Tags: Catch Share Policy
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CCA recently asked the Gulf state governors to voice their concerns over a rapidly expanding federal program for managing fisheries called a catch-share program, and Gov. Perry of Texas, Gov. Jindal of Louisiana, Gov. Barbour of Mississippi and Gov. Riley of Alabama responded by signing a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke. The letter signed by the governors was a powerful gesture on behalf of recreational anglers. Click HERE to see how recreational anglers have responded with an outpouring of appreciation for the leadership shown by the Gulf governors.
Tags: Catch Shares, Gulf governors
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“The focus of my comments will be on the process to establish a national ocean policy and the role of Congress; maintaining regional ingenuity; ensuring access to the marine environment; and finally promoting marine recreation as a core element of the national ocean policy.”
- Matt Paxton, CCA Federal Lobbyist
Click HERE for a complete copy of Paxton’s testimony
Tags: national oceans policy, obama, Obama National Oceans Policy, Senate Commerce Committee, testimony
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Committee seeks CCA’s input on role for recreational fisheries in ocean, coastal stewardship
U.S. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, has invited Coastal Conservation Association to appear before a hearing on Nov. 4 to testify on the National Ocean Policy Task Force’s Interim Report. CCA federal lobbyist Matt Paxton will address the development of the National Ocean Policy and the role for recreational fisheries in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes stewardship.
“The Senate Commerce Committee is critical in the passage and implementation of laws that impact the oceans and fisheries,” said Matt Paxton, CCA federal lobbyist. “This is the committee that gives the Administration the legal authority to do what it wants to do with the National Ocean Policy.”
The hearing is the first Congressional hearing specifically about the National Ocean Policy and CCA intends to highlight several areas of concern in its testimony, particularly the need to include recreational anglers as a core element in the development of any overarching oceans policy.
“In this type of policy which is specifically about conservation and the health of our ocean resources, we have to be a part of that process,” said Paxton. “It is incumbent upon the Administration to recognize recreational anglers as stakeholders and stewards of the marine environment.”
CCA has also objected to the speed of the process to develop a National Ocean Policy and has sought to have concepts that are prominently featured in it, such “ecosystem-based management” and “marine spatial planning” clarified.
“These terms are not defined and could be extremely problematic for anglers,” said Paxton. “The Interim Report discusses ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning as federal mandates. We do not believe the Administration has the authority to shoehorn these concepts into existing laws and implement them. The legal authority to do these things has to come through this Committee, which makes this hearing critical.”
The Interim Report has drawn widespread criticism from the recreational angling community for attempting to fast-track sweeping reforms for the management of resources in federal waters, but failing to recognize – or even mention – the conservation, economic or social contributions of recreational angling.
“Recognizing the economic importance of the boating and angling sector should be a key part of this policy,” said Paxton. “But even beyond that, any oceans policy should celebrate and promote the use and enjoyment of the marine environment by the public, much like the policies that govern our National Parks.”
Tags: Obama National Oceans Policy, Senate Commerce Committee, testimony
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Unlikely combination of groups takes a stand for recreational angling
An impressive array of the major marine industry, recreational angling and environmental groups co-signed an October 22 letter to Dr. Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Atmospheric and Ocean Administration (NOAA), calling for reform of recreational angling data collection by the federal government.
“This is the first time in history that the five largest ocean environmental groups and the seven most significant marine recreational groups have come together to push a solution to a fisheries problem. All these groups deserve credit for seeing the significance of the issue and agreeing to work toward fixing it,” said Robert G. Hayes, general counsel for Coastal Conservation Association (CCA).
The issue of recreational angling data collection has taken on greater significance due to the requirements of the revised Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Those revisions require an end to overfishing by a time certain through the establishment of annual catch limits and the development of enforceable accountability measures. However, current data collection efforts fail to provide the data necessary to effectively implement those requirements and the result on the water has been shortened seasons, reduced bag limits and increased size limits.
