Releases – Winter 2010-2011
The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Center for Coastal Conservation, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, International Game Fish Association and the National Marine Manufacturers Association support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) decision to delay a ban on all bottom fishing in a 5,000 square mile area of the South Atlantic until June 2011. An already existing ban on commercial and recreational fishing for red snapper in federal waters from North Carolina to northeast Florida remains in effect. NOAA Fisheries is delaying implementing the ban on bottom-fishing until June to allow time to consider the results of a new scientific assessment of red snapper. According to NOAA Fisheries, the red snapper population is in better condition than was previously estimated.
“The sportfishing industry and the recreational fishing and boating community are very glad for this reprieve,” said ASA President and CEO Mike Nussman. “We thank NOAA Fisheries for listening to our concerns and our request to conduct a new red snapper assessment before making a decision that would have profound social and economic impacts on the South Atlantic region.”
In June, ASA released an economic study that highlights the economic battering the southeast recreational fishing retail market would take should the current red snapper fishing ban in federal waters be expanded to all bottom fishing. The survey data showed that roughly 1,300 stores selling bait and tackle will be directly affected by the proposed bottom fishing ban. These businesses will lose an estimated $78 million in sales in the first year of the ban alone. This equates to an average loss of $60,000 in sales per store. In addition, the survey found that 578 jobs will be affected. The study was conducted by Georgetown Economic Services (GES), Washington, D.C., and furnished to NOAA and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Nussman further said, “Although today’s news is good, who knows what will happen six months from now in the South Atlantic? What will happen when legally established overfishing deadlines hit other fisheries lacking quality scientific data?”
Ending overfishing by the unprecedented 2010 and 2011 deadlines mandated in the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act have compelled NOAA Fisheries to consider a multi-species ban despite a dearth of evidence regarding how rebuilding of red snapper stocks would be affected by continued fishing on other stocks.
The crisis in federal marine fisheries management is generating growing support for a legislative fix through the Fishery Conservation Transition Act (FCTA) which was introduced in both the House and Senate. The FCTA was introduced by bi-partisan Members of the U.S. Senate and House.
This legislation has the backing of a broad coalition of recreational angling, boating, and industry groups who see a critical need to give federal marine fisheries managers the time, resources, and direction necessary to address chronic deficiencies in marine fisheries data collection and science that have plagued federal fisheries management.
Fishermen will see a change in mechanical oyster harvest limits in the Pamlico Sound for the holidays.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel said his intent this year is to raise the harvest limit for one week before Thanksgiving, one week preceding Christmas, and one week before the Super Bowl.
“These are times when, historically, there is high market demand for oysters,” Daniel said.
The action comes as a result of a supplement to the Oyster Fishery Management Plan, adopted by the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission earlier this month, which gives the director of the Division of Marine Fisheries authority to set the daily trip limit for mechanical harvest in Pamlico Sound up to 20 bushels per day.
The supplement gives the director authority to increase or decrease the daily mechanical harvest trip limit based on abundance of oysters and other factors. It also instructs the director to close harvest in an area when the number of legal-sized oysters in an area declines to 26 percent of the live oysters sampled.
The commission also tentatively approved a draft amendment to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan to send to the secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture for review.
The draft amendment calls for increasing the recreational minimum size limit to 15 inches and decreasing the daily creel limit to six fish per person.
The draft amendment is an update to the N.C. Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan adopted by the Marine Fisheries Commission in 2005. That plan was developed after a 2004 southern flounder stock assessment found the stock was overfished and overfishing was occurring.
A 2009 stock assessment found that while the southern flounder stock has improved since 2005, it is still overfished, and further harvest reductions of 20.5 percent are needed to end overfishing and achieve sustainable harvests within legally required timeframes.
The proposed size and bag limits are projected to reduce the recreational harvest by 20.2 percent.
No changes are proposed for the commercial fishery because existing commercial fishing regulations on southern flounder, implemented this past summer to protect sea turtles, are projected to result in an overall commercial southern flounder harvest reduction of 22.2 percent.
The commission also tentatively adopted a fishery management plan for spotted seatrout that includes the following measures to address sustainable harvest: a 14-inch size limit for both commercial and recreational fishermen; a recreational bag limit of six fish, with a maximum of two fish over 24 inches; and a Dec. 15-Feb. 28 season closure.
However, the commission later voted, 6-1, to allow commercial nets to remain in the water with no attendance requirements during the weekends between December 1 and April 30.
Three coastal marinas have been certified as North Carolina Clean Marinas, a designation given to marinas that go beyond the state’s environmental regulations.
The Joyner Marina in Carolina Beach, River Dunes Marina in Oriental, and Manteo Waterfront Marina earned the status as North Carolina Clean Marinas.
The Clean Marina program illustrates how marina operators can help safeguard the environment by using management and operation techniques that exceed environmental requirements. To earn the certification, the marina’s owners prepare spill prevention plans and conduct safety and emergency planning. Marina operators also control boat maintenance activities to protect water quality. Marinas must complete the recertification process every two years in order to retain their certification as a North Carolina Clean Marina.
