Saving Seafood

Governor Hochul Announces Second Round of Federal Funding to Provide $5.7 Million in COVID-19 Relief to New York’s Marine Fishing Industry

December 2, 2021 — The following was released by the office of Governor Kathy Hochul:

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced an additional $5.7 million in federal funding is available from New York’s Marine Fisheries Relief Program, established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, to provide financial relief for New York’s marine fishing industry. Eligible seafood, commercial marine fishing, marine aquaculture, and marine recreational for-hire fishing businesses are eligible to apply for the funding beginning Dec. 1. This funding is in addition to the $6.7 million in assistance provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, for a total of $12.4 million in aid for New York’s seafood, marine commercial, and for-hire fishing industries after excessive business losses in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt New York’s commercial fishing industry which is reliant on vibrant tourism, dining, and recreational opportunities,” Governor Hochul said. “This funding is essential to assist businesses and coastal communities that have long played a vital role in the State’s economic success. My administration remains committed to supporting marine fishing and seafood industries here in New York and will work tirelessly to ensure financial support is provided to all eligible candidates.”

Read the full release here

 

New York sues NOAA for bigger share of summer flounder quota

October 16, 2019 — The state of New York has filed a federal lawsuit against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) looking to challenge the 2020-20201 quota allocated in relation to the commercial fluke (summer flounder) fishery.

In the lawsuit, filed Oct. 10 in the US Southern District of New York, Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, charges NMFS, NOAA and also the parent US agency, the Department of Commerce, with violating the Magnuson Stevens Act and Administrative Procedures Act.

New York’s lawsuit describes how New York’s annual fluke quota is based on a state-by-state allocation formula that was adopted by NMFS in 1993, using landings data from 1980-1989. In the 1980s, the fluke population had been fished to low levels and was centered south of its present location, the state says. The species’ population has since recovered and migrated northward due, in part, to rising water temperatures from climate change.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

New York Lawmakers Go To Bat Over Fisheries Cutbacks

April 5, 2018 — The federal government is proposing a 12 percent reduction for the recreational black sea bass fishery in 2018,  despite the fact that scientists say the black sea bass fishery has been rebuilt to two-and-a-half times what regulators consider to be sustainable, and New York State is fighting back.

State Senator Ken LaValle and State Assemblyman Fred Thiele agree with DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos that “non-compliance is a legitimate remedy” for this cutback, stating that “this action discriminates against the State of New York. It would have a significant adverse effect on the Long Island economy” in a joint statement issued Monday.

“This has not been an isolated case of discrimination against New York State,” they added. “Unfortunately, this is part of a long history of federal action that has strangled the fishing industry in New York to the benefit of other states. DEC advocacy for our fishing industry is long overdue.”

New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut filed an appeal with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over the catch reduction on March 16, and Mr. Seggos expects an answer by late April or early May. He has told the press he plans to litigate the matter if the state does not win the appeal.

“The State of New York should utilize every legal and administrative tool at its disposal to overturn this ill-considered federal proposal,” said Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle. “New York should not be at a disadvantage with other states on the East Coast. Again and again, we have seen politics replace science to the detriment of New York State fishermen, whether they are recreational anglers, charter boat captains, or commercial fishermen. When the federal government is arbitrary and capricious, the state must say “no.”

In late March, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced they had filed an appeal over commercial summer flounder (fluke) quotas set by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and were also looking into taking action on New York’s quotas on black sea bass and bluefish.

For 2018, New York commercial fishing daily trip limits for fluke were set at 50 pounds. New York commercial fishermen are allowed to take just 7.6 percent of the fluke allocated among the mid-Atlantic states. These tight restrictions, compounded by monthly limits aimed at keeping the landings in check throughout the year, led to a closure of commercial fluke fishing here last fall.

Read the full story at the East End Beacon

 

State files petition with federal bodies that set commercial fluke fishing quotas

April 3, 2018 — Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in October that if changes weren’t made to fluke quotas to be fair to New York’s economy and commercial fishing families, the state would take legal action.

Last week, that threat became more real as the governor and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the filing of a petition with the federal government to establish fair quota allocations for the state’s commercial harvest of fluke, or summer flounder.

In a March 23 statement, Mr. Cuomo said the federal government can’t rely on “decades-old data to uphold the fluke quotas, which put New York at a disadvantage compared to other states.”

“New York’s commercial fishing industry has been held back by archaic federal restrictions for too long, and by taking action to defend fair treatment of our fishers, we will help this valuable industry reach its full potential,” he said.

