Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: The Last Fish

August 28, 2023 — Glenn Skinner isn’t happy.

Skinner is a licensed commercial fisherman who relies on his catch to make a profit. He’s been on the water 47 years; he started accompanying his longshoreman father on boats at age 3. Like most of his commercial brethren, Skinner doesn’t limit himself to one type of catch—he snags finfish using a gill net in the spring, trawls for shrimp in the summer, and spots roe mullet from his boat’s tower in the fall.

I met Skinner on a hot day in early June at a Beaufort processing center, or fish house, where he typically brings his catch. Skinner is soft-spoken and wore an Ocean and Coast shirt and a Myrtle Beach hat. He’s been out on the water less and less over the past five years, he said as we talked in the dust by his truck, which sported an “Eat Local Seafood” sticker. He’s become increasingly frustrated with what he sees as overregulation at the state level due to lobbyists who want to curtail commercial fishing.

“I couldn’t make up my mind if I wanted to get into the fight or get out of the fishery,” said Skinner. He chose the former, and now serves as the executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a nonprofit that advocates for commercial fishing interests at the state and federal levels.

The following day, I met Rip Woodin, a 76-year-old in boat shoes and a fly-fishing T-shirt, in the noisy lobby of a fly-fishing conference in Morehead City. Woodin, like Skinner, is a North Carolinian deeply invested in fishing. And like Skinner, he’s not happy.

Woodin started fly-fishing while working as a journalist in Wyoming, and bought an 18-foot boat when he moved to Atlantic Beach in 2005. His favorite to catch are redfish, which slither through spartina grass hunting for crabs during the full moon. He’s on the water about 25 days a year, but keeps very little of what he brings in—he says he releases most of his catches because he’s worried about the stock, as commercial fishers scoop up 200,000 pounds of redfish annually.

Skinner and Woodin represent opposite sides of a bitter dispute in North Carolina. Commercial fishermen like Skinner accuse recreational fishermen of promoting overregulation by pushing the state to impose gear limitations, reclassify species as recreational only, and restrict shrimp trawls in certain areas. Skinner believes these measures are imperiling the livelihood of people who rely on the sea to make a living—and he believes they are partially responsible for driving the number of commercial fishers down from more than 5,300 in 1994 to under 2,300 in 2021.

Read the full article at The Assembly

NORTH CAROLINA: State WRC sets recreational flounder season separate from state fisheries division season

August 28, 2023 — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will allow a recreational summer flounder season in inland waters in September, creating consternation at the N.C. Fisheries Association, a private trade and lobbying group for commercial fishermen who have been mostly cut off in recent years from a species that once was one of their primary money-makers.

“In the middle of trying to rebuild the southern flounder population in our state, the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission has decided this year to have a separate recreational season outside of the recreational season set by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF),” Thomas Newman of the association said in an email Monday.

“Not only do these season dates not align (the WRC season runs September 1-14 and the DMF season runs September 15-29) but the WRC has set a four-flounder bag limit (per day) during their season while the DMF bag limit is only one flounder.” 

Glen Skinner, executive director of the Morehead City-based association, said Monday the separate seasons for coastal waters and jointly managed inland waters will cause confusion for the recreational fishermen, who will have different rules to contend with by crossing an “imaginary line” that delineates waters where the fisheries division has sole authority (coastal waters) and waters where saltwater and freshwater fish are jointly managed by the two agencies.

“You could catch fish on one side of the line, and it would be legal, cross that line and it would be illegal, then cross the line again and it would be legal again,” he said. “It makes no sense.”

In addition, he said, it goes against the state’s plan to rebuild the stock by allowing a higher daily catch.

It’s long been an important fishery, and everyone – both state agencies and commercial and recreational fishermen – want the overfished stock rebuilt.

In 1994, the commercial southern flounder season was worth more than $8 million, with a catch of 4.8 million pounds, but it’s been steadily declining since then. In 2021, the last year for which statistics are available on the fisheries division website, it was worth only $1.4 million for a catch of about 480,000 pounds.

The state marine fisheries commission, policy-making arm of the fisheries division, addressed the issue briefly during its quarterly meeting Friday in New Bern. Phillip Reynolds, legal counsel for the commission, said, “There is no scientific basis showing that (the WRC season and bag limit) is an appropriate measure.”

The fisheries commission adopted the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 during its May 2022 business meeting. The goal of Amendment 3 is to achieve a self-sustaining population for the overfished stock that provides a sustainable harvest. Amendment 3 maintained a 72% reduction across the fisheries and carried forward several management measures, including minimum size, from Amendment 2. 

Read the full article at the NEWS-TIMES

Court rejects allegations of N.C. shrimpers polluting waters

August 28, 2023 — A recent federal appeals court decision rejected arguments that North Carolina shrimpers are violating the federal Clean Water by discharging their bycatch overboard.

