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U.S. COASTAL FISHERMEN TO RALLY IN DC MARCH 21

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In another historic show of solidarity, U.S. recreational and commercial fishermen will gather near the U.S. Capitol on March 21, 2012 in an organized demonstration supporting sensible reform of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Stevens Act). According to the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) which is helping organize this year's event, permitting efforts have been underway for weeks and official details about the organized protest will be made public in the coming days. 

A rally on February 24, 2010, under a United We Fish™ banner, brought some 5,000 recreational, commercial and party/charter vessel owners and folks in associated businesses from all over the country to Washington. More than two dozen members of the Senate and the House of Representatives took time out from their busy schedules to address the crowd. The March 21 rally is being billed as Keep Fishermen Fishing, and once again will unite the commercial and recreational sectors under one common message, "reform Magnuson now."

"Those who didn't attend or perhaps chose not to support the original rally are mostly unaware of the great things which were accomplished in between those two winter storms of 2010," said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio. "Of the two dozen members of Congress who addressed our troops at the rally, several top legislators pushed to have Magnuson reform initiatives prioritized in Congress which is why the House Natural Resources Committee is now reviewing eight different pieces of fisheries reform legislation."

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NJ & MD ANNOUNCE RIVER HERRING CLOSURE
RFA Says Anglers Should Not Be Blamed For Long-Term Decline

(2/2012)  Several Atlantic coast states have announced changes to the management of the herring fisheries in coastal waters, with both Maryland and New Jersey shutting down both the recreational and commercial harvest of river herring as of 2012. They join fellow Atlantic states like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, DC, Georgia and Florida in having no present harvest on river herring primarily due to questions regarding the overall health of the stock.

Recent media reports out of New Jersey indicate that the reason for the closure is lack of funding at the Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), though more careful analysis of the issue reveals that the issue with Atlantic and river herring has been coming to a head on a coastal basis for the past two decades.

"The mainstream media seems to have allowed the state of New Jersey to blame the herring closure on saltwater anglers for not wanting to pony up additional cash in the form of a fishing tax, but the fact is that nearly every one of our river herring fishermen in New Jersey fishes up river at places like Batsto and Forge Pond where a freshwater license is already required," said Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA).

"Perhaps the state agency responsible for managing freshwater license funds can address that issue as to where those license monies are going and why research into the problems with anadromous herring wasn't started 10 years ago, before the economy tanked and when the fishermen first started focusing on coastal herring issues," he said.

Much of the herring available as fresh bait in coastal tackle shops is actually Atlantic herring which spends its entire life in saltwater, though anadromous (freshwater/saltwater) river herring are targeted by some coastal and freshwater anglers who will find the recent closure restrictive. NJDEP announced that the river herring fishery in marine waters is now officially closed, but added that the freshwater fishery for migratory herring will close later this month. Similarly, Maryland's Department of Natural Resources says anyone possessing river herring as bait must show a receipt indicating where it was purchased.

Bill to reserve three species, including red drum, for recreational anglers is back
By: CATHERINE KOZAK

Legislation introduced last session in the General Assembly that would designate striped bass, speckled trout and red drum exclusively as gamefish is now being reconsidered by the Marine Fisheries Study Committee, which had its first meeting last week.

The proposed bill, H 353, which died in committee last year, would prohibit the sale of the three fish and require they be caught by hook and line gear, not nets. It would also include compensation of “certain losses” for commercial fishermen.

Dare and Carteret counties oppose the measure, which is supported by the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina, a nonprofit group that promotes sport fishing interests.

In promoting the bill, the CCA contends that a small number of watermen would be affected, and that limiting the three fish to recreational catch would attract more anglers to the state, creating more business for tackle shops, motels and other support industries.

“Instead of fish bill, it’s turning into a jobs bill,” said Stephen Ammons, executive director of CCA North Carolina.

“We don’t want commercial fishermen to go out of business like everybody claims we do. But you’ve got to understand only three percent of the commercial catch is of those three fish."

But the state Marine Fisheries Commission says the bill does not meet the standards of the 1997 Fisheries Reform Act, according to spokeswoman Nancy Fish. “We try to manage for the benefit of all user groups,” she said.

Fish said that speckled sea trout -- of which 75 percent is harvested recreationally -- is overfished in some state waters. Red drum, also known as channel bass or puppy drum, is recovering, she said, and stocks of striped bass -- stripers or rockfish -- are healthy in Albemarle Sound, but there are areas of concern in the central and southern part of the state.

“They are certainly a public trust resource that belongs to all the citizens of North Carolina,” Fish said. “We’re stewards of that resource.”

State marine statistics from 2004-2009 show that 1,516,677 pounds of red drum were landed by recreational fishermen and 1,019,825 by commercial fishermen. Over that same period for striped bass, 12,396,132 was landed recreationally and 3,317,936 commercially.