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Congress is considering big changes to longstanding federal fisheries regulatory act

July 2, 2018 — Eric Brazer likens federal fisheries management to a bank account held jointly by commercial fisherman, charter fishermen, restaurants and others who depend on a specific fish for their livelihood.

If one user overdraws the account, there is nothing left for the others, said Brazer, deputy director of the Galveston, Texas-based Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, which includes commercial snapper and grouper fishermen from around the Gulf.

Brazer’s organization is one of many groups keeping a close eye on two bills being debated in Congress. A House bill by Rep. Don Young, an Alaska Republican, and a Senate bill by Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, could lead to significant changes in the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Destin Mayor Gary Jarvis, former president of the Destin Charter Boat Association, has been in regular contact with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, and other members of the Florida Congressional Delegation over the two bills.

Jarvis said the association doesn’t want want to see a major overhaul of Magnuson-Stevens.

“It is a legacy piece of legislation that does need to be revised from time to time,” he said. “But they are attempting to gut some things in the Magnuson-Stevens Act to change how fisheries are managed.”

Jarvis said charter fishing brings more than $175 million a year to the regional economy.  For the economic benefits to continue, there must be sufficient numbers of red snapper, triggerfish, amberjack, grouper and other popular fish species, Jarvis said.

“The Magnuson-Stevens Act has clear-cut management tools and what is happening is political maneuvering to weaken these existing rules,” he said.

Jarvis said he fears charter fishermen won’t be given a designated share of the catch limits. He also likened catch limits to a joint bank account.

“What is happening is that they are trying to make it easier for one user group to overdraw the account,” he said.

Read the full story at the Pensacola News Journal

NCFC Member Capt. Gary Jarvis Elected Mayor of Destin, Florida

March 14, 2018 — Saving Seafood sends its congratulations to Capt. Gary Jarvis, restaurateur and president of the Destin Charter Boat Association (DCBA), on his election yesterday as mayor of Destin, Florida. As president of the DCBA, Capt. Jarvis is a member of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities and the recently formed Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance. We wish Capt. Jarvis a successful four-year term working on behalf of the people of Destin.

The following is excerpted from an article by the Northwest Florida Daily News:

DESTIN, Fla. — Gary Jarvis is about to get his feet wet as the city’s mayor.

The local restaurateur and president of the Destin Charter Boat Association reeled in the four-year mayoral post Tuesday with 1,687 votes, or 51.75 percent, toppling incumbent Scott Fischer, who tallied 1,573 votes, or 48.25 percent, according to unofficial election results.

“We worked really hard,” Jarvis said from Brotula’s Seafood House & Steamer on Tuesday night. “It was my first time running for office. There was a lot of baring and gnashing of teeth in this election, but I focused on what I brought to the table and not getting into the mud-slinging. The people I knew the longest went to the polls, and I feel honored that the city of Destin weeded through the mud-raking.”

He said one of the biggest changes he would like to implement on the City Council is to shorten its meetings.

“Meetings won’t be four hours anymore, so people can participate in the meetings and the civic process,” Jarvis said. “And I will meet with the city manager and the present council and get my feet wet.”

Read the full story at the Northwest Florida Daily News

 

FLORIDA: Red snapper pilot program in the works

February 15, 2018 — There is no fish along the Gulf Coast more talked about than the red snapper.

Last week at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting near Tallahassee, the red snapper was once again on the table for discussion.

The FWC looked at the future of Gulf red snapper management in state and federal waters, including a proposed fishery-management pilot program (also referred to as an Exempted Fishing Permit) that would allow the FWC to manage all recreational red snapper harvest caught in Gulf state and federal waters off Florida in 2018 and 2019.

The pilot program is pending approval by NOAA Fisheries and would set the harvest season for recreational anglers fishing from private vessels in state and federal waters of the Gulf, and would also include for-hire operations that do not have a federal reef fish permit and are limited to targeting reef fish in Gulf state waters only.

