State and Local

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., — June 15, 2013 — The following was released by FISHforAMERICA:

FISHforAMERICA ( FFA ) is pleased to announce that the Consumer Advocacy Organization will be attending the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s June meeting in Pensacola Fl this coming week.  The Gulf Council will be discussing Allocation changes between the Commercial and Recreational sectors that are considered unprecedented and far reaching; possibly affecting all Fishery Management regions.

The consequences for the American consumer are tremendous as they relate to health, choice, and denial of participation in enjoying a public resource.  FFA will at the meeting be representing all 330 million Americans while the CCA, RFA and other Recreational organizations will be representing their relativity small group of members.  It is apparent to all involved that these member groups have positioned themselves on the Gulf Council as well as other Councils to reward their members with the lion’s share of the American citizen’s allocation. Recreational Fishermen who fish Federal waters represent 3% of the American public, this group disproportionably harvest over 50% of all fish in Gulf of Mexico Federal waters.  FFA not only considers the 320 million non-Federal water fishing Americans but includes this 3% when protecting the right of all Americans to enjoy wild caught domestic seafood.  

FISHforAMERICA understands and supports the importance of Recreational fishing to the well-being of our nation, whether socially or economically this sector plays a very valuable role in American life. What FFA does object to is the disproportion of the allocation split and the lack of Recreational accountability that results in fewer seafood products for our nation’s consumers. 

FISHforAMERICA asks that ALL Americans visit our website at FISHforAMERICA.org for information on this very important issue.

 

June 14, 2013 — The New Hampshire Fisheries Sectors and The Nature Conservancy today announced an innovative new partnership that seeks to improve fisheries in the Gulf of Maine and sustain New Hampshire’s struggling ground fishing fleet.

The two organizations recently worked together to complete the purchase of two groundfish permits by the conservancy. The allowable catch, or “quota,” associated with the permits will be made available to New Hampshire fishermen, many of whom are struggling under a new fisheries management system and significant reductions in the availability of prized species like cod.

The purchase of the New Hampshire permits builds upon the successful Community Permit Bank initiative begun in Port Clyde, Maine in 2009. Through this program, the conservancy leases the quota to fishermen at favorable rates, and underwrites research that provides scientists, fishing communities and managers important information on practices and gear configurations that will minimize bycatch and reduce impacts on sensitive marine habitats. Through the partnership announced today, the conservancy and local fishermen hope to bring this successful model to New Hampshire.

“Both The Nature Conservancy and our fishing industry partners are committed to rebuilding groundfish populations in the Gulf of Maine,” said Geoff Smith, Gulf of Maine program director at the Nature Conservancy. “Our experience has shown that working directly with fishermen developing more selective gear and sustainable fishing practices gives us the best chance for success.”

“The development of this partnership has both short- and long-term benefits,” said Josh Wiersma, New Hampshire Fisheries Sectors Manager. “In the short term, the quota from these permits will help fishermen and our crews stay above water in this harsh climate; and in the long run, the research carried out through these projects should help to improve local fish stocks and fishing practices. Working with The Nature Conservancy means that the permits and associated catch will remain here in New Hampshire supporting small businesses and traditional fishing ports.”

Read the full story at Foster's Daily Democrat

 

June 13, 2013 — Pugh’s commercial crabbing efforts, along with a handful of others whose white fiberglass boats line a pier along Leipsic River, not only feed residents and visitors to this tiny fishing village but also its economy – something Pugh is ever focused on in his role as political steward.

When it comes time to catch crustaceans, though, this mayor’s office is the Delaware Bay.

It’s 4:12 a.m. The town is dark but for a few streetlamps. Quiet but for the crunch of gravel beneath the tires of a few pickup trucks. Reeds of windswept salt marsh sway along the edge of the roughly 17-mile-long river, among the deepest in the state, meandering through lush land and muddy embankments in Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

This is the hour when Leipsic’s commercial crabbers begin to stir.

By 4:30, Pugh and crew members Rich Jones and Bob Armbruster load crates of bunker, another name for menhaden, bought from a vendor in Virginia onto Hope So, the mayor’s 35-foot Evans boat.

