State and Local

RICHMOND, Va. — January 29, 2013 — Bills addressing the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) recommendations for regulating the menhaden industry are moving through the General Assembly with no objections.

As introduced by Del. Edward T. Scott of Culpeper, House Bill 2254 establishes total allowable landings of 144,272.84 metric tons per year for Atlantic menhaden landed in Virginia by the purse seine menhaden reduction fishery, the purse seine menhaden bait fishery, and other menhaden bait fisheries.

The annual harvest cap for the reduction fishery in Reedville will be 87,216 metric tons, subject to annual adjustments for under-harvests or over-harvests. The total allowable landings represents a 20% reduction from the average 2009, 2010 and 2011 landings, as mandated by the ASMFC.

Last Thursday, HB 2254 was recommended by the Chesapeake subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by a 5-0 vote.

A similar bill introduced by Sen. Richard H. Stuart of Montross, SB 1291, was reported last Thursday from the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources by a 15-0 vote. During the Senate constitutional reading on Monday, it received a vote of confidence, 39-0.

 

Read the full story at the Record Online

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 29, 2013 — A lawsuit brought by a Mashpee Wampanoag tribe member asserting his personal aboriginal fishing rights will be allowed to go forward, according to a Plymouth Superior Court judge's ruling.

David Greene of Buzzards Bay sued the town of Mattapoisett and Kenneth Pacheco, a former deputy shellfish warden, claiming his rights were violated in 2010 when Pacheco confiscated Greene's catch of quahogs. Greene, a member of the tribe's natural resources commission, also alleges he was assaulted in the process, though a criminal court exonerated Pacheco of an assault charge.

Pacheco is accused in the lawsuit of making derogatory comments about Greene with regard to his status as a tribe member, an alleged violation of his civil rights, according to court documents.

In a 34-page ruling issued Jan. 18, Judge Richard Chin found that Greene can proceed with his case against Pacheco and the town.

The case is being closely watched because it could set a precedent for how coastal towns have to deal with the fishing rights of tribe members. If Green eventually wins the suit, it could ultimately have implications for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's casino plans in Southeastern Massachusetts. There is precedent for the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to consider fishing rights as a way of demonstrating a tribe's historic ties to land.

 

Read the full story in the New Bedford Standard Times 

 

 

 

 

RICHMOND, Va. — January 28, 2013 — Del. Ed Scott (R-Culpeper) is sponsoring legislation that would limit the catch of Atlantic menhaden in Virginia each year.

The bill establishes an annual total catch of 144,272.84 metric tons between the reduction and bait industries.

Reduction industries make fish into fishmeal as food for livestock or into fish oil, which is used in vitamins and lipstick. Bait industries use menhaden or parts of menhaden to catch larger fish or aquatic animals.

The reduction bill is in response to reports by officials at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that the number of menhaden off the coast of Virginia is dwindling.

Scott said his dedication to menhaden conservation is not about his district or his constituents, but a part of his work with the Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources.

“As chairman of the Chesapeake subcommittee, I’ve been following the management of menhaden for many years now,“ Scott said. “I have been interested in the economic benefit of the seafood industry to the state of Virginia.“

After reading stock reports published by officials at the ASMFC, Scott became concerned about the reduced number of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding area, which he said in his bill was due to companies using menhaden in health supplements and as bait to catch other seafood, such as crabs.

In 2011, James Kirkley of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science wrote in his report, “An Assessment of the Social and Economic Importance of Menhaden in Chesapeake Bay Region,” that the reduction industry had an $88 million economic impact on the Chesapeake Bay region and supplied 519 jobs at the OMEGA Protein factory headquarters in Reedville.

 

Read the full story here

 

 

ELLSWORTH, Maine — January 25, 2013 — Having reviewed landings figures from the first week of Maine’s shrimp fishing season, the state’s top fisheries official has decided not to change fishing hours in the second week.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources released a statement Friday indicating that the DMR commissioner will allow shrimp fishing from sunrise to 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, and Wednesday, Jan. 30. Shrimp trawlers in the Gulf of Maine are allowed to fish only two days a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, during the 2013 season, which began Jan. 23.

The target limit this year for northern shrimp is 625 metric tons, less than a quarter of what it was for the 2012 season. Six hundred and twenty-five metric tons is equal to nearly 1.4 million pounds.

Jeff Nichols, spokesman for DMR, said Friday that the department is keeping a close eye on shrimp landings in order to avoid catch overruns that have occurred in previous years.

