Saving Seafood

Enforcement

Pew-tied report says fishermen willfully flaunt catch rules

Bred in an environment of widespread disrespect for federal authority and policies, illegal groundfishing in New England is rampant, on the rise and endangers the recovery of the fishery, a newly published scientific study contends.

The academic authors, Dennis M. King and Jon G. Sutinen, characterize a sizeable portion of the fishermen as being on a cynical pillaging of the wild resources, and are recommending more and stronger enforcement including "targeting of frequent violators" and "criminal penalties."

Published Wednesday in the journal Marine Policy, the study, according to King, is intended to be the first chapter in a planned series of four regional reports on fishery law enforcement compliance.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Sea change: deal saves California fishing industry

Storm clouds over California’s fishing industry are lifting after conservationists struck a unique deal with trawlermen, offering to preserve their dwindling livelihoods on the condition that they swap their destructive dragnets for lines and hooks.

Roger Cullen is tired but happy. He has just unloaded 1,500lb of black cod on the dock at Morro Bay after a long night in an open boat. When he left port and steamed north up towards Big Sur, the sea along the rocky central California coast was glassy calm, the sun was beating down and weekenders were out driving convertibles, camper vans and riding customised Harleys along the spectacular coast road, Highway 1, stopping occasionally to point their cameras at formations of low-flying pelicans and elephant seals moulting on the beach at San Simeon.

But when California’s Central Valley heats up, cold air from the ocean is sucked towards the land. The fog comes off the Pacific and stretches its fingers into the parched valleys of the central California coast. A brisk westerly got up as well as the fog, and Cullen and his crew of baiter and boy found themselves in horrible weather. After 24 hours of rolling about in a confused sea on the deck of their 30ft boat, Dorado, they are delighted to be back in home port – though its distinctive rock and three-stack gas-fired power station are still almost invisible in the enveloping mist. Keen to get home and sleep, they unload in 15 minutes.

Read the complete story at Telegraph.co.uk.

La Mer and Oceana celebrate World Ocean Day– June 8th!

In honor of La Mer’s sea heritage and continued support of Oceana, the world’s leading international ocean advocacy organization, La Mer is proud to announce that as part of this partnership La Mer has designed a limited-edition 8 oz/250 ml "World Oceans Day" Crème, with 100% of net proceeds going to Oceana.

With 2009 marking the first U.N. officially designated June 8th as World Oceans Day – the World Oceans Day limited edition Crème de la Mer will be sold in May and June at Saks Fifth Avenue and www.lamer.com for $745 (yes expensive but a 1 oz jar is $130 so you’re actually saving money by buying in a bulk size).

If you’re running low on your La Mer –why not pick up a jar of this limited edition cream– at least you know all the net proceeds will go towards saving our precious oceans! And did you know pollution is not what’s destroying our eco system in the ocean? It’s overfishing, specifically a practice of bottom trawling; a fishing technique that uses weighted nets to clear-cut the ocean floor.

Read the complete story at Beauty Snob.

Governors shine media spotlight on Ocean Conservation

Seemingly shoring up the environmental platform of his 2009 Gubernatorial re-election campaign, today NJ Governor Jon Corzine spoke at a well attended NY City press conference with New York Governor David A. Paterson to announce an "historic" "Mid Atlantic Governor’s Agreement on Ocean Conservation" among the 5 mid-Atlantic states: NY, NJ, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

The event was backed by the Obama Administration, who sent the President’s Council on Environmental Quality Chair, Nancy Sutley, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco.

The Obama support proved merely rhetorical in the Mid Atlantic region, which contrasts with NOAA Administrator Lubchenco’s $18.6 million and regulatory reform commitments last month to the New England region to improve fisheries management. New England Governors and Congressional delegation were able to secure real commitments from the Obama administration – with the Atlantic ocean in crisis, why were NY/NJ unable to get similar treatment?

Read the complete story at New Jersey Online.

Feds to probe NMFS’ enforcement tactics

The new U.S. administrator for oceans and fisheries yesterday granted the Massachusetts congressional delegation its wish: an independent investigation into fishery law enforcement practices.

