Virginia Saltwater Fishing

The Coast Guard base on Chincoteague Island is scheduled to host an event for mariners to come and meet locally based federal and state law enforcement officers March 10 at 6:30 p.m.

The event will provide an opportunity for mariners to meet some of their local enforcement officers, ask questions and learn about new and existing regulations.

Regardless of whether mariners operate a commercial, charter, or recreational vessel; subject matter experts will be on hand to answer questions about recreational and commercial fishing, or questions about laws pertaining to safety gear.

Boaters without specific questions are invited to come and listen to the discussion or pick up information on Boating Safety, Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety, Fishing Regulations, or to come and schedule a Courtesy Marine Examination.

The following are participating agencies and agency departments:

* U.S. Coast Guard Station Chincoteague

* U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

* U.S. Park Service (NWR)

* Virginia Marine Resources Commission

* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

* U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Boating Safety Instructors and Courtesy Marine Examiners

* U.S. Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads Commercial Fishing Safety Examiners

The session will be held at Tarr Hall, in the Galley Facility, located on the base.

source: USCG press release

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) will host an educational workshop March 16-18, 2010 on “catch shares.” The workshop will be conducted in cooperation with the Fisheries Leadership and Sustainability Forum, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Participants will include MAFMC members, MAFMC staff, MAFMC Advisory Panel representatives, ASMFC representatives, MAFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) representatives, as well as leadership from the New England Fishery Management Council, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and NMFS. As with all MAFMC meetings, the workshop will be open to the public and there will be several opportunities for public comment.

The term “catch share” encompasses a broad spectrum of fishery management systems that share a common approach: allocating a portion of a scientifically determined catch limit to a discrete set of users (i.e. individuals, groups, or communities). The MAFMC adopted the first catch share programs in the United States when it implemented an ITQ (individual transferable quota) program for the surfclam and ocean quahog fisheries in 1990. The MAFMC also recently (2009) implemented a catch share system for tilefish (IFQ – individual fishing quota).

Given the high levels of interest regarding catch share programs, the MAFMC concluded that an educational workshop dedicated to catch share issues would be beneficial for its members and partners. As the workshop is educational in nature, no management decisions will be made at the workshop to initiate catch shares in any particular fishery managed by the MAFMC.

As more information becomes available, including agenda details and background briefing documents, the Council will post these materials on its website: www.mafmc.org. Please contact the Council at 302-674-2331 or by e-mail to info@mafmc.org to clarify any details or to address any questions.

Location details: Kingsmill Conference Center, 1010 Kingsmill Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185; 800-832-5665. Kingsmill is 20 minutes from the Newport News/Williamsburg Airport (PHF) and 45 minutes from either the Norfolk, VA or Richmond, VA airports.

source MAFMC press release

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks Management Board (Board) approved a 15 million pound quota with a maximum possession limit of 3,000 pounds for the 2010/2011 fishing year (May 1 – April 30). Under Addendum II, the quota will be allocated with 58 percent to states from Maine through Connecticut, 26 percent to New York through Virginia, and 16 percent to North Carolina.

The 2009 Northeast Fisheries Science Center assessment update indicates that the spiny dogfish are not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. The 2009 spawning stock biomass is estimated to be 360 million pounds, which is 2.7 percent below the target biomass of 370 million pounds and well above the threshold of 184 million pounds. Total removals in 2008 were approximately 23.9 million pounds corresponding to an F estimate of 0.117, well below the overfishing threshold of F = 0.39 and essentially equivalent to Frebuild = 0.11. Among the sources of removals, U.S. commercial landings comprised 9.1 million pounds, Canadian commercial landings were 3.5 million pounds, and total (US and Canadian) dead discards were 10.9 million pounds, of which recreational dead discards were 228,000 pounds.

While the stock is considered rebuilt, the assessment update contains a number of caveats. These caveats include a size frequency of the female population that is concentrated between 75 and 95 cm with very few fish above 100 cm or below 70 cm; low numbers of juvenile male and female dogfish that imply that the population will fluctuate over time decreasing around 2017; a continued skewed sex ratio; and the use of assumptions about pup survivorship and selectivity of gear. After reviewing the assessment update, the Technical Committee recommended that the Board take a precautionary approach and set a quota based on Frebuild of 0.11 = 10.7 million pounds.

The Technical Committee recommended status quo possession limits at a maximum of 3,000 pounds, noting that under the 3,000 pound possession limit, target fishing mortality target rates have not been exceeded and fishermen have been able to harvest the entire quota. The Technical Committee urged that possession limits should be set at a level that minimizes discards. Discards are associated with both high and low possession limits.

