New Jersey Archives - Page 102 of 106

Case for Shad & Herring Rules Circles the Drain

January 7, 2015 — (CN) – The D.C. Circuit cut the line on a case accusing the government of failing to protect ocean fish that feed New York and New Jersey eagles and striped bass.

Led by the New Jersey-based Anglers Conservation Network and its founder, Capt. Paul Eidman, the case centers on four dwindling stocks of fish – alewife, blueback herring, American shad and hickory shad – that school in the Atlantic Ocean from New York to North Carolina.

As those fish migrate up rivers during their annual spawning in the spring, they are prey for bald eagles, ospreys and other birds, like cormorants and gulls, as well as for other fish at sea and for striped bass making their annual spawning run into many of the same rivers.

The case at hand contends that there are even fewer river herrings and shads available for bigger species on the food chain, thanks to a 2013 inaction by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, one of eight established by the 1976 Fishery Conservation Act, or Magnuson-Stevens Act.

That year, the council was considering adopting Amendment 15 to add river herring and shad to the 1983 Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan.

Rather than approving the amendment, however, the council voted 10-9 to table the issue for three years while a working group studied the fish further.

The plaintiffs say this decision violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act, but U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler dismissed the complaint on Sept. 30, 2014.

A three-judge panel with the D.C. Circuit affirmed Tuesday.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

MASSACHUSETTS: Fisheries Center Might Move Out Of Woods Hole

December 23, 2015 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is exploring the possibility of relocating the Northeast Fisheries Science Center to a new facility outside of Woods Hole.

NOAA’s chief of research communications Teri Frady said Monday that the United States Department of Commerce, which oversees the NEFSC, has been evaluating the feasibility of the existing facility for about a year. She said a report will be completed by spring 2016 outlining options for the facility, which could include moving operations to a new building outside of Woods Hole.

The fisheries center, which operates as a research division of NOAA Fisheries, was founded by Spencer Fullerton Baird upon his appointment by President Ulysses S. Grant as the country’s first fisheries commissioner in 1871. The original facility was built on Water Street in 1885. After the facility was destroyed during Hurricane Carol, the current building was constructed in the same location in 1961.

Today, the Woods Hole branch manages operations of four other fisheries laboratories in the northeast, including those in Sandy Hook, New Jersey; Milford, Connecticut; Narragansett, Rhode Island; and Orono, Maine.

Ms. Frady said NOAA sees relocating as a way of possibly bringing all the fisheries operations together. In addition to its headquarters on Water Street, the fisheries houses its observer program on Carlson Lane, while its social sciences department operates out of leased space in the Falmouth Technology Park. The organization also operates a warehouse in Pocasset.

Read the full story at The Falmouth Enterprise

Garden State Seafood Association Annual Holiday Party & Workshop, Dec 11, Tuckerton, NJ

December 3, 2015 — The following was released by the Garden State Seafood Association:

It’s that time of year again for the GSSA to get festive!

The GSSA is preparing for our annual Holiday Party that will take place on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11TH at the Tuckerton Seaport

THE DETAILS:

Garden State Seafood Association Annual Holiday Party

Tuckerton Seaport

120 West Main Street, Tuckerton

Visitor Center / Ground Floor

December 11, 2015 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Tickets $60.00 per person available at the event

Appetizer Dinner

Silent Auction

PLEASE BRING NEW UNWRAPPED TOYS FOR TOYS FOR TOTS

The GSSA Board & Staff will all be in attendance, as well as some of our local elected officials!

Be sure to save the date

For more details contact Greg DiDomenico at 609-675-0202

And Heather Larson at 940-642-2806

View a PDF of the GSSA Holiday Party event

View a PDF of the GSSA Fisheries Workshop

GSSA Executive Director Presses House Committee on MSA Reform

December 10, 2015 — The following was released by the Garden State Seafood Association:

Garden State Seafood Association Executive Director Greg DiDomenico testified on Monday, December 7th in Riverhead, New York before a field hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee. In his testimony, Mr. DiDomenico outlined several major regulatory threats to the seafood industry, including: the strict interpretation of the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) amendments, the unfair use of the Antiquities Act and other measures to curtail commercial fishing access, and the setting of arbitrary harvest levels for commercial fishing through allocation decisions.

