Ahab's Journal

Lang looks to federal legal probe after losing NOAA suit

NEW BEDFORD — Rather than appeal a federal judge's rejection of the legal challenge against fishery catch shares and sector management by New Bedford and Gloucester, Mayor Scott Lang suggests there might be a better weapon for the city: the Commerce Department's own inspector general, Todd Zinser.

After Zinser debunked years of denial about the problems in the Northeast law enforcement office of NOAA and exposed wrongdoing, mismanagement and missing funds, Lang appealed to him to look into the agency's rule-making process. Lang wanted to know what has been happening behind the scenes, who is involved and what they are doing, and how sector management and catch shares were arrived at.

But Zinser demurred, saying he would wait until the pending lawsuit was settled.

That day has arrived, unless the cities decide to appeal the Thursday ruling by Judge Rya Zobel that went entirely in the government's favor.

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‘Beginning of the end for small fishermen’

With the height of the New England fishing season getting under way this week, small family fishermen say controversial new rules are destroying their livelihood — forcing them to sell their boats and instead search for work as laborers on larger vessels.

“It’s a death knell. It’s the beginning of the end for small fishermen,” said Rhode Island fisherman Joel Hovanesian, 54, who recently sold his boat.

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Three warn panel of fishery endangerment

The policy director of the Northeast's largest fishing industry group predicts unsustainable operating costs that shift from government to industry next year will force a "complex and cumbersome" groundfish management system to "collapse under its own weight" and take the fleet with it.

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"What does it take to get fired?" senator asks

BOSTON — The fisheries law enforcement culture in New England, which featured bounties and bonuses and millions in fines coming and going as if managed by "cookie jar" rules, is being reformed, the head of the National Marine Fisheries Service told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NMFS' parent agency, said it has put control of its funds under its CFO, made enforcement of laws more consistent with nationwide standards, and transferred the burden of proof of wrongdoing to enforcement officials.

Faith in the progress proclaimed by NMFS administrator Eric Schwaab at Faneuil Hall, while widespread among the presiding senators and witnesses, was shaky and cut with skepticism. There is no evidence that anyone who participated in the ugliness, documented by the federal Commerce Department's inspector general and a special judicial master over the past 18 months, has been called to account.

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How is NOAA managing funds to protect domestic fishing?

June 20, 2011 - Eric Schwaab - Testimony before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management
Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs
U.S. Senate

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Tierney, Frank frown on Obama nominee

WASHINGTON — For months, Republicans in the Senate have dug in their heels to block many of President Obama’s appointments. But his recent choice for commerce secretary has provoked skepticism from an unexpected corner of his own party: Massachusetts Democrats who represent fishing communities.

Representatives John F. Tierney of Salem and Barney Frank of Newton have said they are unhappy about nominee John E. Bryson’s long-ago links to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a group that has earned antipathy from fishermen for its efforts to beef up regulation.

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NOAA proposes procedures for setting annual catch limits and accountability measures for all Mid-Atlantic fisheries, seeks public comment

NOAA today proposed procedures for setting annual catch limits and accountability measures to prevent overfishing for 10 federally managed fish stocks managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Once the procedures are final, the Mid-Atlantic Council will be on its way to establishing catch limits and accountability measures for all its required fisheries. According to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, all federally managed fisheries must be managed with those tools by the end of 2011. Already, NOAA and the eight regional Fishery Management Councils have implemented annual catch limits to prevent overfishing for 203 of the nation's 528 managed marine fish stocks.

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NOAA chief's claim of innocence proven false

In her teleconference here a month ago today — held to apologize to members of the fishing industry for an era of abusive law enforcement actions — NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco sought to insulate herself from culpability.

She did this by proclaiming she had made "fair and effective enforcement a top priority" from her "first day in office," March 20, 2009.

But the earliest action by Lubchenco, according to a chronological log prepared by her office for the Times, didn't come until June 2009, three months later, when, already under pressure from Congress, she called in the Commerce Department inspector general.

