New Jersey Archives - Page 102 of 106

Congressman Frank Pallone Calls for Less Restrictive Policies for Summer Flounder and Sea Bass

January 25, 2016 – The following was released by the office of Congressman Frank Pallone:

LONG BRANCH, NJ – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to Kirby Rootes-Murdy, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, regarding the Commission’s Draft Addendum XXVII to the Summer Flounder, Scup and Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan. In the letter, Pallone called for fair and less restrictive policies relating to two important fisheries in New Jersey: summer flounder and sea bass.

“My district has thousands of private anglers and attracts individual anglers from all over the nation. These anglers support local small businesses and drive the coastal economy of my home state,” Pallone wrote in the letter. “It is critical for New Jersey to receive fair treatment in the development of restrictions placed on key recreational species.”

Regarding summer flounder, Pallone requested that the Commission enable New Jersey to become its own region and allow anglers to have a more equitable size limit within the Delaware Bay area. With respect to sea bass, he expressed his support for a less restrictive quota than the proposed 23% reduction included in the draft addendum for recreational harvest. He also once again called for more reliable data collection to ensure that recreational anglers in New Jersey and along the Atlantic Coast have fair quotas based on sound science.

Read the full text of the letter here.

NEW JERSEY: Anglers, you have the floor

January 21, 2016 — North Jersey anglers are a passionate bunch.

During the course of a year, I’m always getting questions about why certain things are done regarding everything from regulations to stocking. Folks aren’t shy about sharing what they think, especially when they have thoughts about what could be done better.

And while I enjoy listening, there’s a much better sounding board available. The best part is that this venue gives you a chance to really make a difference.

The state Division of Fish and Wildlife will be hosting another public forum to discuss freshwater fisheries research, management and recreational angling at 10 a.m. Jan. 30 at the Hackettstown State Fish Hatchery in Warren County.

These forums are aimed at improving communication with the angling public and to solicit public input in shaping freshwater fisheries in the future. These events are a perfect opportunity for all freshwater anglers to learn about the state’s existing programs and to share their views and recommendations.

This isn’t just a show. The goal is to make fishing in New Jersey the best it can be, and the people in charge are open to all ideas.

Read the full story at NewJersey.com

NEW JERSEY: Fluke fortunes may rise on Delaware Bay

January 7, 2016 — STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Southern New Jersey anglers gave hearty support this week to a plan that would boost fluke fishing in the Delaware Bay.

A crowd of about 50 anglers showed up at the Thursday night meeting here at the municipal building on East Bay Avenue to give opinions on 2016 regulations for black sea bass, scup and fluke, which is also called summer flounder.

The most important question of the night was whether to support Option 2B of the fluke plan that would allow the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay to compete with Delaware. This support now goes to the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council when it makes decisions on 2016 fluke regulations in March.

The 2015 regulations for the New Jersey side of the bay included a minimum fish size of 18 inches, five fish per day, and a 128-day season.

In Delaware, Maryland and Virginia anglers were allowed a 16-inch fish, four fish a day and enjoyed a 365-day season. Option 2B would allow the New Jersey side to have a 17-inch fish, four fish a day and the 128-day season. It’s not equal to Delaware, but it is closer to parity.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

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