Opinion

August 3, 2014 — NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has received a petition to ban both recreational and commercial fishing for Pacific tuna, and some recent reports say that the federal agency is actually considering the enactment of the ban, which is of consternation to all saltwater anglers.

The petition was filed by The Center of Biological Diversity, an animal-rights group that has supported no-fishing areas in marine sanctuaries, pushed for bans on lead fishing-tackle components and is currently pushing for a ban on traditional lead ammunition for hunting. Among the center's latest attack on sportsmen is its petition to ban Pacific tuna fishing and another proposal for a 10-knot speed limit on marine sanctuaries. You get the picture.

It's my opinion that NOAA should pay the extremists no mind and swat them away like an annoying mosquito; however, the agency is entertaining the ban on Pacific tuna fishing and is accepting public comments.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times

July 31, 2014 — Regional fishermen, government agencies and environmental groups are cooperating to restore the Bay’s iconic oyster fishery. It’s one of the best examples of how an effective public-private partnership works toward building a sustainable fishery and a better environment.

Beyond boosting local businesses’ bottom line, reviving oysters is also a boon to the Bay as a whole. Oysters, by removing nutrients from the water as they feed, are among the most effective filterers in the Bay. A healthy oyster population helps control the Bay’s nutrient levels, limiting deadly algal blooms and improving the Bay’s health.

Some of the Bay’s biggest fishing companies are vital to the effort. Virginia oyster processors like Bevans Oyster Company, in Kinsale; Cowart Seafood, in Lottsburg; and Kellum Seafood, in Weems, provide the VMRC with the recycled shells necessary for the project. Each year, shells are distributed to replenish the oyster beds, with the newly laid shells allowing oyster larvae to settle on the beds and grow into new oysters. Kellum also contracts with the VMRC to deliver the shells and other materials to beds across the state, using boats designed to travel in the shallow waters where the beds are located.

“It’s a great opportunity in fisheries management for the industry to be able to support the sustainability of the fishery,” said Tommy Kellum, of Kellum Seafood. “It’s one of the few fisheries where the byproduct of consumption – leftover shells – can be used to sustain the resource.”

Omega Protein Corporation, which operates the largest fishery in the Chesapeake Bay, annually donates the use of land at its Reedville, Va. facility to serve as a staging area for the recycled oyster shells before they can be redistributed to the state’s reefs. In addition to providing storage space, the company’s facilities are a convenient, centralized location, with easy access to the Bay and major rivers.

“We’re very happy to help with Virginia’s oyster restoration efforts by providing shell storage and deep-water access for loading,” said Monty Deihl, Omega Protein Corporation’s Senior Director of Plant Operations in Reedville. “A thriving oyster population is vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay, our fellow watermen’s livelihoods, and the state’s economy.”

Read the full story at National Geographic

July 28, 2014 — The export of frozen, Russian-caught Pollock — much of it to America — amounted to nearly a half million tons, or 35 percent of Russia’s $2.4 billion seafood export sector. All of which makes a consumer boycott an easy choice for Americans seeking an outlet to express their feelings toward Russia.

Russia’s outrages, from its unflinching support for the murderous regime of Bashar Assad in Syria to its violent and illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine to its apparent complicity in shooting down a civilian airliner over Ukrainian airspace last week, killing more than 290 innocent people, are affronts to the civilized world.

President Obama, joined by many allies, has levied an escalating series of targeted economic sanctions against Russia, which are beginning to put serious strain on its fragile economy. According to several new public opinion polls, anti-Russian sentiment is growing among ordinary Americans, and Obama is no doubt considering a further turning of the screws to signal America’s indignation at Russia’s behavior and to attempt to change it.

Families across America don’t have to wait; they can stand up to Vladimir Putin, and they need look no further than their grocer’s shelves and local restaurants to do it. Boycott Russian fish.

In 2013, Russian companies caught almost 4.3 million tons of fish, putting Russia in the top 10 of the world’s fishery producers and employing hundreds of thousands of Russians. President Putin considers fisheries a “strategic” sector and a key part of growing Russia’s gross domestic product. Pollock is the most important of Russia’s commercial catches, accounting for more than 60 percent of Russia’s total fish and seafood catch.

