Saving Seafood

Washington

Key element of fisheries regulation under fire

The Congressional act that is the legal backbone of U.S. fisheries management came under fire this week, as U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., requested an independent review of the science that supports the current timelines for rebuilding fish stocks.

In a letter sent Tuesday to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator Jane Lubchenco, Snowe and Frank referred to the 1996 Magnuson-Stevens fishing act requirement that fish stocks be rebuilt within 10 years as an "arbitrary timeline" not based in science.

They asked Lubchenco to request an independent study by the National Academy of Science looking at the scientific justification for the 10-year mandate, at the feasibility of restoring all fish stocks simultaneously and the impact of non-fishing factors like climate change.

Read the complete story at The Cape Cod Times.

Florida Congressmen Sign On to Support U.S. Fishermen

With just five days left before the February 24th rally in Washington DC, Florida Republican Congressmen Adam Putnam and Bill Posey have announced that they have both signed on as cosponsors of H.R .1584, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act. 

The bi-partisan legislation would provide fisheries managers with additional limited flexibility when setting annual limits while simultaneously rebuilding healthy coastal fisheries.  Rep. Putnam and Rep. Posey join fellow Florida representatives Ander Crenshaw (R), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R), Clifford Stearns (R), Allen Boyd (D), Ginny Brown-Waite (R), and John Mica (R) who have also pledged to support much needed reform to the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act (MSA).  

Proposed changes included in H.R. 1584 and S. 1255, the companion Senate bill cosponsored by Florida Senator George LeMieux, would allow fishermen to retain reasonable access to healthy fisheries as fish stocks continue to rebuild and meet conservation objectives.  It also calls for the assessment of the relationship between predator and prey and other environmental and ecological changes to the marine conditions in the stock assessment.

Read the complete story at Ahab's Journal.

North Carolina gill net compromise apparently satisfies no one

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will allow large gill net fishing four days a week in North Carolina waters as it attempts to decrease the fishery’s interaction with sea turtles to better comply with the National Endangered Species Act.

The commission met at New Bern Riverfront Convention Center to consider a proposed proclamation to eliminate gill fishing with nets larger than 3½ inch mesh from May 15 to Dec. 15 to limit interaction with endangered sea turtles.

Member Bradley Styron of Cedar Island, a commercial fisherman and dealer, said the proposed measure would essentially shut down the state’s flounder industry and seriously affect other commercial fish catches.

He proposed the compromise action that was approved in a 5-2 vote of the board on the third motion submitted by members who had listened to passionate pleas from members of the state’s fishing industry fighting for survival and winning a small, and possibly brief, victory.

Read the complete story at The New Bern Sun Journal.

New York recreational and commercial anglers stand side-by-side to protest federal fisheries law

Both recreational and commercial anglers plan an unusual public show of solidarity Wednesday with a noon rally in D.C. They'll be gathering in the nation's capital to stress the serious number of saltwater sportsmen, marine businesses and coastal communities being affected by unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

This federal fisheries law's provisions are reportedly based on flawed data-collection methods resulting in overly restrictive fishery quotas and seasonal closings. Black sea bass, fluke and porgies are among our locally affected species.

Area groups are making rally participation easier by scheduling round-trip buses from several departure points. Long Islanders should be making a strong showing with separate buses leaving, for example, from Captree, Point Lookout and Sheepshead Bay. Departures are at 6 a.m. with a return that evening following the three-hour rally. The cost is $40 per person.

Read the complete story at New York Daily News.

Massachusetts fishing activists talk strategy before heading to Washington for Feb. 24 protest

New England fishermen are preparing to speak out in Washington at a Feb. 24 protest on Capitol Hill. That preparation included a strategy meeting Wednesday to figure to make sure their voices are heard.

During the Wednesday evening meeting, local officials and concerned members of the fishing community brainstormed a message to deliver to Washington, D.C. at the “United We Fish” rally. Fishermen and related business leaders from the Gloucester area, New Bedford, Maine and Rhode Island voiced their suggestions and asked questions about the coming protest.

The meeting, hosted by state Sen. Bruce Tarr and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, also included strategy suggestions from Mayor Carolyn Kirk and audience members. The United We Fish rally, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24, is expected to draw thousands of people to the steps of the Capitol, and local officials do not want to waste the opportunity for Gloucester and New England’s voice to be heard.

Read the complete story at Wicked Local.

OPINION: The three-pronged assault on the family fishing fleet

The troika that is wrecking the family fishing fleet is composed of government bureaucrats, environmentalists and economists.

They are all governed by good intentions, but this is confirmation of the saying: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Easiest to understand are bureaucrats.

Bureaucrats obey only power, the power of the law. And we would not want them to act otherwise. So, if we believe there is something wrong in what they do, we do not address them. We correct the law under which they operate.

Hence the call to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act. You can see the specific requests to Congress at www.care2.com; search for Magnuson Act; sign your name, and add your reasons for signing, if you will. Many, from all over the world, are doing just that with poignant words.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Scientist Brian Rothschild calls for one-year catch share moratorium

"It appears to many that we are rushing to put into place a major revision of the way we manage our resources — a revision that affects communities, jobs, our economy, welfare — without the analysis, the planning, the budgetary considerations, the costs and benefits, the statements of conservation consequences that typically accompanies federal actions of this magnitude."  –Brian Rothschild

Brian Rothschild, a nationally influential research biologist revered in most New England's ports, has proposed a one-year moratorium in the regional imposition of catch shares, a re-engineering of the fishing industry that is to start May 1 when cooperatives will begin working off allocations.

The catch share system, innovated and championed by the Environmental Defense Fund and made the Obama administration's panacea for the ails of the fishing industry, gives fishermen catching rights and encourages the development of an investor-strengthened commodities market, but also has a track record in American and foreign fisheries of bringing about radical consolidation — fewer big businesses supplanting the large numbers of small boats that for centuries have made up the New England industry.

"Many of our fishermen feel that the catch share system will not be economically viable," Rothschild said. "They feel that various sectors will become bankrupt in a relatively short period of time because the quotas of fish assigned to the sectors are too small to be economically feasible.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Review of science behind fishing act requested

The congressional act that is the legal backbone of U.S. fisheries management came under fire this week as Sen. Olympia Snowe and Rep. Barney Frank requested an independent review of the science that supports the current time lines for rebuilding fish stocks.

In a letter sent to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator Jane Lubchenco, Snowe, R-Maine, and Frank, D-Mass., referred to the 1996 Magnuson-Stevens fishing act requirement that fish stocks be rebuilt within 10 years as an "arbitrary time line," not based in science.

They asked Lubchenco to request an independent study by the National Academy of Science looking at the scientific justification for the 10-year mandate, at the feasibility of restoring all fish stocks simultaneously, and the impact of non-fishing factors like climate change.

In an e-mail response to questions from the Cape Cod Times Thursday, Frank also called the rebuilding period "rigid" and "excessively punitive."

Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site]

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Groups rally against fishing limits

A conservation law is pitting the nation's coastal fishing communities against environmental groups.

Thousands of fishermen, boat captains, and shop owners from New Jersey, Florida and Alaska plan to rally on Capitol Hill next week for Congress' help.

The groups want to change the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which limits fishing for depleted stocks and requires that they be replenished within 10 years. They say lawmakers could save thousands of jobs by easing that time limit.

The fishermen are up against more than 60 environmental groups and hundreds of scientists who oppose the move, arguing it will lead to exploitation of vulnerable fish populations.

Read the complete story at Congress.org