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RFA-TX "GOLF OF MEXICO" FUNDRAISER
RFA-TX along with the Texas Great Barrier Reef are holding the first annual "Golf of Mexico" Fundraiser Thursday, October 5, 2006. The format is a four-person modified scramble, and awards will be given for the low gross team, longest drive, closest to the pin, Hole in One (wins a 2006 automobile) and more. Individuals and teams are welcome! Registration and lunch begins at 10:00 AM, with review of play and shotgun start at 12:00 PM. A post tournament awards dinner and auction will follow at 6:00 PM. For more information or to register online, please visit www.rfagolfofmexico.golfreg.com or contact the Tournament Chairman, Mark Schweitzer at (713) 960-9000. TEXAS GREAT BARRIER REEF PROJECT Due to the fact that our federal fishery managers are looking to reduce the recreational Red Snapper bag limit in federal water to 2 fish per person, we are looking to promote fishing for this species in Texas State waters. The Texas Great Barrier Reef Project (TGBRP) is a Public/Private program dedicated to the construction of an artificial reefing corridor spanning the entire length of Texas Coast positioned in State Waters from 7.5 to 8.5 miles off of the beach. The TGBRP will extend from Port Isabel to Sabine Pass, and be divided into 5 segments due to shipping lanes. Up to 4,000 artificial reefs per year will be deployed in an effort to provide Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for Red Snapper and a multitude of other sport fish species important to our Coastal Economies. EFH is being lost at an alarming rate due to the removal of oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico resulting in the detriment to our fisheries. In addition to providing badly needed EFH, this reefing project would restore a badly needed winter red snapper season inside Texas State waters. Texas has lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to no winter fishery, and stands to lose millions more if the Federal Red Snapper limits are further reduced as threatened by Roy Crabtree at the latest Gulf Council Meeting in Baton Rouge - thus the absolute need for the TGBRP. Alabama has been very successful with their artificial reef program and now accounts for 40% of all recreationally caught Red Snapper in the ENTIRE Gulf, even though their coastline is 1/9th the length of the Texas coastline. This success equates into countless of millions of dollars to THEIR Coastal Communities. This was accomplished through the development of permit reefing areas on a scale that cannot be over-exploited by recreational or commercial fishermen (1,260 sq. miles of reefing areas) and is key to this success story. We need to emulate their success here in Texas - reefing projects in the past and presently proposed by TPWD lack the vision shared by Alabama and the TGBRP. We need the leadership and vision presented by TGBRP in order to prevent the over-exploitation of the fish stocks on the reefs, and in the long term, loss of Billions of dollars to key coastal communities generated by offshore fishermen. Part of our team at TGBRP is Dick Stone, who headed up the National Artificial Reefing Program, providing a wealth of experience and knowledge in putting together Public/Private Artificial Reefing Program. TGBRP will be done in 3 phases; Phase 1 will include the segments between Galveston and Freeport, and Port Aransas to Port Oconnor. Second phase will include the segments between Galveston and Sabine Pass and Freeport to Port Oconnor. Third phase will extend from Port Oconnor to Port Isabel. Projected time frame for initial reef deployments; Spring 2007. The TGBR has applied for $5 Million/year in CIAP Funding, which, if approved, will be distributed in spring 2007. To learn more, please visit www.texasgreatbarrierreef.com or call (281) 431-0925. RFA STATE CHAPTER INITIATIVE The RFA is in the process of formally launching several state chapters across the country. Although local RFA volunteers have worked together for years, it is only through a truly unified recreational fishing community that we will be able to continue protecting recreational fishing from the many forces that want to limit or eliminate our access to and right to fish for our natural fisheries resources. With thousands of members nationally, RFA has clearly been the most effective political action organization in the country in representing the rights of recreational fishermen and protecting the future of, and access to, our nation's fisheries. RFA currently has state chapter volunteers working hard at the local level leading the fight against numerous critical issues affecting your right and access to fish. RFA was built on grassroots membership, which has been the key to its success. We are reaching out to our local members who have to knowledge and networking contacts necessary to help move RFA forward. If you are interested in leading the drive to strengthen RFA, contact Jessica Knox, RFA Grassroots Coordinator at (609) 404-1060, jknox@joinrfa.org