Saving Seafood

Rubio’s Florida Fisheries Improvement Act Gets Widespread Support From Different Sectors

August 9, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson are receiving widespread support on the Florida Fisheries Improvement Act, which was introduced last week.

Rubio had initially introduced the bill in 2014 to “begin outlining Florida’s priorities for the eventual reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act,” which was first passed in 1976. The Magnuson-Stevens Act was created to “prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, increase long-term economic and social benefits, and ensure a safe and sustainable supply of seafood.” The senator reintroduced the Florida Fisheries Improvement Act in 2015.

“Fishing remains an integral part of Florida’s history, economy and allure for residents and visitors alike,” Rubio said in a statement. “This bipartisan bill reflects the best ideas from Florida’s commercial, charter and recreational fishing communities, and would ensure federal laws reflect the realities of our unique Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic regions while continuing to promote research and conservation efforts. As Congress works towards a reauthorization of Magnuson-Stevens, I remain committed to ensuring Florida’s fisheries are well represented.”

The latest version of the bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act to “enhance, protect and sustain Florida’s fishery resources and the communities that rely on them.” Specifically, the legislation would force the U.S. secretary of commerce to make “fishery disaster designations within 90 days of receiving information from the state.” The bill would also “resolve inconsistencies between the Capital Construction Fund and Fisheries Finance Program,” among other things.

The bill is being supported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the American Sportfishing Association, the Southeastern Fisheries Association, the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholder’s Alliance, the Florida Keys Commercial Fisherman’s Association, Wild Ocean Seafood Market and the Billfish Foundation.

“We must be sure to address a suite of issues in the next MSA reauthorization and the Florida Fisheries Improvement Act is a helpful first step,” said Southeastern Fisheries Association executive director Robert Jones. “We look forward to working with Senator Rubio and his staff to provide balanced management in mixed-use fisheries and to resist changes in the law that might reduce commercial fishing access which is an important part of the food supply to Floridians and citizens all across this great country.”

Eric Brazer Jr., deputy director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, shared similar sentiments about the bill.

“The Florida Fisheries Improvement Act proposes a number of welcome improvements that will ensure a well balanced and more transparent Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, improvements to the stock assessment process, and more timely critical relief in response to fishery disasters,” said Brazer. “We look forward to working with the Senator to address some of the challenges we see that could trigger unintended consequences in our nation’s successful core system of annual catch limits and mandate perpetual and disruptive allocation debates in the region.”

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Seven Gulf Groups Endorse Chris Oliver for Asst. NOAA Administrator

April 27, 2017 — The Gulf Seafood Institute joined six other Gulf of Mexico seafood industry organizations in endorsing Texas-native turned North Pacific Fishery Management Council Executive Director Chris Oliver for the open position of Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries.

In a letter to Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Jr., the fleet of Gulf supporters called Oliver “a motivated and talented leader with a passion for bridging divides among diverse fishing interests. Those qualities would benefit the “notoriously complex” environment in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf-based groups to endorse Oliver include: 
Alabama Charter Fishermen’s Association (Orange Beach, AL), Charter Fishermen’s Association (Corpus Christi, TX), Clearwater Marine Association (Clearwater, FL), 
Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance (Galveston, TX), Louisiana Restaurant Association (Metairie, LA), 
Southeastern Fisheries Association (Tallahassee, FL) and The Gulf Seafood Institute, (New Orleans, LA).

“Federal fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico…involve a host of competing user groups, including our hardworking commercial harvesters, professional charter boat operators, a growing private angling community, and of course, a skyrocketing tourism and consumer economy dependent on the long-term health of them all,” the letter stated.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute

LOUISIANA: Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance fights NOAA over aqua farms

NEW ORLEANS, La. — February 25, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)  decision to approve industrial offshore fish farming last month in federally protected waters in the Gulf of Mexico is a strong concern in a “delicate and restricted estuarine system,” according to a leading non-profit fisherman’s organization.

Eric Brazer, deputy director at the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, told the Louisiana Record that there are strong concerns with constructing an aquaculture facility of unprecedented size.

“We’ve already seen the catastrophic damage of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in this sensitive ecosystem,” Brazer said. “It will likely take generations to understand the true ecological and economic cost, the latter of which is already on the order of billions of dollars.”

Finalized in January, the plan for the aqua farms will permit up to 20 industrial facilities, which will see approximately 64 million pounds of fish produced every year in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the same amount of wild fish currently caught in the Gulf of Mexico annually, meaning that farmed fish would double offerings and flood the market.

Brazer said that it will be future generations who suffer as a result.

“It is our commercial fishing and charter businesses in the Gulf of Mexico, and those of the next generation, that will be the ones carrying the entire burden of risk that comes out of this new aquaculture industry,” he said.

