Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 HR 1584

[eppefour]

This bill is active in the house. This is something you can support. Working through Congress is an alternative to working through NMFS.

Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 (Introduced in House)

HR 1584 IH

111th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 1584

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to extend the authorized time period for rebuilding of certain overfished fisheries, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 18, 2009
Mr. PALLONE (for himself, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. JONES, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ADLER of New Jersey, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, and Mr. MCINTYRE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources


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A BILL

To amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to extend the authorized time period for rebuilding of certain overfished fisheries, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009'.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TIME PERIOD FOR REBUILDING CERTAIN OVERFISHED FISHERIES.
Section 304(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)(4)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4)(A)--
(A) in clause (i) by striking `possible' and inserting `practicable'; and
(B) by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:
`(ii) not exceed 10 years, except in cases where--
`(I) the biology of the stock of fish, other environmental conditions, or management measures under an international agreement in which the United States participates dictate otherwise;
`(II) the Secretary determines that such 10-year period should be extended because the cause of the fishery decline is outside the jurisdiction of the Council or the rebuilding program cannot be effective only by limiting fishing activities;
`(III) the Secretary determines that such 10-year period should be extended to provide for the sustained participation of fishing communities or to minimize the economic impacts on such communities, provided that there is evidence that the stock of fish is on a positive rebuilding trend;
`(IV) the Secretary determines that such 10-year period should be extended for one or more stocks of fish of a multi-species fishery, provided that there is evidence that those stocks are on a positive rebuilding trend;
`(V) the Secretary determines that such 10-year period should be extended because of a substantial change to the biomass rebuilding target for the stock of fish concerned after the rebuilding plan has taken effect; or
`(VI) the Secretary determines that such 10-year period should be extended because the biomass rebuilding target exceeds the highest abundance of the stock of fish in the 25-year period preceding and there is evidence that the stock is on a positive rebuilding trend;'; or
(2) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting after the first sentence the following: `In evaluating progress to end overfishing and to rebuild overfished stocks of fish, the Secretary shall review factors, other than commercial fishing and recreational fishing, that may contribute to a stock of fish's overfished status, such as commercial, residential, and industrial development of, or agricultural activity in, coastal areas and their impact on the marine environment, predator/prey relationships of target and related species, and other environmental and ecological changes to the marine conditions.'; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
`(8) If the Secretary determines that extended rebuilding time is warranted under subclause (III), (IV), (V), or (VI) of paragraph (4)(A)(ii), the maximum time allowed for rebuilding the stock of fish concerned may not exceed the sum of the following time periods:
`(A) The initial 10-year rebuilding period.
`(B) The expected time to rebuild the stock absent any fishing mortality and under prevailing environmental conditions.
`(C) The mean generation time of the stock.
`(9) In this subsection the term `on a positive rebuilding trend' means that the biomass of the stock of fish has shown a substantial increase in abundance since the implementation of the rebuilding plan.'.

[eppefour]

This bill is supported by RFA, Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund , North Carolina Watermen United and other fishing groups. To contact your legislator use this link. I will post a sample letter soon.

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

[eppefour]

The Bill was introduced by Rep frank Pallone of NJ.

Co Sponsors are
Rep Adler, John H. [NJ-3] - 3/18/2009
Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 4/21/2009
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 4/23/2009
Rep Bonner, Jo [AL-1] - 9/30/2009
Rep Boyd, Allen [FL-2] - 5/13/2009
Rep Brown, Henry E., Jr. [SC-1] - 4/2/2009
Rep Brown-Waite, Ginny [FL-5] - 3/18/2009
Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 11/6/2009
Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 6/2/2009
Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] - 3/18/2009
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 3/18/2009
Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. [RI-1] - 3/18/2009
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 6/2/2009
Rep LoBiondo, Frank A. [NJ-2] - 3/18/2009
Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] - 3/18/2009
Rep Mica, John L. [FL-7] - 7/14/2009
Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 3/24/2009
Rep Ortiz, Solomon P. [TX-27] - 3/24/2009
Rep Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana [FL-18] - 11/19/2009
Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 7/17/2009
Rep Stearns, Cliff [FL-6] - 6/17/2009
Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 4/2/2009

[jackdaniels]

A Simple Case for Regional Black Sea Bass, Summer Flounder, Tautog & Scup Fishery Management - Monty Hawkins - 11/23/09

If coast-wide management were working sea bass would now be found in incredible numbers off the DelMarVa coast --now-- today in even greater population than the fantastic numbers of the early 2000s.
That is not the case. Management fails to comprehend the finality of the situation; that rebuilding can not occur with a coast-wide plan.

