Hmmm. This should make for some interesting discussions around the docks.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 22, 2009

1:18 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch

Ben Bowman: (415) 293-9903

Erin Greenfield: (202) 683-2500

New Survey: Fishermen Oppose Controversial Management Plan

Gulf of Mexico Fishermen Vote Against IFQ Plan, Food & Water Watch Finds

WASHINGTON – June 22 – Today, Food & Water Watch released the results of a re-referendum on a controversial fishery management plan in the Gulf of Mexico. Designed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, the plan is known as an Individual Fishing Quota, or IFQ, and aims to manage the grouper and tilefish fisheries of the Gulf by dividing the amount of fish caught among fishermen, based on the amount they have caught in the past—essentially privatizing the resource. The re-referendum sent questionnaires to reef fish permitholders who were excluded from the earlier vote on the plan. One hundred seventy-two fishermen responded to the questionnaire. An overwhelming majority—nearly 90 percent—would not have approved the plan had they been included in the initial vote.

Read the rest of this entry »

The commercial fishery for deepwater grouper in theGulf of Mexico is closed, effective 12:01 a.m. (localtime) June 27, 2009, through December 31, 2009.

Read the full bulletin (pdf format) here: FB09-037

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted in favor of a compromise agreement Friday (April 17)  morning put together in recent days by Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, and the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Bottom Longline Fishing fleet aimed at reducing the interactions between threatened loggerhead sea turtles and commercial fishing gear.  With this tentative agreement, the fishermen will be able to continue fishing, but areas of the Gulf where the majority of the interactions have taken place will now be off-limits to the longline fleet which would be cut about in half by the agreement.

“A more extensive closure would have resulted in permanent damage to the commercial fleet.  Our industry is already looking at an emergency closure this summer, and we would not have been able to sustain another blow like that. We need partners that will help find lasting solutions,” said Bobby Spaeth, Executive Director of the Southern Offshore Fishing Association. “Both Ocean Conservancy and Oceana were willing to work with us to help solve this problem.  When the opportunity to partner with groups that do not often see eye-to-eye comes along and it works this well, it makes a powerful point in itself.”

As currently proposed, the rules would limit longlining to fishermen who caught a yearly average of 40,000 pounds of grouper and other reef fish between 1999 and 2007.

Fifty-seven boats, based mostly in Pinellas County, meet that standard.

From June through August every year, longlining would be banished from water shallower than 215 feet deep.

The council will meet again in June to take a final vote on the permanent rules.

We’ll bring you information about the details of the plan as they are made available, as well as information about public comment periods, etc.

The Federal Judge in New England is not letting up on the NMFS one bit. In another ruling characterized by the Gloucester Daily Times as a “clear slap” at NMFS, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Harrington extended a previous ruling by two weeks using language that makes it clear he is not very happy with the attitude of the NMFS. something that all Southeastern fishermen can easily relate to.

The full Gloucester Daily Times story is available from the main menu of the S.O.F.A. website at “Fishery News >> News From New England” or is at this link.

In the “This Just In” department, I’m sorry to be the bearer of incredibly bad news.

“The reef fish committee of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, trying to protect loggerhead turtles, voted today to banish long-line grouper boats to water 300 feet or deeper for five months, beginning in late spring or early summer.

Long-liners, who catch more than 60 percent of commercial grouper, usually do not fish that far from shore because their main target species, red grouper, usually stay in shallower water. Some fishermen say the measure will put them out of business.

The full management council will vote on the measure Thursday, but the reef fish committee’s recommendation traditionally carries much weight.”

Read entire article here:

It appears we lose a significant portion of yet another fishery over bad or incomplete science and conservationist alarmism.  I’m not sure how long this can go on.  How a government agency can justify potentially putting hundreds, if not thousands, of American workers out of work by shutting down a healthy fishery for five months when the entire country is in a recession and begging for government bail-outs is beyond me.  If anyone understands this, please share it with me, I’m stumped.

INTERIM MEASURES FOR GULF OF MEXICO GAG, GREATER AMBERJACK, RED SNAPPER, AND GRAY TRIGGERFISH EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2009

Are you ready for this one?

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) requested a temporary rule be effective at the beginning of 2009 to address overfishing of gag, as well as red snapper, greater amberjack, and gray triggerfish until more permanent measures can be implemented through Amendment 30B to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico.  The Council developed Amendment 30B to end overfishing of gag, revise shallow-water grouper management measures in light of new information on gag and red grouper stocks, and improve the effectiveness of federal management measures.  NOAA Fisheries Service is presently reviewing Amendment 30B with subsequent rulemaking occurring later in 2009..

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries Service) has published a final rule implementing interim measures in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery.  The rule published in the Federal Register on December 2, 2008, and the measures are effective January 1, 2009.

