Releases April 29, 2010
Outdoorsmen were out in force at the nation’s capital last week as two events in Washington, DC, were dedicated to how this country manages its wild and natural resources. As President Obama hosted the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors on April 16, NOAA Fisheries was hosting the Saltwater Recreational Fishing Summit on April 16-17.
Coastal Conservation Association President Pat Murray was among those invited to hear President Obama’s remarks on the importance of reconnecting Americans to the outdoors during the event at the Department of the Interior. Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, led the conference, which brought together leaders from communities across the country that are working to protect their outdoor spaces.
Participants included ranchers and farmers, sportsmen and women, state and local government leaders, tribal leaders, public lands experts, conservationists, youth leaders, business representatives, and others for whom the outdoors is an integral part of their culture and community.
Just across town, a host of CCA volunteers and staff were participating in the NOAA Fisheries Recreational Fishing Summit, an event that fulfilled a promise by NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco to forge a better relationship between the recreational angling community and federal fisheries managers.
“We have participated in these kinds of summits before with NOAA leadership. Some of the CCA participants attending last week have been to two or even three of them without much to show for their efforts,” said Bob Hayes, CCA General Counsel. “However, I am optimistic that NOAA is listening and will help us with issues like catch shares, National Ocean Policy, and the government’s attitude toward the recreational angling community. We did our part—we were very clear about what we would like to see change, and we provided hundreds of ways for them to do it.”
“One of the fundamental problems we’ve had with NOAA Fisheries is their utter lack of understanding the nature and management of recreational fisheries,” said Richen Brame, CCA Atlantic States Fisheries Director. “No matter how hard they try, they cannot fit us neatly into the same management box as commercial fishermen. While I will not bet the ranch on it, there are at least signs of hope emanating from this conference that NOAA Fisheries is trying to understand recreational fisheries and may begin to manage them properly.”
“Those who participated in the summit did a great job clarifying and communicating our issues and concerns,” said Chester Brewer, CCA National Government Relations Committee chairman. “Eric Schwaab (NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries) has committed to preparing a work plan and follow-up to address the major items. I am cautiously optimistic.”
The two-day summit featured more than 30 speakers from all over the country, with plenty of time set aside for discussions among participants on key challenges and solutions for federal fisheries management.
“The stage has been set,” said Charlie Witek, CCA New York. “It’s now time for all of the actors to properly play out their roles. How they do so will determine whether the production will ultimately be viewed as a triumph, a flop, or something in between. I feel, though, that at least there are folks out there who want to offer some help.”
Both Dr. Lubchenco and NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab spoke at the summit, which drew a greater-than-expected crowd of 170 attendees, some from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii.
“The excellent turnout at this summit tells me that you want to be heard. And I am here to tell you that NOAA is not only listening, but we are also ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work with you,” said Dr. Lubchenco in her opening remarks. “I want to start by making one thing very clear: NOAA is committed to working with the recreational fishing community. NOAA’s commitment—my commitment—to saltwater anglers is not a hollow one. We do not intend to make empty promises.”
Schwaab told participants he had three goals for the summit: to walk away with a clear and common understanding of the issues of concern and some sense of the relative importance of those issues, nationally, regionally and strategically; to outline a process by which we will continue to work together on these issues; and to identify steps that can be taken to address these concerns. This will form the basis of an action agenda.
“We are here with a view toward the future, intent to build on previous successes, while learning from and avoiding mistakes of the past,” he said. “Over the next two days, we’ll have some focused discussions—about our desired outcomes, and pathways toward those outcomes.”
NOAA Fisheries will be posting video taken at the event to the agency’s website in a couple of weeks, along with a complete copy of Dr. Lubchenco and Eric Schwaab’s remarks and other information.
Other material on the event, including agenda packet, background documents, survey results, and related documents may be found at http://consensus.fsu.edu/Saltwater-Recreational-Fishing/index.html.
