Saving Seafood

Fishermen, environmentalists weigh potential impacts of offshore drilling

March 20, 2018 — BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — As Brunswick County commissioners discuss offshore drilling at their meeting Monday night, at least one group you may not expect is not opposed to bringing it to North Carolina.

The North Carolina Fisheries Association represents the state’s commercial fishermen. In response to Governor Roy Cooper fighting to stop drilling off our coast, the group recently decided to keep their options open about offshore energy exploration.

“There’s been some comments made by the governor, how detrimental it would be to the commercial fishermen and everything, but we burn a lot of diesel and gas, so we’re not closed to the idea of looking at it,” said Doug Todd, the NCFA’s board director of District Seven, which includes Onslow, Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick Counties.

Todd understands the opposition’s opinion, but still wants the drilling explored.

“Always a chance of a spill or something occurring and I know they’re talking about fracturing, that type of situation, so I can see their point of view too,” Todd said. “We’re just taking the position, we’re leaving the door open.”

Brunswick Environmental Action Team’s Pete Key says offshore drilling is not worth the risk.

Read the full story at WWAY

 

N.C. officials to write definition of old profession – commercial fishing

January 5, 2018 — WANCHESE, N.C. — North Carolina officials plan to write the definition of one of the state’s longest-standing professions – commercial fishing.

The definition seems simple – a licensed person who sells seafood for money. But some anglers could be getting a commercial license just to allow them to catch more fish than they are supposed to, said Sam Corbett, chairman of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission.

“They’re going around the bag limits,” Corbett said. “It’s such a crazy issue.”

The evidence is in the number of licenses sold compared to those who sell their harvest to dealers, Corbett said.

Last year, 2,973 licensed fishermen sold seafood to a dealer totaling 59.9 million pounds worth $94 million. Roughly 4,000 others bought licenses without selling a catch to a seafood dealer.

People have caught and sold fish for centuries, but the industry became more profitable in the late 1800s with the advent of better ways of preserving and transporting the product. There is a boat and a set of nets in nearly every yard in coastal villages such as Wanchese.

Corbett, a lifelong waterman, will chair a three-person committee set to meet Thursday to determine who should be allowed a commercial fishing license. The report will go before the state’s commission and then to state lawmakers, he said.

The definition could cover a wide range of rules including requiring a certain number of fishing trips or a minimum amount of income earned from seafood sales, Corbett said.

Read the full story at the Virginian-Pilot

 

Federal bill that could eliminate shark fin sales puts pressure on N.C. shark fishermen

November 6, 2017 — WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. — The sale of shark fins may soon become illegal for coastal fisherman across the country. Legislation has been introduced to the House and Senate which would make it illegal to possess, buy, sell, or transport shark fins or any product containing shark fins.

Local fishermen make a portion of their income based off of the sale of shark fins and shark meat. Some perceive this aspect of their business to be at risk because of the potential regulation.

Shark fins, not shark finning 

Shark finning is the process of cutting the fin off of a live shark and discarding the remainder of the fish back into the ocean.

The practice was made illegal in the United States in 2000, with a loophole that was closed by 2009.

All shark species, with the exception of the smooth dogfish, are federally protected from finning under current legislation.

The sale of shark fins is legal in North Carolina. Fishermen are permitted to harvest and sell the fins of sharks once landed, not while the shark is still alive and at sea. This distinction is important to fishermen who oppose the inhumane act of shark finning.

“People are obviously horrified by the thought, and they should be,” said Jerry Schill, director of government relations for the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

Read the full story at the Port City Daily 

 

North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for October 13, 2017

October 13, 2017 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13th!!!

OCTOBER IS SEAFOOD MONTH!

Seafood month got a great kickoff in North Carolina with last Saturday’s Fisherman’s Village on the Morehead City waterfront, and on Sunday morning at the Blessing of the Fleet.

For a message from Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, or NMFS, click the link below.
Message from Chris Oliver about Seafood Month

FROM THE DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES:

Advisory committee meetings to focus on cobia management measures – Three advisory committees to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet on separate dates in October to discuss issues related to the cobia fishery.

