# Presentation: 099539

## Draft Amendment 2 to the Consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP)

**Draft Amendment 2 to the Consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP)**

**Highly Migratory Species **
**Management Division**
**NMFS/NOAA**
**August-October 2007**

## Presentation Objectives

**The purpose of this presentation is to give you an overview of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and its proposed rule**
**This presentation will give you an overview of:**
**The current status of several shark species**
**Outline the alternatives/alternative suites analyzed in the DEIS**
**Outline the impacts of the current preferred alternative suite **
**Please send comments to the address, FAX number, or e-mail address listed at the end of this presentation.**

## Results from Latest Shark Stock Assessments 

| Species | Overfished | Overfishing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| LCS complex (2006) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Sandbar (2006) | Yes (rebuild in 70 yrs) | Yes |
| GOM Blacktip (2006) | No | No |
| Atl. Blacktip (2006) | Unknown | Unknown |
| Dusky (2006) | Yes (rebuild in 100-400 yrs) | Yes |
| Porbeagle (2005) | Yes (rebuild in 100 yrs) | No |

## Need for Action

**Based on latest stock assessments, new management measures are needed because:**
**Sandbar and dusky sharks are overfished with overfishing occurring**
**Porbeagle sharks are overfished**
**Timeframe:  Final measures effective early 2008**

## Key Topics Included in Each Alternative Suite

** ****Quotas/Species Complexes**
** ****Commercial Retention Limits**
** ****Time/Area Closures**
** ****Reporting Requirements**
** ****Seasons**
** ****Regions**
** ****Recreational Measures**

## Alternative Suites

** ****Alternative Suite 1:**** Status Quo**
**Alternative Suite 2****: Directed shark permit holders and recreational anglers**
**Alternative Suite 3****: Directed and incidental shark permit holders and recreational anglers**
***Alternative Suite 4******: Shark research fishery***
**Alternative Suite 5****: Close the Atlantic shark commercial and recreational fisheries**

## Slide 7

| Alternative suite | Quotas/
Species Complexes | Retention limits | Time/
Area Closures | Reporting | Seasons | Regions | Rec. Measures |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 4 – Shark research fishery |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## Slide 8

| Alternative suite | Quotas/Species Complexes |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | -1,017 mt dw LCS & 454 mt dw SCS 
-488 mt dw Pelagic Sharks 
-273 mt dw Blue Sharks 
-92 mt dw Porbeagle Sharks 
-19 Prohibited spp.
-60 mt ww for EFPs
-Remove or apply under and overharvest from same trimester the following year |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | -116.6 mt dw Sandbar Sharks 
-541.2 mt dw Non-Sandbar LCS 
-Status quo for SCS, Pelagics, and Blue Sharks 
-Add porbeagle sharks to Prohibited spp. list
-60 mt ww for EFPs;  2 mt dw for sandbars; no dusky sharks
-Remove overharvest from next season
-Carryover 50 percent of base quota for species that are healthy 
-No carryover for species that are overfished, have overfishing occurring, or have unknown status |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -No commercial quotas for Atlantic shark; all shark prohibited |

## Slide 9

| Alternative suite | Commercial Retention limits |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | SKD: 4,000 lb dw LCS trip limit; no trip limit for SCS or pelagics
SKI: 5 LCS and 16 pelagics & SCS combined per trip |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | SKD: 8 sandbar sharks and 21 non-sandbar LCS per trip; no trip limit for SCS or pelagics
SKI: no retention of sharks
-All sharks landed with fins on
-No sandbar sharks with PLL gear onboard |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | SKD & SKI: 4 sandbar sharks and 10 non-sandbar LCS per trip
-No trip limit for SCS and pelagics for SKD
-16 pelagics & SCS combined for SKI
-All sharks landed with fins on
 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Within Research Fishery: higher trip limits of sandbar and non-sandbar LCS than fishermen outside the research fishery
-Outside of Research Fishery: no retention of sandbar sharks; 22 non-sandbar LCS per trip for SKI & SKD; 
-No trip limit for SCS and pelagics for SKD
-16 pelagics & SCS combined for SKI
-All sharks landed with fins on |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -No retention of any shark species |

## Slide 10

| Alternative suite | Time/Area Closures |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | -Maintain current HMS time/area closures |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | -Maintain current HMS time/area closures
-Implement the 8 preferred South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (SAFMC) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico regions closed for shark fishing |