In a few years time I suspect that managing fish without a strong habitat component, indeed with no habitat consideration whatever: That managing species in broad coastwide swaths as opposed to regional zones, these distinct sub-populations of fish set apart by habitat; That such management will be as incongruent, as dramatically inconsistent, as indefensible as declaring "All men are created equal" while feeding slave children trough-swill with the dogs: That the self-evidence of truth in fisheries governance is only as strong as those tasked with bringing it to the fore: That the .org brute strength of money combined with expert skill in societal manipulation now borne with fisheries ignorance can lead to no good outcome for fish nor fisher..

The coast-wide cbass closure presently being endured is a result of reportedly high landings in one region; this northern area vacuuming up the entirety of the recreational quota while every other region had shockingly lower reported landings.
The economic pain created by this particular closure and the many other resultant see-sawing gains and losses of management's goals are an unnecessary burden.
Every tagging study north of Hatteras shows that sea bass will return to the habitat from whence they came, that each reef or region has a distinct population.
The notion that a fishery can not have sub-stocks without genetic difference, or some other obvious manner of speciation, leaves ignored a whole host of useful tools for restoring fish and gauging success while doing so.
We should not be worried if a "stock" could interbreed, as surely the cbass off Virginia Beach, VA. and Jones Beach, NY. could; No, for restoration purposes we should estimate the likelihood that they would interbreed in a given year. In this example it is fantastically unlikely that these two distinct reef habitants/colonists separated by some 300 NM will ever comingle reproductively. It is here that spawning philopatry, or breeding site fidelity, is as much an 'apple & orange' manageable characteristic as having two completely different species; that what defines a fish through some obvious characteristic, such as the difference between weakfish & spotted seatrout, is as much a tool as what reef area a population uses to spawn.
In and of itself, this argues for regional management. There are, however, far greater reasons, foremost is the danger of regional collapse through unregulated concentration of fishing effort.
Whether spikes in fishing effort/catch/landings are brought about by consolidation of permits--as when IFQs or 'catch shares' are being acquired thereby concentrating effort into fewer hands & smaller geographic regions; or by simple economics, this where the most valuable part of a stock is located in one region and targeted by highly mobile gears, even including spikes in recreational effort; the over-pressuring that may have been prevented via regional quota/management is almost applauded under a coastwide plan.
This is not simply theoretical: over-pressuring regional stocks has occurred where larger, more valuable, sea bass were exploited in concentrated multi-state trawl effort.
As ever, regional collapse of a fishery remains unnoticed in coastwide data set, smoothed away in a broad-scale graph..
It will happen again and again and again--forever--until these demersal fisheries are regionally managed. Any hope of true, lasting restoration is lost until this is corrected.

Tagging studies reveal nearly absolute regional habitat fidelity in s. flounder, black sea bass, tautog and, presumably, scup.
Here it becomes obvious that achieving long term restoration goals with a coast-wide management plan is impossible; that any success could only be temporary as effort shifts outside the natural territorial bounds of these regional stocks.
And, it is with this information that the importance of seafloor habitat should leap out from the data to anyone willing to look for it.

A basic tenant of restoration biology might be that our ability to destroy habitat always precedes our understanding of that habitat's value.
Just as the Dustbowl of the 1930s taught the crucial importance of habitat management in farmland, so too should our present state of fisheries teach us the value of reef habitat management in the mid-Atlantic.
There are two reef videos on YouTube http://www.morningstarfishing.com/ -- So far as I know, in 2009, that's all the work on our region's shallow water corals...

