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The Official News Magazine of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
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Page Making Waves | Fall 2014
Spring 2014/Volume 3, Issue 1
Red Snapper Debacle: The Poster Child for MSA Reform
DONOFRIO REPORTS
Is it time for term limits?
AN INDUSTRY NOW DIVIDED
Despite major an-gler opposition, sector separation schemes progress in the Gulf.
CHAPTER NEWS
NMFS: New Eng-land Codfish Col-lapse!
MIDTERM REVIEW
RFA sees good news for anglers in 2014 elections.
And much more in inside.
STRIPED BASS ASMFC Offers Management Options
That Become Strictly Optional
Fall 2014 Issue
Page Making Waves | Fall 2014
FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK By Gary Caputi
Executive Director’s Report: The Creation of Political Dynasties By Jim Donofrio
4
Breaking Political News: RFA Midtern Election Wrap Up By Jim Donofrio
6
RFA Issues & News Important happenings in Fish Management
9
Great News from
ICCAT on Bluefin Tuna
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.
12
Red Snapper Madness:
Poster Child for Reform
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.
16
Striped Bass: When Management Options Become Optional By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.
22
Breaking News: Gulf Council Approves Sec-tor Separation
28
What Does A Rebuilt
Fishery Look Like
By John DePersenaire
31
Feds: New England Cod
Stock has Collapsed
By Capt. Barry Gibson
34
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Fall, 2014 Volume 3, Issue 3
MIDTERMS, COD COLLAPSE, SECTOR SEPA-RATION, STRIPED BASS AND MORE!
There is an awful lot happening in politics and fisheries management since our last issue, some good, some bad and some very ugly! On the upside the midterm elections put a new face on Congress. As a political action or-ganization the RFA endorsed, and in some cases, supported candidates willing to work with us to fix the MSA and protect your right to fish . The results were strong indeed. Check it out in Jim Donofrio’s Midterm Wrap Up on page 6.
Other good news comes from ICCAT where the latest assessment on blue-fin tuna shows solid improvements in the stock. This should result in an easing of quotas for the recreational and for-hire sectors for next year.
The situation with Atlantic Striped Bass is finally being addressed. Hopeful-ly, with proper action, it will reverse the decline in the coastwide spawning stock biomass before it gets any worse. There has been much debate about the shape of new management measures, but a 25% reduction in harvest is slated for 2015 and is supported by an overwhelming majority of recreational fishermen. They also agree that the ASMFC waited far too long before taking action when a few years ago far less Draconian measures would have sufficed.
The really ugly comes in the form of the Gulf Council, which is totally out of control! It recently passed a controversial “sector separation” plan op-posed by an overwhelming major in an effort to privatize the fishery. Also on the list is NMFS declaration that the New England cod fishery has col-lapsed, and this only a few years after making it an individual quota fishery, which was supposed to be its savior! Nice job NMFS. Read all about it in this issue of Making Waves. Be sure to pass along the link to your friends or have them sign up at the RFA website (www.joinrfa.com).
Page 5 Making Waves | Fall 2014
Executive Director’s Report
The Creation of Political Dynasties: Federal Elections Without Term Limits
By Jim Donofrio
E very election cycle I seem to become a little more cynical about Washington DC leader-
ship. Yes, just like most of America.
After working on Capitol Hill for close to 20 years on behalf of our member-ship, I am now convinced that the
newer and more outspoken mem-bers of Congress have to work on getting term limits in place for both houses. The corrupt and self-serving culture on Capitol Hill has created this vast partisan gridlock which must be broken for this 238th year of the
American “experiment” to continue.
There is no greater nation on earth, no stronger de-mocracy or better repre-sentation of the people than what we have in the
United States of America. But our republic has got-ten off track in recent years, and the ‘loophole’ in our system that has caused the most troubles, in my opin-
ion, is pretty easy to fix.
Our founding fathers held differing views on this concept of term limits. There was actually significant debate on the idea of incorporating term limits for members of Congress into our Constitution, but it was not con-
sidered a priority because no one could envision career politicians. Not only was it something they couldn’t envision, the idea of career politician was something that was never in-
tended of this great political system.
The framers of this great experiment saw these citizen representatives as serving constituents for a limited peri-od of time, and then returning to their respective communities to live
under the very laws which they had enacted. Without term limits for members of Congress, the great John Adams warned “every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.”
Are all members of Congress scoun-
drels and ravenous beasts of prey? Of course not! But for a group of 435 men and women elected to serve their constituents, what per-centage do you think are actually working diligently, across party lines, to really make America a better
place? Thirty percent? Twenty?
Think about this year’s much-hyped, bloodlust of a midterm, which sur-passed $4 billion in campaign spend-ing. That amount of political fund-raising and spending is rather hard to believe when you consider that
the reelection rate for Congress is close to 95% as it stands. That means that any challenger to the political system, on any given day, as only a 5% chance of unseating a sitting con-gressional incumbent. The ad-vantage of money is one thing, but name recognition is even more im-
portant to the outcome of any race.
And the longer the member serves, the more races he/she can win, the better his/her chances in the future, and the more money can be spent in
the future.
This election, there were actually 77 uncontested races in this country – no matter what your party affiliation, I hope you can appreciate that a one-party district is not good for democ-racy, and elections without choices are the finest examples of a broken system you’ll find. Those legislators
beholden only to them-selves, their own power and profit, and to the polit-
ical party they serve, have little need to address the broader issues affecting
this nation.
True patriots follow the rule of law and believe in the foundations that our
founders set down for us – to serve the greater good on behalf of a free and independent nation is a principle which constituents of either party duly support. The reauthorization of our federal fisheries law has been
bogged down this year, yet again, because of midterm bickering, pan-dering and gamesmanship. I trust RFA members nationwide can see the direct link between this a broken political system and America’s right
to fish.
With the elections done, let’s hope in 2015 we can begin to take America back – doing so will mean breaking the political dynasties which have brought this country to standstill of
partisan gridlock.
If the President of the United If the President of the United If the President of the United States is only allowed two terms States is only allowed two terms States is only allowed two terms in office, why not members of in office, why not members of in office, why not members of
the House and Senate?the House and Senate?the House and Senate?
Page 6 Making Waves | Fall 2014
W e were getting ready to finish up this edi-tion of the RFA news-
letter just before the all-important mid-term election, when the staff opted to hold on final release until after the No-vember 4th vote was wrapped up.
As our members saw via email blast on October 30th (or possi-bly in our news area or at Boat-ingIndustry.com), RFA publicly supported 24 candidates in the 2014 federal election, getting actively involved in six U.S. Sen-ate elections and another 18 House races. Through the RFA political action committee (RFA-PAC), supported exclusively through the generous dona-tions made by active members, we spent over $30,000 in the elections themselves! But as your full-time political watchdog for the recreational fishing sec-tor, I can assure you we we’re engaged 110% in an effort to see those politicians we deter-mined were most concerned with helping us protect your right to fish get elected. That’s why our staff was thrilled to look over the election results on No-vember 5th.