In addition to the three newcomers, 14 coastal marinas have been recertified as North Carolina Clean Marinas. They are NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, Beaufort; New Bern Grand Marina, New Bern; Northwest Creek Marina, New Bern; Radio Island Marina Club, Beaufort; Seapath Yacht Club, Wrightsville Beach; Town Creek Marina, Beaufort; Bayliss Boat Yard, Wanchese; Caspers Marina, Swansboro; Cypress Landing Marina, Chocowinity; Deatons Yacht Services, Oriental; Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort; Harbor Village Marina, Hampstead; Masonboro Yacht Club and Marina, Wilmington; Cape Fear Marina/Bennett Brothers Yachts, Wilmington; Southport Marina, Southport; and Matthews Point Marina, Havelock.
The Clean Marina program was developed by the National Marine Environmental Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to clean up waterways for better recreational boating. The foundation encourages states to adapt Clean Marina principles to fit their own needs. The North Carolina program is a partnership between N.C. Boating Industry Services, the N.C. Marine Trade Association, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, N.C. Sea Grant, the U.S. Power Squadron, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and N.C. Big Sweep. For more information, contact Pat Durrett, North Carolina’s Clean Marina coordinator, at (252) 808-2808 or Pat.Durrett@ncdenr.gov.
After months of intense debate, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) announced today that it has denied a proposal to increase the commercial harvest of striped bass by up to 50 percent. Public sentiment has run intensely against the proposal from the moment it was introduced last February, as recreational anglers up and down the East Coast flooded their ASMFC representatives with calls to deny the proposal.
“This is a great day for conservation,” said Richen Brame, CCA Atlantic States Fisheries director. “Managers were very much in danger of increasing mortality at a time when the stock is declining, but they took the conservative approach in light of all the uncertainty surrounding the stock today. They should be commended for refusing to take a path that could have ended in disaster.”
Last February, conservationists were stunned when the ASMFC Striped Bass Management Board chose to ignore a host of significant concerns from scientists and enforcement officers about the health of the striped bass population, and instead directed its staff to draft a proposal to increase commercial harvest.
“CCA members, particularly in Maine and New Hampshire, have said repeatedly they are not seeing striped bass in the abundance seen just a few years ago,” said Mac McKeever, president of CCA Maine. “Anglers in the northern reaches of the striped bass range are the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to the health of the striped bass population, and anglers here are not encountering anywhere near as many fish as they did just a few years ago. There is definitely reason to be concerned.”
Other warning signs pointing to a need for managers to take a cautious approach include declining trends in the striped bass Juvenile Abundance Index, “significant and unreported” poaching in the Exclusive Economic Zone, and the potentially devastating impact of Mycobacteriosis in Chesapeake Bay, the primary striped bass spawning ground for the entire Atlantic Coast. Seventy percent of the fish sampled there had lesions associated with the disease, and in aquaculture Mycobacteriosis infections are virtually always fatal.
“Our members were especially motivated to contact their representatives on the ASMFC throughout this process and let them know this is no time to be talking about increasing harvest of striped bass,” said Charles A. Witek, chairman of CCA Atlantic Fisheries Committee. “The problems facing striped bass today are far more complex than simple overfishing. Managers did the right thing by taking a precautionary approach to management. Striped bass are the crown jewel of ASMFC’s management successes and should be treated as such.”
While a still-struggling economy and near-record unemployment remain a central topic, it appears the spending habits of sportsmen in 2010 have stayed the course when compared to purchases made the previous year. When asked by AnglerSurvey.com if they were buying more, less, or about the same amount of gear used for their sport this year when compared to last, 39.6 percent of anglers said there had been no change in their buying habits. That compares to 37.8 percent respectively when asked the same question in 2009.
Anglers responding that they were buying more in 2010 showed the biggest percentage change from 2009 with 6.5 percent fewer fishermen (22.7 percent in 2009 versus 16.2 percent this year) saying their purchases have increased. Meanwhile, 39.5 percent said they would buy less this year when compared with 36.4 percent in 2009.
“This is decent news for sporting goods manufacturers and retailers who have been uncertain about the effects of the soft economy. While it appears a slow economic recovery is preventing some sportsmen from rushing out and spending at levels seen in 2007, it appears sales in 2010 will fair rather well, given the softness seen in other retail sectors,” said Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at AnglerSurvey.com.
North Carolina shrimpers who harvested shrimp in 2008 can apply for fiscal year 2011 benefits through the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Farmers and Fishermen Program. Completed applications are due to the local U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) office by Dec. 23, 2010.
The FY2011 benefits are only open to shrimpers who harvested shrimp in 2008 and who are not already participating in the FY2010 TAA program. Shrimpers who will be participating in the FY2010 TAA program cannot apply for the FY2011 TAA program benefits.
For more information about the TAA program, visit www.taaforfarmers.org. A statewide listing of FSA offices can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov.
