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Visioning Project Guidelines

6/14/2013

8 Comments

 
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The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has started a Visioning Project to allow stakeholders and other interested parties to share our vision of how we would like to see our fisheries managed in the future. It is very important that we participate in this project or we will be stuck with what those who do provide input want, e.g., catch shares and area closures. We need to offer positive solutions that collect better data and limit waste while protecting our marine resources and access to them. The goal is to have a plan most open-minded people will support ready to submit at the September SAFMC meeting. Please keep in mind that everyone has different opinions. We will have to agree to disagree on some things while finding compromises on others. The only rule in this forum is to keep it civil. I will start the discussion with a few solutions I would like to see in our Vision Plan. 

1. Align opening dates for co-occurring species to reduce Regulatory Discards.
2. Properly manage quotas with appropriate possession limits to avoid extended closures.
3. Establish By-catch Allowances for undersized fish and after primary quotas are filled.
4. Mark Marine Protected Areas with data buoys or platforms equipped with video cameras.
5. Enhance existing MPAs with artificial reef habitat rather than closing more areas. 
6. Create a recreational offshore fishing permit with electronic reporting to collect accurate data.
7. Educate fishermen about the benefits of using decent assist devices when releasing illegal bottomfish suffering from barotrauma.
8. Allow commercial permit and recreational license holders to have final approval of any new council appointments and regulations impacting their fishery with a 2/3 majority vote.  

Here is a link to the SAFMC Visioning Project webpage.
http://safmc.net/resource-library/council-visioning-project

Here are summaries for each of the SAFMC Visioning Project port meetings I attended in NC.

SAFMC Southport Visioning Project Port Meeting Summary

Everyone wanted a year round fishery without the multiple extended closures we currently experience. Here are some of the possible solutions that were offered. 

1.     Give NC a percentage of each Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to manage.

2.     Give fishermen a catch share of some TACs.

3.     Take away latent permits.

4.     Offer a voluntary buyout.

5.     Manage individual quotas with split seasons, appropriate possession limits, and By-catch Allowances to avoid total closures.

6.     Give back some of the MILLION plus pounds of our TACs that are currently being allocated to Post Closure Discard Mortality once quotas are properly managed to avoid closures.

7.     Encourage fishermen to use Descending Devices on illegal fish with barotrauma and reduce the mortality rate dedicated to each species in stock assessments.

8.     Consider other options for collecting better data in a timely manner for more accurate stock assessments.   

Jerry Schill explained how a Joint Law Enforcement Agreement with the federal government would obligate NC to obey NMFS without any ability to object or sue.

Most fishermen supported the idea of allowing fishermen to decide how our TACs for each species will be managed with a 2/3 majority vote of participating permit/license holders. 

There was support for a recreational reef fish permit or place on state fishing licenses to declare that an angler intends to fish for snapper/grouper species. This would define the universe of anglers while providing contact information. An electronic reporting system could also be established.   

Sneads Ferry SAFMC Visioning Project Port Meeting Summary

Most of the fishermen at this meeting wanted to see longer seasons and offered many of the same solutions as those in Southport. Here are some of their ideas.

1.     Align opening dates for co-occurring species.

2.     Use appropriate possession limits to avoid extended closures.

3.     Use By-catch Allowances to avoid total closures and regulatory discards.

4.     Allow NC to control our share of each TAC.

5.     Allow fishermen to have more of a say about how our TACs are managed.

It was suggested that all grouper should have a 24” size limit.

Several fishermen and dealers stated that they wanted to see a 10% overage allowance on Trip Limits. 

There was support for a two month spawning season closure for shallow-water grouper that shifted with latitude.

Everyone seemed to be totally opposed to Catch Shares.

Council staff said Lionfish are not a managed species and nothing is stopping fishermen from using traps to target them.

One enforcement idea that seemed popular if NC controlled our own TACs or spawning closures shifted was to require vessels to comply with their home port’s regulations and have any landings counted against that state’s TAC.   
 

Morehead City SAFMC Visioning Project Port Meeting Summary

Avoiding closures and discards was once again the primary concern. Many of the same solutions as were mentioned at previous meetings were brought up again. Aligning opening dates for co-occurring species, appropriate possession limits, and by-catch allowances were some possible solutions. Catch shares was also an option a couple of people supported. Nobody seemed happy with how our fisheries are currently managed as a MILLION+ pounds of our TACs are allocated to projected dead regulatory discards due in large part to the multiple extended closures caused by dangerous derby fisheries. It appears most fishermen would like the Visioning Project’s primary goal to be properly managing each sector’s share of our TACs to avoid total closures and dead discards.  

Some people mentioned that our fisheries should be managed so they’re more profitable.

There was support for the ideas of labeling seafood as sustainably harvested and that consumers should have access to a dependable supply of local seafood. 

A recreational fishing guide mentioned how his customers needed more access to snapper/grouper species that are showing up in numbers close to shore like he has never seen. When asked if he thought the bag limits should be raised for recreational quotas that are not being filled so his customers could keep more fish, he said no and that most of his customers
didn’t care about keeping any fish. He said the leftover quota should be allocated to what council staff labeled as a conservation quota.   
 
Wanchese SAFMC Visioning Project Port Meeting Summary

Pretty weather prevented most of the local fishermen from attending this meeting. A few fishermen and the wife of another talked about the need for a targeted Blueline Tilefish fishery north of Cape Hatters. They asked for a By-catch Allowance after most of the quota is landed
to continue supplying local markets. This area is influenced by the Labrador Current and has a local tilefish population unlike anywhere else in the southeast. There aren’t many co-occurring species to make dead discards an issue.

It was mentioned how overlapping jurisdiction of the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic councils has hurt fishermen as they lost their ability to use some incidental take permits or target tilefish and bass on the same trip. This costs them money and creates regulatory discards.

The need for better recreational landings data was discussed.

A retired fisherman said it is the wrong approach to only target larger mostly female breeders and discard countless smaller fish regardless of mortality rates. He also talked about the need to
enhance our fisheries through stocking programs and added that turtles could be raised to offset any fatal interactions. 

My comment for this meeting was that NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) allows affected stakeholders to offer alternatives that would mitigate negative impacts of proposed or existing
regulations. The solution I suggested is for stakeholders to set up a secure website we can log into with our permit/license number and a password to discuss options and hold votes on alternatives options that use the same data as SAFMC staff and follows all MSA mandates. Alternative NEPA solutions would need to be approved with a 2/3 majority vote of participating permit/license holders. We would then need to get everyone we can to submit public comments supporting our solution.       

    Please submit a comment if you have any questions or want to get involved.

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8 Comments
J Cawley
6/17/2013 09:02:43 am

I agree with the coordinated seasons. Having the open dates aligned with one another better support all fishing. It also allows better monitoring of the areas. For example if the season(s) are closed, then why would there be someone out fishing?
To help with the alignment of open dates, the catch limits need to be aligned to support these dates.
It would also be beneficial I think to have recreational permits. A requirement of the permit would be to report catches that are made. This will provide more accurate data than is collected not. Permit fees could be used to provide better research and management of the fisheries (NOT SALARIES). A good comparison can be made with the hunting seasons and permits such as turkey and deer hunting.
For closed areas, why not provide monitors on perimeter buoys? This will provide a visual of who enters closed areas. As compared to the VMS idea, this will monitor ALL vessels, not just the ones in compliance.

Reply
freefish7
6/18/2013 02:23:03 am

Thanks for the comments Mr. Cawley. I like your ideas of how to use and not use any offshore recreational permit fees. Appropriate catch/possession limits could keep everything open longer. Some species would have higher limits than other based on the amount of quota and pressure. We could target fish with higher limits while still keeping most of what we catch with lower limits. This would go a long way toward reducing the MILLION+ pounds of Regulatory Discards deducted for our quotas in the South Atlantic every year.

Reply
J Cawley
6/28/2013 09:59:57 am

What is really dissappointing is that it appears that the people on the forum are quite vocal in a climate in which they know there is no consequence or action required. They need to get out of their shell and actively do something.
Inaction is in support of the status quo. Evidently things are not so bad as to warrant action.
As stated on the forum. Catch shares is not management, it is allocation and that is simply paid to the highest bidder.

freefish7
6/30/2013 05:30:45 am

I met with some fishermen and seafood dealers this week. It was a little disheartening to hear what they had to say. As I was talking to a snapper/grouper fisherman about having to run from high value abundant fish because they are illegal to keep, he looked up and said "they have taken all the fun out of fishing". He agreed it would solve most of our problems if we could keep some of everything by using appropriate possession limits to avoid the multiple extended closures that plague our fishery. These closures contribute greatly to the MILLION+ pounds of wasted Regulatory Discards that are deducted from our quotas every year.
One of the seafood dealers I spoke with told me we should ask for a buyout since they are slowly starving us out.
Several people have expressed support for the 2/3 majority vote idea.
Please let me know what you think of these ideas and/or share your own.

Reply
Nick Maraveyias
7/1/2013 10:15:27 pm

I support coordinated seasons as well. I would also support a moratorium om all bottom fishing for some reasonable and scientifically appropriate period of time as long as the folks making their living off the affected fisheries are compensated for income lost estimated from their recent trip tickets and tax statements. Moneys from the existing recreational fishing licenses should be used to fund this program.
I would also support a better mechanism of collecting rec catch data even it would require additional investment from the rec fishermen.
Biggest problem, as I see it, is the innacuracy of the various population assessments.

Reply
freefish7
7/2/2013 09:15:31 pm

Be very careful about supporting any total closures. Our government has a history of never giving back freedom it has taken away. The way to rebuild stocks is by properly managing appropriate quotas. Fish lay millions of eggs and can replenish quickly if their niche has not been filled by another species.

Reply
Nick Maraveyias
7/1/2013 10:28:46 pm

Until the pop estimates improve, better catch data will only result in more unfair (at least in certain localities) limits and closures.
These past 5 years or so have seen so many regulatory actions based on what many users believe to have been flawed data, that the same users are now very suspicious of the NMFS and the SAMFC. Rebuilding the credibility of these organizations must occur before they can hope to earn the trust and cooperation of the public.

Reply
Ellena Field link
12/17/2020 08:44:52 pm

Thanks for shaaring this

Reply



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