“Closing down fishery after fishery for recreational anglers was not what Congress had in mind when it reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 2006,” said Matt Paxton, CCA federal lobbyist. “There were many critically important conservation measures included in the reauthorization of MSA, but they are all dependent on a functioning, timely data collection system to work as intended. Without it, there is great risk that calls by some sectors to gut MSA will gain traction, and no one with a long-term commitment to healthy marine resources wants that.”
The 12 groups signed on the letter agreed that recreational anglers are not at fault for exceeding fishing quotas in some fisheries and acknowledged that anglers generally adhere to bag, season and size limits. The problem lies with the tools the federal government is using to monitor recreational catch.
“One way to avoid this never-ending spiral of further restrictions is to put in place a data collection system that makes the timely collection and analysis of recreational catch data a priority so that managers are able to take action before quotas are exceeded,” the letter states.
“The groups that signed on this letter do not always see eye-to-eye, but the fact that we are able to come together on recreational data collection shows the significance of this problem and the need for a real solution,” said Patrick Murray, president of CCA.
The groups urge NOAA to develop and fund a system to manage the recreational sector in compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and that such an effort be included in the President’s 2011 budget.
Click here to see the Letter to Dr. Jane Lubchenco
Tags: angling data, data, Magnuson-Stevens Act, recreational data
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States unite to request feds better protect citizens’ access to public resources
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, the governors of four Gulf States have outlined their concerns over the potential negative impacts of catch share programs on their states’ economies and how such programs could restrict citizens’ access to fisheries resources that should be shared by all. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley all signed on to the effort coordinated by Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and the Center for Coastal Conservation (Center) to find a better system to balance the needs of the public.
“We have already seen the negative impacts from the Gulf red snapper catch share system and are concerned about negative impacts from the pending program for Gulf grouper,” the governors’ letter stated. “Creating an exclusive harvesting right for a small group of commercial fishermen inherently marginalizes other users who do not have the same access privileges. In purely commercial fisheries this effect can have both economic and management benefits. But when applied in mixed-use fisheries, recreational anglers are forced to focus their efforts in limited state waters or not participate in the fishery at all. Neither of these outcomes is desirable.”
Center for Coastal Conservation President Jeff Angers said, “This show of unity by the Gulf governors in federal fisheries management highlights growing concern that catch share programs that award fixed percentages of various fisheries to commercial fishers are a threat to the future of recreational angling and to the $24 billion it generates annually for the economies of the five Gulf States.”
“Recreational fishing is an important activity in all of our states, and one that we would like to see continue to grow as a healthy activity for the public. However, we are concerned that NOAA policies could frustrate our ability to do that,” the governors’ letter to Locke said.
CCA has filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging the adoption and implementation of Amendment 29 to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Management Plan that gives away a majority share of Gulf grouper to the commercial fishing industry through a catch share program. The Obama Administration has made implementation of catch share programs in federal fisheries a priority, and both CCA and the Center have been working at the state and federal level to oppose their use in fisheries that have a large and growing recreational component.
“Catch shares are a huge concern for recreational anglers, and the governors of the Gulf States obviously share those concerns,” said Patrick Murray, CCA executive vice president. “We are extremely grateful to these elected officials for taking such an extraordinary step to raise the visibility of this issue and protect their citizens’ access to public marine resources.”
Click HERE for a copy of the letter from the Gulf governors to Sec. Locke.
Tags: catch share, Gulf governors
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Unfortunately, the experience all too often for the recreational community is to be managed or considered after the fact. Federal ocean and fishery management policy has historically focused solely on commercial enterprises, be it energy, shipping or fishing. And recreational interests are simply regulated or managed in a manner to do the least harm. This was the mind-set for years in terrestrial management until bold thinkers like Theodore Roosevelt and others championed the outdoorsman conservation ethic and managed fish and wildlife resources for the sustained enjoyment of the public.