Jane Lubchenco’s office released a letter to U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in which she reports asking for the inspector general of the Department of Commerce — the parent agency of Lubchenco’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — to conduct a "formal review of our enforcement operations."

In the letter, she said she asked for an "evaluation of the overall approach to enforcement in both our (police and prosecutorial offices)."

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

Snowe Meets with NOAA Administrator Lubchenco to Discuss Budget Priorities for FY2010

Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmospheres, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today in a one-on-one meeting with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Jane Lubchenco discussed key funding priorities for the fiscal year 2010 budget and highlighted the critical need for continued strong support to ensure the vitality of the New England groundfishing industry.

"I have long supported increased funding for key NOAA programs, and the fiscal year 2010 budget, which is the largest funding request for NOAA to date, is certainly a vast improvement over previous years," Senator Snowe said. "In particular, I am pleased to see such a significant increase in the budget request for the NMFS – an increase of $33 million is a remarkable achievement in today’s economy."

On May 11, 2009, NOAA released its FY 2010 budget request which includes $4.484 billion in funding for NOAA and increase of 2.5 percent from FY2009. Specifically, NOAA has requested $912 million for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), an increase of $33 million over the $879 million enacted in FY2009. The request includes $18.6 million to help the New England groundfish industry transition to Amendment 16.

Read the complete story at Sen. Snow’s website.

OPINION: Mass. scientist deserves to be choice as new NMFS leader

There may have been a time that the appointment of a new D.C.-based National Marine Fisheries Service chief would not have carried a lot of direct interest or impact on Gloucester’s fishing fleet.

But given the gap of trust that still exists between NMFS and New England’s fishermen — and given new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco’s stated commitment to mending NOOA’s and NMFS’ admittedly "dysfunctional" relationship with the New England fishing industry — all eyes should indeed be on Lubchenco’s selection of a new NMFS chief administrator to succeed acting fisheries chief Jim Balsiger, who has tried to reach out to fishermen and others within the industry in recent months, including through his biweekly columns in the Times.

Lubchenco appears to have a clear choice between former Alaska fishermen and ex-Northern Pacific Fisheries Management Council member Arne Fuglvog and UMass-Dartmouth marine scientist Brian Rothschild, who has worked closely with the New England Council.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Times.

Canadians share fishing success story

An alternative fisheries management system under consideration by New England regulators has brought success to the Canadian groundfishing industry, including increased profits, better scientific data, less waste and improved relationships with fisheries managers.

Two fishermen and an economist from British Columbia visited New Bedford Thursday to discuss the mechanics of their so-called catch share system with local fishing representatives.

The meeting was organized by the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental advocacy group that supports catch shares.

Read the complete story at South Coast Today.

PETA Wants Lighthouses to Spread Compassion for Fish: “Fish are Friends, Not Food!”

As Lake Michigan ports go, Grand Haven is an angler’s paradise. If People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals gets its way, it also will be home to a lighthouse café — serving faux fish sticks — where patrons learn about the evils of fishing.

PETA said in a letter to the National Park Service this week that it wants to take over Grand Haven’s historic twin red lighthouses once they go on a list of surplus properties this year or next. Because PETA is a nonprofit, its bid to maintain the lighthouses could be considered.

The way the animal rights group sees it, Grand Haven would be a perfect place to drum up compassion for fish. To do so, it would point to research it says suggests that fish have feelings, too, rubbing against each other to show affection, developing individual personalities, even learning to grieve.

Read the complete story at Freep.

PETA wants to use N.J. lighthouse for its “Fish Empathy Project”

An animal rights group wants to use a New Jersey lighthouse and two others in Michigan to publicize what it says are the horrors of killing fish for food and sport.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it wants to use the Robbins Reef Lighthouse in Bayonne as the national headquarters for its "Fish Empathy Project."

PETA sent a letter today to the acting director of the National Park Service notifying him of its bid to take over the lighthouse under terms of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.

Read the complete story at New Jesry Online.