First and foremost, saltwater an-glers did very well in terms of the U.S. Senate. We picked five of the six U.S. Senate winners straight up, while in Louisiana the race has gone to a run-off since none of the candidates scored better than 50%. Keep an eye out for future bulletins on this particular race.
On the House side, I strongly believe that saltwater anglers fared very well. The RFA nailed it with 17 of 18 key races (see all results on the following page). Sadly, the one big loss was Rep. Steve Southerland, a two-term representative from Florida’s sec-ond congressional district and an active ‘fishing champion’ on the House Natural Resources Committee. Hopefully, the addi-tional pickups we worked hard on, including congressmen-elect Tom MacArthur and Lee Zeldin, can balance out the anti-fishing interests of environmental groups that spent many millions on the 2014 election.
No, we didn’t get involved in every single race in the nation – but instead, we endorsed candi-dates who we felt were either current friends of the RFA, or
folks we believe will be friends in the future. RFA is not a partisan organization; but over the past few years, we’ve watched as our nation's hardcore saltwater sportsmen have been continual-ly denied access by radical preservationism – a federal agenda which has led to a bro-ken and fatally flawed fisheries management system, most of which is not perpetuated by sci-ence but by ideology.
Eight years ago, our nation’s federal fisheries law was up for reauthorization in the 109th Congress. Hard to believe but in 2006 when the Magnuson Ste-vens Act was being debated in Washington DC, it was a similar political climate on Capitol Hill to what we have now in the 113th Congress, with the insanity of mid-term elections and plenty of behind the scenes horse-trading.
We’ve been here before; which is why I believe that the balance of power needed in the U.S. Congress to start 2015 must be equal to or greater than the anti-angler sentiment now coming from inside the current administration. Too many of the Environmental
Breaking Political News
PPS: POLITICAL POST SCRIPT
The RFA Midterm Elections Wrap Up
By Jim Donofrio—RFA Executive Director and Chief Lobbyist
Page 7 Making Waves | Fall 2014
Defense Fund and Pew Envi-ronment Group extremists have taken up shop in the White House over the past 6-1/2 years, that the only way to truly help protect angler interests within the Mag-nuson Stevens Act is by
electing the right people. With that said, we’re hoping the winning congressmen- and senators-elect can help us tackle the important fish-eries issues moving forward. Whether Magnuson Stevens
gets reformed on your be-half before the year is out, or if it becomes more politically prudent to wait for the 114th Congress to pick up the torch for anglers rights, that’s something we’re work-ing on now.
WINNING CANDIDATES ENDORSED BY THE RECREATIONAL FISHING ALLIANCE
SENATE
Dan Sullivan of Alaska David Perdue of Georgia
Cory Booker of New Jersey Thom Tillis of North Carolina Tim Scott of South Carolina
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Alaska, At-Large, Don Young
Florida, 7 th District, John Mica Florida, 26 th District, Carlos Curbelo
California, 50 th District, Duncan Hunter Louisiana, 4 th District, John Fleming
New Jersey, 2nd District, Frank LoBiondo New Jersey, 3rd District, Tom MacArthur
New Jersey, 4 th District, Chris Smith New Jersey, 6 th District, Frank Pallone
New York, 1st District, Lee Zeldin New York, 11 th District, Michael Grimm
North Carolina, 3 rd District, Walter Jones North Carolina, 7 th District, David Rouzer South Carolina, 1 st District, Mark Sanford South Carolina, 3 rd District, Jeff Duncan South Carolina, 4 th District, Trey Gowdy
Utah, 1st District, Rob Bishop**
Page 9 Making Waves | Fall 2014
RFA Issues & News By Jim Hutchinson, RFA Managing Director
Each news item includes corresponding hyperlinks. For more information, simply click on the link to read the release in its
entirety.
VISIT RFA’S NEW YOU TUBE CHANNEL In an effort to better explain to prospective RFA members the reasons for joining, executive direc-tor Jim Donofrio and managing director Jim Hutchinson sat down in front of the team from Wahoo Marketing. Posted at YouTube and on the JOINRFA.com website, the lead-in video fea-tures a short message from blues legend Taj Ma-hal shot by Mike Laptew in Costa Rica, and fea-tures video segments on why RFA was founded.
“After some successful years of fishing, both pri-vately and then working for private individuals, I was getting disgruntled with our federal govern-ment,” Donofrio explains as the genesis of the po-litical action organization, adding “the federal reg-ulations were coming down on us and we never had a chance in the future.”
Donofrio’s conclusion 18 years ago was that we needed “an NRA of sportfishing,” which is what the RFA hopes to be for hardcore anglers unwill-ing to give up their collective right to fish. He goes on to explain the RFA’s unique political ac-tion committee or PAC, which provides RFA mem-bers with the ability to participate personally with the political process.
“That PAC is a checkbook and the funds are dedi-cated for people that are running for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate or even the president of the United States,” Donofrio explains in the 3-1/2-minute segment, adding “these people have to be fishing friendly.”
The video segments also detail how to get more involved in a local chapter, and why it’s so im-portant from a grassroots level. Learn more and share the videos with friends by going to www.youtube.com/user/JoinTheRFA.
FISHING REPORT: RFA FAVORS ONE-FISH LIMIT ON STRIPERS In late September, the Recreational Fishing Alli-ance (RFA) sent notification to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) that the organization was supporting an option for one striped bass as 28 inches for the 2015 season. RFA members along the striper coast were noti-fied of the decision, and also given postcards to respond to ASMFC with their own recommenda-tions.
As reported by Dave Monti in the Providence Journal, ASMFC put forth a suite of potential new striped bass regulatory options for public com-ment, which led to a great deal of input.
“According to the science, there’s a better than 85-percent chance that striped bass will be consid-ered an overfished species within the next three years, and that’s not an option for RFA or our members,” RFA’s executive director, Jim Donofrio, said. “We’ve talked to a lot of individuals and busi-ness owners up and down the coast, and it would seem one option in particular, one fish at 28 inch-es, is perhaps the fairest, most efficient, and most productive option of all in terms of sustaining this fishery through to the next stock assessment.” Read more at the Providence Journal.
RFA SUPPORTS FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT CHANGES IN HOUSE BoatingIndustry.com reported this past summer on how the House of Representatives was set to take final action on passage of the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.” Voted out of the House Natural Resources Committee on May 29th, HR 4742 was introduced by committee
Page 10 Making Waves | Fall 2014
Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA) in an effort to improve and strengthen many of the provisions of the cur-rent Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) said if passed in both the House and Senate as written the bill would ensure good access to rebuilt stocks while maintaining conservation and access to rebuilding fish stocks. “Simply put, it’s a good bill,” said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio.
While RFA continues to support the Hastings ver-sion of the Magnuson reauthorization bill, as of the mid-term election no such action has been taken by the full House, nor the Senate committee responsible for fisheris. Click here to learn why RFA supports the Hastings bill.