The state Department of Conservation petitioned for revised allocations with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

“New York’s commercial fishing industry deserves a fair shake — not the back of the hand — from the federal government,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “Federal law requires that our nation’s marine fisheries be managed according to the best available science, and in a fair, efficient, and safe way. Simply put, perpetuating New York’s undersized, outdated share of the commercial summer flounder fishery does not meet the requirements of the law.”

Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Basil Seggos also said changes need to be made.

Local fishermen have long felt they’re left short-changed while other East Coast states have higher quotas. Some are skeptical of what will come next, as they’ve dealt with restrictions on fluke fishing since 1992, which state officials and fishermen say were based on inaccurate or outdated data on the fish population.

Read the full story at the Suffolk Times

 

Pressure mounting to reject quota cuts for black sea bass

April 2, 2018 — With the fishing season approaching, state fisheries officials are under greater pressure than ever to reject mandates from federal and coastal fisheries regulators to limit New York’s quota for abundant black sea bass.

New York’s top fisheries regulator said Thursday, the state was reviewing a range of tools to push back against the quota, including even noncompliance with the federal rules if a recently filed appeal or a lawsuit fails to change reductions in the fishery.

“I’m prepared to go to the bear cage on this if it means having to take more drastic action,” state Environmental Conservation commissioner Basil Seggos said in an interview. Noncompliance is “an option that’s on the table for us. We have to approach that carefully and understand the full implications of that and exhaust all the other options” before considering it, he said. In any case, he said, “I don’t want to see our fishermen take a cut this year or next year.”

New York recreational anglers and boat captains face a 12 percent reduction for black sea bass this year, which would translate into a shorter season and fewer keeper fish each day. Black sea bass are a particularly vital species for recreational boats, in part because the fish are so plentiful. The black sea-bass fishery has been restored to more than 2 1⁄2 times the levels that regulators consider sufficiently rebuilt.

At a sometimes-raucous meeting last Tuesday, held by the DEC at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences, hundreds of fishermen and women packed a hall to demand the state bring quotas into line with New Jersey and other states that are allotted larger shares.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

NY threatens suit over federal limits on black sea bass

March  28, 2018 — New York State will file suit against the federal government if it loses an appeal in opposition to current restrictions on the recreational black sea bass fishery, which for 2018 mandates a 12 percent reduction in fishing, a top state commissioner said Tuesday night.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is holding a meeting Tuesday night to discuss options for the black sea bass season for 2018, and by all indications it will be contentious. Fishing boat captains on Facebook have urged anglers to attend the meeting to protest the 12 percent reduction, which would drastically shorten the season and the number of fish anglers can take. The DEC moved the location to a larger venue to accommodate more people.

“Please get on top of this situation and get the people of New York on equal footing with the rest of the boats and businesses on the East Coast,” Huntington fishing boat captain James Schneider said, noting charter and partyboats face a 30 percent reduction in their business. “Our people should not be punished.”

In an interview Tuesday night in advance of the meeting, Basil Seggos, DEC commissioner, said he’s been directed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to make sure state fishermen don’t suffer as a result of federal regulations that seek to limit a fishery that’s considered healthy.

“Black sea bass populations have increased substantially,” he said. “Nonetheless, we’re stuck with the prospect of cuts, which never made sense to me, never made sense to the governor, or to our fisheries managers.”

New York joined with Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in filing an appeal on March 16 of the 12 percent quota reduction for black sea bass this year. If the appeal with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is not successful, he said, the state will file an appeal with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division. “If they are not prepared to rule favorably, then we’d pursue the litigation route,” said Seggos. “We think the science is with us” showing an abundance of black sea bass in the region.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

New York State petitions feds demanding more equitable fluke quota

March 23, 2018 — New York State on Friday filed a petition with the federal government to demand a more equitable distribution of the commercial fluke quota, saying current rules put “unreasonable limits” on the state industry.

The petition, filed with a U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is a first step, officials said, toward changing a decades-old quota that leaves New York fishermen with just 7.6 percent of a catchable annual allocation for fluke up and down the East Coast. Other states such as North Carolina and Virginia get more than 20 percent each of the coastal quota, and often travel to New York waters to catch it.

Local fishermen who have complained of the low quota for decades had been expecting a lawsuit, after state officials visiting Long Island in November vowed to make good on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo promised litigation in a visit to Montauk in 2013.

