Comment from David McGraw

RE: Herring Midwater Trawl Discard Provision - RIN 0648-BA16 Dear National Marine Fisheries Service, I am writing to urge you to adopt Alternative 1 as outlined in the proposed rule, and ensure that all catch by herring midwater trawlers from inside "Closed Area 1" is brought aboard for inspection. As part of the effort to recover New England's depleted fish populations, most fishermen are excluded from certain areas of the ocean to protect critical spawning habitat for groundfish like cod, flounder, and haddock. However, industrial herring trawlers are allowed to fish inside these sanctuaries because they once claimed they would not catch groundfish. These claims have been proven patently false. What is worse, monitoring has been so poor, we do not even know the full magnitude of the amount of groundfish and other species caught and dumped by these vessels The original Closed Area 1 proposed rule dated Sept. 4, 2009 was on the right track because, with limited exceptions for safety or mechanical failure, it required that all catch be brought aboard for inspection by federal observers. Unfortunately, the final rule issued on Nov. 2, 2009 included a loophole that allows trawlers to dump the fish left in their net after fish pumping operations have stopped. This leftover fish is often the most important bycatch information available because it has been pre-sorted by filters on fish pumps and can contain significant amounts of groundfish, tuna, striped bass and river herring that will go undetected unless required to be brought onboard. These large vessels already have equipment capable of lifting any leftover fish on board. If some vessels require minor modification to accomplish this, they should be required to do so in exchange for the privilege of fishing inside this groundfish sanctuary. I urge you to restore the original intent of the Closed Area 1 rule by adopting Alternative 1. Sincerely, David McGraw Central NH