Biscayne National Park Archives

Skepticism About Marine Protected Areas

October 24th, 2016 — When looking at proposals for marine protected areas (MPAs) – such as the Biscayne National Park marine reserve and Our Florida Reefs proposals – it’s important to analyze all of the threats to our fisheries. MPAs can be an important tool in fisheries management, but they do nothing to address temperature rise, ocean acidification, pollution or invasive species. In a recent video by University of Washington Professor Ray Hilborn, he discusses why he is an MPA skeptic:

“The only threat that marine protected areas protect the ocean from is legal, regulated fishing, and we have a whole range of ways of regulating fisheries that are much more effective than marine protected areas.”

Unfortunately, the plans for the Biscayne marine reserve and Our Florida Reefs are based on an over-generalized assumption that MPAs will work in every situation – but that’s simply not the case. That’s why we must continue to stand up for sound, science-based fisheries management and voice our opposition to fishing closures that lack scientific evidence.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

Lobster Poachers Caught and Vessel Forfeited in Biscayne National Park

April 25, 2016 — Biscayne National Park and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers conducted a safety and marine fisheries inspection on the commercial fishing vessel “El Donny.” The inspection ultimately resulted in filed charges, a plea agreement and sentencing.

During the inspection officers observed a lobster shell inside a crab trap, although the boat owner indicated that no lobsters were on the vessel. While inspecting the engine room, an officer noticed a white plastic bag hidden behind some engine equipment. This bag, along with four others that were discovered, included a total of 87 wrung lobster tails, 66 of which were undersized.

Read the full story at the South Dade News Leader

Water, Power and Oceans: A Year in Review – Protecting and Promoting Fishing Access

December 21, 2015 — The following was released by the House Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans:

Through conducting oversight of the Obama Administration’s actions and through key marine resource management reforms, Subcommittee Republicans remain dedicated to preserving American’s access to our domestic offshore waters.

In June, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1335, the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.” This bill, introduced by Rep. Don Young (AK-At Large), makes key reforms to the Magnuson- Stevens Act – the primary law regulating federal fisheries management. H.R. 1335 increases transparency in federal fisheries agency decisions, empowers regional decision-making, and improves recreational fishing data and access through requiring state data into federal assessments. The bill also ensures access to marine resources by affirming that the Magnuson-Stevens Act shall remain the ultimate authority over federal fisheries management even within the bounds of a Marine National Monument or Marine Sanctuary. Hundreds of organizations support the bill, which is pending in the Senate.

Despite National Park Service estimates on low fish availability, Chairman Bishop and his crew caught 48 fish in 70 minutes in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Source: House Natural Resources Republicans

Gaps in fisheries science and management decisions are not the only issues impacting access to marine resources. This past year alone, the Administration has entertained a series of executive actions and agency rules that inhibit fishing access, often without even securing the support of local entities or states.

This was apparent in June when the National Park Service released the final General Management Plan for Biscayne National Park in Florida, which included 10,502 acres in state waters that would be closed to all commercial and recreational fishing – despite opposition from the State of Florida and others. In August, the House Committees on Natural Resources and Small Business held a joint oversight field hearing in Homestead, Florida to review the plan.

Highlighted in this hearing was H.R. 3310, a bill introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL- 27) that aims to avoid future situations like the one in Biscayne National Park by preserving a state’s right to manage the lands and waters within their jurisdiction. The text of H.R. 3310 was incorporated into H.R. 2406 in October by an amendment offered by Rep. Amata Radewagen (American Samoa). A number of fisheries organizations supported the amendment and H.R. 3310. You can find more information about this amendment and the markup here.

The Administration is considering additional ideas to close off further access. In September, the Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on a proposal being considered by the Administration to create the first Marine National Monument in the Atlantic, off of the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. During this hearing, Subcommittee members heard of a September 15 Town Hall meeting hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which one witness characterized as a “charade,” as so few details regarding Representatives Lee Zeldin and Tom the proposal had been made public at that time. Full Committee Chairman Bishop and Subcommittee Chairman Fleming and others subsequently sent a letter to NOAA and the Council on Environmental Quality echoing bipartisan requests for additional information regarding the proposal as well as additional opportunities for local input. Three months after the Town Hall meeting, the Administration has yet to release any additional information, including coordinates or maps, of the designation under consideration.

Representatives Lee Zeldin and Tom MacArthur and Chairman Rob Bishop in Long Island, New York. Source: House Natural Resources Republicans

The economic impacts of the potential Marine National Monument were also discussed at a December oversight field hearing in Long Island, New York, where the Natural Resources Committee and Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY-01) heard firsthand about the impacts of federal decision-making on public access and regional economies. This hearing highlighted the crucial reforms to federal fisheries management made by H.R. 1335 and the assurances that these provisions would give to the recreational and commercial fishing industries. Witnesses from the local commercial, recreational, and charter-for-hire industries expressed their support for reforms within the bill that increase transparency in federal decision-making and require greater incorporation of state and regional input.

