BOSTON, MA - Plans are being finalized to conduct an additional monkfish survey, this time using gillnetters.
    It will be a follow up to the highly successful 2001 survey of the resource done cooperatively by trawl fishermen, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Fisheries Science Center researchers, and others.
    In mid-January, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) was looking for at least four gillnetters interested in participating in a March 16-May 31 monkfish project.
    "The survey will cover areas potentially with a different size range of monkfish and with a proportionately greater amount of larger fish than taken in the trawl survey," DMF said.
    DMF is coordinating the industry-based survey project in cooperation with the School of Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth through the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute, which was officially established in November. Other partners in the project are Rutgers University's Haskin Shellfish Lab and the industry group Monkfish Defense Fund.
    The project is being paid for by a $290,000 NMFS cooperative research grant. The gillnet survey was originally scheduled for the spring of 2002, but funding uncertainties and project approval difficulties forced its postponement until this year.
    According to Rick Marks, professional staff with the Washington, DC-area lobbying firm of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, NMFS authorized a roll-over of the grant money to 2003.
    Participating vessels will sample inshore and offshore stations to identify monkfish size/age distributions by depth with the goal of filling in gaps where NMFS trawl surveys have not been conducted or might be inefficient.
    Vessels will be chartered and used as research platforms, Marks said. Fish caught as part of the project will not be allowed to be sold, but will be returned to the sea as a condition of the NMFS permits necessary for the research to proceed.
    DMF was fine-tuning a preliminary "blueprint" on gear specifications and operational procedures in mid-January and was asking fishermen to put in their two-cents.
    Specifically, DMF was looking for fishermen's thoughts about net mesh and twine size, hang dimensions, tie downs, net length, soak time, setting patterns, hauling procedures, time of day for setting, and more.

    The project has been set up to pay for 30 at-sea days each in the northern and southern monkfish fishing areas.
    However, on Dec. 3 NMFS published a final rule imposing permanent seasonal restrictions on large-mesh gillnetting activities south of Chincoteague, VA to protect sea turtles.
    Not only has the action displaced many fishermen, but it has created a serious complication for the research project, according to Marks.
    "This is a significant change to the amount of water that can be fished," he said.
    For more on the sea turtle closures, call the NMFS Division of Protected Resources at (978) 281-9328.
    Gillnetters interested in participating in the monkfish survey, which is still moving forward despite the turtle issues, should call DMF's David Pierce at (617) 626-1532 for more information.