Ahab's Journal

Amend Magnuson Now, Hatteras Fisherman Says

 

Whether you are a recreational or commercial fisherman, chances are that you are starting to feel the heat generated by the inflexible nature of the Magnuson Stevens act.  And while I doubt  there is one of us that does not want to be good stewards of this nations natural resources and  fisheries in particular,  I would also doubt that any of you would care to be put out of business or have your recreation compromised because of some arbitrary timeline by those in congress who really don't have a clue......

    If you really want to know what is at stake, click on the SAFMC's website and read Chairman Duane Harris's testimony to Congress on the lower right hand corner of the page.  What you as stakeholder's will find is a frank discussion  relating how  healthy or managed fisheries  are now going to be held hostage  by the weakest link and science need not be present to further your pain.  

   Take for instance the 40 fathom seaward closure now being proposed from Fla to N.C...  This is being perpetuated by  two species (speckled hind and warsaw grouper)  that this council has acknowledged they haven't a clue about since they have no landing data since 1995.  They along with the environmental community  further that by stating that it will also help other deepwater species that are undergoing overfishing. 

    But what they don't seem to be interested in discussing is that they have recently  instituted a management plan  with benefits across the board in the deepwater complex with the  culmination of amendment 13c  (2006).  This plan originated for the benefit of snowy grouper and  has reduced  a fishery that historically averaged around 300.000 lbs annually .  As of mid December of this past year landings on snowies were  at 66.000lbs  which equated to over a 75% reduction when 13 C only required  a 69 %..  That certainly doesn't throw precaution to the wind for the two species in question or any others  in this complex.  Furthermore, when they don't even have a bench mark to go on with the  two species in question, how or  when will they decide that it is rebuilt?  The convenient response from the council  is that they  have got to obey the law of Magnuson.... 

    I could name plenty of other fisheries important to both recreational and commercial fishermen  that either are facing or have already entered similar situations as the above, but that wouldn't change a thing.

Only our collective voice is going to make a difference in any of this.  Please go online to "Ahab's Journal "and sign the petition to  "Amend the Magnuson Stevens Act" and encourage as many of your friends as possible to do the same. ..  Also, I  hope to see you on the steps of our nations  Capitol between noon and 3 p.m. on February the 24th.  It's your future....

 

Jeff Oden

Hatteras, NC

As government’s reach grows, fishermen face job losses

Since Congress passed the first major fishing law in 1976, the main federal body that governs fishing has quadrupled in size.

Fishermen say the government is just about everywhere these days. Some are required to have black boxes on their boats that use satellites to track them wherever they go. They periodically have to take “government observers” out to sea with them on fishing trips. Everything they catch is recorded. The type of gear they use, what they can keep and what they must throw back, what safety equipment they must carry: The government controls all of it.

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U.S. considers rewriting fisheries law in dispute with Canada

U.S. lawmakers are moving to rewrite a 34-year-old act that governs fisheries shared with Canada to give American boats a greater share of yellowtail flounder and other commercial species - worth more than $150 million - inhabiting boundary waters off the Atlantic coast.

The push to redefine the Magnuson-Stevens Act as an "international agreement" rather than a lesser "understanding" would give U.S. officials flexibility to set higher catch limits for flounder - a move sparked by what U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe called a "breakdown" in negotiations with Canada that left U.S. fishermen facing a "devastating" disadvantage in shared fishing grounds south of Nova Scotia.

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A Petition To Amend MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT

Read and Sign Here

A Petition To Amend MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT

Specifically, the United States Congress demands the preservation, not the destruction, of the individual family fishing business operation.

Read the petition here

United we fish!

That will be the rallying cry for both recreational and commercial fishermen as they gather Feb. 24, from noon to 3 p.m., on the steps of the Capitol. They will be there to protest a snowballing avalanche of fisheries closures prompted by revision of Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSCCA).

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A Holiday Greeting From the Recreational Fishing Alliance

Mark the Date - February 24, 2010 in Washington DC!!!