Were the true value of reef--any manner of reef--not found in fishery production, the best course for fishers would be to remove reef, thereby concentrating the remaining fish...
Not at all what needs done, but it is exactly what happened in the mid & later parts of the 1900s --- It was only continuous refinement in electronic navigation that disguised a serious downturn in fisheries as a fish-catching jubilee.

Our responsibility is to see, to know, to discover what was and restore it.
Instead, we remain blinded by coastwide fisheries estimates of every manner--economic, recreational catch, stock assessments of reef dwelling fish made with no knowledge of reef--when a regional concept is our only hope.

The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 By Senator Schumer, NY & Rep. Frank Pallone, NJ is our only hope of buying the time needed to save fishers - the businesses - before our present use of law whirlpools the whole industry.
I expect I'll write my DC representatives in support of that legislation.

Meanwhile, the giants trying to cipher the mysteries of the sea while gazing from their distant towers are pushing hard to kill it...

A few simple biological truths would fix the whole business.
Regards,
Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservation Line 410 520 2076
http://www.morningstarfishing.com/

[jackdaniels]

Congressman sets sights on reform of fishing law
Frank targets federal regulators 'anti-fishing bias'


By Richard Gaines
Staff Writer


Citing "demoralizing" restrictions placed last week on the thriving East Coast scallop fishery and "moral issues" of environmentalists he concedes he can't fathom, Congressman Barney Frank has pledged a major effort to modify the Magnuson-Stevens Act, under which the nation's fisheries are regulated.

Frank also accused the nation's federal fishery regulators of harboring "an anti-fishing bias."

Meanwhile, the Pew Environment Group has already mobilized dozens of organizations and scientists to resist Frank's push.

Frank's frustration, expressed in a telephone interview Wednesday, came in the aftermath of the November meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council a week earlier, and builds on a recent, lengthy letter of complaints he sent to Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which regulates fisheries.

Lubchcenco and Frank, who represents New Bedford and has been a stalwart defender of the fishing industry, maintain a difficult diplomatic and political dialogue over a range of fishery conservation and economic issues.

After fierce debate at its meeting in Newport, R.I., the council reduced access to the healthy scallop stock in the waters of southern New England and Georges Bank.

The council cut days at sea for full-time scallop vessels fishing in open areas to 29 days, and decreased the number of allowed trips to special access areas from five to four for the 2010 fishing year, according to Saving Seafood, the daily news digest of the fishing industry that is published from Washington, D.C., and New Bedford.

"The economic impact to fishermen and the regional economy is substantial," the Saving Seafood Web site quoted Frank as saying.

"The scallop industry is a great success," Frank told the Times yesterday. "It's very discouraging, totally demoralizing for the success to be followed up with draconian restrictions."

The council also voted to reconsider the length of the seven-year rebuilding timetable for yellowtail flounder, a species that is taken as bycatch by the scallopers and is also a valued groundfish.

Patricia Kurkul, the Gloucester-based regional administrator of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, opposed lengthening the rebuilding timetable for yellowtail, and last month, during a peaceful protest of NOAA and NMFS policies at the regional offices in Gloucester's Blackburn Industrial Park, Kurkul advised protesters in a private meeting that she sympathized but was handcuffed by Magnuson-Stevens, and advised them to get the law changed.

Scallops are the most valued and successful stock on the East Coast, and are responsible for New Bedford's ranking as the nation's No. 1 cash value port.

To that end, Frank has repeatedly wondered aloud why fishery regulation based on Magnuson-Stevens subordinates social and community economic concerns.

Initially enacted in 1976 and reauthorized and modified in 2006, Magnuson-Stevens establishes firm deadlines for the restoration of healthy stocks, but has been criticized by industry figures and independent scientists for presuming that all stocks in an ecosystem can be restored simultaneously.

The push to modify Magnuson-Stevens pits Frank and his allies in a small but powerful coalition on Capitol Hill against an environmental alliance organized and led by the Pew Environment Group, which has been gathering signatures opposing any change in Magnuson-Stevens since last spring.