ON THE SAME PAGE IN OPPOSING SEC-TOR SEPARATION Last June, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Manage-ment Council's Reef Fish Committee reaffirmed its support of reallocating a greater share of the combined quota to the recreational sector above a set benchmark as part of the process toward final passage of the management plan changes to Amendment 28 - Red Snapper Allocation. The council also had a lengthy discussion on Amendment 40 -Sector Separation, but made no motions to choose preferred alternatives, leaving the controversial subject of possibly splitting the red snapper for-hire sector from private recrea-tional anglers and creating a third sector. That vote is expected this fall.
The concept has slowly gained wide support among charter captains, particularly those with dual permits who are both recreational and com-mercial. RFA continues to oppose the sector sep-aration idea of reducing recreational fishing op-portunity by taking fish from private anglers. Read more from the Alabama Media Group.
NEW SHARK TOURNAMENT IN RHODE ISLAND SUPPORTS RFA Snug Harbor Marina of South Kingstown, RI end-ed their very first two-day shark tournament with a 295-pound thresher taking the tournament’s
top prize. Adam Littlefield of North Kingstown caught the fish while aboard the Striker captained by Russ Rand.
Al Conti of Sung Harbor said, “57 boats and 200 anglers participated in the tournament, and 43 fish were tagged and released with only eight fish captured. This is a great use of the resource when you start to think about the economic impact of such a tournament.”
Proceeds from the tournament were donated to the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) and the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) Check out more at East Bay Rhode Island online.
RFA HAT AVAILABLE IN CLASSIC MOSSY OAK PATTERN Back by popular demand the RFA is reissuing its official Mossy Oak hat . A lot of our members are hunters or just love the look of this great hat em-blazoned with RFA so you can wear your support for the organization that is fighting for your right to fish. You can order them for the ridiculously low prive of $20 apiece by calling 888-564-6732. Be sure to tell your friends and fellow anglers about this stylish bonnet and rest assured that the
Page 12 Making Waves | Fall 2014
T he International Commission for the Con-servation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) con-venes its annual meeting in Genoa, Italy
on November 10, 2014. The most important item on the meeting's agenda will be the es-tablishment of Atlantic bluefin quota.
According to a press release from the Ameri-can Bluefin Tuna Asso-ciation (ABTA), this meeting is expected to be quite different from other meetings in the past several years be-cause the best available science now indicates a stunning increase in abundance of this icon-ic fish on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Standing Commit-tee for Research and Statistics (SCRS), the sci-entific arm of ICCAT, performed separate stock assessments on west and east Atlantic-Mediterranean bluefin stocks at their science meetings, held Septem-ber 22 to October 3. The findings, detailed in the SCRS report, state conclusively and unambiguously that both west and east bluefin stocks have shown a dra-
matic increase in their general populations and, in particular, in their spawning stock biomass.
The West Atlantic stock is fished primarily by the United States, Canada and Japan. This year's stock assessment indi-cates that spawning stock biomass has seen a very strong and sig-nificant increase from prior stock assess-ments. The SCRS also reported that West At-lantic bluefin biomass has increased signifi-cantly each year since 2009 and stated that present data on the West Atlantic stock val-idates that it is not "overfished" and "overfishing" is not oc-curring.
All this good news on West Atlantic bluefin stock was achieved by restrictive low quotas since 1982 and by bet-ter science leading to a more precise under-standing of bluefin population dynamics and biology. Conse-quently, the SCRS re-port stated that an in-
crease in quota, up to 2,250 metric tons (mt) from its presently level of 1,750 mt, is consistent
ANGLERS IN THE BLACK ON BLUEFIN
GREAT NEWS FROM ICCAT By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.
Page 13 Making Waves | Fall 2014
with ongoing ICCAT management objectives. The report states that spawning stock biomass is presently 2-1/4 times greater than necessary to sustain a quota of 3,050 mt each year, going for-ward.
According to the stock assessment, 3,050 mt is the new estimated maximum sustainable yield for the west Atlantic bluefin stock and it is up from the prior level of 2,582 mt in the 2010 stock assessment.
“Since U.S. fishermen get their angling quota per-centage based on the overall western Atlantic quota, going up in tonnage is good news for East Coast anglers and the tackle stores that have been enjoying the very restrictive, yet vibrant coastal fishery for bluefin,” said Jim Donofrio of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA).
Having long-participated in the tuna manage-ment process through ICCAT and the National Marine Fisheries Service, Donofrio praised the newly released information as terrific news for all coastal fishermen. “The inshore school bluefin fishery is one of our coast’s most historic fisheries, one that allows anglers in center consoles a good opportunity to catch a prized big game species for reasonable cost and effort.”
ABTA president Ralph Pratt added, "U.S. bluefin fishermen are thrilled and relieved to hear from our scientists of the healthy abundance of the Western Atlantic bluefin biomass. The spectacu-lar recovery of the east stock from what has been sometimes called 'the edge of fishery collapse' is also excellent news for US bluefin fishermen. Bluefin are trans-Atlantic migrants, so any in-crease in eastern biomass will bring more eastern bluefin into our fishery."
According to the ABTA press release, bluefin sci-ence is improving at a dramatic rate as a result of global interest in the health of the Atlantic stocks. Numerous scientific papers are authored each year on Atlantic bluefin and it is the responsibility of the SCRS to review all recent contributions to the science prior to conducting a new stock as-sessment. The spectacular results of the current
stock assessment are attributable to improved methodology as well as a better understanding of bluefin population dynamics and biology.
The most controversial aspect of West Atlantic bluefin biology for several years has been the is-sue of "recruitment," the number of young fish to be added each year to overall bluefin biomass. At the SCRS meeting, evidence emerged identifying that the effects of changes in the marine environ-ment are more important than the size of spawn-ing stock size in influencing the level of recruit-ment in any given time period.
This new evidence does not support prior objec-tives suggested by the National Marine Fisheries Service and environmental groups in using high recruitment targets that were estimated for the early 1970's. According to ABTA executive direc-tor Rich Ruais, "The very good news for western bluefin fishermen is that the SCRS states that with their more reasonable expectations for recruit-ment, the spawning population is already 2-1/4 times greater than necessary to maintain a maxi-mum sustainable yield of 3,050 mt."
“US bluefin fishermen have earned a quota in-crease for giving up quota over the last 25 years for the sake of chasing unreasonably high tar-gets," Pratt noted, while praising the patience and conservation ethic of all US bluefin fisher-men in raising awareness of how the east and west stocks are linked together for sustainable fisheries.
Even with restrictive bag limits anglers enjoy pursuing
bluefin tuna of all sizes. This stock assessment could bring
expanded opportunities to the sector in the future.
Page 16 Making Waves | Fall 2014
Red Snapper Madness:
THE POSTER-CHILD FOR MAGNUSON REFORM
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.
B etween 2000 and 2007,
the recreational fishing
community enjoyed a healthy and
prosperous 180-day red snapper
season, with a two-fish bag limit.
During the same time, the federal
government
says the abun-
dance of red
snapper in the
Gulf of Mexico
i n c r e a s e d
from 15 mil-
lion age 2
year or older
fish to nearly
25 million fish.
