Western Fishboat Owners Association Archives

Albacore tuna: West Coast landings hit a 20-year dip

June 19, 2019 — Landings for West Coast albacore tuna fell below 2017 landings and below the 20-year average in 2018. The troll industry hopes enough market-sized, young fish will recruit into the fishery in time for this year’s season.

“There were a lot of small fish around last year,” said Wayne Heikkila, executive director of Western Fishboat Owners Association in Redding, Calif. By small fish, he’s referring to 7-pound fish that the industry hopes will grow to 12- to 15-pound fish in time for the 2019 season, which peaks in July.

According to data from PacFIN, trollers caught and sold 6,950.3 metric tons of albacore in 2018, which is down by 7 percent from 2017 landings of 7,467.7 metric tons. Ex-vessel prices also fell by about 23 percent from the $2.12 per pound that processors paid in 2017 to $1.63 per pound in 2018. Fleet revenues also fell by about 28 percent from $34.83 million to $24.93 million.

Though it’s difficult to identify price-depressing factors in the world market of tuna, other countries contribute cheaper product into avenues that compete directly with U.S. albacore.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

National Coalition for Fishing Communities: An Open Letter to America’s Chefs

October 31, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of the National Coalition for Fishing Communities have long believed that the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) is one of the great success stories in fisheries management. Originally co-sponsored in the House over 40 years ago by Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Gerry Studds (D-Massachusetts), the MSA has become a worldwide model, and is one of the reasons the U.S. has some of the best-managed and most sustainable fish stocks in the world. The bill is named for its Senate champions, Warren Magnuson (D-Washington) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

But we are concerned by a new “nationwide #ChefsForFish campaign targeted at the new 2019 Congress, to launch after the elections in early November,” being organized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which the Aquarium calls the “next phase” of its “defense” of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Monterey Bay Aquarium described this campaign in an October 25 email sent to its “Blue Ribbon Task Force chefs.” The email asked this network of chefs to support the “Portland Pact for Sustainable Seafood” (attached).

On the surface, the Portland Pact matter-of-factly states sound principles:

“Requiring management decisions be science-based;
Avoiding overfishing with catch limits and tools that hold everyone accountable for the fish that they remove from the ocean; and
Ensuring the timely recovery of depleted fish stocks.”

However, in the last Congress, the Monterey Bay Aquarium used similar language to falsely characterize legitimate attempts to pass needed improvements to the MSA as betraying these principles. In fact, these changes would have made the landmark law even better.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has repeatedly called on Congress to reject efforts, such as H.R. 200, which passed the U.S. House in July, and was sponsored by the now Dean of the House Don Young, that would amend the Act to introduce needed updates for U.S. fisheries management. If the chefs being asked to sign onto the Portland Pact were to talk to our fishermen, they would know how important these reforms are for the health of our nation’s fishing communities.

Any suggestion that the original co-sponsor of the bill would, 40 years later, act to undermine America’s fisheries, is inappropriate. In fact, most of the “fishing groups” that opposed Congressman Young’s bill, are financially supported by environmental activists and their funders.

No legislation, no matter how well designed is perfect or timeless. In fact, Congress has twice made significant revisions to the MSA, first in 1996 with the passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act and in 2007 with the MSA Reauthorization Act. Like many other valued and successful laws, the Magnuson-Stevens Act is both working well, and in need of updates.

We agree that “management decisions be science-based.” One of the most significant issues with the current MSA is that it requires that fish stocks be rebuilt according to rigid, arbitrary timeframes that have no scientific or biological basis. Bills like H.R. 200, officially the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, would instead require that stocks be rebuilt according to an appropriate biological timeframe determined by the regional councils that manage the stocks.

H.R. 200 would also introduce other important measures that would better allow the councils to adapt their management plans to fit changing ecological conditions and the needs of fishing communities, which will become increasingly important as our coastal areas experience the effects of climate change.

American fishermen, like many American chefs, are committed to sustainable fishing and healthy oceans. Our businesses need sustainable, abundant fish stocks for us to make a living, and we all want a thriving resource that we can pass down to the next generation. We would never endorse a law that would threaten the long-term survival of our environment or our industry. That is why we endorse changes to the MSA that would ensure both.

We ask that any chef who is considering signing onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium letter to Congress first consult the local fishermen who supply them with fresh, quality products to learn how this law affects their communities.

NCFC members are available to connect chefs with seafood industry leaders, who would be happy to discuss how the MSA can be updated to help both fish and fishermen.

