Management & Regulation

Those who are not able to attend the Protest on the Vineyard on August 26, but would like to join in spirit are welcome to sign this petition.

Our fisheries are in better shape than they have been since well before the passage of the Magnuson Act in 1976 and every fisherman worthy of the name is fully committed to sustainability, but our oldest and busiest fishing ports and the fishing communities that have nourished them and held them together for generations are in shambles. Tens of thousands of fishermen and others in fishing dependent businesses – both recreational and commercial – are out of work or are just barely holding on financially. Many more thousands of recreational fishermen have given up the sport because of too stringent regulations. And what is the response of Ms. Lubchenco? Pushing catch shares, a form of management that everyone agrees means fewer boats and fewer jobs, making cuts in the budgets of research programs that will prove that just about all of our fisheries are in good to excellent shape, and protecting personnel who were responsible for an out-of-control enforcement program that terrorized and demonized fishermen and only came to notice due to overwhelming political pressure and a resultant investigation by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

And from the very beginning of the catastrophe which has yet to be permanently fixed in the Gulf of Mexico, she has done everything in her power to minimize the perceptions of the public regarding the seriousness of the impacts of the released oil and dispersants. From her complete lack of follow-up on her hyper-critical letter to the Minerals Management Service six months before the blow-out thru her denying the existence of the huge sub-surface oil/dispersant plumes to her stating at a White House media briefing in early August “now let’s say for example that a fish is eating some of these smaller creatures that had oil in them. That fish will degrade that oil and process it naturally and so it doesn’t bio-accumulate so it’s not a situation where we need to be concerned about,” she has downplayed the impacts of the devastation inflicted on the residents of the Gulf Coast states and on the ecology of the Gulf. Because her remarks are now part of the public record, and because they were placed there by the head of the federal ocean agency, how many billions of dollars in potential claims and settlements are they going to cost the tens of thousands of damaged individuals and businesses? 

Sign the petition from the official website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts fishermen are unhappy with recent federal regulations placed on the industry, and they're taking their frustrations right to the top.

A protest is planned for Thursday on Martha's Vineyard, the same place where the President and the first family are currently vacationing.

ABC6 Reporter John Guice caught up with some local fisherman, in today's "Voice of the People" report…

Watch the video from WLNE ABC New Channel 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard Canastra, the owner of the "Whaling City Seafood Display Auction," stopped by our ABC6 Studios, to talk about how the new fishing regulations are impacting the industry…

See the video from WLNE ABC News Channel 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, MA – August 24, 2010 – A brutal version of economic Darwinism pushed by the Obama administration is quickly transforming the New England groundfishery, according to assessments from fishing industry leaders presented here Tuesday.

Landing figures for the first quarter of the fishing year suggest a story of successfully managed conservation with rising revenues — just what the federal government had hoped for in the rollout of its catch share program.

But industry reports from Gloucester, Rhode Island and New Bedford, the nation's No. 1 port in landings' dollar value, Tuesday described the unsettling underside of the catch share experience, with a few big winners and many little losers already emerging.

Read the story in full from the Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NMFS has determined that the 2010 Period 1 quota for spiny dogfish fishery has been harvested. Therefore, effective 0001 hours, August 27, 2010, the fishery for spiny dogfish is closed and vessels issued Federal permits for spiny dogfish may not fish for, possess, transfer, or land any spiny dogfish until 0001 hours, November 1,2010, at which time the Period 2 quota for the 2010 fishing year becomes available.

Read this and more from NOAA.

 

 

 

 

With the national media gathered on Martha's Vineyard this week for President Barack Obama's vacation, fishermen are seizing the opportunity to organize a floating protest at Vineyard Haven on Thursday.

A flotilla of commercial boats will rendezvous at the harbor entrance at noon to demonstrate that fishermen are less than happy with the Obama administration's oversight of their industry.

Flawed fisheries science, an oppressive law enforcement policy and unnaturally low catch limits are at the heart of the protest, organizers said.

"We don't know the count yet but it will be at least 25 and maybe as much as a hundred boats," said Richie Canastra of the New Bedford Seafood Display Auction.

A new fishery management plan, known as sectors, introduced on May 1, has left the majority of the groundfish fleet in New Bedford and other New England ports tied to the dock.

Read the complete story from the South Coast Today [subscription site]

 

 

 

 

 

Leaders of the recreational and commercial fishing industry today announced plans for a boat protest against federal policies on Thursday, outside Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard, where President Obama and his family are summer vacationing.

The protest was organized after a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of federal lawmakers — including the core of the president's congressional base on banking and health care issues — have given up hope of working productively with Obama's top appointee for oceans and fisheries, Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Boats from Gloucester and New Bedford, the hub ports of New England, Pt. Judith, R.I., and New York and New Jersey are expected, according to Tina Jackson, president of the American Alliance of Fishermen.

Read the complete story from the Gloucester Daily Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLOUCESTER, MA – August 18, 2010 – After a quarter of the new fishing year — with interest piqued by the region's introductory experience with catch shares — reaction to the preliminary landing and sales figures in the groundfishery is mixed.

The government, which is pushing the catch share system and a business model with cooperatives working on a total allowable catch from allocations for each of the fish stocks, sees smart fishing and increased value in certain numbers.

Those landing figures show that the 13 species and 20 overall stocks have brought a 17 percent increase in value at the wharves despite landing volumes that are down by about 11 percent.

"Fishermen are doing what they do best," fishing judiciously, said Maggie Mooney-Seus, spokeswoman for Patricia Kurkul, the regional administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Daily Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WGBH, "Boston's NPR station for news and cultiure" presents an in-depth, four-part series on New England Fisheries.

Listen to the series by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) Herring Oversight Committee will meet to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Dates: The meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 9:30a.m. and Thursday September 2, 2010 at 9 a.m.

Addresses: Meeting address: The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel, 250 Market Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801: Telephone: (603) 431-2300; Fax: (603) 433-5649.

Council address: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

For further information contact: Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council; telephone: (978) 465-0492.
Supplementary information:

The items of discussion in the committee's agenda are as follows:

1. Wednesday, September 1, 2010 beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The Committee will review/discuss report from Herring Advisory Panel. They will also continue development of catch monitoring alternatives for inclusion in Amendment 5 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP); alternatives may include management measures to: improve quota monitoring and reporting; standardize/certify volumetric measurements of catch; address vessel-to-vessel transfers of Atlantic herring; address requirements for catch monitoring and control plans (CMCPs); address maximized retention; maximize sampling and address net slippage; address at-sea monitoring; address portside sampling; require electronic monitoring; and address other elements of catch monitoring in the Atlantic herring fishery. Other business may also be discussed.

2. Thursday, September 2, 2010 beginning at 9 a.m.

The Committee will continue agenda from September 1, 2010 meeting to develop catch monitoring alternatives for inclusion in Amendment 5; discuss outstanding issues and other elements of Amendment 5. They will also develop management measures and alternatives to address river herring bycatch for consideration in Amendment 5. They will review/discuss management measures under consideration to address interactions with the mackerel fishery. The Committee will develop recommendations for Council consideration regarding management alternatives for inclusion in Amendment 5 Draft EIS (catch monitoring program, measures to address river herring bycatch, access to groundfish closed areas, interactions with the mackerel fishery, protection of spawning fish). Other business may be discussed.

Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come before this group for discussion, those issues may not be the subject of formal action during this meeting. Action will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in this notice and any issues arising after publication of this notice that require emergency action under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's intent to take final action to address the emergency.

Read the complete agenda from GovPulse.