Saving Seafood

ALABAMA: Orange Beach blasts red snapper restrictions: ‘Detrimental to our economic interest’

May 10, 2017 — The Orange Beach City Council endorsed a plea to federal officials on Tuesday for an immediate lengthening of the 2017 red snapper season that’s presently capped at a shortest-ever three days.

The council’s vote took place during a special meeting and after two city leaders — City Councilman Jeff Boyd and Mayor Tony Kennon – criticized the federal involvement in limiting a recreational activity that they claim is responsible for “hundreds of millions of dollars” in annual economic activity in coastal Alabama.

“This is detrimental to our economic interest and well-being of our citizens,” said Kennon.

Added Boyd: “Guests are canceling reservations, people are not purchasing boats, not buying second homes … they see no hope in the future of Gulf of Mexico fishing.”

Read the full story at AL.com

NMFS OKs new electronic fisheries monitoring system

May 10, 2017 — The Pacific Fishery Management Council on April 27 recommended new regulations governing the use of electronic equipment to monitor at-sea discards of target, non-target and prohibited fish for certain West Coast groundfish fisheries. If approved by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), this will mark the culmination of a four-year process to develop and implement regulations for electronic monitoring system use in these fisheries.

“For many fishing operations, electronic monitoring will provide a more cost-effective way to meet 100 percent monitoring requirements. This will allow fishermen the flexibility to choose the monitoring method that makes the most sense for them while maintaining full accountability,” Council Member Dorothy Lowman said in a press release.

Under the council’s catch share program, every vessel must carry a human observer to help monitor catch that is allocated to each vessel owner, including discards that happen at sea. Each owner has a share of the total catch allocation and the program requires that each vessel have “quota pounds” to cover its catch of nearly all groundfish species. The catch share program relies on at-sea monitoring to ensure that discards are accurately identified with an estimated weight so that vessel quotas are properly tracked.

However, fishermen must pay as much as $500 per day for an observer, and must schedule deployment of an observer when a vessel is ready to fish. The electronic monitoring program is expected to increase flexibility while reducing operating costs for fishermen.

An electronic monitoring system collects video images of fishing activity with cameras, uses gear sensors to trigger recording and monitor use, and includes a Global Positioning System to collect location data. It then stores this information on a computer hard drive for review at a later date at a mainland facility, where a person reviews the video to monitor the fishing activity. Under the West Coast electronic monitoring program, the video images will be used to verify the species and amount of discarded fish that is recorded in a fisherman’s logbook.

Read the full story at The Daily Astorian

SEAN HORGAN: Fate of Raphael’s permits being debated

May 8, 2017 — As we have mentioned several times in the past, they don’t seem to brook a whole lot of foolishness up in Maine, particularly when it comes to cheating in the commercial fishing business.

So, it wasn’t really surprising when the Gloucester Daily Times received —  ran — a letter last week from Maggie Raymond, the highly respected executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine, with her take on what should happen to convicted scammer Carlos Rafael’s surrendered groundfishing permits.

“For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue,” Raymond wrote. “While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. Rafael’s violations set back groundfish rebuilding requirements, and forced others to compete with his illegal activity on the fishing grounds and in the market.”

But Raymond wasn’t done there. She followed by offering a solution for the distribution of Rafael’s still-to-be-decided permit forfeitures. It’s one sure to make New Bedford Mayor Jon F. Mitchell choke on his Wheaties.

“Rafael’s history is so egregious that the National Marine Fisheries Service is obliged to cancel all his groundfish permits and fishing privileges,” she wrote. “Existing regulations describe a process for redistributing the fishing privileges from cancelled permits to all other permit holders in the fishery — and this is precisely the process that should be followed in this case.”

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Times

MAGGIE RAYMOND: ‘Codfather’ should lose all his permits

May 3, 2017 — Carlos Rafael’s environmental crime spree, spanning two decades, will finally come to an end. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of falsifying fish catch reports, conspiracy and tax evasion. He will serve at least four years in jail and will forfeit millions of dollars in fishing assets. For law abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue.

