Concerns have recently arisen surrounding the fishery for tautog, including but not limited to the live fish debate.  ASMFC has completed Addendum IV to the tautog fishery management plan, copies of which were distributed to the Council.  Mr. Colvin noted that this amendment addresses the apparent failure of the coastwide tautog stock to rebuild in response to the management measures currently in place.  He asked the Council to review the Addendum and to help DEC set up a constructive dialogue in New York as to how to best achieve the Addendum's goals and objectives.  DEC has prepared a discussion draft to start this discussion along and Mr. Colvin "walked" the Council through its basic elements.  He emphasized that this draft merely raised some alternative options for dealing with the management issues that are presently salient in the tautog fishery; nothing of the following has been decided upon.

1. Implementation of Addendum IV, Section 4.1. Recreational Fisheries
   1. Provision of Addendum:  fishing mortality must be reduced by 28.6% overall.  Since reduction of commercial fishing mortality does not count against the 28.6% reduction target, recreational fishing mortality would need to be reduced by approximately 32%.
      1. options to be selected from Tables 8 and 9 in the addendum
      2. minimum size limit increases may not be submitted
      3. for New York, only Wave 5 and 6 closures result in credit based on Table 9.  However, New York will propose  conservation equivalency-based options for a Wave 3 (i.e. May) closure based on MRFSS estimates of New York landings for years other than 2005.
   2. Goal of this Implementation Plan:  comply with a reduction requirement in a manner that maximizes the likelihood that the selected measure will succeed in reducing F to the target (F= 0.20), and which contributes to other goals of this implementation plan.
   3. Options:
      1. reduce creel to 5 w/season closure at beginning (October).
      2. reduce creel to 5 of season closure at end (December).
      3. reduce creel limit to 3 with season closure at beginning (October).
      4. reduce creel limit to 3 with season closure at end (December).
      5. maintain creel limit at 10 with season closure at beginning (October).
      6. maintain creel limit at 10 with season closure at end (December).
      7. the above options with a May closure
   4. Other issues
      1. to support the goal adopted for Section 4.4 (see below); reduce the potential for tautog taken by non-commercially licensed harvesters to be illegally sold by:
         1. reducing the creel limit to at least 5/person/day.
         2. setting a boat limit of 2 or 3 times the individual creel limit (exempt party/charter boats).
         3. for the for-hire fishery: require a tautog permit and VTR’s for tautog trips and institute a mandatory observer program, particularly for trips, including Wave 1 trips, which are poorly represented in the current NMFS FHS.
         4. requiring tautog possessed by persons who do not have commercial licenses to be dressed (define “dressed as cut open from vent to a point under the pectoral fins and viscera removed”)
2. Implementation of Addendum IV, Section 4.2. Commercial Fisheries
   1. Provisions of Addendum IV: Addendum IV does not require specific commercial reduction. Point out that states may adopt more restrictive measures.  Any increase or liberalization of fishing mortality attributed to commercial fishing would be inconsistent with the Addendum, and would require additional cuts in the recreational fishery.
   2. Goals of this Implementation Plan: (4 Options which are not mutually exclusive).
      1. Goal Option 1 – Restore tautog commercial fishery to an exclusively bycatch fishery as originally recommended by MRAC and as reflected in legislative and regulatory rationale for the 25-fish limit.
      2. Goal Option 2 – Reduce commercial exploitation proportionate to the mandated overall reduction, i.e. 28.6%.
      3. Goal Option 3 – Maintain commercial fishery and exploitation at current levels.
      4. Goal Option 4 – Adopt affirmative commercial fishery management measures that support the goat adopted for section 4.4 (see below).
   3. Commercial Options
      1. status quo (supports Goal Option 3, above)
      2. establish a TAL (quota) at current level; close fishery when it is reached (supports Goal Options 3 & 4)
      3. establish a TAL at 28.6% below recent landings; close fishery when it is reached (supports Goal Options 2 & 4)
      4. manage a commercial TAL by:
         1. requiring a commercial tautog permit and limiting permit eligibility to those who have reported landing tautog on VTR's for one or more years prior to 2007, and/or:
         2. allocating IQ's (individual fishing quotas) based on VTR-reported landings, and/or:
         3. allocating/requiring placement of tags on all fish (supports Goal Option 4)
      5. keep current 25-fish possession limit (10 fish when less than 6 lobsters are also possessed); add a provision that tautog may not be more than 10% (25%) of a trip's total reported landings (supports Goal Option 1)
      6. reduce the trip limit to 10 fish for all commercial trips (supports Goal Options 1, 2 and 4)
3. Implementation of Addendum IV, Section 4.4, Fishery Regulation Enforcement
   1. Provision of Addendum IV:  acknowledges the existence of a high market demand for small, live tautog, and the need for aggressive compliance and enforcement measures in light of this demand
   2. Goal of Implementation Plan:  assure compliance with commercial fishing regulations, with particular emphasis on improving compliance by participants in supply/purveying fish for the live fish market
   3. Regulatory Options
      1. prohibit possession, sale and trafficking in live tautog.
      2. require all persons, conveyances and storage facilities that handle live tautog to be registered with DEC, to display a registration decal, and to report all tautog purchase and sale transactions.
      3. see relevant options under I and II above.
      4. provide for mandatory license/permit revocations for violations of commercial tautog regulations and/or for forfeiture of equipment and conveyances involved in illegal transactions.
      5. adopting equivalent regulations for cunner.

A discussion will take place regarding the above discussion draft at the 15 May 2007 Council meeting (ed. note: this has been changed to the 10 April Council meeting). 

 

 

 

Page last modified Friday, March 30, 2007 by George E. Carroll