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'Ecosystem' is the new coastal fishing buzzword

The future for anyone wanting to venture offshore to fish might be an ocean run like a national wilderness area. Angling could become more like what deer hunting is today - a niche business or pastime governed by harvest tags as well as licenses, seasons and catch restrictions now in place. No one knows what the specific rules will be yet, and nobody expects any wholesale shifts in current rules anytime soon. But the change is happening, right in front of your eyes. It's called ecosystem-based management. The new rules would be applied to habitats, or the "sweet spots" for catching fish, rather than individual species. Sweet spots would be opened and closed according to season and fish crops, in a chart of shifting territories, something like inland wildlife management areas are now. The territories will be networks of "special management zones," "marine protected areas" and the like, managed to keep the habitats productive.

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Lubchenco won't show for key Boston hearing

NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco, here last month to announce reparations and apologize for excesses and misuse of police authority in enforcing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, has declined a U.S. Senate subcommittee invitation to testify about law enforcement and the hotly disputed privatization regimen for which she has crusaded.

Instead, she will send a subordinate — Eric Schwaab — whom she appointed administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

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Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney lash out at Obama's pick for commerce secretary

With Gloucester in Tierney’s district and New Bedford in Frank’s, the fishing industry is a key constituency for both lawmakers. So they weren’t pleased to see that Bryson, who has longstanding ties to the National Resources Defense Council, was Obama’s top choice. The two lawmakers said they were particularly troubled that the top non-business credential (he is a former CEO of California energy firm Edison International, among other titles) on Bryson’s resume is his membership in the NRDC – a group he co-founded that’s known for its hostility to the commercial fishing industry.

Read more: Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney lash out at Obama’s pick for commerce secretary | Mass. Market http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/massmarkets/2011/06/01/congressmen-barney-frank-and-john-tierney-lash-out-at-obamas-pick-for-commerce-secretary/#ixzz1OaVACpsF

When it comes to the NOAA law enforcement scandal, "we're sorry" doesn't cut it

Much has been made of the coordinated apologies and associated media machinations of Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco for specific enforcement abuses targeting mid-Atlantic and New England fishermen and associated businesses. Ditto for the return of some fines wrongfully levied as a result of these abuses. I was left with the distinct impression that they felt that after their not quite mea culpas they would be able to move on, leaving a whole bunch of satisfied fishing industry folks in their wake.

I don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade, particularly that of the DOC/NOAA/NMFS spin masters, but they weren’t even off to a good start. Sure, some of the industry people who were most egregiously impacted by what it now appears were nothing more than agency encouraged goon squads - both on the streets and behind the desks - got something back, but are they whole after their individual ordeals? Not hardly. What of their legal fees? Their loss of business? Their personal suffering and that of their families and their employees?

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NOAA omission raises eyebrows

NEW BEDFORD — What happened to David McKinney?

That's what some members of Congress wanted to know following a letter from a NOAA official responding to their request for names and educational backgrounds of the past three directors of the office of law enforcement.

The issue arose when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration eliminated the degree requirement in the job posting for the vacancy, raising questions about its motives and suggestions the posting was being custom-tailored for a predetermined winner. Now questions have arisen over the accuracy of NOAA's responses.

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What happened to the yellowfin?

Asked about the types of information derived from the S.C. Governor's Cup Billfishing Series, S.C. Department of Natural Resources biologist Wallace Jenkins offers a stark example -- the yellowfin tuna, which is managed internationally.

Once a prime target of South Carolina charter boats as well as Governor's Cup participants, yellowfin tuna have all but disappeared off the South Carolina coast. In 2001, charter boats reported landing 1,152 yellowfins and Governor's Cup participants added another 240 to the total; in 2010 charter captains landed four yellowfin tuna and there were none boated by Governor's Cup fishermen.

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Zinser to testify at fisheries hearing

U.S. Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser has accepted an invitation to testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing about the federal fisheries law enforcement system, whose misdeeds — documented by his investigation — brought a sub-cabinet level contingent to Gloucester last week to issue an apology and distribute cash reparations.