To our family and friends, As we enjoy the holiday season and the final week of 2009, the staff at the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your ongoing support, while offering our best wishes to you and yours at this joyous time of year.  While 2009 will surely not be going down in the logbook as a banner year in terms of access to our coastal fisheries, we're all hoping that real change for our coastal communities will be positive in 2010 - and to help make sure that the concerns of American recreational fishermen are truly heard in Washington, the RFA and our friends from all along the coast will be gathering together in Washington DC later this winter.     On February 24, 2010 at noon, RFA members will rally on the steps of our nation's Capitol in an organized demonstration against the unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA).  Together with our friends from the Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen, United Boatmen, New York Sportfishing Federation, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association, Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund (SSFFF), Marine Trades Association of New Jersey (MTA/NJ) and the Fishing Rights Alliance, we're hoping to see several thousand recreational fishermen like yourself standing together in support of the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009.  HR 1584 is sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone and supported by 25 additional co-sponsors, while the senate version of the bill, S 1255, has been sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer and has just recently added its first cosponsor (Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand).

Sign on to the call for changing federal fishery law

This is an appeal to the public to petition Congress to change an unjust and inefficient law, the Magnuson Law, formally known as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This law has surreptitiously become the Fisherman's Destroyer Act. This law must be changed.

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The Times They Are a-Changin' - by Nils Stolpe

It’s been a long time coming, but it appears as if a critical number of fishermen have finally reached the conclusion that the way things are heading, there’s not going to be an acceptable fishing future for any of us, that it’s time for some long overdue changes, and that the place to effect those changes is in Congress.

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NOAA Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule Revising National Standard 2 to the Magnuson-Stevens Act

NOAA Fisheries Service proposes revisions to the guidelines for National Standard 2 (NS2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) regarding scientific information. This action is necessary to provide guidance on the use of best scientific information available (BSIA) for the effective conservation and management of the nation's living marine resources. NMFS proposes to modify the existing NS2 guidelines on BSIA and establish new guidelines for scientific peer review to ensure the reliability, credibility, and integrity of the scientific information used in fishery conservation and management measures.

Fishing bills advance to ease Georges Bank limits

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee yesterday gave a green light to a bill to allow flexibility in rebuilding deadlines for high-value fish stocks jointly managed by the United States and Canada.

A similar House bill was introduced by Massachusetts Democrats Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney, who were joined by colleagues from Massachusetts, Maine and North Carolina.

The related actions — aimed at increasing American boats' catch volumes of prized Georges Bank cod, haddock, yellowtail and scallops worth an estimated $150 million a year — occurred on the original date for a coastal caucus that Frank had organized to consider ways to instill wider flexibility to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary legislation that governs America's fisheries.

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WBZ-Boston: Fishermen Hurting Due to Regulations

WBZ-TV Boston's Jonathan Elias presents a two-part series on fishing regulations in New England.  WBZ describes fishing as an iconic symbol of New England and its heritage, but some fishermen say they are in trouble.

 

In Part 1, Jonathan Elias observes that fishermen are trying to live by the rules, but in the process they are losing good fish, losing time, and not making as much money as they used to. 

In Part 2,  fishermen say their livelihoods are on the line and they blame the Federal Government. 

Watch series

"United We Fish" To Seek Congressional Support On February 24

December 16, 2009 - In a historic show of solidarity, recreational and commercial fishermen will gather together on the steps of the Capitol on February 24, 2010 from noon until 3 p.m. in an organized demonstration against the unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the federal fisheries law which was revised in January of 2007.  Coordinating the march under the flag of United We Fish, rally organizers are hoping to see a large show of force in defense of coastal communities.

Congressional fishing caucus pushed back

The caucus of Atlantic coast federal lawmakers organized to consider ways to loosen regulatory restrictions on commercial fishermen which had been scheduled for today has been put off until the new year by the sponsor, Massachusetts Congressman Rep. Barney Frank.

