Red Crab Archives - Page 3 of 4

MASSACHUSETTS: Gov. Baker says marine monument designation hurts fishermen

September 16, 2016 — Gov. Charlie Baker is “deeply disappointed” by President Barack Obama’s plan to designate an area off the New England coast as the first deep-sea marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, a move the Swampscott Republican’s administration sees as undermining Massachusetts fishermen.

Obama on Thursday announced the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a 4,913 square mile area that includes three underwater canyons and four underwater mountains that provide habitats for protected species including sea turtles and endangered whales.

Recreational fishing will be allowed in the protected zone but most commercial fishing operations have 60 days to “transition from the monument area,” according to the White House. Red crab and lobster fisheries will be given seven years to cease operations in the area, which is about 150 miles southeast of Cape Cod.

“The Baker-Polito Administration is deeply disappointed by the federal government’s unilateral decision to undermine the Commonwealth’s commercial and recreational fishermen with this designation,” Baker spokesman Brendan Moss said in an email. “The Commonwealth is committed to working with members of the fishing industry and environmental stakeholders through existing management programs to utilize the best science available in order to continue our advocacy for the responsible protection of our state’s fishing industry while ensuring the preservation of important ecological areas.”

The Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association condemned the declaration, accusing the president of abusing his power and “indiscriminately” drawing a border “without taking into account the complexity of the marine ecosystem and domestic fishing fleet.”

Baker in November sent a letter to Obama, outlining what he described as “apprehension” over what was then a potential monument designation. Baker wrote that declaring a protected area could undermine ongoing work to develop marine habitat and ocean plans.

Read the full story at Wicked Local

Quit crabbing: Obama creates major no-go zone for fishermen in the Atlantic

September 16, 2016 — President Barack Obama has created a 4,900 square mile no-go zone for commercial fishing and other activity off the coast of New England as the first-ever Atlantic marine monument, a move loudly hailed by many environmentalists, but drawing strong protests from the fishing industry as well as causing discomfort among some prominent Democratic politicians whose constituents are affected.

According to the White House, the newly protected zone, which focuses on a section of the lip of the continental shelf near the fishing grounds of Georges Bank, “includes three underwater canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon and four underwater mountains known as ‘seamounts’ that are biodiversity hotspots and home to many rare and endangered species.”

But the area now known as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is also the site of rich lobster and crab fisheries and other commercial fishing activities that are overseen by regional fisheries management councils and are considered to be well-managed, sustainable activities. Some of the fisheries have self-imposed restrictions that are tougher than those laid out by the regulators—and also fish at sea levels far above the ocean bottoms that the marine preserve claims to protect.

Under the monument designation, commercial fishermen have 60 days to depart from the area. Lobster and crab fishermen have been given a seven-year phase-out provision. Recreational fishing will continue to be allowed.

As he did last month in creating a new Pacific marine preserve that is now the largest marine set-aside in the world, Obama used the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows creation of the protected area by decree rather than the normal legislative process—a procedure that has drawn as much criticism from fishing communities as the creation of the preserve itself.

In a press release, the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association declared that “We find it deplorable that the government is kicking the domestic fishing fleet out of an area where they sustainably harvest healthy fish stocks. Declaring a monument via Presidential fiat under unilateral authority of the Antiquities Act stands contrary to the principles of open government and transparency espoused by this President.”

Ray Hilborn, a fisheries scientist who is an expert on global fishing stocks, concurs. He told Fox News, “There is simply no need for arbitrary declaration of Marine Monuments. We have a legal framework that can protect habitats, and rebuild fish stocks that relies on scientific analysis and consultation. If there is a real threat these areas can be closed by the fisheries management councils. Bypassing science and consultation is a very dangerous trend.”

Read the full story at Fox News

Tarr: Marine monument punishes fishermen

September 16, 2016 — Creating the Atlantic Ocean’s first marine national monument is a needed response to dangerous climate change, oceanic dead zones and unsustainable fishing practices, President Barack Obama said Thursday.

But state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, said the designation “singled out commercial fishing for more punishment.”

The new Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument consists of nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains about 150 miles southeast of Cape Cod.

Gov. Charlie Baker said he is “deeply disappointed” by Obama’s designation of an area off the New England coast as the first deep-sea marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, a move the Swampscott Republican’s administration sees as undermining Massachusetts fishermen.

The monument area includes three underwater canyons and four underwater mountains that provide habitats for protected species including sea turtles and endangered whales.

Fishing operations

Tarr said the designation marked a missed opportunity to “balance conservation and support for commercial fishing.”

“In New England, we have one of the most highly regulated fishing industries in the world, and we have had a steady decline in the amount of area available to fish, and it should be a last resort to take away more area as opposed to trying to carefully draw the lines of this monument area,” Tarr told the State House News Service.