After the 2007
season how-
ever, recrea-
tional anglers
were forced
to give up
their 180 day
open red
snapper season, despite the posi-
tive rebuilding trajectory of the
stock. Starting in 2008, the recrea-
tional season plummeted 65% to
just 65 days, falling again incre-
mentally from 53 days in 2010 to a
paltry 9 days in 2014. Simultane-
ously, the red snapper stock con-
tinued growing, eventually eclips-
ing the 30 million fish mark as of
2014 thereby doubling the
amount of red snapper in the Gulf
in roughly a decade.
The obvious question of course is
‘what happened in 2007’ to force
anglers off the water while red
snapper stocks continued getting
more abundant? The answer is
rather simple – in 2007, the feder-
al fisheries law, the Magnuson Ste-
vens Fisheries Conservation and
Management Act, was drastically
altered by an Act of Congress,
forcing new arbitrary deadlines
and restrictions to completely up-
set the balance of commerce and
conservation of important Ameri-
can fisheries like red snapper.
Named after
Warren G.
Magnuson, a
Democratic
senator from
Washington
and Ted Ste-
vens, Repub-
lican senator
from Alaska,
the federal
law was first
implement-
ed to ensure
fishery re-
sources are
managed for
the greatest
overall bene-
fit to the nation, particularly with
respect to providing food produc-
tion and recreational opportuni-
ties. According to NOAA Fisheries,
“most notably, the Magnuson-
Stevens Act aided in the develop-
ment of the domestic fishing in-
Anglers are being stripped of their right
to fish for red snapper at a time when
stocks are at historically high levels of
abundance.
Page 17 Making Waves | Fall 2014
dustry by phasing out foreign fish-
ing.”
When the law was reauthorized in
2006/2007, it was modified in or-
der to adjust seasonal fishing quo-
tas by requiring fishery manage-
ment plans to “establish a mecha-
nism for specifying annual catch
limits in the plan, implementing
regulations, or annual specifica-
tions, at a level such that overfish-
ing does not occur in the fishery,
including measures to ensure ac-
countability.” An annual catch lim-
it (ACL) is not just a quota, but a
rigid numerical limit; if that limit is
surpassed as per the recreational
data collection methods adminis-
tered by NOAA Fisheries, the sec-
tor gets punished (that’s the ac-
countability part of the equation).
In other words, the law created to
help foster the domestic fishing
industry has been altered to be a
punishing tool to be used against
coastal businesses that thrive on
healthy fish stocks.
Thanks to the Magnuson Stevens
Act, strict rebuilding deadlines for
fisheries like Gulf of Maine cod (10
years), Pacific Coast yelloweye
rockfish (71 years) and red snap-
per in the Gulf of Mexico (32 years)
are key factors in the setting of an-
nual catch limits for saltwater an-
glers, with periodic stock assess-
ments ultimately determining
whether these deadlines will be
met or not. Combined with ran-
dom sampling estimates using
coastal phonebooks, the entire red
snapper fishery is dependent upon
government bureaucracy meeting
requirements set forth by a broken
law, without any accountability of
their own.
While commercial fishermen in
theory have nearly exact account-
ing of every pound of fish that’s
brought back to dock and sold,
saltwater anglers are monitored
using random phone calls and a
dockside sampling efforts. Estab-
lished in the 70’s as a tool to moni-
tor angler trends, the Marine Rec-
reational Fishing Statistical Survey
(MRFSS or MRIP) methodology is
still used today to gather ‘effort
and participation’ data by calling
numbers from coastal phone
books and interviewing a small
sample of anglers at a handful of
dockside locations.
In a nutshell, if the government’s
random sampling shows anglers
overharvested more of the season-
al quota than was limited, we’ll
have to pay that overage back in
future quota, a ‘pound-for-pound’
penalty before a new season can
even start. The 32-year rebuilding
trajectory for red snapper must
ultimately be met to the day, and
because of that strict adherence to
timeline, any NOAA ‘sampling’
that shows anglers are over ACL
will result in greater accountability
measures (loss of allowable days.)
Environmental organizations like
Environmental Defense Fund –
those who helped manipulate the
draconian changes into the 2007
reauthorization of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act in the first place –
have their own solution to the
problem which they created. The
commercial fishermen they sup-
port have their ‘pound for pound’
annual harvest of red snapper
monitored by tallying a limited
number of fish tags used each year
to sell to market; these ‘catch
shares’ meet annual catch limits by
‘capping’ the amount of fishermen
allowed to fish while offering par-
ticipants the ability to ‘trade’ the
tags amongst various users.
If the catch share scheme were to
be implemented in the recreation-
al fishing community - either sepa-
rately amongst private anglers and
members of the recreational fish-
ing industry, or together as one
unit - it would mean the end of
open access fisheries in America.
The concept of ‘sector separation’
in the Gulf is the environmentalist
response to the rapidly diminish-
ing number of available fishing
days for the recreational fishing
community, and the very concept
that having equity in ownership of
the red snapper stock could lead
to increased financial rewards in
the years ahead (as the rebuilding
timeline for red snapper continues)
has made it an attractive position
for a few early investors and share-
holders.
Instead of embracing ‘sector sepa-
ration’ or a concept of recreational
fish tags, the real solution to red
snapper management can be
found precisely where the prob-
lem first began – with Congress
and the Magnuson Stevens Fisher-
ies Conservation and Management
Act. A new version of the federal
Page 18 Making Waves | Fall 2014
fisheries law was passed out of the
House Natural Resources Commit-
tee in Washington earlier this
spring which would improve and
strengthen many provisions in the
law. Specifically, the Strengthening
Fishing Communities and Increas-
ing Flexibility in Fisheries Manage-
ment Act (HR4742) would provide
greater deadline flexibility in re-
building fish stocks, modify annual
catch limit and accountability
measures to allow anglers access
while fish stocks improve, better
distinguish between overfished
and depleted fisheries, while
providing improved transparency
and public participation in the
management process.
As passed by the House Natural
Resources Committee, this particu-
lar federal reform would also re-
strict intersector trading of ‘catch
shares’ as the weapon being used
to build support for sector separa-
tion, while implementing a grant
program to allow states to improve
recreational data collection at the
state level; it would also incorpo-
rate a National Research Council
review of the current angler har-
vest methodologies used by NOAA
Fisheries to determine the accuracy
of this data in meeting manage-
ment goals.
The answer to the problem with
red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico?
It’s fairly simple – pass HR4742 and
get the U.S. Senate to follow the
lead set forth by the U.S. House of
Representatives.
As soon as President Obama signs
the Strengthening Fishing Commu-
nities and Increasing Flexibility in
Fisheries Management Act, the rec-
reational season for red snapper
will come around, probably about
as quickly as it was lost the last time
this federal law was reauthorized in
2007!
Page 22 Making Waves | Fall 2014
ATLANTIC COASTAL STRIPED BASS:
WHEN MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
BECOME OPTIONAL
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.
