Saving Seafood

Proposed Legislation in Congress Would Block Planned Fishing Ban in Florida

August 3, 2015 — On Monday, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Small Business held a congressional hearing in Homestead.

The subject of the hearing was a proposed bill that would allow state fishery managers to block fishing bans in state waters within national parks.

The bill’s relevance to South Florida is that it would shut down an attempt to create a marine reserve zone blocking commercial and recreational fishing in a portion of Biscayne National Park.

The hearing was standing-room only, and supporters representing both sides of the bill brought their passionate arguments to the Homestead community center.

Read the full story at WLRN Miami

Field Hearing Highlights Oversight Failures in Plan to Ban Fishing in New Biscayne Bay National Park

August 3, 2015 — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following was released by the House Natural Resources Committee:

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Small Business Committee held a joint field hearing in Homestead, Florida, on the National Park Service’s (NPS) General Management Plan (GMP) for Biscayne National Park released in June 2015.  The GMP, which includes a Marine Reserve Zone (MRZ) that would be closed to all commercial and recreational fishing, conflicts with the position of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the recommendations of the park’s own stakeholder working group.

“Today we heard first-hand accounts from Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, local fishermen and businesses on the National Park Service’s draconian plan to close a third of the Biscayne National Park’s reefs from fishing,” stated House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-R). “The National Park Service set up local management advisory groups on Biscayne National Park – and then ignored the recommendations.  The State of Florida’s input on the plan was rebuffed. This is not the way to run a National Park System.”

“I commend my Florida colleagues Rep. Curbelo, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Diaz-Balart for helping to elevate public attention to this matter,” Bishop added. “Together, we will take action to address the abuses of the National Park Service and re-establish public input and access at Biscayne Bay.”

On Thursday, July 30th, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen introduced the Preserving Public Access to Public Waters Act (H.R. 3310), which would ensure that federal and state agencies collaborate in the development of any new fishing access restrictions in areas where state marine waters and national park or national marine sanctuary boundaries overlap. The Committee on Natural Resources will be acting on the legislation.

During the hearing, witnesses discussed the NPS’s disregard for state and public input, lack of transparency, and disregard for the scientific process in developing the GMP, as well as the economic and environmental implications of the final GMP.

Ms. Jessica McCawley, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries Management, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), stated: “FWC cannot support this plan for many reasons. First, the Park’s refusal to explore alternatives to a no-fishing marine reserve zone early in the GMP planning process ultimately contributed to a failed attempt to find a workable compromise. Second, FWC views the implementation of a no-fishing zone within the marine reserve zone under the GMP as a breach of the partnership agreement established through the MOU. Third, the proposed fishery closure is being based on an inappropriate application of scientific analysis. Fourth, the closure would unnecessarily restrict public access and negatively impact the south Florida economy.”

“The data bases used to begin the development of the GMP more than a decade ago are no longer germane to current stock levels or the condition of sea grasses, corals and other benthic habitat.  Park managers find it far too convenient to blame fishing for all of the ills facing the park because it is the easiest to regulate,” stated Mr. Ernie Piton, Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “The development of the GMP is now 14 years old and again, working groups assembled to help in the formulation of the plan have not met for at least 12 years.”

Mr. Carl Liederman, Owner of Miami’s Captain Harry’s Fishing Supply, stated: “While significant in terms of lost public access, closing this area will do nothing biologically to improve the overall fisheries conditions in the park. There is simple no good science to support it, as the FWC can attest here today. And that coupled with the adverse economic impact this closure will bring to many of the marine related small businesses in south Florida makes this closure a very bad idea.”

Click here to view additional information on the hearing.

Tide turns for Florida bay scallops, restoration continues in Tarpon Bay

July 31, 2015 — Standing in the chest-deep water of Tarpon Bay this week, Eric Milbrandt handed a cage full of bay scallops to Sarah Bridenbaugh aboard a Carolina Skiff.

Milbrandt, director of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Marine Laboratory, and research assistant Bridenbaugh weren’t harvesting the tasty mollusks (harvesting bay scallops south of the Pasco-Hernando county line is illegal).

Instead, the caged scallops would be cleaned, counted and measured by Bridenbaugh and interns Krystal Silas, Emily Anderson and Chrissy McCrimmon for an ongoing scallop restoration project.

“Old-timers talk about collecting buckets of scallops in the 1950s and ’60s,” Milbrant said. “What we’re trying to do is re-establish a local population of scallops. We’d like to see a population that can sustain a recreational harvest, but we’re quite a long way from that.”

Read the full story at the News-Press

 

Legislation Introduced to Preserve Fishing Access in Biscayne National Park

July 31, 2015 — On the heels of the recent announcement to close over 10,000 acres of Biscayne National Park to fishing, a coalition of recreational fishing and boating organizations praised the introduction of a bipartisan bill, H.R. 3310, that will help stop this and similar unwarranted fishing closures from occurring. Led by Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), and 28 other original sponsors, the “Preserving Public Access to Public Waters Act” requires the National Park Service and Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to have approval from state fish and wildlife agencies before closing state waters to recreational or commercial fishing.

