Northeast driftnet fisheries was 1, 6, 7, 5, 7, 5, 4, 6, 5, 6, 6, 4, 2, 3, 6, 7, 4, 7, 5, 4, 17, 19, 15, and 11, respectively.
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured	None documented

^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.

*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).

¹ Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.

Basis for Current Classification

Based on analogy to other Northeast gillnet fisheries that use similar gear and operate in a similar manner to this fishery.

Distribution

The fishery includes any residual large pelagic driftnet effort in New England and occurs at any depth in the water column from the U.S.-Canada border to Long Island, New York, at 72° 30'W. long. south to 36° 33.03'N. lat. (corresponding with the Virginia-North Carolina border) and east to the eastern edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Gear Description

This fishery uses drift gillnet gear, which is gillnet gear not anchored to the bottom and is free-floating on both ends or free-flowing at one end and attached to the vessel at the other end. Mesh sizes are likely less than those used to target large pelagics.

Management

The fishery is managed under the Interstate Fishery Management Plans for Atlantic Menhaden and Shad (managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission) and is subject to ALWTRP implementing regulations. A total closure of the American shad ocean intercept fishery was fully implemented in January, 2005.

Total Effort

(includes descriptions of Northeast anchored float and Northeast drift gillnets) Total metric tons of fish landed from 1998 to 2011 were 22,933, 18,681, 14,487, 14, 634, 15,201, 17,680, 19,080, 15.390, 14,950, 15,808, 18,808, 17,207, 18,170, 19,279 and 17,490 respectively (NOAA Fisheries). Data on total quantity of gear fished (i.e., number of sets) have not been reported consistently among commercial gillnet fishermen on vessel logbooks, and, therefore, will not be reported here.

Historical Information

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)	II (2001)
Original Number of Participants	Unknown
Basis for Original Classification	This fishery was categorized as a Category II based on analogy with other gillnet fisheries and a recommendation by the Atlantic Scientific Review Group to place this fishery in Category II. The fishery was added to the LOF to ensure that drift gillnet fisheries for target fish species other than large pelagic species were included on the LOF. This fishery does not include any sink gillnet fishing in Category III inshore gillnet fisheries.
Past Names	N/A
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)	N/A

Timeline of Changes

2017	Estimated number of participants updated from 1,567 to 1,036.
2016	Estimated number of participants updated from 311 to 1,567.
2013	Estimated number of participants updated from 414 to 311.
2012	Estimated number of participants updated from 608 to 414.
2011	Updated the fishery description to clarify the target species for this fishery. The fishery definition provided in the 2008 Proposed LOF included language excluding large pelagic species from the species targeted. However, this fishery does include any residual large pelagic drift gillnet effort. Estimated number of participants updated from unknown to 608. This estimation may be an inflation of actual effort; however, it represents the potential effort for the fishery, given the multiple gear types several state permits may allow for.
2009	Clarified the boundary description of the fishery adding the following language (in italics), “…at any depth in the water column from the U.S.- Canada border to Long Island, New York, at 72° 30'W. long. south to 36° 33.03'N. lat. (corresponding with the Virginia-North Carolina border) and east to the eastern edge of the EEZ.
2008	Updated the fishery description to reflect that this fishery is now subject to ALWTRP implementing regulations under an October 5, 2007, rulemaking (72 FR 57104, October 5, 2007).
2007	Reworded the description of the fishery to align better with management boundaries under the ALWTRP by removing "…from the Maine-Canada border through the waters east of 72° 30'W…" and replaced the text with "…from the U.S.-Canada border to Long Island, NY, at 72° 30'W. long. south to 36° 33.03'N. lat. and east to the eastern edge of the EEZ…" Added to target species: shad, herring, mackerel, and menhaden.
2006	Added a superscript “2” after this fishery, indicating that it is categorized by analogy
2001	Shad added as a target species in this fishery as a result of the deletion of the "Gulf of Maine, Southeast U.S. Atlantic Coastal shad, sturgeon fishery” from the LOF.