Saving Seafood

Lingering North Carolina Fisheries Association issues persist into 2019

January 25, 2019 — Captain George’s was the venue for the recent 2019 North Carolina Fisheries Association’s Annual Meeting, which addressed issues that included conflicts with special interest groups, shrimp trawl bans and aquaculture in the sounds.

The NCFA is the primary organization promoting, providing education and, in recent years, defending North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry.

NCFA board presided over an extensive agenda, discussing and taking comments from the dozen or so NCFA members attending on a wide range of legislative, regulatory and other issues the organization faces in 2019.

As board Chairman Brent Fulcher worked his way through the agenda, many of the same concerns facing the NCFA this year are the same, unresolved issues that were on the board’s plate five, 10, and even 20 years ago.

Primary among them were the continuing challenges of well-financed efforts of special interest groups claiming to represent recreational fishing interests.

For those who have followed these issues in the past, the actions of the Coastal Conservation Association, a national group with state chapters active in virtually every state, was once again behind several initiatives seen as a threat by the NCFA to their industry.

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice

OREGON: Kitz for the kill: Ousted gov. back to fight gillnets

October 26, 2018 — Oregon’s former Gov. John Kitzhaber apparently loves to hate Columbia River commercial fishing.

In 2012, the Coastal Conservation Association successfully wooed Kitzhaber, convincing him propose that the state ban salmon gillnetters from the main stem of the Columbia River with the hopes that despite years of testing to the contrary, they would miraculously find seine nets to be more selective than gillnets in taking wild salmon (as opposed to hatchery salmon).

Before he resigned from office in 2015 (an investigation led to citations from the Oregon Ethics Commission for using his office for personal gain and failure to disclose potential conflicts of interest), Kitzhaber championed a ban and struck a deal in 2013 with the joint commission that has managed the river with Washington’s fisheries counterparts for 100 years.

In 2017, the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission threatened to withdraw from the joint agreement but ultimately compromised to bring the states back into co-management.

Five years after the 2013 agreement, the joint commission is conducting a comprehensive review, and Oregon officials are threatening again to make a (gasp!) data-based decision to allow the use of gillnets on the main stem of the Columbia River.

Enter Kitzhaber: drumming up support for his ill-advised and poorly implemented plan of old with PSAs on gillnetskill.com.

The flip side of the Kitzhaber deal — as is often the case with CCA plans — was to transition the commercial quota to the recreational fleet. The result was a high mortality rate among the fish they had hoped to conserve by reallocating those “protected” fish to the sport sector. Imagine that!

Data gathered over several years indicate that gillnets do not have the effect on fish that advocates of the Kitzhaber plan estimated, or that other types of gear were more selective.

Yet here we are again, dodging the mudslingers in another fish fight. Science is on our side, but the lobbying dollars may not be.

This story originally appeared on National Fisherman, it is republished herewith permission.

Jessica Hathaway: Outboards overboard

June 26, 2018 — In the coming weeks, the House is likely to vote on Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, or H.R. 200.

This revision and reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act garnered a lot of support in the industry but has since been amended to include anti-commercial-fishing language that all but assures the slow creep of commercial quota to the sport fleet in favor of a tourism-based economy.

“It’s time for the federal policies that govern U.S. fisheries to account for the impact the recreational and boating industries have on the economy,” said Martin Peters, Government Relations Manager for Yamaha Marine Group in a press release.

A band of charter fishermen out of Galveston, Texas, is publicly protesting Yamaha Marine Group because the company has actively been lobbying for the amendment, which weakens the commercial fleet’s access to reef fish quota on the Gulf Coast.

“We had turned the corner and rebuilt these fisheries,” Scott Hickman, owner of charter fishing company Circle H Outfitters of Galveston, Texas, told the Daily News in Galveston. “Now, companies like Yamaha are funding bad legislation that would roll back the conservation aspects of the act.”

Yamaha’s advocacy cemented the company’s alliance with recreational fishing interests and the Coastal Conservation Association. But the push to strip the commercial fleet of its quota reportedly has broader support among other members of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, as well.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

But Sea Lions Seem So Cute…

June 26, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources: 

We’re seeing another busy week unfold for us at Nat. Resources this week, as the Rules Committee officially announced that a vote for H.R. 2083, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, is set for tomorrow. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), the bipartisan bill provides states and tribes the necessary tools to humanely manage sea lions that have migrated outside their historic range and pose an imminent threat to fish species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

But Sea Lions Seem So Cute…

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Sea lions pose a significant threat to ESA-listed salmon and steelhead, and while the world took notice of last year’s viral sea lion attack, tribal, subsistence and commercial fisheries have long felt the effects of the hearty appetite of non-native sea lions across the Columbia River watershed. Endangered salmon have become the victims of conflicting federal laws that make it illegal to responsibly manage the obvious predator: sea lions.

Broad Member & Stakeholder Bipartisan Support

The bill enjoys a strong bipartisan backing, with U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) as an original cosponsor, and a significant list of local and regional groups voicing support, including the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Columbia Intertribal Fish Commission, the Coastal Conservation Associations of Washington and Oregon, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, and more than 100 local and recreational fishing businesses.