The multi-billion dollar ENGO or environmental non-government organization in April listed 44 environmental groups that shared Pew's position against modifying Magnuson-Stevens; the number jumped to 67 in July, and focused on Sen. Charles Schumer of New York who had joined the coalition that included Frank and Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, and was headed by Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey.

At the end of September, Pew sent a letter signed by 118 scientists to senators. The letter warned that the bill now filed by Schumer as well as Pallone "would add loopholes and exceptions that delay rebuilding deadlines and favor short-term economic gains over the long-term health of fish populations and coastal communities.

"Delaying rebuilding may have significant adverse impacts that reverberate throughout marine ecosystems, affecting prey and predator relationships and impeding depleted species' ability to recover."

In his interview with the Times, Frank said he considers the opposition to the bills to represent "a different kind of environmentalism."

"Whether fish recover in seven, nine or 11 years, doesn't seem to me to be a moral issue," Frank said. "But to them, it seems to be."

In his letter to Lubchenco last month, Frank wrote that "in situations where it is clear that more fishing opportunities are warranted, either through updated stock assessment data, or mistakes in the scientific assessment or review process," Frank wrote, "the agency must be willing to act on its own to ensure decisive and immediate action to implement revised regulations necessary to protect fishermen and fishing communities from unnecessary and often devastating financial hardship."

[Ultralite]

"Whether fish recover in seven, nine or 11 years, doesn't seem to me to be a moral issue," Frank said. "But to them, it seems to be."

Excuse me but since when did Barney Frank become one to decide what's moral or not? This is the openly homosexual guy who's life partner was caught running a gay prostitution ring out of Barney's D.C. condo, yet denied knowing anything was going on. When are they going to run this pipe smoker out town?

Scallop trawlers with flounder bycatch. Hmmm, let's give 'em reprieve on rebuilding the flounder fishery because the scallop fishery is so economically successful. The same story plays out all over. Give the commercials a break. It's their entitlement to make a living off the sea. Their fathers and grandfathers did, so they should be entitled too. Screw that, it's OUR RESOURCE.

[WAHOONBOX]

I APPRECIATE ALL THE UPDATES AND NEWS YOU ARE PROVIDING US!

[jackdaniels]

I just posted what he said. That was a fact not my opinion. Barney is definitely on the side of the commercials. part of his district depends on the commercial fishery. However slowing down the pace of Magnuson at this time probably also benefits the recreational. Dr Lubchenco is very conservative with ties to the Pew group. She is going to push everything to go as fast as possible. you can look for additional closures and longer closures in the future

[eppefour]

Print the letter, get the address from the link above and mail it. I took the letter from a letter written by NCWU . I think it's time to mobilize support for the bill. Most of our organizations are supporting it. The commercials are supporting it obviously. Our interests often coincide.

Dec 12, 2009

I would like to ask for your support of S-1255 Bill (HR 1584), which would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to extend the authorized time period for the rebuilding of certain overfished fisheries, and for other purposes.
The original Magnuson-Stevens Act included provisions for - “A national program for the conservation and management of the fishery resources of the United States to prevent overfishing, to rebuild overfished stocks, to insure conservation, to facilitate long-term protection of essential fish habitats and to realize the full potential of the Nation’s fishery resources.” (MSA; 104-297).
Provisions were made for data collection - “The collection of reliable data is essential to the effective conservation, management and scientific understanding of the fishery resources of the United States.” (MSA; 101-627).
However, because of changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 2006, the fisheries management process now often works with a one-year deadline to End Overfishing and regulators are being forced to implement laws that shut down entire fisheries without sufficient stock assessments of the fishery resource. Inaccurate data, under the term - Best Available - is being used instead of the Best Science data which would provide more precise and correct numbers for each fishery.
S-1255, a Bill introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and HR 1584 introduced by Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and
co-sponsored by Walter Jones (R-NC) would allow Flexibility in the Rebuilding of American Fisheries so that complete Stock Assessments could be taken and decisions about each fishery would be based on the Best Science .
In these difficult economic times, it is important for all parties involved – fishery resource managers, commercial fishermen, charter-headboat fishermen and recreational fishermen - to have the best and most accurate statistics available to guide us in all decisions regarding the fisheries.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours truly,