Saving Seafood

Jim Gossen Joins SXSW Fishery Bycatch Panel

As the 2016 South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival returns to Austin for the 30th time, the interactive incubator  of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity portion will feature five days of compelling presentations and panels from the brightest minds, including the Gulf Seafood Institute’s Texas Board Member Jim Gossen who will join three other presenters on a panel discussion on seafood bycatch.

Who is successfully making bycatch a part of their everyday menu? What are they serving, and why? How can the movement be promoted nationwide? Wherever there is fishing, there is bycatch, the incidental capture of non-target species, and some chefs/fishmongers are working hard to promote the “trash fish” on menus – both for the good of our planet and our taste buds. The panel discussion Hooked on Bycatch: Seafood You Should Be Eating takes place on Saturday March 12th at 3:30 pm at the Driskill Hotel and will focus on some of the underlining questions about “sustainable seafood”.

While most educated diners want to order “sustainable seafood,” if faced with choosing between a responsibly harvested salmon and a fish they’ve never heard of (Can I interest you in a beautiful ribbonfish this evening?), diners most often rely on what they know and love.

A native of Louisiana with Cajun roots, Gossen has been an innovative and tireless leader for the recovery and improved sustainability of the Gulf of Mexico’s seafood industry. His 44-plus-year career in the restaurant, seafood processing and distribution business includes owning and operating six restaurants in Louisiana and Houston and founding Louisiana Foods Global Seafood Source, Texas’ largest seafood processing and distribution Company.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

Red Snapper Continues Dominance at Galveston Gulf Council Meeting

October 26, 2015 — Regional management of the Gulf red snapper fishery continued to be a hot topic during the last Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council of 2015 held at the Hilton Galveston Island hotel. While the council also addressed important fishery issues concerning gag, black grouper, and shrimp, Gulf red snapper remained the biggest issue to dominate the Council’s time.

The Council continued discussions on Reef Fish Amendment 39 which would divide the recreational red snapper quota among regions to allow for the creation of different management measures better suited for each area. If enacted, the Council has selected to sunset the action five years after implementation. Currently, the Council has selected a preferred alternative that would sunset the action five years after implementation.

Charter boats across the Gulf of Mexico carry nearly 1.5 million recreational anglers from across the country and around the world on yearly fishing trips. Under the current federal management system, the Gulf federally-permitted charter fleet has a guaranteed allocation of red snapper for customers. Regional management would allow each Gulf state to manage red snapper in predetermined zones corresponding to each state’s land boundaries. Each state would have its own allocation of red snapper, as well as the ability to set fishing season lengths and daily bag limits. Under the current federal management system the federally permitted for-hire fleet and the private angling component have separate red sanpper allocations. Amendment 39 also considers whether to extend or end this separate management of the private angling and federally permitted for-hire components.

“The topic of the day was definitely the controversial red snapper regional management plan,” said Captain Shane Cantrell, Executive Director of the Charter Fisherman’s Association. “The federally permitted charter fleet continues to make it known to the Gulf Council that they do not want to be included in Amendment 39. This was demonstrated again in Galveston during several hours of public comment requesting that the federally permitted charter fleet and private anglers have the opportunity to develop independent management that suits their respective needs.”

On the second day of meetings, Robin Riechers the Director of Coastal Fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, stated during hearings that Texas federally permitted charter-for-hire captains were in favor of being included in the snapper regional management plan. The following day more than 50 Texas charter operators, a majority of the state’s industry, descended upon the Council voicing their strong opposition to being included stating that Riechers misspoke about their support for the plan.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute

High rollers, big names back CCA agenda across U.S. & N.C

September 17, 2015 – “The CCA has nothing to do with conservation unless you consider sport fishermen having all of a certain species allocated to themselves as conservation.”

Those are the words of author Robert Fritchey, who wrote the definitive book tracing the history of the Coastal Conservation Association, titled “Wetland Riders”.

The CCA traces its roots to Texas in 1977 and was originally founded by mostly wealthy anglers in Houston.

Fritchey describes the group as consisting entirely of “about twenty sportsmen, some wealthy, some not” who were convinced commercial fishing was killing sport fishing in Texas bays.

The group of men named their organization the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (GCCA). And it didn’t take long for the wealthier sport fishermen to take over.

Analysis

Fritchey ticked off the names of those early leaders in the first chapter:

  • Walter Foundren III, a Houston oil executive and Exxon heir, was named chair of the Executive Committee.
  • Perry R. Bass, another billionaire Texas oilman who in 2005 was rated by Forbes at the 746th wealthiest American, also served on the committee.
  • The GCCA’s first president, David Cummings, was a Houston real estate investor.
  • The vice president was Clyde Hanks, another wealthy resident of Houston described as an “insurance magnate.”

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice 

 

 

Texas Attorney General Files Oyster Lawsuit Against Chambers Liberty County Navigation District and STORM

August 5, 2015 — GALVESTON, Texas — Storm clouds circling Galveston Bay have collided releasing what promises to be a hurricane of paperwork, legal wrangling and an inevitable end to the “Battle for the Bay” that has for more than a year compromised oyster production, damaged businesses and hurt the American oyster consumer.

On the final day of July, the Texas Attorney General’s office, on behalf of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), filed a lawsuit naming Chamber-Liberty Counties Navigation District (CLCND) and Sustainable Texas Oyster Resource Management (STORM) as attempting to circumvent the state’s sole authority and jurisdiction to regulate the conservation and harvesting of oysters, mussels, and clams from state waters by executing an unauthorized lease.

According to the petition filed by Texas Assistant Attorney General Craig Pritzlaff, the CLCND and STORM have entered into an illegal lease on more than 23,000 acres of submerged lands and waters within Galveston Bay which the State legislature has vested the TPWD with sole authority and jurisdiction to regulate. By granting the lease, the District and its Commissioners subverted, preempted and interfered with the state’s regulatory and conservation programs.

The District and STORM have asserted unlawful possession over oysters in state waters and STORM is attempting to exclude entities from lawfully harvesting oysters. Through the lawsuit, the state is looking to void the lease and seeks restitution from STORM and the District.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute Newsroom