F ollowing their August meeting in Alexandria, VA, the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to put forth of suite of management options specific to Ad-dendum IV to Amend-ment 6 of the Atlantic Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan. Pardon the jargon, but essentially the ASMFC’s striped bass manage-ment board approved language to be includ-ed in a public comment document for striped bass, with the full com-mission agreeing to put new management op-tions out for public comment. The period for public comment ended on September 30, 2014. LET THE DISCUSSION BEGIN According to the 2013 Atlantic striped bass stock assessment, the female spawning stock biomass (SSB) has been in steady decline for the past seven years. While the striped bass stock itself is not considered over-fished in statutory terms, it appears 85% likely that’s ex-
actly what will happen in the next few years unless some-
thing is done starting in 2015. Throughout August and Sep-tember, public hearings took
place along the Atlantic Coast to present a full set of man-
a g e m e n t o p t i o n s which hopefully would ensure that the striped bass stock does not fall into the overfished and overfishing category. While the range of striper opinions is typi-ca l ly quite var ied among recreat ional f i shermen, meet ing participants in each state kept focused on the actual options pre-sented for review by the ASMFC which are meant to reduce the overall mortality. In-cluded were specific timeframes to cut back on the harvest, includ-ing options for a 25% reduction beginning in 2015, as well as op-tions to stagger the overall cutback with a 17% reduction in year one and a 7% reduc-tion starting in 2015. These three percent-ages had correspond-ing options, with a set of ‘B’ options assigned to the 25% or better reduction starting in year one, a set of ‘C’
options to cut back just 17% starting in 2015, and a set of ‘D’ options representing a 7% reduction starting in 2015. In
Striped bass are a top target for saltwater anglers
along the Atlantic Coast, so much so that stake-
holders and fishery managers alike are cautiously
watching the regulatory process.
Page 23 Making Waves | Fall 2014
other words, the ‘B’ set of op-tions would require more re-strictive measures starting im-mediately in 2015, whereas options ‘C’ and ‘D’ would be more like a mortgage pay-ment, spreading out the pain over a few years. Now, I can’t claim to accu-rately state exactly what eve-ry saltwater angler and recre-ational fishing business own-er wants in terms of specific options, but I can say with certainty that the majority of folks I’ve interacted with sup-port options in the ‘B’ divi-sion, meaning they believe it’s important to take our lumps quicker with a full 25% reduction or better starting in
2015. Sure, a few friends and associates believe that the reduction efforts can be spread out over time - if even implemented at all - but easily 90% of the folks I’ve spoken with would like to pay up front instead of extending the credit on striped bass. With that said, let’s start by taking a look at the options presented by ASMFC which claim to offer at least a 25% reduction on overall striped bass harvest beginning in 2015, and specifically those measures addressing the recrea-tional sector. GENERALLY CONSENTING The various ‘B’ proposals for the
Coastal Recreational Fishery ranged from B1, a one fish at 28-inch size limit representing a 31% reduction, on up to B9 which was one fish between 28 and 37 inches and one fish over 40 inch-es which would accommodate a 26% reduction. There were also the options for one fish at 30 inches (B2), one fish at 32 inches (B3) and one fish at 28 to 40 inches (B4) which theoret ica l ly would account for a better than 31% reduction; there will still other options like two at 33 inches (B5) and two at 28 to 34 inches (B6) which represented less than 30% overall reduction.
The Coastwide Recreational Fishery options and Chesapeake Bay Management area options not-
withstanding, some Atlantic Coastal states may still be making a regulatory push for equivalency in
striped bass reduction efforts.
Page 24 Making Waves | Fall 2014
At the end of the public hear-ing schedule, the most popu-lar choices for options present-ed included one fish at 28 inches, one fish at 30 or 32 inches, two fish at 33 inches, with some asking for one fish at 28 to 36 inches and a tro-phy fish of 38 inches or better (option B8). In terms of those specific options, the Recrea-tional Fishing Alliance (RFA) sent official comments in sup-port of B1, one fish at28 inch-es, for the very specific rea-sons listed below. 1) Reducing the individual bag limit by one fish offers a 31% r e d u c t i o n i n h a r v e s t (according to ASMFC), but would also effectively cut the number of broodstock fish har-vested during the spring mi-gration when pre- and post-spawn fish are congregated in key areas. 2) Keeping the size limit at 28 inches will reduce bycatch mortality resulting from any increase in size limit (proposed in options B2, B3 or B5); the ‘one at 28’ option allows an-glers fishing specifically for harvest to catch their ‘table’ fish more efficiently without undue harm caused to under-sized fish. 3) While a traditional ‘slot’ op-tion to preserve and protect smaller fish and breeding fish alike is a sensible management option, RFA is concerned about the current recruitment classes; with the 2010 and 2011 recruitment years being the most robust of recent rec-ord, it’s important to protect those females until better than 90% can spawn (age 5-8) at
least once before harvest. 4) ASFMC has previously stat-ed that reducing fishing mor-tality on fish aged 8-12 (32- to 40-inch fish) by half would re-sult in “much greater egg pro-duction in the stock and an age distribution in which older fish are much more dominant”; as such, any slot option (proposed in options B4, B6, B7, B8, or B9) which focuses undue harvest pressure on more ‘fertile’ age/size fish in the stock could be counterpro-ductive to conservation ef-forts. 5) RFA continues to place little faith in the NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) and their ability to ef-fectively account for recrea-tional fishing effort and har-vest. Specifically, options B2, B3, B4, B7, B8 and B9 are foot-noted to indicate that “data available to estimate the per-cent reduction is limited be-cause the combination of a bag limit and size limit chang-es simultaneously means only measured fish from the Marine Recreational Information Pro-gram (MRIP) were included in the analysis which is a small subsample of the MRIP dataset for striped bass.” Since NMFS has limited data to make such calculations, there is far less confidence in calculating over-all impact of such options. 6) Keep in mind that the actu-al ASMFC document where the various options are listed actu-ally states that these are measures which “all jurisdic-t ions would implement , ” which of course would lead the casual observer to believe that the ‘consensus’ view of
the public and the final vote by ASMFC members in Octo-ber would result in all jurisdic-tional states from Maine to South Carolina along the At-lantic seaboard to implement the same bag and size limit corresponding with the alpha-numeric option listed in the table. But there’s a caveat – there’s always a caveat. There is very specific wording in Section 3.0 found on page 10 of Adden-d u m I V s t a t i n g t h a t “conservation equivalency is allowed under Amendment 6 and that states wishing to im-plement conservation equiva-lency would need to submit their programs for Board ap-proval.” What is implied by this sen-tence is that management op-tions may be presented to the Atlantic Striped Bass Manage-ment Board and approved that were not included in draft ad-dendum that was released to the public and which under-went a sometimes contentious public comment period. In other words, while the general public, business owners and individual anglers were fo-cused on building support for one of nine options presented for the coastwide recreational fishery, the ASMFC’s draft ad-dendum did not actually in-clude all the possible manage-ment alternatives that could be implemented by the Board. WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Language that is written into the ASMFC charter is very clear with regard to require-ments allowing for public par-ticipation in the preparation of
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Page 26 Making Waves | Fall 2014
f ishery management plans, amendments and addendums. Specifically, the ASMFC man-agement boards are required to solicit public participation during the process of propos-ing, developing, or amending any fishery management plan; such plans should also be read-ily available to the public, con-cise, and easily understandable. Such rules are written into the charter in order properly in-form the ASMFC as a whole, and to allow the public to have effective participation in the management planning process, and to help commissioners to make decisions on fishery man-agement plans. Additionally, each management board is tasked with util izing each state’s established public re-view process to ensure that the public has an opportunity to review and comment upon the problems and alternative solu-tions addressed through any
public information document. In the situation with striped bass, after nearly two dozen publ ic hearings, count less newspaper and magazine arti-cles, letters generated by fish-ing clubs and organizations, and the typical web chatter and debate, the official com-ment period for Addendum IV to Amendment 6 of the Atlan-tic Striped Bass Fishery Man-agement Plan has officially ended, although there now ex-ists the very real possibility that states may be submitting con-servation equivalency options to the Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board and that this board may approve those regulations without any input from the stakeholders who have already expressed their opinion based on what was in the original public information document. By allowing states to submit
