State and Local

November 2, 2012 — Chris Zeman, a voting member from New Jersey on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, is at a loss to explain the logic behind the recent closure of the black sea bass fishery in federal waters for the remainder of 2012.

“I don’t understand how a fall closure of federal waters will address excessive catch in Massachusetts’ state waters in the spring time?” Zeman said.

He was referring to the fact that, according to NOAA’s own data, 2012 black sea bass catches in state waters of Massachusetts totaled close to a million pounds out of a total quota of 1.3 million pounds. Most of that catch comes in the spring. By the time catches in other states are counted, the quota has been filled or exceeded. In the case of black sea bass, the overage was over a million pounds. A similar crisis occurred in 2010 when Massachusetts caught about 650,000 pounds in the spring.

However, Massachusetts state waters remained open and instead NOAA shut federal waters from Maine to North Carolina.

“It’s happened before and it will happen again,” Zeman said.

The black sea bass fishery was shut down in October of 2009 when NOAA elected to close it based on projections that the black sea bass quota was going to be exceeded.

That shutdown prompted a federal law suit filed on behalf of fishermen by the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the United Boatmen and other fishing advocacy groups. The government dismissed the suit the following spring after the sea bass season reopened, ruling that since the season was now open the suit was rendered moot.

 

Read the full story here

 

 

November 2, 2012 — New Jersey’s commercial fishermen landed and processed finfish and shellfish valued at almost 200 million dollars at the dock in 2011. These landings generated more than a billion dollars in economic activity for the State of New Jersey. Our commercial fishermen and fishing-dependent businesses from Cumberland County bordering Delaware Bay up the coast to Monmouth County on Raritan Bay suffered grievously from Hurricane Sandy and now face myriad challenges as they attempt to rebuild both their facilities and their markets.

Fortunately, the federal government has programs in place that are designed to provide emergency assistance to the commercial fishing industry due to impacts from disastrous weather events. The two programs, one established by Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (MSFCMA) and the second by Section 308(b) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 (IJA), allows the governor of an affected state to make a request to the Secretary of Commerce to declare a fisheries disaster. Once the disaster is declared, the U.S Congress can then provide recovery assistance in various forms. 

Accordingly, the GSSA is requesting that NJ Governor Christie make requests to the Secretary of Commerce under both programs and encourage the Secretary to act in a timely manner to help New Jersey’s fishermen and those in fishing-dependent businesses rebuild their facilities and their markets as rapidly and effectively as possible.

For more information contact Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, at 609 898 1100 or gregdi@voicenet.com.  

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — October 22, 2012 — Accolades are piling up for UMass Dartmouth professor and renowned marine scientist Brian Rothschild. This month, National Fisherman magazine announced it was giving Rothschild, 78, its Highliner Achievement Award for a lifetime of service to the fishing industry.

Rothschild is one of four honorees from around the nation to be recognized the by the magazine of record for the commercial fishing industry.

"These are the people who bring hope to their fishing communities," National Fisherman editor Jessica Hathaway wrote in the November issue. "Their work sheds light on the way things can and should be done in the fishing industry."

The announcement from National Fisherman comes at the same time that New Bedford's Prince Henry Society selected the professor for its Man of the Year award, presented to an individual whose work has benefited the Portuguese community. Many of boats in the New Bedford fleet are owned and crewed by Portuguese fishermen.

At UMass Dartmouth's School of Marine Science and Technology, Rothschild and Dr. Kevin Stokesbury developed an innovative video survey for counting sea scallops in 1996 that is credited with preventing the collapse of what has become the most valuable fishery in the U.S.

Rothschild was the founding dean of SMAST in 1995 and is known around the world for his work in population dynamics, biological oceanography and fisheries management. He has worked in fishery science for more than 50 years and has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and reports.

 

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times

 

 

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — October 22, 2012 — A bill that has passed the state’s House of representatives and would allow recreational spearfishing for striped bass is getting diverse reactions — with support and opposition from what might be seen as surprising sources.

State Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante are among the co-sponsors of legislation, which has passed the House and is now before the Senate. The bill, with Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, as primary sponsor, would create a new form of hunting the signature inshore game fish for New England and the mid-Atlantic states.

Dave Stillman, who owns the Cape Ann Divers dive store at Eastern Avenue Plaza in Gloucester, is dubious about the idea of spearfishing for stripers, and says he does not believe it will help his business.

”I don’t take fish out of the water; I’d prefer to watch them, rather than kill them,” he said in a telephone interview Friday, adding that he does not sell spear guns.

Bill Adler, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, was more overtly opposed.

”No nets, no spears, do it with hook and line, end of story,” said Adler.

But two celebrated Gloucester fishermen, Al Williams, one of the cape’s premier recreational and commercial striper fishermen, and Mark Godfried, an industry consultant and retired fisherman, gave qualified support to the idea.

“Spearfishing is done in other states (New Hampshire and Rhode Island),” said Williams. “The technique is somewhat defensible. It’s not as blind as the normal hook and line method of fishing for stripers. the problem is the intermingling with other fishermen,” not to mention lobstermen.

The law in Massachusetts gives divers a 100-foot clearance from boats, based on the location of the divers’ flag; this protection has been contentious when divers were in the vicinity of lobster traps, and kept working boats from working.

Godfried said he agreed that spearfishing was, by nature, more discriminating for conservation. The spear fisherman can be “far more selective” than the hook and line fishermen, he said.

But Godfried said the safety circumference has caused problems with lobstermen. He said he’d prefer to experiment in a limited number of areas with with spearfishing for stripers

Tarr could not be reached for comment, but Ferrante offered support for the measuring, noting that “the fishery is highly selective.

 

Read the full story in the Gloucester Times 

 

 

October 17, 2012 — A massive fish kill on the Neuse River that has been ongoing for nearly a month has resulted in thousands of menhaden washed up on beaches near Neuse Harbor.

Mitch Blake, Neuse Riverkeeper, viewed the area Tuesday afternoon, saying there were several hundred thousand dead fish washed up on the beach and in the river.

For 21 days, mostly Atlantic menhaden have been dying over a large portion of the river from New Bern to Hancock Creek, Blake said in an email.

Some of the dead menhaden have ulcers that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials have identified as Aphanomyces invadans from six samples analyzed in Beaufort. Fish samples were taken from the Neuse River in an impaired region by the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation at the first sign of menhaden showing problems, Blake said.

“Over the 21-day period fish have been reported dead from New Bern to Hancock Creek and include areas in Slocum, Beard, Goose, Upper Broad, Northwest and Duck Creek,” he said.

Very few other species have been reported dead during the fish kill, except for isolated spots around Bay Point, which also had red drum, striped bass and spot. 

“At this time we continue to see large schools of Atlantic menhaden, some floating, some are sinking to the bottom upon death,” Blake said. “An accurate count has not been totaled due to the massive area but just (Tuesday) I counted areas that were over 500 yards in length with approximately 90 dead fish per foot. With numbers like this it could easily go into the millions. In these areas there are dead, decaying, and in some cases just bones to reveal the timeline and magnitude of the kill.”

Joe Freemon, who lives in Neuse Harbor, said that on Tuesday there was a solid belt of dead fish on the beach of the river that bordered his property.

“You could stand there and see lots of others floating on top of the water,” Freemon said. “It’s the biggest (fish kill) I’ve seen and I’ve been on the water here over 50 years. You could smell it a couple of hundred feet away. … It’s a bad situation and unfortunate. ”

Blake said experts have told him the fish kill may continue due to the complexity of the area and lack of funding to run the proper analyzing equipment.

 

Read the full story in the Sun Journal

 

 

October 13, 2012 — Atlantic menhaden has been called the most important fish in the sea. It supports the nation's largest fishery. But you will never see one at the grocery store or on a restaurant menu because the catch it mostly reduced or rendered into other products such as pet food and health supplements.

