Saving Seafood

Congressman Jeff Van Drew Fights for Jersey Fishermen, Introduces Bipartisan Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization

July 11, 2019 — The following was released by the Office of Congressman Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ):

Today, Congressman Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) and Congressman Don Young (R-AK) introduced the H.R. 3697, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act – landmark fisheries management and conservation legislation first written by Congressman Young in 1975. The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) was last reauthorized in 2006.

Congressman Van Drew said, “Fisheries have long been the lifeblood of the South Jersey economy and culture. Our marine resources support the largest commercial and recreational fisheries in the Atlantic Coast, contributing more than $2.5 billion very year to our state’s economy. The Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act ensures that we have healthy fisheries, keep anglers in the water and keep fishermen fishing.”

“Alaska’s seafood industry is one of the primary drivers of our state economy, and for over forty years, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has allowed our fishermen, processors, and coastal communities to thrive,” said Congressman Young. “In 1976, I was proud to fight for our Nation’s fishermen alongside my dear friend Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA) as we first drafted this bipartisan legislation, and in the years since, I have been proud to continue to partner with my Democratic colleagues to keep our fisheries healthy. As the nature of our ecosystem and fishing industry changes, we must ensure our laws are updated to keep pace in an evolving world. I am pleased to work across the aisle with Congressman Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ), industry leaders, and stakeholders in Alaska and throughout the country to update this important law. Future generations must have access to our ocean’s renewable resources. Simply put, sustainability is not a partisan issue – I have always valued having bipartisan support for this critical legislation and have incorporated input from diverse groups and interests into this bill. Our reauthorization takes important steps to protect one of our most important renewable resources, and ensures that generations of fishermen to come can earn a living by putting sustainable seafood on the tables of families across the country. I will be working diligently to ensure that our bipartisan MSA reauthorization crosses the finish line and is ultimately signed into law.”

According to Wayne Reichle, President of Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May “the NJ commercial fishing industry is grateful for the leadership and bipartisan efforts of Congressman Van Drew and for his commitment to productive fisheries and a prosperous industry achieved through quality science and sound management.”

“The Garden State Seafood Association has been advocating for MSA reform since 2009. We sincerely hope that Congressman VanDrew will receive the support he deserves from all of the national recreational and commercial fishing groups,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association.

“Mr. Young and Mr. Van Drew are well versed on the current Magnuson-Stevens bill and how it penalizes fisherman while stocks are healthy. Thanks to both of these great fishery issue leaders for taking on the challenge of pragmatic Magnuson reform,” said Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

This legislation tailor’s federal fishery management actions to give Regional Fishery Management Councils the proper tools and flexibility to manage their fisheries effectively. The bill specifically:

• Affords flexibility by allowing Councils to base fishery stock rebuilding timeframes on science rather than the one-size-fits-all approach;
• Increases transparency in science and management by allowing the public to play a greater role in the development of science and Fishery Management Plans;
• Gives stakeholders a voice in the management process and requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop a plan for implementing cooperative research with fishermen and outside groups; and
• Seeks to further improve the science and data on which Councils base their management, including key provisions relating to the collection of data from the recreational saltwater fishing industry.

This bill passed the House of Representatives in the 115th Congress with bipartisan support.

Read the release at Congressman Van Drew’s website

Read about Congressman Jared Huffman’s Magnuson-Stevens listening tour here

NEW JERSEY: Anglers Conservation Network Wrongly Attacks NOAA for Determination on Alewife and Blueback Herring

June 24, 2019 — The following was released by the Garden State Seafood Association:

On Tuesday, June 18, 2019, NOAA announced they found that no populations of alewife or blueback herring (collectively referred to as “river herring”), or any of the four alewife distinct population segments (DPS) and three blueback DPSs along the east coast of the United States were either in danger of extinction nor likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Therefore, they determined that listing any of those species under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered is not warranted at this time.

Almost immediately, the Anglers Conservation Network responded on Facebook, asking the hypothetical question, “What do you do when the federal agency in charge of sustainability fails to not only recognize, name and correctly manage a vital forage fish? [sic].”