conservation equivalency pro-grams after the official com-ments period has closed, the public is essentially being de-nied the opportunity to effec-tively participate in the man-agement planning process and helping the Commissioners to make decisions on fishery man-agement plans consistent with the ASMFC charter. Or, as RFA points out in a letter to the ASFMC, “the public is denied the opportunity to review and comment on all the alternative solutions that maybe adopted by the Board resultant of Ad-dendum IV.” “It is unfortunately that now with the comment period closed, a near infinite number conservation equivalency man-agement measures could po-tentially be submitted and ap-proved Board without any pub-lic comment at the ASMFC lev-el,” said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio in his letter, go-ing on to add “RFA believes that this is wrong.” GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT No one should really have an issue with the use of conserva-tion equivalency; it is a man-agement concept much like the 10
th Amendment giving states
certain autonomy – in this case, it gives individual states the ability to set their own sea-son, size and bag limit based on a statistical formula for keeping under a set harvest. Regrettably, the statistical for-mula for determining such management options remains “fatally flawed.” The Marine Recreational Fish-ing Statistical Survey (MRFSS) and Marine Recreational Infor-mation Program (MRIP) are the da-ta collection tools used by NOAA
After 9 months babying the measures along, and another 2 months crawling along for public comment, is there any time left to discuss new options before new striped bass regulations are set to take effect?
Page 27 Making Waves | Fall 2014
Fisheries to monitor the annual harvest of striped bass by recrea-tional anglers. At this point in the process, there are very few anglers, business owners, legislators or even bureaucrats who have any faith whatsoever in the MRFSS/MRIP da-ta, which means coming up with a “conservation equivalency” ap-proach to meeting certain striped bass reductions is about as practical as using “dead reckoning” to find an offshore reef site that you’ve never fished before. “While RFA understands that con-servation equivalency by definition will require states to propose pro-grams that result in the same har-vest reductions as the measures adopted by the Board, it must be noted that the most contentious issue during the Addendum IV comment period was not the per-cent harvest reduction but the ac-tual management measures,” Donofrio said, explaining how a
great deal of time and effort was made by state agencies, the fishing industry and fishing organizations to deliberate and vet the manage-ment measures included in the public information document. As a result, Donofrio and the RFA are asking ASMFC to require all states that that might consider sub-mitting conservation equivalency programs must submit those pro-posals to the ASMFC who in turn can make them available to the public. “States should not be per-mitted to put forward conservation equivalency programs that have not been reviewed and vetted by the public during a public com-ment period,” Donofrio wrote, add-ing “RFA believes this approach is only fair considering the coastal striped fishery is managed as one management unit.” From both a business and recrea-tional fishing opportunity stand-
point, striped bass management measures in one state have an im-pact on other neighboring states; just look at the ongoing situation with summer flounder (fluke). More importantly as it relates to striped bass, it is critically important that reductions in harvest are fully understood by the public and equally shared by the fishing com-munity; changing the game after the public comment period has closed, while theoretically legal in ASFMC legalese theory, is not ex-actly what one would call transpar-ent public policy.
Page 28 Making Waves | Fall 2014
Breaking News: GULF COUNCIL APPROVES
SECTOR SEPARATION RFA Calls for End to Radical Agenda!
P resident Obama has made it very clear that
his "policies are on the ballot" in Tuesday's election - coastal fish-ermen should understand by now that those policies include blanket marine reserves, privat-ized fish stock, recreational catch shares, and sector sepa-ration. Despite heavy opposition from individual saltwater anglers, lo-cal tackle shops, marinas, most of the for-hire sector captains in the United States, tackle shops, the governors of the coastal states and nearly every standing member of the U.S. Congress, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Man-agement Council (Gulf Council) voted to divide the recreational fishing community into pieces over the next three years. In a 10-7 vote, the appointed fisheries managers, led by NO-AA Fisheries' regional adminis-trator Dr. Roy Crabtree, ap-proved a proposal to split the Gulf recreational red snapper fishery between charter/for hire anglers and private recreational anglers. The so-called "sector
separation" measure approved by the Gulf Council will take the entire recreational quota of red snapper and split it into pieces, with the for-hire sector getting their own share of the quota and private individual anglers getting the rest. Strangely of course, the recrea-tional for-hire sector caters to individual anglers who book charters or climb aboard head boats to fish for red snapper, making the entire sector separa-tion debate more about divisive-ness and less about fixing the problems with federal fisheries management. The new pro-posal essentially privatizes more of the red snapper stock by stealing open public access away from anglers. The Recreational Fishing Alli-ance (RFA) has been rallying opposition to splitting the recrea-tional fishing sector into pieces for the past 5 years while simul-taneously lobbying for Congres-sional action on behalf of coastal anglers who have seen diminished access to rebuilding fish stocks. According to RFA executive director Jim Donofrio,
while members of the U.S. House of Representatives have pushed to fix the problems lead-ing to this sector separation ef-fort, the Senate has done noth-ing in response. "Members of the House Natural Resources Committee have held multiple hearings over the past several years and they've moved a good piece of legisla-tion out of committee to help fix the problem with red snapper, but nothing's happening on the Senate side until after the elec-tion which is why this terrible vote has taken place now," Donofrio said. "It's disgusting to see all of these letters of opposi-tion floating around by members of various congressional cau-cuses and from legislators them-selves, when it's quite apparent the appointees have been given the green light by the agency and the administration to go against the will of the people." Of the 10 Gulf Council members to vote in favor of sector separa-tion, four are either current or former bureaucrats and govern-ment officials, four are repre-sentatives of the commercial
Page 29 Making Waves | Fall 2014
sector, and just two, Capt. John Greene of Alabama and Capt. Pam Dana of Florida, were sup-posed to be representative of the recreational sec-tor. Donofrio said the decision to change the way the recrea-tional fishing community has managed fisheries for decades could represent the end of the recreational fishing industry as we know it. "RFA has spent the past 7 years trying to unite the fishing com-munity behind federal fisheries reform, warning about this im-pending implosion and fighting the environmental zealots who created this divide, but there's not much more we can do about it until after next week's elec-tion," Donofrio said. "These are the president's poli-cies, and they most certainly are on this Tuesday's ballot," he added. Pam Anderson, operations man-ager at Capt. Anderson's Marina in Panama City Beach and an active member of the RFA's
Florida Panhandle chapter, at-tended the recent Gulf Council meeting and said she fears sec-tor separation will lead to catch-share programs for recreational anglers in the future. "We are concerned because we know the goal of sector separa-tion is to further reduce the num-ber of people that participate in the fishery," Anderson said. "That is what has happened with every catch-share program in the United States. We are hop-ing and praying that doesn't happen in our area." As Donofrio and the RFA have frequently pointed out catch shares in the form of individual fishing quota and limited fish tags are currently in place for the commercial red snapper fishermen, many of whom also have permits to take individual anglers fishing; he sees the con-cept of sector separation as quickly leading to a program of intersector trading opportunities where private ownership rights of the red snapper stock exists between the commercial sector
and this new and as yet un-named 'commercial recreational' sector. The RFA office has been del-uged this week with phone calls and emails from frustrated Gulf constituents who are unhappy with the Gulf Council's vote and are asking for the removal of council members. Donofrio said only President Obama himself, who personally made most of these ideological selections to the Gulf Council through NOAA Fisheries, can do such a thing. "Environmental Defense Fund has had a game plan in place that has worked quite well for them during the past 7 years, they own the entire national agenda on fisheries," Donofrio said. "The $85 million that they and their friends have spent on this year's election could ulti-mately destroy a lot more busi-nesses in the next few years and may take away many more of America's freedoms, unless the fishing communities unite and fight back."
