SOW_Groundfish_Monitoring_Strategic_Comm_Plan.docx

Groundfish Monitoring Strategic Communications Plan Statement of Work

BACKGROUND

The Groundfish Fishery

The groundfish fishery takes place from Maine to Cape Hatteras, NC. Key focus areas are the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Southern New England. The New England Fishery Management Council manages the groundfish fishery cooperatively with NOAA Fisheries. The Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan includes 13 species of fish, managed as 20 distinct stocks. Groundfish are harvested using trawl nets dragged by vessels, gillnets set out by vessels and later retrieved, and various types of baited hook gear (e.g., handline and longline gear).

Groundfish Management

The majority of New England’s groundfish fleet is managed as sectors, which is a catch share program implemented in 2010. Sectors are cooperative groups of fishermen who develop their own operations plans, and are responsible for managing their allocated quota. Groundfish sectors are granted exemptions from many regulations to allow increased operational flexibility. In exchange, sectors take on increased responsibilities for managing and monitoring their allocations. The remaining portion of the fleet, responsible for less than 10 percent of groundfish landings, fish common quotas under a combination of possession limits and limits on the number of days they may fish to limit catch to the quotas over the year.

The success of the quota-based sector management program is dependent on the accuracy of catch accounting. Catch data are used to ensure compliance with catch limits and are also a key component of stock assessments. In-season catch estimates determine whether a sector has harvested its allocation or can continue to fish. The stock assessments are the basis for determining how much fish can be sustainably harvested in future years.

As part of the sector management program, groundfish sectors are responsible for paying part of the costs of an at-sea monitoring program, which requires groundfish vessels fishing in a sector to carry a fisheries observer or an at-sea monitor for a portion of their trips. In recent years, funding has been available for NOAA Fisheries to reimburse sectors for a portion of their at-sea monitoring costs. However, paying these costs is difficult for industry members due to the restrictive quotas necessary to rebuild many groundfish stocks. Additionally, in light of restrictive quotas, there are questions about the accuracy of catch information given the strong incentives to illegally discard fish or misreport catch. There is also some evidence that fishing behavior may be different on observed and unobserved trips. In response to these issues, the New England Fishery Management Council initiated an amendment to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (Amendment 23) to improve reliability, accuracy, and accountability of catch monitoring.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND NEED

Most outreach and education on a management action begins after the Council has taken final action and has submitted the action to NOAA Fisheries for review and approval. Often times, outreach and education occur concurrent to implementing the final approved management measures. However, one of the biggest obstacles to Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan is public misconception about the degree to which fisheries-dependent data are used in, and affect, stock assessments, as well as how increased accuracy of these data may also increase the use of these data for science and management. Similarly, it is often difficult to characterize and demonstrate how more accurate catch data will provide future benefits to the groundfish fishery and how increased accountability can allow groundfish sectors to more fully use their quotas, maximize their revenue, and improve the transparency and efficiency of the quota lease market.

The success of Amendment 23 will depend on the degree to which public stakeholders understand and support the need for improved accuracy and accountability. This will require proactive engagement with all stakeholders to help appropriately frame the issue and identify shared interests and concerns. This outreach and communication should occur throughout the entire Amendment 23 process, beginning during the development of management alternatives through implementation of the action.

Project Period

The base period is expected to be from date of award through December 31, 2019. More specific details are provided in the Statement of Work below. The first phase (Tasks 1 and 2) of the project includes planning for, and holding a series of workshops on groundfish monitoring and Amendment 23. The phase should last approximately 6 months. The second phase (Task 3) of the project is the development of a strategic communications plan based on the outcome of the workshops. The development phase should take no more than 3 months. The final phase (Task 4) of the project is the implementation of the strategic communication plan. The specific timeline associated with the project may be adjusted depending on the requirements of each phase and the timeline associated with the Council’s development of Amendment 23.

Statement of Work

Task 1: Compile Information and Develop Workshop Plans (August 2018– September 2018) The contractor shall work with NOAA Fisheries and fishery stakeholders to plan multiple stakeholder workshops that will be used to identify and collect information needed to develop a strategic communication plan for Amendment 23 and groundfish monitoring issues.

Task 2: Hold Workshops (September 2018 – January 2019) Based on information collected in Task 1, the contractor shall conduct multiple workshops with NOAA Fisheries and fishery stakeholders to identify the issues and information necessary to effectively communicate with stakeholders about Amendment 23. The contractor shall work with NOAA Fisheries and its partners to identify workshop participants, agenda items, and locations of workshops. The number of workshops, composition of participants, and location, will vary depending on the objectives developed in Task 1. However, we expect that approximately 4-6 workshops, held in coastal New England states, will meet the outreach objectives. These workshops will likely have attendance of 20-40 people. Based on the outcome of Task 1 the contractor may recommend an alternative plan. For example, small, focused workshops may be the best approach, and may require increasing the total number of workshops to reach all audiences. The workshops will likely include members of the commercial groundfish fishery, shore-side business owner (such as dealers), fishery managers, NGOs, and service providers who support current monitoring programs.

Task 3: Develop Strategic Communications Plan (December 2018 – February 2019) Based on results the workshops, the contractor shall produce a strategic communications plan to provide education and outreach to fishery stakeholders on the importance of accurate data for catch accounting, increase awareness of key issues around this topic, and encourage public participation and engagement in the development of Amendment 23.

Task 4: Carry Out Strategic Communications Plan (February – December 2019) The contractor shall work with NOAA fisheries staff to implement the strategic communications plan created in Task 3.

Requirements

The contractor shall provide the personnel, services, and strategic communications expertise necessary to complete the tasks outlined in this statement of work. The contractor shall have knowledge and understanding of NOAA Fisheries mission, including knowledge of relevant legislation and regulations. The contractor shall also have demonstrated, successfully, the ability to work collaboratively with NOAA Fisheries, and members of the commercial, and or, recreational fisheries, state fishing agencies, or other non-profit organizations on complex fisheries science and management issues. The implementation of Amendment 23 will likely result in a significant transition for the groundfish fishery, and the contractor should be experienced dealing with controversial changes within the field of fisheries science and management.

Deliverables and Benefits

The contractor shall provide the following deliverables for Task 1, but not limited to:

· Develop a plan for workshops including the identification of participants, locations, materials, and workshop structure based on background information collected on Amendment 23 (i.e., current state and circumstances that led the New England Council to initiate the action, known challenges, and potential opportunities for outreach and education).

The contractor shall provide the following deliverables for Task 2, but not limited to:

· Prepare background/meeting materials for the fishery stakeholder workshops;

· Planning and reserving meeting space for the workshops;

· Prepare the agenda with each workshop, with input from NOAA Fisheries staff;

· Conduct the workshops; and

· Produce a report that includes a summary of each workshop, including key themes and findings of each workshop.

The contractor shall provide the following deliverables for Task 3, but not limited to:

· Produce a strategic communications plan for Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and improving accuracy and accountability of the groundfish monitoring program that includes:

· Recommendations for delivery and outreach options (e.g., education videos, social media content, news articles);

· An implementation timeline that is coordinated with the expected timeline of Amendment 23 development; and

· An evaluation plan for determining the effectiveness of the communications tools and strategy.

The contractor shall provide the following deliverables for Task 4, which may include but are not limited to:

· Materials and resources produced in coordination with NOAA Fisheries staff that are necessary to implement and support the strategic communications plan, such as fact sheets, brochures, news articles, social media posts, videos, and website content (both background and directly related to Amendment 23); and

· A final report on the number of stakeholders reached through the communications plan, and the effectiveness of the various tools employed by the contractor.