Harry Gural, Frank's press secretary, said that many members are expected to be away from Washington today.

"It now looks like the House may not be in session on Thursday," Gural said yesterday. "If so, some members will have to be in their districts."

Gural said Frank would reschedule the caucus for January.

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National fishermen's protest set for Feb. 24

The date of a national demonstration by fishing interests in Washington, D.C., has been set for Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Originally scheduled for Feb. 17, the announcement of the changed date was made Monday by the Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen, one of the organizers of the event.

CCGF spokesman Capt. Bob Zales said the change was made because Feb. 17 was discovered to fall during a congressional recess.

The protest has drawn national interest. Along with Zales' organization, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, an umbrella group representing states' recreational fishing organizations, United Boatsmen of New York and New Jersey as well as the organizers of the commercial fishermen's protest held in Gloucester in October at the regional offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service are expected to attend.

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FISHERMEN TO MARCH ON WASHINGTON, DC

(CORRECTION ON DATE)

For Immediate Release, December 14, 2009:

We wish to correct the date for the March on Washington that was announced on December 10, 2009.

The previously announced date was February 17, 2010. Preliminary information indicated that

congressional leaders would be in Washington on that date but we have since learned that was

incorrect as that is a holiday week for legislators and they will be back in their respective districts. The

correct date for the event is FEBRUARY 24, 2010.  We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and encourage you to attend the meeting.

Snowe joins push to reform laws governing fishing

The fishing industry and a group of New England lawmakers are trying to ease the tight catch limits saddling American boats by bolstering a longstanding but now tenuous Georges Bank fishing agreement between the United States and Canada.

A bill filed last week by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, would amend American fisheries law and carve out an exemption from rigid rebuilding targets for three species on Georges Bank fished and managed by both nations.

The American laws, which call for U.S. stocks to be totally rebuilt by 2014, are much stricter than those in Canada, which lack an aggressive, fixed timeline.

Read more

Congressman sets date for Magnuson caucus

Congressman Barney Frank has tentatively scheduled a caucus of East Coast lawmakers for next Thursday to discuss the challenge of modifying the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary federal law governing America's fisheries.

Frank told the Times last week he planned to make a push to bring flexibility into the act in light of decisions by the New England Fishery Management Council to reduce scalloping effort despite the health of the fishery.

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FISHERMEN TO MARCH ON WASHINGTON, DC

Recreational and commercial fishermen, support business owners, families, and community leaders

will gather at the steps of our Nation’s Capitol on February 17, 2010 from noon to 3 PM to show

congress a united front of the impacts caused by the unintended impacts of the Magnuson Stevens

Conservation and Management Act as revised effective January, 2007 (RMSA). The overly restrictive

management requirements created by the RMSA based on non scientific arbitrary deadlines are

forcing anglers off the water, eliminating commercial fishing, preventing consumers from purchasing

locally caught fresh seafood, destroying small family businesses, increasing unemployment, and

adversely affecting coastal communities.

It's time to stop Magnuson from being a weapon against fishing communities - by Nils Stolpe

 

Countless management initiatives are being imposed on fishermen who are looking at fisheries that are healthier today than they have been in decades.

 

A reduction in sea scallop landings of thirty percent. A total closure of the Gulf of Mexico recreational amberjack fishery. A reduction in spiny dogfish landings of twenty-five percent. A total seasonal closure of the recreational sea bass fishery in the Northeast. A total closure of the red snapper fishery in federal waters from Florida to North Carolina. Recreational summer flounder restrictions that have decimated the for-hire fleet. Massive West coast rockfish closures based on less than adequate science. A looming lobster bait crisis stemming from a massive though biologically unnecessary reduction in herring landings. One hundred and thirty thousand tons of uncaught groundfish TAC. A labyrinth of MPAs off California established wherever catchable fish are found. And the list could go on, and on, and on….

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Coastal Congressmen to Discuss Negligence of Socioeconomic Impacts

 Congressman Frank will be hosting a meeting on December 17^th of Atlantic Coast Congressmen and Senators to discuss possible Congressional responses to recent fisheries’ management decisions that have not adequately taken into account harmful economic impacts on fishing communities. 