“I enjoy the morning sunrise as much as anything,” says Pugh, who picked up crabbing at age 12. “As well as independent work, a quality most watermen enjoy.”

Just shy of 5 a.m., a turn of the ignition sparks a slow and steady rumble of inboard engines. The sun begins to rise behind a curtain of tall spiky tidal marsh flanking the brackish water some 200 yards wide in the tributary.

This area epitomizes Delaware’s diverse terrain.

Read the full story at Delaware Online

 

 

June 13, 2013 — “Wicked Tuna” is a reality television show on the National Geographic Channel that documents the competitive New England-based commercial bluefin tuna industry. It’s also a story of the hard-core East Coast fishermen who make their living off the giant tuna — fishermen who live for the sport.

Count local fishermen Bruce Hebert of East Waterboro and his brother Capt. Paul Hebert of Gloucester, Mass., among them. The siblings are making waves on “Wicked Tuna.” Fifty-six-year-old Bruce is the first mate on the fishing boat Lisa & Jake, working right alongside his 48-year-old brother, Paul. Both men know what they are doing out on the ocean, having spent most of their lives tuna fishing. Born into a multigenerational commercial fishing family along with four other brothers, the Heberts were taught the trade of bluefin tuna fishing as adolescents.

“We grew up tuna fishing — it would be our only source of income in the summer. In the winters we’d go cod or bass fishing,” Paul Hebert said.

Brother Bruce said he caught his first giant tuna when he was about 11 years old.

“I can remember wanting to skip school every September because that’s when tuna fishing is best in New England,” said Bruce.

Their lifestyle and combined experience made them perfect candidates for the show, though the men did not see this opportunity coming.

“Dave Carraro, who has been a friend of mine for many years, received a call to join [‘Wicked Tuna’] as one of the captains,” Paul said, “and he encouraged me to come down to be interviewed.”

Bruce continued, “They were interviewing tuna fisherman from all over the East Coast for the show. First they interviewed my brother [Paul] for all of two minutes. Immediately they asked if he had any brothers, then they interviewed me and offered me a place on the show right there on the spot.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

 

June 13, 2013 — The Seacoast has sole. We have yellowtail flounder, Arcadian redfish, American plaice and Gulf of Maine winter flounder. We have Dayboat Dogfish, skate wings, silver hake, herring, butterfish and monkfish. Yes, we are more than just haddock and now, you can get a share of the bounty each and every week, thanks to New Hampshire Community Seafood.

It's a new CSF (Community Supported Fishery) headed up by Sarah VanHorn, CSF manager, with Josh Wiersma, executive director of the organization in general. VanHorn has been working with local fishermen since 2012, when she received the N.H. Sea Grant's Brian E. Doyle Fellowship and had the opportunity of fishing with each of the local fishermen who will be supplying the fish for the CSF. She also documented their stories through photographs and narratives in her blog Fishues: NH Seacoast's Fish Issues. 

Here's how it works — just choose your CSF type and go to one of the pick-up spots each week for your share. You can to to the website to see information and pricing, but the basics go like this: Weekly Groundfish Share, which is 2 pounds of filets a week for eight weeks. It includes some of the more common local fish like Arcadian redfish, Gulf of Maine cod, Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder, Atlantic pollock, American plaice, gray sole, Gulf of Maine winter flounder and white hake.

You can also get whole fish, which is interesting. The pollock, silver hake, and redfish is gutted at sea. Variations on that theme include flounder, which is delivered whole just as it's caught. You can also get a bi-weekly share of underdog fish, the less familiar fish we should all be eating including dayboat dogfish (gutted, bled and brined at sea for unique freshness and quality), skate wings, silver hake, herring, butterfish or monkfish. They're also considering lobster, if they get enough interest.

The shares run eight weeks but they'll keep on going in eight week increments back-to-back with a break in the winter. They even just started in Manchester, which is great for them since they're not lucky enough to be right by the sea as we are. Now, why is this important? We need to honor our local seafood by enjoying it here, ourselves. According to the Web site, 98 percent of the fish we land leaves the Seacoast.