The advisory committees will be asked to provide input to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission on management measures contained in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Draft Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Migratory Group Cobia (Georgia to New York). The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board will meet Oct. 19 to vote on this plan.

The draft plan includes size, bag and vessel limits to complement federal measures. Most notably, the draft plan includes several proposed options for state-specific recreational harvest targets that will give individual states more flexibility in developing management measures to best suit their needs.

Currently, the recreational annual catch limit for Georgia to New York is managed on a coastwide basis. This has resulted in federal closures and significant overages, disrupting fishing opportunities and jeopardizing the health of the stock.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will discuss North Carolina’s recreational cobia management measures at its Nov. 15-16 meeting at the Doubletree by Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks in Kitty Hawk.

For more information, contact Steve Poland, cobia staff lead with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, at 252-808-8159 or Steve.Poland@ncdenr.gov.

CALENDAR

Oct 15 – 19; ASMFC Annual Meeting; Waterside Marriott; Norfolk, VA

Oct 24; 6:00pm MFC Northern Advisory Committee; Dare County Complex; Manteo, NC

Oct 25; 6:00pm MFC Southern Advisory Committee; Cardinal Drive; Wilmington, NC

Oct 26; 6:00pm MFC Finfish Advisory Committee; DMF District Office; Morehead City, NC

Nov 8; Noon; NCFA Board of Directors; Civic Center; Washington, NC

Nov 15-16; NC Marine Fisheries Commission; Kitty Hawk

Dec 4 – 8; South Atlantic Council; Doubletree; Atlantic Beach, NC

Dec 6; Noon; NCFA Board of Directors; Civic Center, Washington, NC

Dec 11 – 14; Mid Atlantic Council; Westin Annapolis; Annapolis, MD

NCFC Members Support Interior Department’s Reported Marine Monument Recommendations

WASHINGTON — September 18, 2017 — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities support Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s reported recommendations to alter three marine national monuments. Coalition members are hesitant to comment on leaked recommendations that may not be final, but are offering comment due to the significant media attention this report has already received. The reported revisions to marine monuments will lessen the economic burden on America’s fishing communities while still providing environmental protections for our ocean resources.

According to reports, Secretary Zinke’s recommendations to President Donald Trump would allow commercial fishing managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) in the recently designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. He also reportedly recommended revising the boundaries or allowing commercial fishing under the MSA in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. NCFC members in the Pacific hope that the White House will extend these recommendations to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and appreciate the open and transparent process by which Secretary Zinke reviewed these designations.

Marine monument expansions and designations have been widely criticized by commercial fishing interests as well as by the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils, which in a May 16 letter told Secretary Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that marine monument designations “have disrupted the ability of the Councils to manage fisheries throughout their range.” Fishing industry members believe these monuments were created with insufficient local input from stakeholders affected by the designations, and fishing communities felt largely ignored by previous administrations.

“The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was designated after behind-closed-door campaigns led by large, multinational, environmental lobbying firms, despite vocal opposition from local and federal officials, fisheries managers, and the fishing industry,” said Eric Reid, general manager of Seafreeze Shoreside in Narragansett, R.I., who has been critical of the Obama Administration’s process in designating the monument. “But the reported recommendations from the Interior Department make us hopeful that we can recover the areas we have fished sustainably for decades. We are grateful that the voices of fishermen and shore side businesses have finally been heard,” Mr. Reid concluded.

“There seems to be a huge misconception that there are limitless areas where displaced fishermen can go,” said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. “Basically with the stroke of a pen, President Obama put fishermen and their crews out of work and harmed all the shore-side businesses that support the fishing industry.”

