Menhaden Regulation Goes Down In Flames at March 8th NJMFC

by Frank Richetti

(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association April 2000 Newsletter)

The NJ Marine Fisheries Council at their March 8 meeting did not have the muscle to approve the regulation that would protect millions of pounds of bunker within our state waters. The regulation went down in a 6 to 4 vote.

There are 11 seats on the Council but the balance of power clearly favors the commercial sector. There are 4 commercial seats that are balanced by 4 recreational seats but the commercial sector also gets one more seat for a seafood processor. That gives them a 5 to 4 edge in all decisions. There are also 2 at-large seats that represent the general public. These are the votes that make the real difference on the Council. It was one of the Councilmen who occupy an at-large seat that upset the apple cart. Dr. Robert Able, who voted in favor of the menhaden protection measure at the July Council meeting, did an about face and voted along with the commercial interests to strike the regulation before it could be enacted.

The irony of Dr Able’s change of heart is that at the July meeting the commercial fishermen were asked if any NJ fishermen would suffer financial hardship if the Virginia reduction boats were prohibited from fishing NJ waters. Their answer was a very clear NO. No NJ fishermen would be negatively impacted by this regulation.  In fact, just the opposite was expected. The NJ bait fishermen would not have to compete against the much larger reduction boats for inshore menhaden. So in July with conservation in his heart he voted to protect the menhaden stock.

What made Dr. Able change his mind and vote against the very proposal that he supported just a few months earlier? Was he confused and just made an honest mistake? Was he just playing politics? Knowing that the balance of power favors the commercial men, was he looking to please them so that some future measure of his would be looked upon favorably?   Did he have some other reason for voting the way that he did? After the March meeting he would not explain his actions.

This measure should have been a win for conservation; a win for the forage stocks that striped bass depend on and a win for NJ bait fishermen. Instead, the only winner is the Virginia-based reduction industry.

            New Jersey is especially vulnerable to large harvests from the reduction boats because eight of our neighboring states prohibit or restrict menhaden reduction fishing within their waters. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and South Carolina just outright prohibit reduction fishing in state waters. Rhode Island, New York, North Carolina and Florida have restricted areas or seasonal bans. New Jersey does have a buffer zone of 1.2 miles from the beach but that still leaves us as one of the least restrictive states along the coast and therefore one of the most vulnerable to large harvests.

            It is clear with the current make-up of the NJ Marine Fisheries Council that any resource or recreational friendly measure can only be passed when one of the commercial councilmen is absent. It is time to balance this council. Another member of the marine recreational community should be awarded a seat on this council. Maybe a representative from the diving interests should be given a permanent seat or someone from the tackle shop industry. If a commercial seafood processor is awarded a seat, why not a tackle shop? I believe that it is time to approach our New Governor and our State Legislature to fix this problem and rebalance the council that regulates our fisheries.

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