Read the full opinion piece at The Hill

View a petition to ban Russian fish at Change.org

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton [News Analysis] — July 28, 2014 — Two unrelated decsions on Friday represented bad news for Alaska's fabled commercial fisheries.

First, The Alaska Superior Court on Friday overturned a lower court decision invalidating a fish grab by the Kenai River Sport Fishing Association.

That group put forward a ballot initiative that would eliminate all commercial setnets in the Cook Inlet salmon fishery.  Alaska's attorney general declined to certify the initiative, saying it was a taking of a state economic asset, which cannot be done by initiative, and he was upheld in the lower court.

However, the Superior court reversed, saying that no one disputed that salmon were a public asset in Alaska, but that the initiative only restricted a gear type, and therefore was not an allocation.  Judge Easter wrote that the ballot initiative would not allocate among commercial, sport and subsistance users, but simply restrict one gear type, and that all allocation decisions would be left to the Board of Fish.

This view leaves open the possibility of a future initiative to ban drift nets in cook inlet. 

It is a sad day in Alaska when the majority of anchorage residents, many of whom are new to the state, can shut down by ballot a hundred year old set net fishery in Cook Inlet that employs 900 people.

The Kenai Peninsula Fishermen's Association reacted bitterly to the ruling:

"We are saddened by the Alaska Superior Court ’s  decision to allow the dishonest and un-Alaskan initiative effort to ban setnets in urban areas of Alaska to move forward. Regardless of what the backers of the so named “ Setnet Initiative ”  are calling themselves today, this is just one more attempt by Bob Penney and his lobbying organization, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, to put a century-old fishery in Cook Inlet, consisting of hardworking Alaskan families, out of business."

"The initiative has nothing to do with conservation, it has everything to do with greed and a sense of entitlement by a small group of people."

If Alaska allows management of its resources at the ballot box, our entire resource-based economy is at risk. If one group of selfish people are able to push a resource grabbing initiative through, then you must ask yourself this: Who will be next? What part of Alaska’s economy will be eliminated next by those who put their wants above what's good for the rest of our communities"?

The final legal status of the initiative is still not clear.  The decision opens the way for the sports fishing group to begin collecting signatures.  The Kenai commercial group hopes that most Alaskans will support retaining the jobs and businesses depenent on commercial fishing, and reject the initiative if it comes on the ballot.

The second piece of bad news was Gov. Parnell's announcement Friday of a new fisheries advisor.  In recent years, Alaska has been well served by having excellent fisheries advisors in the governor's office.  Cora Campbell was first appointed fisheries advisor by Gov. Palin in 2007.  She was from a fishing family and seen as a knowledgeable and capable advisor, and is now the ADF&G Commisioner. 

Later, Stephanie Moreland was fisheries advisor. Morleand also had extensive experience and was seen as hugely qualified, having previously served in ADF&G and also as Sen. Lisa Murkowski's fisheries aide.

Gov. Parnell has now chosen Ben Mohr as the new advisor, who for the past six years has been the public information specialist for the Pebble Partnership.  In short, he has been tasked with convincing Alaskan's to support the Pebble Mine, the greatest threat to the Bristol Bay Salmon fishery ever proposed.   That plan has now been shelved by the EPA as incompatable with maintaining water quality standards.

Popular radio host Shannyn Moore was apopletic, saying "Parnell is delivering a couple of real doozies. In searching high and low (especially low) for a fisheries advisor, the governor landed on the six-year spokesmodel for the Pebble mine project, a guy named Ben Mohr. You know Pebble, the project that plans to build a giant poison lake at the headwaters of Alaska’s most productive salmon rivers. Mohr is definitely a guy you want making policy to ensure the health of our fisheries for the next millennium."

"Yes, the guy who pimped Pebble and then worked as campaign manager for Ohio’s golden boy, Dan Sullivan, is now advising the governor on fisheries policy. Good thing we care so little about our fish that we’re comfortable letting political hacks manage them."

The fisheries advisor in Alaska is a key position, because they generally represent the state's positon on a range of fisheries issues, and along with the head of the ADF&G, make known the state's positions to the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the Board of Fish.  The Board of Fish is nominated by the governor and approved by the legislature, while the six member Alaska majority on the N. Pacific council is nominated by the governor and approved by the Secreatry of Commerce.  

