Monthly Archives: May 2010

Senate Approves Help for Fisheries Impacted by BP Oil Spill

By / Bio / Published: May 28, 2010

Although the oil spill in the Gulf continues to worsen, there’s a bit of good news for Gulf fishermen and fishing-related businesses.  The Senate last night approved an amendment by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) that would devote $26 million to support fishermen and to improve fisheries science because of the spill. 

The House still has to vote on the measure, so more critical funding could be added before its finalized and sent to the President. Earlier this week EDF signed a letter to Congress and the President with the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance and the Gulf Fishermen’s Association that advocated for at least $100 million in funding for direct assistance to adversely affected commercial and recreational fishermen and fishing communities, to improve fisheries science, and to make fisheries more resilient to harm caused by human activities.  Because of the size of this disaster, we see this as just a good start, and we are working to expand the scope and increase the amount over the long-term. 

 The amendment includes $15 million for fisheries disaster assistance, $10 million for stock assessments, and $1 million for a study on the impacts from the spill on the Gulf ecosystem.  Here’s the specific language.

 (1) FISHERIES DISASTER RELIEF.–For an additional amount, in addition to other amounts provided in this Act for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, $15,000,000 to be available to provide fisheries disaster relief under section 312 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1861a) related to a commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that resulted from the Deepwater Horizon oil discharge.

 (2) EXPANDED STOCK ASSESSMENT OF FISHERIES.–For an additional amount, in addition to other amounts provided in this Act for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, $10,000,000 to conduct an expanded stock assessment of the fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico. Such expanded stock assessment shall include an assessment of the commercial and recreational catch and biological sampling, observer programs, data management and processing activities, the conduct of assessments, and follow-up evaluations of such fisheries.

 (3) ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IMPACTS STUDY.–For an additional amount, in addition to other amounts provided for the Department of Commerce, $1,000,000 to be available for the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the long-term ecosystem service impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil discharge. Such study shall assess long-term costs to the public of lost water filtration, hunting, and fishing (commercial and recreational), and other ecosystem services associated with the Gulf of Mexico.

 IN GENERAL.–Of the amounts appropriated or made available under Division B, Title I of Public Law 111-117 that remain unobligated as of the date of the enactment of this Act under Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, $26,000,000 of the amounts appropriated are hereby rescinded.

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Sportfishing, Conservation Groups Suggest Oil Spill Spending Priorities for Administration and Congress

By / Bio / Published: May 27, 2010

Thirteen groups signed letters today to both the Administration and Congressional Appropriators in response to the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The letters present fishery management and economic-related recommendations for broadening the scope of and increasing the amount of funding in the spending package proposed on May 12 by President Obama.

The groups’ recommendations cover fishery management, including stock assessments, improvements to fishery data collection and monitoring, and cooperative research, so that fishery managers will have the most accurate and timely information to assess the impacts of the spill. The groups also recommend direct economic relief for recreational fishing businesses and other fishing-related businesses.

Sign-on letter participants:

  • American Sportfishing Association
  • Berkley Conservation Institute
  • The Billfish Foundation
  • Bonefish and Tarpon Trust
  • Center for Coastal Conservation
  • Coastal Conservation Association
  • Environmental Defense Fund
  • International Game Fish Association
  • National Marine Manufacturers Association
  • Natural Resources Defense Council
  • The Ocean Conservancy
  • Oceana
  • Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

EDF made a complementary request to Congress and the President earlier this week for at least $100 million to help fishing communities recover from the spill.

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Sectors are Helping Small Fishing Communities Get Access to Groundfish in Maine

By / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 26, 2010

Sectors, the catch share management system adopted in New England, have opened up the door to groundfishing in Down East Maine. According to the Bar Harbor Times, until sectors came into effect May 1, it had been more than 15 years since groundfish had been caught and landed in commercial numbers in the eastern Gulf of Maine. The article tells one fisherman’s story of how sectors have allowed him to get back into the groundfishing industry.

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Gulf fishermen, EDF request $100 million to help fishing communities recover from oil spill

By / Bio / Published: May 24, 2010

Click here to view the full letter.

As the BP-Deepwater Horizon Oil Well Disaster continues to spill massive amounts of oil into the ocean—jeopardizing the multi-billion dollar fishing, tourism and other ocean-related industries in the Gulf—EDF is partnering with Gulf fishing organizations to recommend several urgent initiatives to mitigate the devastating ecological and economic consequences for the Gulf region and beyond.

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance and the Gulf Fishermen’s Association joined us in signing a letter that is being distributed today to Congress and the President to provide guidance for responding to the growing crisis.

In the letter, we advocate for at least $100 million in funding for direct assistance to adversely affected commercial and recreational fishermen and fishing communities, to improve fisheries science, and to make fisheries more resilient to harm caused by human activities.

