MRAC November 8, 2017

ASMFC Tautog Amendment 1 LIS Regional Boundary from Orient, NY to Watch Hill, RI. LIS Regional Reduction: 20.3% Both Commercial and Recreational Recreational: 16” min size, 3 fish, -11 days in fall Open all of April with 2 fish Suggested (2018) fall season: Fri Oct. 5 – Mon Dec. 3 Commercial reduction through season

ASMFC Tautog Amendment 1 - continued LIS Current Open Season: April 8 – End of February Possible Options for 20.3%: May 26 – December 31 May 22 – November 30 May 21 – November 21 Mid-season closure? Provide suggestions. This will be the subject of a public hearing

ASMFC Tautog Amendment 1 - continued NY-NJ Bight Region: 2% reduction Commercial reduction through loss of season Recreational: 16” min size, 4 fish, -2 days in fall Open all of April with 2 fish Suggested (2018) fall season: Fri Oct. 5 – Wed Dec. 12 Commercial tagging implementation (both regions) … 2019? Requires further development with ASMFC.

ASMFC Tautog Amendment 1 - continued NYB Current Open Season: April 8 – End of February Possible Options for 2.0%: April 8 – January 18 April 20 – End of February Mid-season closure? Provide suggestions. This will be the subject of a public hearing

MRIP Harvest Estimates Through Wave 4   NEW YORK ESTIMATED HARVEST THRU AUGUST (NO. FISH) MRIP SUMMER FLOUNDER BLACK SEA BASS 2016 695,283 525,326 2017 188,774 115,877 Summer Flounder: Coastwide harvest is down 49% NY harvest is down 72% 2018 RHL increases by ~17% Black Sea Bass: Coastwide harvest is down 23% NY harvest is down 78% 2018 RHL decreases by ~15%

Wave 1 Recreational Black Sea Bass Fishery Approved by the Council and the Commission in October Proposal: February 1-28, 12.5”, 15 fish for all (FH and private) States can opt out of participation If NY participates, NY has to pay back its “share” This will be taken off our allowable 2018 recreational harvest Wave 1 landings largely based upon VTR data Participating vessels would have to cooperate with Marine Resources requests for sampling A more formal program will be in place for 2019 Does NY want to participate? Could cost about a week of the regular season

ASMFC - Lobster November 8, 2017

SNE Lobster Workgroup recommendations Don’t reconsider Addendum XXV Review goal & objectives for SNE management Engage with Climate change work group Include SNE stock changes in 2020 Stock Assessment LCMTs develop proposals to reduce latent effort in LCMAs 4, 5, and 6

Lobster/Jonah Crab Draft Addendum NY public hearing January 9, 2018 at 6:30 pm at Marine Resources Headquarters Reporting % of harvesters required to report (NY 100%, ME 10%) Should additional information be collected What scale should spatial data be collected Biological sampling Expansion offshore

LCMA 4 state/federal inconsistencies Dual permit holders in LCMA 4 do not need to remove gear from other LCMAs during LCMA 4 closed season NY/NJ/NMFS will work together on conservation equivalency proposal for LCMA 4 to address issues about removal of lobster pots from federal waters during LCMA 4 closed season.

Thank You Kim McKown Biologist 2 Marine 205 Belle Meade Rd, East Setauket, NY 11733 Kim.mckown@dec.ny.gov 631-444-0454 Connect with us: Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYSDEC Twitter: twitter.com/NYSDEC Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec

Potential Striped Bass Tag Reductions for 26" Minimum Size Numbers are subject to approval by ASMFC Numbers may change due to number of permits and/or average wt. of 2017 fish slot size   quota (lbs) part share tags full share tags 28 - 38" TL current 795,795 34 211 26 - 38" TL 26" minimum 670,631 31 188 -3 -23

Safe Harbor Bill signed by the Governor of NYS on August 21, 2017. The bill amended Title 9 Enforcement of Articles 11 and 13 Allowed for commercial fishing vessels operating under other state’s permits to dock in NY ports and potentially land fish if: The vessel encountered unsafe weather The vessel experiences mechanical issues making the trip unsafe Someone onboard experiences a medical emergency The vessel loses essential gear or support systems On September 17, 2017 a vessel headed to NC w/ thousands of pounds of fluke onboard requested Safe Harbor in NY due to two hurricanes moving up the Atlantic Coast

Safe Harbor - continued North Carolina agreed to transfer 3,000 lbs of fluke to cover some of the landings The fisher was allowed to land and sell a portion of the fluke onboard, and the rest of the fluke was landed and given to charity Some of NYS’s limited commercial fluke allocation was consumed by these landings Medical and mechanical issues are hard to predict and relatively easy to verify. Weather is difficult to predict and “unsafe conditions” difficult for the Agency to judge.

Safe Harbor - continued The purpose of Safe Harbor is safety at sea. The assumption, regardless of the safety issue, is that the fish will ultimately be landed in the intended, permitting state This may not always be possible. Quota transfers are not guaranteed, states don’t wish them to become the norm To protect all of New York’s commercial fishers in the future, Marine Resources propose the following policy: To continue to allow commercial vessels requesting Safe Harbor due to unsafe weather to dock in NY ports, as required by Law. However, all offloaded landings in excess of NYS trip limits for quota managed species in place at the time of the weather driven event will be required to be donated to charity, regardless of the availability of quota transfers from other states.

