The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is looking for an independent contractor to assist with the evaluation of the rotational management program used in the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. This is a temporary contractor role, commencing on or about July 19, 2021, and expected to be completed by February 4, 2022.
The application deadline is 9:00 a.m. on July 6, 2021.
The evaluation will focus on two questions:
1) Has the Atlantic sea scallop rotational management program achieved the primary objectives identified in Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan (FMP)? And,
2) Is the current approach to rotational management working?
The evaluation will draw on available data, such as landings and revenue, effort, and observer data, as well as the administrative record. The report also will discuss how the Council considered the goals of other FMPs, such as the groundfish closures, in the evolution of the rotational management program.
As part of the evaluation, the contractor will document the use of rotational management over time, with a particular emphasis on the period from March 1, 2014 – March 31, 2021. This effort will assess the performance of the program relative to a subset of the primary objectives of Amendment 10:
- Objective 1 – Improve yield and rebuilding potential by reducing mortality on small scallops;
- Objective 4 – Reduce and/or minimize bycatch mortality and habitat impacts; and
- Objective 7 – To continue controlled access to groundfish closed areas, consistent with groundfish rebuilding and habitat protection objectives in the context of area rotation management.
The evaluation should describe how the rotational management program is currently being used in comparison to the original approach and include descriptions of the outcomes and rationale/justification for changes to the application of rotational management. This includes but is not limited to assessing the Council’s decision-making approach for opening and closing rotational areas, and the methods used to assess growth potential.
The final report should examine two-year specification actions to assess whether modifying the specification frequency would substantially affect the achievement of program objectives. The report should also identify recommendations and improvement opportunities for the Council to consider.
- Complete details and instructions on how to apply by the July 6, 2021 deadline are available in the Request for Proposals.
Questions should be directed to Council Executive Director Tom Nies, tnies@nefmc.org or Scallop Plan Coordinator Jonathon Peros at jperos@nefmc.org.