35 



ISSUES 



An important continuing issue in the surf 

 clam-ocean quahog Fishery will be the im- 

 plementation of the ITQ system which re- 

 moved the need for complex catch and 

 effort restrictions. There has been a bene- 

 ficial reduction in the size of the surf clam 

 fleet (from about 1 15 to 68 vessels) in the 

 first six months under the ITQ system. 



An important question complicating the 

 long-term management of northern shrimp 

 is the relative influence of fishing and envi- 

 ronmental variability on populations. 

 (Jnder cooler water temperature regimes, 

 juvenile survival and subsequent recruit- 

 ment appear to be enhanced. In times of 

 warmer water temperatures, husbanding 

 the adult stock will tend to stabilize year-to- 

 year landings fluctuation and preserve 

 spawning biomass for more favorable en- 

 vironmental conditions. 



Northern shrimp undergo a sex reversal, 



beginning as males and changing to fe- 

 males during their third year of life. Under- 

 standing the effects of harvesting on a 

 species with such a life history pattern, 

 particularly in relation to the size (age) at 

 capture and the overall fishing mortality 

 rate, is an important issue for developing 

 management strategies. 



Bycatch of undersized groundfish in the 

 small-mesh trawl fishery targeting northern 

 shrimp is an important and contentious 

 management issue. The MEFSC Sea Sam- 

 pling Program has documented the sea- 

 sonal and temporal extent of bycatch of 

 groundfish in the shrimp fishery. Potential 

 bases for resolution of the bycatch prob- 

 lem include the development and use of 

 trawls designed to retain shrimp while re- 

 leasing groundfish ("separator trawls"), 

 and temporal and spatial closures to mini- 

 mize groundfish bycatch. 



