Management & Regulation

The fishing industry's move to sectors have left small fishermen like Stephen Welch on the sidelines, unable to earn enough money to stay out at sea.

Watch the video at The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) will meet Dec.13-16 in Virginia Beach, Va. to discuss proposals for 2011 fishery regulations.

The public is invited to attend and the meeting will be held at the Hilton on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach. The meeting agenda is available on-line at www.mafmc.org. Or for more information call 757-213-3000.

Of the recreational fish on the table for regulations are river herring and shad, summer flounder, black sea bass and scup.

All three options being proposed for the 2011 call for drastic reductions.

Read the complete story from The Asbury Park Press.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter to our Government Officials

“The most important political office is that of private citizen.” Justice Louis Brandeis

I would like to thank our politicians, who have worked tirelessly on behalf of our fishing communities. I hope they all join the ranks of Congressman Walter Jones (NC) and Senator Kay Hagan (NC). These two brave politicians do not support “Catch Shares”. They are brave because they’re standing up to the wealthy, eco-frauds that wish to manipulate fish markets with “Fish Shares”.

Congressmen Frank and Tierney have recently filed an Amicus Brief in support of the plaintiffs from the fishing ports of New Bedford and Gloucester. We appreciate their efforts to quell this cancer called “Catch Shares”. These representatives are aware of the social and economic damage done by this disease of greed-“Catch and Trade”.

I also hope we get these two bills passed-the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act. Senator Schumer and Congressman Pallone introduced this bill-one in the Senate and one in the House. This Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) amendment is supported by scores of fishermen. Some 5,000 travelled to DC with this one aim-Fix Magnuson Now.

Read the complete letter from Newsvine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An update published by the New England Fishery Management Council – November 2010

At its most recent meeting, the Council addressed issues related to approving management priorities for 2011, sea scallops, monkfish, groundfish, skates and spiny dogfish.

Read the Council Report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haddock have put food on the table for local fishermen over the past decade, but mid-water trawlers that fish for herring are hauling up so much of the groundfish as bycatch that they desperately want the cap lifted, and that would slash the allocation for local ground fishermen.

The New England Fisheries Management Council met Tuesday (and continued meeting through Thursday) and agreed to ask for looser rules by a 14-0 vote.

“Haddock (or scrod when it’s small) is the number one codfish. It’s the most pounds we bring in,” noted Ben Martens, policy analyst for Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association. “We got great prices for haddock this past year. We didn’t catch all of our allotment but it is a critically important species. Haddock kept ground fishermen alive the past 10 years.”

Haddock stocks on Georges Bank were way down before spawning areas were closed to fishing in 1994. Stocks rebounded from 11,000 metric tons of spawning fish in 1993 to an estimated 120,000 metric tons in 2003 (the greatest numbers since 1967).

Read the complete story from Wicked Local.

 

 

 

 

 

NOAA Fisheries Service reminds permit holders of upcoming changes that will affect the Loligo fishery as a result of Amendment 10 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish (MSB) Fishery Management Plan.  Amendment 10 instituted a butterfish mortality cap, effective on January 1, 2011, that will require the closure of the directed Loligo fishery if the butterfish mortality cap is attained.  To facilitate the placement of NMFS observers on Loligo fishing trips, Amendment 10 established a 72-hour trip notification requirement, also effective on January 1, 2011.  A permit holder letter summarizing these changes is available on our website.

Read the complete notice from NOAA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOAA Fisheries Service announces effective 0001 hours November 29, through 0001 hours December 3, 2010, a temporary removal of the 2,000-lb trip limit for the Atlantic herring fishery in Management Area 1A.

Read the complete notice from NOAA.

 

 

 

 

 

Rod Moore and Nils Stolpe of The Seafood Coalition have written a letter to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

They write "While we strongly support having a national fisheries science workshop, we are concerned that it be meaningful and yield products that the seafood industry can embrace.

We urge you to direct your staff to have the workshop developed and conducted by a credible independent science organization such as the School of Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science at the University of Washington or another which is acceptable to independent fishermen to avoid questions of conflict or politicization of science."

Read the letter here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dean Emeritus Brian Rothschild of the UMass School for Marine Science and Fisheries (SMAST), and Director Paul Diodati of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), co-chairs of the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute, the organization that produced the Economic and Scientific report submitted by Mass. Giov. Deval Patrick to Commerce Sec'y Gary Locke, discuss the Governor's request and the report.

The report was prepared by Steve Cadrin, Dan Georgianna, Kevin Stokesbury, Emily Keiley, & Cate O’Keefe of SMAST, and David Pierce, Melanie Griffin, Micah Dean & Story Reed of DMF.

[click here and listen now]

  Each week on WBSM in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Bob Vanasse of Saving Seafood joins host Phil Paleologos to discuss issues related to the fisheries with news-making guests.

 

If you're a recreational angler, Catch Shares are coming to a fishery near you.

As it did with creation of the National Ocean Council, the Obama Administration is following an agenda set by green groups. This time around, that means expanding a management strategy for ocean fisheries that critics say is inherently anti-fishing and really is more about big-government intrusion into the sport than caring for the resource.

Some also charge that, at its worst, Catch Shares is a variation of a much discredited cap-and-trade energy policy, in which government limits access and gives away a public resource for commercial profit by a few.

But at least the latest news is good. With the release recently of its Catch Shares policy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, seem to be heeding the concerns of sportfishing advocates.

Read the complete story from ESPN.