- Jeff Angers, President
Center for Coastal Conservation
Click HERE for a complete copy of the testimony
Tags: national oceans policy, Obama National Oceans Policy, ocean policy task force
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NOAA Administrator announces support for strongest possible conservation measures
Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) commends an announcement by Dr. Jane Lubchenco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the United States will seek the strongest possible management measures for international conservation of Atlantic bluefin tuna. The announcement from NOAA also gave U.S. support to Monaco’s proposal to list Atlantic bluefin under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
“This is an important step in the right direction, but much work remains to ensure a recovery for bluefin,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “I am thrilled to see the Administration send a clear message to the international community that it cannot continue its failed history of management for such an important species. The conservation of bluefin tuna has to be addressed.”
In a Sept. 25 letter from CCA National Chairman Venable Proctor to Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, CCA cited the failure of the international community to rein in harvest of bluefin tuna and urged the United States to proceed with an effort to list the Atlantic bluefin on Appendix I to CITES and prohibit the international trade in bluefin.
“It is time for the United States to demonstrate some leadership and insist that all international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna be halted, while hope for a recovery still remains,” Proctor said.
“Over the past 40 years, the international body that manages bluefin tuna, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), has overseen a 72 percent decline in the adult population of eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock of bluefin tuna and an 82 percent decline in the adult population of the western Atlantic stock,” Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and NOAA Administrator, said in the statement. “A sustained lack of science-based management for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock of bluefin tuna and concerns about slow recovery in the west, have brought us to this point.”
Lubchenco calls for definitive action on bluefin at the November 2009 meeting of ICCAT, including the establishment of management measures that end overfishing, such as science-based quotas, stronger enforcement of the quotas and closures during spawning periods. She indicated that the United States will consider amending or withdrawing its support of a CITES listing depending on the outcome of that meeting.
Tags: Bluefin Tuna, CITES, ICCAT
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Task Force omission of recreational angling a glaring flaw
HOUSTON, TX – A recently issued report of the White House Interagency Ocean Task Force has caused widespread concern among America’s recreational anglers. Released just weeks after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) promised to take a “fresh look” at the federal agency’s relationship with recreational anglers, the Interim Report threatens to fast-track sweeping reforms for the management of resources in federal waters, but fails to recognize – or even mention – the conservation, economic or social contributions of recreational angling.
“Our members are very concerned about this entire process, from the timeline to the overall tone and intent of this effort. This is a huge undertaking and the ramifications could impact 60 million anglers, and yet it comes with a 30-day public review and comment period and doesn’t even mention us,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “Placing such a high priority on ocean policy is a worthy endeavor, but if this is to be a legitimate effort to establish a true policy of conservation for the wise use of our natural resources, it should not be pursued with such timelines and remarkable lack of inclusion.”
President Obama launched the effort to develop a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to manage the oceans through the White House Council on Environmental Quality, NOAA and numerous other agencies. The Administration’s directive mandated an aggressive180-day timeline to develop a national ocean policy that includes an integrated, ecosystem-based framework for marine spatial planning. Coastal Conservation Association has been active in this process and has grown concerned that concepts and goals important to the recreational sector have been overlooked – or ignored.
“We are stunned that the Task Force did not recognize the role of recreational fishing in the proper management of ocean resources. Whether this was done intentionally or not, the end result is a document that has alarmed millions of recreational anglers,” said Brewer . “We were led to believe that the value and role of recreational angling would be a priority for this Administration, as it should be for any Administration seeking to improve the management of our oceans. Establishing an overarching national oceans policy must fully consider and balance the interests of all who will be directly affected. For the Interim Report to ignore recreational fishing is an alarming sign that must be addressed.”
Tags: national oceans policy, obama, Obama National Oceans Policy
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The United States today announced that it will seek the strongest possible management for the conservation of Atlantic bluefin tuna, a fish which is in serious trouble. This action has two components. First, we are sending a clear and definitive statement to the international community
that the status quo is not acceptable. Second, the United States strongly supports Monaco’s proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to prohibit international trade of the species.
Click HERE for the entire NOAA announcement.
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