or contact your state chapter chair posted on www.joinrfa.org. HERRING PLAN NEEDS SUPPORT NOW For several years, there has been a lot of concern from recreational and commercial fishermen, as well as whale-watch operators and environmentalists, about the large quantities of herring that are being removed annually from near-shore Gulf of Maine waters by large, efficient midwater trawlers. Herring serve as critically important forage for groundfish, tuna, striped bass, bluefish, whales and other marine mammals, but in recent years, it appears that virtually entire schools of herring are being removed from specific areas (called "localized depletion"), resulting in lack of feed for these important predators. The New England Fishery Management Council has been crafting a new herring management plan for over a year now (known as Scallop Amendment 1), which would, among other things, ban midwater herring trawling in a region within 30 miles of the coast from Cape Cod to Canada (known as Herring Management Area 1A) from June 1st through September 30th annually. This would allow traditional fisheries for bluefin tuna and groundfish, as well as whale-watching, to be conducted during the summer months without the threat of localized herring depletion, which causes predators to move to other areas in search of food. However, the plan was not approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in time for the '06 season (and still has not as of early September) so the big trawlers have been pounding our coastal waters with their huge nets all summer. Besides herring depletion, waste and bycatch have been serious concerns as well. A letter written to Dr. Bill Hogarth, the head of NMFS in Washington, DC, on July 20th by Rich Ruais, Executive Director of East Coast Tuna Association, sums up the problem. Rich wrote:
"I have confirmed through personal conversations with two tuna captains who have made direct observations of a massive dumping of dead herring, whale codfish, haddock and, at least one seal on the northern end of Jeffreys Ledge on July 19th, 2006, in the late afternoon. In my conversations with the reporting captains, I insisted there be no embellishment to their description of the sighting of the dumped fish.
"The dead fish slick was seen to extend for at least one mile and was estimated to be a minimum of 100 yards across. The captains reported the numbers of discarded cod and haddock visible was very substantial. Both captains reported seeing two midwater trawl vessels in the immediate area treading water. Neither captain actually witnessed the dumping of the catch, so it is not definitively known if the two midwater boats seen were the offending vessels. I have the name of the vessels seen in the immediate area.
"One of the tuna captains used a shrimp basket to quickly collect two boxes (200 lbs.) of bait and several of the whale cod from the slick for personal use. He reported the cod to be very fresh, so the dumping most likely occurred earlier that day. Both captains reported they could not cross the slick for fear of clogging their engine cooling strainers due to the density of floating herring. Tuna fishermen, including these two captains, have sighted two dead whales (one small humpback and one minke whale) in the same area, although one of the whales was in such poor shape it was obvious that it was in the water prior to this recent dumping.
"I cannot convey to you the outrage and disgust of tuna and groundfish fishermen over this situation. There is very little tuna fishing effort this summer because most of the General and Harpoon Category fishermen do not believe there is adequate forage in the Gulf of Maine to hold visiting giant bluefins.
"I am copying the State (Marine Fisheries) Directors on this note with the hope that some will try and investigate this recent dumping and do all in their power to prevent further incidents. I have also asked East Coast Tuna Association fish dealers to provide free disposable cameras to the few boats trying to document additional dumping incidents.
"What can NMFS do to correct this waste and damage to the discrete coastal herring stock from continuing? Recent NMFS trawl surveys are showing a 50 percent decline in coastal herring abundance, confirming our reports that herring in the Gulf of Maine are in trouble. At a minimum, can NMFS redeploy observers to 100 percent of the midwater herring fleet attempting to fish in Area 1A? I hope NMFS will recognize the seriousness of this situation."
Since the time this letter was written, a NMFS observer who was aboard one of the herring trawlers, implicated with the incident, confirmed that there was indeed a "dump" of an estimated 10,000 pounds of herring on July 19th. According to Rich, the observer claimed she was "too high up on the boat" to see any groundfish or mammals in the net. Could it be that the operator of the trawler knew that he had cod and/or mammals in the bottom of the net, and thus chose to dump the remaining herring and bycatch rather than risk exposing it to the observer?
