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By Gary Caputi
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association Late Summer 2000 Newsletter)
On June 28, 2000, Rep. Jim Saxton
(R-NJ) introduced a new bill that builds on earlier proposed longline legislation, which
provides greater effort control, bycatch reduction through time/area closures and a more
comprehensive buyout program. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation,
Wildlife and Oceans, Saxton took this action after listening to months of wrangling over
the inadequacies of earlier bills presented before his Committee in the House, and those
introduced in the Senate. The new bill is the result of numerous meetings with
recreational and commercial fishermen and their representatives as well as members of key
marine conservation groups Saxton realized that any bill capable of having a significant
impact on the problems associated with longlining would anger as many people as it
pleased. He remained undaunted, developing H.R. 4773, which addresses all the important
issues and closes all the loopholes left in earlier attempts at legislating corrective
measures to the pervasive problems associated with pelagic longlining in the U.S. EEZ and
worldwide. Congressman Saxton put the conservation and the protection of juvenile
swordfish and threatened billfish species at the top of the list of concerns and crafted
an effort reduction and compensation package that treats commercial fishermen fairly. H.R.
4773 will accomplish the goals purported to be addressed in the Breaux Bill, but the
package of negotiated area closures and buyout provisions it contained fell far short of
achieving. The Saxton bill closes all the
loopholes. It is a well thought-out combination of measures that tackle a difficult
problem effectively. It includes a series of area closures in the Gulf of Mexico, along
the southeast Atlantic coast, and a totally new closure area not addressed in previous
bills nor by NMFS, which will mitigate effort displacement and reduce bycatch mortality
occurring in the mid-Atlantic and northeast canyons. The closure areas and timing will
achieve significant reductions in the bycatch of juvenile swordfish, blue and white marlin
and sailfish. The closures are based on the
most recent NMFS data that tracks areas of longline effort and bycatch, unlike those in
the Breaux bill, which many scientists and conservationists consider little more than
window dressing. Electronic Vessel Monitoring
Systems coupled with stiff penalties will assure compliance.
H.R. 4773 contains greater funding
coupled to provisions that will allow longline boats with directed swordfish permits,
limited access permits, or tuna longline permits with incidental swordfish and shark
riders, to exit the fishery with generous compensation. $50 million is authorized for this
purpose, more than double the amount in the Breaux bill. This measure has the potential to
reduce the currently overcapitalized longline fleet by almost half. The eligibility
criterion targets longliners and compensates them in two ways: a $50,000 payment for
relinquishing their limited access permits permanently; and a “Landing Payment”
based on documented landings within a specific time window that can range up to an
additional $400,000 per vessel. Vessels opting for the buyout are removed permanently from
the fishery and cannot be reflagged or sold to other nations for the purpose of
longlining.
Even better, for each permit bought a
representative percentage of the total U.S. commercial quota of swordfish will be
transferred from the longline category to selective and sustainable commercial fishing
gear types including harpoon, handline and rod-and-reel. These types of gear fish clean
and can select fish by species and size either before the harpoon is thrown or by
immediately releasing undersized swordfish or unwanted billfish live at boatside in the
case of handline and rod-and-reel. A portion
of the funding for the compensation package, as in other bills, is to be repaid by the
most interested parties split 50/50. The recreational portion will be funded by the
existing $25 HMS permit we’re already required to purchase from NMFS, not through the
imposition of an additional permit as in the Breaux bill.
The Act also establishes a “Pelagic
Longline HMS Bycatch and Mortality Reduction Research Program”. Scientists and
fishermen will attempt to develop methods of reducing bycatch and increasing selectivity
including addressing bycatch of endangered sea turtles and mammals. It authorizes $3
million to fund the research.
It took a lot of courage to develop and introduce this legislation and we want to thank Rep. Saxton for his efforts. It’s important to note that Jim Saxton is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans and has been involved with that committee for over a decade. His years of experience dealing with these issues put him in the unique position to understand the problems and find workable solutions. His district in New Jersey contains one of the largest concentrations of longliners on the East Coast and the introduction of this bill is a risky proposition for him, especially in an election year. Saxton has answered all of the concerns expressed over the Breaux bill in H.R. 4773. It’s time for us all to work to make sure the bill gets passed in the House and that a companion Senate bill is introduced quickly and passed.
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