New Management Measures
The interim rule will:

• Establish a two-fish gag recreational bag limit (recreational grouper aggregate bag limit will remain at 5 fish).
• Adjust the recreational closed season for gag to February 1 through March 31 (the recreational closed season for red and black groupers will remain February 15 to March 15).
• Establish a 1.32 million pound commercial quota for gag.
• Require operators of federally permitted Gulf of Mexico commercial and for-hire reef fish vessels to comply with the more restrictive of federal or state reef fish regulations when fishing in state waters for red snapper, greater amberjack, gray triggerfish, and gag.
• All measures implemented through this final temporary rule will expire at 12:01 a.m. on June 1, 2009, unless extended on an interim basis for one additional 186-day period or replaced by measures implemented through another rule.

NOAA Fisheries Service prepared an environmental impact statement for the interim action and Amendment 30B in compliance with the National Environmental FB08-066Policy Act.  A record of decision (ROD) documenting the determination by NOAA Fisheries Service, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce, to approve a temporary rule to set interim measures was signed on November 24, 2008.  A copy of the interim rule and the ROD are available from the Sustainable Fisheries Division of NOAA Fisheries Service’s Southeast Regional Office at 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701.  Electronic copies of the final rule may be obtained from the Federal Register Web site at:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html (do an advanced search under final rules for “page 73192”).

This bulletin provides only a summary of the information pertinent to the rule.  Any discrepancies between this bulletin and the rule as published in the Federal Register will be resolved in favor of the Federal Register.

Full document is here in pdf format.

NOAA is seeking comments on a proposed rule to change gag, red grouper, and shallow water grouper management measures in the Gulf of Mexico.

FB08-065 has arrived. It concerns the near future of gag and red grouper fishing and bears a careful reading.

You can download the complete bulletin here in pdf format.

I had a long post written about it and realized it was highly opinionated and didn’t really belong in this blog so I moved it to the other “The Way You See It” blog. It mentions some of the “highlights” (and I use that word in its most ironic sense) of the bulletin.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will meet at the Doubletree Grand Key Resort at Key West Dec. 3-4, 2008.

The agenda is a full one.  On day two, Thursday Dec. 4, they will have final public meetings on a number of items of interest both to commercial and recreational fishers in the State of Florida.

A final public hearing on proposed rule amendments for gag and red grouper in Gulf of Mexico state waters is on Thursday’s agenda. These proposals would reduce the recreational bag limit for Gulf gag grouper from five fish to two fish daily per person, prohibit the recreational harvest of Gulf gag grouper from Feb. 1 through March 31 and increase the recreational bag limit for Gulf red grouper from one fish to two fish daily per person.

Another final public hearing will take place on proposed rule amendments that would increase the recreational minimum size limit for greater amberjack from 28 to 30 inches fork length and increase the commercial and recreational minimum size limit for gray triggerfish from 12 to 14 inches fork length in Gulf state waters.

In other marine fisheries action, Read the rest of this entry »

Quoted from the email we received this morning:

On September 19,2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a Notice of Availability (NOA) ofDraft Amendment 1 Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) to the Consolidated HMS FMP. The.:DraftAmendment considers alternatives to update Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) EFH, designate a new Habitat Area of ParticularConcern(HAPC)forbluefintunaspawningareas inthe Gulf ofMexico, and analyzes fishing impacts on EFH. Based on the September 19,2008 notice, the comment period was scheduled to end on November 18, 2008. NMFS is extending the comment period until’December 12, 2008. Comments received by NMFS on the Draft EFH Amendment 1 will be used in the development of Final EFH Amendment 1 to the Consolidated HMS FMP.
Due to the timing of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s (SAFMC) meeting at the beginnipg ofDecember, NMFS is extending the comment period to provide additional opportunity for the SAFMC, and other interested parties to comment on Draft Amendment 1. These comments will assist NMFS in developing the Final Amendment, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP.
The cOnlment period for Draft EFH Amendment 1 has been extended to 5 p.m. on December 12,2008. Comments maybe submitted to Chris Rilling, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Please mark the outside of the envelope “Comments onEFH Amendment to the Consolidated HMS FMP.” Comments can also be submitted via e-mail at HMSEFH@noaa.gov, orvia FAX at (301) 713-1917.
This notice is a courtesy to Atlantic HMS fishery interests to keep you informed about the fishery. Official notice of Federal fishery actions is made through filing such a notice with the Office ofthe Federal Register., For further information, contact Chris Rilling or Sari Kiraly at (301) 713-2347.

You can download a pdf of the Federal Register entry from here.

From an Associated Press Report by Cain Burdeau of November 8, 2008

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Bush’s proposal to create a string of marine sanctuaries in the Gulf of Mexico, known as the “Islands in the Stream,” has died at least for now after Republican senators opposed it, a sanctuary official said.

The sanctuaries would have restricted fishing and oil drilling in nine coral banks and hard-bottom areas in a large loop around the Gulf from Texas to Florida. Ecologically, the idea dovetails with research showing that the Gulf marine ecosystem relies on a ring of deep-water reefs and banks connected by the clockwise motion of ocean currents extending in a loop from Belize to the Florida Keys.