## Slide 11

## Slide 12

| Alternative suite | Reporting |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | -Current observer, logbooks, dealer weigh-outs requirements |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | -Dealer reporting with 24 hours of receiving shark products
-Status quo for logbooks and observers
-All unclassified sharks = sandbar sharks |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | -Dealer reports received by NMFS within 10 days of end of reporting period
-logbooks, observers, & unclassified shark designation same as alternative suite 2 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Scientific observer reports would be used to monitor landings in shark research fishery
-Dealer reports received by NMFS within 10 days of end of reporting period would be used to monitor landings outside research fishery |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -Need to improve logbook discard reporting for Coastal Fisheries Logbook
-Place observers in longline & gillnet fisheries to monitor shark bycatch |

## Slide 13

| Alternative suite | Seasons |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | -Trimesters (January – April; May – August; & September – December) |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | -One season
-Close both sandbar and non-sandbar LCS fisheries when either reaches 80%; season would close within 5 days of a notice filing with the Federal Register (FR)
-Pelagics and SCS fisheries would close when their respective quotas reach 80%; season would close within 5 days of a notice filing with the FR |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Same as alternative suite 2
 |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -No commercial seasons |

## Slide 14

| Alternative suite | Regions |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | -North Atlantic
-South Atlantic
-Gulf of Mexico |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | -One region |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | -Same as alternative suite 2
 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Same as alternative suite 2
 |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -No commercial regions |

## Slide 15

| Alternative suite | Recreational Measures |
| --- | --- |
| 1 – Status Quo | -1 shark > 54” FL vessel/trip (except prohibited species) + 1 Atlantic sharpnose and 1 bonnethead per person/trip |
| 2 – SKD permit holders and rec. anglers | -Status quo size and bag limit
-Recreational anglers can only land: bonnethead, Atlantic sharpnose, nurse, tiger, lemon, smooth hammerhead, great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, shortfin mako, common thresher, oceanic whitetip, and blue sharks |
| 3 – SKD & SKI permit holders and rec. anglers | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 4 – Shark research fishery | -Same as alternative suite 2 |
| 5 – Close Atlantic Shark Fisheries | -Catch and release only |

## Summary of Preferred Alternative Suite 4

**Sandbars = 116.6 mt dw ; non-sandbar LCS = 541.2 mt dw**
_**Small research fishery**_**: sandbar sharks & other sharks species can be landed (except prohib. spp.)**
_**Outside research fishery**_**: no sandbar retention & 22 non-sandbar LCS trip limit for SKI and SKD**
**Status quo SCS and pelagic quotas and retention limits for all fishermen; porbeagle sharks prohibited**
**8 SAFMC MPAs; Sharks landed with fins attached**
**1 region and 1 season; dealer reports **_***received***_** by NMFS within 10 days of end of reporting period**
**Close sandbar and non-sandbar LCS when either quota reaches 80% with 5 day FR notice; all unclassified  sharks = sandbar sharks**
**Status quo recreational size and bag limits**
**Authorized recreational species: ****bonnethead, Atlantic sharpnose, nurse, tiger, lemon, 3 hammerhead spp., shortfin mako, common thresher, oceanic whitetip, and blue sharks**

## Impacts of Preferred Alternative Suite 4

| ALTERNATIVE SUITE | ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS
(compared to Status Quo) | ECONOMIC IMPACTS
(compared to Status Quo) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Suite 4 – Establish a small shark research fishery (Preferred Alternative Suite)  | -Positive ecological impacts are anticipated  
-Reduce landings of sandbar sharks from ~728 mt dw to 116.6 mt dw/year and non-sandbar LCS from 582 to 541.2 mt dw/year
-Increase discards of sandbar sharks from 9.6 mt dw/year to 13.1 mt dw/year but overall catch and discards below the recommended TAC  
-Reduce discards of non-sandbar LCS from 153.3 mt dw to 56.6 mt dw/year and dusky sharks from 33.2 mt dw to 9.2 mt dw/year
-Reduce landings of porbeagle sharks by 1.6 mt dw/year; nominal increase in porbeagle discards     | -Fishery-wide estimated losses in gross revenues from reduced sandbar and non-sandbar LCS landings: $1.8 million/year
-Negative economic impacts for fishermen operating outside of the research fishery since they cannot land sandbar sharks
-Total gross revenues for 5-10 vessels operating inside the research fishery from sandbar and non-sandbar LCS landings: $490K/year ($98K - $49K/vessel)
-Total gross revenues for all vessels operating outside of research fishery from non-sandbar LCS landings: $1.5 million/year
-Limited access and IFQ systems in other fisheries may not allow shark fishermen to redistribute effort to other BLL & gillnet fisheries
  |

