September 13, 2012 —
View the documents on the NOAA website
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Sept. 14, 2012 — Seacoast fishermen are just beginning to sort out the potential impacts of the U.S. Department of Commerce's declaration of a disaster for the Northeast commercial fishing industry.
On Wednesday, acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank issued fishery disaster determinations in the Northeast, Alaska and Mississippi. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the declarations pave the way for Congress to appropriate money toward alleviating the financial hardship caused by the disaster.
"If money is appropriated, NOAA will work closely with Congress and the states to develop plans to preserve coastal communities," the statement said.
In New England, despite fishermen's adherence to strict catch limits, several key fish stocks — most prominently cod — in the Northeast groundfish fishery are not rebuilding according to NOAA and further cuts are expected in 2013.
In a letter from Blank to Gov. John Lynch, the Department of Commerce official said she became "deeply concerned" about potential impacts to Northeast fishermen and fishing communities after reviewing information available on the potential catch limits for 2013.
"The Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue to engage with the New England Fishery Management Council and the fishing industry in advance of the 2013 fishing year to explore all possible options to mitigate these impacts," she wrote. "However, it seems unlikely that all economic impacts can be mitigated solely through fisheries management measures."
Politicians hailed the disaster declaration as providing much-needed relief to fishermen and communities affected by lost revenues and fishery management decisions.
Read the full article at Seacoastonline
BOSTON — September 14, 2012 — The US Commerce Department has declared a disaster in the Northeast groundfishing industry for the 2013 fishing year as fish stocks fail to rebuild, a move that opens the door for Congress to appropriate relief funding for the industry.
In a letter to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca M. Blank said she had determined there was a “commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster.”
“I am deeply concerned about the potential impacts to Northeast fishermen and fishing communities,” she said.
“Despite fishermen’s adherence to catch limits over the past few years, recent data shows that several key fish stocks are not rebuilding,” Blank wrote. “Low levels of these stocks are causing a significant loss of access to fishery resourcess with anticipated revenue declines that will greatly affect the commercial fishery.”
She said if Congress appropriates disaster funds her agency “will work with your state to develop an effective program for an economically robust and sustainable fishery.”
US Senator John F. Kerry said he was working with fellow members of the Massachusetts delegation to get $100 million in disaster assistance.
September 13, 2012 — This almost slipped under the radar but the nuisance spiny dogfish was just recently given the Marine Stewardship Council’s stamp of approval as a sustainable and well-managed fishery.
This applies to the United States East Coast North Atlantic fishery, that operates year round in federal and state waters off the U.S. East Coast from Maine to North Carolina and uses three gear types: gillnet, longline, and otter trawl.
Kerry Coughlin, the MSC regional director said the certification means buyers and consumers worldwide will “now have assurance that the U.S. Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery is well-managed and sustainable,” and that the target stock is healthy and commercial fishers are harvesting the stock appropriately.
This doesn’t come as a surprise to our recreational boat captains who have been saying for years there was an overabundance of them here in our waters.
“I never saw a let up of them. We catch so many of them when we are mackerel, ling or sea bass fishing,” said Capt. Willy Egerter of the Dauntless out of Point Beach. “Most people just quit fishing if they’re catching too many dogfish.”
That definitely wasn’t the case worldwide though, as the stocks of what was the most abundant shark species in the water, declined to a point where Greenpeace International had them red listed, meaning they were at a high risk of being sourced from an unsustainable fishery.
The stocks had reportedly plummeted by 95 percent in the Northeast Atlantic.
Over here in the Western Atlantic, the National Marine Fisheries Service developed and implemented rebuilding plans beginning in 2000 to allow the stock to recover to a sustainable level. NMFS now categorizes the fishery as rebuilt; it is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring.
Now the trick is to establish a strong market for spiny dogfish in Europe where the countries like England, Germany and France have a developed taste for them. In England it is often disguised in fish and chips as “rock salmon.”
“They’ll probably need to catch 5 to 10,000 pounds a day to keep the market strong,” Egerter said.
Egerter believes a strong commercial market for spiny dogfish could help with the sustainability of popular recreational species such as sea bass, which many captains argue get eaten up by the large packs of spiny dogfish.
