Fisheries Management & Legislative Report

Protecting water quality, clean beaches, and healthy wildlife habitat are key to sustaining tourism, a vibrant economy and a desirable quality of life in the Garden State. The sustainable resources we at DEP manage are a prime source of both revenue and jobs and provide countless recreational opportunities. Governor Corzine has noted studies showing that if wildlife-related recreation in New Jersey were a company, it would be a member of the Fortune 500.

Effective wildlife management may begin with solid science, but it often ends in tough negotiations. While pursuing policies to provide sustainable fish and wildlife resources, we in the Corzine administration are also conscious of the social and economic implications of resource management policies. That is why the Governor shared the concerns of the recreational and commercial fishing community regarding recent weakfish management proposals. While, in the end, the limits adopted were not ideal, New Jersey’s united voice helped avoid more drastic quota reductions, which would have severely and unnecessarily restricted weakfish catches in the state’s waters.

Environmental protection managers and the recreational fishing community share common goals in many areas. We share the goal of protecting our rivers, bays and ocean. Our work together has built support for policies such as the state’s storm water rules, which are the most comprehensive in the nation and will improve the quality of water in the state’s storm water discharges. The new Flood Hazard Area Control rules will limit new development in flood plains and protect fish species that need the shelter of salt marshes and tidal flats during their early larval or juvenile stages, when they are most vulnerable. Our work together also helped assure passage of this past November’s Parks Capital Funding ballot question, which will dedicate funds from the state’s Corporation Business Tax (CBT) to maintain the state’s parks, historic sites, and wildlife areas.

Improved public access to our coastline is another policy area where we find common cause. True public access is not a luxury; it is a legal right. Over the past few years, DEP has aggressively used our permitting and enforcement authority to ensure New Jersey citizens have full access to our beaches. New rule proposals to amend the Coastal Permit and Coastal Zone Management programs, published in the New Jersey Register on November 6th, will further ensure that the public’s rights continue to be protected. The proposals include requirements for parking and restroom facilities to provide families and others a realistic and meaningful opportunity to enjoy the public’s resources.

Despite many accomplishments that protect our shore and water quality, there is still more work to be done. We must work together to continue addressing sources of water pollution, including emerging threats such as endocrine disruptors. New Jersey is also especially vulnerable to sea level rise, due primarily to global warming and the resulting thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of polar ice caps. In addition, climate change threatens our shore with an increased intensity of extreme weather events. The threats to our coastline, left unabated, will affect fishing, as we know it. Shrinking coastal habitats could destroy our coastal fisheries and the potential effect on the fish and wildlife New Jerseyan’s have worked so hard to protect could be devastating.

Protection of marine ecosystems requires constant vigilance. It is the price we must pay if we wish to leave future generations a healthy coastal environment. Under Governor Corzine’s leadership, policies and programs to expand protection and improve the environmental, recreational, aesthetic and economic benefits of the Jersey shore will remain a priority.

Tom Siciliano and John Toth have included articles in this newspaper about this issue. I have also included newspaper articles. From my perspective, it seemed that everyone in attendance supported an outside peer review. The only dissent was the no vote by the National Marine Fisheries Service. We can’t make decisions that impact on the lives of over 6 million recreational anglers from Massachusetts to North Carolina using this kind of faulty science. The businesses that depend on recreational fishing will be devastated. The commercial fishery which lands fish for the consuming public will also suffer a huge economic impact. While all of the fishing interests will be impacted negatively, none of the bureaucrats participating in the decision-making will pay one single penalty. They will get their cost of living raises and collect their benefits no matter what decision they make. They don’t face layoffs or job loss. I get tired of being asked for patience. I will admit that most of them take their jobs seriously and understand the pain caused by these decisions. But some of them have an incredibly arrogant cavalier attitude and simply dismiss the arguments made by the fishing community. The head of NMFS and his staff are particularly arrogant in their dealings with us, the fishermen and the United States Congress. Throughout this process they continued to dismiss questions and concerns expressed by members of Congress who have a long history with the Magnusson Act and participated in the last reauthorization. I have heard this song over and over again. NMFS endlessly promises to deal with the problem of summer flounder and only succeeds in making it worse. No wonder no one trusts them. I’m still waiting for the results of the 1998 workshop on summer flounder hosted by NMFS. JCAA will not relax the pressure and we are still exploring options. 

I watched the House of Representatives take a voice vote on Saturday, December 9 at 1:22AM to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4956, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. A lot of discussion on Summer Flounder took place on the floor of the House at 1:00AM. The Senate passed the bill on Thursday. All we need now is for the President to sign the bill and we have the 3-year extension.