A suit was filed against NOAA by a number of Gulf fishing groups, including Brazer’s organization, in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Louisiana on Feb. 12. The suit alleges that NOAA has no authority to undertake the offshore fish farming, and that allowing aqua farms is a threat to native and endangered species, the ecosystem, and the fish we eat.

Read the full story from the Louisiana Record

Plan to Establish Aquaculture in Offshore Waters Challenged by U.S. Conservation/Environmental Groups

New Orleans, LA — February 17, 2016 — Center for Food Safety has filed a new lawsuit challenging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) new federal regulations permitting, for the first time, industrial aquaculture offshore in U.S. federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The plaintiff coalition CFS is representing in the case make up a broad array of significant interests in the Gulf of Mexico, including commercial, economic, recreational, and conservation purposes: the Gulf Fishermen’s Association; Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance; Charter Fishermen’s Association; Destin Charter Boat Association; Clearwater Marine Association; Alabama Charter Fishing Association; Fish for America, USA, Inc.; Florida Wildlife Federation; Gulf Restoration Network; Recirculating Farms Coalition; and Food & Water Watch.

“Offshore industrial aquaculture will cause irreparable harm to the Gulf ecosystems and coastal communities,” said George Kimbrell, senior attorney for CFS and counsel for the plaintiffs. “We need to better manage and protect our native fisheries, not adopt destructive industrial food practices that put them at risk. This lawsuit, brought by a range of concerned stakeholders, aims to halt these shortsighted plans.”

“Our intention in being a part of this lawsuit is to not only help protect our members and commercial fishermen but to also help protect the fishing and non fishing public who depend on the wild fish stocks from damage that may occur from a numerous amount of various dangers from farm raising fish in open ocean pens in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Glen Brooks of the Gulf Fishermen’s Association.

The questionable federal permitting scheme, more than ten years in the making, is NOAA’s attempt to do an end-run around the United States Congress: multiple national bills that would have allowed and regulated industrial aquaculture never made it into law in the past decade. In an effort to push offshore aquaculture forward without a new law permitting it, NOAA exceeded its authority to regulate fishing under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and now plans to permit offshore aquaculture as a “fishing” activity.

Read the full story from The Fishing Wire

Commercial and Charter Fishermen Send Opposition Letter to Congress on Eve of Red Snapper Hearing

October 22, 2015 — Later today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will hold a hearing on the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act (GSRSMA) – H.R. 3094. The bill, sponsored by Representative Garret Graves (R-LA) and originally introduced this summer, transfers management authority from the public and transparent federal process to the five Gulf states. This sets a dangerous precedent to unravel the success of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a landmark piece of legislation.

Read the full story at The Outdoor Wire

View a PDF of the Official Statement of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance

View a PDF of the testimony of Robert F. Zales from the National Association Charterboat Operators

Gulf fishing and seafood industry support Congressman Jolly’s Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act

September 21, 2015 — Read the full story from the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance:

Commercial fishermen, charter fishermen, and seafood restauranteurs came together to support a piece of legislation introduced by Congressman David Jolly (FL-13) that proposes to designate $10 million annually in federal grants for important data collection on red snapper and other reef fish species in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act (H.R.3521) will fund third-party data collection through grants managed by the Southeast Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full release from the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance

Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance Support for the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Act of 2015 (H.R. 774)

July 28, 2015 — The following was released by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance:

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance (Shareholders’ Alliance) and the commercial fishermen and women we represent are strong advocates for sustainable management of our marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico. We believe that healthy fish populations bring stable fishing businesses, profitable fishing communities, and a stable source of sustainable, domestically-harvested seafood that Americans consumer deserve to enjoy.

The Gulf’s red snapper population continues to rebound thanks to a sustainable commercial management plan. Quotas are increasing for everyone, red snapper are getting larger, and are being caught more easily by many fishermen from Texas to Florida. Unfortunately, this rebound brings with it a new threat – the poaching of red snapper and other reef fish my Mexican fishermen illegally fishing in US waters.

“Mexican nationals routinely and illegally enter U.S. sovereign waters off the coast of Texas and other Gulf states to steal the fish we’ve worked hard to rebuild,” said Buddy Guindon, Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, commercial fisherman and owner of Katie’s Seafood Market in Galveston, Texas. According to U.S. Coast Guard data more than 1,100 illegal fishing operations happen each year, harvesting three- quarters-of-a-million pounds of fish annually. Many of these illegally-caught fish end up back in US markets, impacting the bottom line of thousands of U.S. commercial fishing businesses. “It’s too bad that all the US Coast Guard can do right now after catching these fishermen is confiscate their boat and what they’ve caught, and send them back over the boarder to Mexico,” said Steve Tomeny, commercial and charter fisherman from Port Fourchon, Louisiana. “There they just find another boat and head back into US waters to continue poaching.”

Read the full release here