“The fisheries management process under the existing Magnuson Act is far from perfect, but its great strength is that it has afforded ample opportunities for all stakeholders to study and comment on policy decisions, and for peer review of the scientific basis for those decisions,” stated Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s top-grossing commercial fishing port. In March, Mayor Mitchell submitted testimony to Congress expressing concern over marine monuments. “The marine monument designation process may have been well intended, but it has simply lacked a comparable level of industry input, scientific rigor, and deliberation. That is why I think hitting the reset button ought to be welcomed no matter where one stands in the current fisheries debates, because the end result will be better policy and better outcomes,” Mayor Mitchell concluded.

Fishermen in the Pacific are also supportive of the Interior Department’s review, but remain concerned about the effects of the Papahānaumokuākea Monument, which was omitted from the version of the recommendations being reported. “We are appreciative of Secretary Zinke’s review, and his reported recommendations to support commercial fishing in the Pacific Remote Islands Monument,” said Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association. Hawaii’s longline fishing fleet supplies a large portion of the fresh tuna and other fish consumed in Hawaii. “However, we hope that the White House will extend these recommendations to the Papahānaumokuākea Monument, where President Obama closed an area nearly the size of Alaska without a substantive public process. The longline fleet caught about 2 million pounds of fish annually from the expanded area before it was closed to our American fishermen. That was a high price to pay for a presidential legacy,” Mr. Martin continued.

The reported recommended changes come after an extensive and open public comment period in which the Interior Department solicited opinions from scientists, environmentalists, industry stakeholders, and members of the public. As part of the Interior Department’s review process, Secretary Zinke engaged with communities around the country affected by monument designations. This included a meeting with local fishermen in Boston who explained how the designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument has negatively impacted their livelihoods.

Critics of the monument designation include the regional fishery management councils; numerous fishing groups on the East Coast; and mayors from fishing communities on both coasts.

Additionally, fishery managers in Hawaii have been critical of expansions of both the Papahānaumokuākea Monument and the Pacific Remote Islands Monument. In an April 26 letter to Secretary Zinke, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council stated that marine monuments around Hawaii “impose a disproportionate burden on our fishermen and indigenous communities,” and noted that they have closed regulated domestic commercial fishing in 51 percent of the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the region.

Florida charter fishermen applauded the review, and a return to the process of established law that guides fishery management. “Destin, Florida was founded by commercial fishermen before the turn of the 20th century, and continues to be a major port for commercial and charter fishing fleets,” said Captain Gary Jarvis, president of the Destin Charter Boat Association. “To our fishing community, it’s extremely important to address closures of historical fishing grounds through the Magnuson-Stevens mandated regional council process.”

Curiously, although President Obama’s September 2016 monument designation prohibited sustainable low-impact commercial fishing, it allowed other extractive activities including recreational fishing, and even far more destructive activities such as the digging of trenches for international communications cables.

NCFC members supporting the Interior Department’s reported recommendations include:

  • Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association
  • Destin Charter Boat Association
  • Fisheries Survival Fund
  • Garden State Seafood Association
  • Hawaii Longline Association
  • Long Island Commercial Fishing Association
  • North Carolina Fisheries Association
  • Seafreeze Shoreside
  • Southeastern Fisheries Association
  • Western Fishboat Owners Association
  • West Coast Seafood Processors Association

 

NCFC Members View Interior Department Review of National Monuments As Step In the Right Direction

Responsibly and sustainably caught Atlantic red crab, harvested from the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument region, and landed in New Bedford, Massachusetts, being served at Luke’s Lobster in Washington, D.C.

August 24, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC):

This afternoon, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke delivered his recommendations to President Trump on changes to existing national monuments. While the details of the Secretary’s recommendations have not been made public, the AP reported today that they pertain to a “handful” of monuments, and include boundary adjustments and restoration of public access for uses such as fishing.