Representatives Jim Saxton, Frank Pallone, and Frank LoBiondo, and Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, deserve credit for their bipartisan work in getting the three-year extension.

There is much more included in the Magnusson Act than the three-year extension for summer flounder. If you are interested in reading the entire Act, email me and I will send it to you. Some organizations have developed a side-by-side look at the differences between the new act and the previous one. I can also send that to you. There is a section on recreational statistics and how to get better recreational data. This includes an angler registration. It would also allow for a fee after 2011. JCAA will form a committee to look at all the provisions and develop plans to deal with any issues. What is missing in the Magnusson Act is an appropriation for all the work necessary. You can’t get good science and good statistics without spending money. Congress needs to appropriate the money required.

New Jersey had a public hearing on the draft plan and the comment period for the proposed addendum to the Tautog Plan which ends 5PM on January 16, 2007. You can get to the ASMFC web page and under breaking news make your comment. At the hearing in Toms River there was a unanimous vote for status quo. It was one of the few times lately that everyone agreed. Most people did not support the concept that any reduction should impact only the recreational sector. They said that this does not happen in any other plan no matter how small the recreational catch is. This is especially upsetting since many of us feel that one of the major causes of the failure of the tautog fishery to rebound is the illegal live fish market. The price for illegally caught live tautog is so high that the profits make the fines less than a day's illegal catch. We need to outlaw this market since there is not enough law enforcement to keep it in check. This has been a major concern of JCAA for many years. In addition, no concern is included in the current models for ecosystem management. Since tautog spawn in and inhabit the bays and estuaries, they are impacted by the same ecological problems as summer flounder, weakfish and other species. I will have a hard time supporting any management plan that does not include consideration of ecosystem management in the modeling. JCAA will develop a position at our next meeting. Tony Bogan pointed out that NMFS and ASMFC continue to use the bogus NY 2002 numbers. The 2002 NY tautog numbers show that in one wave New York caught more tautog than they had in the combined previous 6 years. Remember, a wave is only 2 months. The draft amendment will be finalized at the winter ASMFC Meeting.

The weakfish board will be voting on the weakfish catch at the winter ASMFC meeting. There was a good deal of posturing by North Carolina and Virginia at the last meeting. They contend that nets are in the water anyway, why not land the fish. It was interesting to hear North Carolina and Virginia state that under the last addendum there was an increase for the recreational sector. Their math amazes me. Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland actually had to put in more restrictive measures recreationally going from 14 inches and 14 fish to 13 inches and 8 fish. That sounds like a decrease to me. Under the last addendum there was actually a larger bycatch allowed for the commercial fishery. North Carolina and Virginia generalized their own “sweetheart deal” that allowed an increase for recreational and commercial anglers in their states alone. They got 4 fish at 12 inches which was no reduction. They will continue to use the bogus 2005 weakfish numbers from MRSS to try to justify their grab. In the scientific world, outliers like the weakfish numbers in New Jersey or the blackfish numbers in New York, those figures are deleted from consideration. Real scientists are smart enough to figure out when statistics lie and honest enough to say so. The only reason I believe nothing was actually done is because the weakfish board could not come up with an acceptable story to justify what Virginia and North Carolina wanted. The only reduction would only take place on the recreational fishery.

January 29, 2007
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board
2:15 PM - 6:15 PM American Lobster Management Board
January 30, 2007
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM Committee on Economics & Social Sciences
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM Spiny Dogfish & Coastal Sharks Management Board
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Sturgeon Management Board
2:45 PM - 4:45 PM American Eel Management Board
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Atlantic Menhaden Management Board
January 31, 2007
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM Commissioner Workshop on Meetings Management
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Shad & River Herring Management Board
2:45 PM - 5:45 PM Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board
February 1, 2007
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM Winter Flounder Management Board
9:15 AM - 11:45 AM Weakfish Management Board
11:45 AM Buffet Lunch for Commissioners & Proxies
Noon - 3:00 PM ISFMP Policy Board
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM Business Session

Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) concluded his statement at yesterday's Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) meeting by reminding the commissioners they are independent and should make an independent decision on the summer flounder quota. Yet, to the disappointment of three busloads of anglers transported to Manhattan's Skyline Hotel by the Jersey Coast Angler's Association (JCAA), the ASMFC didn't even consider a 19.9-million pound quota for 2007 that they'd come in to support. That quota, previously approved by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, wasn't brought up at all as the commissioners bowed to the threats of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to close federal waters to fluking. That would most heavily impact commercial fishermen, and they supported the NMFS position. As a result, the ASMFC accepted the 12.983-million-pound quota proposed by NMFS that will result in a very limited season. Since Congress bailed them out Saturday by adding three years to the summer flounder rebuilding program, NMFS can buck that figure up to 17.11 million pounds at the same 75 percent likelihood of staying on track for the target. If NMFS would go back to the 50 percent probability they've long claimed is the minimum the courts will accept, the additional three years could bring the quota up to over 19 million pounds. The motion that passed calls for adoption of no less than the 17.11 million pounds by March 1. While that's a lot better than the 12.983 million pounds, the public gets only 40 percent of that and there probably won't be much of a recreational fishery. The 19.9 million pounds the anglers had come to support wouldn't solve the problem, but it was particularly disappointing that it wasn't proposed -- even by the suddenly silent New Jersey delegation that traditionally has stood up to NMFS threats. The ASMFC is setting recreational regulations today. Preliminary indications were that Jersey ran over its recreational quota last year. Combined with a lower overall quota for 2007, that will require stricter regulations next year.

Fluke fishermen will have to continue holding their breath until the new minimum sizes, possession limits and season for fluke are finally announced.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's summer flounder, scup and black sea bass board voted Monday to accept the National Marine Fisheries Service's preferred quota of 12.98 million pounds for 2007. The motion included the provision that, if NMFS can offer a higher quota, that number will supersede the 12.98 million pounds.

William T. Hogarth, director of NMFS, explained earlier that the service might be able to bump the quota up to 17.1 million pounds or more, since Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization bill at 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

The bill includes a special provision for fluke in which the stock rebuilding target is moved to 2013 instead of 2010. This allows for increasing the quota as long as overfishing is not occurring.

Overfishing is not occurring at 12.98 million pounds, but would be taking place at 19.9 million pounds, a figure the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and many who attended Monday's board meeting wanted. However, under the new law, which has been sent to President Bush for signing, Hogarth said his staff probably will be able to come up with higher numbers in the next two or three weeks through emergency action.

Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, said over 100 JCCA members and affiliates were at the meeting. "The meeting room was packed — probably 200 people," he said. "Some of the guys, like the Hudson River Fishermen's Association and the people from Philadelphia, came in on trains. We had over 90 people on the buses we hired. "Fote anticipates that NMFS will have some tables ready for ASMFC action at the commission's next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 29 through Feb. 1 in Alexandria, Va.

"We all — JCAA, Recreational Fishing Alliance, commercial fishermen — want outside peer review of NMFS fluke management," Fote said. "We want the National Academy of Science to do that as soon as possible." NMFS has said that overfishing would not occur at 17.1 million pounds. The target figure for a rebuilt stock was lowered in September from 204 million pounds to 197 million pounds.

NMFS preliminary projections for quotas were 19.6 million pounds in 2008, 22.7 million pounds in 2009, and higher in 2010 and 2012.

James A. Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said he is disappointed at the reduction in quota from 23.6 million pounds this year, but is relieved that it is expected to be higher than the 5.2 million pounds NMFS proposed during the summer.

"It's the best option we could get," he said. "The RFA wants the maximum amount of quota and still remain in compliance with the new fisheries law.

"The RFA had to play defense throughout most of the legislative process on Magnuson. We were able to successfully defeat some incredibly harmful provisions. Unfortunately, we spent so much time on defense that we were not able to get as many positive pro-recreational issues into the bill as we would have liked."

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/13/06
Editorial

Five New Jersey lawmakers helped snag the Catch of the Day over the weekend when they succeeded in adding protection for the state's popular summer flounder (fluke) industry into fisheries management laws. In legislation passed in both the House and the Senate, New Jersey's representatives were able to get the deadline for rebuilding stock levels pushed back three years.

That's good news for the industry, which generates about $200 million annually for New Jersey's economy and contributes about 4,000 jobs. The take of East Coast fishermen was already reduced from 30 million pounds in 2005 to under 24 million pounds this year. The strict quota initially proposed would have reduced that to 5.2 million pounds, effectively wiping out the industry.

The reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act will enable a 2007 fishing limit of at least 17.1 million pounds. It will hopefully increase over the next several years, up to 29 million pounds in 2012.

Reps. Jim Saxton and Frank LoBiondo, both R-N.J. and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both D-N.J., deserve credit for their bipartisan work, helping to forge a compromise between the environmental groups and the fishermen.