## Number of Potential Affected Permit Holders

**Currently, there are 231 directed, 298 incidental, and 269 shark dealer permits**
**An average of 129 vessels with directed shark permits and 62 vessels with incidental shark permits reported sandbar shark landings each year from 2003-2005 (*****i.e*****., active vessels)**
**Since only a few vessels (*****i.e.,***** 5-10) would participate in the shark research fishery, ~129 directed shark permit holders and ~62 incidental shark permit holders would be affected by the preferred alternative suite**
**Most directed and incidental shark permit holders are in the states of Florida, New Jersey, and North Carolina; most shark dealers are in Florida and North and South Carolina**

## Other Items in the Proposed Rule

**Timing of shark stock assessments**
**Timing of the release of the HMS Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report each year**
**Updating dehooking requirements for smalltooth sawfish**
**Clarifying that dealer reports need to be species specific**
**Clarifying the definition of who needs a dealer permit to receive shark products; 1****st**** receiver of sharks products would be required to have a shark dealer permit**

## Modify Timing of Stock Assessments and HMS SAFE Report

**Alternative 6**** – maintain shark stock assessments every 2 – 3 years (status quo)**
***Alternative 7****** – conduct shark stock assessments at least every 5 years – preferred alternative***
**Alternative 8**** – maintain the release of the HMS SAFE report as Jan. or Feb. of every year (status quo)**
***Alternative 9****** – have the HMS SAFE report published in the fall of every year – preferred alternative***

## Update Dehooking Requirements for Smalltooth Sawfish

**When the 2003  Biological Opinion (BiOp) for the shark BLL and gillnet fisheries was issued, dehookers were not allowed to assist in the dehooking of smalltooth sawfish**
**Updates were made to the 2003 BiOp on March 23, 2007, allowing dehookers to be used, if possible, to dehook smalltooth sawfish**
**This rule would update the handling and release procedures for smalltooth sawfish to reflect modifications to the 2003 BiOp**

## Proposed Rule Hearings

| Date | Time | Hearing Location | Hearing Address |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wed., Aug. 8, 2007 | 6-8:50 p.m. | Manahawkin Public Library | 129 N. Main St., Manahawkin, NJ 08050 |
| Wed., Aug. 8, 2007 | 6-9 p.m. | SEFSC, Panama City Laboratory | 3500 Delwood Beach Dr., Panama City, FL 32408 |
| Tues., Aug. 14, 2007 | 6-9 p.m.
 | Bayou Black Recreational Center | 3688 Southdown Mandalay Rd., Houma, LA 70360 |
| Wed., Aug. 22, 2007 | 6:30-9:30 p.m. | City of Madeira Beach | 300 Municipal Dr., Madeira Beach, FL 33708 |
| Thurs., Aug. 23, 2007 | 5:30-8:30 p.m.
 | Fort Pierce Library | 101 Melody Lane, Fort Pierce, FL 34950 |
| Wed., Aug. 29, 2007 | 6-9 p.m.
 | Ocean Pines Public Library | 11107 Cathell Rd., Berlin, MD 21811 |
| Wed., Sept. 5, 2007 | 6-9 p.m. | University of Texas, Marine Science Institute | Visitor’s Center, 750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, TX 78373 |
| Thurs., Sept. 6, 2007 | 5-8 p.m. | Islamorada Public Library | 81500 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, FL 33036 |
| Monday, Sept. 10, 2007 | 6-9 p.m. | Manteo Town Hall | 407 Budleigh St., Manteo, NC 27954 |
| Monday, Sept. 17, 2007 | 5:30-8:30 p.m. | Portsmouth Public Library | 175 Parrott Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 |

## Tentative Timeline

**Scoping – ****~January 2007 - ****Completed**
**Predraft – ****~March 2007 AP meeting - ****Completed**
**Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Proposed Rule: ****Summer 2007, 75 day comment period – ****Current Stage**
**Final EIS: ****Late Fall 2007**
**Final Rule: ****Late Fall/Early Winter 2007****; Effective ****Early 2008**
**Send Comments by 5pm October 10, 2007:**
**Michael Clark, HMS Management Division, F/SF1, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 – indicate “Comments on Amendment 2 to the HMS FMP” on envelope**
**SHKA2@noaa.gov**
**FAX: 301-713-1917 - indicate “Comments on Amendment 2 to the HMS FMP” **