State and Local

PANAMA CITY, Fla., — April 3, 2014 — The Bay County Chamber of Commerce is among several groups fearing a federal court’s decision could lead to tanking the 2014 and 2015 red snapper fishing season in federal waters.

Though some fishermen and associated businesses hailed the U.S. District Court’s decision in March that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) violated the law by failing to properly manage the Gulf’s red snapper fishery, officials at the Bay Chamber released statements Thursday claiming the ruling left open the possibility to “close the red snapper fishing season for 2014 and possibly for 2015 in federal waters.”

Chamber officials said if that measure is used to correct overfishing, the state’s economy could be at risk.

“Red snapper fishing affects the state’s tourism industry,” Bay Chamber President Carol Roberts said Thursday. “If they (tourists) can’t come and catch red snapper, it would adversely affect our economy.”

Recreational angling in Florida is a $5 billion industry with more than 3 million participants, 39 percent of whom come from out of state. Anglers spent $9.8 billion in 2011, and, including multiplier effects, those purchases resulted in more than $9.3 billion in sales, $3.1 billion in income and supported 89,319 jobs, according to Bay Chamber documents.

Read the full story at the Panama City News Herald 

April 1, 2014 — MOUNT DESERT, Maine — The state’s lobster industry needs to develop a road map for changes it likely will have to contend with in the not-too-distant future.

Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, stressed that message Tuesday to a few dozen lobstermen and other people who attended an industry meeting at the local Neighborhood House.

The state of the resource — the lobster population in the Gulf of Maine — is good right now, he said, which is why it’s a good time to start talking about what should be done when it inevitably starts to decline.

The meeting held Tuesday, one of a dozen planned throughout the state from March 1 through April 7, is part of a dialogue with lobstermen that Keliher hopes will lead to a vision for the future for the fishery.

The state does not have a fishery management plan for lobster — or, Keliher said, for most of its fisheries. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission does, he added, but the commission would not take action until Maine’s annual harvest declines to 35 million pounds.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

April 2, 2014 — Some of the rules that limit commercial fishing in the western Aleutian Islands are no longer needed to protect endangered Steller sea lions, federal regulators said in a management document issued Wednesday.

In a 281-page biological opinion, the National Marine Fisheries Service said a new arrangement of Aleutian fishing seasons for pollock, Atka mackerel and Pacific cod has resulted in a harvest system that does not pose additional jeopardy to the fish-eating sea lions.

The biological opinion’s stamp of approval is expected to bring regulatory changes that “would relieve roughly two-thirds of the economic burden imposed on Aleutian Islands’ fishermen” by the current sea lion protection rules, NMFS said in a statement.

“Finding a way to protect endangered sea lions while minimizing costs to the fishing industry is a real challenge,” Jim Balsinger, NFMS Alaska regional administrator, said in the statement. “I applaud the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and stakeholders for recommending a new suite of measures that effectively balances those two objectives.”

The fishing industry and its supporters cheered the new biological opinion, a document required under the Endangered Species Act.

“We are grateful that NOAA Fisheries has taken a new updated view of their 2010 decision,” Thomas Mack, president of the fishing-dependent Aleut Corp., said in a statement. “This means increased fishing opportunities especially in Adak and other areas of the Aleutians. I also thank the North Pacific Fishery Management Council for their continuous determination to bring fishing back to the Western Aleutians.”

Read the full story from Alaska Dispatch

 

April 2, 2014 — Recreational fishing leaders from around the country gathered this week in Alexandria, Va., for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Regional Saltwater Fishing Summit.

I attended the two-day summit along with Capt. Frank Blount, from the Frances Fleet, and Capt. Rick Bellavance, from Priority Too Charters, in Point Judith. The summit, the first to be held since 2010, focused on ways to improve the science, service and stewardship of America’s saltwater recreational resources.

The agenda included developing an action plan to help the country shape fishing law. The Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs commercial and recreational fishing, will be come before Congress later this year for reauthorization. The hope is that the summit will guide legislation and serve as an action plan for NOAA in the coming years.

Bellavance gave a presentation on fishing data collection and the efforts of Rhode Island Fish for the Future, in which eight charter captains recorded and collected their catch data in real time on computer tablets.

“I guess you might say I’m a data geek,” Bellavance said. “I believe good reliable data is necessary for effective management.”

Read the full story from The Providence Journal

April 3, 2014 — Local fisherman are worried there may not be a snapper season this year or next.

The concerns come after a federal court ruled the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has the authorities to close off federal waters.

"Recreational angling in Florida is a billion dollar industry with over 3 million participants," said Pam Anderson, Captain Anderson's Marina Manager.

However, commercial and recreational fisherman have been facing increasingly tougher catch limits for years.

Two of the more popular species, snapper and grouper, are also two of the most heavily restricted.

Fisherman are often caught between conflicting state and federal regulations.