I have fished recreationally in the Chesapeake Bay for over 40 years. One of the most fascinating and disturbing sites is the Reedville, Virginia menhaden fishing fleet at work. I saw the fleet again in August near Thimble Shoals light. I first noticed the spotter plane flying lazy circles at low altitude looking for schools of these small, boney, oily fish that darken the water. The larger, factory ships of the Reedville fleet drop smaller purse seine boats to encircle the schools with their nets. After the nets are mostly winched in, the dead and dying fish are vacuumed into the holds of the ships.

I find the process fascinating for its efficiency. I find it disturbing because it reminds me of the decades of bad science and mismanagement, enabled by good-old-boy politics that have dominated the menhaden debate.

On one side of the debate, Omega Proteins, the company that controls the Reedville operation, believes the menhaden fishery is healthy and its fleet should be allowed to continue is current, essentially unregulated practices. On the other side, the science now shows what every recreational fisherman in the Bay has known for years, which is that the menhaden fishery has collapsed. How do we know? We seldom see massive schools of menhaden being chased and churned by blue fish and rockfish. Why do we care? Simply put, without these little fish, there are no big fish.

Solid, peer-reviewed science says menhaden abundance is less than 10% of where it would be without fishing; in other words, the science says the Atlantic menhaden is experiencing overfishing. The science has also evolved from looking at each species on a stand alone basis to looking at the entire ecosystem. Any menhaden management plan must now address the forage needs of predator species such as striped bass, bluefish and weakfish. The reduction fishery will have to share the fish. Sustainability is no longer being defined solely as the amount of menhaden Omega Proteins can consistently catch but will instead be defined as the amount of menhaden Omega can catch while also maintaining a healthy forage fish population.

Virginia is a member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Organized in 1942, the ASMFC is a commission with members from the 13 Atlantic coast states tasked with managing Atlantic coast fish species. For the first time in its 70 year history, the ASMFC has drafted serious harvest reduction options for menhaden. It will be collecting public comment and taking final action before the end of 2012 for implementation in 2013.

Read the full story at the Newport News Daily Press

Analysis: With the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) currently deliberating over the future of menhaden management, industry stakeholders, interested advocacy groups, and government officials have all contributed to the scientific and policy debate surrounding this economically vital species. Unfortunately, in his Newport News Daily Press op-ed (“Without little fish, big fish won’t survive”), Jay Joseph, Senior Vice President of Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, fundamentally misrepresents the position of commercial and bait fisherman, presenting a skewed version of current menhaden science and management policy in the process.

Particularly, Mr. Joseph’s depiction of menhaden stock assessments and stock assessment science is riddled with inaccuracies, especially when he writes, “the science now shows what every recreational fisherman in the Bay has known for years, which is that the menhaden fishery has collapsed.” The “science” draws no such conclusion. Both the 2010 and 2012 menhaden stock assessments released by the ASMFC concluded that menhaden were not overfished, with the 2012 assessment measuring the stock at 40 percent above its fecundity threshold. This means that, far from having collapsed, the stock is producing more than enough eggs (40 percent more) to sustain itself.
   
The article also skips over much of the current scientific debate surrounding the most recent menhaden stock assessment, instead portraying legitimate concerns about the accuracy of current data as “Omega Proteins [sic] and its political allies fight[ing] a rear guard action” against new regulation by “challenging the science.” This completely ignores the problems that the ASMFC itself has recognized with the most recent, 2012 menhaden assessment. The Commission’s Menhaden Technical Committee resolved that the 2012 assessment was unfit for management advice, with flaws such as consistent overestimations of fishing mortality and consistent underestimations of the population. This means both that the assessment was likely too pessimistic in its estimates, and that the last reliable assessment was from 2010, which only includes data from up to 2008. Given that there is no reliable gauge of the menhaden stock for the last four years, it is reasonable to advocate for a cautious management approach while more reliable data is collected.