An recent example being the New England Fishery Management Council decision to reduce the Scallop fishery Day at Sea (DAS) by over 20%.  The Council’s decision will lead to a reduction of DAS from 37 days in 2009 to 29 days in 2010, and reduce special access area trips from 5 to 4.  This excessive and economically harmfulreduction goes beyond what the Council’s own Plan Development Team (PTD), and Science and Statistical Committee had supported.  Additionally, this cut is taking place in a scallop fishery that has an abundance of scientific data and is currently not being overfished.

Frank eyes federal 'caucus' to revise fishing law

Congressman Barney Frank says he will call an East Coast congressional caucus within two weeks to organize what he recognizes will be an uphill battle against environmental forces to create a more equal balance between the reconstruction of fish stocks and community interests.

"We have a reasonable chance, not quite 50-50," said Frank.

But he said the effort was justified because of the unrequired harm being done to the fishing communities along the Atlantic coast by regulators who misinterpret the legal principle imbedded in the Magnuson-Stevens Act to balance ecological with economic and sociological interests.

"We're reaching out to everyone," said Bruno Freitas, Frank's chief of staff. He said U.S. Sen. John Kerry and Congressman John Tierney of Salem, who represents Gloucester, "are on board."

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Fishing sectors 'set up to fail,' coalition says

Hard annual catch limits, mandated by Congress and established last month for the first time to cover the 2010 fishing season have cast a pall over industry efforts to organize viable fishing cooperatives.

And even with sectors, as the coops are known, a sizeable fraction of the small boat fleet based here is given no chance of surviving by a fleet owner and the executive director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, where the vast majority of the cooperatives are being organized.

"Federal law has set fisheries up to fail in New England and across the nation," the coalition said in a statement.

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REQUEST FOR ACTION FROM ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS

Gulf of Mexico, November 30, 2009:

The fishing communities of New England have appealed to their Governors and elected officials to join

together and lead the way to adjust the excessive regulations being forced by the Reauthorized

Magnuson Stevens Act (RMSA). We support this effort and encourage fishing communities across the

U.S. to join this movement.

The Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic fishing communities are being confronted by rapidly changing

regulations that continue to threaten the very existence of our earliest organized industry. It is

unbelievable to watch constituents everywhere be denied access to the enjoyment of recreational

angling and purchasing healthy locally harvested seafood. Just when our Nation is struggling to create

jobs and build healthy economies a reauthorized Act is working overtime to eliminate jobs and destroy

coastal economies. Surely Congress never intended a seemingly innocent Act to cause such

devastation among their communities.

Congressman sets sights on reform of fishing law

Frank targets federal regulators 'anti-fishing bias'

The push to modify Magnuson-Stevens pits Frank and his allies in a small but powerful coalition on Capitol Hill against an environmental alliance organized and led by the Pew Environment Group, which has been gathering signatures opposing any change in Magnuson-Stevens since last spring.

The multi-billion dollar ENGO or environmental non-government organization in April listed 44 environmental groups that shared Pew's position against modifying Magnuson-Stevens; the number jumped to 67 in July, and focused on Sen. Charles Schumer of New York who had joined the coalition that included Frank and Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, and was headed by Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey.

At the end of September, Pew sent a letter signed by 118 scientists to senators. The letter warned that the bill now filed by Schumer as well as Pallone "would add loopholes and exceptions that delay rebuilding deadlines and favor short-term economic gains over the long-term health of fish populations and coastal communities.

 In his interview with the Times, Frank said he considers the opposition to the bills to represent "a different kind of environmentalism."

"Whether fish recover in seven, nine or 11 years, doesn't seem to me to be a moral issue," Frank said. "But to them, it seems to be."

Read more

NCWU Asks NC Congressional Delegation to Support HR 1584/S1255

(Note: This letter was sent to the entire NC delegation.)