There have been a number of credible reports this summer of similar herring dumping and bycatch incidents by midwater trawlers. RFA members are encouraged to contact Dr. Hogarth at (301) 713-2239; fax (301) 713-1940; email: bill.hogarth@noaa.gov. Tell him that Scallop Amendment 1, as submitted, needs to be approved and implemented as soon as possible, that 150-foot midwater herring trawlers have no place in the near-shore waters of the Gulf of Maine, and that these industrial-scale fish-extraction operations are far better suited to offshore waters where they will not impact small-boat commercial and recreational fishermen and whale watching. Above all, tell him we need a responsible herring fishery that will allow a good percentage of herring to remain in the sea as a forage base for a wide variety of fish and animals. That's the real message. For more information, contact Capt. Barry Gibson, New England Regional Director at 207-633-5929 or barrygibson6@aol.com.
CALIFORNIA FISH & GAME COMMISSION BOWS TO CAMPAIGN POLITICS ON MPAS
The California Fish and Game Commission voted to approve a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) along the central coast at its August 15th meeting in Monterey, after a two-year public process. That public process was largely ignored by the administration and the Commission. However, the news media swarmed to cover the meeting, which turned out to be one of Governor Schwarzenegger's campaign events. Eager to convince the state's independent voters that he is "strong on environmental issues," the Governor's campaign staff took an active interest in the Commission's decision. The Commission chose the most restrictive options possible and made these decisions with full knowledge that existing fishery management has succeeded in rebuilding important west coast fish stocks such as lingcod. They overrode many of the recommendations of the professional biologists on staff for the Department of Fish & Game (DFG). New closures may affect fishing grounds at Ano Neuvo, Natural Bridges, Elkhorn Slough, the Monterey Peninsula, Point Sur, Big Creek, Piedras Blancas, Cambria, Point Buchon and Vandenburg. Environmentalists, animal rights activists and self-appointed shore patrol monitors openly mocked the fishing public who lost treasured public access. They belittled commercial fishermen and charter operators who were put out of business completely with a stroke of the pen. News reports characterized the no fishing zones as being relatively small. About 8 percent of the region between Point Conception and Pigeon Point was designated as "protected" and no-take marine reserves, they said. Additionally another 8 percent of the area was severely restricted for bottomfishing. Less than 20 percent of the region is suitable habitat for rockfish, and even less than that is prime fishing grounds. Sited incorrectly, these percentages amount to a near-total closure for bottomfishing in Central California. Based on the Fish & Game Commission's vote on August 15th, they intended to do just that. Significantly, recreational spearfishermen did not get as harshly affected as expected during this process, despite the many proposals to ban spearfishing. Anti-fishing activists showed the Commission a video of a recent spearfishing competition at Carmel hosted by CENCAL dive clubs. Bob Humphrey and Dave Edlund, both participants in the MLPA regional stakeholder group, were shown bringing in nice stringers of fish, including a twenty-seven pound lingcod that was the biggest lingcod Edlund ever shot throughout his diving experience. These contests have been conducted for over fifty years, and the DFG has valuable data from these events. The DFG says that the catches have been stable in length and weight over that time, showing a health in our fisheries that is ignored by most news media reports. Certainly, the video of large catches being made a stone's throw from the meeting hall did not match up with claims that "rockfish are at 5 percent of their historical levels." Where do we go from here? The rulemaking process is just beginning for the implementation of the closures in central California. The RFA has been establishing an administrative record along with many other fishing groups. The proposals need to pass through the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This law requires that any project like the implementation of MPAs do not cause more environmental harm than good. Obviously, the shift in fishing effort will cause environmental impacts to the remaining open areas. The shift in the DFG's financial resources toward MPA research may be even more harmful to important resources the Department is already tasked to protect. Until the regulatory process has been completed it is crucial that anglers and divers stay engaged and ready to defend their interests. These objections, when made through the proper channels, can result in a scaling-back of the reserves. Beyond that, we need to support the elected officials that understand our plight. They make the laws like the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) that cause us so much heartburn.
