Saving Seafood

A canyon-sized power struggle is developing 100 miles off New Jersey’s coast

May 8, 2017 — It makes little sense that these two groups would be fighting at all.

On one side are the environmentalists, who wish to keep marine life safe from the harmful effects of gas and oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. On the other are the fishermen, who want precisely the same thing — to protect their catches and their business.

Yet a divide between the groups has been created, approximately 100 miles east of the mouth of the Hudson River off the New Jersey coast. That’s where the two sides are waging war over the future of the Hudson Canyon, an almost-mile-deep crack in the sea floor.

It’s a battle that has become even more pitched, especially since President Trump has moved to bring oil and gas drilling back to the Atlantic Ocean.

So how did this power struggle develop, and what exactly are the two groups disagreeing about?

In November 2016, the Wildlife Conservation Society nominated Hudson Canyon to be designated a National Marine Sanctuary. The WCS selected the canyon, the largest submarine crevice on the Atlantic Coast, due to its wide biodiversity. The canyon is home to more than 20 protected species, including the North Atlantic right whale, according to the conservation group.

“This is a canyon the scale of the Grand Canyon,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, the Vice President of the WCS and the director of the New York Aquarium. “It seemed like something that could really benefit from awareness and protection.”

Commercial fishermen in New Jersey fear losing access to a profitable fishing ground. According the Greg DiDomenico, the executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, $48 million worth of seafood was caught in the Hudson Canyon in 2014. That’s almost a third of the $149.3 million catch landed by New Jersey fishermen that year, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at NJ.com

New Jersey to create two new reefs off coast

April 27, 2017 — The state will create two new reefs aimed at helping recreational anglers off South Jersey.

One reef will be built 1.7 nautical miles southeast of Manasquan Inlet, just north of Ocean County’s Point Pleasant Beach. The second reef will be built 9.2 nautical miles southwest of the mouth of Cumberland County’s Maurice River and will occupy a little more than a square mile of bay floor, at depths ranging from 23 feet to 35 feet.

The state secured the necessary U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for both reefs, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said Thursday.

Recreational fishing generates $1.5 billion in economic benefits in New Jersey each year, and directly employs about 20,000 people, according to a news release from the DEP.

“We are very excited to move forward with this expansion of the state’s network of artificial reefs, which create important habitat for many types of marine life,” Martin said. “By enhancing recreational fishing and diving opportunities, these reefs help boost the state’s tourism economy. We are particularly pleased with the opportunity to develop Delaware Bay’s first reef site, which will help bolster tourism in that region.”

The artificial reefs are typically built from rocks, concrete, steel, old ships and barges.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

NEW JERSEY: Sea bass regs pass council, Tamaroa sinking delayed

April 21, 2017 — The black sea bass regulations were approved by the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council approved the measures at its April 13 meeting.

They are almost identical to last year, except the 13-inch size limit — which was in place last fall —  is not returning.

The season’s first wave opens May 26 and extends through June 18 with a ten fish bag limit at 12 ½-inch size limit. It is then closed for two weeks.

The second wave opens July 1 through August 31 with a two fish bag and 12 ½-inch size limit. It will then close until Oct. 21.

The final wave of the season is Oct. 22 to Dec. 31. Fishermen will have a 15 fish bag limit and a 12 ½-inch size limit.

Bob Martin, head of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, has to sign off on them, a spokesperson from the department said.

Tamaroa sinking delayed

The sinking of he United States Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa, on an artificial reef was delayed this week by weather.

The vessel gained notoriety for its daunting rescue missions during the “Perfect Storm” of 1991, but she was originally the U.S. Navy’s Zuni, an ocean/salvage tug, commissioned in 1943. She is the last surviving vessel from the Battle of Iwo Jima.

She is destined for the DelJerseyLand artificial reef jointly shared by New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. At 205-feet long the vessel is expected to provide a lot of habitat for marine life that will make it a productive fishing and dive site.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Flounder season uncertain as New Jersey continues to fight cuts

April 14, 2017 — New Jersey’s fight against approved summer flounder measures hangs in the balance, and a meeting next month could prove critical for flounder fishermen.

The state’s Marine Fisheries Council met Thursday evening at the Galloway Township branch of the Atlantic County Library in part to discuss its strategy in opposing a federal regulatory commission’s decision to cut this year’s summer flounder catch by 30 percent.

“I’m getting questions every day,” said Dick Herb, the council’s chairman. “We just don’t know what’s going to happen there.”

“There’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes,” he added.

Earlier this year, the state council voted to go out of compliance with the federal measures, which could trigger a pivotal decision by new Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross following a federal regulatory meeting in May, Herb said.

Ross could decide to shut down recreational and commercial flounder fishing in New Jersey, or he could study the issue and allow fishing to continue, among other options, according to Herb.

“He can do what he wants to do,” Herb said. “I think we’re going to have to move awfully quickly when we get some movement on this.”

In February, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the new reductions, which would limit New Jersey recreational fishermen to three fish at 19 inches in the Atlantic Ocean and three at 18 inches in the Delaware Bay.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey asks feds to drop limits on a prize catch at the Shore — summer flounder

April 10, 2017 — With their rows of sharp buck teeth, their downturned mouths, and both eyes on one side of their curiously flat bodies, summer flounder might seem beautiful only to one another.

But this delicately flavored flatfish is the pinup girl, the heart’s desire, of thousands of New Jersey’s recreational fishermen — and has long been the source of many millions of dollars in tourism revenue each summer. For that reason the state has petitioned a federal commission to reverse its new restrictions on catching summer flounder in state waters in 2017.

