MSC pre-assessment 

FIP participants confirmed with MOU

Workplan public

The small mesh multispecies (whiting) committee made a presentation to the New England Fishery Management Council on June 20-22 regarding the process of finalizing limited entry for the fishery

Decisions on terms of limited entry access discussed  in March 2017

Support selective fishing in the silver hake fishery

FIP made further proposals for update of Ammendment 22 for limited access to the fishery including proposals for gear uptake like the belly panel and towrope for better selectivity 

Reduce discards in the fishery

The Whiting Advisory Panel of the New England Fishery Management Council considered the  use of selective gear, the raised footrope trawls, fleet-wide as a condition for permission to fish in the northern area. the Council approved No Action (now in Section 4.1) as the preferred alternative and added an alternative to Action 3 (now in Section 4.5) that would create a limited access exemption for vessels fishing for whiting and red hake in Exemption Areas that require a raised footrope trawl.  The rationale is that the more selective gear is adequate to manage bycatch, particularly if it is coupled with other measures to keep bycatch at acceptable levels.

A formal process to limit entry to the fishery was taken up by the fishery council in November 2016. Proposals on terms and access were made in March 2017 and considered by the Council