The marine protections will hurt red crab, swordfish, tuna, squid, whiting and offshore lobster fisheries, according to the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, which said industry representatives offered White House aides alternative proposals that would have protected coral habitat while still allowing fishing in some areas.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

National monument in waters off Cape Cod causes rift

September 16, 2016 — The establishment of the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean drew mixed reactions Thursday, with environmental groups hailing the new protections that some New England fishermen denounced as a threat to their livelihood.

The designation bans commercial fishing in an expansive ecosystem off Cape Cod in a concerted effort to protect the area from the impact of climate change, President Obama said as he announced the designation at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, D.C.

But fishermen said the area should remain open, asserting that decades of commercial fishing have not damaged the ecosystem. They accused the Obama administration of ignoring their recommendations for compromise measures.

One proposal would have allowed fishing in the area as far down as 450 meters and kept the area open to red crab fishing, said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. An average of 800,000 pounds of lobster are taken from the monument area every year, he said.

Denny Colbert, who runs Trebloc Seafood in Plymouth with his brother, said he sends two vessels to the area to catch lobster and Jonah crabs.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I’m going to have to find another place to go.”

Bill Palombo, president of Palombo Fishing Corp. in Newport, R.I., said lobster and red crab are plentiful in the area.

“It’s going to be devastating for us,” said Palombo.

The designation prevents access to the main source of red crab in New England, said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “The red crab industry is primarily fished in these canyons,” she said. “I don’t see them going anywhere else. That’s where it is.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Fishermen upset over creation of Atlantic’s first monument

September 16, 2016 — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Fishermen in New England say President Barack Obama needlessly dealt a big blow to their industry when he created the Atlantic Ocean’s first marine national monument and circumvented the existing process for protecting fisheries.

The new Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument consists of nearly 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the New England coast. The designation will close the area to commercial fishermen, who go there primarily for lobster, red crab, squid, whiting, butterfish, swordfish and tuna.

After Thursday’s announcement, fishermen pondered their next move: sue, lobby Congress to change the plan or relocate. It’s hard to move, they said, because other fishermen would likely already be fishing where they would want to go.

They said the designation process wasn’t transparent and the administration should have let the New England Fishery Management Council finish working on the coral protection measures it’s considering.

“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 lobstermen’s association and other fishermen wanted the White House to allow fishing in depths of up to 450 meters, so they could still go there but deep-sea corals would have been protected. Annually, about 800,000 pounds (362,877 kilograms) of lobster are caught near the canyons, according to the lobstermen’s association.

White House officials said the administration listened to industry’s concerns and made the monument smaller, with a seven-year transition period for the lobster and red crab industries.

Industry advocate Robert Vanasse said it’s clear the plan will decrease the supply of fish species, and typically a decrease in supply, raises prices. It’s difficult to gauge the economic impact this early, added Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Fox Business

Obama designates the first-ever marine monument off the East Coast, in New England

September 15, 2016 — President Obama declared the first fully protected area in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, designating 4,913 square miles off the New England coastline as a new marine national monument.

Obama’s previous marine conservation declarations have focused on some of the most remote waters under U.S. jurisdiction, including last month’s expansion of a massive protected area in Hawaii. But the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is more accessible, lying 130 miles off the southeast coast of Cape Cod.

Several regional fishing associations lobbied against the creation of a new monument, on the grounds that the federal government could reconcile environmental protections and ongoing fishing operations by regulating activities there under an existing fisheries management law.

Trawlers as well as offshore lobster and crab boat operators currently catch a range of species near the underwater canyons, including squid, mackerel, butterfish, lobster and Atlantic red crab. According to industry estimates, these fisheries are worth more than $50 million in total.

In an effort to lessen the economic impact, the administration will give lobster and red crab operators seven years to exit the area. Recreational fishing can continue around the three deep-sea canyons and four seamounts that are now protected, but seabed mining and any other extractive activities are banned.

Administration officials estimated there were six lobster boats operating in the area that will be protected, along with 20 other fishing vessels that move in and out of the area.

“The only user group that’s going to be negatively affected by this proposal is the fishing industry, period,” said David Borden, executive director of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, noting that the new protections will not affect oil tankers moving through the area or telecommunications cables lying on the seabed.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Obama’s Atlantic Monument Hurts Lobster, Red Crab, and Other Fisheries

September 15, 2016 — President Obama will designate a national monument Thursday covering thousands of square miles in the Atlantic Ocean, pleasing environmental groups but flying in the face of opposition from state officials and fishing organizations.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument will cover 4,913 square miles off the coast of New England — an area nearly the size of the state of Connecticut — the White House announced Thursday. It will include “three underwater canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, and four underwater mountains known as ‘seamounts’ that are biodiversity hotspots and home to many rare and endangered species,” it said.

