Current Bycatch Priorities and Implementation Plan

摘要

The Northeast Regions Regional Bycatch Plan provides an outline of activities that will be undertaken by the entities involved in fisheries management in the region to better understand and address bycatch issues. As noted in the initial plan (November 2003), it was cooperatively developed by these entities, and is to be revised periodically as new information becomes available or as additional bycatch minimization opportunities arise. The regional bycatch workshop, Bycatch in Northeast Fisheries: Moving Foward, held from June 29 - July 1, 2004, in Wakefield, Massachusetts, served as the venue for new information to be developed and incorporated into this plan. The Bycatch Workshop provided an provided an opportunity for constituents to share ideas about developing improved measures to reduce or eliminate bycatch of both fish and protected species. Participants discussed and recommended priorities and solutions, with the discussion occurring in four working sessions. These sessions focussed on topics in four areas, and included a moderated discussion by the members of a panel of experts, and facilitated working sessions in the afternoon involving the panelists and members of the public in attendance. The Moderators and panel members of the working sessions are shown below. The ideas generated by these working sessions have been used to produce this draft update of the Regional Bycatch Plan. The recommendations that were developed in each working session have been incorporated into the existing plan format, which presents suggestions under the headings of Monitoring, Research, Management, and Education/Outreach. The suggestions generated at the Bycatch Workshop are all attributed to the session(s) that generated them. Therefore, it is necessary to review the full document to locate all of the suggestions that were generated by each working session.