Action Request- Atlantic Menhaden Draft Amendment 3

The Most Important Fish In The Sea Needs Your Help!

Menhaden one of the ocean’s most valuable forage fish, are a primary food source for wild striped bass and without them there will be dire consequences for their entire ecosystem. Because of past over-harvesting, species like striped bass that normally feed on menhaden have displayed symptoms of malnourishment and disease.

Menhaden have regularly been overfished during the past 55 years according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the regulatory agency in charge of managing them. Menhaden are being regulated as a single species with little regard for their interdependent value within their ecosystem. That is about to change…..with your help. NOAA is pushing for current single species management models to transition over to ecosystem- based management (EBM) protocols.

The goal of EBM is to recognize species interdependency and maintain ecosystems in a healthy, productive and resilient condition. As a regulatory commission the ASMFC is asking for your input on how best to implement this effort. With the help of professional volunteers that have many years of fisheries oversight, we have made it simple and easy for you to participate. Below we have outlined the considered options that we feel will be best for Menhaden, wild Striped Bass and their entire shared ecosystem.

Your comments will have more impact if you do not mention being a member of any specific organization.  Please use your own words when expressing your option choices.

Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 20, 2017 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A‐N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX)

The 2015 Benchmark Stock Assessment Report identified the development of ERPs as a high priority for Atlantic menhaden management. Menhaden serve an important role in the marine ecosystem as prey for a variety of species including larger fish (e.g. weakfish, striped bass), birds (e.g. bald eagles, osprey), and marine mammals (e.g. humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins). As a result, changes in the abundance of menhaden may impact the abundance and diversity of predator populations, particularly if the availability of other prey is limited. ERPs provide a method to assess the status of menhaden within the broad ecosystem context. Draft Amendment 3 provides a variety of reference point options, including the continued development of menhaden-specific ERPs as well as the application of precautionary guidelines for forage fish species.

Draft Amendment 3 also considers changes to the allocation method given concerns that the current approach may not strike an appropriate balance between gear types and jurisdictions. Specifically, under the current allocation method, increases in the total allowable catch (TAC) result in limited benefits to small-scale fisheries, and to several states. Furthermore, the current method may not provide a balance between the present needs of the fishery and future growth opportunities. Draft Amendment 3 considers a range of allocation alternatives, including a dispositional quota (bait vs. reduction), fleet-capacity quota (quota divided by gear type), jurisdictional quota, including a fixed minimum quota for each state, and an allocation method based on the TAC. In addition, the document considers five allocation timeframes including 2009-2011, 2012-2016, 1985-2016, 1985-1995, and a weighted approached which considers both historic and recent landings.

The Draft Amendment is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/AtlanticMenhadenDraftAmendment3_PublicComment.pdf or on the Commission website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Amendment either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 20, 2017 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org(Subject line: Draft Amd. 3). If your organization is planning to release an action alert in response to Draft Amendment 3, please contact Megan Ware at 703.842.0740, so she can work with you to develop a unique subject line to enable us to better organize and summarize incoming comments for Board review.

Final action on the Amendment, as well as specification of the 2018 TAC, is scheduled to occur on November 13 & 14  at the BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD. For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

Immediate Action Request- EEZ Legislation Proposed

Last Year Representative Lee Zeldin of NY tried to pass federal legislation that took waters off Montauk Point NY out of the EEZ managed by NOAA and gave control instead to the State of NY.  He wanted to do this because commercial fishermen are not allowed to take striped bass from federal waters.  Luckily better thinking prevailed and his attempts were defeated.

Stripers Forever has always opposed efforts to open the EEZ to the keeping of striped bass because we feel that the EEZ closure which has stood since the mid-1980s provides a sanctuary for the large breeders.  This is especially important right now because the large stripers are relatively depleted, and these fish are the most important breeders and finest genetic specimens.