November 18, 2009

The North Carolina Watermen United would like to ask for your support of S-1255 Bill (HR 1584), which would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to extend the authorized time period for the rebuilding of certain overfished fisheries, and for other purposes.

Skippers decry new fish limits; Charter fishers complain restrictions were imposed in arbitrary manner

For Mike Thierry, a Dauphin Island charter boat skipper, the problem boils down to a few key words in the law governing the nation's fisheries.

    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, passed in 1976, once commanded that regulators end overfishing as soon as possible. But in a 2006 update, the language was changed to set a deadline, "fishing year 2010."

    That has led to dramatically stricter limits being applied to fisheries around the nation, from summer flounder off New Jersey to beeliners off North Carolina, to snapper, amberjack and grouper in the Gulf.

    "There was no science behind the switch, just some bureaucrat picking a date out of a hat," Thierry said from the bridge of his boat during a protest held in Perdido Pass last Saturday. "There's no reason everything has to be done by 2010. The snapper fishery has been getting better every year." 

Read more

NCWU's Letter to Chairman Bordallo

Chairwoman Bordallo,

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the flaws inherent in the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act. As you know, the MSA has more tenets than just the one in regard to rebuilding fish stocks.

We can all agree that fish stocks need to remain viable for all users, but rebuilding should not happen at the expense of our communities. Economic hardship and infrastructure collapse are too great a price to pay for a non-flexible time frame for rebuilding.

Note from Capt. Mark Brown

To All Concerned Fishermen,
> >
> > > I went to Capitol Hill yesterday on your behalf to make testimony before the
> > > Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife in regards to the
> > > Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management Act and it's re-authorization in 2006
> > > and the harm it is causing or going to cause to our industry.

Leader urges federal action

A commercial fisherman and federal official predicted yesterday that the New England fishing industry has a dim future, facing radical consolidation and the loss of "a way of life" that has existed for centuries without a "massive intervention at the congressional level."

In setting polices to implement mandates for catch limits in the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act three years ago, the New England Fishery Management Council rushed through a series of pivotal decisions, including "an allocation scheme and management regimes," David Goethel told a congressional subcommittee in Washington, D.C. The council serves as a federal legislative body in setting fishing policies.

The use of the "scheme and ... regimes" phrase was a clear allusion to the decision this summer, under a directive by the top federal fishery administrator, Jane Lubchenco, to rapidly phase-in "catch shares" — a top-priority national policy of privatizing the catchable common resources of the sea via the creation of a commodities market.

Only a congressional commitment to a buyout of boats and creation of a permit bank for surviving small fishing boat businesses will "stop the speculation of venture capitalists and private permit banks, which have already sprung up," he said.

Read "Leader urges federal action"

David Goethel's full testimony

"I can report today that the NEFMC will achieve the Congressional mandate to implement Annual Catch Limits (ACL) and Accountability Measures (AM) in all managed fisheries within its jurisdiction except the small mesh multispecies fishery (silver hake and red hake). The ACL setting information for this fishery will not be available until after a data poor workshop to be held by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Dec. 2010.

"This is the good news; the bad news is that the ACL and AM setting process has uncovered many problems which may lead to the complete elimination of commercial fishermen from many of the New England fishing communities, especially those of New Hampshire."

Read "David Goethel's full testimony"

House Subcommittee Hearing on Annual Catch Limits Tuesday

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife will hold an oversight hearing on implementation of the “Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA) of 2006.”  The Subcommittee will explore the progress made by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Regional Fishery Management Councils in setting annual catch limits and accountability measures to end overfishing and rebuild overfished fish stocks, as required by the MSFCMA.  The hearing will focus on how annual catch limits are set, efforts to improve the type and quality of information that informs management decisions, and successes and challenges of implementing annual catch limits and accountability measures.

Selling snapper on Wall Street? Fishing as we know it is on the hook

Fishing as we have known it in our lifetimes is going to end unless, just like healthcare, we get going and do something about it soon.