They accused NOAA of failing “to do its duty” and of letting “commercial fishing lobbyists carry the day.” They also asked their followers and readers to “please learn more about what the current administration is doing to America.”

This determination had nothing to do with any appointees of the Trump Administration. For the status review of alewife and blueback herring, NOAA formed a team composed of career scientists from NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The team members have scientific expertise in river herring biology/ecology and/or expertise in population ecology or fisheries management. Their report was reviewed by three independent external experts and by NOAA Fisheries staff.

The team members are:

  • Robert Adams – New York Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Michael Bailey – USFWS, Central New England Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office
  • Ruth Haas-Castro – NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Fisheries Science Center
  • Kiersten Curti – NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Fisheries Science Center
  • Ben Gahagan – Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
  • Ed Hale – Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife
  • Tara Trinko Lake – NOAA Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
  • Bill Post – South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Not a single team member is an appointee of the Trump Administration. The team members were not contacted by, nor did they interact with, “commercial fishing lobbyists” during their work on the determination. Their work was rigorous, with the final report totaling 167 pages.

The Anglers Conservation Network has a long history of opposing legal, well-managed U.S. forage fisheries. In a case argued by Roger M. Fleming of EarthJustice that failed on appeal in 2016, the Angler’s Conservation Network sued then Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, stating that NOAA unlawfully neglected to manage stocks of river herring and shad in the Atlantic Ocean from New York to North Carolina. The court found that NOAA rationally considered the status of river herring stocks, the fact that they are managed by the Atlantic coastal states where these fish breed, and greatest threats to their populations, including dams and barriers.

NOAA has created a program of bycatch caps in the Atlantic herring and mackerel fisheries to help conserve the stock. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to work with its partners in the states to improve habitat for these stocks. Far from “fail[ing] to do its duty,” as Anglers Conservation Network claims, NOAA has been proactive in helping to restore these important stocks.

Read the full release here

New Jersey shark fin ban bill: Assembly to vote today on measure to protect sharks

March 25, 2019 — The New Jersey Assembly will vote on a bill today that will prohibit the selling, trading, distribution or possession of any shark fin that has been separated from a shark prior to its lawful landing.

The bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee last Monday after already having passed the Senate. If it clears the assembly, it will go to Gov. Murphy to sign into law.

Assemblyman John Armato D-Northfield, one of the bill’s primary sponsor told the Asbury Park Press they’re trying to “get out in front of” shark finning.

Fishing industry members here say the bill will hurt local fishermen not involved in the illegal trade and punishes the wrong people.

“It’s a clear attempt to discourage the industry from participating in sustainable shark fisheries. The industry is monitored, regulated, observed, managed under rigorous scrutiny and this legislation could care less,” Greg DiDomenico, president of the Garden State Seafood Association, said.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Reintroduced Shark Trade Bill Promotes Successful U.S. Conservation Policies at Global Level

Bill incentivizes nations to follow U.S. example of successful management

January 31, 2019 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the Sustainable Shark Alliance:

A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House advances global shark conservation by ensuring that all shark and ray products imported into the United States meet the same high ethical and sustainability standards required of American fishermen. The bill has broad support from conservation groups, zoos, aquariums and the fishing industry.  A companion bill is expected soon in the Senate; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a similar bill in the last Congress.

The Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2019 (SSFTA), H.R. 788, introduced by Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), and co-sponsored by Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Bill Posey (R-FL), José Serrano (D-NY), among others, creates a transparent certification program for countries seeking to import shark products into the United States, modeled on similar laws that protect sea turtles and marine mammals across the globe. Similar legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate.

Nations wishing to take advantage of the U.S. market for shark and ray products must prove they have an effective prohibition on the reprehensible and wasteful practice of shark finning, and have shark and ray management policies comparable to those under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Unlike legislation (H.R. 737) from Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-NMI), which bans all trade of shark fins in the United States, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act creates incentives for improving shark conservation globally. The SSFTA punishes bad actors in other parts of the world while allowing responsible fishermen in the U.S. and elsewhere to realize the maximum value of their carefully managed and scientifically limited annual catch.

