Saving Seafood

State and Local

NC Outer Banks fishermen to head to DC

Even if the day breaks plum perfect and the fish are running, don't expect to find many Outer Banks fishermen heading out to sea on Feb. 24.

Commercial and recreational fishermen from Dare County are planning to take part in a rally in Washington, D.C. that day calling for reform of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the federal law that sets the framework for fishing regulations developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and its regional councils.

Etheridge Seafood in Wanchese is organizing bus trips to the rally. Buses will depart from Avon Seafood in Avon and from Sugar Creek Restaurant on the Manteo-Nags Head Causeway.

Read the complete story at The Outer Banks Sentinel.

New Bedford mayor pushes pre-council fishing talks

Mayor Scott Lang, who locked arms with Congressman Barney Frank and Gov. Deval Patrick last month in a political Phalanx that convinced federal officials to liberate an additional $40 million in the allowable scallop catch, has set up a meeting of fishery stakeholders to jump-start the problem-solving process.

Lang told his Ocean and Fisheries Council, a regional assembly of fishing interests, Monday that he would schedule a meeting with invitees — including agents of environmental groups — in March, 30 days ahead of the next meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council.

"We'll do what the government is supposed to be doing," said Lang, "(and) present our findings to the government so that they will say, 'Why didn't we think of that?'"

The New England management council, an arm of the National Marine Fisheries Service, next meets April 27-29, in Mystic, Conn.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Maryland Anglers to march on D.C. for fishing rights

Considering all the fishing-related Web sites, TV shows, books, magazines, catalogs, retail stores, clubs, T-shirts, bumper stickers and video games these days, it's obvious fishing has become a high-profile industry. One might surmise that expensive boats, specialized clothing, high-tech tackle, and all the other stuff we see is a pretty good representation of what fishing and fishermen are all about. But angling images and stories that find their way onto our TVs, the glossy pages of monthly magazines and even the weekly columns of local outdoor writers only represent the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the big picture of what fishing is all about.

What's not so obvious are the millions and millions of American anglers who never end up in the public spotlight. I'm talking about people whose annual fishing adventures might involve a few hours here and there sitting in a lawn chair beside a farm pond soaking worms for bluegills; or the family that rents a little boat to catch a couple flounder once a year; or the single mom who doesn't like fishing but takes her young son out on a half-day head boat because she understands that every child should have the opportunity to go.

The folks I'm talking about are the ones who could, and often do, go an entire year or more without ever wetting a line, but who would still like to have the opportunity to, every once in a while, sit or stand by the water with the hope something might swim along and take a bite. Even though by some definitions they might not be classified as true "fishermen," these are the countless citizens who are good old everyday folks who appreciate that they live in a country that allows them to go fishing. It's a privilege that's not always available in other countries and one that should never be taken for granted.

Read the complete story at Delmarva Now!

New Jersey out of compliance on sharks

Among the many motions to come out of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission winter meetings held last week in Alexandria, Va. was the one to find New Jersey out of compliance with the ASMFC when it comes to its coastal shark management plan.

That motion begins the process by which New Jersey shark fishery can be shut down.

Here it is as contained in ASMFC meeting summary:

"Move that the Spiny Dogfish & Coastal Sharks Management Board recommend to the ISFMP Policy Board that the state of New Jersey be found out of compliance for not fully and effectively implementing and enforcing the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Coastal Sharks. New Jersey has not implemented the regulations of the Interstate FMP for Atlantic Coastal Sharks. The implementation of these regulations is necessary to achieve the conservation goals and objectives of the FMP to rebuild depleted shark species and ensure sustainable harvest of others. In order to come back into compliance the state of New Jersey must implement all measures contained in the Interstate FMP for Atlantic Coastal Sharks."

Read the complete story at APP.

Tide may be turning for local fishermen

In response to the Inspector General’s recent disturbing report on the law enforcement policies of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Congressman John Tierney has requested a hearing on behalf of the City of Gloucester and the fishing community.

On Feb. 3, Tierney asked Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich to convene an oversight hearing which would focus on the findings of the Inspector General’s (IG) report . The report detailed alleged abuses of power, excessive fines and poor management of NOAA’s law enforcement branch. For years, Gloucester fishermen have complained about NOAA’s policies and the IG’s report supported their complaints.