The regulatory agencies that control our fisheries have not been willing so far to accept any scientific research that proves theirs incorrect. They conveniently call it “not best available data.”

The Panama City Boatmen Association has been working with these agencies for 20 years now (I've been a part of it for 3 1/2 years) and the news is only getting worse. 

Dr. Roy Crabtree, executive director of the Southeast Fishery Management Council, has made his point of view very clear.

As we have worked to improve the data collection process to show the huge increases of red snapper in the Gulf and presented research by well-known reputable scientists who are specialists in these fields, Dr. Crabtree stated to me and to others, "I don't care what the data says, you are not going to get any more fish” [via bag limit or season increase]. He has also stated that in his opinion, it is “better for the nation” to have fewer anglers, commercial, for-hire, or private, and let the few who are left turn a better profit. 

Read "Selling snapper on Wall Street? Fishing as we know it is on the hook"

Letter from CFA President Jim Ruhle - June 12, 2009

Dear Fellow Commercial Fishermen:

 

   The Board of Directors of Commercial Fishermen of America, (CFA) met in Gloucester, MA, May 20-21, 2009.  The decision of the board was to become actively engaged in the process of ending the mismanagement of our nation’s fisheries by NMFS.   The board believes that any attempt to work with the agency would be non-productive.  It was the position of the board that to become effective in saving our industry, we need to get our message to our elected officials nationwide.

As president of CFA, I spent all of this past week in Washington, DC during Capitol Hill Oceans Week.  I attended a number of presentations and had an opportunity on several occasions to speak about lost production of seafood and the loss of jobs and infrastructure due not to the lack of fish resources but to a lack of flexibility in current regulations due to the misinterpretation of the intent of Congress by NMFS.

Of Fish and Flexibility

"Senator Charles Schumer has introduced a bill called The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act. Flexibility, in this case, means bending to the will of fishermen who want to keep vacuuming up depleted fish populations before they have a chance to recover.

The bill aims to help New York fishermen whose livelihoods depend on fluke and other species. To achieve this narrow objective, however, it would poke holes in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the basic law governing fishing in federal waters. The act, strengthened by Congress in 2006, imposes ambitious timetables for rebuilding fish stocks and gives scientists a say in setting limits.

It is those sensible restrictions under which the fishermen are now chafing, and which Mr. Schumer’s bill — the companion to a House measure sponsored by Frank Pallone of New Jersey — seeks to gut."

Read "Of Fish and Flexibility"

LEADING U.S. SENATOR TO INTRODUCE CRITICAL FISHERIES LEGISLATION -

Schumer says "We can rebuild stocks & allow fishing industry to survive."

 

"Washington - U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) announced today that he will introduce legislation in the Senate, authored in the House by Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), that will bring much-needed science-based modernization and flexibility to the outdated federal rules currently stifling America's once thriving fishing industry."

 

  

Schumer pursuing flexibility in fed fishing rules

"In a move hailed by Long Island commercial fishing interests, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that he will introduce a bill this week to add "flexibility" to a federal fishery management law that he said is "decimating" the local fleet.

The bill, called The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009, would provide a series of exceptions to hard-and-fast federal rules aimed at restoring species deemed as over fished."

Read "Schumer pursuing flexibility in fed fishing rules"
 

Crab for the masses

"Federal fishery scientists have recommended a snow crab harvest limit at 16 million pounds, down from nearly 60 million pounds last year. Industry stakeholders had hoped for a similar catch level for the 2009/2010 season.

The decrease is not due to the snow crab stocks being in imminent danger of collapse; rather their numbers are not reaching a set target on time, as defined by a rebuilding plan.

Snow crab stocks in the Bering Sea were classified as ‘overfished ‘in 1999, when estimates went from 290 million pounds to 25 million, seemingly in a single year. By law, fishery managers were required to devise a rebuilding plan with a time frame of 10 years. 
“So the snow crab fishery has been managed under this rebuilding plan since 2000  and 2010 is the target date to accomplish that,” explained  Doug Pengilly, research coordinator for the westward region at ADF&G in Kodiak. (The state co-manages the Bering Sea crab fisheries with the feds.)   