Sincerely,

Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries
Kathy Fosmark, Co-Chair
CA

Atlantic Red Crab Company
Jon Williams, President
MA

California Wetfish Producers Association
Diane Pleschner-Steele
CA

Delmarva Fisheries Association
Capt. Rob Newberry, Chairman
MD, VA

Fishermen’s Dock Co-Op
Jim Lovgren, Board Member
NJ

Garden State Seafood Association
Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director
NJ

Hawaii Longline Association
Sean Martin, Executive Director
HI

Long Island Commercial Fishermen’s Association
Bonnie Brady, Executive Director
NY

Lunds Fisheries, Inc.
Wayne Reichle, President
CA, NJ

Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance
Rich Fuka, Executive Director
RI

Seafreeze, Ltd.
Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison
RI

Southeastern Fisheries Association
Bob Jones, Executive Director
FL

Viking Village
Jim Gutowski, Owner
NJ

West Coast Seafood Processors Association
Lori Steele, Executive Director
CA, WA, OR

Western Fishboat Owners Association
Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director
AK, CA, OR, WA

PRESS CONTACT

Bob Vanasse
bob@savingseafood.org
202-333-2628

View the letter here

After slow-paced 2017 season, albacore trollers hope landings pick up

July 13, 2018 — West Coast albacore trollers saw a slower paced fishery in 2017. Landings at the end of the year stood at 7,470.7 metric tons, according to data from PacFIN. Ex-vessel prices of $2.12 per pound brought fleet revenues to $34.87 million. In 2016, landings for the South and North Pacific regions tallied up to 10,266.23 metric tons at ex-vessel prices of $2.10 per pound for revenues of $3.73 million.

Last year’s harvest came in significantly lower than the 20-year average.

“West Coast fishing was pretty slow,” said Wayne Heikkila, executive director of Western Fishboat Owners Association, in Redding, Calif. “The harvest was about 40 percent down.”

Fishing for albacore in the South Pacific proved equally slow. It wasn’t that the fish weren’t there, according to Heikkila. They were just spread out and hard to find.

“They got fish pretty much everywhere,” said Heikkila. “Some boats went all the way west to the dateline, but it was like 2005, when it was hard to catch 40 to 50 fish a day.”

The scattered schools in both the South Pacific and nearshore waters of the West Coast dashed hopes of a large harvest.

“A lot of the catch was late,” said Heikkila. “But it ended up a little better than we thought it would.”

As the fleet readied for this year’s season, questions remained whether last year’s sparse concentrations of albacore would go down as an anomaly or part of a trend — and whether ocean conditions making the swing from El Niño toward La Niña would play an optimistic hand in returning the catch closer to its 20-year average.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

East and West Coast NCFC Members: ‘H.R. 200 Will Create Flexibility Without Compromising Conservation’

June 25, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Today, East and West Coast members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) submitted a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in support of H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, which would update the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The letter, which was also sent to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Emeritus Don Young, and other top Congressional officials, states that H.R. 200 will “create flexibility without compromising conservation.”

“We want a Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) that allows for both sustainable fisheries management, and the long-term preservation of our nation’s fishing communities,” the groups wrote. “We firmly believe that Congress can meet these goals by allowing for more flexibility in management, eliminating arbitrary rebuilding timelines, and adding other reforms that better take into account the complex challenges facing commercial fishermen.”

The letter does not include support from the NCFC’s Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic members, which supported the legislation from the beginning, but withdrew their support due to a late change to the Manager’s Amendment that would negatively impact their region. The NCFC’s East and West Coast members continue to support the bill on its overall merits, but share the concerns of Gulf and South Atlantic fishermen over this late alteration.

Organizations affiliated with the NCFC do not accept money from ENGOs, and represent the authentic views of the U.S. commercial fishing industry.

The letter signers represent the American Scallop Association, Atlantic Red Crab Company, Atlantic Capes Fisheries, BASE Seafood, California Wetfish Producers Association, Cape Seafood, Garden State Seafood Association, Inlet Seafood, Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, Lund’s Fisheries, North Carolina Fisheries Association, Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, Seafreeze Ltd., Town Dock, West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and Western Fishboat Owners Association.

Read the full letter here

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 20^th 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

PETER H. FLOURNOY: Benefits of Antiquities Act Don’t Extend to Marine Monuments

April 4, 2017 — The following was written by Peter H. Flournoy, a representative of the Western Fishboat Owners’ Association, in response to a March 31 op-ed in the New York Times:

I have represented U.S. commercial fishermen for about 35 years, primarily working in the Pacific Ocean. I believe the primary concern of Republicans and Democrats who oppose the Act stems from where the Antiquities Act has been used, primarily by Presidents Bush and Obama, to close large areas of the ocean on both coasts to U.S. fishermen. Sometimes the expressed rationale is to protect the ocean bottom or coral reefs in certain areas, however, too often this also ends all surface fishing, which has no contact with the ocean floor. Traditionally U.S. fisheries are managed under the Magnuson Stevens Act. The Councils formed under this statute are the entities with the fishery management expertise. When the Antiquities Act is used, they are closed out.

While it may be that the Antiquities Act should be used for land areas, for the ocean there is the Marine Sanctuaries Act, which has a very public, transparent, and inclusive process.

In your opinion piece you also frequently used the number of tourists who visit the national parks which have grown from Antiquities Act set asides. I doubt I could count more than a hundred visitors to the marine protected areas which have been established. These visitors are not your common middle class citizen that finds pleasure in taking his family to view nature’s majesty at minimum expense. The only people that can enjoy the marine sanctuaries that have been set up under the Antiquities Act are those rich enough to own cabin cruisers or dedicated sufficiently to enjoy the expensive sport of scuba diving.

I hope the next time you lecture your classes on the Antiquities Act you might mention some of the above concerns.

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