Despite this temporary setback, the RFA-NorCal Advisory Board voted to continue its support for the California Fisheries Coalition and remain engaged in the MLPA process as it moves to other regions. The latest word from our sources in the DFG is that the next region under consideration will be from Pigeon Point to Point Arena. RANDY FRY TOURNAMENT Ocean Cove Campground, located about 20 miles north of Jenner on the spectacular Sonoma coast, once again, hosts the annual Randy Fry Tournament. The "Randy Fry" began as a freediver's tournament and this year expands to other fishing modes such as shore angling, kayak angling and surf fishing. Ocean Cove has a protected shore launch, but it's best for kayaks, nimble inflatable skiffs or small fiberglass boats under 18 feet in length. The campground sits on a bluff with million-dollar views of the Pacific Ocean, and the nearby fishing grounds are loaded with large rockfish and plentiful abalone. Trophies will be awarded for the largest abalone, lingcod, surf perch and vermillion rockfish, and contestants can compete in a variety of categories for nearshore recreational fishing: Freediving, Shore Angling and Surf Fishing, Kayak Anglers and more. The $20 entry fee includes a gourmet meal with tasty chowder and our world famous rockfish fry. Clavey River Equipment in Petaluma will offer a kayak angling demonstration, and the Sonoma County Abalone Network has provided us with a Wilderness Systems kayak to raffle. Proceeds benefit the RFA-NorCal Chapter, which led the way for recreational anglers and divers throughout the MLPA process. For more information about the Randy Fry Tourney, call 707-357-3422 or contact Ocean Cove Campground at 23125 Coast Highway One (15 miles north of Jenner), call 707-847-3422. FLUKE DILEMMA HAS MANY ASKING WHY Posted by the Asbury Park Press on September 1, 2006. The following article was written by Karen E. Wall, editor of Hook, Line & Sinker (kwall@app.com) asking the question, "What's first, fish or people?" In my college biology lab 20 years ago, we were admonished to be sure the equipment we used was meticulously clean because outside contaminants could and would affect the outcomes of various experiments. Twenty years later, it seems to me that this basic logic is being ignored when it comes to fisheries science and fisheries management. The result is the crisis we're facing with the summer flounder fishery. And make no mistake, it is a crisis. In a state where every penny is being counted, where the cost of living is outstripping the ability to meet those costs at every turn, the prospect of job losses is a scary thing. In Monmouth and Ocean counties, we're already dealing with the blow of the impending closure of Fort Monmouth and the job loss that will go with it. The impact of that on our economy has yet to be seen. Now, another significant industry - fluke fishing - is under attack. An industry that produces $200 million annually and contributes 4,000 jobs - many of those here in Monmouth and Ocean counties - is facing the possibility of a shutdown and while those affected are very worried, those who can fix the mess - Congress and the Bush administration - are doing nothing to give them hope. The issue isn't just the quota the National Marine Fisheries Service wants to inflict on the fishery. And the issue isn't merely the amendment in the pending House of Representatives version of the Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization. And it's not just about the 204 million-pound rebuilding target. It's all of those things intertwined. Why focus on the Magnuson issue right now? Because Congress comes back into session in six days. The House bill, with the exception of the amendment by Rep. H. James Saxton, R-NJ and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-MD, is a first step toward fixing the problem - but only if the amendment dictating a two-year window to end overfishing is removed. Why does that matter? Because we know "overfishing" isn't merely a measure of the fish being caught. Overfishing is the term fisheries scientists use when the mortality - the number of fish being removed from the biomass by whatever mechanism, be it fishermen, disease or dogfish - exceeds the percentage they feel the biomass can lose without decreasing in size. But too often overfishing is treated as though it's a quantifiable experiment in a clean beaker, where the only element is the fishermen. And extreme environmental groups seize on it and use it to bludgeon fishermen, putting all the blame for depleted fish stocks on the fishermen. The Marine Fish Conservation Network, which claims to support "good" fisheries management, wrote the following in a press release in June after NMFS released its 2005 report on the status of U.S. fisheries: "Nearly 20 percent of the assessed federally managed fish stocks are subjected to unsustainably high fishing rates, or "overfishing" . . . The bottom line is that fishery managers are simply allowing fishermen to catch too many fish." So the group that claims to support fishermen blames them for the fact that the fluke biomass has no prayer of reaching 204 million pounds by 2010. The estimated young of year for 2005 in the fluke fishery was 14.5 million, about 10 million less than expected. That's a lot of fish - and I don't think anyone in their right mind would buy the assertion that fishermen are