While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Carlos Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. His violations set back groundfish rebuilding requirements, and forced others to compete with his illegal activity on the fishing grounds and in the market. He has harmed the entire groundfish industry, and fishermen from Maine to New York deserve to be compensated.

Read the full letter at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Zinke Signs Offshore Energy Orders, Protesters March

May 2, 2017 — U.S. Secretary of the Department of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed two secretarial orders relating to offshore energy development at this week’s Offshore Technology Conference (#OTC2017) in Houston.

The first order, Secretarial Order 3550, implements President Donald Trump’s Executive Order signed last Friday and directs the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to develop a new five-year plan for oil and gas exploration in offshore waters. The order calls for full consideration to be given to leasing the OCS offshore Alaska, mid- and south-Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico. It also directs BOEM to work with the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service to expedite authorization requests for seismic surveys, particularly for new or resubmitted permitting applications in the Atlantic to understand the extent of America’s energy potential.

The Secretary’s order directs prompt completion of the Notice to Lessees No. 2016-N01 dated September 12, 2016 and ceases all activities to promulgate the proposed “Offshore Air Quality Control, Reporting, and Compliance Rule.” It also directs BOEM and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to review a host of other rules and report progress within 21 days.

The second, Secretarial Order 3551, establishes a new position – Counselor to the Secretary for Energy Policy – to coordinate the Interior Department’s energy portfolio that spans nine of the Department’s ten bureaus.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Fishery Management Councils to Meet May 15-18 in Gloucester

May 2, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council: 

Leadership teams from the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils will be gathering in Gloucester, MA for the spring 2017 Council Coordination Committee (CCC) meeting.

The CCC is comprised of the chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, Western Pacific, and North Pacific Fishery Management Councils. CCC chairmanship rotates annually among the eight Councils.

The committee meets twice each year to discuss issues relevant to all fishery management councils. The National Marine Fisheries Service – often called NOAA Fisheries – annually hosts the first meeting, which for 2017 was held Feb. 28-March 1 in Arlington, VA. The New England Council is serving as this year’s CCC chair and will be hosting the May 15-18 spring meeting at the Beauport Hotel on the Gloucester Harbor waterfront. The public is welcome to attend.

Principal agenda items will be discussed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, May 16-18, beginning at 8:30 a.m. each day. The eight Councils will take part in a Round Robin on Tuesday morning. Council deputy directors will meet concurrently and report to the full CCC on Thursday, May 18. Copies of the agenda will be available shortly. Hotel information can be found at http://www.beauporthotel.com.

Read the full release here

Associated Fisheries of Maine Says Rafael’s Permits Must Go Back into Quota Pool

May 2, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — In a statement today, Maggie Raymond, Executive Director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine, said that NMFS only legal option with Carlos Rafael’s permits is to cancel the permits and return them to the quota share pool.

Raymond says “Carlos Rafael’s environmental crime spree, spanning two decades, will finally come to an end. Rafael pled guilty to federal charges of falsifying fish catch reports, conspiracy and tax evasion. He will serve at least four years in jail and will forfeit millions of dollars in fishing assets.  For law-abiding fishermen, this day is long overdue.”

“While other fishermen were complying with steep reductions in fishing quotas, Rafael decided those rules didn’t apply to him. Rafael’s violations set back groundfish rebuilding requirement and forced others to compete with his illegal activity on the fishing grounds and in the market. Rafael has harmed the entire groundfish industry, and fishermen from Maine to New York deserve to be compensated.”

“Rafael’s history is so egregious that the National Marine Fisheries Service is obliged to cancel all his groundfish permits and fishing privileges. Existing regulations describe a process for re-distributing the fishing privileges from cancelled permits to all other permit holders in the fishery – and this is precisely the process that should be followed in this case.”

