State and Local

Connecticut lobstermen will have a chance to present their ideas and hear the most recent data on lobster populations in Long Island Sound at two meetings next month with marine fisheries biologists from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The meetings will take place at 7 p.m. July 12 at DEP Marine Headquarters in Old Lyme, and at 7 p.m. July 15 at The Sound School in New Haven.

As well as hearing from the lobstermen and presenting data, DEP representatives will also give an update on actions being considered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to close the lobster fishery in southern New England for five years due to depleted stocks.

Read the complete story at All Business.

 

 

 

 

 

The 6th Annual Day at the Docks: A Celebration of Hatteras Island Watermen will take place Saturday, September 18, 2010, on the Hatteras village waterfront.

The day brings island fishing families and visitors together on the waterfront to celebrate the living traditions and heritage of Hatteras Island, a special place where the pull of the sound and the sea remains as irresistible today as in years past for commercial fishermen and charter-boat captains and mates.

An enthusiastic and spirited band of volunteers, headed by Lynne and Ernie Foster, deliver a fun-filled day packed with friendly competitions and contests, boat and gear displays, cooking demonstrations, children’s activities, and more.

But there are expenses associated with the celebration, such as tent and other infrastructure rental fees and the costs of signs, supplies, prizes, posters and entertainment.
We hope you can help make Day at the Docks a success this year by contributing a donation to help cover those types of expenses.  No contribution is too small, and all contributions are deeply appreciated.

Contributions can be made by mailing a check made out to “Day at the Docks” to Day at the Docks, P.O. Box 120, Hatteras, NC 27943.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Fishermen risk their lives every time they leave the docks,” Tina Jackson, president of the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities (AAFC), said to her audience, an experienced group of Galilee fishermen who are fighting national regulations in an attempt to save not only their individual businesses, but the industry of fishing itself. The AAFC held a meeting Thursday, June 24, in Galilee to discuss the lawsuit pertaining to Amendment 16, a fisheries management plan, and the proposed shut-down of the lobster industry, among other issues. On May 1, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service placed new limitations on the total amount on each type of fish that fisherman can catch. Sector Allocation, the newest method of achieving this goal, determines fishery limits by an average of each participating vessel’s catch history over a certain amount of years. With these regulations, the service aims to restore fishery population. Galilee fishermen, however, dispute that the seas are overfished.
“What I see going on is not conservation,” Jackson said, voicing that she believes regulations put on local fishing industries serves an an eradication effect and is a premeditation to put a large portion of the fishing fleet out of business.

Overfishing hasn’t occurred in 15 years in this country, Jackson said, and the information backing regulations has been “poor science” on NOAA’s part. She said the industry proves their findings wrong year after year.

“We are not in decline in our fishing stock,” Jackson said Wednesday, “we haven’t been for years.” There’s actually been a rise in stock assessments, she said, because older regulations have prohibited overfishing.

Read the complete story from the Narragansett Times.

 

 

 

 

 

Rhode Island fishermen decried new fishing regulations, which they say are driving them to ruin, in a meeting with federal commercial fishing officials Monday.

"Just because nobody's here, don't assume everything's peachy rosy and everyone's happy," said Joel Hovanesian, a Galilee fisherman. "It's quite the opposite. People are pissed."

The Wakefield resident said the system implemented May 1 is putting fishermen out of work.

"This isn't humane. This is a death sentence for a lot of people," Hovanesian told representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service gathered at the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Institute.

Read the complete story at The Westerly Sun.

 

 

 

 

 

REEDVILLE, VA – July 1, 2010 – Just hours after the first meeting of the new menhaden fish working group formed by Virginia State Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk ,VA) was announced for July 15, the Virginia NAACP, Waterman’s Association, Bait Association, and Omega Protein announced they “have decided not to participate in these meetings.”

The organizations say they were “misled, either intentionally or inadvertently” about the agenda and deliberations of this “working group”.

In a letter sent on Wed. June 30th, the organizations told Senators Northam and Stuart they “are still willing to meet … on an individual basis.” And  “…are not closed to the idea of meeting with groups willing, in an above-board manner, to discuss the science behind fishery management.”

But the groups say they were told they “would have a chance to engage in dialogue with the special interest groups that have for years worked to end menhaden operations”  But when the meetings were announced, they took “the shape of regional meetings designed to stir up emotions without regard to science. “  According to the NAACP, Waterman’s Association, Bait Associations, and Omega Protein, “The design of these meetings seems to be intended to provide a platform for opponents of the menhaden industry, and not to have a constructive dialogue.”

