New England's Groundfish Sector Prepare to Pay At-Sea Observer Costs Starting March 1  New England’s groundfish sector is preparing to pay for at-sea monitoring costs effective March 1. In January a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit filed by East Coast fishermen that challenged NOAA’s mandate for fishermen to cover observer costs. The region’s fishery managers are now negotiating with third-party monitoring services on rates, with some costs actually coming in below $700-per-day projections. “We’re looking to see if we can afford to keep [boats] all fishing, with the (quota) cuts and the costs that are coming next year,” said sector manager Stephanie Rafael-DeMello. “It’s definitely going to be a struggle, to say the least." Members representing the Gulf of Alaska’s Trawl Fleet and Processors wrote a letter to the NPFMC detailing several issues the industry has with the Council’s Alternative 3 proposal to the region’s rationalization plan. The alternative was added as an option without debate or review. “It is up to the council to recognize that their success to date has been based on adherence to their own procedures; and any attempt to undermine those procedures not only risks the reputation of the council, but has the potential to throw some of the successful management schemes in Alaska into chaos,” the letter says. In other news Red Lobster is bringing back its Lobsterfest promotion and appears to be betting big on small lobster tails. Several of the promotional menu options this year make use of the tails either paired with shrimp in a cocktail or as part of an entree.  The International Pacific Halibut Commission set the 2016 halibut quota at 29.89 million pounds for waters in Washington State, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska. Fishermen and processors asked for 31.75 million lbs and 32.63 million pounds respectively. Still, the quota is higher than the IPHC's reference point of 26.56 million pounds. Finally, the FDA announced a ban on genetically engineered salmon from entering the US market until final labeling guidelines for the product are published. According to Import Alert 99-40 "the FDA shall not allow the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any food that contains genetically engineered salmon, until FDA publishes final labeling guidelines for informing consumers of such content."