 |
Commercial Fishingnews, events, and other information for the commercial fishing, aquaculture, and seafood industries |
 |
Article Categories
By daybreak
Published: October 10, 2008
Updated: October 10, 2008
Print
Email
NOAA Fisheries Service has authorized green-stick gear for the harvest of Atlantic tunas, including bluefin tuna (BFT), and requires a sea turtle control device in Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) pelagic longline (PLL) and bottom longline (BLL) fisheries. At this time, NOAA Fisheries Service is not authorizing harpoon gear for the harvest of Atlantic tunas in the HMS Charter/Headboat (CHB) category as originally proposed. The purpose of this final rule is to ensure fishermen harvest Atlantic tunas within quotas, size limits, or other established limitations and to distinguish green-stick fishing gear from current definitions of other authorized gear types. This final rule also addresses use of sea turtle control devices in the PLL and BLL fisheries to achieve and maintain low post-release mortality of sea turtles thus maintaining consistency with the 2004 Biological Opinion for the Atlantic PLL fishery and to increase safety at sea for fishermen when handling sea turtles caught or entangled in longline fishing gear. NOAA Fisheries Service also has revised its list of equipment models that NMFS has approved as meeting the minimum design specifications for the careful release of sea turtles caught in hook and line fisheries. Copies the final Environmental Assessment (EA), or other related documents are available on the HMS website.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randy Blankinship; telephone: (727) 824-5399, or Sarah McLaughlin; telephone: (978) 281-9260.
source: NOAA Fish News
Submit Article
Published: October 10, 2008
Updated: October 10, 2008
Print
EmailNOAA Fisheries Service has authorized green-stick gear for the harvest of Atlantic tunas, including bluefin tuna (BFT), and requires a sea turtle control device in Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) pelagic longline (PLL) and bottom longline (BLL) fisheries. At this time, NOAA Fisheries Service is not authorizing harpoon gear for the harvest of Atlantic tunas in the HMS Charter/Headboat (CHB) category as originally proposed. The purpose of this final rule is to ensure fishermen harvest Atlantic tunas within quotas, size limits, or other established limitations and to distinguish green-stick fishing gear from current definitions of other authorized gear types. This final rule also addresses use of sea turtle control devices in the PLL and BLL fisheries to achieve and maintain low post-release mortality of sea turtles thus maintaining consistency with the 2004 Biological Opinion for the Atlantic PLL fishery and to increase safety at sea for fishermen when handling sea turtles caught or entangled in longline fishing gear. NOAA Fisheries Service also has revised its list of equipment models that NMFS has approved as meeting the minimum design specifications for the careful release of sea turtles caught in hook and line fisheries. Copies the final Environmental Assessment (EA), or other related documents are available on the HMS website.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randy Blankinship; telephone: (727) 824-5399, or Sarah McLaughlin; telephone: (978) 281-9260.
source: NOAA Fish News
Submit Article