Information about the estimated amount of shrimp caught in the 2013 season’s first week was unavailable Friday afternoon.

“Landings will be monitored closely and fishing hours may be modified for the following week,” DMR officials wrote in Friday’s statement.

 

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

 

January 25, 2013 — Governor Martin O’Malley has designated Larry Simns Admiral of the Chesapeake for his work as the chief advocate for Maryland’s watermen and their communities, and for his role in promoting changes to better ensure the sustainability of commercial fishing in the State. Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin presented the award to Simns’ family, on January 18 at the 39th East Coast Commercial Fishermen’s and Aquaculture Trade Exposition in Ocean City.

“I want to congratulate Larry for his outstanding leadership and the Maryland Watermen’s Association on their 40-year anniversary,” said Governor O’Malley. “Larry has served as the voice of the men and women who work tirelessly to ensure that our local restaurants, markets and citizens have consistent and quality local seafood. He has been vital to the livelihood of our State’s watermen and we congratulate him for helping to promote responsible fishing practices and understanding the need for a balanced fishery that supports both the industry and our natural world.”

Simns, president and founder of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, has worked as a commercial waterman and charter boat operator for more than 60 years. He founded the Association in 1973, serving as president and laboring on behalf of Maryland watermen who make their living by their catch. A fourth generation waterman from Rock Hall, Simns’ lifelong love of the Chesapeake and working on the water began at the age of six, when he became employed by his great-grandfather, Captain Willy Stevens, to row the boat while Captain Willy ran his trot line.

“The Chesapeake Bay is part of who we are as Marylanders. It is part of our heritage, our culture and is our greatest natural resource. For forty years, Larry Simns has stood sentry for the watermen of the Chesapeake and has courageously championed their well-being and the health of the Bay’s fisheries,” said Senator Barbara Mikulski. “He has fought to preserve watermen’s traditions and their opportunity to work on the water, while also helping them to face the realities of the global economy and the myriad of environmental factors facing our beloved Bay. His work has not been easy and gratitude is not always forthcoming. That’s why I’m pleased to see him recognized for his extraordinary efforts to ensure watermen have been, and will continue to be, partners in preserving the Bay for us and future generations.”

Simns has provided watermen and their communities with critical leadership during the most difficult times and transitions including the striped bass population collapse and five-year harvest moratorium between 1985 and 1989, the decline and ongoing restoration of Maryland’s oyster fishery and resource and the near collapse of the blue crab fishery prior to 2008. He showed all Marylanders the essence of what watermen do and how their work impacts the people of Maryland, and he helped to establish Chesapeake Bay restoration measures. He has served on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Maryland Tidal Fish Advisory Committee and numerous other committees, councils and boards.

 

Read the full announcement from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources

 

 

January 25, 2013 — State senators agreed unanimously to reduce the Atlantic menhaden fishery in Virginia by 20 percent, while a similar bill awaits a vote on the House floor after passing unopposed through committee.

All 40 senators approved SB1291 on Wednesday, the same day the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee voted 5-0 to approve HB2254.

The measures are intended to bring Virginia into compliance with a historic coastwide harvest cap imposed last month by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to help the diminished stock recover and rebuild from overfishing. The state must comply or face having its fishery shut down.

Under the new plan, total allowable landings in Virginia would max out at 144,272 metric tons per year. This represents a 20 percent reduction from the average of the last several years.

The commission chose its management plan after a series of often contentious public meetings along the East Coast last year, as the commercial fishery argued for no or modest cuts and conservationists and recreational fishermen urged heavier ones.

Often called the most important fish in the sea, menhaden play a key role in the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic as a filter-feeder to help remove harmful algae and other particulates and as a food source for larger predators from striped bass to whales.

As bait, menhaden is commonly used by commercial crabbers in the bay.

 

Read the full story in the Daily Press

 

 

 

 

SWANSEA — January 23, 2013 — The Board of Selectmen voted 2-1 to approve amendments to the rules and regulations for shellfishing during its meeting held last Tuesday evening at the School Administration Building.

Chairman Scott Ventura and board member Kenneth Furtado voted to approve the amendments brought by Shellfish Warden Sgt. Daniel Lowney while Robert Marquis opposed. Mr. Marquis sought to alter the new regulations by deleting the paragraph that would change the amount of large clams taken beginning July 1.

Chairman Ventura and Mr. Furtado agreed with the new limits for commercial fishermen restricting them to two bushels of little necks and four bushels of bulls per day and beginning July 1, the amount of bulls would be limited to three bushels for the remainder of the season.

In addition, approximately 70 more acres would be opened up to shellfishing north of Route 103 at the Lees and Coles rivers.

The commercial fishermen had been permitted to take three bushels of little necks and five bushels of bulls prior to the new regulations.

Sgt. Lowney also pointed out that the catch would be tagged while it was still in the bushel basket before it goes into the bag.

The shellfish warden was joined by Greg Sawyer of the Division of Marine Fisheries, who supported Sgt. Lowney's recommendations. The shellfish warden noted that the changes were being put into place so the fishing areas would not be depleted to the point that they fail to grow.

 

Read the full story at the Somerset-Swansea Spectator

 

 

January 22, 2013 — Seafood dishes and fishermen’s paychecks will get a little sweeter in North Carolina this winter.

For the first time since a 2006 moratorium on bay scallop fishing, fishermen can harvest the tender mollusks in Bogue Sound and inner coastal waters south to the South Carolina line. North Carolina’s bay scallop fishing season will open Monday and run through April 1.

Although bay scallops are a small part of the commercial fishing harvest in the state, they are a high-value product known for being more sweet and tender than sea scallops.

Fishermen look forward to harvest season because it comes at a time when their business has slowed, said Mike Marshall, manager of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries central district in Morehead City. People on the coast also enjoy bay scallop season because unlike other shellfish that are shucked and sold to retailers across the nation, bay scallops caught in North Carolina tend to stay here.

“Probably more than any other fishery that I have been involved with, there is a lot of cultural heritage involved in that fishery,” he said. “It is amazing to see how invested people are.”

Bay scallops were once plentiful in North Carolina. In 1928, the state led the nation in bay scallop production with a harvest of 1.4 million pounds of meat, according to the N.C. Sea Grant program. The bay scallop harvest engaged up to half of the labor force in coastal towns in the winter.

But red tide, an algal bloom that releases a fish-killing toxin, decimated the bay scallop population in the late 1980s, and it hasn’t recovered. From 1995 to 2001, the bay scallop harvest decreased from 201,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds, according to an economic profile from the marine fisheries division. During that time, the value of bay scallop harvest in North Carolina had decreased by more than 97 percent.

 

Read the full story at the Raleigh News Observer

 

 

January 22, 2013 — Meetings hosted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources to discuss the state of the lobster industry on Wednesday, Jan. 23 and Monday, Jan. 28 have been moved to provide additional room for attendees.

The meeting on Jan. 23 scheduled for the Bath City Hall has been moved to the Maine Maritime Museum at 242 Washington Street in Bath. The meeting time of 4:00 PM has not been changed.

The meeting on Jan. 28 scheduled for the Bristol Town Hall has been moved to the South Bristol Elementary School Gym at 2024 State Rte. 129, South Bristol. The meeting time of 5:00 PM has not been changed.

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — January 21, 2013 — A set of anti-fish barriers marked by an orange boom, white buoys and a stream of bubbles in the water is the first serious sign that momentum on the South Terminal project is scaling up.

The barriers, part of the environmental measures associated with the port development project, were installed the weekend of Jan. 12 and 13 in New Bedford Harbor, running roughly from the Schuster Corp. building to the Gifford Street boat ramps, said Assistant Harbormaster Victor Fonseca.

They alert boaters to a thinly woven net that drops almost to the bottom and is meant to keep winter flounder from releasing their eggs in the area and a silt curtain designed to contain materials disturbed during the construction, Fonseca said. Boats can pass to the boat ramp through an opening of about 75 feet cut off from the fish with a stream of bubbles pumped by underwater hoses.

"This is the first physical step towards that offshore wind energy future for Massachusetts," said Catherine Williams, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which is in charge of the project. "It's a great sign of things to come."

The state is pushing for the Marine Commerce Terminal, currently out to bid, to be completed in about 19 months once it starts.

The anti-fish barriers will be in place for at least a year, Fonseca said. The mitigation measures cost about $200,000, Williams said.

Winter flounder — also known as lemon sole — spawn in shallow, sheltered areas in estuaries, said Vincent Manfredi of the Division of Marine Fisheries, which was consulted on the project. The fish drop their eggs when temperatures appear to start warming again, he said.

The eggs hatch between 30 and 60 days later; the young flounder spend the summer eating and growing, benefiting from the warmer water temperatures and more abundant food in the estuary, he said.

 

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times