Saving Seafood

New Jersey Congressman Blasts Plan To Use Underwater Air Guns To Look For Oil In The Atlantic

June 9, 2017 — The Trump Administration wants to look for oil and natural gas under the Atlantic Ocean using seismic air guns, a proposal that doesn’t sit well with a South Jersey congressman.

The National Marine Fisheries Service wants permits to use those air guns from Delaware to Central Florida. Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo is dead set against the proposal.

“This was started by President Obama while he was in office with his Department of Commerce,” LoBiondo told KYW Newsradio. “It was a dangerous and dumb idea then and it continues to be a dangerous and dumb idea now.”

The oil and gas industry is pushing for these surveys, and five companies have applied through the Interior Department to get those permits.

LoBiondo’s reasons for opposing the plan are mostly economic.

“Why would we want to take a risk on endangering our tourist season, endangering our fishing, commercial and recreational? It is beyond me, and there’s no good reason why, if they had to do this, it couldn’t be done in February,” he added.

Read the full story at CBS Philly

NJBIZ: We must fight any plan to drill off the Jersey Shore

June 11, 2017 — Drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of New Jersey is a bad idea that never goes away.

Former President Barack Obama was for it — before, at the very end of his term, he signed an executive order reinstating a moratorium on offshore drilling from Massachusetts to Virginia. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order of his own to reopen the possibility of drilling off the East Coast. And then, last week, the Trump administration announced plans to issue five permits for offshore seismic testing from the Delaware-New Jersey border to Florida. The tests, which involve loud blasts that critics say harm whales and other sea creatures, are a first step to oil exploration.

(The National Marine Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on the proposal until July 7.)

And that’s only the recent history of this perennial issue. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, oil companies actually drilled exploratory wells off Atlantic City. They didn’t find significant enough deposits to continue the effort.

But here we are again.

New Jersey’s two U.S. senators and House members from coastal districts are opposing the latest push for offshore drilling, just as they have done every time this issue has bubbled to the surface, no matter their party. And the argument — a good one — against offshore drilling is always the same: Why endanger the state’s $44 billion-a-year tourism industry and the 500,000 jobs it supports? Half of that revenue is generated from counties along the coast. Offshore drilling could also threaten the state’s $7.9 billion-a-year fishing industry and the 50,000 jobs it creates.

The fear, of course, is that a spill off the state’s coast could blacken New Jersey beaches with oil. Furthermore, oil spills from drilling off states to the north and south of New Jersey could also end up drifting onto the state’s beaches.

Massive oil spills can cause catastrophic damage. The Gulf of Mexico still has not recovered, and may never recover, from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. Once pictures of oil-coated wildlife fade from the news, the spills are largely forgotten by the general public — but not in the region where the spills occur, where the damage is lasting.

Read the full editorial at NJBIZ

PRESIDENT: “FISHERMEN FOR TRUMP, I LIKE THAT”

June 12, 2017 — Regardless of your political persuasion, when’s the last time you remember the President of the United States talking about recreational fishing?

More specifically, as a New Jersey angler, do you recall if there was ever a moment that the Commander in Chief spoke directly to a group of New Jersey fishermen and boat builders from the Garden State? How about a personal “shout out” to Viking Yachts on the Bass River or the New Jersey based Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA)?

President Donald J. Trump came to New Jersey on Sunday to headline a fundraiser for the re-election of Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ 3rd District) at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.

While the event was closed to the media, cellphone video posted from the event shows the President speaking to assembled guests – who sources say helped raise more than $800,000 for the MacArthur campaign – and asking where his fishermen were seated as he reaches into his suit pocket and fishes out a Fishermen for Trump bumper sticker created during the 2016 election by the RFA.

“Fishermen for Trump, I like that,” the President said on Sunday at Bedminster while holding up the bumper sticker in front of the audience, flanked by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Rep. MacArthur. “My brother loved fishing, loved fishing, and he loved Viking by the way too,” President Trump said while tucking the bumper sticker back into his jacket pocket.

For Jim Donofrio, executive director of the RFA, the president’s personal interaction with saltwater anglers and fishing industry representatives should give plenty of reason for optimism.