     
The snow crab biomass needs to reach 317 million pounds to be considered ‘rebuilt’. It’s estimated  at 260 million pounds now. But at the current rate of fishing, the stocks won’t reach the target on time."

Read "Crab for the masses"

 
 

Fishermen's group calls for Magnuson clarification

"Ending a three-day meeting and soul searching, the Commercial Fishermen of America announced plans to petition Congress to clarify the intent of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the defining law for commercial fishing.

Jim Ruhle, president of the national association, said, "We heard strong voices from local fishermen that are right in line with CFA's strategic plan and dovetails with President Obama's goals of securing jobs and local economies."

In a written release, the board said the CFA "will ask Congress to clarify several aspects of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that have led to a lack of management flexibility, resulting in a loss of jobs in fishing communities." "

Read "Fishermen's group calls for Magnuson clarification"

Pivotal Gloucester, Boston meetings focus on regulatory plans

"BOSTON — The eight regional councils that set fisheries policy governing the national waters along the three great coasts of the fishing nation opened their annual joint meeting yesterday to exchange ideas and ponder together

As they gathered here, with stories of their experiences and excitedly looking forward to attending the Red Sox game after work, up in Gloucester, representatives of the muscle of the industry — members of the chronically declining fishing community — were gathering as well.

The board of directors of the Commercial Fishermen of America decided to meet in the nation's oldest fishing port and longtime epicenter of discontent with their management by the councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the executive bureaucracy.

"I welcome the (fishermen's organization) to our community," said Angela Sanfilippo, a board member.

President of the trade group, Jimmy Ruhle, a North Carolina fisherman and longtime political and policy activist, said he hoped attendees at the public meeting of the board today at 2 p.m. in BankGloucester would bring about a defining moment — giving fishermen a reason to remain organized or signaling that united action behind a defined goal is futile in the current climate.

"Do you want us to remain a seafood producing nation?" was how Ruhle defined the issue he hoped the meeting would wrestle with.

Ruhle said the fishing scorecard of the nation under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, first approved in 1976, suggests a negative answer.

"In the '70s," he said, "imports were less than 30 percent," and now are about 80 percent, as most sets of figures roughly agree.

"We've lost two-thirds of our infrastructure, boats and men as a result of action (in Congress) designed to preserve and protect the industry," he said."

Read "Pivotal Gloucester, Boston meetings focus on regulatory plans"

More than 2,500 sign online petition to halt ban on bottom fishing

"A protest is churning like fish schooling in the deep sea off the Southeast.

More than 2,500 saltwater anglers or supporters have signed an online petition to stop a temporary ban on offshore bottom fishing expected to start in July. The ban is one of the latest restrictions on a long list and among the first in the wake of a strict new federal law looking to stop overfishing of various popular species.

More than 40 signers of the petition met in Mount Pleasant last week to hear about ways to fight the new regulations.

Protest organizers are trying to push a bill that is now dormant in a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee; the bill calls for more leeway in how the new restrictions are enforced. They also want regulators to reassess how fish stocks are counted. The counts are used to determine whether a species is overfished; the anglers said the science used is flawed."

Read "More than 2,500 sign online petition to halt ban on bottom fishing"

New York seeks voice on panel

"U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has introduced legislation to make room for New York on the New England Fisheries Management Council, which advises federal regulators and helps set policy for fishing out of Gloucester and throughout the region.

The New York Democrat said he was moved to act by a regulatory decision to bar all catches of winter flounder, a species that represents about 80 percent of groundfish landings by the fleet of about 100 boats based in Long Island ports.

"The rule, as is, will seriously impair the Long Island fishing industry," said Schumer."