The appointment of such an outsider would imply that fisheries are a low priority currently for Governor Parnell, and the assocation with Pebble is a slap in the face to Bristol Bay, and those in Alaska who have praised the EPA decision to disallow the mine.

The following story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

July 26, 2014 — Every fisherman here has a line drawn in the mud, a line he won’t cross.

Some eat their catch from Jamaica Bay but turn their noses up at shad from the Hudson, due to the GE plants that left polluting PCBs in the banks further up. Others enjoy the piers at Red Hook but consider that stream of water polluted when it becomes the East River, due to the effluence from Manhattan. With the water no longer shiny with oil, or filled with needles and condoms, more fishermen have joined the conversation.

“Expensive hobby, or free food, depending on how you look at it,” said Tim Stys, a 35-year-old art director from Brooklyn who catches striped bass along with the Albanians at Brooklyn Bridge Park. He took up fishing two years ago, when he heard the water was now clean enough to eat from.

I met Stys while making the casting rounds with Matthew Paulson, a 38-year-old working artist who came from Wisconsin six years ago and credits fishing with keeping him sane here. Combining his passions, he makes beautiful and very functional lures highly sought out by others in the know. His plugs, lathed by hand in Cape Cod, come hollow so he can adjust the weight himself — from 3/4 of an ounce up to 31/2 ounces, with conditions where you’re casting determining which weight to use — before he paints them with gorgeous brushwork.

Read the full opinion piece at the New York Daily News

July 24, 2014 — "While 2013's overall menhaden catch was under the set total allowable catch, this masks the fact that several states made little or no attempt to comply with the new ASMFC regulations."

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Peter Baker recently declared the new catch limits on Atlantic menhaden a “success” based on the results of the last year’s menhaden harvest (“Atlantic menhaden catch cap a success,” Pew Charitable Trusts, May 15, 2014). But such a declaration depends on a very limited definition of “success.” In the year since these cuts went into effect, issues of transparency, equity and disparities in enforcement persist.

Passed at the end of 2012, the new catch limits on menhaden cut the total coastwide Atlantic harvest by 20 percent of the average menhaden landings from 2009-11, with each state allocated a percentage of the overall quota based on their landings during that period. Mr. Baker writes, “All 15 Atlantic coast states have successfully implemented the catch cap” that was agreed upon in 2012. While 2013’s overall menhaden catch was under the set total allowable catch, this masks the fact that several states made little or no attempt to comply with the new Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s regulations.

New York state’s categorical refusal to enforce its allotted quota starkly contradicts Baker’s claim that every state has successfully implemented its cap. For the 2013 fishing year, New York simply refused to enforce its catch limit, claiming that its new quota — based on the cuts for which it voted in 2012 was rendered using flawed landings data. Since then, little effort seems to have been made to curtail the state’s menhaden fishery, even as it vastly exceeded the new limits. This resulted in New York fishermen catching more than four times the number of menhaden allowed under their quota.

Read the full story at National Fisherman Magazine

 

July 24, 2014 — "While 2013's overall menhaden catch was under the set total allowable catch, this masks the fact that several states made little or no attempt to comply with the new ASMFC regulations."

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Peter Baker recently declared the new catch limits on Atlantic menhaden a “success” based on the results of the last year’s menhaden harvest (“Atlantic menhaden catch cap a success,” Pew Charitable Trusts, May 15, 2014). But such a declaration depends on a very limited definition of “success.” In the year since these cuts went into effect, issues of transparency, equity and disparities in enforcement persist.

Passed at the end of 2012, the new catch limits on menhaden cut the total coastwide Atlantic harvest by 20 percent of the average menhaden landings from 2009-11, with each state allocated a percentage of the overall quota based on their landings during that period. Mr. Baker writes, “All 15 Atlantic coast states have successfully implemented the catch cap” that was agreed upon in 2012. While 2013’s overall menhaden catch was under the set total allowable catch, this masks the fact that several states made little or no attempt to comply with the new Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s regulations.

