Message from Patrick Paquette of Honest Bycatch and the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association:
Now is the time for the recreational fishing community to show up in force and help bring accountability to the Atlantic Herring Mid Water Trawl Fleet. These industrial trawlers tow nets that are longer than a football field and taller than a five-story building. They are the biggest vessels on the East Coast, with catches so large a single tow of the net could potentially wipe out one river’s entire herring population. This winter, the problem hit closer to home, when trawlers targeted Atlantic herring in Rhode Island’s shallow state waters. These same boats can often be seen in sensitive coastal waters such as Ipswich Bay and the Cape Cod area.
Every fish (Cod, Striped Bass, River Herring & Tuna) that relies on Atlantic Herring or is seen as by catch in this fishery is in some sort of trouble. This is no coincidence.
Please attend and sign the attendee list. Please go to the mic and give your opinions. The following is a list of items that have been prioritized by the MA Striped Bass Assn, the CHOIR Coalition and many small boat commercial fishermen. If you don’t know what to say, go to the microphone and read this over and over. This is democracy and we need your vote. Your voice matters!
1. 100 percent at-sea monitoring (Section 3.2.1.2 Alternative 2 ) on all category A & B midwater trawl fishing trips in order to provide reliable estimates of all catch, including bycatch of depleted river herring and other marine life.
2. Discourage the wasteful dumping of catch, Section 3.2.3.4 Alternative 4D including the fleet-wide limit of five slippage events per management area. Operational discards are dumping of valuable natural resources and must be included.
3. No herring mid water trawling in areas established to promote rebuilding of ground fish populations (Section 3.4.4 Alternative 5).
4. We can not wait for new science to protect river herring. We support an immediate catch cap based on recent catch. To limit what is currently being killed as by catch is a good start. We support Section 3.3.5 only if modified to require immediate implementation of a catch cap.Managers will soon vote on a new set of rules to regulate industrial trawlers, vessels which scoop up tons of baitfish off our coast each year. Throughout March, there are opportunities for all of us – including you – to voice concerns and take actions to ensure that river herring populations, and the ecosystems they support, will remain healthy for generations.
Please make your views known at one of the public hearings being held this month. Voice your support for common sense solutions like having federal observers on all trips by these industrial vessels, requiring them to provide their entire catch to these observers for inspection instead of dumping huge amounts of it unseen, and enacting an overall limit on the amount of river herring they can catch and kill each year. Our fishery managers need to hear from you!
You can also submit comments
by email to comments@nefmc.org (Attention/Subject Line: Herring Amendment 5 Comments)
by mail to:
Mr. Paul Howard
New England Fishery Management Council
50 Water Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
Public comments on Draft Amendment 5 will be accepted by the Council through 5:00PM on April 9, 2012.
Meeting Times and Locations:
Wednesday, March 14, 7-9 p.m., Gloucester, MA
MA Division of Marine Fisheries, Annisquam River Station, 30 Emerson Ave.
Thursday, March 15, 7-9 p.m., Portsmouth, NH
Sheraton Harborside Hotel, 250 Market St.
Monday, March 19, 7-9 p.m., Fairhaven, MA
Seaport Inn, 110 Middle St.
Wednesday, March 21, 7-9 p.m., Portland, ME
Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring St.
Tuesday, March 27, 7-9 p.m., Plymouth, MA
Radisson Hotel Plymouth Harbor, 180 Water St.
Wednesday, March 28, 7-9 p.m., Warwick, RI
Hilton Garden Inn, One Thurber St.
Thursday, March 29, 7-9 p.m., Cape May, NJ
Congress Hall Hotel, 251 Beach Ave.
why are there more rules for a single fisherman than a whole fleet of boats. the fishing boats do the most damage and take the most amout of fishand killing what thy don’t want. by stronger regulations on the fleets will preserve there jobs longer. with out regulations there greed for the mighty dollar will only put them out of business
I wish somebody could see the things at night that happens at the rockaways it is disgusting how poachers are taking fish ,when the season is not open yet.This is every year like this.Is time for dec to take start looking at the rockaways,new york fisherman.
I fully think that trawlers should be banned
I second that
Self Fullifillng Prophesy – the (local) fisherman have their jobs, and the expense of running their boats / businesses and no wants to lose their jobs they love. However, the only way they can keep those jobs is to raise the price of fish at the dock and in the stores. WHY ? because there are fewer and fewer, and smaller fish every year. The only way to sustain the businesses is to raise the price of the fish. The COST ? In the end, the fisherman and the “markets” are going to put themselves out of jobs, because the fish will be GONE. Commercial fishing has to be stopped completely for several years or longer, to allow fish stocks to replenish themselves and real comprehensive fish management must be established on commercial fishing. The so-called management in place today for commercial fishing is a joke…..and the federalies have now imposed a $10.00 “permit” on recreational fishing….that permit will do nothing for the fishery and the cost of it will only go up…in 10 years it will be $20…….and the fisheries wil be worse off then they are today…….just my opinion……….
go into your supermarket. Read the labels. Only about 25% of the seafood is local ( guestamate ). Yes we need to focus on home but as a country why do we accept cheep labor, cheep goods and imports from abroad.
We need to impose a Terrif on
Imported seafood and drop our commercial queota. Use the Terrif as a direct subsidy to the commercial fleet. Our own banks robbed us and we gave them how much???