The summer flounder stock has been increasing. But conservationists and fishermen have differed on an optimal level and a timetable for reaching it. The overzealous goal to nearly double the stock by 2010 would likely have forced many party boats out of business and the shutdown of fishing-related shops. While next season's quota is the lowest ever, the changes supported by New Jersey's federal legislators likely averted disaster for those who make a living off this natural resource.

But the fight for the summer flounder industry hasn't ended. Anglers say the goal of rebuilding the East Coast stock from 112 million pounds to 197 million pounds by 2013 is excessive. New Jersey's delegation wisely focused on pushing back the deadline in the Magnuson-Stevens Act as its reauthorization loomed. Now, it should channel that same energy into finding a compromise to the rebuilding goal.

New Jersey anglers may get to catch more fluke, but it may cost them.

Those are a couple of highlights in a national fishery bill approved by Congress over the weekend. The bill, which is expected to be signed by President Bush, would relax proposed cutbacks in the fluke — or summer flounder — catch. The federal government wanted to cut fluke harvests from 23.6 million pounds this year to just 5.2 million in 2007. The bill would likely allow 17.1 million pounds to be landed next year, although anglers are still pushing for higher levels.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which the new bill amends, also create the strong possibility of a saltwater fishing license. That particular section of the 240-page bill was largely overlooked as fishing interests and environmental groups battled over other sections of the bill. This section calls for a registry program for recreational fishermen.

While the law specifically says no fee shall be charged before Jan. 1, 2011, such a fee could be created after that and it would quickly turn the “registry program” into the saltwater fishing license anglers have fought for decades.

The plan is to eventually charge a fee to fund better data collection on fisheries.

“The federal government wants to better define recreational fishermen and to collect better data. The fee is important so the taxpayer doesn't fund it. We want the user to fund it,” said Deputy Director Samuel Rauch of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Fisheries. Rauch said the agency has not discussed the amount, though he had heard of one proposal on Capitol Hill to set it at $35 per year. He noted any fee would have to be approved through a rule-making process that would include a notice in the Federal Register.

“To establish the registration we'd have to do rule-making. In 2011, when we get around to starting a fee, we'd have to do it again,” Rauch said.

President Reagan and former President George Bush both unsuccessfully tried to implement such a license and the state of New Jersey has considered one. Environmental groups are pushing for a fee that would be used to gather better data on recreational landings. The initiative was endorsed by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

Some anglers, who already pay taxes on fishing tackle, fuel sold at marinas, and other items, oppose it. Robert Jackson, an angler from Cape May County, is dead set against it.

“I think they're going to do it, but it hurts the subsistence fisherman. The guy fishing for his table is least able to afford it,” said Jackson.

Back in 1986 when a $10 federal fee was proposed, the wealthier fishermen with expensive boats lobbied for it because they wanted less competition for the stocks. The saltwater license was defeated amid such arguments.

Some seem resigned to it this time.

“We knew it was coming,” said Tom Fote, the legislative chairman of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, or JCAA. “It's almost inevitable, so how do we deal with it?”

Fote said his group supports the registration program but not a fee. He said setting up a Web site for recreational fishermen to log in data may be the cheaper answer.

The federal government now relies on interviewing anglers at the dock to compile what most believe to be a woefully inadequate Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistical Survey, or MRFSS. Brooks Mountcastle, of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, said money from a fee would have to be earmarked for data collection.

“I think there will be a growing recognition we need a saltwater license. The MRFSS is severely flawed. We need to know how many fishermen are out there, what they are catching, and what they are throwing overboard,” Mountcastle said.

The National Resources Defense Council supports the registry but doesn't care how it is funded. If there is a fee, the NRDA's Roberta Elias said it should go to collecting fisheries data and not to the general fund.

“If it ends up being free, fine,” said Elias.

The bill calls for a registry program in each of the eight coastal regions where the federal government manages fish stocks. The program includes identification and contact information to reach the anglers. It can also include information about their vessels.

It sets a Jan. 1, 2009, deadline to have a better data collection system in place. This is before a fee is established. One may not be established.

“That represents another battle for another day,” said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. James Saxton, R-3rd.

Saxton got the fluke provision included but opposes a saltwater fee and Sagnip noted the bill “does not guarantee one will take place.”

The Saxton fluke provision would add three more years to what had been a 10-year fluke rebuilding plan. It would likely allow landings of 17.1 million pounds next year, 19.6 million in 2008 and 22.7 million in 2009. These levels still must be approved by NOAA Fisheries.

The new levels go against the fluke rebuilding plan, and this was the only fish species treated this way in the bill. The JCAA and other groups are still pushing for higher harvest levels.