“I’ve had such an extraordinary response from this White House, it’s just amazing,” Donofrio said on Sunday after leaving the Bedminster event. “Just two weeks ago we were down in Washington meeting with Earl Comstock, director of policy and strategic planning at the Commerce Department, and I feel we finally have an administration that’s focused on the socioeconomic impact of recreational fishing, from fluke and sea bass all the way out to offshore tuna and billfish.”

Read the full story at The Fisherman

In the Mid-Atlantic, nobody fishes more than New Jersey

June 9, 2017 — New Jersey is the leader in the Mid-Atlantic region when it comes to saltwater recreational fishing, according to the findings of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report.

No fishermen take more trips, buy more fishing tackle or work in the industry more than fishermen do in the Garden State.

The Mid-Atlantic States in the report include Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

The report, titled Fisheries Economics of the U.S., 2015, was released in May.

Based on the report’s 2015 numbers, New Jersey’s saltwater recreational fishing industry generated the most jobs 16,100 jobs, sales at $1.8 million and took the most fishing trips at 4.3 million.

New York was next with 7,800 jobs, $874 million in sales and 3.2 million trips.

Nationally, New Jersey’s saltwater recreational fishing industry ranked 3rd in jobs created behind Florida and California, 4th in sales behind Florida, California and Texas and 3rd in trips taken behind Florida and North Carolina.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

New Jersey has good reasons to resist federal rules on fluke

June 7, 2017 — If federal fisheries managers got fan mail from some flounder these days, would it side with their catch limits or New Jersey’s defiant alternate rules?

State and local officials and the N.J. congressional delegation pushed hard against this year’s federal plan to reduce the catch of summer flounder, also called fluke, by 30 percent. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission wanted to require fish to be an inch bigger to be kept — 19 inches in the ocean and nearby waters and 18 inches in Delaware Bay.

Since last year’s limits were already tough on fishers and marine businesses, the plan prompted an uproar. Rep. Frank LoBiondo said “unelected bureaucrats in Washington use questionable methodologies and outdated science to cut us off at the knees.” He and fellow Rep. Frank Pallone introduced bipartisan legislation to prevent the new flounder quotas from taking effect.

The state Department of Environmental Protection also went all in, telling the U.S. secretary of commerce the new rules would destroy recreational flounder fishing in the state, an important part of its summer tourism appeal. It asked for a return to 2016 rules and a new full assessment of the flounder stock.

Read the full editorial at Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey ruled out of compliance on summer flounder, moratorium possible

June 5, 2017 — If New Jersey doesn’t bring its summer flounder limits in line with federal regulations, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said it may result in a moratorium on fluke fishing.

When summer flounder season began May 25, New Jersey decided to keep in place an 18-inch limit it felt was a fair compromise to the 19-inch limit federal regulators were requiring.

The Marine Fisheries Commission did not agree and voted earlier that week not to accept New Jersey’s rules. On Thursday, the federal agency found New Jersey out of compliance with the mandatory management measures for summer flounder, scup and black sea bass.

The commission believes the 19-inch limit achieves conservation goals and helps to end overfishing of summer flounder. The state argues the larger minimum size would result in more dead fish. Other opponents of the federal rules, including many local anglers, say the rules directly target female spawning flounder.

“We’re disappointed the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission continues to myopically distance itself from sound fisheries management and advocates for a 19-inch size limit that kills more fish through dead discards than the actual harvesting of fluke,” N.J. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said. “This would result in an overall higher mortality rate and be more detrimental to the fish stock that we are sworn to protect.”

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

Feds threaten shutdown of N.J. fishery as showdown escalates

June 2, 2017 — Call it the Great Flounder War of 2017.

A simmering battle between New Jersey recreational fisherman and the federal agency governing fishing along the Atlantic Coast has now escalated — with potentially disastrous consequences for the fishermen.

In a teleconference on Thursday morning, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) officially found New Jersey to be out of compliance with federal regulations. The decision follows months of wrangling between the two sides, casting shadow over the opening of summer flounder (sometimes called fluke) fishing season.

The matter is now headed to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for a final decision. If Ross agrees with the recommendation, both recreational and commercial fluke fishing could end up banned altogether in the Garden State.

The clash began in February, when the ASMFC announced stricter rules for fishing fluke coast-wide in order to address overfishing worries. The ASMFC called for a a 19-inch minimum on fishes caught, with a three fish limit per trip over a 128-day season.