Similarly misleading is the casting of Omega Protein’s participation in the management process as “good-old-boy politics that have dominated the menhaden debate.” This vastly overstates Omega Protein’s influence with the Virginia legislature and on menhaden management. Omega Protein, like all interested stakeholders in the fishery, participates in both the ASMFC deliberative process and the legislative process; it does not have an undue amount of influence in either. For example, between 2008 and 2012, Omega Protein contributed $142,000 to political campaigns and political action committees (PACs) in Virginia. This ranks it at only #267 on the list of political donors in the state during that time period. As a point of comparison, the Virginia Taxicab Association made donations totaling $24,000 more than Omega Protein.

Rather than focusing on the nuances of menhaden science and management, Mr. Joseph resorts to straw-man arguments against his opponents and misleading interpretations of the facts. As a result, Newport News Daily Press readers are presented with a biased editorial instead of a fair analysis of the menhaden issue.

 

 

October 15, 2012 — More than 20,000 oyster enthusiasts flocked to Wellfleet's town center this weekend to experience all things shellfish and to revel in the always exciting shucking competition.

"We were at absolute capacity — a phenomenal turnout," Wellfleet Shellfish Promotion and Tasting (SPAT) president Mac Hay said of the crowd on Saturday.

The rainy weather on Sunday may have thinned out the throngs a bit, but for some that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"In a way, it's nice," Hay said. "It keeps some of the bigger crowds out and you see more local fans."

Hay estimated that 80,000 oysters were consumed on Saturday alone, but the exact figure for the weekend won't be known for a few days. He said they anticipate having almost 6 tons of shells to contribute to the shell recycling effort, which is a big part of the event's mission.

"Not only is (OysterFest) a boost to our economy on an otherwise slow weekend in October, but it funds many local initiatives including the oyster restoration project, an important local cause," Hay said.

In addition to SPAT, representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration helped coordinate the recycling effort and provided additional volunteer support to the event.

Like many of the shuck-off competitors, Keith Rose, owner of Wellfleet Fisheries Inc., is particularly familiar with oysters as part of his business.

"Every day is OysterFest for me," he said.

Read the full story at Cape Cod Online

 

 

October 15, 2012 — Marylanders will get a chance to make their views known at a pair of upcoming hearings on whether fishing for Atlantic menhaden ought to be curtailed to protect "the most important fish in the sea," as some have dubbed it.

Hearings are scheduled from Oct. 16 through Nov. 1 from Maine to North Carolina on whether to cut commercial harvest of menhaden, and if so by how much.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is weighing reductions of up to 50 percent, although doing nothing is also an option.

Though too oily to be good dinner fare, menhaden are widely harvested commercially, with three-fourths of them caught by Omega Protein Corp., a Texas-based company that processes them into animal feed and diet supplements at a plant in Reedville, Va. Others are caught for use as bait by crabbers and fishermen.

But menhaden also serve as food for many birds and other fish, including striped bass, the Chesapeake's premier finfish. Conservationists have been warning the menhaden population is at a low, hurting the species that depend on them, while Omega has disputed the need for reductions.  The Atlantic States commission, which regulates in-shore interstate fishing, is expected to make a decision in December.

Here are the Maryland hearings:

1) Easton, Oct. 30, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Easton Armory, 7111 Ocean Gateway;

2) Chesapeake Beach, Nov. 1, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Northeast Community Center, 4075 Gordon Stinnett Drive.

 

Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun

Analysis: The Sun’s article mischaracterizes the current debate over menhaden catch limits, implying that only Omega Protein opposes reductions in the menhaden catch. The coalition of businesses, government officials, and members of the public opposing new cuts, as well as the scientific debate surrounding them, is much broader than the article indicates.