But delays by an interstate fisheries commission addressing quota inequities until the fall forced the state to file the petition as a necessary first step toward litigation, officials said.

“Quite frankly, we lost patience,” Basil Seggos, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said in an interview. His staff worked with New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman’s office to file the petition.

“The stringent limits on commercial landings of [fluke] in New York ports have made [fluke] fishing no longer an economically viable choice” for New York fishermen, because the “limited revenue generated by a trip often cannot offset the costs, including fuel, time, and vessel wear-and-tear.”

One longtime critic of the governor’s protections for commercial fishermen called the petition effort “weak.”

Daniel Rodgers, a Southampton lawyer and director for New York Fish, a fishermen’s advocacy group, expressed concern that the petition will only further delay action that fishermen need now.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

State official: NY commercial fishermen ‘getting a raw deal’

November 13, 2017 — New York commercial fishermen are “getting a raw deal” in federal fisheries quotas, and the state will follow through on a lawsuit early next year if meetings in December don’t fix the problem, the state’s top fisheries official said last week.

At a meeting at the East Hampton Public Library on Thursday, Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, listened to two full hours of complaints about state and federal regulations and management of fisheries, including restrictive quotas, inaccurate fish-population data, difficulty in getting and transferring permits, and “Gestapo”-like tactics of federal observers on local fishing vessels.

Seggos in an interview after the meeting said the state would base its response to federal regulators “on the numbers we get” in the federal quota following a meeting of an interstate commission in December to divvy up the quota for fluke and other species.

Read the full story at NEWSDAY

 

NEW YORK: Commercial bluefish season could come to early end

July 25, 2016 — The commercial season for Atlantic bluefish in New York State could end prematurely following a pending decision from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

The potential closure would come about three months earlier than usual and have a negative economic impact on commercial fisheries throughout New York, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The decision, which could be made any day now, is based on data from the Marine Recreation Information Program, which is the program NOAA uses to record all of its recreational fishing data. Recent data shows a high number of bluefish were caught last year by recreational fishers.

The DEC, however, has argued in a letter sent to NOAA that it finds the data “troubling” and is urging officials to reevaluate the findings.

On Monday, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) also called on NOAA to take a second look, writing in a letter to the organization that “any decision on bluefish fishing season must be based on up-to-date science, period.”

Mr. Schumer’s request follows a letter sent to NOAA last Tuesday by DEC commissioner Basil Seggos, who expressed concern that a mid-season closure would be a “devastating blow to our commercial fisheries.”

On the North Fork, several business owners have also expressed worry about how such a closure might impact them. Charlie Manwaring of Southold Fish Market said he sells a considerable number of bluefish this time of year.

“I’m not very happy because it’s one less fish I can sell,” Mr. Manwaring said, adding that bluefish season sometimes extends until November.

NOAA sets a quota each year for East Coast states regarding how many fish can be caught. The quota is divided between commercial and recreational fisheries. For Atlantic bluefish, about 80 percent of the quota relates to recreational fishing. Data from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission shows that recent yearly averages for recreational bluefish fishing are around 13 million pounds.

DEC officials said recreational fisheries almost never hit the 80 percent quota. When commercial fishermen want to harvest more fish, they said, the government can transfer a percentage of the remaining recreational quota.

Read the full story at The Suffolk Times

New York Urges Federal Government for Needed Regulatory Changes to Improve Black Sea Bass Fishery

June 2, 2016 — ALBANY, NY — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos continues to call on the federal government to improve management of the black sea bass fishery in the region. In a letter to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on May 17th, DEC urged the federal government to expedite a new stock assessment for black sea bass and implement other modifications to improve regulation.

“The increasingly restrictive measures demanded of Northeastern states are inequitable and cause great socioeconomic harm to our anglers and related businesses,” Seggos said. “The ASMFC and NOAA must revise their management strategy and not keep New York and the Northeast commercial anglers at a competitive disadvantage while the black sea bass population continues to grow.”

Pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, black sea bass is managed jointly by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council with decisions for final annual coast wide quotas set under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries program. To implement these federal restrictions, New York’s commercial black sea bass quota is distributed into annual period allocations that were created in consultation with commercial fishermen, and include specific times of year the fishery will be closed to ensure New York stays within its allotment. Commercial anglers in consultation with DEC Division of Marine Resources staff had selected the June 1st – July 1st closure during development of the 2016 commercial fishing regulations.

Read the full story at LongIsland.com