First and foremost, we urge BP and its business partners, Congress, and the Administration to ensure that all possible means are applied to regain control of the oil well, ensure that the dispersants used are the safest and most effective available, and that damages are cleaned-up as quickly as possible.

Once the spill is stopped, the short- and long-term measures below are needed to begin the long process of helping ocean resources and coastal communities recover.

Short-term: Institute a fishing community recovery program.

  • LOSS RECOVERY: Help commercial and recreational fishermen and fishing-related businesses recover lost income including commercial fishing operations, seafood dealers and retailers, charter vessels and guides, bait and tackle shops, marinas, and others harmed.
  • SEAFOOD SAFETY: Help the commercial and charter boat fishing industries implement seafood and catch traceability and verification systems to ensure that commercial fishermen and charter vessels harvest fish from waters declared safe and healthy by federal regulators.
  • PUBLIC INFORMATION: Assist the commercial and recreational fishing industries to rebuild business by providing assistance to develop a public information and media campaign to highlight the real, versus perceived, impacts of catching and consuming Gulf fish to ensure consumer confidence.
  • FISHERIES BASELINE INFORMATION: Accelerate stock assessment and data collection efforts for commercial and recreational fisheries to expand and enhance baseline data on the present status of key fisheries affected by the oil spill.

Long-term: Increase fishery and community resilience through better science and management.

  • SCIENCE AND DATA: Improve science and data collection for commercial and recreational fisheries by providing significant additional funding to measure the long-term impact of the oil spill on fish stocks and track the pace of their recovery, and engage fishing vessels in research that contributes to better fishery science and enhanced seafood safety.
  • FISHERY MANAGEMENT: Increase fishing business resilience to natural and manmade disasters by accelerating fishery management reforms that achieve compliance with fishery management goals.

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Can Catch Shares Lower the Number of Fishery Closures?

By / Bio / Published: May 21, 2010

Fishing Boat

The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has put fishery closures in the headlines, but closures are nothing new or unusual.  In fact, numerous fisheries are closed every year. In an era of declining fish stocks, managers essentially have two tools at hand to meet the legal requirement of ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks – closures or catch shares. Closures have been used extensively and increasingly. 

In the last two years, nearly half of US federal fishery management plans (FMPs) have used emergency closures as a way to manage fishing effort. Closures prohibit fishermen from catching and landing species based on either area or time.  For example, managers may close an area of fishing grounds or an entire fishery for a particular period of time. 

Snapper boats docked

Emergency closures can affect all sectors of a fishery or may be focused on just one sector, such as recreational or commercial.  Often multiple types of closures–area, season and sector—are used to manage effort. 

Closures, as described here, are being used on an emergency basis to control fishing effort. Often, closures occur within a single year as a way to prevent fishermen from exceeding annual catch limits.  In instances where a species is at a critically low level, managers may close a fishery indefinitely.  

Note: There are times in which managers used planned closures to enhance the management of a fishery, such as closing certain areas or times to protect spawning aggregations.  These planned closures are not included in my discussion here.  Instead, this analysis focuses on unplanned closures that are used to manage fishing effort.

4,200 days – Number of fishing days lost in 2009 due to early season closures. 

This is equivalent to 11½ years! If early and indefinite season closures had not occurred in 2009, fishermen would have been able to fish over 9,700 days in those fisheries.  Instead, only about 5,500 days were open to fishermen for the affected species.  And the story in 2008 was similar – fishermen lost 5,000 days of fishing, down from over 9,900 that would have been possible without early or indefinite closures. 

The pattern in 2010 is continuing – 20 species managed under three FMPs have used early season closures from January to May, including an emergency closure in the commercial and recreational sectors of the Red Snapper Fishery in the South Atlantic Region.  Implementation of this closure has estimates of a $1.8 million loss for the commercial and recreational fleets.  The fishery is slated to open on June 2, 2010, but managers may extend the closure for another 186 day period.

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Senator Shelby Makes Right Call Requesting Gulf Fishery Disaster Designation Addressing Oil Spill

By / Bio / Published: May 19, 2010

Fishing businesses across the Gulf, such as these charter boats in Alabama, are facing major economic challenges from the oil spill.

Yesterday U.S. Senator Shelby requested a Gulf of Mexico fisheries disaster declaration from the Secretary of Commerce in the face of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

EDF fully supports this action and encourages U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to grant the request.

The Gulf coast economy is closely tied to the well-being of its oceans. The uncontrolled oil spill severely threatens ecosystems and, by extension, the Gulf’s multi-billion dollar fishing and tourism industries.

By granting Senator Shelby’s request, Secretary Locke can help provide much needed federal assistance to affected Gulf fishermen and fishing communities.

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