Rep. Zeldin is at it again!  He has introduced two amendments to appropriations bills that would prohibit NMFS and the U.S. Coast Guard from using any of their budget to enforce striped bass regulations in the EEZ.

You can find the language of the bills here:

• http://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/ZELDIN_028_xml825170923412341.pdf
• http://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/ZELDIN_029_xml825170924102410.pdf

We are suggesting that our members within the districts of these legislators individually join Stripers Forever in sending an e-mail that opposes these amendments to the following legislators:

• Rep. Zeldin (Eastern LI, NY)
• Rep. Jose Serrano (Harlem & Bronx, NY)
• Rep. Nita Lowey (Rockland & Westchester Counties in NY)
• Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (Morris, Essex, Sussex, Passaic Counties in NJ)

The above links will take you to the online email form for each legislator. You cannot send them an email without using the online email form linked to above. You need to be a constituent of these legislators to e-mail them directly, but anyone so motivated can send them postal mail, which is what Stripers Forever has done.

The hearings on these amendments start as early as Tuesday 9/5, so please do this today.

THE POTENTIAL DEREGULATION OF COOPERATIVE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

HISTORY:

When the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) was created, it had limited enforcement authority. This meant that every State had the independent option to ignore or comply with the decisions of the governing body. Due to this regulatory ineffectiveness, in the early 1990’s the States worked cooperatively with Congress and passed the Atlantic Coast Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal Act) requiring all states to obey regulations developed by the ASMFC or be subject to punitive action for that fishery in their state waters.

It has been this threat of punitive Federal action that has kept and made fisheries regulations enforceable. In fact, this forced compliance was primarily responsible for the final rebuilding of striped bass.

NEWS UPDATE:

It has been prophetically said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Because of a recent procedural ruling, it is now possible that we have returned to the old days of vested states interests trumping the collective wishes of the Commission. New Jersey came up with a plan (for Summer flounder management) that they maintained was equivalent to the one developed by the ASMFC. The ASMFC Technical Committee disagreed, and the member states voted to find New Jersey out of compliance and thus subject to penalty.

New Jersey followed procedural rules and appealed this decision to the Secretary of Commerce. Why the Secretary of Commerce? Because that is the process written into the Atlantic Coastal Act. In the new Washington spirit of deregulation, unsurprisingly, the Secretary decided the New Jersey plan was OK thereby undermining the unanimous (minus NJ) vote of the ASMFC.

We are not picking on New Jersey here. They followed the procedural rules. We are simply pointing out that, to our knowledge, this redress action has not been employed before now. No longer is a vote by the ASMFC traditionally the final word in regulating fisheries that fall under their jurisdiction. The regulatory or procedural dynamic has changed.

Some may applaud this decision as a victory for states’ rights. Politics aside, it does put the camel’s nose under the tent of potentially deregulating all cooperative interstate fisheries management. This unilateral ruling by the Secretary establishes an ominous procedural precedent. Without a federal hammer to require the states to accept the decisions of a multi-state commission such as the ASMFC, the regulatory authority of all multi-state compacts is in jeopardy.

Going forward, any member State of the ASMFC that does not like the regulation decisions collectively made by the ASMFC can appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and stand a chance of having their own management plan approved. In other words, potentially we are now back to the dark ages of fisheries management when each state could, with impunity, make its own selfish management decisions even when dealing with migratory species that recognize no state lines of jurisdiction.

As Sergeant Joe Friday would say, “Just the facts please, just the facts.”

1. Many of States on the ASMFC allow commercial fishing for wild striped bass.
2. The majority of delegates to the ASMFC politically align themselves in support of commercial fishing.
3. Each State’s delegation is politically appointed to the ASMFC and assigned to advance that state’s interests.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE FUTURE:

This new deregulated twist to what has been an established, procedural management precedent for nearly 25 years has ominous overtones. We are dangerously flirting with the return of the Wild West, when it comes to undermining coordinated and cooperative fisheries management between States.