Learn more about the House Committee on Natural Resources here.

 

Coastal Conservation Association Supports Legislative Effort To Eliminate Shark Finning

June 8, 2018 — The following was released by the Coastal Conservation Association:

Coastal Conservation Association has joined forces with leaders in the marine science world to support the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (HR 5248) as part of the ongoing effort to eliminate the vile practice of shark finning around the world. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida, would require any nation seeking to export shark, ray or skate products to the U.S. to receive certification from NOAA that it has management and conservation policies in place comparable to those in the U.S. Furthermore, the exporter must show that there is no overfishing of those species and that a prohibition on shark finning is enacted and enforced.

“We at OCEARCH applaud the support of CCA for this bill, which provides an effective, sensible and science-based solution to end shark finning around the world,” said Chris Fisher, Founding Chairman of OCEARCH. “As an advocate for bringing together diverse stakeholders, OCEARCH is pleased to see CCA join the growing coalition of organizations in support of this bill. With this support, CCA is demonstrating their leadership in promoting the conservation of our precious marine resources in a data-driven, centrist way.”

While the U.S. has policies in place against shark-finning, in which sharks captured with industrial commercial gear like trawls and longlines have just the fins removed before being thrown overboard to a slow death, many countries still turn a blind eye to the practice. The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation seeking to close any loopholes that may allow the practice to continue.

“As an apex predator, sharks play a critical role in maintaining the health of the marine ecosystem and we simply cannot afford to allow this egregious and wasteful method of fishing to continue,” said Patrick Murray, president of CCA. “Research shows that sharks travel the globe and need global solutions to ensure their health and sustainability. We greatly appreciate the work of Rep. Webster, Rep. Corey Booker of New Jersey, who is sponsoring similar legislation, and others who are making a difference in this fight.”

Read the full release here

Bill’s changes would allow industrial-scale oyster farming in N.C.

June 6, 2018 — Should oyster farming in North Carolina be a cottage industry or marine industrial operations owned by nonresident corporations?

That is the question facing legislators working on changes to the state’s oyster aquaculture statutes enacted in 2017.

Senate Bill 738, sponsored by Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow and Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, drew strong opinions when it was discussed on May 30 at a meeting of the Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee co-chaired by Cook and Sanderson.

The meeting was announced late the afternoon before and caught many by surprise because the bill is still assigned to the Rules Committee.

Proposed changes include removing the residency requirement and allowing individuals or companies to own up to a total of 300 acres in water column/bottom leases. Now, individual leases can range from .5 acre to 10 acres.

Oyster aquaculture consists of suspending bags or cages of oysters in the water column while they grow to an acceptable size. Traditional oyster leases involve leasing the bottom and planting oyster shells to attract spat — baby oysters.

In a rare instance of unity, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and commercial fishermen attended the meeting to voice objections to lifting the residency requirement and the increase in total leases from 50 to 300 acres.

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice

Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act Receives Broad, Growing Support

May 21, 2018 — A growing coalition of industry groups, conservationists, scientists, and other stakeholders are rallying behind a bill that promotes global shark conservation, while protecting responsible U.S. fishermen. The bill, Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, is undergoing a markup before the Senate Commerce committee on Tuesday, May 22. Similar, bipartisan legislation from Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is under consideration in the House.

Introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the bill would require that all countries exporting shark fins to the U.S. receive certification that their shark fisheries have an effective ban on the practice of shark finning, and adhere to sustainable management practices like those in U.S. fisheries. The new certification program would be similar to the existing U.S. shrimp certification program.

The United States has been praised for having among the strictest and most conservation-minded shark management in the world; all shark species are required to be harvested at sustainable rates, and the practice of shark finninghas long been banned.

The bill’s approach to conservation, which would preserve the jobs of responsible, law-abiding shark fishermen in the U.S. while promoting a high standard of shark conservation abroad, has won support from a broad cross-section of shark fishery stakeholders, including the Sustainable Shark Alliance. It is joined in its support by leading conservation groups, such as the Wildlife Conservation Society; shark experts at the Mote Marine Laboratory; 62 leading shark scientists; recreational fishing organizations such as the American Sportfishing Association, the Center for Sportfishing Policy, and the Coastal Conservation Association; the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association.

“The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act allows the United States to continue its role as a global leader in shark conservation and management,” says Shaun Gehan, a representative for the Sustainable Shark Alliance. “Unlike other bills that would ban the sale of shark fins outright, this bill maintains our own rigorous conservation standards, while allowing U.S. fishermen to maintain their livelihoods by responsibly utilizing every part of the shark.”

About the Sustainable Shark Alliance
The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) is a coalition of shark fishermen and seafood dealers that advocates for sustainable U.S. shark fisheries and supports healthy shark populations. The SSA stands behind U.S. shark fisheries as global leaders in successful shark management and conservation. The SSA is a member of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities.

 

Sportfishing and Conservation Groups Latest to Support Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act

May 9, 2018 — Three sportfishing and conservation groups have thrown their support behind a bill aimed at improving shark conservation worldwide while maintaining sustainable U.S. shark fisheries.