Read the full story at Seacoast Online

 

June 12, 2013 — Around two hundred seals were seen on a sandbar at Head of the Meadow Beach in North Truro on the morning of June 12, 2013. Watch the video from the Cape Cod Times at Youtube

June 13, 2013 — The crisis facing the Massachusetts and New Engand fishing industry wasn’t a focal point of the second debate between U.S. Senate hopefuls Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Edward Markey in Springfield Tuesday night, but the two men vying for the seat previously held by John Kerry staked out their fishery stands in the hours prior to the event.

In a question-and-answer session with the State House News Service, both candidates staked out claims to support the state’s fishermen, but from different angles.

“I stand with the Attorney General (Martha Coakley) for standing up for these fishermen and suing regulators in Washington who think they know or care more about the ocean than the fishermen who make their lives from it,” said Gomez, referring to Coakley’s lawsuit that aims to put a halt to new catch limit cuts that are crippling the industry.

“I’ve sat with the fishermen in New Bedford and Gloucester,” he said. “They described how their way of life is being threatened and drastic catch limits being imposed by NOAA will bankrupt a proud livelihood that has been a part of our coastal economy since before there was a Massachusetts.

“This program currently relies on flawed science and overreaching regulations that don’t account for the regional economic impact,” Gomez added. “Local fishermen don’t want welfare, they want to be allowed to work.”

Markey also acknowledged that “Massachusetts fishermen and their families are hurting right now.”

“I recently sat down with fishermen in Gloucester, and they told me how they need more help. I’ve heard that in New Bedford, on the Cape, and around the fishing communities of Massachusetts,” he said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

June 12, 2013 — A southern New Jersey fishing boat owner has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for his role in a botched scheme to sink the boat for insurance money.

Scott Tran of Cherry Hill was also ordered Wednesday to pay $280,000 in restitution.

The 40-year-old Tran was among four people who pleaded guilty to charges in the unsuccessful sinking of the Alexander II about 80 miles southeast of Cape May in 2009. Tran pleaded guilty to conspiracy to destroy a vessel on the high seas.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NorthJersey.com

 

June 11, 2013 — Massachusetts consumers may soon get reassurance that the fish they order in restaurants is actually what ends up on their plates.

A State House hearing on food safety Tuesday included discussion about a bill that would fine supermarkets and restaurants that mislabel certain seafood, and impose a ban the sale of escolar, an oily species that is often sold under a different name in sushi restaurants.

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health hearing comes after more than two years of reporting by the Boston Globe that revealed widespread mislabeling of fish in area restaurants. Less expensive fish was routinely substituted for more desired and costly species. A year after the newspaper’s initial investigation, a follow-up report found most of the restaurants were still serving mislabeled fish.

“Consumers deserve to have full and accurate information where seafood comes from,’’ said Beckie Zisser, Ocean advocate for Oceana, a nonprofit group that has revealed widespread seafood fraud across the country. Zisser spoke at the hearing, which included a range of bills relating to food safety.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

 

June 8, 2013 — Rostron and fellow fisherman Clint Simek of Brielle were in Rostron's boat the TNT. The two were shark fishing 2½ hours east of Manasquan Inlet on Tuesday when the shark leaped out of the water and landed in the bow of their boat.

It then proceeded to eat through a broom stick, seat cushions, and the fiberglass decking before the two men were able to subdue it with a gaff and rope.

Three days after the brush with the shark, Rostron and Simek showed the broom stick – now in two pieces – and where the teeth gash marks, some as long as three inches, occurred in their boat. They also held onto the head of the shark, and intend to preserve the jawbone and teeth.

"It's missing a few teeth," said Simek. "We found one in the boat that was an inch and a half long."

Rostron said the damage to his boat, which he docks at the Glimmer Glass in Manasquan, will cost $5,000 for a professional to fix.

"I would like to leave the teeth marks in, like a badge of honor," he said. "But the floor marks have to be fixed or water will leak through. They have to be filled and fiberglass has to be re-applied."

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press