EDFish

Selected tag(s): Oceans

Statement of Sally McGee, EDF New England Fisheries Policy Director and NEFMC member, on Today’s Council Actions

By / Published: April 28, 2010
Sally McGee, EDF New England Fisheries Policy Director

Sally McGee, EDF New England Fisheries Policy Director

Today, Sally McGee, EDF’s New England Fisheries Policy Director released the following statement on today’s NE Council actions.

“I am pleased to support recommendations today for modifications to the skate and the red crab fisheries which will increase flexibility and likely lead to increased profitability for many New England fishermen.

“Consistent with New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) recommendations, the Council has recommended that the National Marine Fisheries Service should increase the skate wing possession limit from 1900 to 5000 pounds.  This will help reduce discards and add a revenue stream for some groundfishermen while maintaining a sustainable catch level.  The SSC has also identified and prioritized skate for research and assessment of age, growth, maturity, discards and bycatch over the next several years so we will continually better our understanding of these important species.

“Also, the new red crab analysis by the SSC provided an opportunity to increase the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) to more accurately reflect the state of the fishery.  Consistent with the best science available, I was glad to join a unanimous vote in favor of increasing the ABC to 1775 metric tons for fishing year 2010.  It is very encouraging that this new analysis, provided by the Council’s scientific advisors, shows us that increasing the ABC for this stock will allow fishermen to catch more crab while maintaining the long term sustainability of this fishery. 

“The skate and red crab management measures before the Council today are precisely the kind of actions that the NEFMC should take to support New England fishermen and fisheries.”

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Congressional Hearing Presents Narrow View of Catch Shares

By / Bio / Published: April 22, 2010
U.S. House Hearing Room at the April 22 hearing on catch shares and communities

U.S. House hearing room at the April 22, 2010 hearing on catch shares and communities.

A hearing today in the House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife mostly overlooked evidence of the benefits of catch shares and instead zeroed in on fears.  Out of the eight witnesses who testified, just one was a fisherman, Bob Dooley, who has actually fished in a catch share program. 

Reflecting on his personal experience fishing in catch share-managed fisheries, Bob Dooley, a fisherman from California, told the committee that “an investment in catch shares … will provide huge benefits to fishing families and coastal communities.”  Other fishermen supportive of catch shares submitted written comments such as Glen Brooks, a grouper fisherman from Florida and president of the Gulf Fishermen’s Association.  A number of pro-catch share fishermen also came to the hearing with bold t-shirts that read “Fisherman for Catch Shares.” 

The mostly negative tenor of the hearing didn’t come as a surprise.  Fishermen and lawmakers have good reasons to be frustrated these days.  Overfishing has continued in many of the nation’s most valuable fisheries despite years of ever-restrictive measures that have put thousands of fishermen out of business.  Today more than 60 federal fish stocks are overfished or have overfishing occurring.  The result is declining catches and shrinking revenues for fishermen.  

Contrast that picture with catch shares, which can lead to greater prosperity, sustainability and flexibility for fishermen.  When the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico faced severe restrictions because of overfishing, fishery managers worked with commercial fishermen to develop a catch share program, which has increased dock-side prices, decreased bycatch and helped end overfishing (Steele 2008).  Red snapper populations are now rebounding, meaning more fish for everyone, including recreational fishermen. 

Fishermen supportive catch shares wear t-shirts voicing their support at the April 22, 2010 Natural Resources Committee hearing on catch shares and communities: "Fishermen for Catch Shares".

Fishermen wear t-shirts voicing their support for catch shares at the April 22, 2010 Natural Resources Committee hearing on catch shares and communities: "Fishermen for Catch Shares".

There was some talk today about concern for fishing communities and the tools available with catch shares – and not available under conventional management – like permit banks, quota set-asides like adaptive management programs, and community development quotas.  These tools guarantee that the values of communities will be respected whether that means providing a way for new fishermen to enter the fishery or making sure that jobs associated with the fishery remain local. 

Many of the witnesses complained about the impacts on their businesses and communities of shortened fishing seasons under traditional management systems, yet failed to recognize that shifting to catch shares would allow them to fish throughout the year.

This hearing should have focused more on how to design catch shares that best reflect the needs and values of fishermen, fishing communities and the nation.  That’s a big enough job and where the discussion about catch shares ought to be.

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The Weekly Catch: Must Read News for the Week

By / Published: April 2, 2010
Halibut Illustration

Halibut

This week’s news catch brings in two great pieces — an article from The Seattle Times and an editorial from Cape Cod Times. Both pieces point toward catch shares as a solution to end overfishing. Hal Bernton of The Seattle Times reports on the prosperous health of the pacific halibut fishery since its transition to catch share management. Cape Cod Times recognizes some of the fishing industry’s hesitation to move to sector-based catch share management in New England, but rightly states, “The new system is not what’s causing the industry’s pain; the overfishing of the past is.”

“For tradition-rich halibut fisherman, the future looks prosperous”
The Seattle Times, Thursday, April 1, 2010 – By Hal Bernton

“Protect the Resource”
Cape Cod Times, Thursday, April 1, 2010 – Editorial

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New NOAA Report Shows Progress Being Made to Rebuild and Sustain Fisheries and Ocean Ecosystems – Catch Shares Help

By / Published: March 23, 2010
Cover of NOAA report, Our Living Oceans - 6th edition.

Cover of NOAA report, Our Living Oceans - 6th edition.