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NOAA's permit 'bank' funding plan draws fire

The region's largest industry group, the Northeast Seafood Coalition is warning against a pending NOAA plan to create a federal fisheries banking system for New England linked to state permit banks with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revenues.

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NOAA's Lubchenco called before Senate panel's probe hearing

One day after she apologized to the fishing industry in Gloucester for law enforcement excesses, NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco has been called to testify before a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating the use of fines by her agency and funds appropriated to help operate fisheries as catch share commodity markets.

The invitation, by the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, was signed Chairman Thomas R. Caper, a Delaware Democrat, and Scott Brown, the Massachusetts Republican and the ranking minority member.

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Northeast fishermen receive apology, almost $650,000 in returned fines from feds

Acknowledging that some federal fish police “overstepped the bounds of propriety and fairness”, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is returning almost $650,000 in fines to 11 Northeast fishermen or businesses.

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Commerce Secretary Gary Locke orders fishery enforcement penalties returned to 11 fishermen and businesses; accepts all of the Special Master's recommendations in his authority

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced today that $649,527 in fisheries enforcement penalties will be returned to 11 individuals or businesses after an independent review of their cases concluded the NOAA enforcement program had in some instances “overstepped the bounds of propriety and fairness.” In his decision memo issued today, Secretary Locke acted on 30 cases reviewed by the Special Master, Judge Charles Swartwood III, accepting all of his recommendations that the law allows and taking additional actions in several cases. Secretary Locke appointed Judge Swartwood to conduct the independent review of cases identified by the Department of Commerce’s Inspector General as problematic. The individuals and businesses will receive their remittances within 30 days of receipt of payment information.

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"Dan Rather Reports" Investigates Fisheries

After a six month investigation, Dan Rather Reports will broadcast an in-depth look at the US commercial fishery along the east coast on Tuesday May 17th at 8 p.m. ET.

The report examines charges that NOAA, the agency that oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service, has been over-zealous in its prosecution of those in the fishing community. Fisheries Administrator Eric Schwaab’s responds to the charges.

Included in the report is rarely seen video of a NOAA raid against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction and details of NOAA’s attempt to shut down the fish warehouse.

Also, the report examines the Asset Forfeiture Fund where fines, many in the hundreds of thousands of dollars against the fishermen, are deposited.   The broadcast digs deep into what NOAA used the fund for.  For example, it paid for bonuses for NOAA employees.  Also, the broadcast documents that hundreds of thousands of fund dollars were spent on NOAA travel. 

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Fishing redress may come today

Reparations to fishing businesses most harmed by federal law enforcement actions could be announced as early as today.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is expected to deploy subordinates to Gloucester today for a series of private meetings culminating in the public release his report on a special master's study of the most egregious cases of abuse of the badge against the fishing industry, according to indications swirling Monday from here and New Bedford to Washington, D.C.

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N.H. fishermen cite catch shares' human cost

SEABROOK, N.H. — The federal government's new catch share regulatory system has been almost literally killing off New Hampshire's commercial fishing industry, fishermen and state experts told a panel of federal officials earlier this week.

The controversial method of allocating who can catch fish has cost this state's only fishing cooperative, or "sector," based in Seabrook Harbor, $750,000 in business, fishermen told the visiting panel from the Department of Commerce.

It has cut the number of fishermen landing catches by two-thirds, they said. And it has killed off fishing jobs and exacted a high price on the lives of the men and women of the state's fishing fleet — resulting in a number of attempted suicides and divorces.

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Lawmakers demand fishing enforcement report

NEW BEDFORD — Two congressmen from Massachusetts have joined the state's two senators in giving Commerce Secretary Gary Locke three days to make public the preliminary report of the special master appointed to review law enforcement abuses in the Northeast fishery.

In a joint letter to Locke, Democratic Sen. John Kerry, Republican Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic Reps. Barney Frank and John Tierney were emphatic about their wishes: "After years of malfeasance, our fishermen deserve to know the recommendations of an independent third-party review in order to finally achieve some semblance of closure."