“Fishing is a long-standing profession and treasured American pastime, and particularly important in Florida,” said Rep. Webster. “Our responsibility is to balance the needs of the industry with conservation. This bill recognizes the sacrifices American fishermen have made to rebuild and sustain our shark populations and calls on others to meet these same high standards.”

“We thank the Congressmen for introducing the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act,” said Tad Mask, regional director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association in Tallahassee, Florida. “The bill promotes shark conservation and the successful model of American shark management, without threatening law-abiding U.S. fishermen.”

“The idea of a fin ban comes as a first step in environmental groups ultimate goal of ending all shark fishing,” said Greg DiDomenico, director of the Garden State Seafood Association. “The same groups pushing Rep. Sablan’s bill are also calling for an end to shark fishing tournaments.  Supporting sensible shark conservation measures, like Rep. Webster’s, should be a common goal of the commercial and recreational fishing communities.”

U.S. shark fisheries are among the best managed in the world. In a paper published last year, Dr. David Shiffman, a Liber Ero Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Simon Fraser University, and Dr. Robert Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory, wrote that the U.S. “has some of the most sustainable shark fisheries on Earth” and called the U.S. “a model of successful management.”

Shark finning, the cruel practice of removing a shark’s fins at sea and discarding the rest of the shark, has been banned in the United States with industry support since the 1990s. Currently, when a shark is landed, the fins are left naturally attached.

The Sustainable Shark Alliance has long argued for the importance of obtaining the maximum value by fully utilizing the limited catches U.S. fishermen are allowed. A U.S. ban on the sale of fins deprives coastal communities of much needed income, while mandating waste of a valuable and culturally important resource.

“The answer to the problem of shark finning is not ‘reverse shark finning,’ by destroying the shark fins that are legally harvested,” said the Alliance’s counsel, Shaun Gehan. “It is to stop shark overfishing and waste of much needed shark protein in all the world’s shark fisheries. The SSFTA moves us in that direction.”

Prior versions of the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act have been supported by commercial fishing industry groups, including but not limited to the Garden State Seafood Association, Southeastern Fisheries Association, North Carolina Fisheries Association, Directed Sustainable Fisheries, and Louisiana Shrimp Association; environmental groups, such as the Wildlife Conservation Society; and zoo and aquarium facilities, such as Mote Marine Laboratory, Palm Beach Zoo, SeaWorld, Zoo Miami Foundation and the Florida Aquarium. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has also written in support of approach.

About the Sustainable Shark Alliance
The Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) is a coalition of shark fishermen and seafood dealers that advocates for sustainable U.S. shark fisheries and supports well-managed and healthy shark populations. The SSA stands behind U.S. shark fisheries as global leaders in successful shark management and conservation.

National Science Foundation grant to continue work on key fishery management issues

January 24, 2019 — A cooperative research center that brings together seafood industry leaders and academic experts has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work on a number of issues that impact sustainable fisheries.

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) will use the federal money to study four issues, including how climate change affects fisheries and how to settle differences between offshore energy producers and the fishing community.

Other research the center will perform as part of the grant will focus on management practices that keep catch limits below levels that reduce jobs and inhibit economic growth. According to a press release from the center, the key focus will be to reduce uncertainty for the commercial industry.

According to the NSF, the grant is worth USD 100,000 (EUR 88,021). Work is expected to start on 1 March and last for five years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Science Center for Marine Fisheries Continues Work with New National Science Foundation Grant

January 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

Following the completion of its initial 5-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) has been awarded a new Phase 2 grant by the NSF to continue its work. SCeMFiS will use the new grant to further its track record of quality, collaborative research with its fishing industry and academic partners.

The grant is part of NSF’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) program, which was developed to initiate long-term partnerships among industry, academia, and government. SCeMFiS is the only Phase 2 IUCRC program dedicated exclusively to fisheries and marine science research.