In March, Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s top-grossing commercial fishing port, submitted testimony to Congress on behalf of the NCFC expressing concern over marine monuments. The mayor released the following statement in light of Secretary Zinke’s findings and recommendations today on national monuments:

“The fisheries management process under the existing Magnuson Act is far from perfect but its great strength is that it has afforded ample structured opportunities for all stakeholders to study and comment on policy decisions and for peer review of the scientific basis for those decisions. The marine monument designation process may have been well intended, but it has simply lacked a comparable level of industry input, scientific rigor, and deliberation. That is why I think the decision to step back and reassess how best to proceed on marine monument designations ought to be welcomed no matter where one stands in the current fisheries debates. We are now presented with an opportunity to integrate the monument designation process with the proven processes established under Magnuson, and that will lead to better policy and better outcomes for all stakeholders.”

Robert Vanasse, Executive Director of Saving Seafood and the NCFC, released the following statement:

“We appreciate Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s comments to the Associated Press regarding his report to the President on the review of national monuments created by prior administrations. We are encouraged by his statement that in certain national monuments, public access for uses including fishing would be maintained or restored. We agree with the Secretary that regions inside monuments can be protected ‘by keeping public access to traditional uses.’ The Secretary’s review has been professional, open, and transparent. The Secretary and his staff have been respectful and courteous. They have listened and paid attention to the concerns of our members whose interests were damaged by actions of previous administrations. The vitriol aimed at the Secretary and his staff, and the inaccurate mass e-mail campaigns from numerous groups who oppose a thoughtful review of these monuments has been unfortunate. We look forward to seeing the Secretary’s recommendations in full after they are reviewed by the White House, and we are hopeful for a return to the management of fisheries under the Magnuson-Stevens Act in the regions contained in these marine monuments.”

The following members of our National Coalition for Fishing Communities will comment upon the release of the Secretary’s full recommendations:

  • Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association
  • Destin Charter Boat Association
  • Fisheries Survival Fund
  • Garden State Seafood Association
  • Hawaii Longline Association
  • Long Island Commercial Fishing Association
  • North Carolina Fisheries Association
  • Seafreeze Shoreside
  • Southeastern Fisheries Association
  • Western Fishboat Owners Association
  • West Coast Seafood Processors Association

NORTH CAROLINA: Watermen, locals descend on Raleigh to fight fisheries bill

June 14, 2017 — Hundreds of commercial fishermen and their families, along with local government and agency leaders spent Wednesday walking the halls of the North Carolina Legislative Building in an effort to battle a bill they say could shut down the entire industry.

House Bill 867 would attempt to rewrite the Fisheries Reform Act, which is the body of statutes that provides the framework for fisheries management in North Carolina.

The event was organized by North Carolina Watermen United and the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

Those who came to support the bill were instructed by Jerry Schill, director of government affairs for the NCFA, to visit with as many legislators as possible to share their stories of how the measure would be detrimental to their livelihoods.

But just as opponents were arriving on Jones Street in Downtown Raleigh, many wearing white T-shirts and red buttons calling for a no vote, word trickled out that the legislation was being amended.

Rep. Beverly Boswell, R-Kill Devil Hills, told a gathering of local officials from Dare County and commercial fishing business leaders and advocates that legislators were working on possible changes to the bill until 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Boswell gave the group a list of legislators to talk with about the potential impact to not just the fishing industry, but Dare County and North Carolina as a whole.

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice

Coast Guard to use air units in search for local fishing crew

May 25, 2017 — The search resumes Thursday for three men lost at sea when their fishing boat capsized as a result of a reported tornado.

Hobo Seafood, which owns the capsized boat, Miss Debbie, put out a notice Thursday morning saying the search Wednesday – which was Day 2 of searching – was unfruitful largely due to uncooperative weather.

“Weather has been too rough for divers to inspect the fishing vessel, but they are using other means for the search,” Hobo Seafood put out in a statement. The company is owned by Swan Quarter residents Lee and Madge Williams.

The names of the three men who were crewing the Miss Debbie have not been released; however, Jerry Schill, the director of government affairs at the North Carolina Fisheries Association, said two of the three men were locals from the Swan Quarter area.