If you'd like to see who actually owns the red snapper stock in the Gulf of Mexico and could potentially reap an economic windfall under the inter-
sector trading scheme click here.
To contact any of the Gulf Council members or to view their conflict of in-terest statements,
click here.
If you'd like to go back to some of the national archives starting with 2009 to see whyJim Donofrio and the RFA have warned about 'catch shares' and
'sector separation' plans, click here.
Page 31 Making Waves | Fall 2014
AFTER THE DEADLINE: What Does a Rebuilt
Fishery Look Like
By John DePersenaire RFA Policy & Science Researcher
W hether it’s a 10-year timeframe like sum-mer flounder and
cod, or over two decades to rebuild red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, rebuilding periods for U.S. coastal fisheries can make or break both fish and fishermen. Rebuilding implies sacrifice, cutbacks, reduction in harvest; pain necessary for the long-term sustainability of any par-ticular fishery. While rebuild-ing often is associated with negative socioeconomic im-pacts, the concept and need for a goal is understood. Once a fishery is rebuilt how-ever, things get a little fuzzier.
CAPACITY & YIELD To what level should a stock be rebuilt? It’s a source of end-less discussion and constant revision; mostly subjective and hardly absolute. There are three important milestones in stocks size: (1) carrying capaci-ty, (2) maximum sustainable yield which is typically half the carrying capacity, and (3) opti-mum yield, which is a reduc-tion from the maximum sus-tainable yield as mandated by federal law for social, econom-
ic or ecological factors or to aid in rebuilding an overfished stock. Carrying capacity is not fixed and is directly correlated to the current conditions of the ma-rine environment. Though it can be and often is refined; it is often a function of the amount and quality of data associated with that fishery. Maximum sustainable yield, or MSY, is a function of carrying capacity and represents the point at which the reproductive output of the overall stock is at its maximum. The Magnuson Ste-vens Act mandates a buffer from MSY to prevent overfish-ing, the result is optimum yield. Carrying capacity is a theoreti-cal value derived using as-sumptions about a species’ maximum potential length, age, fecundity. Defined loose-ly as the point at which the stock ceases to grow due to density dependant factors, car-rying capacity is extremely complicated and has a great deal of variability; yet, it is treat-ed as a firm, empirically proven value for fisheries manage-ment. The practical applica-tion of this approach can mani-fest in rebuilding and manage-
ment objectives that are out of sync with the stock or marine environment. Also, revisions to these biologi-cal reference points become extremely difficult and expen-sive. MSY is a fundamental component in evaluating a stock’s current size relative to its size absence of fishing. When stock size is low and management measures are implemented to reduce fishing mortality, growth can be ag-gressive at the beginning of the rebuilding period. Howev-er, as the stock size increases, stock growth begins to slow as the stock approaches the final rebuilding target. The target cannot be viewed as exact poundage where the stock size will remain once rebuilt, but instead as a ‘mean pound-age’ with the actual stock size vacillating from year to year once above the target.
THE BEST LAID SCHEMES Some stock recruitment mod-els, Ricker for example, illus-trate how recruitment is not always linear with stock size and that in fact, recruitment is negatively correlated to stock size after a maximum is
Page 32 Making Waves | Fall 2014
reached. In short, a stock can become less productive at high levels of abundance when re-sources are limited or competi-tion inflates natural mortality. This ecological theory can be acutely seen in closed, fresh-water systems where gamefish population growth is limited by forage, habitat, water quality, and other environmental fac-tors. When it is not possible to supplement these limiting fac-tors, the stock will begin to de-cline. From a management stand-point, the promotion of catch and release over harvest may not reduce the overall stock size to the point where it is most productive, and some-times could actually be counterintuitive. The Utah Division of Wildlife for example recently be-gan encouraging anglers there to keep more fish as opposed to catching and releasing be-cause waters are getting over-crowded, resulting in less for-age and smaller gamefish. As it relates to management, there is a sweet spot in terms of biomass where removal keeps the stock at a point where it is the most productive in terms of yield per recruit. Excessive precaution or non extractive measures such as catch and release can allow the stock to surpass its optimal biomass where its yield per re-cruit begins to decline.
Lenny Small, the character from the Steinbeck classic Of Mice and Men, killed his be-loved pet by loving it too much. So, why the excessive precaution or the promotion of catch and release over har-vest? It’s an unnatural expecta-tion that a rebuilt stock must be maintained at a theoretical-ly high level of abundance without fluctuation, Moreover, too high a stock size results in a biological diminishing return. In other words, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
UNDER CONSTANT CHANGE Management of stakeholder expectations can be the most challenging part of the equa-tion. History has proven that some stocks are more resilient that previously assumed. Moreover, we are learning that the marine environment and all its ecological processes are a huge driving force on marine fish stocks and cannot be ig-nored when rebuilding or maintaining a fish stock, per-fectly evidenced by Atlantic striped bass and Gulf of Maine cod.
So what can one expect for the future? Stocks will ebb and flo; they will continue to interact with each other, where the re-building of one will be to the rebuilding detriment of anoth-er. The goal of fisheries man-agement should not be abso-lute abundance but achieving the biological and ecological sweetspot where each stock is producing the maximum bene-fit to the fishery without caus-ing imbalance to its own productivity or productivity of other fisheries. Magnuson reauthorization is hoping to address so of these issues.
