Fisheries Management & Legislative Report

We are approaching the end of the year and we don’t seem to be making much progress. The joint meeting to establish recreational quotas always takes place in December. Every time I return with the same disappointments and complaints. Every time NMFS bases their decisions on poor stock assessments and the fatally flawed Marine Recreational Statistical Survey. The National Marine Fisheries Service was directed to find a better system for counting the recreational catch. Fifteen years ago we were promised a solution. Then the National Academy of Science reviewed the Marine Recreational Statistical Survey and determined it had fatal flaws. After a diligent fact-finding mission they published a report which provided many recommendations. When the Magnusson Stevens Act was reauthorized in 2006, NMFS was directed to correct these problems, get better stock assessment data and better recreational statistics. As we enter 2011, the data is as unreliable as it was 15 years ago. The black sea bass is the latest example. We get statistical outliers in the wave data and NMFS still treats this data as gospel. The recreational community is punished because NMFS continues to use this flawed system. Maybe if I live another 30 years I will see the President and Congress fund the National Marine Fisheries Service sufficiently to develop a system that actually gives us accurate recreational statistics. Since 1994 I have been demanding better stock assessment so we can manage scup and black sea bass appropriately. We have better models for stock assessment but the basic biological data collection is no better than it was 20 years ago. Better stock assessment was also mandated in the 2006 Magnusson Stevens Act but again Congress and the President demanded but did not fund. President Obama and the 2011 Congress must finally appropriate the necessary funds so the recreational community can feel confident in fisheries management decisions.

I could not attend the Joint Meeting of ASMFC and the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Management Council. Chris Zemen, one of NJ’s members to the MAFMC, volunteered to write an article about this meeting for the JCAA Newspaper. On scup the Council and the Commission adjusted the quota to allow status quo in the regulations for 2011. This is what they should have done with black sea bass. People get confused about the actions taken on summer flounder. The motion passed at the joint meeting is the default decision. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will establish a state by state conservation equivalency at the upcoming March meeting. The motions that were made at the meeting and their outcomes are included below.

JCAA would like to thank Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Frank Pallone for their letters to Secretary Gary Locke on black sea bass. I am impressed with how well each of these letters articulates the problems we face. Senator Menendez and Congressman Pallone along with Senator Lautenberg and New York Legislators have also been helpful in securing funding for Partnership for Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Science (PMAFS) so we are getting better stock assessment data on black sea bass and summer flounder.

Finally, some good news. It has been a good month for the bay. The legislative package for Barnegat Bay is moving through the legislative process. By the time you read this newspaper the fertilizer bill should have been signed by the Governor. Other bills should be moving forward for his signature. Governor Christie has released his long-awaited recommendations for Barnegat Bay. These recommendations are included in his press release below. These recommendations are a good first step. Many people have been working to make these first steps a reality. While the news is good, I am still concerned about the proposed closing of Oyster Creek in 2019. JCAA has never asked for the plant to be closed. We have consistently demanded cooling towers on Oyster Creek and Salem Nuclear Power Plant to mitigate the ecological damage to both bodies of water. While many people are pleased with the proposed closing of Oyster Creek, we are left with at least 9 more years of operation without cooling towers. The lack of cooling towers will continue to impede the recovery of Barnegat Bay. My additional concern is that in 2019 there may be pressing energy concerns that allow the plant to remain open, still without cooling towers.

In the next newspaper I will provide you with a more extensive report about the legislation and where we stand at that point. In the meantime you should contact your state representatives to support the entire package of bills. Also go to the JCAA web page under recent news and read the report by Environment New Jersey “Shore at Risk” that looks at a lot of the problems of Barnegat Bay.