The Board also approved a 33 fish possession limit for sharks in the large coastal sharks (LCS) species group (silky, tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse, scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, and smooth hammerhead sharks) for 2010. The Coastal Sharks Technical Committee recommended continuing with a 33 fish LCS possession limit in 2010 to maintain consistency between state and federal limits. For more information, please contact Christopher Vonderweidt, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at (202)289-6400 or .

source: ASMFC press release

In a historic show of solidarity, recreational and commercial fishermen will gather together on the steps of the Capitol on February 24, 2010 from noon until 3 p.m. in an organized demonstration against the unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the federal fisheries law which was revised in January of 2007.  Coordinating the march under the flag of United We Fish, rally organizers are hoping to see a large show of force in defense of coastal communities.

“The closures keep coming and it’s good to see the collective fishing communities and industries, both recreational and commercial, calling for scientific based Magnuson reform,” said Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA).  “We are all in this together.”  Donofrio cited recent closures of amberjack, black sea bass and red snapper fisheries as examples of what he calls a “broken” federal fisheries law.

The groups organized through United We Fish are hoping to prove to legislators just how many American anglers and business owners are truly being impacted by the overly restrictive management requirements created by MSA based on non scientific arbitrary deadlines.  According to Bob Zales of the Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen (CCGF), the time-specific deadlines mandated by MSA coupled with flawed data collection methods are forcing anglers off the water.  “We fully support real science based management and the conservation of our marine resources while also being able to sustain recreational and commercial fishing activities, providing locally caught seafood, sustaining small family businesses, and supporting our coastal communities.”

This effort is being coordinated by many organizations and individuals including but not limited to the RFA, CCGF, United Boatmen of New York, United Boatmen of New Jersey, New York Sportfishing Federation, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association and the Fishing Rights Alliance.  “Some people have asked ‘why, it’s winter’,” said Donofrio who said he’s gotten the required permits and expects a large crowd in DC on February 24th, regardless of weather. “We can’t let seasons stop the momentum, and if we wait any longer none of us will be fishing.  Many members of Congress will be standing shoulder to shoulder with us,” Donofrio said.

Nils Stolpe, a consultant to the commercial fishing industry and columnist for SavingSeafood.org said that over the past three decades since the original Magnuson Act was established, fishermen have been gradually phased out of the fisheries management process, regardless of sector.  “The scientists have been put in charge, and as the list of closures and restrictions up above painfully demonstrates, the Act has been turned into a weapon that is now being used against fishermen and fishing communities.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) first introduced the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 in the 110th Congress to incorporate “limited flexibility” into federal fisheries management.  More than 100 fishing groups and industry members from around the country pledged their support for the legislation and the bill’s 19 bipartisan coastal cosponsors, but the bill languished during the volatile economic climate in advance of the presidential elections in November of 2008.

Realizing that fisheries closures would continue without congressional intervention, in March of this year, Rep. Pallone and fellow Representatives John Adler (D-NJ), Henry Brown, Jr. (R-SC), Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Barney Frank (D-MA), Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-NC), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Frank LoBiondo (D-NJ), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) and John Tierney (D-MA), reintroduced the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 (HR 1584).  Twenty-five total co-sponsors have since pledged support to date including Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Timothy Bishop (D-NY), Allen Boyd (D-FL), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Peter King (R-NY), Rob Wittman (R-VA), Jo Bonner (R-AL), John Mica (R-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), Clifford Stearns (R-FL), Donna Christensen (D-VI), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Ander Crenshaw (R-FL).

Following a letter-writing campaign by the RFA-NY and members of the New York Sportfishing Federation, senior Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York announced his Senate version of the bill (S.1255).  Currently, the Senate bill to correct the flaws in MSA has no co-sponsors, which is something United We Fish organizers are hoping will change in February.

“New York’s Senator Schumer is as concerned about his fishing constituents as he is about the fish, just as Congressmen Pallone, Frank, Jones, LoBiondo, Kennedy, Adler and others in the House of Representatives are,” said Stolpe.  “Hence they have formed the nucleus of a growing movement in Congress that, in spite of the editorial opinion of the New York Times and the expenditure of many millions of dollars by the Pew Charitable Trusts, is aimed at preserving recreational and commercial fishing, the lifestyles of millions of fishermen, and the tens of thousands of businesses and hundreds of fishing communities that they support,” Stolpe added.