Robert Vanasse, executive director of fishing advocacy group Saving Seafood, slammed the declaration, saying White House officials never seriously took the concerns of locals into account.

“It’s just really obvious that the fix was in from the start,” Vanasse told BuzzFeed News. “I believe the sound waves hit their eardrums but I don’t believe they were actually listening.”

Though the exact parameters of the monument were not available late Wednesday, Vanasse said the designation could potentially cost the offshore lobster community $10 million a year. He also said red crab, squid, and other fishing industries could take significant hits by a monument designation.

According to the White House, fishing within the monument will be phased out; red crab and lobster fisheries will have seven years before having to leave, and other commercial fishers will have a 60-day transition period.

Vanasse praised the gradual change — because it’ll give the industry time to fight the designation.

“The fact that they have some time is going to be a good thing because we can fight this and we’ll be fighting it with a different administration,” he said. “I imagine that we will see a legal challenge.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News

JON WILLIAMS: Monument Area Vital To Fishermen

August 23, 2016 — The following is excerpted from a letter to the editor written by Jon Williams, president of the New England Red Crab Harvesters’ Association. It was published today:

I was disappointed with The Courant’s Aug. 18 editorial “Atlantic Marine Preserve Would Be Victory For Environment” endorsing a plan for President Obama to designate a marine national monument off the New England coast.

Contrary to what the editorial stated, a monument would profoundly impact commercial fishermen. The editorial cited the Natural Resources Defense Council’s claim that the “vast majority of red crab landings” along the Eastern Seaboard are outside the proposed protection area. But take it from a crab fisherman: That area is vital to our livelihoods.

Read the full letter at the Hartford Courant

Connecticut Lawmakers, Proposed Atlantic Monument Met With Opposition From Commercial Fishermen

August 5, 2016 — The following is excerpted from a story published yesterday by the Hartford Courant:

A plan announced Thursday that would designate a unique undersea area 150 miles off the New England coast as the nation’s first Atlantic marine national monument was met with immediate opposition from commercial fishermen.

Connecticut’s congressional delegation, as well as environmental and educational groups, want President Barack Obama to preserve the “New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts” area, which lies along the continental shelf.

The proposal would dramatically restrict commercial fishing in that area and is drawing fierce opposition from commercial fisherman like Stonington’s Bobby Guzzo, who owns and operates two boats.

“That’s just the government trying to take all our water,” Guzzo said Thursday from aboard his fishing vessel. “I’m dead set against it.”

Joseph Gilbert’s Empire Fisheries operates four fishing boats out of Stonington, and he also has problems with the proposed undersea sanctuary. “Fishermen are conservationists, too,” Gilbert said, explaining that he believes the proposal “is well intentioned” but simply “goes too far” without considering the impact on commercial fishing operations and supplies of fish for consumers.

“A lot of these areas are protected already,” Gilbert said.

Commercial fishing groups such as the National Coalition for Fishing Communities argue that there already exist federal laws and regulatory commissions that are set up to protect valuable marine resources like those within the proposed marine sanctuary.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which is responsible for regulating fishing in the region, is also opposed to creation of a protected marine monument off New England’s continental shelf. Commercial fishing organizations warn that the plan would hamper fishing for red crab, swordfish, tuna, as well as off-shore lobster fisheries.

Jon Mitchell, mayor of New Bedford, Mass., New England’s most important fishing port, has also objected to the proposal, as has Maine Gov. Paul LePage.

Read the full story at the Hartford Courant

NEFMC Puts Out Call for Advisory Panel Applicants

August 2, 2016 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Industry members who want to serve on one or more of the New England Fishery Management Council’s Advisory Panels (APs) still have time to submit applications. The deadline is Aug. 31, 2016.

“Our advisors are important to us,” said Council Executive Director Tom Nies. “They bring a wide range of experience and perspectives to the table and give us valuable insight into the practical, social, and economic implications of our actions.”

Selected AP members will be appointed to three-year terms running from January 2017 through December 2020.

IMPORTANT: Current advisors who want to continue serving on APs do not need to fill out new applications but MUST email Joan O’Leary at joleary@nefmc.org or fax a note to the Council at (978) 465- 3116 indicating their desire to remain on a particular panel.

Seats are available on the Council’s Habitat, Herring, Enforcement, Monkfish, Red Crab, Skate, Scallop, Whiting, and Groundfish APs, as well as the Groundfish Recreational Advisory Panel, commonly referred to as the RAP.

Potential qualified applicants include:

Commercial and recreational fishermen;
Seafood processors and dealers; and
Other industry stakeholders such as members of conservation groups, academia, or state and local
management agencies or boards.

Application forms and additional information are available here.