Here are the bills:

The fertilizer bill has far-reaching impact on the water quality of the entire state and should be signed into law soon. Willie DeCamp and Save Barnegat Bay deserve the credit for their relentless commitment to the fertilizer bill. They organized a coalition of environmental and fisheries groups to work together. They refused to allow industry to stop the legislation. Willie’s perseverance on this issue is a lesson to us all. He did whatever it took and absolutely refused to be sidetracked. When there is less nitrogen flowing into the lakes, streams and other bodies of water in New Jersey, we need to thank Willie. Again, this is just a first step. There is much public education that needs to be done to bring everyone on board. I know Willie and Save Barnegat Bay will be as relentless in this phase as they were in getting the legislation passed.

Without Senator Robert Smith and Assembly John F. McKeon to lead the fight in the legislature, these six bills would not be making progress towards the Governor’s desk. They held their joint committee meetings at the shore for 3 years, keeping constant attention on Barnegat Bay. They used all of their legislative and negotiating skills to develop these bills and move them through their committees and the Senate and Assembly. They refused to allow the naysayers, and there were many, to get in the way of significant progress.

The Barnegat Partnership was instrumental in bringing all of these resources together. They provided the scientific information needed to make the case for each of these actions. Stan Hales, the program staff and all the volunteers have built the program into a powerful force for saving the bay. When EPA initiated the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program in 1996, I was hopeful that we would see significant progress towards cleaning up Barnegat Bay. Many people questioned how long it has taken to see this type of progress. But I have come to realize that all that time was well spent laying the groundwork and gathering the necessary data to take these first crucial steps. I volunteer for many organizations but serving on the Policy Committee, the Advisory Committee and the former Citizens Advisory Committee have been one of the most rewarding and enlightening experiences. I have learned about the process of consensus building among diverse groups as a way to find solutions to problems and create sustained change.

As we go to press, the NJ Senate passed a free saltwater registry bill. It now awaits action by Governor Christie. JCAA has been trying to get a registry bill passed since the Magnusson Stevens Act was passed in 2006. We offered many options but no action was taken until the deadline loomed. This is the only bill that would allow New Jersey residents and people who fish in New Jersey to be part of the Federal Registry without paying a $15 Federal fee. You should urge the Governor to sign this bill and get the registry in place. This bill does not solve the problem of funding marine fisheries in New Jersey. The Governor and the Legislator must stop putting off the necessary funding to protect the marine resources of this state. JCAA will be working with other groups to push for appropriate funding. This funding is necessary not just for recreational fishing but also for commercial fishing and all the businesses that rely on fishing. Protecting the marine resource is really for all of our citizens who take advantage of the marine resources of this state, bird watching, sailing, boating, swimming or just taking a walk along the beach. The marine resource contributes billions of dollars to New Jersey’s economy. It is criminal that only $700,000 was appropriated from the New Jersey Treasury to run the Bureau of Marine Fisheries.

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., Thursday requested Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke intervene on behalf of the recreational fishing public and associated businesses to make the quotas proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Services less restrictive. The proposed 2011 Black Sea Bass quota from the agencies will over regulate the fishery and does not reflect the current status of the black sea bass stock. As the guidelines are currently written, they may have the unintended consequences of a socio-economic crisis.

“Regulations proposed by NOAA and NMFS fail to consider this is a fully rebuilt stock that isn’t being overfished and that these restrictions will have severe consequences for the fishing community,” said Pallone. “Both science and the fishing industry have been ignored and I would like to see changes to the final regulations.

In order to offset the overly restrictive regulations issued by NOAA and NMFS, Pallone asked for support from the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that the agencies act on his suggestion to increase total allowable landings – what fishermen can bring in the boat minus incidental deaths – by just under one million pounds. Pallone’s proposed change to the regulations would not hinder efforts to continue to rebuild the fishery which is currently rebuilt and not being overfished. Pallone also believes his request is in line with current science-based data recommendations.

“The recreational fishing public continues to be regulated in reliance upon the same Marine Recreational Fisheries Science Survey data that was intended to be replaced by now. This is unacceptable,” Pallone said.

The text of the letter appears below.