The bill, however, also includes much stronger language on future stock rebuilding plans. The regional fish councils in the past would get scientific data from the Science and Statistical Committees, or SSCs, but sometimes, due to pressure from fishing interests, ignored it when setting harvest levels. This will no longer be allowed. All catch limits must be based on scientific recommendations and at a level that prevents over-fishing a species. The green groups backed off on the relaxation of the fluke plan because of this.

“We're not happy about the summer flounder exemption but we are happy with the bill overall. This diminishes the role of outside pressure, hopefully,” Elias said.

We tried. We pulled out all the stops. We brought two buses filled with anglers from South Jersey to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting in New York City on Monday, December 11, 2006 and many more anglers from North Jersey came into New York on their own. JCAA member club members accounted for over half of the audience of over 200 that attended the meeting. Frank Pallone made an impassioned plea to the Commission to do the right thing. What did it get us? Nothing. The National Marine Fisheries Service did it again to recreational anglers. They dictated to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission how they should vote.

Recreational fishermen must thank Congressman Pallone for the great job he did. It was through his efforts that language was incorporated into the Magnuson/Stevens Act reauthorization that provided additional flexibility for the Secretary of Commerce and gave an additional three years for the Summer Flounder stock to be rebuilt. The bill passed the house at 1:22 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Frank Pallone explained to the Commission what the intent of Congress was in passing this bill. He carefully explained how there was already enough flexibility in the current statute to increase the TAL to 19.9 million pounds with a 50% probability that the target goal would be met. The additional flexibility given in the new bill allowed them to be confident that they could do that without adverse consequences.

The NMFS recommended a quota of 17.11 million pounds of fluke for 2007. This number gives a 75% probability that the rebuilding target will be met by 2013. A 50% probability is all that is needed and had the NMFS used that we could have had a quota of nearly 20 million pounds.

Unfortunately, the Commission ignored the pleas of the audience and Congressman Pallone. What they voted for was the most confusing motion imaginable. They approved a quota of 12.98 million pounds that would increase to at least 17.1 million pounds after the NMFS had reviewed the data. A lot of legalese was given for the convoluted motion, but what do you think the chances are that the quota will be greater than 17.1 million pounds? Do you give it a 75% probability, a 50% probability? I think a 0% probability is more realistic.

The new MSA requires that the best available science be used. I was hoping they would have said to use all available science and a little common sense, but I guess you can’t legislate the use of common sense.

So where do we stand for 2007? This year’s quota of 23.6 million pounds was exceeded. Here’s a thought. If you under fish a quota you can catch more fish the next year, but if you under fish isn’t it because there are not enough fish and shouldn’t the quota be lowered? If you exceed your quota doesn’t that tell you that there are more fish available to be caught? Sorry, I guess that is too logical. That would never be considered in fisheries management. So let’s see, the recreational quota last year was 9.29 million pounds and according to the infamous MRFS survey 11.74 million pounds are projected to be caught through the end of the year. New Jersey was 12% over its quota. Our target was 1,443,000 pounds and according to the survey we landed 1,642,888 pounds. New York was 34% over so they are in even more trouble than we are.

With a quota of 17.1 million pounds the recreational share is 6.84 million pounds for 2007. We face a reduction of 40%. What will that mean in terms of size limit, bag limit and length of season? We don’t know where the conservation equivalency will end up but, to give you an idea, if a state chose not to do any work they would have as the precautionary default regulation one fish at 18.5”. That will not happen in New Jersey because our Fisheries Council will come up with the best possible options for us.

What does the future look like? The JCAA will continue the fight, question the stock assessment data, question the MRFS data and slowly but surely things will get better. We know we have the help of Congressmen Pallone, Senators Lautenberg and Menendez along with the entire New Jersey contingent of Congressmen to help us in the future. There are provisions in the new MSA that will help to make the science more credible.

In an effort to get the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to stand up to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and vote for a 19.9 million pound fluke quota for 2007, the JCAA chartered two buses to take anglers to make their voices heard at a December 11th management meeting in NYC at the Skyline Hotel. The ASMFC voted earlier to support a 19.9 million pound quota and that placed them in direct conflict with the NMFS who wants a much lower amount of 12.98 million pounds. The NMFS threatened to close federal waters to fluking if the higher quota was adopted. So these issues set the stage for the December 11th meeting and the JCAA urged its member clubs to come to the meeting and wear their club clothing to show their colors and support for the 19.9 million pound quota.

The room was packed with 200 anglers and possibly more. Approximately 100 of these anglers were from the JCAA who came by the chartered buses or through their own transportation. The anglers expressed their concern over the NMFS 12.98 quota and the comments included: