RFA National News Releases

February 15, 2007 Edition 43

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Protecting The Rights Of Sport Fishermen Coast To Coast

RFA SUPPORTS SAVE THE BAY

RFA is teaming up with Save the Bay and the Rhode Island Saltwalter Anglers to support the passage of bill H-5165, recently introduced by Representatives Raymond G. Gallison, Peter F. Kilmartin, Peter G. Palumbo, Peter T. Ginaitt, and Douglas W. Gablinske. This act would prohibit purse seining for the harvesting of Menhaden in Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island waters.

“The role of menhaden in the Narragansett ecosystem is a very significant one”, explains Rhode Island native and long-time angler Michael Laptew. “They are a filter feeder, capable of restoring the bay”. RFA’s stance is that this bill is essential to keeping Narransett Bay clean, thereby sustaining the regions fisheries.

RFA SEEKS FEDERAL PROTECTION

OF HISTORIC RECREATIOANL FISHERY

At the January 2007 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meeting, the final recommendation of the board in addressing rebuilding the tautog (tog) stock was to cut recreational harvest by 28.6% and “closely monitor” a perceived problem with the illegal tog fishery. This action angered many recreational fishermen who, through public comment and at public hearings on Addendum IV, have been asking the ASMFC to take the illegal fishery serious. In New Jersey, recreational anglers have gone on the record as early as 1991 pleading with fisheries managers to address this problem.

“After pleading for 15 years with no major response by ASMFC to address this problem, shame on us to think that anything but status quo will occur. We have got to try something different” states RFA Executive Director Jim Donofrio. “The states are incapable of controlling the illegal fishery and ASMFC has exhibited habitual complacency concerning this matter. At this point, all options through the traditional channels are either exhausted or closed. We really see no other alternative than to rise above the bureaucracy of the ASMFC and pursue a solution through federal legislation.”

Since 1981, recreational tautog harvest, in numbers of fish and pounds landed, has decreased by 63.6% and 52.1% respectively. This level of reduction, combined with relatively stable legal commercial landings, was ineffective in spurring recovery and illustrates two important aspects of this fishery; it is unlikely any further reductions on the recreational sector will result in any improvement to the tog stock, and that a significant source of mortality is not currently accounted for in the management of the stock. All evidence points to a massive illegal fishery.

“The illegal tog fishery is out of control. We are reaching out to Congressman Frank Pallone to craft legislation in such a way, be it a no-sale provision or simply a ban on all tog sales, that States will be able to enforce the law with the resources available to them at this point in time” continues Donofrio. “It is irresponsible to pass regulations that are otherwise unenforceable in light of most State’s minimal budgets. Implementing a federal no-sale-of-tog law may in fact be the easiest and cheapest option for most States.”

The traditional tautog fishery is primarily a recreational fishery. Though not a glamorous fish, it carries a strong following in the private vessel sector as well as with shore based anglers. For party/charter boats and tackle businesses, tog filled gaps created when regulations on winter flounder and summer flounder shortened their seasons. Since the late 1980’s, tog biomass has been declining and fishing mortality rate remains above the F rate target.

RFA-TX FIGHTS 5 FISH REDUCTION IN LOWER LAGUNA MADRE

The Lower Laguna Madre ( LLM) is one of only five hyper-saline bay systems in the world - and two in Texas - characterized by high salinity, a shallow depth averaging 2’, and 75% grass covered bottom with very clear water.

Recently, a group of South Texas fishing enthusiasts have been pressuring the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to reduce Speckled Trout limits from 10 to 5 fish and implement a "regionalization plan" where it could be managed as a separate fishery from the rest of the coast.

Currently, there is no evidence that gives validity to the claims that overfishing is occurring in the LLM. In fact TPW's own LLM project leader Randy Blankenship stated that this is "not a fishery in crisis". We at RFA-TX feel that there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed in the LLM such as fertilizer runoff and nutrient build up, water flow issues due to passes being silted shut and not maintained, and wastewater flow from the Arroyo Colorado. We feel that adjusting the daily limits is not a panacea and that, even if limits are reduced, we are still left with an ecosystem suffering from the aforementioned problems. Not to address those concerns would be careless and irresponsible. We feel that the matter deserves a much closer look before implementing a half measure solution.