The current New England groundfish management plan that established industry sectors and allocated quota based on fishing histories from 1996 to 2006 provides that if a permit is canceled, NMFS must recalculate the quota shares of all remaining fishing permits within that category, as the allocations were made based on a certain level of eligible fishing history.

The Associated Fisheries of Maine is saying that this system should be followed in Rafael’s case, meaning the catch share confiscated from Rafael due to illegal activity would be then redistributed among all remaining valid permit holders.

This is the option that concerns New Bedford because it would mean a re-distribution of some groundfish quota rights to other ports.  However, Raymond argues that all New England fishermen who did abide bycatch limit rules were adversely affected by Rafael’s illegal fishing and that they deserve to be compensated.

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

West Coast Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Pending NMFS’ Approval

May 1, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Pacific Fishery Management Council has recommended regulations governing the use of electronic equipment to monitor at-sea discards of target, non-target and prohibited fish for certain West Coast groundfish fisheries. If approved by National Marine Fisheries Service, this will mark the culmination of a four-year process to develop and implement regulations for electronic monitoring system use in West Coast groundfish fisheries.

“For many fishing operations, electronic monitoring will provide a more cost-effective way to meet 100 percent monitoring requirements,” Council Member Dorothy Lowman said in a press release. “This will allow fishermen the flexibility to choose the monitoring method that makes the most sense for them while maintaining full accountability.”

Under the West Coast catch share program, every vessel must carry a human observer to help monitor catch that is allocated to each vessel owner, including discards that happen at sea. Each owner has a share of the total catch allocation and the program requires that each vessel have quota to cover its catch of nearly all groundfish species. The catch share program relies on at-sea monitoring to ensure that discards are accurately identified with an estimated weight so that vessel quotas are properly tracked.

However, fishermen must pay as much as $500 per day for an observer and must schedule deployment of an observer when a vessel is ready to fish. The electronic monitoring program is expected to increase flexibility while reducing operating costs for fishermen.

An electronic monitoring system collects video images of fishing activity with cameras, uses gear sensors to trigger recording and monitor use, and includes a global positioning system to collect location data. It stores the information on a computer hard drive for review at a later date at a mainland facility, where a person reviews the video to monitor the fishing activity. Under the West Coast electronic monitoring program, the video images will be used to verify the species and amount of discarded fish that is recorded in a fisherman’s logbook. Observers may still be deployed on vessels to collect scientific data such as fish length measurements, interactions with protected species such as marine mammals and seabirds, and other data to support fisheries management.

The use of electronic monitoring systems would be voluntary and could apply to the midwater trawl fishery for whiting, the midwater rockfish trawl fishery, the bottom trawl fishery, and the fixed gear fishery.

The Council’s decisions were informed by several years of collaborative work with the seafood industry, managers and others to test electronic monitoring systems using exempted fishing permits. An exempted fishing permit allows exemptions from some regulations in order to study the effectiveness, bycatch rate, or other aspects of experimental fishing methods.

“I want to thank the industry and other stakeholders, NMFS West Coast Region, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for their help in developing and testing this program, and especially NMFS headquarters for their policy and financial support for establishing the first large scale electronic monitoring regulatory program for U.S. fisheries,” Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy said in a statement.

Some electronic monitoring proponents are urging the expansion of the system beyond groundfish, to the highly migratory species sector, such as in the swordfish deep-set buoy gear proposed EFP. On a national scale, NMFS is exploring the use of EM in New England groundfish and herring/mackerel fisheries, Alaska small boat fixed gear fisheries and some party and charter boat fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico areas.

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

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford among crowd staking claim to Carlos Rafael’s permits

May 1, 2017 — Before Carlos Rafael uttered the word “guilty” last month, the judge made the New Bedford fishing mogul aware of the possibility of forfeiting his assets, which means permits, too.

About two months remain before Rafael’s sentencing date, but cities and states have started to acknowledge that possibility as well.