In a letter to the bill’s sponsors, the American Sportfishing Association, the Center for Sportfishing Policy, and the Coastal Conservation Association praise the bill, which they state will “reduce the overfishing and unsustainable trade of sharks, rays and skates around the world and prevent shark finning.” The bill was introduced in the House by Congressmen Daniel Webster (R-FL) and Ted Lieu (D-CA), and in the Senate by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

The bill would require that all countries wishing to import shark products into the United States receive certification from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce that confirms they have effective prohibitions on the practice of shark finning, where a fin is removed from a shark at sea and rest of the shark is discarded. Countries seeking certification must also have shark management policies comparable to those in force in the United States, which has been praised for being a global leader in sustainable shark management and which has long outlawed the practice of shark finning.

“Recreational fishermen and the sportfishing industry are constantly striving to improve fishing practices that minimize harm to fish,” the letter states. “Shark finning flies in the face of the sportfishing community’s conservation ethic, and we fully support efforts – such as your legislation – to curtail this practice.”

These groups join a growing list of supporters of the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act. The bill has already received the support of commercial shark fishermen, conservation groups such as the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Mote Marine Laboratory and 62 prominent shark scientists.

Read the full letter here.

 

Opinion: Chefs respond to column on fisheries management

February 13, 2018 — We read David Cresson’s op-ed “Chefs push half-baked fisheries agenda” and were immediately struck with how little he seems to appreciate the real problems in Gulf fisheries.

As chefs who rely on healthy fisheries to run our businesses, we know it is possible to have fish for both the commercial and recreational sectors to catch and eat while also preserving this resource for the future. We know this because we already have a system that is doing just that: the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary federal law managing our nation’s fisheries.

Cresson is right when he states, “It’s time to set the record straight. The United States manages its fisheries better than anyone else in the world.” MSA has rebuilt 43 fish stocks since 2000, all while increasing their economic output.

He also correctly points out that Louisiana’s senators and congressional representatives support the proposed Modern Fish Act, a bill that would weaken fishery management and is supported by Cresson’s Coastal Conservation Association.

But it makes sense that the Louisiana congressional Delegation would stand with CCA once you follow the money.

CCA, through the lobbying firm Adams and Reese, has rewarded the Louisiana delegation handsomely. CCA paid Adams and Reese more than $110,000 each of the last three years to dole out campaign contributions to Louisiana politicians.

Cresson attempts to paint MSA defenders’ focus on red snapper as overblown, even irrational. But it is CCA’s champion, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, who introduced a bill titled the Red Snapper Act that would exempt that single species from the protection of MSA, the very legislation that rebuilt the stocks.

Despite CCA’s claims that the commercial sector is taking more than its fair share, recreational fishers are allocated 49 percent of the red snapper quota. And still they have exceeded their quota 7 out of the last 10 years. Meanwhile, the commercial sector is intensely monitored to stay within its quota and the charter for-hire component of the recreational fishery (captains who take individual, paying anglers out on fishing trips) has developed separate management that is keeping them in their limit.

If Cresson is indeed interested in leading the fight for conservation, perhaps he could explain to the public why the Louisiana politicians his lobbyists influenced pushed the Commerce Department to open up the federal recreational season this summer for an extra 39 days, knowingly allowing overfishing by upwards of 50 percent, or 6 million pounds.

Read the full opinion piece at Houma Today

 

Trump team may have broken law to score red snapper win

December 19, 2017 — The Trump administration scored last week when a House panel voted to give Gulf of Mexico states more power in managing the popular red snapper, but court records suggest it may be a tainted victory.

Internal memos show that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and a top adviser may have knowingly violated federal fisheries law in June when they extended the Gulf red snapper season, hoping the move would pressure Congress to act.

In a June 1 memo, Earl Comstock, the Commerce Department’s director of policy and strategic planning, told Ross that a longer season “would result in overfishing” of the stock by as much as 40 percent and possibly prompt a lawsuit.

But Comstock urged Ross to extend the season anyway, saying it could lead to “a significant achievement” by forcing Congress to liberalize the federal law and transfer more authority to Gulf states.

“It would allow a reset in the acrimonious relationship and set the stage for Congress to adopt a long-term fix,” Comstock told Ross.

Comstock followed up with a second memo on June 7, reminding his boss that both the White House and a dozen congressmen from Gulf states had asked Ross to explore the possibility of a longer fishing season.

The next week, Ross decided to extend the season from three to 42 days, much to the joy of recreational anglers in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama (Greenwire, Sept. 20).

Critics say the memos offer proof that Commerce and NOAA Fisheries plotted to bypass the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a 1976 law that sets quotas as a way to rebuild overfished stocks, including the red snapper.

“I appreciate it when people are transparent about their intentions,” said Janis Searles Jones, the CEO of Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental group.

Commerce made the memos public as part of its response to a lawsuit filed in July in U.S. District Court in Washington by Ocean Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund. The complaint accuses Ross, NOAA and NOAA Fisheries of mismanagement by allowing overfishing.

Read the full story at E&E News