In NOAA’s newly released 6th edition of Our Living Oceans: Report on the Status of U.S. Marine Resources, catch shares (referred to as Limited Access Privilege Programs – LAPPs) are raised as one solution to the over-harvesting of fisheries. Citing the successes of established catch share programs, Our Living Oceans reports that the Alaska halibut fishery has seen healthy stocks with near record levels of total catch since the implementation of its catch share program.

Recognizing some challenges of implementing catch shares, the report rightly points out that policies set during the design of a catch share can address those challenges and concerns.

“Additional rules or special programs built into the LAPP either at implementation or after implementation can often mitigate any potential negative impacts.”

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Climate Change Threatens Chemical Composition of the Oceans

By / Bio / Published: January 21, 2010

Rod FujitaThe recent U.N. Climate Change conference in Copenhagen highlighted the range of challenges associated with fighting climate change, from cutting energy use to financing clean technology in developing countries.  Why the global sense of urgency and focus?  Because the impacts of climate change are already being felt.  Most of our discussions center on the dangers of sea level rise, which is already inundating low-lying islands and valuable wetlands; on changes in precipitation and air temperature, which will affect everything from agriculture to asthma; and on the shift in seasons and habitat that will make life difficult for trees, butterflies, and the other wildlife we are familiar with.

Enormous threats indeed.  And it is perhaps inevitable that we are focused on the land and our fellow terrestrial inhabitants.  But let us not forget the fact that we are changing the ocean profoundly in many ways.  A recent study suggests that over a third of the entire ocean is heavily impacted by human activities, and that there is no longer a single patch of seawater anywhere that can be said to be pristine.  And incredibly, we are not just affecting patches of the ocean here or there – we are changing the very chemistry of the seas, chemistry that has remained stable for millennia and which defines the parameters for life in the sea and also for the habitability of the planet for us.

All living systems are buffered from extreme change by their chemistry.  If not for the carbonate/bicarbonate and other buffering chemicals in our blood, the pH (a measure of acidity) would fluctuate wildly and none of the myriad proteins or enzymes essential for life would function.  Because pH is a logarithmic scale, very small changes in pH can be disastrous for life – for example, a change of less than one pH unit is lethal to humans. Oceans along coast

The ocean is a gigantic living system, and is perhaps one of the best-buffered systems on the planet.  Enormous quantities of buffering chemicals have been entering the ocean each year for billions of years.  Remarkably, though, even the ocean is not impervious to the impacts of fossil fuel combustion and carbon dioxide emissions. 

As atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen, the ocean has steadfastly taken up about 2 billion tons of it every year, protecting us from an even more serious climate crisis than we have already.  However, carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to create carbonic acid.  As a result, while the pH of the ocean varies widely in response to local conditions, scientists have detected a noticeable drop in pH (an increase in average acidity) over the last 20 years and project a decrease in pH by 0.3-0.4 units – a huge change –  by 2100 if nothing is done to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. 

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EDF Applauds NOAA’s New Catch Share Policy and Introduces the Catch Shares Action Toolkit

By / Bio / Published: December 10, 2009

Amanda Leland, Oceans Program - National Policy DirectorA policy released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) charts an historic new course for the nation’s fish stocks, giving hope for the recovery of struggling fishing communities and depleted fish resources. With the new policy, NOAA is seeking to correct decades of failed management that has resulted in economically-depressed, unsafe, and unsustainable fisheries around the country.

The policy promotes greater use of catch shares, and we at EDF applaud NOAA for promoting this innovative fisheries management approach proven to improve fishermen’s lives and livelihoods and restore fish populations. NOAA’s policy builds upon the significant work of fishermen, fishing communities, scientists, fishery managers, and conservationists to design and implement catch shares in fisheries around the country.

Catch shares work for fishermen and fish populations because they include science-based annual catch limits, accountability measures to ensure compliance with those limits, and effective enforcement. At the same time, catch shares give fishermen greater flexibility for how to run their businesses, which improves economic performance.

NOAA’s new policy does not mandate catch shares for fisheries but rather makes important changes in strategy and operations, providing incentives and support for fishery managers who pursue catch shares. In particular, the draft policy:

  • Promotes the consideration and adoption, where appropriate, of catch share programs in federal fisheries.
  • Removes technical and administrative impediments to catch shares.
  • Provides technical and other support to those regional fishery management councils that choose to pursue catch shares.
  • Enhances outreach, education and assistance to stakeholders.
  • Promotes the development of technical guidance on specific program design elements.
  • Supports adaptive management through new research and performance monitoring of catch share programs over time.

The policy has been released in draft form but will take effect immediately. NOAA will take public comments for the next 120 days.

Today, as NOAA announces their new policy, EDF introduces the Catch Shares Action Toolkit to provide a resource for supporters of catch shares and encourage them to take action by telling NOAA and others that catch shares fishery management is the right policy to protect and restore the public’s ocean fishery resources, and increase profitability, wages, and safety for fishermen.

The toolkit features videos of fishermen sharing their stories about the failures of the current management system and why they support catch shares programs. The toolkit also encourages catch share supporters to engage in the dialog about catch shares through commenting online to NOAA and news articles, spreading the word about the benefit of catch shares to their friends, and submitting their own stories.

Today over 50 federally-managed stocks are overfished or experiencing overfishing. Under current management, meeting a Congressionally-mandated deadline to end overfishing by 2011 will mean ever-shorter fishing seasons and long-term closures for many prized species which will have a devastating impact on coastal communities. Catch shares allow continued fishing even while fish stocks recover.

We encourage all catch share supporters and those who want to learn more about this solution for our struggling fisheries to visit our new Catch Shares Action Toolkit.

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