These cuts are not only opposed by Omega Protein, but also by many bait fishermen across the Atlantic Coast, from Maine to North Carolina. For over a century, the menhaden fishery has long been a vital resource for fishermen and fishing communities, providing jobs and promoting millions of dollars in economic activity. The reduction fishery in Reedville, Virginia alone employs 300 people and is responsible for $80 million in economic output. The bait fishery, much of which operates in the Chesapeake in Maryland and Virginia, supplies some of the most valuable fisheries in the US, including blue crab and lobster. Steep harvest cuts will unnecessarily harm many of these businesses, especially considering that the last menhaden stock assessment found that menhaden were not overfished.

It’s also important to recognize that references to menhaden as “the most important fish in the sea,” are not scientific designations. They are instead derived from the title of a book on menhaden, The Most Important Fish in the Sea, by Rutgers University English professor H. Bruce Franklin. There is no scientific evidence supporting the claim to any fish being “most important,” and it more reflects the views of Dr. Franklin and his supporters, rather than any scientific consensus.

 

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — October 12, 2012 — The deputy director of marine fisheries for Massachusetts said Thursday it is not the presence of big commercial trawlers working the shallows of Middle Bank for the season’s first wave of cod that worries him.

David Pierce said his concern is that, in the unregulated commodity trading system now in its third year, the big boats have the ability to acquire and accumulate an unlimited quantity of catch shares in Gulf of Maine Cod, and can monopolize landings in a stock whose vitality was found last year to be dramatically weaker than believed in an earlier, 2008 benchmark assessment.

The paucity of inshore cod was a pivotal element in the decision last month of the federal government to find the Northeast groundfishery had declined into economic failure.

It was Pierce who, in February introduced into the record of the New England Fishery Management Council the warning that the creation of an unregulated free market in the leasing of catch shares allocated to fishermen had opened the door for boats with big nets and holds to accumulate unlimited catch shares.

He focused his concern on the Gulf of Maine, where he said he feared the system, known as Amendment 16, would accelerate market consolidation and leave the smaller businesses watching helplessly as big boats clean up on Middle Bank and other inshore grounds, the only viable locations the smaller day boats can regularly work.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, through a vessel monitoring system, reported Wednesday in response to an inquiry from the Times, that “over the past 72 hours, there have been 8 vessels of 70 feet or larger” fishing in the vicinity of Middle Bank. The Times inquiry was triggered by multiple reports from tuna hook and line and gillnet fishermen on Middle Bank that big boats from Gloucester’s Sector 2 and Boston had been pursuing the season’s first wave of cod. NOAA spokeswoman Maggie Mooney-Seus said the agency would not make public the identities of the big boats working Middle Bank.

Pierce, joined by NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard and the Northeast Seafood Coalition all emphasized that big boat fishing on Middle Bank has always been legal and practiced by large-scale trip boats as well as dayboats.

But through 2009, trip limits were in place, with a daily cod limit was 800 pounds. Under Amendment 16, limits were removed on landings by boats working from the cooperatives or sectors.

“The only new thing is now they can catch as much as they want,” said Pierce.

Pierce said protection of the inshore cod stock might warrant a restoration of daily catch limits.

“Daily catch limits are worth considering to provide a disincentive” to pulse fishing, he said, adding that the problem was also “leasing between gear types and areas (boats from one region leasing quota to boats in other regions).”

In a Thursday statement to the Times, Bullard noted that the catch share system has opened Middle Bank to vessels of all sizes at all times.

 

Read the full story in the Gloucester Times

 

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — October 11, 2012 — Three conservation groups are threatening court action to protect endangered loggerhead turtle nesting areas, mainly on Florida's east coast.

They filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue on Thursday against the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Wildlife Service.

A spokeswoman for Oceana, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Turtle Island Restoration Network said they hope the notice will lead to an agreement before they go to court.

The groups allege the federal agencies have failed to designate critical habitat protection for the turtles.

That designation would safeguard nesting, feeding and migratory areas. It also would prohibit federal projects that could destroy or harm those areas.

A Fisheries Service spokeswoman said the two agencies are planning to designate critical habitat but it's a lengthy process.

 

Read the full story by the Associated Press on CBS News