Hi Mary,
I appreciate your help very much. I can give you a brief explanation which you could post together with the link to the survey which will help to explain to bluefin tuna fishermen what the survey is for:
Bluefin fishermen are fighting for their survival right now. This survey has been set up by recreational fishermen to get specific information from recreational bluefin fishermen on their catch. This information will be given to NMFS. Here is the background:
The Center for Biological Diversity [Phoenix AZ], an environmental group, filed a Petition with NOAA to list Atlantic Bluefin Tuna as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The Petition was accepted for study by NOAA and a decision on the Petition will be made in May. If they decide in favor of an "endangered" or even a "threatened" listing [the only two possibilities other than no listing at all], all fishing of bluefin tuna will STOP indefinitely. This could be the KNOCKOUT punch for bluefin fishing and needs to be taken very seriously.
One of the very important issues brought up in the Petition has to do with the issue of abundance of bluefin in our waters. If we have more abundance, we have a healthier fishery. One of the key elements in determining abundance is the status of new, young year-classes of bluefin. If we have strong young year-classes coming up we can expect to have more fish. The only way to determine this is to have the information from the fishermen themselves and the only fishermen that have this info are the recreational anglers because they catch the youngest fish. Unfortunately, NOAA does not collect this level of detail from recreational fishermen. A preliminary study was done by recreational anglers recently using some New Jersey bluefin fishermen. This data was shown to NOAA and they were very excited about it, saying that they never see this kind of information. So, it was decided that more information was needed and this survey was put together only a week ago.
The deadline is very tight. We need as many respondents as possible. If you, the fisherman, have not regularly caught bluefin until the 2010 season, as is the case with some Long Island fishermen for example, don't worry. Just provide whatever info you can even if it is only for one year. It's still vitally important info.
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Mary - Please feel free if you need to edit any of the above for space reasons, etc. if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will pass your email on to the directors of the American Bluefin Tuna Association. I'm absolutely certain that your forum can be very useful in helping to protect the interests of fishermen not only of bluefin but other species as well.
Thanks again,
David Schalit
I went on the NOAA fisheries site [ http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ ] today looking for the bag limits for BFT if and when the jigging starts. They have a link to Dr, lubchenco's remarks at the ICCAT meeting. I remembered this post and decided to read it.
When you click on it takes you to a vidio on releasing turtles in the Gulf. Where are her remarks?? Isn't that public record??
I entered "bluefin" the the search box up top on their site and these were the results
http://leopardshark.nmfs.noaa.gov/se...ult_collection
I even went to thier breaking news section and nothing is mentioned on comments
Maybe try to google what you are looking for ??
Try search keywords such as NMFS NOAA BLUE FIN TUNA 2011
I will try and locate later when I have a little more time
here is another search on noaa's site that is better than the 1st one "Bluefin 2011"
http://leopardshark.nmfs.noaa.gov/se...ult_collection
Here you go!
Yes, Capt John is correct. Her remarks are a matter of public record. Here is the link:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories...119_iccat.html
Obviously, one of NOAA's HTML personnel made a little mistake. I'll let them know.
Thanks,
David
Following is info about the listening session that was cancelled and rescheduled today 1/19/11 in New Bern. In case you have not heard a San Francisco enviroment group, the Center for Biological Diversity, has requested a endangered listing of Bluefin tuna. Those who wish to have their voices heard can do so today in New Bern. This group, CBD, is well funded and has cherry picked data about Bluefin populations to make their case.
North Carolina meeting rescheduled.....see below
Kimberly Damon-Randall wrote:
Hi everyone. We have rescheduled the BFT listening session in North Carolina for Wednesday January 19th starting at 6 p.m. It will be held at the Bridge Pointe Hotel and Marina which is located at 101 Howell Road, New Bern, NC. Their phone number is (252) 636-3637. For those participating by conference call, the number is the same (888-455-1634, passcode BLUEFINTUNA), and the following is the WebEx information:
Topic: Bluefin Listening Sessions
Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Time: 9:45 am, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York)
Meeting Number: 682 887 449
Meeting Password: Bluefin1
Please click the link below to see more information, or to join the meeting.
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To join the online meeting (Now from iPhones too!)
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1. Go to https://nero-fso.webex.com/nero-fso/...0651464f590f42
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: Bluefin1
4. Click "Join Now".
I copied the above post from another thread
Bluefin Tuna Endangered Species listing
yup