"the Influence of a Cooperatively Developed Portside Sampling and Bycatch Communication Program on Fisheries Management Policies”

In 2010 the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology, and a group of mid-water trawl fishery participants developed a large-scale portside sampling and communication program aimed at quantifying and reducing the fishery’s impact on river herring (alewife and blueback herring) and American shad populations. The collaboration increased portside sampling from 15% to 50% of local landings, resulting in a better understanding of the magnitude and pattern of bycatch. A reliable, real-time communication system was employed to receive and transmit bycatch data. Avoidance of high bycatch areas was achieved through consistent, rapid communication with vessel managers, owners, and crew, while acknowledging the prohibitive management policies under development. Both aspects of the project have influenced management policy. Information from portside sampling helped refine conservation measures during the development of river herring catch limits. The avoidance program was also selected by fisheries managers as the preferred alternative for bycatch reduction, in lieu of larger scale time-area closures. Additionally, the Atlantic herring Research Set Aside was reinstated, creating a long-term, industry-funded mechanism to maintain and expand this partnership. This sustained collaboration, through multiple management and regulatory regimes, reveals solutions and confounding issues towards successful stakeholder-scientist collaborations.