Organizers from within the recreational fishing sector are hoping to get commitment from all user groups and across varied state and regional boundaries.  “This is much bigger than any one state issue or individual grievance,” said RFA’s Managing Director Jim Hutchinson, Jr.  “Whether it’s our restrictive fluke fishery in New York, the arbitrary closure of state waters for our anglers in California, or the shutdown of red snapper and amberjack down south, our community has been divided by preservationist tactics for too long.  It’s time to unite the clans in defense of our coastal heritage and traditions,” Hutchinson said.

“We need to let Congress and NOAA know that we are the collective voice of the recreational fishing community and the collective voice does not accept the current broken management system which wreaks such havoc on all of us and our businesses,” said Donofrio, adding “The goal on February 24th will be to get all of our congressional friends to attend.”

“At this point Senator Schumer and his Congressional colleagues in the House deserve the thanks and the support of every one of us who fishes, whether for fun or profit,” said Stolpe.

The United We Fish rally is set for 2/24/10 at noon at the Capitol.  For details as they become available, sign up for the RFA’s email newsletter on the homepage at www.joinrfa.org.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission will buy back 359 commercial crab licenses, in a historic action to take more than 75,000 crab pots off the water as part of a multi-year species rebuilding effort.

The licenses will be retired permanently. The removal of 75,441 licensed crab pots represents an almost 20 percent reduction in the number of pots permitted for use in Virginia waters.

“This far surpassed our expectations,’’ said VMRC Commissioner Steven G. Bowman. “This is a great long-term benefit for this environmentally and economically important species.”

The license buyback program closed on Nov. 1. A total of 664 bids were received, in the first ever so-called reverse auction in which crabbers submitted non-negotiable bids and gave the lowest offer they would accept for the purchase of their licenses.

The bids were analyzed and matched to the harvest histories of each bidder. Purchase priority was given for the licenses used most often, and number of pots permitted for each license, in order to reduce the fishing effort in the most cost-efficient manner.

Acceptance letters to the holders of the 359 licenses accepted for the buyback were mailed on Nov. 20. Checks will be written within the next few weeks.

Payments will be made from a pool of $6.7 million appropriated by the federal government as part of a blue crab disaster designation by the National Marine Fisheries Service last year. The VMRC’s license buyback program was enthusiastically approved by NMFS.

License buyback offers were accepted from 59 full-time commercial crabbers, 131 part-time crabbers and 169 crabbers who had not used their licenses since 2004 and were put on a waiting list until the crab population rebounds and stabilizes at high levels for three consecutive years.

Those full-time crabbers held licenses that permitted the use of 14,299 crab pots; 27,733 pots for part-timers; and 33,409 for those on the waiting list.

“It is especially important to ensure the long-term viability of our rebuilding efforts to retire licenses held by those on the waiting list. When the overall crab population returns to abundance, those licenses could significantly undermine the stability of the stock if they were put back in use,’’ said VMRC Fisheries Chief Jack Travelstead. “This is money well spent for the future of this fishery.”

Removing 75,441 crab pots from circulation is a reduction of 18 percent of the 423,000 crab pots that had been licensed for use in Virginia waters.

Retiring 359 crab licenses from the books will leave 1,649 licenses in circulation, including 314 licenses that cannot currently be used because they are on a waiting list. The number of crab licenses issued was capped in 1998.

The bids received varied widely. Full-time crabber bids ranged from $5,000 to $600,000; part-timer bids ranged from $500 to $634,000; and bids from those on the waiting list ranged from $500 to $300,000.

The accepted bids ranged from $500 to $175,000.

Last year, the VMRC and Maryland officials confronted a dangerously low crab population and enacted a bay-wide 34 percent harvest reduction strategy in an effort to rebuild a stock in danger of crashing in the event of a single poor year of reproduction.

At that point, the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab population had plummeted 70 percent since 1993.

The VMRC banned the winter dredging of crabs last year and this year, shortened the season for harvest of female crabs, required larger escape rings on crab pots, and enacted a waiting list for inactive licenses.

Within a year, the bay-wide adult crab population doubled, according to a scientific crab population survey that has proven over decades to be highly accurate. Results of this winter’s survey will guide the VMRC in future crab management decisions.

“We are stewards of our marine resources and we take our jobs seriously,” said Bowman. “We will do what is necessary.”

The Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board approved Addendum IV to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. Addendum IV extends the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest cap, established through Addendum III, for an additional three years (2011 – 2013). Under the Addendum, the Board will annually review measures to determine if they are appropriate given the most recent information available about the stock and fishery. At any future meeting, the Board can initiate development of additional or alternative management measures.

