Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: Young fishermen being driven from Long Island fishing industry

August 6, 2018 –A generation of young fishermen are being driven from the industry by an antiquated licensing system that makes it difficult if not impossible to transfer permits, fishermen said at one of several state meetings last week.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has hired a consultant from Maine to meet with commercial fishermen across the metropolitan area over the next month to compile proposals for fixing the system.

Licenses for many fisheries are closed, due to the declining populations of species such as lobster, or because New York has only a limited portion of the coastal quota for thriving species such as black sea bass and fluke.

As a result, the only way younger fishermen can hope to access the fishery is if their parents die and they live in the same house as the previous license holder, or through one of the occasional lotteries held by the state for a handful of permits.

Read the full story at Newsday

New York Halts Commercial Fluke Fishery for About 2 Weeks, Sets Harvest Limit

July 13, 2018 — New York State will close its commercial fishing grounds, a staple of the Long Island fishing fleet, for about two weeks effective Sunday.

The closure, which applies to fishing in state waters up to 3 miles from shore, will last until the month’s end, when it reopens with a harvest limit of 50 pounds per day.

Local commercial fishermen, who dealt last month with a similar closure of another plentiful staple in New York waters of black sea bass, say the new closure is another blow to their livelihood at a time of pricing stresses and amid state pressure to ease federal restrictions.

“It really hurts us,” said Phil Karlin, a commercial fisherman from Riverhead. “It really makes it difficult for the fishermen and the retailers and dealers involved who need a supply of fluke.”

Read the full story at Newsday

NEW YORK’S OCEAN ACTION PLAN

February 7, 2017 — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos recently announced the release of the State’s final Ocean Action Plan, the first-ever comprehensive 10-year blueprint to guide the protection and conservation of New York’s ocean resources from environmental threats such as ocean acidification due to climate change. The plan was developed with input from a variety of state agencies, as well as ocean-related advocacy and industry organizations.

“New York’s Ocean Action Plan acknowledges the need to better understand how current and future uses of the ocean may impact the ocean ecosystem,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “New York’s ocean region is a critical resource for 13 million people, nearly 60 percent of the state’s population, who live along the coast. From carbon sequestration to storm resiliency, a healthy coastal environment is a necessity for coastal communities.”

Read the full story at The Fisherman

New York DEC Reports Recovery Signs for Atlantic Sturgeon

February 29, 2016 — A joint Federal and State 2015 Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon Survey shows the highest number of Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River in the 10-year history of the survey and the trend of the results show an increasing juvenile sturgeon abundance (see chart below), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos has announced.

“Juvenile Atlantic sturgeon are at the highest level recorded in the Hudson River in the last 10 years. These survey results are an encouraging sign for the recovery of Atlantic sturgeon,” Acting Commissioner Seggos said. “We are cautiously optimistic that, with our continued vigilance and efforts to protect this species, Atlantic sturgeon will have a secure future.”

Commercial fishing rates for Atlantic sturgeon exceeded the ability of the fish to replenish themselves in the late 1980s and early 1990s. New York led the way in conservation through implementation of a harvest moratorium for Atlantic sturgeon in 1996. In 1998, an amendment of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic sturgeon resulted in a coast wide moratorium on Atlantic sturgeon harvest for 40 years and aimed to protect two generations of females in each spawning stock.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

NY considers annual shutdowns of nuclear plant to save fish

September 14, 2015 — Hearings began Monday on a proposal to close the Indian Point nuclear plant for part of each summer to protect fish during spawning season.

About 30 witnesses are expected to testify at hearings at the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany.

The DEC estimates that Indian Point’s system for withdrawing and discharging water from the Hudson River kills more than 1 billion fish, eggs and larvae every year.

The hearings will address proposals to shut the plant for 42 to 92 days each summer when fish are spawning.

“We look forward to providing the court with sensible alternatives to the destruction of a shocking percentage of Hudson River fish,” Cristopher Len, Hudson program director for the environmental group Riverkeeper, said in a statement.

Read the full story from the New Jersey Herald