What impact does this have on the “for-hire” boats in Destin, such as the charter fleet, which the majority of holds a federal reef permit?

“Absolutely none,” said Destin Charter Boat Association President Gary Jarvis, who was in attendance at the meeting.

Read the full story at the Destin Log

 

NCFC Members Reaffirm Support for Interior Department’s Marine Monument Recommendations

December 5, 2017 — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Following today’s official release of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to alter three marine national monuments, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities are reiterating their support for these recommendations, which will lessen the economic burden on America’s fishing communities while still providing environmental protections for our ocean resources.

In September, NCFC members expressed initial support for the changes when a draft of the recommendations were reported in the press. Because the final recommendations are identical to those initially reported, NCFC members stand by their initial statement, which is reproduced below:

Secretary Zinke’s recommendations to President Donald Trump would allow commercial fishing managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) in the recently designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. He also  recommended revising the boundaries or allowing commercial fishing under the MSA in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. NCFC members in the Pacific hope that the White House will extend these recommendations to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and appreciate the open and transparent process by which Secretary Zinke reviewed these designations.

Marine monument expansions and designations have been widely criticized by commercial fishing interests as well as by the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils, which in a May 16 letter told Secretary Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that marine monument designations “have disrupted the ability of the Councils to manage fisheries throughout their range.” Fishing industry members believe these monuments were created with insufficient local input from stakeholders affected by the designations, and fishing communities felt largely ignored by previous administrations.

“The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was designated after behind-closed-door campaigns led by large, multinational, environmental lobbying firms, despite vocal opposition from local and federal officials, fisheries managers, and the fishing industry,” said Eric Reid, general manager of Seafreeze Shoreside in Narragansett, R.I., who has been critical of the Obama Administration’s process in designating the monument. “But the reported recommendations from the Interior Department make us hopeful that we can recover the areas we have fished sustainably for decades. We are grateful that the voices of fishermen and shore side businesses have finally been heard,” Mr. Reid concluded.

“There seems to be a huge misconception that there are limitless areas where displaced fishermen can go,” said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. “Basically with the stroke of a pen, President Obama put fishermen and their crews out of work and harmed all the shore-side businesses that support the fishing industry.”

“The fisheries management process under the existing Magnuson Act is far from perfect, but its great strength is that it has afforded ample opportunities for all stakeholders to study and comment on policy decisions, and for peer review of the scientific basis for those decisions,” stated Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s top-grossing commercial fishing port. In March, Mayor Mitchell submitted testimony to Congress expressing concern over marine monuments. “The marine monument designation process may have been well intended, but it has simply lacked a comparable level of industry input, scientific rigor, and deliberation. That is why I think hitting the reset button ought to be welcomed no matter where one stands in the current fisheries debates, because the end result will be better policy and better outcomes,” Mayor Mitchell concluded.

Fishermen in the Pacific are also supportive of the Interior Department’s review, but remain concerned about the effects of the Papahānaumokuākea Monument, which was omitted from the version of the recommendations being reported. “We are appreciative of Secretary Zinke’s review, and his reported recommendations to support commercial fishing in the Pacific Remote Islands Monument,” said Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association. Hawaii’s longline fishing fleet supplies a large portion of the fresh tuna and other fish consumed in Hawaii. “However, we hope that the White House will extend these recommendations to the Papahānaumokuākea Monument, where President Obama closed an area nearly the size of Alaska without a substantive public process. The longline fleet caught about 2 million pounds of fish annually from the expanded area before it was closed to our American fishermen. That was a high price to pay for a presidential legacy,” Mr. Martin continued.

The recommended changes come after an extensive and open public comment period in which the Interior Department solicited opinions from scientists, environmentalists, industry stakeholders, and members of the public. As part of the Interior Department’s review process, Secretary Zinke engaged with communities around the country affected by monument designations. This included a meeting with local fishermen in Boston who explained how the designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument has negatively impacted their livelihoods.

Critics of the monument designation include the regional fishery management councils; numerous fishing groups on the East Coast; and mayors from fishing communities on both coasts.