On the same day of Tierney’s request for a hearing, NOAA’s Administrator, Jane Lubchenco issued a memo to NOAA’s General Consul Lois J Schiffer and James Balsiger, the Acting Assistant Administrator to take immediate and long-term actions to improve the agency’s law enforcement operations and repair its relationship with the fishing community.

Read the complete story at Wicked Local.

NOAA chief addresses criticism of fisheries enforcement

She didn't apologize and she didn't explain, but NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco has issued a statement pledging specific improvements in fisheries enforcement in response to a scathing report by the Interior Department's inspector general.

Just as she did in January when acknowledging the serious nature of the report, Lubchenco did not get into the details of why enforcement is seen as heavy-handed and arbitrary, especially in the Northeast. She left that to the inspector general's report.

But she did impose a series of orders to the management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that run down the list of problems spotted by the inspector in interviews with hundreds of people.

The first of her orders is the most sweeping and addresses the question of the evenhandedness and fairness of the enforcement actions taken against those who violate fishing regulations and restrictions.

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

note: The Standard-Times is a subscription site.  Unregistered visitors are able to read three stories per month, and registered visitors may view ten.  For unlimited access, please follow the subscription instructions on the site.

Gloucester Times: Maryland’s Eric Schwaab named head of National Marine Fisheries Service

The following Gloucester Times story on Mr. Schwaab's appointment, which will appear in the Thursday morning edition, has been made available to Saving Seafood, courtesy of the paper.

by RICHARD GAINES, Gloucester Daily Times

     Special to Saving Seafood

 

Eric C. Schwaab, second in charge at Maryland’s state Department of Natural Resources, was named yesterday to take the reins of the troubled and challenged $1 billion National Marine Fisheries Service.

 

The appointment by NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco — rumored for weeks — fills a position that had been vacant for more than a year. The vacuum was considered by the U.S. Commerce Department Inspector General last month to have been a contributing factor in allowing the federal fisheries police to operate largely without oversight and drift into a variety of improper actions against the fishing industry.

 

The NMFS administrator is responsible for federal fisheries law enforcement. The epicenter of the problem was confirmed to be the office of agents in Gloucester, who hold authority for law enforcement throughout the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions.

 

“Eric is a creative and proven manager, consensus builder and leader,” Lubchenco said in a e-mailed statement.

 

“He has developed and implemented solutions to address challenges in regional habitat restoration, including Chesapeake Bay restoration issues, fish and wildlife conservation, public lands management, natural resources law enforcement, public agency administration, strategic planning and leadership development.

 

Federal offices were closed yesterday because of the snowstorm, and Lubchenco’s office was unable to provide a professional resume, a salary or job description for the 48-year-old Schwaab, who lives in Catonsville, Md.

 

A biographical summary released by NOAA indicates that, previous to his position with the state of Maryland, Schwaab had been resource director for the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, a private organization that represents the interests of state agencies.

 

Earlier, at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, “Eric served in many different capacities, including director of fisheries, forest, wildlife and heritage service, park ranger (and) environmental police officer,” according to the biographic summary.

 

His appointment ends the year-long candidacy for the post Brian Rothschild, the Montgomery Charter Professor of Marine Sciences and Technology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, who has been the academic and political linchpin of the volatile New England fishing industry.

 

Its alienation from NMFS was a central discussion point during Lubchenco’s confirmation hearing questioning by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Lubchenco, herself a celebrated academic scientist, promised to use science to bridge the chasm between regulators and the fishing industry.

 

Since then, with the top job at NMFS held down in an acting term by James Balsiger, pressure emanating from Gloucester pushed Lubchenco to ask the IG to look into persistent allegations of vindictive actions against fishermen and businesses.

 

Meanwhile, the industry chafed at NMFS policies that were aimed at eliminating what Lubchenco called a “sizable fraction of the fleet” and the pending onset of “catch shares,” an engineered transformation of the industry to a regulatory system that she concedes should “consolidate” the number of small, family-owned fishing boats.