Read the full story in the Asbury Park Press
NEW YORK — September 13, 2012 — The office of Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., issued the following news release:
At the urging of U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman Tim Bishop, the U.S. Department of Commerce today declared a federal groundfish fishery disaster for New York's fishing communities. The lawmakers requested emergency relief after a recent preliminary report projected significant cuts–up to 70 percent– in catch limits for New England groundfish stocks in 2013. These cuts to multispecies fishery, such as cod and yellowtail flounder, would harm Long Island's businesses and fishermen, who are already struggling and being squeezed by catch limits and tighter regulations. This move by the Department of Commerce allows Congress to appropriate funding to ease the hardships faced by New York's fishermen.
In August, Senators Schumer, Gillibrand and Congressman Bishop wrote in a letter to Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank, "We write to express strong support for a Northeast Multispecies groundfish fishery disaster declaration to be issued for Northeast fishing communities, including those in New York… It is vitally important that New York is included in any disaster declaration and that our fishing communities are provided with sufficient disaster assistance to stem the adverse economic effects of potentially devastating cuts to already reduced catch limits and years of restrictive management measures. While recent reports have focused on New England states, we must emphasize the harmful impact these potential reductions will have on New York."
"Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Cong. Bishop have fought to keep New York's groundfishermen viable in this disaster declaration process, and have not allowed our lack of fishery council representation to silence the needs of our fishing communities," said Bonnie Brady, Executive Director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. "We are grateful for their voices as the bridge to disaster relief for all ground fishermen."
The lawmakers pushed to include New York in a federal fishery disaster declaration, noting that New York's fishing interests in New England stocks are often ignored due to its underrepresentation on the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC). Many of New York's fish stocks are regulated by this council, which will weigh in later this year on catch limits for 2013.
September 13, 2012 — Today the US Commerce Department declared disasters not of fishermen's making in three key fisheries on four US coasts: the North Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bering Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska in the Pacific Ocean. The declaration opens the door for Congress—if they choose to accept the mission—to appropriate funds to help struggling fishers.
The disasters are:
1. The Northeast, where even though most fishers have adhered to tough quotas on several key groundfish—including cod in the Gulf of Maine and yellowtail flounder in the Georges Bank—stocks are not rebuilding.
2. Alaska, where low returns of chinook salmon have resulted in commercial fishery disasters in the the Yukon River fishery (ongoing since 2010), the Kuskokwim River (ongoing since 2011), and Cook Inlet fishery (beginning in 2012).
3. Mississippi, where historically high flooding of the lower Mississippi River in spring 2011 wiped out the oyster fishery and the blue crab fishery from massive freshwater flows. (This disaster might have included the inshore shrimp fishery too, since flooding drove landings down by 41 percent in 2011. But Commerce didn't deem it a commercial failure since revenue losses were "only 19 percent less than the 2006-2009 average.")
The causes run the gamut of natural and anthropogenic. In other words, something of everything, including plenty of unknowns. The disaster declaration for Alaska states:
Exact causes for recent poor Chinook salmon returns are unknown, but may involve a variety of factors outside the control of fishery managers to mitigate, including unfavorable ocean conditions, freshwater environmental factors, disease, or other factors.
The causes in New England are deemed unknown, and severe fishing quotas are pending for 2013, reports Boston.com:
The final numbers aren't in, but officials said preliminary information indicates that catch limits could go down by 72 percent for the cod population in the Gulf of Maine and 70 percent for cod on the Georges Bank fishing grounds east of Cape Cod.
Read the full story on Mother Jones
Providence, RI — Sept. 13, 2012 — The New England Fishery Management Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on Thursday to develop acceptable biological catch (ABC) limits and overfishing limits (OFL) for groundfish and scallop stocks. The SSC also met to discuss the terms of reference for a review of scallop survey methods that will be conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The audio from that meeting is posted below in several segments.
Listen to the SSC's discussion on plaice projections and the development of OFL and ABC limits for fishing years 2013 through 2015.
Listen to the SSC's discussion on witch flounder projections and the development of OFL and ABC limits for fishing years 2013 through 2015.
Listen to the SSC's discussion on white hake OFL and ABC limits for the 2013 fishing year.
Listen to part 1 and part 2 of the SSC's review of scallop projections, yellowtail by-catch and scallop survey methods.
Listen to the public's comments regarding the plan development team's scallop recommendations as well as the SSC's decision regarding scallop OFL and ABC limits.
Listen to the SSC's discussion on the terms of reference for a review of scallop survey methods.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — September 14, 2012 — Antarctica’s Ross Sea is often described as the most isolated and pristine ocean on Earth, a place where seals and penguins still rule the waves and humans are about as far away as they could be. But even there it has proven difficult, and maybe impossible, for nations to agree on how strongly to protect the environment.
