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Menhaden Bill Update
by Tom Fote
Menhaden Bill Update
by Tom Fote
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association July 2001 Newsletter)
The Menhaden Bill (S2252/A3512) is starting to move in the Assembly. It was voted out of the Assembly Agriculture and
Natural Resources Committee on June 7 with no negative votes. We could not have gotten it out of the Assembly Committee if it wasn’t for the pressure you put on
that committee with your letters, faxes, emails and phone calls. This bill now needs to go to the Assembly floor
for a vote. We need your help again to make
this happen. You must send a letter, fax, email or call your Assemblyman/woman to insist
that Speaker Jack Collins post the bill for a vote. In
addition, you should ask your representatives in the Assembly or Senate to sign on as
cosponsors. Please let us know if any of your representatives sign on as cosponsors. We would like to give them some good publicity. You also need to send a letter to Jack Collins
asking him to post the bill for a vote. His
address is:
Assemblyman Jack Collins
63 East Ave
Suite C
Woodstown NJ,08098
Phone 856-769-3633
Fax 856-769-0049
To find out who represents you or to
get the addresses of your senator or assemblyman/woman, you can go to
<http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/>
The bill
was just assigned to the Senate Environment Committee.
We are asking that the Committee Chairman, Senator Henry McNamara, post the
bill as soon as possible. This is the same
committee that voted this bill out the last time. You
should thank the members for their previous support and ask for their support for this
bill again.
Senator
Henry McNamara-Chair
P.O. Box 68, Wyckoff,
NJ 07481
(201)-848-9600
Fax 201-444-9732
senmcnamara@njleg.state.nj.us
852 Highway 70 Brick NJ 08724
732-840-9028
Fax 732-840-9757
senciesla@njleg.state.nj.us
Senator John Adler
231 Route 70 East
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
senadler@njleg.state.nj.us
60 Broadway
Denville, NJ 07834
(973)-627-9700
Fax973-627-0131
senbucc@@njleg.state.nj.us
Senator Joseph Vitale
87 Main St., Woodbridge, NJ 07095
(732)-855-7441
Fax732-856-7441
SenVitale@njleg.state.nj.us
We are close to get getting the bill
passed but we cannot do this without your letters, faxes emails and phone calls. JCAA can lay the groundwork but you need to put
the finishing touch on it. The reduction boats’ catch of menhaden went from 7.5
million pounds in New Jersey waters in 1999 to over 75 million pounds in 2000. The New Jersey ecosystem cannot take this kind of
pressure. When the menhaden disappear so do
the striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and all the other species that depend on them. We need to pass this bill now. If you want more information or want to receive
immediate alerts, send me an email at <tfote@jcaa.org>.
This is the easiest way to keep you informed.
Below is the letter that the JCAA is sending to the NJ Legislature.
Dear Assemblyman/woman,
We need you to ask Speaker Jack
Collins to post Menhaden Bill S2252/A3512 for a vote and for you to vote yes for the bill. It was voted out of the Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee on June 7th with no negative votes. This legislation is designed to protect menhaden
from being over-harvested in our state waters causing serious regional depletions of this
important resource. The Senate bill was
introduced by Andrew Ciesla and the Assembly Bill by Steve Corodemus and cosponsored by
Nick Asselta and Robert Smith. This bill is structured to protect menhaden stocks while
allowing New Jersey’s commercial bait fishery to continue at safe and sustainable
levels. This bill will not put the bait
industry out of business but rather will allow participants to maintain their already
increased harvest by removing reduction boats from state waters. All fishing by reduction boats would be prohibited
within state waters. Large reduction boats
are responsible for the largest percentage of the menhaden harvested in New Jersey’s
territorial waters, accounting for 60% to 70% of the total annual harvest. This legislation will not harm New Jersey
commercial fishermen and, in fact, protects their interests in this fishery. Their catch in New Jersey’s waters jumps from
7.5 million in 1999 to over 75 million in 2000. That
was a tenfold increase. Our ecosystem cannot
take that pressure.
SS2252/A3512 was introduced as the
result of the work done by the Menhaden Project, the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, the
New Jersey Federation of Sportsmen, the Recreational Fishing Alliance and many individuals
and groups who are concerned about the conservation of menhaden and the problems that
overharvesting has caused. The NJ
Environmental Federation, Sierra Club and PIRG are also supporting the Menhaden Bills.
These environmental organizations recognize insert “that “ this is an
environmental issue insert “and” not a commercial verses recreational fishing
issue. This legislation presents an
opportunity to develop a comprehensive, long-term solution that will offer some protection
to the stocks while allowing the bait industry to not only maintain its historic catch
levels, but also expand significantly, something it could not due do with the added
pressure on the stocks that reduction fishing represents.
The sport fishing industry in New
Jersey has an estimated value of $1.5 billion and key target species like striped bass,
bluefish and weakfish are negatively impacted by regional depletions of menhaden. The
larger fish depend on mature menhaden as forage while the younger fish prey heavily on
small menhaden spawned in our waters. Without
menhaden the commercial fishery, commercial bait industry and recreational fishing
industry will suffer serious negative economic impacts and could result in a loss to the
state in the millions of dollars.
The coast-wide catch of Atlantic
Menhaden for the year 2000 was 368 million pounds or an average of 1 million pounds
harvested for each and every day of the year! In 1995 the reduction fleet striped stripped
118 million pounds of menhaden from New Jersey waters alone! When you consider that the
average menhaden harvested weighs about a pound, a harvest of such an incredible magnitude
can easily have serious repercussions on the balance of the marine ecosystem of the state
of which menhaden are a critically important part.
Along with this letter I have
included a number of articles and additional reference materials for your review and can
provide more if you please. I have also
included some background material concerning the problems associated with using
menhaden-based fishmeal as animal feed for farm-raised salmon and chickens. The major concern is the increased levels of PCB
contamination in these widely distributed food products when menhaden fishmeal is a
component of their diet. As responsible
legislators and members of the public, we should be replacing this contaminated feed
product with New Jersey-raised soybeans.
We need your help in protecting this
important public resource and New Jersey’s commercial and recreational fishing
industry by supporting this bill. Please vote yes to move it out of Committee on June 7,
2001.
Sincerely,
Thomas P. Fote
Legislative Chairman JCAA & NJSFSC