RFA-TX has met with TPWD and the head of Coastal Fisheries, Dr. Larry McKinney, to express our concern for this matter in great detail. TPWD will make a final decision at the Commission meeting on April 4^th and 5^th in Austin, TX. We encourage all interested parties to attend and speak.

MLPA PROCESS HITS SNAG ON OPEN MEETINGS ACT

Responding to a question from RFA's Jim Martin, the legal counsel for the California Fish & Game Commission advised the commissioners that the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act applies to the meetings of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Science Advisory Team, which provided "guidance" for the design of the proposed network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in central California.

"I don't know if this is the silver bullet people have been hoping for in this highly unusual stakeholder process," said Martin, "but one thing is certain: the process will change for the better from here on, as a result of Deputy Attorney General William Cunningham's opinion." Rather than RFA using our own legal counsel to explore the question, we felt it would be better to ask the Commission's own counsel to provide advice to the Fish & Game Commission before the public process gets even more skewed in north-central California, the next phase of the MLPA implementation.

At issue is the lack of public notice, failure to provide the public with written materials, and lack of notice for subcommittees of the Science Advisory Team, also known as the "SAT." The SAT was composed of marine ecologists rather than fishery management scientists – and many of the scientists were recipients of grants from environmentalist foundations like Pew Charitable Trusts. "We had situations where meetings were announced the night before they occurred, rather than with ten days notice as required by law," reported Martin. "Even worse, subcommittees of the SAT were formed, developed policy guidelines, and these policies were presented to the F&G Commissioners, and the BRTF as agreed to by the whole team. The Bagley Keene Act requires, in our view, that the entire team meet and make motions, take votes, just as any legislatively authorized body, like the Fish & Game Commission, must do."

Special thanks go to Joel Greenberg, RFA-SoCal Chair, and commercial fisherman William James, who did the research on Bagley Keene and passed the information on to the California Fisheries Coalition, a partnership of over 25 fishing associations in California formed to deal with the MLPA. To learn more about the MLPA, visit www.fishpolitics.com.

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January 26, 2007 Edition 42

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Protecting The Rights Of Sport Fishermen Coast To Coast

NOAA FISHERIES ANNOUNCES 2007 FLUKE LIMIT

Silver Spring, MD- Summer flounder, also known as fluke, has been at the center of much debate since last summer. With National Marine Fisheries Service proposing a crippling harvest level for 2007, the recreational fishing industry feared it would not have any fluke season at all.

In 2006, fluke anglers enjoyed a total allowable landing (TAL) of 23 million pounds split between the commercial and recreational communities. This season, however, the fluke TAL will see a 6 million pound decrease. This TAL cut was brought about by an emergency rule in an effort to rebuild the stock. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), limits are placed on summer flounder in an effort to rebuild their stock. This season’s 17.112 million pound limit was authorized by a recent amendment to the MSA, which was signed into law on January 19th, and is estimated at having a 75% probability of achieving the rebuilding goal.

“When we had originally heard the proposed five million pound limit last summer, it was obvious that the very concept would be devastating to fluke anglers on the east coast”, explained Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA). “Thankfully, some members of congress were willing to explore an alternative for rebuilding. Our request was for a five year extension, and we’ve been given three years.”

While the recreational fishing industry has been given some reprieve, it will still feel some pain this season. Donofrio stated “RFA recognizes that this amendment does not address the long-term issues concerning Fisheries Management or keeping the recreational community fishing. It is unfortunate that we haven’t been granted flexibility for the management of all species.”

Fluke is the most popular species of fish harvested by recreational anglers in the mid-Atlantic region, bringing in over $300 million in revenue to communities up and down the east coast. 