 

In her only known visit to Gloucester as head of NOAA, Lubchenco visited and left the regional offices without detouring to the port or City Hall. A regional fishermen’s protest was held in October at the NMFS Gloucester, and a massive protest is scheduled for the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24.

 

Her choice to head NMFS does not have the doctorate degrees held by either Balsiger or Rothschild. Schwaab has a master’s in geography and environmental planning.

 

A job description provided to the Times last year lists as essential duties of the NMFS administrator to “establish national standards and operational guidelines for fisheries management programs, and promote … recreational and commercial fishing under sound conversation and management principles.”

 

The NMFS administrator is also required to administer “multi- disciplinary biological and socio-economic research programs” that provide the “scientific base for status of stocks, status of fisheries including both socio-economic and biological aspects, environmental assessment and … impact statements.”

 

Lubchenco never explained why she avoided appointing Rothschild, 75, who once had taught Balsiger in the 1970s while on the faculty of the University of Washington, and in 2003 received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Institute of Fishery Biologists.

 

After he made himself a candidate for the NMFS position last year, leaders of the New England fishing industry and Congressman Barney Frank advocated Rothschild’s appointment.

 

Instead, an Alaskan former fisherman and staffer for the Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski emerged as an alternative, with the endorsement of the Environmental Defense Fund, where Lubchenco had been vice chairwoman. But Arne Fuglvog took himself out of the running when no quick decision was made between the two.

 

Afterward, Frank and Richie Canastra, the industry leader of New Bedford and the co-owner of the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction, marshaled industry forces behind Rothschild, but to no avail.

 

Rothschild helped produce video and scientific disproof of NMFS research showing a weakened scallop industry in the 1990s. With the better science, the industry was saved from what would have been unnecessary conservation controls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update on NOAA Funding to Support Multispecies Fishery Sectors

NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued a document describing how they are spending Federal dollars in support of catch shares. The text follows:

NOAA Fisheries Service strongly supports sector management. To assist with the change to what will be a new management system for many, we are providing financial support, training and technical assistance to the fishing industry. Here are some of our efforts to date:

– Financed the preparation of each sector’s National Environmental Policy Act documents through 2011. ($1.0m)

– Fully funded sector costs for dockside monitoring in 2010. ($1.2m)

 -Provided funding for sector start up and operating costs. ($720k)

– Supported cooperative research focusing on conservation engineering in 2009 and 2010. ($12.0m)

– Funded at-sea monitoring for sectors and observer coverage for the entire multispecies fishery. ($12.7m)

– Funded electronic monitoring pilot project to test and define video and sensor data collection methodologies for sector fisheries. ($920k)

Additional funds will be allocated to support sectors, but we are finalizing details as to exactly how funds will be spent. For more information on multispecies sector management please visit our website:

http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/sfdmultisector.html

 

Read the entire NOAA fact sheet here.

Calls for NOAA probe stretch to Outer Banks

The congressman for North Carolina's Outer Banks — an arm-in-arm ally of the New England fishing ports — has formally requested an oversight hearing by the House Natural Resources Committee into the Inspector General's report citing numerous failings and excesses by federal fishery law enforcers.

In a letter last Friday to the Democrat and Republican leaders of the panel, Congressman Walter B. Jones said the body of revelations by the U.S. Commerce Department's Inspector General "cry out for congressional oversight."

Jones wrote that the report "confirmed what I have heard from fishermen for years" about the law enforcement agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as the programs.

Due to the weekend blizzard, which closed many Washington officers, Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., the ranking Republican, could be reached.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Black Sea Bass 2010 Total Allowable Catch Increased

NOAA Fisheries Service's Northeast Regional Administrator reviewed the New England Fishery Management Council's request for temporary emergency rulemaking to implement an increase in the 2010 black sea bass quota. Through this action we will help prevent significant direct economic loss for fishery participants and associated industries that would be subject to lower commercial and recreational harvest levels. An additional amount of black sea bass landings will also be able to be set aside for research activities.

Through this temporary emergency rule, NOAA increases the 2010 black sea bass
total allowable catch from 2.71 million lb to 4.5 million lb. After deducting discards, the total allowable landings will increase from 2.3 million lb  to 3.7 million lb.

To view the emergency rule as filed in the federal register today, please visit the NOAA website.