Now a federal judge is giving the NOAA the authority to prohibit snapper catches in federal water for the 2014 season and possibly 2015 season.

"I personally think it will shut down the charter industry or put a huge dent in it," said Brandon Postle, Local Charter Fisherman.

Read the full story and watch the video at WJHG

COLUMBIA, s.c. — April 2, 2014 — A Berkeley County legislator says blue catfish in the Lowcountry are being harvested to an excess, and a bill that would establish daily limits will be up for discussion in a Senate panel Wednesday.

Rep. Eddie Southard, R-Moncks Corner, is calling for people to stop taking blue catfish from Lakes Marion and Moultrie by the truckloads. Southard said the fish are being taken to the Upstate, where people pay to fish for the catfish.

"I think they should grow their own fish," Southard said. "But you can't stop them because there's no limit on it right now."

Southard's bill, which will go before the Senate's Fish, Game and Forestry Committee at 10 a.m., would change that.

It would make it illegal for anyone to take more than 10 blue catfish from Lake Marion, Lake Moultrie, the upper reach of the Santee River, and the Congaree and Wateree rivers.

Read the full story from The Post and Courier

April 2, 2014 — Just two months after new fluke fishing size and catch limits gave New York anglers some relief, North Fork charter boat captains say a new regulation will keep fishermen docked during the height of the local season.

State Department of Conservation officials have announced the 2014 fluke fishing season will not open until May 17 — more than two weeks after New York’s historical start date around May 1, said Captain Bob Busby, president of the North Fork Captains Association (NFCA). 

The announcement follows a February vote by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to combine New York, New Jersey and Connecticut into a single region with regard to fluke size and catch limits. ASMFC helps regulate the region’s fluke stock.

New Jersey and Connecticut’s fluke season traditionally starts in mid-May, according to state environmental agency websites.

The new regulation is expected to cost area charter boat owners approximately 30 percent of their fluke season revenues, according to a letter outlining local concerns sent by the NFCA to regional lawmakers and state DEC officials.

“These new rules will clearly cause economic devastation out here for the charter/party fleet,” the letter reads.

“May is when the North Fork gets its run of fish,” Mr. Busby said in an interview Friday. “We get the May rush and they move east. They don’t stay here long.”

Read the full story from The Suffolk Times

April 2, 2014 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

One of the oldest commercial fishing organizations in the country recently announced a new leadership team. The North Carolina Fisheries Association, (NCFA), is a non profit trade association representing commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and processors. Incorporated in 1952, its administrative office is in Bayboro, NC.

The recently elected Board of Directors includes representation from Dare County to Brunswick County, and all aspects of commercial fishing including harvesting, processing and trucking. Affiliate groups such as the Carteret County Fishermen’s Association and the Albemarle Fishermen’s Association also have voting representation on the Board.

Mr. Brent Fulcher of B&J Seafood in New Bern is the newly elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. Leslie Daniels of William Smith Seafood in Beaufort is Treasurer.

At their April meeting, the NCFA Board agreed to move Jerry Schill from his position as Interim Executive Director to President, a post he is very familiar with. He served as President previously for 18 years, resigning in 2005 to pursue other interests.

Read the full release from the North Carolina Fisheries Association

March 31, 2014 — Opening day of brown shrimp season hasn't been set yet. It's set by the state Wildlife and Fisheries Commission when shrimp samples reach marketable size. It typically opens in May and runs into July.

Louisiana State University shrimp liaison Julie Falgout noted that, for the first time in awhile, this year's season is approaching “without too much controversy.”

Last season, a disease that plagued Asian shrimp ponds helped shrimpers by reducing competition from abroad and forcing prices higher. Those prices will remain high through the beginning of this season, Falgout said.

Whether the shrimp are there and whether markets will sustain the high prices is yet to be seen.

Here are four issues facing shrimpers as the mid-April boat blessing ceremonies approach:

Cold rains, slow wind

The past three months have been three of the coldest in Louisiana history, on record as the sixth-coldest winter since Louisiana began keeping track in 1895.

A notable absence, the blustery warm “Lent winds” that usually come in March, has some shrimpers worried.

“With this long cold winter we had our expectations aren't too high,” Nacio said.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

March 31, 2014 — The New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council will hold a meeting this Thursday to set the summer flounder and black sea bass regulations for 2014.

The meeting will be at 4 p.m. the Stafford Township Municipal Building at 260 East Bay Ave. in Manahawkin.

Two management options for summer flounder will proposed at the meeting and open for public comment. The options are (1) a five-fish limit at 18 inches with a season from May 17 to Sept. 21 and(2) a five-fish limit at 18 inches with a season from May 23 to Sept. 27.

When regional management measures were approved for the 2014 season, a four-fish bag limit at 18 inches was expected, so a return to last year’s limit of summer flounder should be viewed as welcome news. However, managers won’t know the full impact of regionalization until the catch is counted at the end of the season.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press