Info on April 2026 NEFMC Meeting
The April meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council is being held in Portland at the Holiday in by the Bay. The meeting will be held from Tuesday, April 14 - Thursday, April 16. Important updates are below, with the full agenda at the bottom of this post. I can't be there because I will be in Washington, DC. Hannah MacDonald, our newest hire, will be there all three days along with Mary and others popping in when they can. You can attend the meeting in person or you can join by webinar. (Register) If you cannot attend but want to submit comments they must be received by Thursday, April 9, 2026. Address comments to Council Chair Daniel Salerno or Executive Director Cate O’Keefe and either:
Maine Council Members: (Linked to emails if you have any thoughts for them) Shoot me a note or give a call if you have any questions. Ben - ben@mainecoastfishermen.org - 207.619.1755 Things I'm paying attention to... and so should you. Most of what we will be hearing at this meeting will be updates but it is always good to stay informed and connect with your Maine council members and Council staffers. Tuesday, April 14 11:45 am: Executive Order 14276 – Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness The Council will be reviewing its response to EO Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, which directs fishery management councils to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and increase production. The three big topics that came up in the new comments NEFMC received were: scallop access to the Northern Edge of Georges Bank, rescinding industry-funded monitoring, and modifying the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area. For all three, the recommendation is to stay the course for now. If you think the Council should be doing more or something different to reduce regulatory burdens and improve access and profitability, this is the moment to weigh in. Once staff submit the response to NOAA on April 30, the window closes. 2:30 pm: Monkfish and Skate Coordinated Committee Report The Council voted in December to scope for an IFQ program for monkfish and/or skate wing fisheries, moving away from the current days-at-sea and possession limit system toward tradeable quota shares. That shift has implications for who can fish, how much it costs to participate, and whether smaller or independent operators can stay in the game. The IFQ discussion is just getting started, but the time to pay attention is now, before it gains momentum. If you fish monkfish or skate, or both, you'll want to know this is coming. 6:00 pm: Council Public Outreach Grab a drink and chat with Council members, staffers, and other fishermen. Hannah will be there. Wednesday, April 15 10:45 am: Scientific and Statistical Committee Subpanel and Subcommittee The Council will also review new catch per unit effort (CPUE) cooperative research aimed at building better monkfish abundance indices using fishermen's data and direct input from the fleet across both the northern and southern management areas. The science committee gave the work a positive review and recommended these new indices could eventually inform how monkfish days-at-sea are set. This is worth watching. 1:45 pm: Risk Policy Working Group The Council has been building a Risk Policy that will affect how much fish you're allowed to catch. The goal is to create a scoring system that factors in stock status, recruitment trends, climate vulnerability, and the economic health of the commercial fishery. This data then tells the science committee how cautious or aggressive to be when setting catch limits. The Council is targeting approval of a revised version of Risk Policy by June. If Risk Policy is done well, it could actually work in fishermen's favor, particularly the commercial fishery characterization factor, which is supposed to account for things like revenue trends, quota utilization, and whether a stock is acting as a choke species on other fisheries. Come here it discussed to learn more. 3:15 pm: Atlantic Herring Committe Report The Council is starting a new action on Atlantic herring, and even if you’re not directly involved in the fishery, this is something to keep an eye on.This action will set specifications for 2027–2031 and includes potential changes to carryover and river herring/shad measures. This is still early in the process, which makes it a good time to start following along and sharing input as the action develops. 4:15 pm: Open Period for Public Comment Come share what's on your mind that is otherwise not reflected on the agenda. Thursday, April 16 9:00 am: Groundfish Committee Report The Council will be discussing current groundfish priorities and reviewing recent committee work. One item to keep an eye on is the review of the redfish report on the redfish exemption. There is a chance that there is a motion to finalize this report which would then be part of the data that would be used to review the program in the future. This isn’t a single decision point on the exemption program, but part of a longer process and it’s worth staying aware of as things develop. 10:00 am: Fishery Independent Surveys/Northeast Trawl Advisory NEFSC staff will share an update on the Fishery Independent Surveys that were completed in 2025 and discuss what the survey plan is for 2026. There will be broader conversations about survey reliability, coverage, and how to improve data going forward. |
Meet Hannah MacDonald  |
If you are planning to go in person, say hi to our new Director of Policy and Innovation, Hannah MacDonald (see photo below). If you don't run into her next week, I am sure you will run into her or hear from her soon. As always, feel free to reach out to her first too. hannah@mainecoastfishermen.org - 989.657.1362 |
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FULL NEFMC APRIL AGENDA Tuesday, April 14, 2026 10:00 a.m. — Introductions and Announcements 10:05 a.m. — Reports on Recent Activities 11:45 a.m. — Executive Order 14276: “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” 12:15 p.m. — Lunch Break 1:45 p.m. — NOAA Framework to Narrow Scope of NMFS Management and Science 2:30 p.m. — Monkfish and Skate Coordinated Committee Report 4:00 p.m. — Locking Away Carbon on the Northeast Shelf and Slope (LOC-NESS) 5:00 p.m. — Adjourn 6:00 p.m. — Public Outreach Session Location: Holiday Inn by the Bay, Port of Call Lounge Informal public exchange to foster communication among attendees Wednesday, April 15, 2026 9:00 a.m. — State of the Ecosystem 10:45 a.m. — Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) Update 11:15 a.m. — Holistic Strategic Plan Initiative 12:15 p.m. — Lunch Break 1:45 p.m. — Risk Policy Working Group 3:15 p.m. — Atlantic Herring Committee Report 4:15 p.m. — Open Public Comment Period Public comments on Council issues not listed on the agenda Thursday, April 16, 2026 9:00 a.m. — Groundfish Committee Report 10:00 a.m. — Fishery Independent Surveys / Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel 11:15 a.m. — Council Planning 11:45 a.m. — Other Business 12:00 p.m. — Adjourn |
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