 “The goal for me is to get ahead of the ball to make partnerships with people that have the same interests, which is keeping the licenses local,” Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro said.

Rebeiro, along with Council President Joseph Lopes and Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson introduced a written motion Thursday night “requesting that the Committee on Internal Affairs meet with Attorney General Maura Healey and NOAA to discuss how current owners and mariners operating in New Bedford have the first right of refusal to acquire licenses to be auctioned as result of the plea agreement in the case of The United States vs. Carlos Rafael …”

The case cited has yet to be completed despite Rafael’s plea agreement. Sentencing is scheduled for June 27.

On March 30 in U.S. District Court in Boston, Rafael pleaded guilty to 28 counts including falsifying fishing quotas, false labeling, conspiracy and tax evasion.

If Rafael had been convicted of false labeling, he could have been subjected to the forfeiture of all vessels and other equipment used in the offenses, the indictment said, which listed 13 boats.

However, during the Rafael’s plea agreement hearing, his lawyer William Kettlewell said, “We have reserved the right … to challenge the proportionality of the assets” that could potentially be seized.

Kettlewell didn’t return multiple requests for comment on Rafael’s permits.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Pacific Fishery Management Council Recommends Electronic Monitoring Program for Some West Coast Fisheries

April 28, 2017 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has recommended regulations governing the use of electronic equipment to monitor at-sea discards of target, non-target and prohibited fish for certain West Coast groundfish fisheries. If approved by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), this will mark the culmination of a four-year process to develop and implement regulations for electronic monitoring system use in West Coast groundfish fisheries.

Council Member Dorothy Lowman said, “For many fishing operations, electronic monitoring will provide a more cost-effective way to meet 100% monitoring requirements. This will allow fishermen the flexibility to choose the monitoring method that makes the most sense for them while maintaining full accountability.”

Under the Council’s catch share program, every vessel must carry a human observer to help monitor catch that is allocated to each vessel owner, including discards that happen at sea. Each owner has a share of the total catch allocation and the program requires that each vessel have “quota pounds” to cover its catch of nearly all groundfish species. The catch share program relies on at-sea monitoring to ensure that discards are accurately identified with an estimated weight so that vessel quotas are properly tracked. However, fishermen must pay as much as $500 per day for an observer, and must schedule deployment of an observer when a vessel is ready to fish. The electronic monitoring program is expected to increase flexibility while reducing operating costs for fishermen.

An electronic monitoring system collects video images of fishing activity with cameras, uses gear sensors to trigger recording and monitor use, and includes a Global Positioning System to collect location data. It then stores this information on a computer hard drive for review at a later date at a mainland facility, where a person reviews the video to monitor the fishing activity. Under the West Coast electronic monitoring program, the video images will be used to verify the species and amount of discarded fish that is recorded in a fisherman’s logbook. Observers may still be deployed on vessels to collect scientific data such as fish length measurements, interactions with protected species (marine mammals and seabirds), and other data to support fisheries management.

The use of electronic monitoring systems would be voluntary, and could apply to the midwater trawl fishery for whiting (sometimes called hake), the midwater trawl fishery for rockfish, the bottom trawl fishery, and the fixed gear fishery (which uses longlines with hooks and lines or pots).

The Council’s decisions were informed by several years of collaborative work with the fishing industry, managers, and others to test electronic monitoring systems using “exempted fishing permits.” An exempted fishing permit allows exemptions from some regulations in order to study the effectiveness, bycatch rate, or other aspects of experimental fishing methods.

“I want to thank the industry and other stakeholders, NMFS West Coast Region, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for their help in developing and testing this program, and especially NMFS headquarters for their policy and financial support for establishing the first large scale electronic monitoring regulatory program for U.S. fisheries,” said Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy.

The Council recommends management measures to NMFS for fisheries off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. It is one of eight regional fishery management councils managing fisheries in US. Federal waters (3-200 miles offshore). 

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