The letter reminded Locke of the file-shredding, excessive fines and vindictive law enforcement that brought about his decision to hire retired judge Charles Swartwood as special master. But since Swartwood filed his report nearly a month ago, Commerce has refused every request to release it under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Regulators: Fishing revenues up in Northeast

PORTLAND, Maine—Fishing vessels in the Northeast that catch haddock, cod and other so-called groundfish earned more money during the first nine months of new commercial fishing regulations than the year before, even while their harvest fell, federal fishery officials said Thursday.

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Morality & the Marginalized

Welcome to the first entry in NAMA's blog. Most people don't expect fisheries issues to be couched in the context of morality or marginalization. That needs to change. So we thought we would start our blog by sharing with you a couple of unintended compliments we received recently. 

Earlier this year in a meeting with someone who works closely with fishing communities, I was told that we were working with the marginalized. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a compliment. In fact, it was said with a tone that suggested we weren’t working with those who really mattered.

Later, at a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council, our call for fleet diversity was couched as a moral issue not a fishery management one by someone testifying before the council. I’m certain the testimony was intended to suggest it doesn’t really matter who fishes and the council should disregard calls for fleet diversity. Although I agree with the speaker that the issue is a moral one, I disagree that it’s not a fishery management one.

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NMFS Head: Fisheries system not broken

The skepticism rained down after Schwaab introduced Preston Pate, a veteran fisheries regulator from North Carolina and the author an outsider's independent review of the three legged system — executive, legislative and scientific — that regulates and polices the waters from Maine to the Carolinas.

Pate spoke briefly, running through the high points of his report.

While avoiding general characterizations, Pate said damning things in his dignified drawl.

Issues, processes and paperwork are "overly complex," and at the same time, "things," the regulatory changes, "are moving so fast without the benefit of a strategic plan have created very different business decisions," Pate said.

"There seemed to be no accountability ... council meetings are too formal and deliberations unfathomable," he continued. Pate finished by saying he "found flaws across the board."

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JONES, FRANK AND TIERNEY QUESTION NOAA ON STATUS OF DALE JONES’ REPLACEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) and New England colleagues Barney Frank (MA-4) and John Tierney (MA-06) questioned NOAA Fisheries Administrator Eric Schwaab about the status of hiring a new Director for the Office of Law Enforcement (OLE).  NOAA Fisheries has not found a permanent replacement since it removed former Director Dale Jones over a year ago.  Press reports also indicate that NOAA Fisheries recently reposted the job opening announcement without a requirement contained in prior announcements that the successful candidate has a bachelor’s degree.  Many have questioned this development considering that the job pays between $119,554 and $179,000 per year and involves leading a national force of over 200 agents with a budget of more than $50 million.       

NMFS head due in city Friday

Analytical indictments of the federal fishery system are now coming fast and furious, with the head of the federal government's fisheries service due in the city Friday as well.

One report, commissioned by and written for the government and made public Monday, took to task the organization, structure, morale and output of the regional agencies that have driven the cities of Gloucester and New Bedford into a federal lawsuit with dozens of businesses up and down the Atlantic Coast.

Decisions of these agencies have also produced a cold political war with a bipartisan congressional coalition — including many key members of the Obama campaign organization.

Now, another indictment, written by a fisheries scientist at the University of Massachusetts, contends in technical language that the agencies together have managed to botch, misunderstand then misuse against the industry the landmark GARM III — or "groundfish assessment review meeting" — of 2009, which became a benchmark for the status of the 19 groundfish stocks in New England waters.

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New study finds holes in NMFS science

The National Marine Fisheries Service Tuesday released a study from an independent researcher citing a wide range of flaws and weaknesses in the functioning of New England's regulatory and science systems.

The targeted elements include the New England regional office of NMFS, based in Gloucester's Blackburn Industrial Park, the New England Fishery Management Council, based in Newburyport, and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.

