# Presentation: 791901

## HMS Management Overview  Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel

- September 30 – October 2, 2008

## Rulemaking/Operations Update

- Since the April 2008 AP meeting,
- Published 1 proposed rule with 2 more in progress
- Published 4 final rules, including Shark Amendment 2
- Published Draft EFH Amendment 1
- Conducted Scoping for Small Coastal Shark Amendment 3 & Caribbean Amendment 4
- Issued 31 EFPs, SRPs, & LOAs to date for 2008
- Oversaw 77 workshops to date
- ~2,300 people receiving Atlantic HMS News to date

## Draft EFH Amendment 1

- Phase 1 of EFH 5-year review – Consolidated HMS FMP; presented updated data
- Phase 2 updates EFH and considers measures to minimize fishing impacts
- NOI to prepare EIS published Nov 7, 2006
- Scoping at March & Oct 2007 AP meetings
- NOA of Draft Amendment 1 published Sept 19, 2008
- 		- Comment period closes November 18
- Proposes new Habitat Area of Particular Concern for BFT in Gulf of Mexico

## Final Shark Amendment 2 & Beyond

- Proposed rule & DEIS published July 27
- 	- Public hearings/consultations Aug & Sept
- 	- Comment period extended until Nov 2; reopened until 	Dec 17
- FEIS delivered to EPA on April 11, 2008
- Final rule published June 24, 2008 with printing errors; Corrected publication July 15, 2008
- 2008 Research Fishery Underway
- 2009 Specifications & research fishery notice coming soon
- Florida fisheries disaster declaration request

## Small Coastal Shark Amendment 3

- Notice of Intent to Prepare EIS published May 7, 2008
- Blacknose sharks are overfished/overfishing occurring; a rebuilding plan must be implemented
- Notice of Availability of Issues/Options presentation & scoping meetings published July 2, 2008
- 5 scoping meetings to be held plus consultations with 5 Regional Councils & 2 Interstate Commissions
- Comment period closes October 31, 2008

## Caribbean Amendment 4

- Intended to address authorized gears, permitting & data collection in Puerto Rico & USVI
- Pre-scoping – Winter 2007/2008
- Notice of Intent to Prepare EIS published May 27, 2008
- Notice of Availability of Issues/Options paper & scoping meetings published July 14, 2008
- 5 scoping meetings to be held plus consultations with 5 Regional Councils & 2 Interstate Commissions
- Comment period closes October 31, 2008

## International Trade Monitoring

- HMS International Trade Permit –
- Proposed rule published April 4, 2008
- Final rule published June 2, 2008; Effective July 2, 2008
- Implements Rec 07-10 for BFT Catch Document program, replacing the BSD program
- ITP required for shark fin importers
- Resident Agent must hold ITP for foreign importers
- “Received-by” date & biweekly reporting coordination among ITP and BFT dealers
- MS Reauthorization import def.; HTS code updates
- Links to Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) & International Trade Data System (ITDS)

## Bluefin Tuna Specifications

- 2008 Specs: Implemented annual BFT quota and General and Angling Category effort controls
- Final Rule: Published Dec 31, 2007; effective: Jan 30 – Dec 31, 2008
- 2008 Base Quota: 1,165.1mt ww
- 2008 Adjusted Quota:  1,668.9 mt ww
- Additional 25 mt set-aside to account for BFT bycatch in NED PLL fishery
- 2 Inseason actions
- Angling category reduction of lg school/sm med limit from 2 to 1, effective Feb 10 – Dec 31;
- General category at 3 lg med/giant, effective Sept 1 – Dec 31
- 2009 Specs pending ICCAT annual meeting

## Bluefin Tuna Continued

- Gulf of Mexico 100% observer coverage
- PLL vessels; goal to obtain comprehensive view of stock & fishery on spawning grounds
- March 9 – June 9
- International assessment conducted in June; results in review; SCRS meeting underway
- International management measures major focus at ICCAT in November

## Tuna Longline Permits

- Proposed Rule: Published April 11, 2008
- Final Rule: Published July 3, 2008; Effective August 4, 2008
- Eliminated one-year sunset provision for tuna LL permits & allowed renewal of tuna LL permits if expired for more than one year if SWO (other than handgear) & SHK LAP maintained; SWO & SHK renewal requirements maintained
- Requires SHK dealers, if a proxy is sent, to be certified for each location *where sharks are received *(not each location on permit)

## Gear Authorization

- Proposed rule published May 6, 2008
- Final rule published Sept 23, 2008
- Authorizes Green-Stick gear for Atlantic tunas, including BFT in General, Charter/Headboat, and Longline categories
- Does NOT authorize Harpoon use for BFT or BAYS in Charter/Headboat category
- Comments mixed: some support, considerable opposition
- Agency concerns regarding BFT stock status, enforcement issues, & relative lack of public support
- Requires one additional sea turtle safe handling and release gear in PLL and BLL fisheries

## Swordfish 2008 Specifications

| SWO SPECS | 2007 | 2008 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| NSWO Base | 2,937.6 mt dw | 2,937.6 mt dw |
| NSWO Adjusted | 4,406.4 mt dw | 4,406.4 mt dw |
| SSWO Base | 75.2 mt dw | 75.2 mt dw |
| SSWO Adjusted | 150.4 mt dw | 150.4 mt dw |

-  Proposed rule to adjust 2008 quotas based on 2007 landings anticipated to publish early October
-  Considering allowance for chartering arrangements using foreign vessels

## Recreational Swordfish Issues

- Non-Tournament SWO Landings
- CY 2004: 290
- CY 2005: 388
- CY 2006: 549
- CY 2007: 716
- CY 2008: 234 (to date)

-     2008 Non-tournament landings are currently far below recent years even though recreational retention limits were increased in 2007
-     Increased fuel prices?
-     Reduced availability of fish?
-     Reduced interest?
-     Reduced compliance with reporting requirements?