IPHC CUTS ALASKA’S HALIBUT BAG LIMIT

As the result of a closed meeting held earlier this month, the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) has taken the liberty of cutting Alaska’s recreational halibut bag limit by 50%, allowing only one per person.  What truly disturbs us about this decision is that the IPHC decided the fate of Alaska’s sportfishing not in Alaska, but in Canada.   This action severely undermines the newly reauthored Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA), under which we are assured a transparent process with public involvement. At this time, RFA is urging the US State Department and US Department of Commerce to investigate the legitimacy of this process.

PACIFIC COUNCIL ADOPTS NEW RULES ON KLAMATH SALMON AND TUNA BAG LIMITS

            Paving the way for a 2007 recreational salmon season, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council passed an amendment to the Salmon Fishery Management Plan that would allow for "de minimus" ocean fisheries to occur, even when the conservation goals of 35,000 natural spawner Fall Chinook salmon are not predicted to return. This gives the Council guidance about how to craft ocean salmon seasons without getting approval for an emergency rule from the U. S. Commerce Department when the fall run is projected to be poor. While recreational anglers were relieved by the decision, which is likely to be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), commercial salmon trollers can hope at best to hang on by their fingernails. The inside skinny was that this amendment would lead to fairly decent recreational seasons in California and Oregon, because our impacts on Klamath stocks are minimal compared to the commercial fleet. The Council also adopted a new bag limit on albacore tuna, with a ten fish bag south of Pt. Conception and a twenty-five fish bag north to the Oregon border. This option was supported by the RFA and all of California's sportfishing advocates.

DOUBLE SHOT A DOUBLE SUCCESS!

                On January 16 captains and crews from over 40 of the finest sportfishing yachts on the East Coast gathered under the big top at Sailfish Marina for the kick off of the 2007 Palm Beach Double Shot—the simultaneous running of the 44^th Annual Buccaneer Cup and the 5^th Annual Fish for Life Sailfish Release Tournaments. This unique event was the culmination of months of planning and hard work by the tournament directors and a staff of dedicated volunteers. It resulted in four days of competitive fishing, great parties, camaraderie and big donations for the tournament’s beneficiaries.

                The Buccaneer Cup, a legend in the billfishing community for over four decades, now benefits the Recreational Fishing Alliance—saltwater fishing’s acclaimed political action organization. The Fish for Life donates its proceeds to the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, both research and treatment centers for special cancers.

                The captain’s meeting and accompanying party was attended by several hundred who enjoyed the food, open bar and music by Rip Tide. The Buc kicked off the next day with teams allowed to fish three of the next four days, while the FFL started on Thursday, fishing two of three days so both events would culminate on Saturday, January 20 with a five-star dinner at the exclusive Sailfish Club in Palm Beach. The overwhelming majority of teams entered both events.

                Day one, Buccaneer Cup only, saw the live bait specialists on the Sandman jump off to a commanding lead with only 15 boats releasing a total of 39 fish. Ditch Digger had four on dead bait for second place and the classic Rybovich, Glory Days, trolled three for 600 points.

                Day two saw 32 boats fish, but it was a tough day on the water with only 35 fish caught. Sandman took a lay day and managed to stay in first in the Buc with Streaker tying at 1200 and jumping into first place in the FFL. Anejo trolled four for 800 point and second in the FFL.

                Day three dawned dark and breezy, but it didn’t do much for the fishing. A cold front was needed to get the sails snapping and it just wasn’t in the forecast. It closed with 42 fish released, Streaker surging ahead of Sandman in the Buc and staying in first in the FFL. Kids Stuff had a hot day increasing to 1400 release points, third place in the Buc and second in the FFL.

                Day four and the fishing got a little hotter with the scores tightening up under bright, sunny skies. Sandman fought back into the lead pushing their points total up to 2300 while the Streaker crew did their best to keep them honest raising their points total to 2200. Close behind also at 2200 was Kids Stuff and Anejo with Catch One tallying ten releases the last day, but not enough to get into the running after weak showings earlier in the events.

                The finals for the Buccaneer Cup were Sandman taking first place with all their releases on live bait; Streaker trolling their way to a strong second and Kids Stuff in third. Finals for the Fish for Life saw Anejo trolling up a first place win, Streaker in second and Kids Stuff in third.

