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Highly Migratory Species Report
by John T. Koegler
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association March 1994 Newsletter)
EXTRA*EXTRA*READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Roland Schmitten, Director, NMFS will attend the JCAA Recreational Pelagic Fishery Symposium on April 30, 1994! Yes, you've read it correctly. After three months of waiting for a confirmation, Roland Schmitten, Dick Stone and Dick Schaeffer, all the top people at the National Marine Fisheries Service, will attend JCAA's historic symposium.
There will be an important meeting of the Symposium Planning Committee at the JCAA office in Toms River on March 21 at 6 PM to organize the speakers and finalize the agenda. The proposed agenda will include experts and speakers to cover the following topics.
1) History of the recreational pelagic fishery in New Jersey and the region.
2) Biology, to be handled by Bruce Freeman and Dick Stone, as it is used to regulate the fishery with explanation of terms and models like MSY, VPA and others.
3) The Socio-Economic impact of this recreational fishery on the state, regional and national economy, equating it to jobs and dollars.
4) Conclusions, including proposals on future government regulations with a special presentation by Phil Kozak on the National Fishermans Association's "Exclusionary Zone Plan," and much more.
JCAA recently obtained a NMFS offshore data set covering all commercially sold tuna reported for the years 1989, 1991 and 1992 from Maine to Virginia. The information contained is startling! ALL tuna are under unsustainable over fishing pressure from all commercial gear types. The information contained in the data sets has been compared with others. No one has ever compared some of the lopsided relationships that exist between various gear types used in the fishery from one year to the next and the total poundage each gear type is responsible for harvesting. We expect this information will go a long way toward correcting the abuses that have been unmasked. There will be changes and these changes will happen much sooner than anyone expects.
Taking this information and comparing it with other sport fishing data bases shows many correlations that illustrate how huge the economic importance of the recreational fishing industry is to New Jersey's economy. One prime example is:
In 1989, recreational anglers spend $855 million dollars in New Jersey. Offshore fishermen represented between 7% and 18% of the total. Using 10% as a guide, offshore anglers spent $85 million dollars in that year. The sale price of all the commercially caught tuna sold in New Jersey was $3,089,969. The recreational fishery generated 28 times the economic impact!
The commercial fishermen get federal tax, fuel and financing breaks. They prefer all fisheries be allocated based on pounds. The negative affect of commercial fishing on New Jersey tourism and the recreational fishing industry is HUGE! To permit commercial over fishing to destroy entire recreational fisheries is totally unacceptable and just plan bad fisheries management. Previously, we felt what was occurring was unfair. Now we can prove it!
Many thanks to all those club members who responded by filling out our petitions and wrote letters in support of the NFA rule change. Your support is making changing the rules to be meaningful and fair to all fishermen that much more possible. These rule changes are needed not just for us, but for our kids and the commercial fishermen's kids too, so they both can have the opportunity to catch tuna. Please attend the JCAA March 26 meeting for details.
After a winter we all want to forget, the offshore scene has erupted into a frenzy of activity as clubs plan their season, tournament dates are announced and regulation of any finfish not under an FMP move forward at both state and federal levels. Rich Weber of the South Jersey Marina has planned an "Offshore Fisherman's Night" at the New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden for Saturday night, April 9, 1994. Admission is $25. Interested? Call 609-884-2400 for details. All reservations must be made in advance.
John Koegler is President of Thousand Fathom Club - South Jersey and a Chairman of the JCAA Tuna Committee. Contact him at 215-687-2208.