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Ambassador Susan Schwab
Dear Ambassador Schwab: The Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA) is an organization that represents more than 75 recreational fishing clubs throughout New Jersey. We are concerned about the rapid and widespread depletion of the world’s fisheries. Many of the world’s fish populations are in jeopardy. If these trends continue, there will be few fish left to catch. As recreational anglers, we are committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of our fisheries. We are writing to you to express our strong support of the efforts by the United States in the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations to eliminate fisheries subsidies for global fishing fleets. These subsidies increase fishing capacity for commercial fishing operations and that exacerbates overfishing. Eliminating such subsidies is one of the most significant actions that can be taken to reduce the pressure on fleets to overfish. Greater controls would also mean a real chance to ensure that there is an abundance of fish and make the oceans once again a place that recreational anglers and our friends and family can enjoy. Action in the WTO on fisheries subsidies would be an important step in putting the world’s fisheries and fishing practices on a sustainable basis. I applaud the work by both U.S. trade negotiators and the U.S. House of Representatives – by their introducing a congressional resolution (H. Con. Res. 94) -- to stop these harmful fisheries subsidies by improving international trade rules. However, as the fisheries subsidies negotiations enter a critical phase, we cannot emphasize strong enough the need for the United States to stand firm on establishing a broad-based prohibition of “overfishing subsidies.” In addition, we urge the U.S. to exercise caution in allowing exceptions or carve-outs from these rules without effective measures to prevent against fraud or abuse. If you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to contact our Legislative Liaison Mr. Tom Fote, at 732-506-6565 or by email at tfote@jcaa.org. We look forward to your support on this important issue.
Sincerely,
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Lobster Harvest
At our last general meeting, Jack Fullmer, representing the New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs, petitioned the JCAA to help them in their petition to the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission (ASMFC) concerning the size and sex of the lobsters divers can harvest. Our association voted to support the NJ Council of Diving clubs on this issue. Working with a draft letter prepared by Jack Fullmer, I worked on a final version seen below, and sent it out with Jack’s endorsement and this letter also follows. While it is a good letter, the response to it was not met with favor by the ASMFC. They turned down the compromise solution to allow the recreational angler to take one female lobster over the maximum size.
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Toni Kerns The Jersey Coast Anglers Association (JCAA) is an organization of 75 recreational fishing clubs in the New Jersey area. The New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs (NJCDC) is one of our member organizations, and it dives for lobster and other species. The JCAA endorses their position on Lobster Addendum XI concerning the maximum size and sex of lobster they can harvest, and the following explains our position on this issue. The JCAA is very concerned about the stock levels of all fisheries. However, the JCAA also believes that natural mortality and non-fishing factors such as parasites, shell disease, high water temperature, and low oxygen have negatively impacted the fishery in the Southern New England zone. Large schools of dogfish, massive sand replenishment projects, and dumping mud in the HARS have exacerbated this problem. Consequently, it may take longer than 10 years to completely rebuild the stock. The attempt to impose a uniform maximum size on lobsters in 4.2.6 (even just for females) runs contrary to recreational fishing patterns and common sense. Would you tell a recreational hook and line fishermen that he could take a 15 lb Striped Bass, but he was forbidden to take a 50lb Striped Bass, and he had to also determine if the 50 lb fish was male or female before it could be taken? The answer to these questions is obviously no. Additionally, sport divers will have problems determining the sex of a lobster in low light conditions and limited visibility in the underwater environment. Perhaps a compromise that allows the recreational angler to take only one female lobster over the maximum (as suggested by the NJCDC and reflected in present federal law) would be the best solution. This way the sport diver knows the lobster is legal and he can take at least one trophy lobster as we all like to do with other marine species.
Sincerely,
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