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Feature Articles
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Fishermen conduct SNE yellowtail survey
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This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
by Janice M. Plante
POINT JUDITH, RI - Commercial fishermen are taking part in a large-scale Southern New England yellowtail flounder stock assessment survey that's turning out to be yet another example of cooperative research at its best.
Most notably, the survey is being conducted with a flatfish net, which fishermen believe will provide a better representation of the real status of the stock compared to the typically used Yankee-style survey net.
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Samplers and observers measure, weigh, and record data on yellowtail flounder as part of a cooperative, large-scale stock assessment effort. (April Valliere/RIDFW Photo)
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The survey got underway on April 21. By late May, as Commercial Fisheries News was going to press, the participating industry vessels - the Heather Lynn and the Mary Elena - were wrapping up the survey's fourth and final spring leg.
"It has been a tremendous collaborative effort on the part of the industry," said April Valliere of the Rhode Island Division of Fish & Wildlife (RIDFW).
Valliere is overseeing the project, which was made possible through a $739,189 grant from the Cooperative Research Partners Initiative (CRPI).
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Northeast Regional Office in Gloucester administers the CRPI program. Earl Meredith is the program's director.
In addition to RIDFW and the commercial fishing industry, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center is a partner in the project.
Over the course of the four spring legs, the Heather Lynn and Mary Elena made 300 tows.
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The bag is tripped, above. Below, a ripe mature female. (April Valliere/RIDFW Photos)
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Half were randomly selected, but fishermen from New Bedford to Shinnecock to Cape May with historical knowledge of traditional yellowtail bottom pinpointed the other 150.
In October and November, the commercial survey boats will head out again to conduct 300 more tows. Half will be random, while the other half will be the same industry-selected tows used in the spring.
"The industry tows will become our fixed tows," said Valliere.
The Southern New England yellowtail survey was timed to run "right on the heels" of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's spring and fall bottom trawl surveys, explained Valliere.
The plan is that the abundance, distribution, habitat, and biological information generated from the yellowtail survey will supplement the science center's data and serve to improve stock assessments for yellowtail, which in turn will improve the management advice.
The Nantucket Lightship Closed Area, which has been off limits to groundfishing since 1994 to protect what at the time were large concentrations of juvenile yellowtails, will come under particular scrutiny. Many fishermen believe the boundaries of that area need to be redefined.
In addition to Steven Follett's Heather Lynn, which is also being operated during some legs by Kevin Jones, and Scott Westcott's Mary Elena, project coordinators have lined up Chris Roebuck's Karen Elizabeth to serve as a back-up vessel for the project.
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Crew, samplers, and observers work side-by-side aboard the Heather Lynn, above and below. (April Valliere/RIDFW Photos)
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The three Point Judith-based vessels were selected because they possess similar characteristics, fishing efficiency, gear, and captains with expertise in Southern New England.
"We wanted boats with similar equipment and fishermen with a lot of experience in the area," said Valliere.
Throughout the survey, each boat has been carrying three-to-four observers to collect the necessary data.
Plus, DFW and participating vessels have tried to avoid fixed gear by communicating with the Rhode Island Lobstermen's Association, the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, and the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Association (AOLA).
The effort has paid off.
"So far, things seem to be going well," said AOLA Executive Director Bonnie Spinazzola. "There haven't been a lot of gear interactions."
The yellowtail survey proposal went through several layers of scrutiny before it received funding. It was eventually selected as a cooperative research priority by an Industry Based Survey (IBS) design team, which was convened by the Gulf of Maine Aquarium under a CRPI contract.
The IBS team also supported a yellowtail tagging component to the project that will be carried out soon by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The team's other research priority was a Gulf of Maine cod survey.
Although the $739,189 of CRPI funding is only enough to cover this year's yellowtail survey, project participants already plan to seek additional cooperative research funds for next year.
"We're hoping this survey will go on for numerous years," said Valliere.
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