## Recreational Billfish Issues

-  Preliminary Marlin Landings
-     CY 2007: 59 BUM; 39 WHM = 98 total
-     CY 2008: 42 BUM; 19 WHM = 61 total (to date)
-  Preliminary Sailfish Landings
-     CY 2008: 113 total (to date)
-  Tournament C-hook regulations effective Jan. 1, 2008
-  Non-tournament BLF/SWO reporting website “live”
-  2008 tournaments ~251
-  Distribution of NC SeaGrant C-hook DVDs to BLF tournaments ongoing
-  Potential underreporting of tournament landed BLF and SWO

## PLL Closed Area Research

- Notice of Availability of Final EA published on January 3, 2008
- Goals of research:
- 1) Collect baseline data in closed areas under current fishery conditions; 2) Evaluate existing bycatch reduction measures, and 3) Collect data to examine the effectiveness of existing area closures to meet current conservation and harvesting goals
- Conditions:
- Max of 3 boats (only 2 fishing at one time), 289 sets (145 in closed areas) w/500 18/0 non-offset circle hooks, 100% observer coverage

## PLL Closed Area Research:Results thru July 2008

- 9 trips completed (2 vessels) from February – July 2008
- 40 sets with 18/0 non-offset circle hooks
- Highest SWO CPUE in Charleston Bump
- No bluefin tuna
- Closed Area:
- SWO: 173 kept, 57 released alive, 65 dd
- 1 white marlin, 1 blue marlin, & 4 sailfish (3 sailfish dd)
- Open Area:
- SWO: 112 kept, 12 released alive, 20 dd
- 7 white marlin (3 dd), 17 sailfish (5 dd), 16 blue marlin (3 dd), & 6 white marlin/roundscale spearfish (1 dd)
- 3 turtles: 1 loggerhead in open area, 2 leatherback in closed areas, all released alive with no trailing gear

## Workshops

- Protected Resources Handling & Release
- Pelagic & bottom longline & shark gillnet vessel owners & operators
- Required for permit renewal starting in 2007
- 53 workshops held to date
- 1,039 (including 122 grandfathered) certificates issued
- Shark Carcass Identification
- Shark dealer modification proposed
- Required as of Jan 2008
- 24 workshops held to date
- 328 certificates issued
- Outreach
- Certified mailing & press release when HMS FMP final rule published; directed mailings to permit holders quarterly; HMS workshops webpage; list serve notices; fact sheets

## Exempted Fishing Permits

- 2008 to date – total 31
- 18 EFPs
- 1 Scientific Research Permits
- 6 SHK display
- 6 SHK letters of acknowledgement
- 2006 - 44 total; 2007 - 41 total
- All require some level of analysis

## Litigation Update

- Blue Ocean Institute
- Challenges NMFS denying their petition for BFT spawning area/time closure in Gulf of Mexico
- Administrative record contested; Agency prevailed
- Briefing complete; awaiting Court decision
- Southern Offshore Fishing Assoc 1st 2008 shark season rule
- Agency was granted summary judgment on all counts

## Operations/Other

- Modernization of BFT dealer reporting underway
- Internal workshop on integration of HMS datasets held in September
- Development of web-fillable BFT international trade reports underway
- Partnership with Enforcement regarding international dealer compliance

## Suggestions from April 2008 APCompleted

- Renew/issue lapsed permits for tuna LL
- Authorize green-stick gear for tunas, inc. BFT
- Clearly define green-stick gear to minimize confusion
- Require gear to restrain turtles; one may be sufficient
- Allow landings of blacktip, spinner, & bull sharks in recreational fishery
- Improve education for SHK recreational species ID

## Suggestions from April 2008 APUnderway

- Conduct time/area research
- Create BLF recreational landings update
- Improve SWO marketing

## Suggestions from April 2008 APUnder Consideration

- Permits:
- Renew/issue lapsed permits
- Allow permit leasing
- Establish gear-based permits
- Use or lose permit requirement
- Reopen SWO handgear permits
- Create SWO General category permit
- Eliminate triple permit requirement for squid trawlers
- Change CHB SWO retention limit to 1/person
- Improve dealer reporting, i.e., electronic reporting
- Require circle hooks on buoy gear
- Adjust PLL incidental catch limits to reduce BFT discards

## Conclusion/Looking Forward

- Rulemaking schedule is quite full
- Operational activities continue
- Your input is valued
- We need you to take the information from the AP meeting back to your constituents & give us feedback

## Questions?

- Thank you!