Mr. DiDomenico testified that the implementation of the MSA has often led to overly-precautious management that leads to too-conservative, risk-averse allocations that annually cost the commercial fishing industry millions in lost revenue. Specifically, he noted that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (MAFMC) risk policy has led to overly restrictive quotas. These precautionary measures “effectively prevent the U.S. fishing industry from achieving optimum yield,” a primary objective of the MSA.

Mr. DiDomenico praised the Committee for their hard work on the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and pushed for reform of the MSA’s National Standard Guidelines. The GSSA supports changes to the MSA, including consideration of “relevant economic, social, or ecological factors” in management decisions, as well as additional flexibility in stock rebuilding.

Mr. DiDomenico also criticized the use of the Antiquities Act and other regulatory measures to create marine protected areas outside of the process established by MSA, stating that this top-down approach directly harms the fishing industry and denies them a voice in the process.

“The Antiquities Act provides no basis for learned discourse, no scientific, economic analysis…[its] use to create Marine National Monuments is a true top-down, dictatorial approach which is frequently championed by big-bucks environmental groups and in which the public – including the fishing community that is directly affected – has no voice,” he said.

Mr. DiDomenico advised a collaborative MSA-driven process to provide “clear, justifiable science-based conservation benefits” in the MSA framework, which provides a public process to evaluate and decide on protected areas. He recommended processes be based on the example of the Deep Sea Corals Amendment passed this year by the MAFMC, which has been widely praised as a landmark conservation measure and a model for habitat management. He urged the Committee to consider two bills which would prohibit the establishment of Marine National Monuments (H.R. 330 and H.R. 332) before certain steps are taken to obtain proper approval from affected states.

Concluding his testimony, Mr. DiDomenico brought to light troubling resource allocation issues that undermine the MSA, most importantly the “Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act” (H.R. 3094) stating that the bill as proposed will harm commercial and consumer access to fish species like red snapper. Mr. DiDomenico urged the Committee to utilize substantive, common-sense reauthorization efforts to strike a balance between sustainability and profitability for the commercial fishing industry, and encouraged immediate oversight as soon as feasible.

Read the full testimony here

View more photos of the hearing here

NEW JERSEY: Black sea bass: We’ll make more

December 8, 2015 — New Jersey is very interested in a new federal grant program designed to create more black sea bass habitat and also to answer scientific questions about what this particular fish needs to thrive in mid-Atlantic waters.

Black sea bass are both a popular fish for anglers in New Jersey and an important catch for commercial fishermen. For a type of fish that relies on underwater structure, which ran range from a shipwreck to a natural rocky outcrop, a key question is whether building artificial reefs creates new black sea bass or simply concentrates ones already in the ocean.

“That would be a great question to ask. We’d absolutely be interested in that,” said Lisa Havel, a coordinator for the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership or ACFHP.

The partnership, through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, is offering grants of up to $225,000 for projects that restore black sea bass habitat or qualify as research projects to learn more about the habitat needs of a fairly strange fish species, known for, among other things, the ability to change sexes (hermaphrodite transition) as needed.

The restoration or research proposals are for a region that runs from Long Island Sound to Cape Hatteras. While black sea bass range from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, there is a distinct population in the Mid-Atlantic region the study wants to address.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

Marine Resource Education Program to Kick Off 2016 Series in Norfolk, Va.

December 9, 2015 — The following was released by the Marine Resource Education Program:

The 2016 series for the Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) kicks off in Norfolk, VA next month. “If you are someone with an investment in healthy fisheries,” says John Williamson, F/V Sea keeper, National Coalition of Fishing Communities member, and co-founder of MREP, “then the Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) is for you.”

Organized and delivered by members of the fishing community, in partnership with NMFS, the Fishery Management Councils, ASMFC and research institutions, MREP brings together fishermen, scientists, managers, and other marine resource professionals to share professional expertise in a neutral setting. The curriculum offers insights into fishery science and stock assessments, delivered in plain English; participants learn the when, where and how to effectively engage in the fishery management process.

2016 workshop schedule:

MREP Fishery Science 100 – January 5-7 – Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Norfolk, VA
MREP Fishery Management 100 – February 23-25 – Norfolk Waterside Marriott, Norfolk, VA
MREP Ecosystems 200 (NEW) – March 15-16 – Ocean Place Resort, Long Branch, NJ
MREP for Recreational Fisheries (NEW) – January 19-21 – Wyndham Peabody Court, Baltimore, MD

For more information and to submit an online application: www.gmri.org/MREP-NEapply

To submit an application by phone, call Patty Collins, Gulf of Maine Research Institute (207) 228-1625.

