River Herring Bycatch Avoidance
River Herring Bycatch Avoidance in the Atlantic Herring and Mackerel Fishery
Midwater Trawl Vessels
Mike Armstrong, PhD Bill Hoffman Brad Schondelmeier
Kevin Stokesbury, PhD Dave Bethoney, PhD Ray Jarvis
Rhode Island Bottom Trawl Vessels
Presentation Overview 1. Introduction and Program History 2. Portside Sampling – MA DMF Objectives, Design, Improvements, Results
3. River Herring Bycatch Avoidance– MA DMF/SMAST/ MWT and RI SMBT Objectives, Design, Improvements, Results
4. Program Evaluation – Does it work? Shortcomings, Successes and Take-aways
5. Future Steps – Short and Long Term Massachusetts MarineFisheries
Introduction - Participating Fisheries • Midwater Trawl Vessels (MWT)- Avg. 61,653mt/year since 2008 - Concentrate on MA landings only (>63% of MWT landings from Area1A, 1B, 2)
Credit: JJ Johnson
• Small-mesh Bottom Trawl Vessels (SMBT)- Avg. 4,500mt/year since 2008 -
Concentrate on RI landings only (>85% of BOT herring landings)
Credit: www.boatbanter.com
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
1. Program History
MA DMF Portside Sampling Program 1 Full-time Biologist
Rhode Island Smallmesh BT vessels
MA-based MWT Vessels
NFWF funds 50% MA/MWT sampling, RHBA Program
TNC funds RI SMBT sampling, extension of RHBA Program
TNC funds both MWT and RI SMBT RHBAs Bridge $ gap to RSA
RSA… RI SMBT MWT Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF
OBJECTIVES: • Sample 50%+ of MWT trips, as many RI SMBT trips as $ allows •
Provide RH%, tow locations to RHBA program daily
•
Collect river herring LFs and fish samples
•
Supplement NEFOP sampling
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF DESIGN: • Representative, whole-boat samples ⁻ Subsampling of unsorted landings Expand species %s to hail weight of vessel • ID all fish to species level – 100 randomLFs on target spp
• LFs on all priority spp (RH, GF) • Digital, waterproof scales ⁻ More accurate weights, fewer samplers needed
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling IMPROVMENTS:
MA DMF
2008-2010 Subsample, Lot sample and Census samples Co-sampled Trip (Portside vs. At-sea) Analysis 1. Cieri/Corriea (July 2010, 52 trips) “Relatively low levels of agreement of occurrence”, “no correlations between PS and AS estimates of trip weight” 2. Dean (May 2011, 30 trips) Lot and Census sampling not representative of NEFOP sampling
2012-current Only subsamples of unsorted fish, whole-boat offloads sampled
Micah Dean 2011
From Dean 2011: “None of the trips where both protocols [Portside Unsorted (PU) and At-sea (AS)] detected a species had significant differences in bycatch estimates,” and… “For the 24 trips that were sampled by both methods, 75% had a higher sample size under PU sampling. As a result, the average CV from PU sampling was 42% less than that achieved under AS on the same trips.” Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF RESULTS: Grant/ Fishery
% Coverage
# Trips Sampled
Tons Sampled
By trip
By wgt
# Vessels Sampled
NFWF (MWT) Oct’10-May’13
271
55,528
50%
53%
13
TNC (SMBT)
Dec’11-current
230
6,241
31%
32%
8
TNC (MWT)
Dec’13-current
30
5,271
prelim
prelim
11
Time Period
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF RESULTS: 301 trips (and 61,759 mt) for $288,906 in MWT fishery (since 2010) 230 trips (and 5,106 mt) for $101,297 in SMBT fishery (since 2011) Costs include: – – – – –
Contracting of Portside Samplers 1 Field Coordinator (75%MWT/25%SMBT) Indirect Supples SMAST support Cost / Trip
2010
MWT-NFWF $
2011
446.97 $
1,066.73 $
$
- $
SMBT-TNC
Cost / 100mt MWT-NFWF SMBT-TNC
2010 $
2012
2011
2013
2014 $
1,040.05
523.43 $
440.42
959.06 $ 1,562.27 674.08 $
2012
325.92 $
2013
2.15 $
5.26 $
4.61 $
8.26
$
- $
18.72 $
24.08 $
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
TOTAL
2014
TOTAL $
5.12
19.97 $
19.84
3. River Herring Bycatch Avoidance Programs MADMF/SMAST/MWT/SMBT OBJECTIVES: • NFWF – Reduce RH bycatch by 50%, bycatch reduction independent of management action • TNC – Replicate NFWF RHBA, make data available to managers, modernize communications with vessels • Increase fishermen’s awareness of RH bycatch issues/trends
2013 MWT Grids Observed bycatch Mid-Water trawls 2000-Sept2010 35 tows (of ≈350) > 2,000kg 80% of bycatch by weight
• Create data communication system High: Alosine weight >1.25% of target species weight Moderate: Alosine weight between 1.25% and 0.2% Low: Alosine weight 50%