Seen as a significant win for the shrimpers as well as all commercial and recreational fishermen, the unanimous decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeals was handed down Aug. 7. The three-judge panel affirmed a previous lower court decision from September 2021 that was appealed by the plaintiffs, the NC Fisheries Reform Group.

The NC Fisheries Reform Group, recreational fisherman Joseph Albea and other anglers, had filed a citizen lawsuit alleging that certain named shrimpers in North Carolina are violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging their bycatch overboard.

The anglers argued that bycatch being thrown back into the water is a pollutant and disturbing sediment with trawl nets is dredging, either of which, the group contended, would require commercial shrimpers to obtain a Clean Water Act permit.

The fisheries reform group, a Wilmington, N.C.-based nonprofit established in 2020, “to change how the State of North Carolina manages our public trust marine resources,” filed the lawsuit against Capt. Gaston LLC, Esther Joy Inc., Hobo Seafood Inc., Lady Samaira Inc., Trawler Capt. Alfred Inc., Trawler Christina Ann Inc., and Trawlers Garland and Jeff Inc.

The appeals court heard arguments on the case in fall 2022. This month the judges threw back the reform group’s claim.

“The Act forbids the unpermitted discharge of a pollutant. Returning bycatch to the ocean is not discharging a pollutant, so throwing it overboard without a permit is not forbidden by the Act,” Judge Julius Richardson wrote in the court’s opinion. “Likewise, because the trawl nets merely kick up sediment already present in the Sound, their use does not discharge any pollutants either. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Fisheries Reform (Group) complaint.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Court upholds that trawling doesn’t violate Clean Water Act

August 15, 2023 — Commercial shrimpers can continue to harvest by trawler in the Pamlico Sound without a Clean Water Act permit, and the state will continue to manage its fisheries.

The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld last week a district court’s Sept. 17, 2021, decision that trawling in the North Carolina estuary does not violate the Clean Water Act, as alleged in a lawsuit that the North Carolina Coastal Fisheries Reform Group filed in August 2020 against a half-dozen commercial shrimping businesses.

The reform group argued that bycatch being thrown back into the water is a pollutant and disturbing sediment with trawl nets is dredging, either of which, the group contended, would require commercial shrimpers to obtain a Clean Water Act permit. The three-judge panel rejected the argument.

The district court dismissed the suit in 2021 because the Clean Water Act does not regulate bycatch — the state does — and that disturbing sediment with trawl nets does not violate the act.

The Clean Water Act establishes “the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters,” the EPA explains.

“We affirm the district court’s decision that Fisheries Reform Group fails to plausibly allege that shrimp trawlers are violating the Clean Water Act by either (1) throwing their bycatch back into Pamlico Sound, or (2) disturbing sediment on the Sound’s floor with their trawl nets, thereby causing it to resettle,” Judge Julius Richardson wrote in the panel’s unanimous opinion decided Aug. 7.

Read the full article at CostalReview.org

Court sides with North Carolina shrimpers on Clean Water Act

August 10, 2023 — The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of North Carolina shrimp fishermen, who had been accused of violating the Clean Water Act by discarding bycatch at sea.

“This is a huge win for all fishermen, commercial and recreational,” North Carolina Fisheries Association Executive Director Glenn Skinner said. “If the courts had decided with Mr. Joseph Albea and the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group, the results would have been devastating for both sectors.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NORTH CAROLINA: Abundant elsewhere, NC’s blue crab population dwindles

August 9, 2023 — Bob Dillard’s mind is imprinted with memories of summer days dropping fish-head-baited lines to catch what would usually yield a basketful of blue crabs in Topsail Sound.

“In a matter of 45 minutes, no more than an hour, probably less, you’d fill up the basket with nice crabs,” he said.

The little, soundside cinderblock house his grandparents owned at the south end of Topsail Island has long been gone — torn down and replaced by a much larger, modern beach house.

But Dillard, 76 and a resident of Bolivia in Brunswick County, returns to Topsail Beach each year, renting a house for one week to spend with his children and grandchildren and to fish for blue crabs.

Last month, he rented a house on the sound, a spot perfect for taking a crab pot, he thought.

“I baited it every day and all I caught was fish,” Dillard said. “What I was seeing this year was you were just waiting around and you don’t see any crabs.”

Read the full article at CostalReview.org

U.S. Appeals Court’s unanimous decision supports shrimp trawling in state sounds

August 8, 2023 — Commercial shrimpers in the state’s sounds received an overwhelming vote of confidence Monday, Aug. 7 with a unanimous decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirming a lower court ruling dismissing complaints against shrimp trawling under the Clean Water Act.

The case stems from a 2020 complaint filed by recreational fishermen, Joseph William Albea, David Anthony Sammons, Capt. Seth Vernon, Capt. Richard Andrews, Dwayne Bevell and the North Carolina Fisheries Reform Group.

The Reform Group states on its website that its mission, in part, is “in association with our conservation partners, to change how the State of North Carolina manages our public trust marine resources. We will support the implementation of a new comprehensive management plan to restore our fisheries back to the world-class fishers that they once were.”

The plaintiffs contend that shrimp trawlers in Pamlico Sound are violating the Clean Water Act by engaging in two types of unpermitted activity, “throwing bycatch overboard and disturbing sediment with their trawl net.”

Read the full article at NEWS-TIMES

COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF NC SHRIMPERS AND COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN

August 8, 2023 — The following was released by NORTH CAROLINA FISHERIES ASSOCIATION, INC:

In a major decision handed down by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a group of North Carolina shrimpers won a huge victory!

In a unanimous decision on August 7, 2023, the Court affirmed a previous decision made by U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan on September 17, 2021. The plaintiffs then appealed, with the oral arguments made before the court in the fall of 2022.

Background: In August of 2020, the NC Fisheries Reform Group, and others, including Joseph Albea, filed a citizen lawsuit alleging that certain named shrimpers in North Carolina are violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging their bycatch overboard and by discharging pollutants by disturbing sediment with their trawl nets.

The Court ruled thusly: “The Act forbids the unpermitted discharge of a pollutant. Returning bycatch to the ocean is not discharging a pollutant, so throwing it overboard without a permit is not forbidden by the Act. Likewise, because the trawl nets merely kick up sediment already present in the Sound, their use does not discharge any pollutants either. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Fisheries’ (Reform Group) complaint.”

While the North Carolina Fisheries Association was not a party to the lawsuit as an organization, they were engaged as the decision would have tremendous repercussions to the shrimpers, the industry as a whole and indeed to commercial and recreational fishermen nationwide. NCFA’s Executive Director, Glenn Skinner, said “This is a huge win for all fishermen, commercial and recreational. If the courts had decided with Mr. Joseph Albea and the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group, the results would have been devastating for both sectors.”

In its explanation of the case, Judge Richardson explained that his daughter would be in violation if the Plaintiff’s arguments prevailed if she caught a fish with a minnow and threw it back. He said, “At argument, Fisheries’ (Reform Group) sought to assure me that the EPA would not exercise its discretion to lock her up or take her allowance. Small comfort.”

Here are just a couple of other quotes made by Judge Richardson and affirmed by Judges Rushing and Lydon:

“Almost every commercial or recreational fishermen in America would be subject to EPA’s new regulatory control.”

The opinion goes on to say that anyone who fishes and after catching a fish “…releases it back into the ocean, would violate the Clean Water Act unless they first obtained a Clean Water Act permit alongside their ordinary fishing permits.”

The judges also exclaim, “… (the Plaintiffs) seeks to vastly expand the EPA’s regulatory authority in a way that would upset the federal-state balance by intruding on states’ authority to manage fisheries in their own waters and essentially moot the established science to regulate bycatch in federal waters. This sea-change would have an enormous impact on the recreational

The Court asserts that this case is a “major-questions” case that has significant political and economic consequences. In such cases, it’s usually the bureaucratic agency that has tried to assert broad, nationwide power, resting its authority on a provision that did not clearly authorize such as assertion. The Court’s opinion states, “Here, the EPA is not asserting such a power. In fact, it’s not asserting anything since this is a citizen suit between private parties. But (the) Fisheries’ (Reform Group) is suing precisely because the EPA has not acted. Their suit is designed to compel EPA action.”

It is overly concerning when a person or group can make such a claim against ordinary citizens, costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars when those ordinary citizens are conducting business, supplying jobs and producing food to consumers while abiding by what both state and federal laws allow them to do.

NCFA asks, why would the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group file a lawsuit that would have such dire consequences for commercial fishing families, eastern North Carolina and even the recreational fishing community? In our opinion they are blinded by their zeal to eliminate an immensely proud and historical group of families from producing a healthy source of protein for the American consumers.

 

 

NORTH CAROLINA: NC joins pact to cover offshore wind-related fisheries losses

June 14, 2023 — North Carolina has joined nearly a dozen other East Coast states to create a financial compensation program that would cover economic losses within the fisheries industry caused by Atlantic offshore wind development.

The Fisheries Mitigation Project aims to establish a regional administrator to oversee the process of reviewing claims and making payouts collected through a fund paid for by wind developers to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries industries to mitigate financial loss associated with offshore wind farms.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina joins East Coast states’ effort to establish regional fisheries mitigation for offshore wind development

May 26, 2023 — Gov. Roy Cooper has just announced that North Carolina has joined other East Coast states involved with a joint project to support fisheries mitigation in the development of sustainable and responsible deployment of offshore wind.

“It is important that we work to meet our state’s offshore wind energy goals while still protecting our marine fishery industry,” said Governor Cooper. “We are committed to collaborating with other states in this effort to make sure we achieve both goals.”

According to a press release, “North Carolina is working with Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.”

The Special Initiative on Offshore Wind is focused on establishing a framework to compensate commercial and for-hire fishermen, if faced with economic impact due to offshore wind development.

Read the full story at WECT