New Jersey’s Marine Fisheries Council immediately pushed back and created its own rules as a compromise: a shorter fishing season (104 days from May 25 to Sept. 5 — 24 fewer days than were allowed in 2016), but an 18-inch minimum.

Read the full story at NJ.com

ASMFC Finds New Jersey Out of Compliance with Addendum XXVIII to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP

June 1, 2017 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Arlington, VA – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has found the State of New Jersey out of compliance with the mandatory management measures contained in Addendum XXVIII to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass. The Commission will notify the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior of its finding. This action was taken pursuant to the provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act of 1993. The State of New Jersey has failed to effectively implement and enforce the provisions of Addendum XXVIII to the FMP for Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass. Specifically, New Jersey has not implemented the following regulations required by Addendum XXVIII:

  • Shore mode for Island Beach State Park only: 17-inch minimum size limit; 2-fish possession limit and 128-day open season.
  • Delaware Bay only (west of the COLERG line):   18-inch minimum size limit; 3-fish possession limit and 128-day open season.
  • All other marine waters (east of the COLERG line):  19-inch minimum size limit; 3-fish possession limit and 128-day open season

The implementation of these measures is necessary to achieve the conservation goals and objectives of the FMP to end overfishing of the summer flounder stock. In order to come back into compliance the State of New Jersey must implement all of the above measures. Upon notification by the Commission, the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior have 30 days to review the recommendation and determine appropriate action, which may include a federal moratorium on fishing for Summer Flounder in New Jersey’s state waters. For more information, please contact Toni Kerns, Director, Interstate Fisheries Management Program, at tkerns@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Senators Booker, Menendez Introduce Bill to Ban Seismic Testing in Atlantic

May 27, 2017 — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-NJ), Bill Nelson, (D-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the “Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act’’ a bill to ban oil, gas and methane hydrate-related seismic activities in the Atlantic Ocean. The bill will prohibit the use of seismic airgun blasting — a disruptive and potentially economically damaging method of surveying offshore oil and gas reserves — in the North Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida.

“Offshore fossil fuel exploration of any kind in the Atlantic poses a direct and serious threat to New Jersey’s economy and environment. My colleagues and I will do everything in our power to protect our coastal communities and those who work in our fishing industry from the potentially disastrous effects of seismic blasting,” said Senator Booker. “Our bill makes it clear that when it comes to offshore oil exploration of any kind, the Atlantic and our coasts are off limits.”

“We are introducing this commonsense legislation because we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our environment, and allowing big oil to use seismic blasting methods that are incredibly disruptive to marine life is a total abdication of that responsibility,” said Senator Menendez. “New Jersey’s fishing industry supports tens of thousands of jobs, and the state is home to one of the largest saltwater recreational fishing industries in the nation. I will continue to fight for New Jersey’s clean coastal waters and rich ecosystems, our small businesses and fishermen who have built and sustained a thriving shore economy against all odds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, and for all New Jerseyans who know the value of having a clean energy future.”

Booker has been an outspoken advocated for a ban on seismic airgun blasting and other harmful extraction efforts in the Atlantic. In Aug. 2015, Booker sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) urging a denial of four seismic survey applications for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. Last month, Booker spoke out against President Trump’s executive order on expediting off-shore drilling, pledging to fight the Administration’s efforts to erode coastal protections from off-shore drilling.

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

New Jersey assures fishermen they can fish for summer flounder

May 26, 2017 — In the tumultuous lead-up to the opening of summer flounder season, the state has assured recreational fishermen that the season will start on Thursday with an 18-inch size limit and 3-fish possession limit in place.

In simpler words, fishermen can fish for summer flounder despite a motion Monday by a regional fishery body to not accept New Jersey’s approved regulations.

New Jersey’s Marine Fisheries Council adopted the state’s new regulations last week but a motion to not accept them was made by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder Management Board on Monday.

In a press release on Wednesday, just hours before the start of the recreational season for summer flounder, the Department of Environmental Protection said any possible federal non-compliance decisions would first need to be voted on by ASFMC’s Policy Board and the full Commission before a finding of non-compliance is sent to NOAA Marine Fisheries for consideration.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press