The Board’s action was requested by the Commonwealth of Virginia in order to accommodate its legislative process as well as ensure that the current management program is extended while menhaden research efforts continue. Virginia’s legislature, which convenes in January each year, is responsible for regulating the menhaden reduction fishery in state waters. With Addendum IV in place this year, Virginia state administrators can work with the legislature in early 2010 to amend Virginia law to extend the harvest cap without the current cap expiring.

Addendum III established the current annual cap of 109,020 metric tons on reduction fishery harvests in Chesapeake Bay as a precautionary measure while research was conducted to address the question of menhaden abundance in the Bay. The cap was first instituted in 2006 to extend through 2010. With adoption of Addendum IV that cap will be extended through 2013 with the following provisions.  Harvest for reduction purposes is prohibited in Chesapeake Bay when 100% of the cap is landed. Over-harvest in any given year will be deducted from the next year’s quota. Under-harvest in one year will be credited only to the following year’s cap, not to exceed 122,740 metric tons. Since 2006, reduction landings of menhaden from Chesapeake Bay have not exceeded the cap of 109,020 metric tons.

A copy of Addendum IV will be available via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News by November 13, 2009.  For more information, please contact Braddock Spear, Senior FMP Coordinator for Policy, at (202) 289-6400 or bspear@asmfc.org.

source: ASMFC press release

On November 1, 2009, new tilefish permit requirements will go into effect that require commercial vessels to be issued an open access commercial tilefish and/or open access charter/party permit in order to fish for, possess, or land tilefish in or from the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). According to NERO officials, this requirement applies to fishing New England down to the VA-NC border.

Be advised, to possess tilefish in excess of the incidental trip limit, beginning November 1, 2009, a vessel must fish under both an IFQ Allocation permit and an open access tilefish commercial permit.

Changes to Commercial Tilefish Permits

Tilefish permit categories A, B, C, and D will not be valid after October 31, 2009 and have been replaced with a new open access category 1 tilefish permit. If a vessel was issued a category A, B, C, or D tilefish permit for the 2009 fishing
year, it will automatically be issued an open access category 1 tilefish permit under the following designation “TILEFISH – COMMERCIAL /INCIDENTAL – 2009”.

New Party/Charter Tilefish Permit

A new open access category 2 tilefish charter/party permit has also been established and is effective November 1, 2009. To be issued the charter/party permit for tilefish, fishermen must submit a complete application to the Northeast Region Permit Office.

Applications for the charter/party permit for tilefish can be obtained by calling the Permit Office or by going online at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/hotnews/tileamend1/

Fishermen are advised to call the Permit Office at (978) 282-8438 with any permit related questions. For other questions about Amendment 1 to the Golden Tilefish FMP, call the Sustainable Fisheries Division at (978) 281-9315.

source: NERO press release

Massive ships, sporting sophisticated sonar, GPS, video surveillance, and gear technologies have grown increasingly surgical in their hunt for tuna.  Unfortunately, these global fishing fleets continue to bring in record hauls of some species which teeter on the brink of commercial extinction.  Unflinching demand in countries, such as Japan, has created large financial incentives for the continued exploitation of global tuna stocks.  Depending on the size, season, and fat content, a single bluefin tuna can sell for between $2,000 and $20,000 on average.  The record price paid for a single bluefin tuna was $104,700.  The fish was approximately 282 lbs, which brings the price per pound to about $371.27.

According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 9 of 23 tuna global tuna species have reached their maximum sustainable catch.  Another 4 tuna species are now “overexploited” or “depleted.”  Given the fact that tuna are highly migratory species (HMS), regional conservation efforts by countries like the United States represent only a model for the type of international ethic that will be necessary to protect many tuna species from extinction.

The U.S. has taken the lead on curbing the steady slide in global fish stocks with strong fishery regulations centered on scientific management.  The fisheries of the California current, for example, were recently noted as some of the best managed fisheries in the world.  Despite a strong legacy of sustainably managed fisheries, the U.S., like many other coastal nations, has not been without its share of ecological disasters.  Setting inflexible regulations to manage fisheries, which are essentially a small piece of a much larger, more complex ecological system, has lead to some abrupt closures in the past.  New regulatory efforts by the Obama Administration will focus on ecosystem-based fishery management that can adjust catch limits and other criteria as current scientific data requires.

The European Union (EU) has also made recent strides towards better fisheries management in their work to recover their most endangered Atlantic bluefin.  In September, the European Commission moved to ban all trade in the Atlantic bluefin for two years.  Countries like Spain are resisting the new measure, but the majority of EU members support the move.  A final decision on the ban is scheduled on March, 2010 in Doha, Qatar.

