Commercial Catch and Portside Bycatch Sampling of Small Pelagic Species in the Northeast

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Commercial Catch and Portside Bycatch Sampling of
Small Pelagic Speciesin the Northeast
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• Partners and beneficiaries include
• ME DMR
• NH Fish and Game
• MA DMF
• RI DEM
• NJ Fish and Wildlife
• NMFS and NRSC
• NEFMC
• ASMFC
• GMRI
• University Research Projects
• Industry

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Overview of the Project

• Started in 2001 as commercial catch sampling of
  herring
• Expanded in 2002 to include mackerel
• Continued to include other sampling (halibut,
  urchin and shrimp)
• Expanded in 2004 to include pilot portside
  bycatch survey

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Current Status

• A three part project
• Commercial Catch Sampling
• Portside Bycatch Survey
• And
• Sampling on request for other agencies/projects

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Why ACCSP is funding small pelagic commercial
catch sampling

• NMFS port agents eliminated
• Sampling coverage not adequate
• Previously relied on industry
• Importance of long time series
• Small mackerel fishery before 2004

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Catch Sampling Herring
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Catch Sampling Mackerel
TOTAL MACKEREL LANDED IN 2004 66,587 mt NUMBER
OF LENGTH SAMPLES 1101 ACCSP FUNDED
SAMPLER 55 TOTAL MACKEREL LANDED IN
2005 46,584 mt NUMBER OF LENGTH
SAMPLES 4057 ACCSP FUNDED SAMPLER 42
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Sampling for Other Projects

• Morphometrics for NRSC
• Genetics for U Maine and U Mass
• Catch composition for GMRI acoustics
• PSP for DMR
• Spawning for ASMFC in ME, MA and NH

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Why ACCSP is funding the small pelagic portside
bycatch survey

• Before 2004 almost no observer coverage
• Specific species bycatch concerns
• Validation of at-sea coverage
• Still no coverage of the mackerel fishery
• Inexpensive method for gathering data

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Bycatch Survey Results

• A total of 118 samples to date
• In 04-05 pilot survey covered 1.5
• In 06 coverage is approaching 5
• Data used by NEFMC and ASMFC
• Mackerel sampling is about 1

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Herring Results Through 2005
TOTAL HERRING LANDED 247,829 mt NUMBER OF
BYCATCH SURVEYS 95 TOTAL WEIGHT OF HERRING
INSPECTED 3,609 mt OF LANDED WEIGHT
INSPECTED 1.5 WEIGHT OF BYCATCH 24 mt
BYCATCH 0.7 NUMBER OF SPECIES 33
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The Cost of These Programs

• Commercial Catch Sampling
• Transport, salary and supplies 65,000
• Portside Bycatch Survey
• 1-2 coverage 0
• 5 coverage (additional staff) 39,000
• Other sampling
• Morphometrics and genetics 0
• Annual ACCSP Total 104,000
• Partner Contributions 40,000

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Lessons Learned

• Overhead is the biggest expense
• Found ways to match projects so data can be
  collected simultaneously
• Industry cooperation is important and ACCSP
  projects can facilitate better relationships
• Provide deliverables to the public as well as the
  scientific community

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QUESTIONS