Commercial Licensing Meeting MRAC formed a sub-committee to work on commercial licensing issues Progress has been made on some preliminary proposals Update? Other Issues?

For-Hire Non-compliance In light of recent high profile law enforcement actions… What can be done in NYS to improve compliance by anglers, vessel operators, and crew on For-hire vessels? Change fillet-at-sea rules or fillet length must meet minimum size Fillets must retain a piece of skin w/ scales for easy species ID Retain all racks onboard until after trip All coolers onboard associated w/ a customer or no private coolers, only communal holding Hold vessel operators accountable for actions of anglers onboard Other changes? How does MRAC want to move forward on this issue?

Jonah Crab Proposed Regulations MRAC - November 8, 2017

Jonah Crab FMP and Addenda FMP Adopted (August 2015) 4.75” minimum size Directed fishery limited to lobster permit holders and lobster gear Addendum I (May 2016) Bycatch limits for non-trap gear (net, trawl, etc) 1,000 crabs per trip Bycatch limits for non-lobster gear (crab pots, etc) 1,000 crabs per trip Addendum II (February 2017) Claw Harvest: if keeping >5 gallon bucket of claws there is a 2.5” size limit Bycatch definition: Weight of Jonah crab retained must be less than target species for the trip

Jonah Crab Proposed Rules Minimum size 4.75” for whole Jonah crab for both commercial & recreational fisheries Claw only harvest option If >5 gallon bucket is kept there is a 2.5” size limit Only applies to commercial fishery, recreational fishers must harvest whole crabs. Bycatch limit Rules to give NY authority to set bycatch limits from non-trap gear & non- lobster trap gear. Gear Definitions Changes to existing gear and escape panel definitions to include all crab pot and trap gear and add additional escape panel design.

Jonah Crab Proposed Legislation Recommend the department legislative package include revisions of ECL 11-0329 to allow for lobster permit holders to directly target Jonah crab with lobster pot gear. Bycatch rules wont be enacted until this legislation is in place.

Jonah Crab Regulatory Proposal Timeline Currently Regulatory Initiation Memo has been approved Late Fall/Winter Develop regulatory package Internal review and sign off publish in DOS register – 45 day comment period Assessment of public comments (Jan - Feb 2018) April Adopt the rules

Thank You Marine Invertebrates and Protected Species Unit Rachel Sysak Rachel.Sysak@dec.ny.gov 631-444-0469 Kim McKown Kim.mckown@dec.ny.gov 631-444-0454 Connect with us: Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYSDEC Twitter: twitter.com/NYSDEC Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec

Shark/Cod/Squid Proposed Regulations MRAC - November 8, 2017

Shark/Cod/Squid Proposed Rules Purpose of the rulemaking is to ensure consistency between federal and state fishery management plans for: Coastal Sharks Atlantic Cod Longfin and Illex squid

Shark/Cod/Squid Proposed Rules Four marine issues proposed in this rule making Allow the department to adopt Federal and/or ASMFC commercial trip, and/or possession limits by reference for Large Coastal Shark (LCS) and Hammerhead shark complexes and Atlantic Cod, including no possession (fishery closure) In addition, allow the department to set commercial trip and/or possession limits for longfin and Illex squid, including no possession (fishery closure) 1. Currently New York does not have the mechanism to adjust trip limits in a timely manner and stay consistent with the ASMFC and federal rules. This creates a loophole in the federal rules, where permit holders can harvest more than the federal trip and/or possession limit and land it in New York. These amendments are being proposed to allow the department to do its part in collaboratively managing LCS and hammerhead sharks, Atlantic cod, and longfin and Ilex squid. Implementing these rules will prevent state and/or federal permit holders from overharvesting these important resources, by eliminating ports where this illegal harvest can be landed.

Shark/Cod/Squid Proposed Rules Decrease the commercial size limit for Atlantic cod from 22 to 19 inches. Prohibit the commercial and recreational possession of blacknose sharks Specify that the recreational minimum size for shark harvest is measured in fork length 2. Makes the size limit for cod in New York consistent with neighboring states and federal waters. State fishermen have a higher by-catch (they must throwback fish between 19 and 22 inches) and increased fishing effort (time and effort needed to sort out fish smaller than 22 inches). State fishermen who target cod are at a fishing disadvantage when compared to fishermen from neighboring states. 3. The ASMFC fisheries management plan for coastal sharks states that a person operating a vessel north of 34°00’ N. latitude may not possess, land or sell any Blacknose sharks. The current New York regulation contradicts this rule and specifies no possession limit for Blacknose sharks. 4. ASMFC coastal shark FMP specifies that recreational minimum size limits are measured in fork length. New York’s current shark minimum size does not specify the type of length measurement. The proposed amendment will clarify that the minimum size limit is measured as fork length. The current rules include a definition of fork length.

Regulatory Proposal Timeline Currently Regulatory Initiation Memo being developed Winter Develop regulatory package Internal review and sign off publish in DOS register – 45 day comment period Assessment of public comments Spring Adopt the rules Assuming no changes from the assessment of public comments hope to adopt the rules by this fall

Thank You Kim McKown Chris Scott MIPR Kim.mckown@dec.ny.gov Connect with us: Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYSDEC Twitter: twitter.com/NYSDEC Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/nysdec Kim McKown Chris Scott MIPR Kim.mckown@dec.ny.gov Christopher.scott@dec.ny.gov 631-444-0454 631-444-0444