Draft Addendum XX proposes changes to the transfer provisions for the commercial fisheries for both black sea bass and scup summer period (May 1-October 31) managed under the Commission’s plans.  The current FMP does not provide adequate guidance for Commission-only state-by-state quota management. As a practical matter, states routinely under harvest or slightly overharvest their state-specific allocations due to delays in reporting, inconsistencies in the data collection processes, unanticipated changes in catch rates, and implementation delays in trip limit changes or fishery closures. The FMP requires that each state deduct overages from the following year’s quota when they occur. The Draft Addendum proposes a process to reconcile quotas to address states' unintended minor overages.

Specifically, the Draft Addendum proposes to establish clear policies and administrative protocols to guide the allocation of transfers from states with underages to states with overages. It also proposes to automatically reconcile a state’s overage in its entirety in a year where the coastwide quota or fishing period (e.g., scup summer period) quota was not exceeded. The proposed options would allow Commission staff to streamline and coordinate the transfers of quota as well as allow for quota transfers to reconcile overages after year’s end.  

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum XX, either by attending public hearings or providing written comments.  Copies of Draft Addendum XX are available via the Commission's website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News.  Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 9, 2009 and should be forwarded to Toni Kerns, Senior FMP Coordinator for Management, 1444 'Eye' Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 289-6051 (FAX) or at tkerns@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum XX).