2019 New England Recreational Fishing Workshops

Improving New England Recreational Fisheries Management Workshops
January 8, 2019 - January 12, 2019

NOAA Fisheries’ Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office is hosting three workshops to provide an opportunity for stakeholder input on developing both short- and long-term management measures for the recreational fishing community.

Through a collaborative process, the agency hopes to develop management measures 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.

Stakeholders can attend either January 8 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; January 10 in Narragansett, Rhode Island; or January 12 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.


Objectives

Short-term: Develop potential new management measures to achieve, but not exceed, recreational catch limits in Fishing Year 2019, including Gulf of Maine cod/haddock.

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).

Assess and evaluate available research around: methods for avoidance and reduction of bycatch mortality, calculation methods for dead discards, and release methods. NOAA 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.


Event Details

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

The workshops will be held on the dates listed. 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. NOAA requests that attendees only register for one workshop so that as many people as possible may attend.

Summaries of recommendations from the workshops will be presented to the New England Fishery Management Council’s Recreational Advisory Panel and the full Council in January.

More Information

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.

Register online:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-england-recreational-fishing-workshop-nh-tickets-52541276372

source: Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office