Additionally, fishery managers in Hawaii have been critical of expansions of both the Papahānaumokuākea Monument and the Pacific Remote Islands Monument. In an April 26 letter to Secretary Zinke, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council stated that marine monuments around Hawaii “impose a disproportionate burden on our fishermen and indigenous communities,” and noted that they have closed regulated domestic commercial fishing in 51 percent of the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the region.

Florida charter fishermen applauded the review, and a return to the process of established law that guides fishery management. “Destin, Florida was founded by commercial fishermen before the turn of the 20th century, and continues to be a major port for commercial and charter fishing fleets,” said Captain Gary Jarvis, president of the Destin Charter Boat Association. “To our fishing community, it’s extremely important to address closures of historical fishing grounds through the Magnuson-Stevens mandated regional council process.”

Curiously, although President Obama’s September 2016 monument designation prohibited sustainable low-impact commercial fishing, it allowed other extractive activities including recreational fishing, and even far more destructive activities such as the digging of trenches for international communications cables.

NCFC members supporting the Interior Department’s reported recommendations include:

  • Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association
  • Destin Charter Boat Association
  • Fisheries Survival Fund
  • Garden State Seafood Association
  • Hawaii Longline Association
  • Long Island Commercial Fishing Association
  • North Carolina Fisheries Association
  • Seafreeze Shoreside
  • Southeastern Fisheries Association
  • Western Fishboat Owners Association
  • West Coast Seafood Processors Association

Learn more about the National Coalition for Fishing Communities here.

 

CFA Responds to Approval of H.R. 3094 Today in the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee

June 15, 2016 — The following was released by the Charter Fisherman’s Association:

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Earlier today the House Natural Resources committee in Congress approved H.R. 3094 by Rep. Garret Graves (R-La) to transfer management of the private, charter for-hire and commercial components of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fisheries away from the federal government to a newly created five-person committee made up of the five Gulf state fishery directors. The CFA has been adamantly opposed to this concept since its inception last year and one of our members (Captain Gary Jarvis) testified against the bill in a hearing on the bill in October. The following statements are in reaction to this morning’s vote.

“As federally permitted charter captains, we are the access point for millions of Americans who want to go offshore but don’t own a big boat,” said Captain Shane Cantrell from Galveston, TX. “We have worked constructively with NOAA to develop management solutions for our industry to improve accountability, increase sustainability and deliver flexibility for our customers and most of the Gulf States have opposed us every step of the way. Congress should be advised that transferring authority over this fishery will result in the Gulf of Mexico being reserved for only wealthy boat owners in short order.”

“I am disappointed to see this dangerous piece of legislation move out of the Natural Resources committee because our industry has been near unanimous in saying that we want to stay under federal management. The private recreational system is what is broken and those anglers absolutely deserve relief, but you don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. If the states want to manage millions of private anglers that is fine, but there are 1,200 of us and we operate exclusively in federal waters and we don’t want any part of that.” ~ Capt. Gary Jarvis from Destin, FL.

“In addition to turning their backs on years of progress in rebuilding this fishery, they are passing down a huge unfunded mandate to my home state of Louisiana. After the multi-billion dollar mess that the previous Governor left us, I don’t know how they expect us to pay for the management of another 191 miles offshore!”  ~ Capt. Steve Tomeny from Fourchon, LA. 

Projections for red snapper season are in

April 14, 2016 — DESTIN, Fla. — Although the end date is still uncertain, the start of red snapper season is June 1.

“But good news is on the way,” said Capt. Gary Jarvis of the Back Down2 and president of the Destin Charter Boat Association.

Jarvis is anticipating a 50 day season for the charter for-hire boats in federal waters.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council met last week in Texas to discuss catch limits, requirements and allocations of various fisheries – among them red snapper.

In recent years the red snapper fishery, which was deemed overfished by regulators, has started to rebound and this year anglers may get a few more days.

See the full story at Northwest Florida Daily News

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