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Coastal Ocean Coalition ignores accuracy and rationality in advancing its anti-fishing, anti-seafood consumer agenda
Trenton, NJ - In a recent opinion piece in the Asbury Park Press, Coastal Ocean Coalition Director Benson Chiles has once again demonstrated his organization’s willingness to stretch credulity far beyond normal bounds.
In an assault on the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (Council), he first attacks it for supporting the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) horseshoe crab management plan allowing a severely restricted commercial harvest. He then attacks it for not supporting the Commission’s tautog management plan.
He goes on to list what he terms “overfished” New Jersey fisheries, including monkfish, lobster, summer flounder, scup, and tautog, as further justification for removing or revamping the Council. The Council does not manage any of those species. While it determines how New Jersey’s share of the final three species will be caught (i.e. closed seasons, trip limits, etc.), that’s as far as its authority extends. Of the remaining two, the Council is not involved in managing either, and neither the monkfish nor the lobster fishery is considered overfished. While we agree with Mr. Chiles’ conclusion that these fisheries are not being managed as they should be, his attempt to attribute the responsibility for that to the Council and the fishermen on it is sadly misinformed if not purposely misleading.
While New Jersey was found to be out of compliance with the Commission (not the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council, as Mr. Chiles called it) in tautog management, this wasn’t because the Council determined that effective management measures weren’t necessary, only that the measures proposed by New Jersey weren’t acceptable to the Commission. The issue wasn’t whether New Jersey was going to comply or not, it was how New Jersey proposed to do so.
As far as his claim of imminent peril for the red knot, a migratory shorebird that feeds, among other things, on horseshoe crab eggs, he failed to mention that the species is not on any “endangered” list, and in spite of his implication to the contrary, not all scientists feel that the species is in imminent threat of extinction. Regardless of the species’ status, measures have been taken to protect it, including the Commission’s recommendation for a limited male horseshoe crab harvest for New Jersey and Delaware. This prudent recommendation is what caused the commercial fishing members of the Council to vote against the moratorium, not a disregard for the red knot.
Mr. Chiles and his foundation-supported cronies want to replace the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council with their own bureaucratic creation heavily weighted with environmental activists who, we have no doubt, share his biases. Any evaluation of such a move should be based on realities, not misinformation.
Garden State Seafood Association represents New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry and associated businesses. For more information, please contact Greg DiDomenico (gregdi@voicenet.com) at 609 675 0202 or Scot Mackey at 609-392-3100.
NEW JERSEY REGISTER
VOLUME 40, NUMBER 4
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008
PUBLIC NOTICE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS
NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
Division of Fish and Wildlife Rules
Horseshoe Crabs
N.J.A.C. 7:25-18.16
Petitioner: Michael Litchko
Take notice that on January 17, 2008, the Department of EnvironmentalProtection (Department) received a petition for rulemaking pursuant toN.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(f) and N.J.A.C. 7:1D-1.1 from Michael Litchko(petitioner). The petitioner requests that the Department amend its Fish andWildlife Rules to make changes related to the taking of horseshoe crabs asdescribed below.
The petitioner asserts that, under the present regulations, the Division ofFish and Wildlife is out of compliance with the Atlantic States MarineFisheries Commission's Horseshoe Crab Management Board's recommendations, whichthe petitioner indicates call for harvest of 100,000 male horseshoe crabs for2008. Therefore, petitioner, as a New Jersey licensed horseshoe crab harvester,requests that the Department propose and adopt amendments that would allow amale only harvest of 100,000 horseshoe crabs for 2008. In accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:1D-1.1, the Department will subsequently mailto the petitioner and file with the Office of Administrative Law a notice ofaction on the petition.
Commercial fishing industry supports Congressional efforts to remove unnecessary rigidity from fisheries management
The Garden State Seafood Association, representing New Jersey~s ocean-oriented commercial fishing industry, enthusiastically endorses the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 (HR 5425), introduced by New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone and extending the provisions of earlier legislation sponsored by North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones and Massachusetts Congressman Barney Franks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed. The legislation contains amendments to avoid unnecessarily harsh management measures being imposed in fisheries in which the stocks are increasing but the rebuilding rates are beyond the influence of the recreational or commercial harvest levels.