The text of the complete letter follows:

June 30, 2010

 

The Honorable Ralph S. Northam

Virginia State Senate District 6                                  

Post Office Box 9636                                              

Norfolk, Virginia 23505 

 

The Honorable Richard H. Stuart 

Virginia State Senate District 28  

Post Office Box 1146 

Montross, Virginia 22520                                          

 

Dear Senators Northam and Stuart:

 

Independently, each of our organizations were approached by your staff a few weeks ago to join an informal working group to discuss menhaden management in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  While on its face this seems like a worthwhile endeavor, the publicly released details about the nature of the proposed group have resulted in a great deal of concern on our part regarding the agenda and deliberations of this “working group”.

 

As we read article after article reporting that “Virginia has formed a brand new study panel to take a hard look into the menhaden fishery,” we could not avoid feeling that we had been misled, either intentionally or inadvertently. We were told and agreed to participate in what was described as “an informal working group,” yet what has been described and reported is anything but.

 

Also, we have been made aware that a few groups who were originally listed as participants in the working group, have since opted out of participating. Given all of this new information, we have discussed the virtues of participating as a member of this proposed group with our individual members and with the leadership within our organization. This has led us to regrettably inform you that we have decided not to participate in these meetings.

 

There are several factors that have led us to this decision.

 

One issue is the implication that this group has been established under the guidance of (and given the authority of) the General Assembly. The idea that whatever conclusion may be reached is the will of the General Assembly is certainly misleading. In fact, several legislators who have a long history of monitoring and regulating the menhaden fishery were not even contacted to join this group.

 

For over twenty years, the House and Senate committees and subcommittees looking at this issue have developed a level of expertise on the issue. However, it seems that members of the relevant committees have been cut out of this process.  We do not think by-passing the legislature is the best way to engage.

 

Further, the publicly released format of the working group is troubling and differs significantly from what was proposed to us. As represented to us, we would have a chance to engage in dialogue with the special interest groups that have for years worked to end menhaden operations in Virginia, as well as dialogue with groups that had endorsed the historic 2006 accord which provided a cap on menhaden fishing in the Chesapeake Bay.  However, it has now been announced that this will take the shape of regional meetings designed to stir up emotions without regard to science. The design of these meetings seems to be intended to provide a platform for opponents of the menhaden industry, and not to have a constructive dialogue. The fact that there is implied government sanction makes this all the more troubling.

 

We do not feel alone in this concern. According to Delegate Albert Pollard in an email to members of your group last week, “I further felt I had been betrayed because a ‘low key’ group by its very definition is not publicized in two of the state’s leading newspapers.”

 

Another questionable point is your decision to schedule meetings in locations convenient to a number of special interest groups who have actively worked to shut down the industry, yet ignore Reedville. Reedville serves as one of America's largest ports by volume, and is home to the very menhaden fishery being debated. Hundreds of families are employed in the fishing industry there, yet the closest meeting that your group proposed to Reedville is over an hour away. This would be akin to organizing an effort to look into studying the future of shipbuilding in Virginia and holding the meeting in Petersburg, while ignoring Newport News.

 

The pattern seems to be that this ad hoc group has not been planned out and has not been represented consistently and fully to all parties. It appears designed to fail in doing anything but stirring up emotions and organizing special interests against the fishing industry, the jobs it provides and fly in the face of science and on-going regulation by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

 

We have a strong record of open communication with groups who have beliefs that are sometimes contrary to ours. This is not the issue. Our concern deals with trust. We cannot help but feel misled. The format to which we agreed seems to have changed once it was announced publicly.

 

We would hope that legislators and interest groups would look at recent research that has been conducted.  Notably the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) study that states that menhaden do not improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) stock assessment that found that menhaden are not overfished, nor is overfishing occurring. Also from the ASMFC stock assessment, the external review panel concluded that any “sub-regional assessment would be meaningless from a biological point of view.” In other words, there is no such thing as a Chesapeake Bay stock of menhaden.

 

We are still willing to meet with you on an individual basis. We are not closed to the idea of meeting with groups willing, in an above-board manner, to discuss the science behind fishery management.  However, we view the process that has been announced as being ineffective for fruitful discussions of fishery management. We trust that you can appreciate our viewpoint.

 

Regards,

 

Ben Landry

Director of Public Affairs, Omega Protein

(225) 383-2326 – phone

 

King Salim Khalfani

Executive Director, Virginia Chapter of NAACP

(804) 321-5678 – phone

 

Ken Smith

President, Virginia State Waterman’s Association

(804) 366-2325 – phone

 

Jimmy Kellum

Virginia Bait Association

(804) 761-0673 – phone

 

 

 

CC:       Senator Mary Margaret Whipple

            Senator John Miller

            Delegate Watkins M. Abbitt Jt.