“Our new Phase 2 grant will allow SCeMFiS researchers to continue our collaborative work with the fishing industry,” said Center Director Dr. Eric Powell, of the University of Southern Mississippi, one of the academic members of SCeMFiS. “The Phase 2 grant will enable SCeMFiS to continue to fund the groundbreaking research necessary to maintain healthy fish stocks and healthy fisheries at a time when reliance on the best available science is increasingly critical.”

As it moves into Phase 2, SCeMFiS will focus on reducing scientific uncertainty; the effects of climate change on fish stocks and fishing communities; resolving issues between fishing and offshore energy interests; and developing sound ecosystem-based fisheries management.

“Our priorities for Phase 2 reflect the biggest challenges in the future of the fishing industry,” said Center Site Director Dr. Roger Mann, of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, another SCeMFiS academic institution. “To meet these challenges, the industry and fisheries managers will need the kind of innovative research that SCeMFiS has regularly produced over the last 5 years.”

In its first 5 years, SCeMFiS has done groundbreaking research on finfish and shellfish. Among other projects, the Center produced the first age-frequency distributions for ocean quahog, one of the longest-lived species in the ocean. SCeMFiS scientists conducted the first benthic survey on important ocean habitat east of Nantucket, and mapped the shifting range of surfclams, documenting how climate change is beginning to affect the species.

SCeMFiS has also designed a pelagic survey for Atlantic menhaden and provided recommendations to improve port sampling for the species, carried out the only scientific work to date on Atlantic chub mackerel, and carried out an economic analysis for longfin squid.

All of these projects were reviewed, approved, and funded by the industry members on our Industry Advisory Board, who rely on sound science for the health of their fisheries and businesses.

“Fisheries management is only as good as the science it’s based on,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association and a member of SCeMFiS’ Industry Advisory Board. “That’s why it’s so important for the fishing industry to maintain its partnership with SCeMFiS. We need to promote the best available science.”

Modern Fish Act passes House: Industry wonders what happened to Magnuson?

December 21, 2018 — The U.S. House voted to pass the Modern Fish Act on Wednesday, just two days after the Senate approved it unanimously, swiftly sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature.

The “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act,” or S.1520, has been the subject of debate and compromise among lawmakers, commercial and recreational fishing interests, and environmentalists for months.

The National Coalition for Fishing Communities released a statement on Thursday denouncing the quick passage of the bill and cementing their earlier support for Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, H.R. 200, that was passed over earlier this year.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up the House bill, and instead took up S.1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act,” read the statement. “In its original form, S.1520 faced widespread opposition from both commercial fishing and environmental groups. After its most controversial components were either totally removed or substantially weakened, it moved forward in the Senate and passed the House yesterday.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Modern Fish Act Falls Short: Full Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Still Needed

December 20, 2018 — The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

In June, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities wrote to Congressional leadership in support of H.R. 200, the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That bill, championed by Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska), would have addressed the concerns of the commercial fishing industry by allowing more flexibility in management, eliminating arbitrary rebuilding timelines, and adding other reforms to better take into account the complex challenges facing commercial fishermen.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up the House bill, and instead took up S.1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act.” In its original form, S.1520 faced widespread opposition from both commercial fishing and environmental groups. After its most controversial components were either totally removed or substantially weakened, it moved forward in the Senate and passed the House yesterday.

S.1520 is an amendment to, but not a reauthorization of, the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Commercial fishing interests, recreational interests, and environmental groups all agree that the Magnuson-Stevens Act should, as the Environmental Defense Fund recently noted, “be recognized as one of the most successful conservation statutes ever enacted.” But no law is perfect, and there are still reforms that need to be addressed.

“We certainly hope the passage of this bill doesn’t reduce the incentive for the 116th Congress to work with the seafood industry on legislation to reauthorize the MSA in ways that will enhance the law and benefit fishing communities throughout the U.S.,” said Lori Steele, Executive Director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association in Portland, Oregon. “The need for such legislation remains.”