The Subcommittee has also held hearings on specific bills aimed at regional fisheries issues in 2015. During a July 23 legislative hearing, the Subcommittee heard from fishermen, tribes, and the Administration about two necessary bills introduced by Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (WA-3) to preserve fishing access on the west coast: H.R. 564, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act of 2015, and H.R. 2168, the Dungeness Crab Management Act. To assist the recovery of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon in the Columbia River watershed and to protect tribal ceremonial, subsistence and commercial fisheries, H.R. 564 authorizes the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to issue expedited permits authorizing states and tribes to lethally take non-ESA listed sea lions under certain conditions. Fishermen and tribal leaders testified that this additional authority was necessary as sea lions have inhabited the lower Columbia River and have been ravaging ESA listed species of chinook, steelhead, coho, and chum salmon. During this hearing, the Subcommittee also heard unanimous support from the panel of witnesses for H.R. 2168, a bill to make permanent the long standing tri-state (Washington, Oregon and California) Dungeness crab management authority in place since 1980. H.R. 2168 passed the House of Representatives on October 6 and is pending in the Senate.

Sea Lion eating ESA listed Salmon in the Lower Columbia River. Source: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

The Subcommittee also held a hearing on H.R. 3094. As introduced by Rep. Garret Graves (LA-06) and others, the bill transfers the management authority of the red snapper fishery in federal waters from NOAA to a new authority comprised of a representative of each of the five Gulf of Mexico States in response to concerns over federal accountability, decisionmaking and access. The Subcommittee heard from a wide array of witnesses representing different user groups, including States, recreational industry, commercial and charter fishermen, and restaurants.

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FLORIDA: Struggle continues over Biscayne National Park marine reserve

August 3, 2015 — Lloyd Miller, a 95-year-old Florida conservationist, waited patiently through the testimony of nine people at a hearing about a marine reserve zone in Biscayne National Park before he rose to his feet with the help of a cane to address three members of Congress Monday morning.

“If anyone should be able to speak at something like this, it’s me,” said Miller, who advocated for the creation of Biscayne National Monument in 1968, a precursor to today’s nearly 174,000 acre-national park. “It’s so important for us to save it.”

Miller was one of about 150 people who came to a joint congressional hearing in Homestead of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Small Business Committee to discuss a controversial portion of the National Park Service’s general management planfinalized in June — a 10,500 acre “no fishing” reserve. The joint hearing was requested by Republican U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Curbelo and included invitation-only witnesses, many saying the National Park Service’s data was outdated and that the fish population in Biscayne National Park isn’t endangered enough to warrant a reserve.

“I don’t think the fishing and the resources are as bad off as they’re making it,” said Jimbo Thomas, owner of charter fishing business Thomas Flyer. “I’d rather see the state put in rules, regulations, seasons, size limits — let them do the work.”

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

Proposed Legislation in Congress Would Block Planned Fishing Ban in Florida

August 3, 2015 — On Monday, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Small Business held a congressional hearing in Homestead.

The subject of the hearing was a proposed bill that would allow state fishery managers to block fishing bans in state waters within national parks.

The bill’s relevance to South Florida is that it would shut down an attempt to create a marine reserve zone blocking commercial and recreational fishing in a portion of Biscayne National Park.

The hearing was standing-room only, and supporters representing both sides of the bill brought their passionate arguments to the Homestead community center.

Read the full story at WLRN Miami

Legislation Introduced to Preserve Fishing Access in Biscayne National Park

July 31, 2015 — On the heels of the recent announcement to close over 10,000 acres of Biscayne National Park to fishing, a coalition of recreational fishing and boating organizations praised the introduction of a bipartisan bill, H.R. 3310, that will help stop this and similar unwarranted fishing closures from occurring. Led by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), and 28 other original sponsors, the “Preserving Public Access to Public Waters Act” requires the National Park Service and Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to have approval from state fish and wildlife agencies before closing state waters to recreational or commercial fishing.

“Probably the most concerning aspect of the Biscayne National Park marine reserve decision is the total disregard for the fisheries management expertise of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,” said Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy director for the American Sportfishing Association. “The states are responsible for nearly all of our nation’s saltwater fisheries management successes. This legislative safeguard will prevent the federal government from ignoring the fisheries management expertise of the states in these types of situations.”

Throughout the development of the General Management Plan for Biscayne National Park, through which the marine reserve is being implemented, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has provided detailed recommendations to improve the condition of the fisheries resources in the park. The Commission has continually expressed its position that the proposed marine reserve is overly restrictive to the public; will not be biologically effective; and that less restrictive management tools can rebuild the park’s fisheries resources and conserve habitat.

Read the full story at Florida Sportsman