“If you talk to any recreational angler they’ll tell you how important flounder is in New Jersey,” explained Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.  He said summer flounder, also called fluke, is one of the top draws to the state’s $1.5 billion recreational fishing industry.

Flounder’s popularity is no secret, however, to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission based in Arlington, Va. Its website describes the species as “highly prized in the recreational  fishery” because they are easily caught with hook and line from beaches, piers, and boats.

But this federal body, which monitors and protects commercial fish populations from Maine to Florida, has determined that the species has been drastically overfished in recent years and needs a chance to repopulate.  Recreational landings that were 38 million pounds in 1980 fell to 3 million in 1989, according to the website, and were 7.4 million pounds in 2014.

The commission, a subsidiary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration composed of three representatives from each state on the Atlantic coast, in February ordered a 34 percent reduction in catches for 2017, even after a 27 percent reduction in 2016.

Read the full story at The Philadelphia Inquirer 

Changes could be coming to East Coast squid fishery

April 10, 2017 — An effort to gain better control over the amount of participation in the East Coast squid fishery will be the subject of a series of public hearings this spring.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council wants to reduce latent permits for certain kinds of squid. Most years, a few vessels are responsible for bringing the majority of the commercially harvested squid to shore.

The fishery council says it’s concerned that excessive squid fishing could occur if latent permits become active.

Longfin squid fishing’s a major industry, with more than 26 million pounds coming to shore in 2015. It was valued at more than $31 million. Rhode Island’s the biggest producer.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Fishermen not on board with Hudson Canyon sanctuary

April 7, 2017 — The Hudson Canyon is in the spotlight.

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hear a proposal from New York Aquarium, which has nominated the canyon for a National Marine Sanctuary designation.

The sanctuary program is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the program’s 40 years of existence 13 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments have been established.

The sanctuaries are to be tailored to the needs of its stakeholders. New Jersey fishermen however, are raising concerns that they will be shut out of a prolific fishing ground.

“We’re in complete opposition. We’re not going to be fooled by the notion that the aquarium doesn’t intend to severely restrict fishing over time,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director, Garden State Seafood Association.

The seafood association represents the interest’s of the state’s commercial fishermen.

The Hudson Canyon, a depression in the ocean floor that starts 80 miles east of Manasquan Inlet, is the largest submarine canyon on the Atlantic coast. It’s supports a rich diversity of marine life. Fishermen harvest seafood including squid, tunas, and shellfish from the canyon.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

New Jersey appeals fluke vote, says regs will create fishery waste

March 31, 2017 — New Jersey’s three commissioners to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are trying to reel some fluke back in that could be lost to anglers due to federally approved reductions.

Their latest effort to keep summer flounder regulations at status quo, is an appeal to ASMFC chairman Douglas E. Grout asking for a reversal of the commission’s vote approving a 30-percent cut to the coastwide harvest of fluke, also known as summer flounder.

The appeal cites technical, scientific and procedural flaws as reasons for reconsideration of the vote.

The season is in a couple of months and usually the state’s Marine Fisheries Council approves fluke seaon measures by early spring. The agenda for the council’s next hearing April 13 is not yet posted.

In January it made it clear that its position was to keep fluke regulations at status quo — that is to keep it at last year’s 18-inch size and five-fish bag limit.

The ASMFC did not share that view. Its position was the fluke population is declining and anglers overfished the 2016 quota.

That was supported by most states on the Atlantic seaboard as seen by the 7-3 vote in favor of Option 5 of the addendum to the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass fishery management plan that reduced the harvest.

For New Jersey’s recreational fluke fishery that option calls for a 19-inch size limit, a three-fish bag limit this year.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press 

New Jersey appeals decision to cut summer flounder catch

March 30, 2017 — New Jersey is continuing its fight against reductions to this year’s summer flounder catch.

The state’s representatives to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission have filed a formal appeal of the commission’s decision to cut the flounder harvest by about 30 percent.

“We are appealing the ASFMC decision because of the numerous process, data, policy and regulatory issues that will significantly impact New Jersey’s fishing industry,” state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said in a statement announcing the appeal.

An ASMFC decision in February would reduce recreational bag and size limits in New Jersey from five fish at 18 inches in the Atlantic Ocean in 2016 to three fish at 19 inches this year. In the Delaware Bay, limits would decrease from four fish at 17 inches to three at 18 inches.

The decision is based on federal fishery studies that indicate the flounder population is declining and has been experiencing overfishing since 2008.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey Files Formal Appeal of Summer Flounder Quota Reductions

March 29, 2017 — New Jersey representatives to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission have filed an appeal requesting the commission reconsider its vote significantly reducing the state’s recreational-fishing quota for summer flounder this year, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

The 34-percent quota reduction ASMFC approved in February will have a devastating impact on the state’s fishing industry and tourism economy while paradoxically harming the long-term health of the state’s summer flounder stocks, Commissioner Martin said.

“We are appealing the ASFMC decision because of the numerous process, data, policy and regulatory issues that will significantly impact New Jersey’s fishing industry,” Commissioner Martin said. “The ASFMC decision will actually result in anglers in New Jersey having to throw more dead fish back into the water than they can keep to eat, and the fish they can keep overwhelmingly will be reproductive females. This is not sound fishery management.”

Recreational and commercial fishing employs 65,000 people and generates some $2.5 billion in annual economic benefits to the state. Summer flounder, also known as fluke, is one of the state’s most sought-after recreational fish species, prized for its delicate flavor and easily found close to beaches and in bays and creeks.

Read the full story at On The Water