Independent states behavior is what nearly ruined the wild striped fishery forever. Hopefully, saner minds will prevail and stripers will not repeat and be forced to undergo the history of state-by-state selfish exploitation. However, as long as they are managed as a commercial product each State will be out to get as much value from the fishery as they possibly can which will most certainly once again lead to over harvesting.

One way to combat the harvesting pressure that is brought to bear by commercial fishery advocates is if we, as concerned anglers and conservationists, can band together and have wild stripers declared a game fish. Accomplishing this will at least insulate them from commercial exploitation.

Dean Clark, Board of Directors- Stripers Forever

North Carolina Striped Bass Prosecutions

Stripers Forever Asked to be Involved in a Federal Court Case Sentencing of Guilty Poachers in North Carolina

Stripers Forever and its members have been asked to provide information to the NC federal judge who will be sentencing a ring of commercial fishermen who conspired to commercially catch and then divide between themselves striped bass that were harvested from the EEZ so that they could land them in smaller quantities that were legal inshore.  Their guilt has been established. This was a major bust and the fear that the Department of Justice lawyers have is that during sentencing the judge will hand out a relatively light – cost of doing business – sort of fine that will not serve as a proper deterrent.

The fact the Stripers Forever has been asked to be involved is significant. Because Striped Bass migrate, any illegal activity affecting stripers anywhere along the coast affects us all. Below is the letter that Stripers Forever will be sending to the presiding judge. Additionally, the Department of Justice lawyers handling the prosecution have asked individuals to send in their own comments.

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Honorable United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle

United States District Court

Eastern District of North Carolina

Regarding the Impact of Illegal Striped Bass Harvesting by Commercial Fisherman in North Carolina

Dear Judge Boyle:

My name is Brad Burns and I’m the president of Stripers Forever, a membership organization representing more than 3,000 members with various interests in the striped bass fishery. Our members come from all the states along the East Coast and many inland states and foreign countries as well.
Striped bass are a migratory species that travel along the Atlantic seaboard. As such, what happens to Striped bass in North Carolina directly affects fishermen and the fishing economy up and down the coast. Stripers are targeted both commercially and recreationally. More than three million individuals fish for them each year supporting a 2.43 billion dollar recreational fishing industry. When these fish are targeted illegally the species suffers dramatically along with the incomes and quality of life for many Americans not just in NC but everywhere stripers migrate. This is a coast-wide issue.

Frederic B. Jennings Jr, a Ph.D. economist, recently completed a study that sheds new light on the recreational valuation of migratory striped bass. His study is based entirely on NOAA data, and his methodology has been peer reviewed by NOAA economists. It shows that the recreational value of just one striper is worth 20 times more than the retail market value of the same fish!

The social importance and economic value of the recreational striped bass fishery has deep roots in coastal communities. This is a highly regulated fishery designed to protect the species and the value they represent.  In spite of this the population of striped bass has declined and fishing guides as well as other jobs in the recreational fishing industry have already been lost.

In considering the seriousness of these crimes and in deciding your sentencing judgement please factor into your deliberations how illegally harvesting striped bass potentially effects so many people.

Respectfully Submitted,

Brad Burns, President of Stripers Forever

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Your letters should be addressed as follows:

Honorable United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle
United States District Court
Eastern District of North Carolina

But please e-mail the letters to:

Shane Waller (shane.waller@usdoj.gov) who is one of the federal lawyers handling the prosecution. He will present the letters to the judge as part of his sentencing argument. Keep it very brief, no more than two or three short paragraphs, and send it off asap. The lawyers are suggesting that the letters should be reasonably worded and not filled with sensationalist bad mouthing or statements urging the judge to “hang em” etc.  One concern is that being too strident may have just the opposite effect that we would want.
Socio economic impacts are especially important.  If you are a guide who has lost business, or if you used to go to NC in the winter to fish but have stopped because of the lack of fish, please make those sentiments known.

Thanks. This is a measurable opportunity for you and Stripers Forever to make a difference.