“The enormous amount of energy spent working to turn S.1520 from a widely opposed bill to a diminished version just so it could make it through the Senate would have been better spent on crafting a helpful Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association in New Jersey. “If the President signs this bill into law, the best outcome might be that the public may get a better sense of the significant catch and discard mortality associated with recreational fishing, but the bill does not get us the real reform that both industries need.”

“Any Magnuson-Stevens re-authorization should include two goals,” said David Krebs, president of Ariel Seafoods Inc. in Destin, Florida and a board member of the Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance. “The ten national standards must be maintained, and provisions should be included to ensure balance between commercial and recreational interests on the eight fishery management councils.”

Ms. Steele and Mr. DiDomenico both testified before the Senate this year in favor of needed improvements to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Some of the crucial issues addressed in HR 200, and that were not addressed by the Senate include:

1) Eliminating the 10-year time requirement for rebuilding fisheries and replacing it with a biologically based time frame. This will allow the Regional Fishery Management Councils (RFMCs) to determine the optimal path and duration for stock rebuilding.

2) Modifying requirements for annual catch limits (ACLs) to allow RFMCs to consider ecosystem changes and the needs of fishing communities when establishing ACLs. In light of changing environmental conditions and the role of the environment in fisheries recruitment, these considerations make both scientific and common sense.

3) Using the term “depleted” instead of “overfished” throughout the Act is a simple yet very important change that will allow the Secretary of Commerce to more accurately characterize stock condition not based solely on fishing mortality. The term “overfished” is perceived negatively and can unfairly implicate the industry for stock conditions resulting from other factors.

4) Maintaining the requirement for a transparent referendum process before any new catch share program can be implemented in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions to ensure the industry has a role in determining its future.

Senate unanimously passes “compromise” recreational fishing bill

December 18, 2018 — The U.S. Senate on Monday, 17 December, unanimously passed a bill that would urge regional management councils to revise policies and take into account the needs of anglers in mixed-use fisheries.

The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act, proposed by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), would require the Government Accountability Office to review how the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic management councils allocate catch limits in fisheries shared by commercial and recreational fishermen. It also would encourage the two councils to find alternative methods for managing recreational fisheries.

“I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this bill passed, but there is still more work to be done,” Wicker said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing our efforts to modernize federal fishing policies on the Gulf Coast and to support our fishermen.”

Monday’s vote comes after Wicker and members of the sportfishing industry stepped up their efforts to get the bill passed before the 115th Congress’ term ends. Wicker filed the bill in July 2017, and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee advanced the bill in June.

However, the bill coming out of the committee met with serious resistance from commercial interest groups, who feared the bill would be detrimental to their industry. The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance as recently as last month said it opposed the bill as written.

Greg DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, lamented that the time and energy directed toward Wicker’s bill in the Senate could have been better used for discussing a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization. If Wicker’s bill becomes law, the best outcome might be that the pubic gets a truer sense of the impact the recreational industry has on Southeastern fisheries.

“This does not get us the real reform that both industries need,” DiDomenico told SeafoodSource.

The push to revise recreational management policies comes on the heels of the federal government relaxing some regulations in the Gulf. Earlier this year, Gulf states started a two-year pilot to manage the red snapper recreational fishery in federal waters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Wind “Stakeholder” Group Meets In NJ

November 30, 2018 — While it appears that actual invitations weren’t sent to many stakeholders in the fishing community – certainly not by way of public email blast or general notification – the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is expected to meet with local “stakeholders” starting December 4 regarding wind farm development off the Jersey Shore.

Despite a noticeable lack of outreach and often restrictive holiday season planning, BPU will hold three Public Stakeholder Meetings in early December focused on Governor Murphy’s offshore wind goals and the BPU’s solicitation for 1,100 MW of offshore wind capacity.

A tip by Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) executive director Greg DiDomenico (who said he “stumbled across the announcement by accident”) reveals how BPU staff, members of the NJ Offshore Wind Interagency Taskforce, offshore wind developers, and environmental non-government organizations (NGO’s) are expected to meet three times in December to review the State’s process for developing offshore wind.

Read the full story at The Fisherman