Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Recreational-fishing groups blast Wildlife & Fisheries red snapper plan

May 30, 2017 — Over the holiday weekend, a national magazine and two conservation organizations slammed Louisiana’s plan for a pilot program that would give 150 recreational anglers the right to harvest 25,000 pounds of red snapper.

In a column published on sportfishingmag.com, Sport Fishing Editor Doug Olander called the program “a solid bitch-slapping to the recreational-fishing community.” Olander said the plan is a step toward “catch-shares,” in which individuals are awarded a percentage of the overall quota and are allowed to harvest their fish without restrictions until they reach their specific quotas.

A similar system exists for the commercial sector of the red snapper fishery, and in the column, Olander acknowledged that catch-shares are sometimes the best way to protect the interests of commercial fishers. For the recreational sector, however, Olander says the catch-share system “fits about as well as a ballerina’s tights on a sumo wrestler.”

One of Olander’s problems with the concept is no one has offered a reasonable and equitable method for applying it. If tags are involved, anglers would have to either purchase tags or be awarded them through a lottery. Either technique would lock certain anglers out of the fishery, awarding a public resource to the wealthy or lucky.

That’s what has happened on the commercial side, where so-called Sea Lords who own large percentages of the quota lease it out to fishers, who actually go out and harvest the fish. Many of the Sea Lords stay on dry land earning massive paychecks from a public resource.

The American Sportfishing Association also blasted Louisiana’s proposal, sending out a Friday news release stating it was “deeply concerned with the long-term ramifications of the pilot program that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries unveiled on May 25, to the surprise of the entire recreational fishing community.”

Read the full story at The Times-Picayune

Industry applauds new NOAA fisheries, Magnuson-Stevens guidelines

October 17, 2016 — Changes to national standards for Magnuson-Stevens are receiving accolades from the recreational fishing industry.

NOAA Fisheries last week filed in the Federal Register its final rule to revise the guidelines for National Standards (NS) 1, 3, and 7 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).    MSA contains 10 national standards which guide the contents and objectives of federal fishery management plans.

Groups including the Recreational Fishing Alliance and American Sportfishing Association are applauding the revision.

“We commend NOAA Fisheries for making meaningful improvements to the National Standard guidelines, which should improve recreational fishing opportunities for federally managed marine fisheries while ensuring the nation is still achieving our strong fisheries conservation standards,” said Mike Leonard, ASA’s Conservation director. “Many of the proposed changes address issues identified through the engagement that NOAA Fisheries has made with the recreational fishing community in recent years, and more specifically the recommendations of the Commission on Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Management, more commonly known as the Morris-Deal Commission.”

The revisions include several changes sought by the industry:

  • Allowing changes to catch limits to be gradually phased in over up to three years, as long as overfishing is prevented.
  • Increasing latitude, based on the biology of the fish stock, in setting timelines for rebuilding programs.
  • Providing flexibility for better managing data-limited stocks while adhering to conservation requirements.
  • Allowing for greater stability in fishing regulations through guidance on considering multiple years when determining overfishing status.

“RFA believes that the revisions put forward by NOAA Fisheries in the final rule are a step in the right direction and will help restore some balance to the management of our federal fisheries under MSA,” said Jim Donofrio, RFA executive director.  “The intent of Congress was to treat the 10 national standards equally in order to achieve a balance between conservation and needs of our fishing communities.  Yet, selective execution of certain national standards over the past decade has resulted in a loss of opportunity and economic output in many of our most important recreational fisheries.”

The rulemaking revisions are progress, but point to the importance of legislative changes to address the issues with Magnuson-Stevens, Donofrio said.

Read the full story at Boating Industry

Recognizing 40 Years of the Legislation That Established U.S. Fishing Boundaries

April 20, 2016 — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tonight, recreational and commercial fishing representatives, Members of Congress, and key former and current individuals from the administration gathered on Capitol Hill in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), a first-of-its-kind piece of legislation that established a framework to manage domestic, federal saltwater fisheries.

“We take many things for granted now that were not the case 40 years ago when foreign fishing fleets depleted fish stocks just off our coasts,” said American Sportfishing Association Government Affairs Vice President Scott Gudes. “We owe a debt of gratitude to Sens. Warren Magnuson and Ted Stevens, along with Reps. Gerry Studds and Don Young and their House and Senate colleagues, for their extraordinary leadership in creating this innovative system for managing our marine fisheries for the public good.”

On April 13, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed the “Fishery Conservation and Management Act”, not long after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was created. The Act set into motion internationally recognized territorial boundaries today known as the “exclusive economic zone” between 12 and 200 miles off the coast. Touted as one of its most significant successes, the “200-mile limit” eliminated foreign fleets from fishing nearshore, ensuring United States resources benefited its citizens and industries. It also established eight regional fisheries management councils still in place today. Since that time, the Act has undergone six amendments, primarily addressing sustainable catch limits and rebuilding timelines for fish stocks.

Read the full story at OutdoorsFIRST Media