The Bill includes safeguards that will provide the affected fish stocks with more than adequate protection from overharvesting. However, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 will allow fisheries managers to also protect fishermen and fishing communities when arbitrary and inflexible regulations would otherwise punish fishermen ~ and the communities that depend on them ~ for environmental or anthropogenic factors beyond their control that affect those stocks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed.
Congressman Pallone and his co-sponsors have earned the respect of commercial and recreational fishermen on both coasts for recognizing that they are as important as the fish that they harvest.
Scientist Advocates Increased Fisheries Data Gathering (2/21).
Fisheries management decisions are often based on population models. However, those models need quality data to be effective. It's that caliber and volume of data that is lacking in fisheries science, according to Milo Adkison, an associate professor in the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
"Many fisheries scientists spend a lot of time and effort doing complicated analyses using complex models of their data," said Adkison. "This effort might be better spent collecting more and better data."
Adkison is one of several scientists who spoke during a session on improving fishery sustainability Feb. 19 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, which begins today in San Francisco. The session, moderated by UAF fisheries professor Terrance Quinn, focused on whether advances in science and technology can produce a spectrum of sustainable fisheries and minimize environmental degradation within an ecosystem. Adkison's presentation centered on why collecting data is important to accurately assess the health and population of various fisheries. His presentation is called "Model Complexity vs. Data Quality: Are Our Models Too Complex?" The primary limitation in fisheries management decisions is the absence of quality data, Adkison says. He says that scientists and fishery managers would be better served with simpler modeling analyses and improved data...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases
/2007/02/070220012353.htm
Seafood Group, Restaurants Blast Proposed Ban on Reef Fishing
Call measure unfair to diners who don’t fish
Organizations representing the interests of New Jersey’s seafood lovers, including the Garden State Seafood Association and the New Jersey Restaurant Association, are coming together to oppose legislation which they say would strip people who don’t fish of their right to enjoy ocean-fresh New Jersey lobsters, sea bass, blackfish and other species.
On Thursday, the State Senate’s Environment Committee will consider legislation that these groups warn would deny consumers their right to enjoy fresh seafood harvested from New Jersey’s artificial reefs. The legislation, sponsored by State Senator Sean Kean (R – Monmouth), would effectively ban commercial fishing over the State’s artificial reefs, and direct the State to push to expand the ban beyond New Jersey waters. The legislation comes in response to complaints by some recreational fishermen that their lines occasionally get tangled in commercial boats’ gear.
Deborah Dowdell, President of the New Jersey Restaurant Association, sees the debate as a matter of fairness, adding, “New Jersey citizens are equally entitled to the rich harvest of our coastal waters, whether they catch it themselves or depend on the efforts of New Jersey’s commercial fishermen to catch it for them. Ocean fresh New Jersey seafood is second to none, and isn’t the exclusive property of any one group.”
Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of Garden State Seafood Association, says his group has been seeking a mutually satisfactory solution to the complaints of some recreational fishermen. “Empowered by their ongoing success in maintaining their monopoly of New Jersey’s striped bass stocks, recreational anglers seem to believe the New Jersey legislature will reserve any fishery they want for their sole catching—and eating—pleasure. Striped bass first, then the fish on these reefs. What will follow? This attitude ignores the fact that our seafood is a public resource. It belongs to all of us, and folks shouldn’t have to catch it themselves to enjoy it.”
The reefs, attracting fish and shellfish from surrounding areas, were created and are maintained with public funds, and have been used for commercial fishing since before reef-building programs officially started in the early 1980s.
The hearing on the bill, S- 336, is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 21 in Room 6 of the State House Annex.
Greg DiDomenico can be contacted at 609 675 0202 or via email at gregdi@voicenet.com.
1/29/08
Five minute PBS video on Viking Village
click here »
1/28/08
The Times' Fishy Story
Nevermind that scaremongering story about mercury-tainted sushi.
By Jack Shafer
New York Times reporter Marian Burros wrote herself onto Page One on Jan. 23 with a scaremongering story titled "High Mercury Levels Are Found in Tuna Sushi."
Burros found that a regular, weekly diet of six pieces of the tuna sushi found in five Manhattan restaurants and stores "would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency" and quoted a professor of environmental and occupational medicine saying, "No one should eat a meal of tuna with mercury levels like those found in the restaurant samples more than about once every three weeks." As I write, the article is the fifth most popular e-mailed Times article.
Full Article »
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