In an all-out effort to keep the public from learning the ugly truth about NC gill nets, charges the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group (CFRG), the attorneys defending the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Commission have made a motion for “dismissal” of the lawsuit filed by the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital.
The CFRG, in reaction to the motion, asks of the fishing community that if gill nets are not responsible for the deaths of thousands of sea turtles, why wouldn’t the NCDMF and the NCMFC want their day in court to prove otherwise, and why not once and for all show the state of NC and the whole USA how environmentally friendly gill nets really are, and how they are not wasteful, indiscriminate killing machines?
Dean Phillips, of the CFRG, followed the question with, “Since from NC to Texas, NC and MS are the only two states left that still allow the unbridled use of gill nets in coastal waters, NC must be either really smart or really stupid.”
“We don’t believe that North Carolinians are stupid,” Phillips adds. “Most of them just don’t really understand and want three questions answered: What is a gill net? How does it work? What’s wrong with gill nets?”
And the CFRG is starting a campaign to answer those three questions by preparing a PowerPoint presentation with graphic photography and statistics, and they will come to your event or meeting wherever you are in the state of NC to make the presentation.
“It is a powerful and in-depth expose on the dirty secret of the NC commercial gill net fishery,” says Phillips, “and the political framework that has protected it for decades.”
You can email the group at CFRG@northstate.net to schedule a presentation for your organization in the near future.
Or you can go to www.cfrgnc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization.
Pamlico Sound’s economy and ecosystems are getting a much-needed boost this year, courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. More than 130 jobs are being created for contractors, dredge workers, commercial fishermen, caterers, and many other coastal residents—all from a $5 million Recovery Act grant to restore 49 acres of oyster reefs in local waters.
Officials from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) toured the Hatteras component of the project on April 19, as part of a nationwide Earth Week celebration.
But the scientific studies that helped determine the optimal locations for these new oyster reefs took place years earlier, including research enabled by the N.C. Fishery Resource Grant (FRG) program, which is funded by the North Carolina General Assembly and administered by North Carolina Sea Grant.
These studies focused on questions surrounding oyster populations and were conducted by researchers and fishermen. Now, the findings are being used to inform this federal stimulus project, awarded to the North Carolina Coastal Federation and their many partners.
Ecosystem and economic benefits are expected. The Recovery Act project hires local workers and commercial fishermen to create artificial reefs out of limestone rock and old oyster shell. The hard rock and shell substrate will nurture new oyster colonies, creating crucial habitat for baitfish and gamefish, removing excess nutrients out of local waters, and providing bountiful future harvests for working watermen.
Since the mid-1990s, the FRG program has sought new solutions to North Carolina’s fisheries issues. FRG researchers study a variety of topics, such as preventing longline interactions with pilot whales; excluding turtles from summer flounder trawls; culturing local saltwater pearls; and creating community supported fisheries programs.
As for the federal stimulus project, North Carolina Sea Grant will work with the N.C. Coastal Federation to evaluate the economic benefits of the restored oyster reefs. Over the coming year, Sea Grant enterprise development specialist Brian Efland will help study recreational fishing activity at these reefs through aerial fly-bys and dockside surveys.
“We’re going to see how the fishing economy improves with this stimulus project,” Efland says. “I’m excited to talk with all the local folks and visitors and hear what they think of these new oyster reefs.”
For more information about the N.C. Fishery Resource Grant (FRG) program, visit www.ncseagrant.org/home/research/fishery-research.
You can also read the NOAA press release on the April 19 Hatteras press event online at www.nccoast.org/Northeast/pdfs/noaa-release.pdf. Additional photos from the Hatteras event is available from NOAA at www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171187&id=201357451715.
For additional information contact Christine Miller of the NC Coastal Federation at (252) 393-8185, christinem@nccoast.org, or Kim Amendola of NOAA at (727) 551-5707, kim.amendola@noaa.gov.