SMAST Classify Trip Create Advisory Data in
Midwater Trawl Vessels
Mike Armstrong, PhD Bill Hoffman Brad Schondelmeier
Kevin Stokesbury, PhD Dave Bethoney, PhD Ray Jarvis
Rhode Island Bottom Trawl Vessels
Presentation Overview 1. Introduction and Program History 2. Portside Sampling – MA DMF Objectives, Design, Improvements, Results
3. River Herring Bycatch Avoidance– MA DMF/SMAST/ MWT and RI SMBT Objectives, Design, Improvements, Results
4. Program Evaluation – Does it work? Shortcomings, Successes and Take-aways
5. Future Steps – Short and Long Term Massachusetts MarineFisheries
Introduction - Participating Fisheries • Midwater Trawl Vessels (MWT)- Avg. 61,653mt/year since 2008 - Concentrate on MA landings only (>63% of MWT landings from Area1A, 1B, 2)
Credit: JJ Johnson
• Small-mesh Bottom Trawl Vessels (SMBT)- Avg. 4,500mt/year since 2008 -
Concentrate on RI landings only (>85% of BOT herring landings)
Credit: www.boatbanter.com
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
1. Program History
MA DMF Portside Sampling Program 1 Full-time Biologist
Rhode Island Smallmesh BT vessels
MA-based MWT Vessels
NFWF funds 50% MA/MWT sampling, RHBA Program
TNC funds RI SMBT sampling, extension of RHBA Program
TNC funds both MWT and RI SMBT RHBAs Bridge $ gap to RSA
RSA… RI SMBT MWT Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF
OBJECTIVES: • Sample 50%+ of MWT trips, as many RI SMBT trips as $ allows •
Provide RH%, tow locations to RHBA program daily
•
Collect river herring LFs and fish samples
•
Supplement NEFOP sampling
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF DESIGN: • Representative, whole-boat samples ⁻ Subsampling of unsorted landings Expand species %s to hail weight of vessel • ID all fish to species level – 100 randomLFs on target spp
• LFs on all priority spp (RH, GF) • Digital, waterproof scales ⁻ More accurate weights, fewer samplers needed
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling IMPROVMENTS:
MA DMF
2008-2010 Subsample, Lot sample and Census samples Co-sampled Trip (Portside vs. At-sea) Analysis 1. Cieri/Corriea (July 2010, 52 trips) “Relatively low levels of agreement of occurrence”, “no correlations between PS and AS estimates of trip weight” 2. Dean (May 2011, 30 trips) Lot and Census sampling not representative of NEFOP sampling
2012-current Only subsamples of unsorted fish, whole-boat offloads sampled
Micah Dean 2011
From Dean 2011: “None of the trips where both protocols [Portside Unsorted (PU) and At-sea (AS)] detected a species had significant differences in bycatch estimates,” and… “For the 24 trips that were sampled by both methods, 75% had a higher sample size under PU sampling. As a result, the average CV from PU sampling was 42% less than that achieved under AS on the same trips.” Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF RESULTS: Grant/ Fishery
% Coverage
# Trips Sampled
Tons Sampled
By trip
By wgt
# Vessels Sampled
NFWF (MWT) Oct’10-May’13
271
55,528
50%
53%
13
TNC (SMBT)
Dec’11-current
230
6,241
31%
32%
8
TNC (MWT)
Dec’13-current
30
5,271
prelim
prelim
11
Time Period
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
2. Portside Sampling MA DMF RESULTS: 301 trips (and 61,759 mt) for $288,906 in MWT fishery (since 2010) 230 trips (and 5,106 mt) for $101,297 in SMBT fishery (since 2011) Costs include: – – – – –
Contracting of Portside Samplers 1 Field Coordinator (75%MWT/25%SMBT) Indirect Supples SMAST support Cost / Trip
2010
MWT-NFWF $
2011
446.97 $
1,066.73 $
$
- $
SMBT-TNC
Cost / 100mt MWT-NFWF SMBT-TNC
2010 $
2012
2011
2013
2014 $
1,040.05
523.43 $
440.42
959.06 $ 1,562.27 674.08 $
2012
325.92 $
2013
2.15 $
5.26 $
4.61 $
8.26
$
- $
18.72 $
24.08 $
Massachusetts MarineFisheries
TOTAL
2014
TOTAL $
5.12
19.97 $
19.84
3. River Herring Bycatch Avoidance Programs MADMF/SMAST/MWT/SMBT OBJECTIVES: • NFWF – Reduce RH bycatch by 50%, bycatch reduction independent of management action • TNC – Replicate NFWF RHBA, make data available to managers, modernize communications with vessels • Increase fishermen’s awareness of RH bycatch issues/trends
2013 MWT Grids Observed bycatch Mid-Water trawls 2000-Sept2010 35 tows (of ≈350) > 2,000kg 80% of bycatch by weight
• Create data communication system High: Alosine weight >1.25% of target species weight Moderate: Alosine weight between 1.25% and 0.2% Low: Alosine weight 50%
SMAST Classify Trip Create Advisory Data in