            Delegate Albert Pollard

            Delegate Matthew James

            Delegate Barry Knight

            Delegate John Cosgrove

 

 

 

 

           

Sunday's 63rd annual Blessing of the Fleet marked the culmination of the four-day Portuguese Festival. On the wharf and in the streets, costumed dancers, wearing the dress of their native villages in Portugal, twirled, sashayed and sang to the accompaniment of musicians playing ukuleles, tiny steel banjos, 15-string guitars called violas, multitudes of individually shaped mandolins, and the strangest percussion instrument of all time, kind of an umbrella made of tiny knit figures that touched their toes and clapped bottle caps as the musician pumped the handle.

But the real focus was the fishing vessels. Many in the crowd remembered back 40 years ago when Provincetown was mainly a fishing port and a tourist destination, and not a tourist spot that happens to have fishermen. Pairs of children and adults in the procession carried banners, each stitched with the names of fishing vessels like Jimmy boy, Stella, the Kathie-Jo. The banner was all that remained of some of them, as restrictive fishing regulations and the collapse of fish stocks have taken their toll on the fleet.

Still, traditions die hard, and the big Provincetown II ferry listed as the crowd on deck shifted to the seaward side of the boat to watch Monsignor Perry bless the boats from the top deck as they paraded by.

Read the complete story at The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

Capt. Joe Orlando has been a stalwart of the Gloucester fleet for more than 35 years.

He has an instinct for fish and an appetite for justice. Right now, he contends, there's a lot more of the former than the latter.

Orlando, 56, was a child when his family emigrated from Sicily in 1963 and settled in Milwaukee, where his uncle lived. But it wasn't right for Orlando's father, a fisherman in Sicily.

In the early 1970s, a helping hand was extended by Tommy Brancaleone, whose family made up one of the legendary high-lining crews of the post-World War II era. Brancaleone invited the Orlandos to come to Gloucester to fish.

"When we started, the health of the fish stocks was pretty good, but not as good as it is now," said Orlando, who maintains a fishing business with his son Mario via the 65-foot dragger Padre Pio.

Read the complete story at the Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

By almost any measure, Gloucester's commercial fishing effort today is a pale reflection of what it was when Gloucester and Gloucestermen were synonymous with the sea's riches and its risks.

One measure is this sobering statistic: In 1879, in Fishtown's heyday, far more Gloucestermen lost their lives at sea — 249 — than there are active fishermen today.

Indeed, more Gloucestermen were lost — 143 of them crewing on 13 vessels — in a single gale on Georges Bank in February 1879 than there are Gloucester fishermen today.

The port's best connected experts — Larry Ciulla, president of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, and Vito Giacalone, policy director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition — estimate the number of active fishermen is no more than 100, not counting lobstermen.

This rough calculation derives from the 40 to 50 small day boats that take one, two or three people to the inshore grounds, and the half dozen or so bigger boats that still venture out with crews of five or six for Georges Bank.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

 

 

 

 

 

By ensuring deliveries of crab to Saint Paul, the Bering Sea Crab Rationalization Program has allowed this community to survive. It has also provided Saint Paul with the opportunity to continue diversification efforts into other fisheries.

One of the communities with the greatest stake in the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands crab rationalization program is Saint Paul, located in the Pribilof Islands in the central Bering Sea.

Saint Paul's dependence on the crab industry developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, shortly after its dependence on the northern fur seal harvest, in place since the Russian colonial period, was phased out by the federal government in 1983.

Saint Paul's residents had to look at alternative means to survive. Since oil and gas exploration was not considered an option at the time and most of the Bering Sea's commercial fisheries were already fully capitalized, this was not an easy proposition for a community that is located amid most of the Bering Sea's commercial fish stocks.

Read the complete editorial from The Alaska Journal of Commerce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds are expected to kick off St. Peter's Fiesta tonight with a seafood dinner at the Gloucester House restaurant that aims to highlight some of the ocean's less popular edible offerings.

By popular demand, organizers of the New Fish Festival — Fiesta's traditional opening event — are extending a tradition by once again offering a buffet feast served inside the Rogers Street eatery atop white linen tablecloths and real chinaware.

"We had so many calls from different people saying they really enjoyed it last year," Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association President Angela Sanfilippo said Tuesday. "They thought it was very elegant, quieter and more relaxed."

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.