New York state’s categorical refusal to enforce its allotted quota starkly contradicts Baker’s claim that every state has successfully implemented its cap. For the 2013 fishing year, New York simply refused to enforce its catch limit, claiming that its new quota — based on the cuts for which it voted in 2012 was rendered using flawed landings data. Since then, little effort seems to have been made to curtail the state’s menhaden fishery, even as it vastly exceeded the new limits. This resulted in New York fishermen catching more than four times the number of menhaden allowed under their quota.

Read the full opinion at National Fisherman Magazine

 

July 21, 2014 — "I remain concerned that the parameters of the plan neglects the fishermen who need assistance the most."

This week, the Massachusetts  Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) is hosting public meetings  to seek input from fishermen and  industry stakeholders on one portion of the federal disaster assistance funding for the commercial groundfish industry. $8.2 million  will be provided to the Common wealth for discretionary distribution for additional mitigation efforts.

Since the inclusion of disaster  funding in the FY2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act in January, the National Marine Fisheries Service and affected states  have negotiated a plan to distribute  roughly $33 million in funding al located for our region. In addition  to discretionary state grants, this  breakdown includes direct assistance for eligible permit holders  funds on hold for a forthcoming  vessel buyout or buyback initiative.

Despite the extensive negotiations, I remain concerned that the  parameters of the plan neglects the  fishermen who need assistance  most. Groundfish landings under  5,000 pounds do not qualify for direct assistance – leaving nearly 600  groundfish permit holders in  Massachusetts ineligible. In fact,  only 100 or so of the approximately 700 federal groundfish permits  in Massachusetts, 400 active boats,  and one thousand crew members would receive direct federal assistance – otherwise neglecting crew members and deck hands who continue to struggle to stay financially solvent as a result of this disaster.  Further, fishermen with multiple  permits may be eligible to be compensated multiple times, while other active permit holders are entirely  excluded from the relief.

Read the full opinion at The Enterprise

 

July 16, 2014 — But it was troubling — no, make that downright insulting — to hear DMF Director Paul Diodati and state Fish and Game Commissioner Mary B. Griffin essentially reiterate that the roughly $11 million also targeted as direct aid to Gloucester’s and other Massachusetts fishermen is still not expected to be dispersed until October.

Why? According to Diodati, the state must still file a grant application to the federal government to receive the grant funds, and he’s projecting that the federal government will need at least 60 days to process those applications before any money starts making its way to the state.

Hey, it’s been nearly five months since the February NOAA announcement that the Northeast groundfishery would be reeling in $33 million of a $75 national fisheries disaster aid package. It’s been six weeks since NOAA further announced specifics of the fishermen’s direct aid package — with 336 pre-identified permit holders calculated to receive a very specific $32,463 apiece.

Yet, amid all that advancement, the state still has not even applied to the federal government for the grant to set the dispersal wheels in motion? Yikes!

Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Daily Times

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — July 15, 2014 — A federally recognized economic disaster and tight new constrictions on allowable groundfish landings have both dealt harsh new blows to Gloucester’s and other New England fishermen. And their economic impact has posed serious new threats for a variety of other waterfront businesses, including traditional Gloucester marine industrial stalwarts like Cape Pond Ice.

A lot has changed in and around the Gloucester waterfront since the city last submitted a formal Harbor Plan to the state.

A federally recognized economic disaster and tight new constrictions on allowable groundfish landings have both dealt harsh new blows to Gloucester’s and other New England fishermen. And their economic impact has posed serious new threats for a variety of other waterfront businesses, including traditional Gloucester marine industrial stalwarts like Cape Pond Ice. 

To that end, city and state officials have recognized the need for regulatory changes. A study by the state’s Coastal Zone Management agency has reduced the scope of Gloucester’s Designated Port Area, granting more flexibility to properties on the East Gloucester side of the harbor. And the same study effectively called for and carried out reduction of the DPA’s mandated water-dependent use percentage from 50 to 25 percent.

All of those ideas, of course, hold immense potential for the  kind of versatility that city officials and waterfront property owners need. And those doors are now open through a 2014 Gloucester Harbor Plan that has been rightfully backed by Gloucester’s Harbor Plan Committee and is now being sent to the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for its final approval.

At the core of the new harbor plan is one key word: flexibility. As Committee Chairman Rick Noonan noted, the plan had previously seen some very strict, limiting language. And that creates room for “additional interpretations that could allow us to consider more alternatives,” he said.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times