Read "New York seeks voice on panel"

Groups petition Congress to leave fishing rule alone

"A galaxy of non-government organizations with the deep-pocketed Pew Charitable Trusts at its core is urging Congress to stay away from the coastal coalition assembling behind a bill to bring some flexibility to fishery recovery programs.

Nearly four dozen environmental groups from states as far flung as Hawaii warned that the bill filed by Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., D-N. J., and co-sponsored by seven others, including Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney, both D-Mass., from along the Atlantic coast, is "misguided" and would allow the "overexploitation" of the most valuable fish populations.

A majority of the petitioners are recipients of grants that emanate from the Pew Charitable Trusts, a multibillion dollar philanthropy organized by the family of the founders of Sun Oil Co."

Read "Groups petition Congress to leave fishing rule alone" 

Schumer: NY anglers must be heard

"New York fishermen will lose millions of dollars this year without winter flounder.

And U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said they need to shout about it -- and that the federal government needs to listen.

"It is absurd and unfair that a government body that sets the rules that the Long Island fishing industry must abide by does not have any representation for New York," he said in a statement. "When it comes to fishing regulations, I am saying loud and clear that there must be no regulation without representation."

The senator introduced legislation on Friday that would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to add New York to the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC)." 

Read "Schumer: NY anglers must be heard" 

SCHWARZENEGGER’S SECRET AND UNLAWFUL PFMC NOMINATION LIST

From the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assoications:

While the Governors of Oregon and Alaska were issuing press releases with their list of names of individuals being nominated for upcoming vacancies on the Pacific and North Pacific, respectively, fishery management councils, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office has refused to release his list of nominees for two California-held seats on the Pacific Fishery Management Council.  The lists have always been considered public information and Governors, including Schwarzenegger in the past, have released the lists at the time they were submitted. 

Pew Environment Group, Ocean Conservation Coalition Urges Congress to Oppose Pallone Fisheries Legislation

Proposed bill would delay the rebuilding of depleted fish populations

Washington, DC - The Pew Environment Group and 44 national, regional and state conservation groups today pressed congressional leaders to oppose "The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009," saying the legislation would allow overexploitation of vulnerable fish populations.

Lawmakers push to ease fishing rules

"Along the Atlantic Coast all the way to Florida, complaints from fishing ports are the same even if the fish — and the fishing — are different.

Winter flounder here, summer flounder father south and red snapper in Gulf waters — these are weak links, the distressed species, that are cited by the National Marine Fisheries Service as necessitating inflexible protective schemes to bring them back, to the exasperation of many who fish and who make laws.

The impasse in New England is more extreme but similar conflicts are occurring all along the East Coast. And now an Atlantic coalition in Congress has formed to put some flexibility into the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

The rigid 10-year timetable allowed for the restoration of distressed stocks could be lifted if certain conditions are present, and regulators could allow fishing of weakened species so long as they were recovering."

Read "Lawmakers push to ease fishing rules" 

Battle for flexibility renewed in Congress

"A new round of debate has opened over the explicit stock-rebuilding deadlines in federal fisheries law, with the re-introduction of "flexibility" legislation by its author in the last session of Congress, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ and co-sponsors from other coastal districts where fishing businesses have been hit hard by quota cuts."

Read "Battle for flexibility renewed in Congress"

 

Flexibility Bill A Win For Both Fish & Fishermen

"We Should Be Using Sound Biology &Science" Says Rep. Pallone

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)has officially re-introduced legislation designed to promote both sustainable fisheries and healthy fishing communities.  If approved in the House, The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) to include limited flexibility for fishery managers when setting annual limits on managed species including summer flounder, black sea bass, pacific rockfish, gag grouper and red snapper.  

Frank seeks more flexible fishing timelines

"U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is again throwing his support behind a bill that calls for more flexible rebuilding timelines for overfished stocks.

The bill, which was authored by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and introduced Wednesday in the House, aims to ease the economic burden on fishing communities by extending the current 10-year rebuilding period under certain circumstances when there is evidence that the fish stock is on a positive rebuilding trend."

Read "Frank seeks more flexible fishing timelines"