A large amount of international cooperation has been garnered this year in response to the increasing evidence of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in national and international waters.  Areas know as “donut holes” that fall outside of national maritime enforcement zones are currently being exploited by large tuna boats.  These tuna boats often employ fish attraction devices (FADs) that are rigged with transmitters and underwater cameras that allow fishermen to fish the area when fish are most abundant.  Often times these FADs attract smaller, juvenile tunas.  To combat IUU fishing and its take of 36% of the total allowable catch in highly vulnerable areas of the Pacific, a number of key nations have come together.  The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which is comprised of over 25 member nations that include the EU, the U.S., Taiwan, China and Japan will end all tuna fishing in two of the four Pacific donut holes by 2010.  Additionally, the EU has adopted new rules to limit IUU fishing that will begin in January 2010.

It is the hope of conservationists, commercial fishermen, subsistence fishermen, U.S. government officials, and other stakeholders that the international community will muster the political will necessary to recover HMS, like tuna.  “Action is being taken in some places — and where it is being taken, things are turning around,” said Boris Worm, an associate professor of marine conservation biology in Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The professor and several colleagues recently reported that in seven of 10 key marine ecosystems worldwide where harvest rates were equal to or below those necessary to maintain a sustainable catch, the fisheries were rebounding.  Restricting gear that efficiently and indiscriminately catches all ages and sizes of fish species, temporarily closing overfished regions and critical breeding areas to fishing, reducing the size and number of fishing vessels, and lowering the total allowable catch (TAC) are four primary characteristics that scientist note most well-managed fisheries share.

source: Fishlink Sublegals

Effective Monday, October 5, 2009, NOAA Fisheries Service is closing the recreational fishery for black sea bass. The closure applies to all federal waters north of Cape Hatteras, N.C., for 180 days in response to recent landing data that showed recreational fishermen may catch more than double their annual quota by the end of the year.

Landings data and scientific analyses show recreational fishermen may exceed their 1.14 million pound harvest limit by as much as 84 to 225 percent warranting the closure. The recreational harvest in 2009 could exceed the entire total allowable catch for commercial and recreational fisheries combined if left unchecked.

The States of Maine and Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum IV to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The dates, times, and locations of the scheduled meetings follow. Please note that some states will also be conducting hearings on other ASMFC proposed species management actions.

Maine Department of Marine Resources
October 5, 2009; 6 PM
Freeport Community Library
10 Library Drive
Freeport, Maine
Contact: Terry Stockwell at (207) 624-6553
* Public comment will also be gathered on Shad Draft Amendment 3 and Striped Bass Draft Addendum II

Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources
October 6, 2009; 5:30 – 9:00 PM
Tawes State Office Building, C1 Conference Room
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland
Contact: Alexei Sharov 410-260-8288
* Public comment will also be gathered on Shad Draft Amendment 3 and Striped Bass Draft Addendum II

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
September 29, 2009; 6 PM
2600 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor
Newport News, Virginia.
Contact: Jack Travelstead at (757) 247-2247

Draft Addendum IV proposes extending the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest cap, established through Addendum III, for an additional three years (2011 – 2013). Under the proposed Addendum, the Board would annually review measures to determine if they are appropriate given the most recent information available about the stock and fishery.

The Board’s action was requested by the Commonwealth of Virginia in order to accommodate its legislative process as well as ensure that the current management program is extended while menhaden research efforts continue. Virginia’s legislature, which meets January through March each year, is responsible for regulating the menhaden reduction fishery in state waters. With a new Addendum in place this year, Virginia state administrators can work with the legislature in early 2010 to amend Virginia law to extend the harvest cap without the current cap expiring.

Addendum III established the current annual cap of 109,020 metric tons on reduction fishery harvests in Chesapeake Bay as a precautionary measure while research was conducted to address the question of menhaden abundance in the Bay. The cap has been in place since 2006 and will extend through 2010. Harvest for reduction purposes is prohibited in the Chesapeake Bay when 100 percent of the cap is landed. Over-harvest in any given year would be deducted from the next year’s quota. Addendum III also includes a provision allowing under-harvest in one year to be credited only to the following year’s cap, not to exceed 122,740 metric tons. Since Addendum III was implemented, reduction landings of menhaden from Chesapeake Bay has not exceeded the cap.

Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on Draft Addendum IV, by attending public hearings or providing written comments. Copies of Draft Addendum IV can be obtained by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400 or via the Commission’s website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM EST on October 9, 2009 and should be forwarded to Braddock Spear, Senior FMP Coordinator for Policy, 1444 ‘Eye’ Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 289-6051 (FAX) or at bspear@asmfc.org (Subject line: Draft Addendum IV).

source: ASMFC press release