NOAA Fisheries Service and the State of Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) today announced a pilot program to obtain fishing vessel permits and then lease the access rights associated with the permits to small-scale fishermen in rural fishing ports in Maine. NOAA is providing at least $1 million to support this effort, which the DMR will administer. Read the complete story at NOAA News.
Oversight panel eyes NOAA hearing; Congressman Tierney wants it in Gloucester
A congressional subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing on federal fisheries law enforcement, the committee chairman has announced — and Cape Ann's congressman is pushing for the hearing to be in Gloucester.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee, said he was acting on the request of Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, who called for the hearing yesterday. Tierney also called for the hearing to be held in Gloucester, perhaps as soon as next month.
At the time the hearing was proposed, federal fisheries administrator Jane Lubchenco had not announced her decision to act on the series of findings made last month by the U.S. Department of Commerce Inspector General. Lubchenco yesterday called for shifting control of the Asset Forfeiture Fund from NOAA enforcement to the overall NOAA controller. She also reiterated her call for a "summit" to discuss fishing enforcement issues.
Frank scolds NOAA chief on fishing issues
NEW BEDFORD — Scallop allocations might be a settled issue for now, but U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is going toe to toe with the head of NOAA over a series of other problems facing the fishing industry in the Northeast.
In a Jan. 29 letter to Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Frank, D-Mass., expressed frustration with the lack of urgency he believes NOAA is showing following an October meeting in Washington, D.C., between fishing representatives and government regulators.
Frank spelled out details of those concerns in an Oct. 26 letter to Lubchenco, calling for specific and immediate remedies for such things as the overfishing limit on pollock, the lack of government funds for mandatory observers on scallop boats, and the impending shrinkage of the fleet as "sectors" are introduced along with quotas strict enough to drive many boats out of business.
Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site]
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IG: Cape wind farm review ‘rushed’
Several federal agencies that reviewed the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm felt they were "unnecessarily rushed" to finish their work before President George W. Bush left office, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Interior Department's inspector general.
A final environmental report on the project required under federal law was released by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) more than a year ago, only days before the changeover to the current administration.
While supporters praised the largely favorable review, opponents criticized it as premature and flawed.
The inspector general investigated the review of the project by MMS after receiving multiple complaints, including a petition-style letter from a staff member of the project's primary opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, and a letter from the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
N.C. Meeting on gill net fishing proposal set
The North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission plans to consider a proposed gill net closure later this month in New Bern.
A meeting is set up for 1 p.m. on February 18th at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center.
The commission will take public comment on the plan to close large-mesh gill net fishing in many inshore waters of the state south of Oregon Inlet from May 15th through December 15th.
New Jersey fisheries update
January winds blew us out of the water but the political front continues to give us news to ponder.
The Mid-Atlantic Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee agreed to increase the 2010 acceptable biological catch (ABC) for black sea bass from 2.71 million pounds to 4.5 million pounds.
The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), the largest national organization dedicated to protecting and strengthening the nation’s Atlantic sea scallop fishery, welcomed the announcement by the New England Fishery Management Council to reconsider its decision to restrict fishing opportunities for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery in 2010.
NOAA will convene a national summit on enforcement policies and practices in order to hear from constituents and experts in the field. The report is online at http://www.oig.doc.gov/oig/
South Carolina fishermen fear loss of business, end of tradition
On Jan. 1 the U.S. Department of Commerce – the federal agency that controls fishing regulations – announced a six-month ban on fishing for snapper and grouper. This ban will put thousands of fishermen out of work. Ironically it was the same day the White House convened a summit on how to reduce job unemployment.
Many of these men will not be fishing for the next six months due to a recent decision by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) to close the snapper and grouper fishery due to “over fishing.”
These men, who are usually upbeat and jovial, are anything but these days. The scope of the new laws affecting them is having wide reaching consequences. They sense that outside forces are at work in their lives and they are caught in a life or death battle for their right to fish for a living.
The SAFMC is one of eight councils in the country managing commercial and recreational fishing. They manage the area 3 to 200 miles offshore, from North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, including the Florida Keys. The council consists of 13 board members who implement bag limits, size limits, trip limits, commercial quotas and spawning season closures to prevent over fishing.
BLOG: Update from North Carolina on Washington DC rally
Here is the deal in a short version — environmentals are in control of fisheries and the current administration that is in place is listening to them. I am all for conservation in fisheries, and there is no doubt many species need new rules. BUT, the problem as if often the human nature case, is the pendelum is swinging too far in one direction. For years there has not been enough legislation and laws and now they are going absolutely crazy. You will likely here the word "Magnuson Stevens Act" get thrown around.
I don't know exactly what it is, but in a nut, it says that all fisheries must be brough to "maximum sustainability" in the very near future- think they put a year on it, maybe 10',11', 12'. Thus, since this is place, fisheries panels as they put it "have no choice" but to shut down entire fisheries completely in order to bring them to "maximum sustainability" immediately. And therin lies the problem.
There's no middle ground. Instead of acknowledging that our Red Snapper population off of NC is depleted and shutting it down for 3, 6 or even 9 months, they shut it down completely because "they are forced" by the Magnuson Stevens Act. So, where we are right now is that the fisheries councils have all ready agreed to shut down ALL bottomfishing from middle Florida to the Frying Pan Shoals– the rough area covers depths from 80 feet o 150 feet. That is everything! No more Grouper, Snapper… AT ALL. It is complete closures of fisheries that will snowball into further regulation on other species. Even if you are not a bottom fisherman, if this goes forward, your King Mackerel, Dolphin, Wahoo, Cobia will be next.
North Carolina fishermen to attend rally in support of industry
The next big trip won’t be offshore for some area fishermen with concerns about a federal fisheries law they say is flawed.
Fishermen from both the commercial and recreational side are making plans to attend a Feb. 24 rally in Washington, D.C., to stand up for the fishing industry and reform of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act.
“We need the numbers to be up there to show support for the fishing industry,” said Capt. Sonny Davis, owner of the Capt. Stacy head boat based out of Atlantic Beach.
Davis plans to attend the rally and has worked to recruit others for a North Carolina Fisheries Association-organized bus trip, just one of several being planned around the region as the rally nears.
North Carolina Turtle lovers, gill-netters head toward showdown
A traditional way of fishing in North Carolina's extensive inland and near-shore waters is under threat because of its impacts on an already endangered species.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has proposed a temporary closure of large-mesh gill net fishing from May 15 through Dec. 15 for most areas south of Orgeon Inlet – including the Cape Fear River south of Snow's Cut – as it struggles to balance the popular and economically important fishing practice with federal rules protecting sea turtles.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has called the growing number of interactions between sea turtles and fishermen in the state's inshore waters “excessive and unacceptable,” and the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail Beach could soon move the matter into federal court.