Especially pointed were criticisms of the science center, whose director, Nancy Thompson, resigned last week, announcing in an e-mail that she was leaving "to pursue new challenges at NOAA."

"There is a void in leadership, lack of clear direction on management priorities and philosophy, and poor collaboration with external partners," said Preston Pate, the author of the report. Pate is the former chairman of the Atlantic States Fisheries Commission.

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NOAA Fisheries Law Enforcement (The word)

The word is that at least three of the hand picked henchmen of former NOAA law enforcement Director Dale Jones and Deputy Director Mark Spurrier are set to retire soon.   None of the three met the law enforcement age requirement when hired.  None completed NOAAs federal law enforcement training requirements, and none were required to meet medical standards for federal agents.   All three did however play questionable rolls and were involved to some extent in the shenanigans that led to the removal of Jones and Spurrier from NOAA law enforcement.  

 Remember the three monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil?   Well you can be sure these three saw and heard plenty.   As far as speaking about it even the OIG can’t get it out of them and NOAA does not seem likely to compel them to tell the truth.   As is evident, despite all our elected representatives and the OIG can do.   Jones and Spurrier are still around, both transferred to other lucrative government positions.   Terrible punishment indeed.  

JONES URGES APPROVAL OF NC’S EMERGENCY REQUEST ON BLUELINE TILEFISH AND SNOWY GROUPER

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) weighed in with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke supporting the State of North Carolina’s request for emergency action to reopen the blueline tilefish and snowy grouper fisheries north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  These fisheries were closed earlier this year after the Secretary approved Amendment 17B to the South Atlantic Snapper Grouper Management Plan, which closed South Atlantic waters to bottom fishing from 240’ deep out to 200 miles offshore to protect two species of fish – speckled hind and warsaw grouper – for which there are no valid stock assessments.  The request from Congressman Jones and the State comes after new scientific information presented to South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council in March shows that reopening the blueline tilefish and snowy grouper fisheries north of Hatteras would have no impact on speckled hind and warsaw grouper.  Congressman Jones and State fisheries managers argue that emergency action is necessary to prevent severe economic losses to fishermen in Northeastern North Carolina.

Statement on management and science reports from Eric Schwaab, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service

Today, we are releasing phase one of an independent assessment of the fishery management system in New England that I requested last year. This review was initiated last fall following a recommendation by John Pappalardo, the chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council. We welcomed the proposal as a timely opportunity to improve important aspects of the fishery management process in the region.

The review conducted by Touchstone Consulting Group and under the leadership of Preston Pate, included interviews with 179 fishermen, other industry participants, local government officials, academic institution partners, members of fishery management councils, and NOAA regional and science center staff. The phase one report offers findings and recommendations based on those interviews.

While noting strengths that include dedicated staff at the Fishery Management Council, NOAA’s Northeast Regional Office, and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, strong scientific efforts and valuable opportunities on which to build, the report identified numerous challenges impeding further progress. Those challenges formed the basis for a series of phase one recommendations.

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Review: Accountability needed in fish rule making

BOSTON—An independent review of the bureaucracy that devises New England's fishing rules said the system is "beset with problems" and called for various reforms, including more accountability about whether the regulations actually work.

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Commerce shields key report on policing

Contending that the report by a special master on miscarriages of federal fisheries law enforcement is an internal document, the U.S. Commerce Department Monday rejected a series of requests for the work filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Commissioned by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke last fall, the report was aimed at looking into at least 33 alleged cases of excessive action, mostly handled by agents and lawyers operating under direction of the Northeast regional office of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The report, by retired federal judge Charles Swartwood III, was delivered to Locke on Friday, April 15.

The central case given to Swartwood involved an alleged vendetta against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction.

Through a number of sources, the Times was told Monday that the Swartwood report confirms evidence of wrongful actions by NOAA agents against members of the fishing industry, and calls for financial reparations in some form.

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Fishermen condemn new limits on tuna

PORTLAND — More than 100 fishermen turned out for a public hearing at the Holiday Inn by the Bay on Monday night to express opposition to a proposed federal rule that would reduce quotas on Atlantic bluefin tuna catches.

