2011 Bluefin Quotas Just Came Out

[sashamy]

I have not been on the world of chat in quite some time...but this really sparks some interest. I have never been anything but a commercial bft fisherman. I mean by saying my boat has never held any tuna permit but a general category permit. Now I see us getting royally screwed over by Lubcenco again and I only see 4 people upset???? Makes no sense to me...does anyone see whats really going on? Heli has some infinite wisdom on everything here...but here ultimately is the big picture...the swordfish have recovered the quota is much bigger than it used to be now there is more effort on the swordfish causing more bycatch. What really needs to happen is the longliners need to be held accountable, not us the United States tuna fisherman. Maybe the sword quota should be cut to reflect there overages in tuna, but definitely we should be punished for their inability to avoid the bft. Its not all their fault though, they can not pick what bites the hook and probably they can't get away from the fish because the offshore schools are getting bigger. The problem I have is NMFS is trying to punish all of us, it doesn't make sense, when the general category went over we were held accountable and lost quota the next season, not the entire fishery. I ask everyone to show up in Gloucester show them that we are mad and will not stand for anymore of this BS from this administration.

[wrap-check]

Is the Blue Water Fisherman's Association (AKA the Longliner's Lobbying Group) an active stakeholder in the ABTA?

I ask this because when Rich and Peter first announced the formation of the abta at the gloucester tuna meeting a couple of years ago, I thought they mentioned the longliners joining as well. Not to start the whole infighting amoung user groups, but that didn't sit well with me then.

Doesn't seem right that the longliners went over by 160 metric tons and all other categories get hit with a 25% reduction, and the group that went over only takes an 8%hit.

[dunn6253]

Is the Blue Water Fisherman's Association (AKA the Longliner's Lobbying Group) an active stakeholder in the ABTA?

I ask this because when Rich and Peter first announced the formation of the abta at the gloucester tuna meeting a couple of years ago, I thought they mentioned the longliners joining as well. Not to start the whole infighting amoung user groups, but that didn't sit well with me then.

Doesn't seem right that the longliners went over by 160 metric tons and all other categories get hit with a 25% reduction, and the group that went over only takes an 8%hit.

I may not be correct, but I think I remember reading where the only group that isn't part of ABTA is the longliners. On their website, it has commercial, charter, rec, and harpoon, but no mention of the longliners......

How doesn't NMFS hit the longliners more then everyone else in the quota? They have more money, more lobbying power? How do we change this? Is it even possible?

[On The Edge]

The Japanese market will be a shadow of its former self this year. This quake/tsunami thing will have more far-reaching impact on thier every day lives than any of us can possibly comprehend. We currently have a Japanese exchange student living with us and the enormity of this mess is starting to sink in for her and her family. They aren't thinking a whole lot about sushi and I doubt they will for a while...

MarkP

And if they loose that power plant and have a meltdown it will get alot worce for alot longer.

[MarkP]

I may not be correct, but I think I remember reading where the only group that isn't part of ABTA is the longliners. On their website, it has commercial, charter, rec, and harpoon, but no mention of the longliners......

How doesn't NMFS hit the longliners more then everyone else in the quota? They have more money, more lobbying power? How do we change this? Is it even possible?

Unless I'm mistaken, Rich serves as Exec Director of Bluewater in addition to the same position woth ABTA. It certainly seems that the members of these orgs are at cross-purposes on the dead discard issue and how it is handled by both, esp by Rich and the boards, will be interesting to watch. That said, I think the GC is getting farked and farked hard by nmfs and it stinks to high heaven as another attempt by nmfs, which has a long history of this kind of thing, to drive a wedge between user groups in order to mask thier own incompetence...

MarkP

[happytuna]

I may not be correct, but I think I remember reading where the only group that isn't part of ABTA is the longliners. On their website, it has commercial, charter, rec, and harpoon, but no mention of the longliners......

How doesn't NMFS hit the longliners more then everyone else in the quota? They have more money, more lobbying power? How do we change this? Is it even possible?

go to the meeting on the 21st and speak up thats how ,we need to over flow the meeting to show them we are not happy

[100 % commercial]

kp, I never said i was getting 12 to 15 dollars in june and july its more like 5 to 8 with the occasional 10 to 12. That being said,when there is a big bight in the fall the prices are about 5 to 8 if your lucky,more like 3 to 5.As far as the harpoon category, give me a break. Do you see how small that quota is ? I used to only be in that category back when they actually had a quota and it wasnt uncommon to fill it before the end of june.I would almost guarantee if the guys who used to be in that category were in it now and fished hard even with the lack of gd weather we have had for sticking the last couple of seasons - that quota would have been filled by the middle of aug the latest being as small as it is now.Think about it,your out all week in the summer and you run into them for one of those seven days and you can only catch one fish using 100 to 130 gallons a day with the price of fuel.You do the math for a fish that only dresses between 180 to 350 lbs.One a day would kill the true comm guy, this isnt 15 yrs ago when we were getting huge money for one fish and we are not paying .90 cents a gallon for fuel anymore

[twofinbluna]

Is the Blue Water Fisherman's Association (AKA the Longliner's Lobbying Group) an active stakeholder in the ABTA?

I ask this because when Rich and Peter first announced the formation of the abta at the gloucester tuna meeting a couple of years ago, I thought they mentioned the longliners joining as well. Not to start the whole infighting amoung user groups, but that didn't sit well with me then.

Doesn't seem right that the longliners went over by 160 metric tons and all other categories get hit with a 25% reduction, and the group that went over only takes an 8%hit.

No they are not

[twofinbluna]

Unless I'm mistaken, Rich serves as Exec Director of Bluewater in addition to the same position woth ABTA. It certainly seems that the members of these orgs are at cross-purposes on the dead discard issue and how it is handled by both, esp by Rich and the boards, will be interesting to watch. That said, I think the GC is getting farked and farked hard by nmfs and it stinks to high heaven as another attempt by nmfs, which has a long history of this kind of thing, to drive a wedge between user groups in order to mask thier own incompetence...

MarkP

Rich left BWFA a little while back...

[twofinbluna]

I have not been on the world of chat in quite some time...but this really sparks some interest. I have never been anything but a commercial bft fisherman. I mean by saying my boat has never held any tuna permit but a general category permit. Now I see us getting royally screwed over by Lubcenco again and I only see 4 people upset???? Makes no sense to me...does anyone see whats really going on? Heli has some infinite wisdom on everything here...but here ultimately is the big picture...the swordfish have recovered the quota is much bigger than it used to be now there is more effort on the swordfish causing more bycatch. What really needs to happen is the longliners need to be held accountable, not us the United States tuna fisherman. Maybe the sword quota should be cut to reflect there overages in tuna, but definitely we should be punished for their inability to avoid the bft. Its not all their fault though, they can not pick what bites the hook and probably they can't get away from the fish because the offshore schools are getting bigger. The problem I have is NMFS is trying to punish all of us, it doesn't make sense, when the general category went over we were held accountable and lost quota the next season, not the entire fishery. I ask everyone to show up in Gloucester show them that we are mad and will not stand for anymore of this BS from this administration.

Glad to see someone else is seeing the big issue here