responsible for 10 million missing fish. That defies the logic of nature. We teach our children in school that the little fish eat plankton, and the bigger fish eat the little fish, and the biggest fish eat the bigger fish. That's the way of nature. Yet that lesson is lost when it comes to fisheries management. When I sat at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meetings in Galloway last fall, those who raised questions about the impacts of predator-prey relationships, the loss of wetlands and pollution - the contaminants in the beaker of fisheries management - were essentially patted on the head like foolish children and told to get a drink of water and go back to bed. Here we are a year later, with the same attitudes, and a bill that would add another arbitrary timeframe just to appease extremists who wrap themselves in the flag of environmentalism. Why? Is the goal to force people to stop fishing entirely? If you read the press releases, that's the message that comes through. It's not enough, in the minds of many, to just control fishermen; they want to choke them out of existence. For what reason? Do they really think they can prevent the extinction of fish by stopping U.S. fishermen from fishing? Because they'll never succeed in that aim with the international community. U.S. fishermen don't want to fish any species out of existence; they have as much at stake in maintaining fisheries as anyone. There have been questions raised as to why we keep referring to Rep. Saxton in these stories. Quite simply, he is the one who introduced the amendment. It is within his power to eliminate one item that in the long run can only result in punishing fishermen more - not only in New Jersey but elsewhere, because that two-year time limit would apply to any federally managed species. Getting a Magnuson bill passed that gives fisheries managers flexibility - something even the scientists at NMFS have said is necessary - isn't the only issue that needs to be addressed. But with Congress coming back into session in six days, there's an immediacy to it. We can't wait until early November and hope the ASMFC will stand up to NMFS and set its own quota. They didn't last year; in fact, there were commission members who pushed even more stringent quotas than the 23.6 million that was finally set. We can't wait to get the science in place to fight the biomass figures. Amassing that science isn't something that will be accomplished quickly. Convincing the environmentalists to "step up to the plate" won't happen and it's a wasted effort. Instead, that effort needs to be directed at the lawmakers pulling the strings. Giving fisheries managers the muscle to say, "We can't close down the fluke fishery and damage the livelihood of thousands of people," without another arbitrary time limit and the fear of an unknown consequence for missing it, creates hope for the future. Magnuson is on the table now. It's time for Congress to stop allowing the extremists to bludgeon fishermen out of existence like harp seals. MIKE LEECH JOINS WORLD CUP The World Cup Blue Marlin Championship has announced that the former president of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), Mike Leech (RFA Board of Directors member), has joined the tournament as tournament director. The World Cup, in its 23rd annual running, is fished world wide on the Fourth of July. Blue marlin is the only eligible species with a minimum size of 500 lbs. The angler that catches the heaviest marlin is the winner. There is no second place. Jim Hardie, President and Commissioner of Fishing for the World Cup made the announcement about Mike Leech joining the annual event. "Mike has examined over 20,000 world record applications over his 23 year career with IGFA, which will assure the continued high level of credibility associated with our event," said Hardie. The 2006 World Cup winner won with an 850-pound blue marlin caught by Christopher Brand fishing aboard the Happy Hooker with Capt. Berno Niebuhr in the Cape Verde Islands. It was the second time in the 22 year history of the event that a winner has come from the Cape Verde Islands. Mike Leech has a strong background in offshore tournaments, having created IGFA's prestigious Rolex/IGFA Offshore Championship and Inshore Championship as well as the Junior Angler World Championship. Leech also created the first ever night swordfishing tournament, which took place in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in 1977. He has also been on the board, a judge, or observer in offshore competitions in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and the United States, as well as having fished all over the world. In addition to being involved in the judging of the event along with World Cup founder, Jim Hardie, Leech will be working with tournament sponsors to enhance their visibility and provide additional benefits. He will also be working to expand the number of locations where participatory anglers are fishing, with a maximum number of registered anglers set at 200 for 2007. "There are several blue marlin hot spots not currently represented in the World Cup. We want to change that," said Leech. He asks, "Where will you be fishing next Fourth of July?" For further information on the World Cup Blue Marlin Championship, go to www.bluemarlinworldcup.com or call Jim Hardie (305) 551-0320 or Mike Leech (954) 566-2813. | 