 Fishermen and a representative for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, argued that the rule would penalize fishermen by automatically subtracting 160 tons from what they will be allowed to catch along the Eastern Seaboard in 2011.

That amount is an attempt by regulators to account for the bluefin tuna that are caught inadvertently by other fishermen, especially longliners.

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Two-week fishing trip for little, if any, profit

FAIRHAVEN — Justin Tonnessen took the 92-foot steel scalloper Ambassador out to sea last Saturday, knowing in advance that his crew will make little, if any, money after spending two weeks offshore.

"The guys want to go. There's something about getting away from land I guess," Tonnessen, 33, said.

In the complex world of fisheries management, the National Marine Fisheries Services requires Tonnessen to carry an observer on the trip to an area off the New Jersey coast known as the Elephant Trunk while paying $800 per day for his services. Yet the same regulations limit his catch to 8,000 pounds of scallops.

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The Fish Stock Crisis Fraud

Ever wonder why in the midst of our worldwide financial meltdown crisis the largest corporations and their ceo's and their Wall Street cohorts are showing record "earnings"?  Crisis >> Distraction >> Scam >> Great Profit

 The crisis is ours.  The profits are for a few corporate entities, the result of a Milton Freidman economics privatization, commodification, and market-capitalization of everything that has value (and also several things that don't) scam. 

 Does all that sound familiar?  It should.  It's the scam that the collusion between the eco-Funds and our esteemed government agencies has perpetrated on our fishing resource.

Commerce Department appoints marine fisheries advisors to national committee

The Department of Commerce today announced the appointment of three new public advisors charged with counseling the Secretary of Commerce and NOAA on national saltwater fishery management and laws that protect marine mammals, sea turtles and other ocean life.

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Documents: Catch limit 'increases' don't add up

The higher catch limits for the New England groundfish complex announced this week by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke were actually set by the federal regional fishery management council in 2009 in the final construction of Amendment 16, the regulatory regimen.

And while the secretary was correct in noting that catch limits generally were being increased, catch limits on two major stocks — haddock and pollock — were severely reduced. So, the total allowable catch for the groundfishing fleet in all stocks will be lower by 9.1 percent in the fishing year that begins May 1, documents indicate.

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Feds reviewing new report on fish police

The potentially explosive report by a special master on NOAA fisheries law enforcement excesses and possible miscarriages of justice against the industry by agents and lawyers in the Northeast Regional office here in Gloucester, has been delivered to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

Researched and written by Charles B. Swartwood III, a retired federal judge and chairman of the Massachusetts Ethics Commission, the report on at least 31 cases cited as warranting additional attention by the Commerce Department inspector general, was delivered on Friday.

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National Marine Fisheries Service FY2012 Budget Request

A one page summary of NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) budget request for 2012 is available online.

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Catch limit grows for 12 New England groundfish

BP may have chosen the right country to hit with the worst oil disaster in world history. If there's any population that will take seeing its land and water destroyed for corporate profit lying down, it's got to be us. We're split between gratitude and indifference: should we thank BP or just stay out of its way?

PORTLAND, Maine—A year after adopting a radical new system for regulating New England fisheries, federal officials announced Monday they're increasing limits on 12 out of 20 groundfish stocks when the new season begins May 1.

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Paper by UMass' Brian Rothschild says Overfishing is more Metaphor than Scientific Measure

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- April 10, 2011 - The term “overfishing” carries far more metaphoric weight than practical meaning, according to Dr. Brian Rothschild, Montgomery Charter Professor of Marine Science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology. In “The Overfishing Metaphor,” a paper recently published for the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, Dr. Rothschild issues a bold challenge to a long established paradigm, arguing that outmoded benchmarks are hindering real-life fisheries management.