The United States and New Zealand have spent two years trying to agree on an Alaska-sized marine sanctuary where fishing would be banned and scientists could study climate change. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took a strong interest in the outcome, regularly prodding diplomats, and New Zealand recently sent a delegation to Washington to reach a tentative deal.
That compromise, over a region that accounts for less than 2 percent of New Zealand’s fishing industry, flopped this month when senior New Zealand politicians rejected it behind closed doors.
The U.S. and New Zealand have now sent competing plans to the 25 countries that meet annually each October to decide the fate of Antarctica’s waters. Their inability to agree greatly increases the chances that nothing will get done.
Evan Bloom, director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, said the U.S. put a great deal of effort into its reserve proposal because it believes the Ross Sea is the best place on Earth for scientists to carry out studies away from the influence of mankind.
‘‘If you can’t do it in Antarctica, where can you do it?’’ said Bloom.
Both countries advocated for marine sanctuaries. The differences between the two plans seem small on a map, but they center on the areas of the sea where marine life is most abundant.
The U.S. does not have fishing interests in the Ross Sea, though fish caught there often end up in high-end American restaurants, marketed as Chilean sea bass.
The species is actually an ugly creature called the Antarctic toothfish. Fishermen from New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and other nations have been catching them in the Ross Sea since the 1990s. They use lines that can stretch more than a mile to catch about 100,000 of them a year.
The U.S. aimed to reach an agreement with a nation that fishes the Ross Sea in hopes it would lead to a broader deal to protect marine habitats there.
New Zealand wanted to minimize disruption to its fisheries, but also wanted to burnish its conservation credentials. The country not only prides itself as an environmental leader, but it also makes money by marketing its clean, green image to trading partners and tourists. And it has criticized other nations’ environmental records at sea, particularly nations that allow whaling.
Clinton urged diplomats to craft a deal. When she visited the Cook Islands last month, she described the Ross Sea as ‘‘one of the last great marine wilderness areas on the planet’’ and said the U.S. was working with other countries, ‘‘in particular New Zealand,’’ to establish protected areas. Murray McCully, New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister, echoed her comments.
Late last month, senior New Zealand diplomat Gerard van Bohemen led a team to Washington that spent four days grinding out the details of a compromise. After he brought the proposal back to New Zealand’s ruling National Party, its senior Cabinet of lawmakers met in a closed session and rejected it.
Exactly why, they’re not saying. Van Bohemen and Cabinet minister Steven Joyce declined to give interviews.
McCully also declined to discuss what happened, although he said in an email that New Zealand will keep working closely with the Americans.
Read the full story by the Associated Press in the Boston Globe
September 13, 2012 — Next week, the Fisheries Committee of European Parliament will vote to put in place a complete shark finning ban – a measure that the industry claims will cost them € 9.4 million.
According to an analysis by Oceana, Spanish and Portuguese surface longliners that are authorised to remove shark fins onboard vessels received more than €117,000,000 in EU subsidies from 1994 to 2007. The annual costs estimated by the sector represent, at most, 8% of this value. Of the subsidised vessels, 35 received more than €1,000,000 from the EU, while the sector estimates that the fins-attached policy would cost roughly €22,000 per vessel annually.
“European tax payers have invested a huge sum of money in these fishing vessels. They paid to help build them, modernise them, and support them while they headed off in search of new fishing grounds for sharks,” stated Xavier Pastor, executive director of Oceana Europe. “Now, Europe is asking these vessels to commit to sustainable fishing practices for the sake of both the sharks and the future of the fishing sector.”
September 13, 2012 — Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank declared a commercial fishery failure in the Northeast groundfish fishery for the May 1, 2013 fishing season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday.
The declaration makes it possible for Congress to appropriate money to relieve the financial hardship to fishermen caused by the fishery disaster. If money is appropriated, NOAA will work closely with Congress and affected states to develop plans to assist coastal communities.
In the past, local fishermen view the declaration with mixed results. Many believe NOAA’s data is incorrect and overdramatized because figures are not reflected with what they see on the open ocean. Many fishermen have already stated that they do not want a handout, just the opportunity to fish.
Much of the Rhode Island fishing community are members of the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities and the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance. Richard L. Fuka, president of the alliance, declined comment on the news until receiving more detailed information.
Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee issued a request to the U.S. Department of Commerce, seeking the declaration on Aug. 24. The following day, the state’s four Congressional delegates followed suit.
Read the full story at Providence Business News