“Probably the most concerning aspect of the Biscayne National Park marine reserve decision is the total disregard for the fisheries management expertise of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,” said Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy director for the American Sportfishing Association. “The states are responsible for nearly all of our nation’s saltwater fisheries management successes. This legislative safeguard will prevent the federal government from ignoring the fisheries management expertise of the states in these types of situations.”

Throughout the development of the General Management Plan for Biscayne National Park, through which the marine reserve is being implemented, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has provided detailed recommendations to improve the condition of the fisheries resources in the park. The Commission has continually expressed its position that the proposed marine reserve is overly restrictive to the public; will not be biologically effective; and that less restrictive management tools can rebuild the park’s fisheries resources and conserve habitat.

 

Read the full story at Florida Sportsman

 

Atlantic Fishermen Frustrated by New Regulations

July 20, 2015 — The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is collecting feedback from dozens of fishing areas from Florida up to North Carolina about the snapper-grouper fishery.

At a public hearing at the Murrells Inlet Community Center Monday night, local fishermen spoke out against the proposed regulations.

A number of local commercial and some recreational fishermen said this council’s proposals are like Big Brother on the fishing industry.

They said fishermen should just be left alone to fish.

“We want some controversial items that are opposed by nearly all fishermen removed, like catch shares, which is an effort to privatize the fishery, electronic monitoring of a vessel, and more closed fishing areas,” said Tom Swatzel, a council member with Sustainable Fishing.  “We just don’t need those at this time.”

The Vision Project which was initially launched last year by SAFMC was blasted by local fishermen Monday night.

 

Read the full story at WPDE.com

 

FLORIDA: More than $20,000 of lobster and shrimp stolen from seafood supplier

July 10, 2015 — MIAMI, Fla. — Friday, customarily a big seafood consumption day, turned into a big seafood theft day at Miami’s Sea Land Distribution.

Thieves plowed a hole in a storage warehouse and stole $20,000 to $30,000 worth of mostly lobster and shrimp overnight. Perpetrators knew not only where but when to execute the heist for maximum take.

It was the first from the restaurant supplier in more than 30 years of business.

When The Fish You Eat Have Eaten Something Toxic

July 3, 2015 — Some tasty saltwater fish carry a toxin that you may never have heard of.

And a recent study found that more people in Florida may be getting sick from eating fish contaminated with the toxin than previously thought.

By comparing Florida public health records with survey results from thousands of fishermen, scientists from the University of Florida found that ciguatera fish poisoning, as the condition is called, is significantly underreported in the state.

Before the study was done, the prevailing estimate of ciguatera poisoning was 0.2 cases per 100,000 people per year. The latest work, led by epidemiologist Elizabeth Radke, suggests the cases may be more than 25 times higher.

Statewide, the case frequency may be as high as 5.6 cases per 100,000 people a year. In Miami-Dade County, the researchers put the number at 28 cases per 100,000, and in Monroe County it was 84 per 100,000.

Read the full story at New York Now

 

FLORIDA: Fish Poisoning More Common Than Believed

June 30, 2015 — Poisonings from a toxin carried by barracuda and other sport fish have been seriously underestimated in Florida, according to a new study — and the problem is far more common in fishing communities around the world than has been recognized, the lead author said.

In Florida, poisonings from the ciguatera toxin were highest among Hispanics, presumably because they are more fond of eating barracuda, according to the study, which was published this week in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Ciguatera (pronounced sig-WAH-terra) is produced by algae that grow in warm water, and there is a risk of it spreading north as ocean waters warm, said Elizabeth G. Radke, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute and the lead author of the study.

Read the full story at the New York Times

FLORIDA: Baitfish populations cut dramatically on Space Coast, elsewhere

June 20, 2015 — FLORIDA — When managers and commissioners from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meet in Sarasota on Wednesday, they’ll be discussing several controversial subjects — including final rules for the first legal black bear hunt in nearly 30 years.

But the one that most directly affects Space Coast outdoors people is a resolution supporting the protection and regulation of forage fish species like mullet, menhaden and anchovies.

Menhaden stocks have definitely seen a drastic decline over the past 20 years. Just ask any fisherman that’s prowled the beaches of Brevard County — like Capt. Jim Ross.

Ross grew up fishing along the beach for cobia, amberjack, giant jack crevalle and a host of other species that were attracted to the moveable feast of menhaden (known locally as pogies.)

“We have 10 to 20 percent of the menhaden off the beaches that we used to,” Ross says. “You hear guys getting excited because they find a school of bait that might be the size of a Suburban and that’s not really that big. We used to have schools that would run outside the surf from the Cocoa Beach Pier to State Road 520.”

Read the full story at Florida Today