Forcing the square peg of management into the round hole of the ma-rine environment is not a long term solution, and neither the federal fisheries law nor the fishermen can expect all
stocks to be turned out of a management assembly line. What works for rebuilding may not work once the stock is re-built. Conversely, what works for a rebuilt stock may not work once another stock is re-built or as another is depleted. Management of marine fish is extremely complex, and laws and overall expectations may not always be consistent with the reality of the marine envi-ronment. The Magnuson Ste-vens Act needs amendments to bring management in-line with our limitations in monitor-ing and quantifying marine en-vironment and marine fish.
As it relates to management, there
is a sweet spot in terms of biomass
where removal keeps the stock at a
point where it is the most produc-
tive in terms of yield per recruit.
Page 33 Making Waves | Fall 2014
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Page 34 Making Waves | Fall 2014
New England Update Capt. Barry Gibson, NE Regional Director Capt. Mike Pierdinock, RFA-MA Chapter
Feds: Cod Stock Has Crashed, Haddock Up
The apparent health of the Gulf of Maine cod population continues its downward spiral, worry-ing recreational fishermen and regulators alike.
Back in 2008, it appeared that the stock was re-building after stringent new restrictions were put into place to prevent continued overfishing. There was even talk of relaxing the regulations, something New England’s thousands of ground-fish anglers were really looking forward to.
However, a stock assessment conducted in 2012 indicated that the reverse was happening. The cod population, it seemed, had dropped to an estimated 18 percent of its sustainable yield. In response, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) slashed both commercial and recreational cod quotas by 80 percent to try and prevent a further decline. As painful as that was, it looked like it might do the trick.
But apparently it didn’t. A stock assessment “update,” prepared quietly this summer by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Sci-ence Center with virtually no public notice, indi-cated even worse news – the cod stock had fall-en to just 3 to 4 percent of the target level, and that the population of spawning-age cod was at an all-time low.
The update, based on data from 2011 to 2013, was peer-reviewed earlier this fall, but there was little change in the conclusion. Some folks be-
lieve that rising water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have simply pushed the cod into colder, more northern or offshore waters, yet others feel that the system of management called “catch shares” implemented several years back has al-lowed large commercial boats to decimate the
RFA CHAPTER NEWS Reports & Updates from RFA Chapters and
Regional Directors
The cod fishery is the backbone of New England’s
commercial and for-hire recreational fleet and a
popular species for private boat anglers. It’s loss will
be devasting to all segments of the fishery, the eco-
nomic impacts will be enormous.
Page 35 Making Waves | Fall 2014
fish in near-shore waters.
However, there are growing concerns about the legitimacy of the update. Many fishermen, both commercial and recreational, question the data-gathering methodology. “If the cod have indeed simply moved to cooler water,” they ask, “did the sampling take this into account, or were the same stations used that have always been sur-veyed? If the nets come up empty, what does this really mean?” Others voiced concerns that the update was done “in secret,” and that there was no input at all solicited from fishermen.
The NEFMC’s Science and Statistical Committee (SSC), using the update results, has suggested a catch limit of just 200 metric tons (mt) of cod for the recreational and commercial sectors com-bined for 2015, down from 1,550 mt in 2014, in order to try and rebuild the stock by 2024. This would end up essentially as a bycatch fishery at best, although questions still remain at to what would happen if the 200 tons of bycatch were exceeded. Would all the fisheries (haddock, pol-lock, redfish, flounder, etc.) in which cod are also caught, be shut down?
Nobody’s sure as of this writing. The NEFMC was unable to come up with emergency measures to recommend to the National Marine Fisheries Ser-vice (NMFS), so NMFS will develop measures on their own, likely to be announced and imple-mented by the end of November. The emergency regulations are expected to remain in place until the Council can craft more permanent measures in Groundfish Framework 53, which it hopes to have in place by this coming May 1, the start of the 2015 fishing year.
There is little question at this point that posses-sion of recreationally-caught Gulf of Maine cod will be prohibited for quite some time to come, likely a number of years. This may be the most bitter pill that New England’s salt water recrea-tional fishermen have ever been forced to swal-low. Cod is the mainstay of the offshore party and charter fleet from Cape Cod through Maine, and is the target of choice for hundreds of pri-vate-boat anglers.
RFA-NE will be following this issue closely over the coming months and will report on develop-
ments as they unfold.
Haddock Stock Improves
As troubling as the current cod situation appears to be, an assessment of Gulf of Maine haddock by NMFS this past summer brings good news – the haddock population is rapidly improving, and there are far more haddock out there than previ-ously thought.
An assessment several years ago indicated that haddock were on the decline, yet recreational catches supposedly went through the roof in 2013, and the recreational haddock quota was exceeded. So, this past spring, regulators re-sponded by raising the minimum size from 18” to 21”, dropping the bag limit from unlimited to three fish per person per day, and implementing a recreational prohibition on haddock possession starting September 1
st.
As good as the news is, however, it’s unlikely that anglers will see a return to higher bag limits this coming season, let alone the “unlimited” bag they enjoyed through 2013. As of this writing, NMFS is concerned about the bycatch of cod (30% release mortality is assumed) by recreation-al fishermen targeting the abundant haddock, so a tight bag limit is likely, perhaps on the order of two or three fish per person per day. This will be very frustrating for anglers, who will likely boat lots of haddock on any given day, and a final nail in the coffin for New England’s party and charter groundfish fleet.
There’s still a lot to be sorted out, and RFA-NE will stay on top of the issues, testify at the meetings and hearings, and continue to fight for reasona-ble and appropriate access to our Gulf of Maine groundfish.
Watch These Pages for
more RFA Chapter and
Regional News!
The RFA Mission Safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers
Protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs Ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation’s fisheries.
Anti-fishing groups and radical environmentalists are pushing their agenda on marine fisheries issues affecting you. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is in the trenches too, lobbying, educating decision makers and ensuring that the interests of America’s coastal fishermen are being heard loud and clear. Incorporated in 1996 as a 501c4 national, grassroots political action organization, RFA represents recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues on every coast, with state chapters established to spearhead the regional issues while building local support. “The biggest challenge we face is the fight to reform and bring common sense and sound science into the fisheries management process, says James Donofrio, RFA founder and Executive Director. “Anti-fishing and extreme environ-mental groups are working everyday to get us off the water.” Despite the threats to diminish access to our nation’s re-sources, Donofrio says that RFA offers members hope in an organization that’s designed from the ground up to fight back. “As individuals, our concerns will simply not be heard; but as a united group, we can and do stand up to anyone who threatens the sport we enjoy so much – fishing!” After more than a dozen years working inside the Beltway and within state capitols along the coast, RFA has become known as one of the nation’s most respected lobbying organizations, and our members have a lot to celebrate.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance Headquarters P.O. Box 3080
New Gretna, New Jersey 08224 Phone: 1-888-564-6732 toll free Fax: (609) 294-3812
Jim Donofrio Executive Director Jim Hutchinson Jr Managing Director
Capt. Barry Gibson
New England Regional Director Gary Caputi Corporate Relations Director
Jim Martin
West Coast Regional Director
John DePersenaire Policy & Science Researcher
Cover & Background Designs by