“The golden metric is whether stocks are overfished or not,” explains Rothschild. In other words, is the rate of fishing incompatible with sustaining future healthy fish populations?  The answer to this question is determined by calculations  -- through various mathematical formulas that attempt to relate the magnitude of an entire fish stock to fishing mortality -- to determine if that number is greater than a pre-determined maximum yield. “But those determinations are being based on models created 50 or more years ago and do not consider the nuances of the latest science. Theoretically, fisheries are supposed to be managed with the best available science.”

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E-mail shows NOAA whitewashed complaints

Two years before the Commerce Department inspector general began investigating the federal fisheries law enforcement system — a probe that uncovered enough problems to cost Dale J. Jones, the long-time director, his badge — an internal investigation found nothing amiss.

According to a leaked e-mail provided to the Times, the internal investigation was spurred by anonymous complaints and a whistle-blowing agent.

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McIntyre calls federal closure of some fisheries “draconian”

“U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre is standing up for North Carolina fishermen by urging congressional hearings on the draconian fishing closures being implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

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Fishing interests plead for help from Congress

The casualties in the Northeast fishing industry continued to mount even as New Bedford's fishery council made its case directly to members of Congress Tuesday.

The shutdown of NORPEL, a herring and mackerel fishing and processing company in New Bedford, meant nearly 120 layoffs on the waterfront and, when the news of it was announced during the two-hour meeting, it became a perfect example of the struggle that the council is telling Congress about.

The unusual session, in which citizens conducted a meeting within the walls of the Capitol with members of Congress as invited guests, was the culmination of an intense year of lobbying, meetings, lawsuits, hearings and, in general, disappointment and frustration.

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New Bedford fishermen set sail for Washington

NEW BEDFORD — First they took the show on the road. Now, after appearances in New Bedford and New Hampshire, the mayor's Ocean and Fisheries Council is taking its pitch to the Broadway of politics: Capitol Hill.

Frustrated with the attitude of the Commerce Department toward the plight of the Northeast fishing industry, the council has secured the use of a hearing room in the Capitol to present its case for a rethinking of Amendment 16, the Magnuson-Stevens Act rule-making that set up catch shares and sector management along with sharp reductions in allowable groundfish catch.

As of Monday midday, 37 people from as far away as Alaska had signed up to attend the two-hour session, which starts at 4 p.m. today, according to Chairman Dr. Brian Rothschild, dean emeritus of the UMass School for Marine Science and Technology.

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NCWU Statement on Federal Fishery Regulations

The North Carolina Watermen United – an organization that represents charter/headboat owner-operators, commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen and seafood consumers - would like to see fewer  national regulations and oversight  in the Fishing Industry. The policies espoused by NOAA and carried out by NMFS for Ocean Zoning and National Catch Shares and Limited Access fishery programs will do two things; first, they will - and have already been  - denying our nation’s fishermen access to our fishery resources without  any international policing of other countries’ fishing activities -  some of whom fish in our waters without any constraints or limits on their catches.  Second, these policies will put our fish products on the world commodities market; it is likely that many of the licenses will be bought by large corporations, maybe foreign countries.

Jones questions agency integrity on sturgeon

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) is raising troubling questions about the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) handling of comments and scientific data on Atlantic Sturgeon submitted by various state fisheries agencies, fishing associations and the public.  NMFS is currently reviewing a proposed rule to list multiple East Coast population segments of Atlantic Sturgeon as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.  This comes despite the fact that the agency has never conducted a single stock assessment on any Atlantic Sturgeon population segment proposed for listing. 

Feds to visit Seabrook fishermen's cooperative

SEABROOK — Although still skeptical, the leadership at Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative was pleased to hear that federal officials will visit to identify the economic challenges facing local fishermen.

Seabrook is one of six Northeastern commercial fishing ports — along with Gloucester; New Bedford; Portland, Maine; Point Judith, R.I.; and Montauk, N.Y. — to be singled out for visits. Seabrook's co-op is the only remaining commercial fishing cooperative in the state, and manager Bob Campbell said the list of ports indicates Seabrook was most likely chosen because it lands the most commercial fish in the Granite State.

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