NMFS BFT ESA meeting in NC rescheduled for Jan 19 @ 6 pm in New Bern, NC

[Sushi50]

I got this from NMFS today:

Hi again. I am really sorry. I messed up on the timing of the WebEx. It runs at the same time as the meeting so we are switching the time to run starting at 5:45 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Thanks,
Kim

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".

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone interested in participating, and please contact me with any questions at Kimberly.Damon-Randall@noaa.gov.

Kim

[Sushi50]

Here's the link to an article on how the NMFS BFT ESA meeting went in MA last week.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/...that_blue.html

Anyone from MD, VA, NC, or SC who fishes for BFT should be at the New Bern, NC meeting this Wed evening.

Thanks,
Charley

[LuckyLady]

Added a sticky to your thread

Please see this thread and be part of it

VITAL REC BLUEFIN SURVEY - 2 DAYS LEFT FOR YOU TO COUNT !!!

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