                The teams gathered that evening at the Sailfish Club where Buc tournament director and Saltwater Sportsman Offshore Editor, Gary Caputi, played host and emcee to a packed crowd of nearly 300 for an evening of celebration, great food and libation. The capper for the two tournaments was the money raised, over $50,000 by the Fish for Life for cancer research and treatment, and over $70,000 for the Recreational Fishing Alliance to continue its strong political representation of saltwater anglers. The entire event was first class from start to finish and a truly premiere billfish event. For more information and to register for next year’s Palm Beach Double Shot go to www.buccaneercup.com and www.fishforlife.org.

                The staff of the Buccaneer Cup would like to thank their sponsors: Merrill-Lynch; Rybovich; Detroit Diesel/MTU; American Custom Yachts; Release Marine; Viking Yachts; Murray Products; Lowrance Electronics; Integrity Marine; Saltwater Sportsman; Motor Boating; Yachting; HMY Yacht Sales; Awlgrip Yacht Coatings; Interlux Yacht Paint; Black Bart Tackle; Hi-Seas Line; American Fishing Wire; Bill Buckland’s Fisherman’s Center and Canyon Gear International.

                The staff of Fish for Life would like to thank their sponsors: Caterpillar Marine Power and their participating distributors Ransome, Pantropic and Gregory Poole; Merrill-Lynch; Viking Yachts; Ocean Yachts; HMY Yacht Sales; MarineMax; ZF Transmissions; Christi Marine; Strataglass; Black Bart Tackle; Bluewater Chairs; Hydro Glow; Sea View; Canyon Gear International and Fisherman’s Center.

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January 12, 2007 Edition 42

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Protecting The Rights Of Sport Fishermen Coast To Coast

HALIBUT ACTION ALERT

            Your action is needed now. The fate of sport fishing for halibut in Alaska will be decided in Canada, not the U.S.A., behind closed doors by the commercial fishing industry during the week of January 15, 2007.

Currently, Alaska's commercial fleets harvest over 90% of the US halibut quota and kill over 12 million pounds in bycatch alone.  This waste associated with commercial bycatch is close to double the amount that sport anglers catch.  Despite this unbalanced allocation, commercial halibut longliners are strongly pushing to cut recreational bag limits in half just so they can have more fish to sell.  The methods used to pursue these proposed cuts are extremely troublesome.

Halibut are managed under an international treaty between the U.S.A. and Canada by an organization called the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). The IPHC's main job is to continually monitor the health of the halibut biomass and then determine how many pounds of halibut can be harvested in a given year. That harvest amount gets divided between the U.S., and Canada. Under usual circumstances, the allowable catch for halibut is then managed federally by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC), under the control of the National Marine Fisheries Service. NPFMC as well as the other seven federal management councils in the U.S. was established by the Magnuson-Stevens Act which mandates proper guidelines and insures public involvement in the process.

            This normal process is being subverted in a foreign country by the IPHC which is completely controlled by commercial fishing interests. Ironically, the Magnuson-Stevens Act which bears the name of Alaska's prominent senator, Senator Ted Stevens, is being subverted by commercial interests from the Senator's own state, and their actions will adversely effect Alaskan residents and visitors alike.

            We cannot allow this to happen. The Magnuson-Stevens Act was recently reauthorized by our Congress in 2006 and dictates a transparent process with public input.  It is necessary that you call, fax, or email Dr. William Hogarth, Assistant Administrator NOAA Fisheries, Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska, and your local Senator immediately.  Let them know that fishermen will not stand for this action and that the management of the halibut charter fishery must remain with the NPFMC and the US.  Please call, write and fax your concerns today.

Dr. William T. Hogarth                                     Senator Ted Stevens

National Marine Fisheries Service                                 United States Senate from Alaska

301 301-2239 phone                                                   202 224-3004 phone

301 713-1940 fax                                                        202 224-3004 fax 

bill.hogarth@noaa.gov                                     

Use the following URL to find your Senator

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

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