Lodging, meals and travel expenses are covered for MREP participants. Qualifying commercial fishermen are eligible for an additional $125/day reimbursement for vessel tie-up costs.

Seating is limited, apply today.

For more information about MREP curriculum and goals please contact:

John Williamson (207) 939-7055 john@seakeeper.net

Mary Beth Tooley (207) 837-3537 mbtooley@live.com

Alexa Dayton (207) 228-1645 adayton@gmri.org

“As good as the science is it could be better. Fishermen’s information is key to improving stock assessments.” – MREP participant

“When you know what’s going on, you can make better decisions for the future.” – MREP participant

NEW JERSEY: Fish cops issue striped bass warning

December 2, 2015 — Federal fishing officials are warning anglers and commercial fishermen it is illegal to catch striped bass in waters outside three miles.

The ban on catching stripers is in an area called the “Exclusive Economic Zone,” or EEZ, which runs from 3 to 200 miles offshore and is under federal jurisdiction. The ban, which dates back to 1990, is not in place in state waters that are inside three miles.

In recent years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard and state agencies to enforce the ban. NOAA Fisheries Special Agent Jeffrey Ray said in New Jersey the agency will be working with the N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife to enforce the ban.

The effort runs from November through February and could include dockside or at-sea inspections as well as aerial reconnaissance.

“There’s a lot of striped bass activity and we want to make sure the information is out there that people cannot catch striped bass in the EEZ. There will be patrols in the EEZ,” said Ray.

In the past the efforts have included putting undercover agents posing as patrons on party and charter boats to make sure they stay within three miles. There have been dozens of cases brought against captains that fished in the EEZ, including one against a charter boat operator based in Avalon several years ago.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

Bills could make striped bass New Jersey’s state fish

November 19, 2015 — There is a movement to have striped bass designated as the official saltwater fish of the state of New Jersey. The two bills that could make that a reality are sitting in the both state houses waiting on a vote.

The Assembly bill (A4563) was introduced in June and the companion Senate bill (S3192) followed in October. Fishermen are now urging legislatures to pass them.

“There are several reasons do it,” said Ray Dziadul, the conservation officer for the Raritan Bay Anglers Club. “It is the premier fish that fishermen fish for. It generates a lot of money for our economy.”

Just as important to Dziadul said is the benefit it would provide for striped bass, which have been in a recent population dive according to fishery managers.

Read the full story from the Asbury Park Press

NEW JERSEY: Garden State Seafood Association Fisheries Workshop and Holiday Party

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — November 18, 2015 — The Garden State Seafood Association will host a Fisheries Workshop on December 11, 2015 at the Jacques Cousteau Coastal Center in Tuckerton, NJ. The GSSA will also host its annual Holiday Party later in the evening at the Tuckerton Seaport. The GSSA Board and Staff will all be in attendance, as well as local officials. For more details contact Greg DiDomenico at 609-675-0202 and Heather Larson at 940-642-2806.

View a PDF of the Fisheries Workshop Draft Agenda

View a PDF of the Holiday Party invite

New nationwide coalition seeking to unify commercial fishing interests

November 16, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group with strong New Bedford ties is creating a national coalition of commercial fishing interests to boost outreach and communication for the industry, which supporters claim often can be overmatched by unified environmental groups that promote competing interests.

“America’s fishing communities and seafood industry have been maligned by special interest groups working in collusion, who have slandered hard-working Americans with outrageous claims and misrepresentations,” Bob Vanasse, a New Bedford native and executive director of Saving Seafood, said in a Monday news release. “We’re aiming to bring the entire supply chain of fishermen, shoreside businesses, processors, markets and restaurants together to join this effort to move the national conversation in a positive direction.”

The Saving Seafood release said the nonprofit, formed in 2009, is conducting a membership drive for its new National Coalition of Fishing Communities (NCFC). Vanasse said the coalition, so far, has about 60 members across the country, including New Bedford’s Harbor Development Commission.

The NCFC will formally launch in Washington in January, during the next U.S. Conference of Mayors event. Vanasse said New Bedford Mayor Mitchell will be chairman of the coalition’s mayors’ group, reaching out to municipal leaders in Seattle, Honolulu, Atlantic City and other cities with strong commercial fishing ties. Coalition members already include commercial fishing associations from Hawaii, Oregon, North Carolina, New Jersey and more.

“I believe there needs to be a stronger voice for fishing communities in the halls of Congress,” Mitchell said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard -Times