Read the full story at WCTI

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell Voices Coalition Concern Over Marine Monuments at House Hearing

WASHINGTON – March 15, 2017 – The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Today, New Bedford, Mass. Mayor Jon Mitchell delivered written testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee on behalf of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities. His testimony expressed serious concerns about the impacts of marine monuments, designated using executive authority under the Antiquities Act, on fishermen and coastal communities.

Mayor Mitchell had planned to testify in person before the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans as a representative of the NCFC, but was unable to attend the hearing in Washington due to snow and severe weather conditions in the Northeast.

In his testimony, Mayor Mitchell questioned both the “poorly conceived terms of particular monument designations,” as well as “more fundamental concerns with the process itself.” Mayor Mitchell also delivered a letter to the committee signed by eleven NCFC member organizations further detailing their concerns with the monument process and how fishing communities across the country are affected by monument designations.

The letter was signed by the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, the California Wetfish Producers Association, the Fisheries Survival Fund, the Garden State Seafood Association, the Hawaii Longline Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition, the North Carolina Fisheries Association, the Southeastern Fisheries Association, the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and the Western Fishboat Owners Association.

In addition, three NCFC member organizations, the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, the Hawaii Longline Association, and the North Carolina Fisheries Association submitted individual letters outlining in further detail their opposition to marine monuments.

Mayor Mitchell was also critical of the monument designation process, by which a president can close off any federal lands or waters on a permanent basis using executive authority under the Antiquities Act. He instead praised the Fishery Management Council process created by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which he said affords greater opportunities for input from stakeholders, scientists, and the public.

“The monument designation process has evolved effectively into a parallel, much less robust fishery management apparatus that has been conducted entirely independent of the tried and true Fishery Management Council process,” Mayor Mitchell said. “It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: Scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency, and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review.”

Mayor Mitchell used his testimony to call attention to issues affecting fishing communities across the country, including New England fishermen harmed by the recently designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and Hawaii fishermen harmed by the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. He also expressed the concerns of fishermen in Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific waters in dealing with the monument process.

Mayor Mitchell concluded by calling on Congress to integrate the executive branch’s monument authority with the established processes of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, ensuring that the long-term interests of all stakeholders are accounted for.

“This Congress has an important opportunity to restore the centrality of Magnuson’s Fishery Management Councils to their rightful place as the critical arbiters of fisheries management matters,” Mayor Mitchell said. “Doing so would give fishing communities much more confidence in the way our nation approaches fisheries management. And it could give the marine monument designation process the credibility and acceptance that it regrettably lacks today.”

The mayor spoke at the hearing on behalf of the NCFC. The city of New Bedford, as Mayor Mitchell stated in his testimony, was instrumental in the founding of the Coalition, providing an initial seed grant for its creation.

Read Mayor Mitchell’s full testimony here

Read the NCFC letter here

Read the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association letter here

Read the Hawaii Longline Association letter here

Read the North Carolina Fisheries Association letter here

EFP Application for Snapper-Grouper Catch Share Pilot Program Pulled After Widespread Opposition

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – March 10, 2017 – The South Atlantic Commercial Fishing Collaborative pulled its application for an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) in the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery on Wednesday after a letter of opposition from Rep. Walter Jones (NC-3) and widespread opposition from fishermen. The EFP would have allowed the Collaborative access to numerous species in the snapper-grouper fishery as part of a pilot catch share program.

Rep. Jones wrote to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council on Wednesday urging opposition to the EFP application. In his letter, Rep. Jones cited widespread opposition among commenters on the Council’s draft vision blueprint to including a voluntary catch share program as a part of South Atlantic snapper-grouper management. He also cited a similar EFP proposal that was put forward and rejected in 2013.

“Clearly, the overwhelming sentiment of permit holders, and the precedent of prior council actions, argue for opposition to this application,” Rep. Jones wrote. “The snapper-grouper permit holders of the South Atlantic have not only not given their consent to this proposal, they appear to be nearly unanimous in their opposition.”

The North Carolina Fisheries Association, a commercial fishing trade group, also opposed the application on the basis of their longtime opposition to catch shares.

Read the full letter from Rep. Jones here