Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commiss - FryingPanTower.Com

Washington, DC – The Commission's Shad and River Herring Management Board is in process of re-configuring its Shad & River Herring Advisory Panel. As part of that process, the Board is seeking nominations from nontraditional stakeholders to fill two seats on the panel. Examples of such stakeholders include, but are not limited to, nongovernmental organizations, grassroots organizations, and individuals/groups with an interest in fisheries, fish passage, and habitat conservation.

The intent of this action is to broaden the scope of public input to the Shad and River Herring Management Board as it develops two amendments to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring. One amendment is being developed in response to the findings of the 2007 benchmark stock assessment for American shad, indicating that American shad stocks are currently at all-time lows and do not appear to be recovering, and the other in response to concerns regarding the depressed status of river herring stocks. The Commission believes that input from nontraditional stakeholders will strengthen its efforts in successfully managing shad and river herring species. Individuals interested in serving as advisors can obtain an advisory panel nomination form by contacting the Commission at (202)289-6400 or downloading the nomination form via the Commission's website at http://www.asmfc.org/ad_panel.htm.  A completed nomination form must be submitted to the Commission by 5:00 PM on April 24, 2008.

The Commission's advisory panel process was established to address its increasing responsibilities under the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act. The Act mandates, among other considerations, that the Commission provide adequate public participation in its fishery management planning process, including at least four public hearings and procedures for submission of written comments to the Commission. In 2002 the Commission established the Advisory Panel Oversight Committee, comprised of a subset of legislative and governor-appointed Commissioners and Advisory Panel Chairs, to provide oversight to its advisory panel process. Advisory Panels have been developed for Atlantic herring, Atlantic menhaden, American eel, American lobster, black sea bass, bluefish, coastal sharks, horseshoe crab, northern shrimp, scup, shad & river herring, South Atlantic species (croaker, spot, spotted seatrout, Spanish mackerel, red drum), spiny dogfish, striped bass, summer flounder, tautog, weakfish, and winter flounder. For more information, please contact Tina Berger, Public Affairs Specialist, at (202) 289-6400 or tberger@asmfc.org.

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Tina Berger
Public Affairs Specialist
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1444 I Street. NW, Sixth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202)289-6400
FAX: (202)289-6051
Email: tberger@asmfc.org
www.asmfc.org

ASMFC Vision: Healthy, self-sustaining populations of all Atlantic coast fish species or successful restoration well in progress by the year 2015.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Shark Management Board has approved the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Coastal Sharks for public review and comment. Public hearings will be held between February 7 and March 14, 2008.  The details of those hearings will be announced once they have been scheduled.

The Draft FMP addresses the management of 39 shark species. It proposes management measures for state recreational and commercial shark fisheries, including permitted species, regions, seasons, quotas, possession limits, size limits, protection of nursing and pupping grounds, authorized gear, dealer reporting, research, display, finning, and bycatch reduction.

Coordinated state management is a vital step towards establishing healthy self-sustaining populations of Atlantic coastal sharks.  Many species have been in a depleted state and are vulnerable to collapse if fishing pressure continues as it has in recent years.  Most of these sharks utilize state water coastal estuaries and bays as pupping grounds and nurseries.  The Draft FMP proposes to protect depleted shark stocks while they are in these areas during the most vulnerable stages of their life cycles.  

Another goal of Draft FMP is to establish complementary state and federal shark management.  Currently some states mirror federal regulations for Atlantic sharks while other states have no management (other than spiny dogfish) or have regulations inconsistent with the federal FMP. Coordinating management between state and federal waters will close loopholes between jurisdictions and simplify regulations for law enforcement officials.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft FMP, either by attending public hearings or providing written comments.  Copies of the Draft FMP can be obtained via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400.  Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM on March 28, 2008, and should be forwarded to Chris Vonderweidt, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, 1444 Eye Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 289-6051 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Sharks).  For more information, please contact Chris Vonderweidt at (202) 289-6400 or cvonderweidt@asmfc.org.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will be holding its Summer Meeting on August 14 - 17, at the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City in Arlington, VA. The preliminary agenda for the Summer Meeting has a number of items of interest to the recreational fishing community such as meetings of the Spiny Dogfish & Coastal Sharks Management Board, the Shad & River Herring Management Board, the Tautog Management Board, the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board, the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board, and the Weakfish Management Board.

For more information, visit http://www.asmfc.org/.