Full article is here.

A little later in the day we received another email about the 2008 Shark Research Fishery.  This one included another attachment that might be helpful.

The application itself.

Download it here (in pdf format).

Applications are due by December 3, 2008. Full information is in the links at the end of this post.

We got an email notice today about 2009 Shark Research Fishery permits. If you want to be able to catch any sandbar sharks at all in 2009, you must have one of these permits. They come with a boat-load of restrictions and added regulation, but they did allow a small number of shark boats to catch enough sandbar sharks this year (a little bit more than 2000 lbs per trip) to maybe pay a few bills.

Maybe.

NMFS announces its request for applications for the 2009 shark research fishery from commercial shark fishermen with a directed or incidental permit. The shark research fishery allows for the collection of fishery– dependent data for future stock assessments while also allowing NMFS and commercial fishermen to conduct cooperative research to meet the shark research objectives for the Agency. The only commercial vessels authorized to land sandbar sharks are those participating in the shark research fishery.

Copy of email notice (in pdf format)
Shark Research Fishery Notice 73 FR 65294.pdf

FB08-061 has been released and it is one we have been waiting for.

If you read this and then don’t cast a vote or speak up about how you feel, you will have far less reason or right to complain if things don’t go the way you want them to.  Of course, considering the huge number of variables, it is hard to envision a scenario where everyone will be happy and think they are getting a fair shake, but at least you still have the right and the opportunity to cast a vote.  We wouldn’t dream of trying to tell you how to vote, but we certainly do encourage you to find out if you are eligible and vote if you are. 

(Direct links to government pages with the information mentioned are at the end of this post.)

FB08-061

NOAA Fisheries Service published a final rule informing the public of the procedures, schedule, and eligibility requirements that NOAA Fisheries Service will use in conducting a referendum for the Gulf of Mexico commercial grouper/tilefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) program. The rule becomes effective December 1, 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally, I get to share some (sort of, in a qualified way, kind of) good news with you.

The commercial deepwater grouper and tilefish fisheries closed in May because NOAA Fisheries Service projected landings would reach the quotas by that time.  However, an updated report shows that less fish were landed than expected.  Based on 2008 daily landings rates and the pounds remaining on each quota, NOAA Fisheries Service has determined these fisheries can reopen for 10 days.  November 1 was chosen as the opening day based on feedback from the fishing industry and weather concerns.  Many fishers felt that this was the most productive time for the reopening and NOAA Fisheries Service also chose to wait until after the peak of hurricane season to promote safety at sea (National Standard 10).

The operator of a vessel with a valid reef fish permit may not fish for or possess deepwater grouper or tilefish prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, November 1, 2008 and must have landed and bartered, traded, or sold such deepwater grouper or tilefish prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, November 11, 2008.

Good luck, good fishin’, catch ‘em up, and stay safe.

EVALUATION OF THE EFFICACY OF THE CURRENT MINIMUM SIZE REGULATION FOR SELECTED REEF FISH BASED ON RELEASE MORTALITY AND FISH PHYSIOLOGY

It is, as all these things are, a long and trying read.  There is a lot of information, summed up in very scientific terminology.  There are a few interesting conclusions that may be drawn from it, though.  The most intersesting seems to be the fact that this study makes it obvious that often the NMFS acts without considering or using what can easily be termed the “best available science” when they pass so many of their regulations.  The figures from this study show that the survival rate for released snapper is HIGHER with J-hooks than it is with circle hooks.  Did this stop the NMFS from passing a new rule making mandating circle hooks?  No, of course it didn’t.

The full report is here.

NMFS announces the availability of two new documents on the Atlantic HMS Management Division’s webpage.  Hard copies available upon request. Please contact Craig Cockrell at (301) 713-2347.

Apparently the “final rule” regarding shark fishing was no such thing.  It has been adjusted and corrected.

It doesn’t give back much, if anything, of value but it sure does provide an opportunity for a lot of wading, slogging, reading and boggling.  All 57 pages (at three columns per page) of it.

It is here: Corrected Final Rule (pdf)

As far as I can tell, the relevant parts of it, to any S.O.F.A. members who happen to hold directed shark permits anyway, are simply this:

Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t already seen the page, please check out our page for our new “Take The Pledge” program.   We would like to sign on as many restaurants as we can that serve fresh locally produced seafood so if you know of any in your area, either talk to them yourselves or bring them to our attention, please, so we can sign them up.

We’ll provide them with artwork for menus or advertising, window stickers, some promotion and a banner ad on our site in return for their pledge to only serve fresh wild caught grouper or snapper when their menu says “grouper” or “snapper”.

We’d appreciate all the help we can get to sign up as many restaurants as possible.  Surely there are a few out there that still serve what they advertise and charge for?

We’d like to print up some bumper stickers like the example below as well, (you should be able to click that image to see a much bigger one) but budget is always a consideration.  We’ll see how that goes.  Maybe a nice person with a print shop will step up to the plate.