finchaser
04-26-2010, 08:31 AM
Simply copy paste and send: Stripers Forever -
On April 16th and 17th, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) held a Saltwater Anglers Recreational Fishing Summit in Arlington, VA. Stripers Forever was among the nationally recognized recreational saltwater fishing groups invited to participate.~ The views expressed by Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Eric Schwab, the new head of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), reflect a true recognition that fundamental changes in the allocation and management of marine resources need to be made as soon as possible.
The presentations made at the summit by Dr. Lubchenco and Mr. Schwab can be found at this website: http://consensus.fsu.edu/Saltwater-Recreational-Fishing/index.html. We encourage you to review their presentations - you'll find the button on the left side of this home page.
Two of the presentations are especially worth your review. The first was made by **** Brame of CCA who explained quite clearly how the economic value in recreational fishing increases as the quality of the fishery improves. Although Brame's color file is very large and responds slowly on the computer, it is particularly valuable to understanding the content of the meeting.
Brad Gentner, an economist specializing in natural resource management, addressed the socio-economics of fishery management. In his presentation, which can also be quickly reviewed on this website, Gentner highlighted some very revealing statistics:
<LI style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Commercial fishing, taken as a whole, generates sales in the U.S. of about 25 percent more than recreational fishing. However, this greater value is almost entirely centered in fisheries which have no recreational fishing component.
The value of recreational fishing is many times greater than commercial fishing in EVERY fishery that has both a recreational and commercial fishing component. The species specifically highlighted by Gentner were red snapper, striped bass, and summer flounder (fluke).
**** Brame from CCA made a point that had everyone in the room nodding in agreement. The goals of commercial fisheries managers are very different from those of recreational fishermen, Brame explained. Anglers want more fish and larger fish alive in the population, while commercial interests view fish strictly as a crop to harvest for maximum sustainable poundage. The two goals are simply not compatible.
Both Eric Schwab and Dr. Lubchenco then told the audience that they understood our concerns and that they are committed to finding ways to change the management and allocation of the key species shared by recreational and commercial interests in order to benefit the more socio-economically valuable recreational side. That message was clear, strong, and very well received by all of us at the summit.
So how will the rubber meet the road? The top conservation advocates for saltwater recreational fishing and their DC lobbyists attended the summit, as did many important players in the recreational fishing industry. These folks will be working daily with NMFS officials to develop ways to accomplish the goals discussed. The exact solutions are not yet determined, but one that came up often and was roundly supported by the participants is the concept of transferable quotas between recreational fishermen and commercial fishing industries. These quotas could simply be purchased by the more valuable recreational fishing sector. The financing could be secured via government revenue bonds or by the sale of game fish stamps.
Right now, simply having NMFS as an advocate for allocations of these resources to the recreational sector at the council and commission levels would have a big impact. An important test of this advocacy could happen this summer as commercial interests continue to pressure the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission (ASMFC) to increase commercial striped bass quotas in spite of the obvious decline in the striper fishery.
Striped bass game fish designation is no more than a 100 percent allocation to the recreational sector -- an allocation justified by the recognition that it will yield the greatest benefit to the most people both socially and financially.~ The summit certainly reminded me that we are not alone in recognizing the virtue of designating striped bass as game fish.~
The ASMFC has talked for years about how conservatively it manages striped bass. Nothing could be further from the truth! We recently learned that the ASMFC striped bass technical committee calculates that the current regulation of two fish per day at 28" - in combination with the current commercial quotas - will produce a spawning stock biomass equal to just 30 percent of an unfished population! In other words, the population of the sexually mature striped bass we fish for is being reduced to only 30 percent of what it could be if no striped bass were killed by recreational and commercial fishermen.
To us, 30 percent is anything but conservative. If this fishery were solely in the hands of recreational fishermen, we would demand a spawning stock biomass much higher than 30 percent of potential. It will take making the striper a game fish to ever see that day, so let's roll up our sleeves and continue to forcefully deliver the message that game fish designation is the only way we will ever successfully manage striped bass.
As a first step in holding NMFS to its commitments at the summit, we are asking you to send the letter below or something like it to Dr. Jane Lubchenco at NOAA and to Eric Schwab at NMFS. Here are their e-mail addresses:
jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov (jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov) Under Secretary of NOAA
eric.schwaab@noaa.gov Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
"Dear Dr. Lubchenco/Mr. Schwab -
Thank you for holding the recent Saltwater Anglers Recreational Fishing Summit. I understand that NMFS is prepared to recognize the need for different management measures and fairer allocations concerning fish species that are important to the recreational angling community. We could start with striped bass on the Atlantic coast.
NMFS reps to the ASMFC have been at best allocation neutral in spite of studies that clearly show the maximum public benefit would come from a total allocation to the recreational community. Additionally, NMFS reps have not recognized the need for more conservative management of striped bass and now the great success story of the striper's recovery is more than threatened. Recreational catches have declined over 50 percent annually in the last few years, and there are no good year classes in the wings. Meanwhile, commercial catches have continued without reduced quotas and large illegal commercial catches have also been verified.
Please direct your representatives to strongly support decreased fishing mortality for striped bass and to safeguard the already declining recreational share of this resource."
It is vital that we let Dr. Lubchenco and Eric Schwab know what we think. You can bet that commercial interests will vehemently oppose these changes, and they won't be quiet about it either. Even though Lubchenco and Schwab agree with us, showing our support for them will be necessary as they stand up for needed changes.
Please send those e-mails right now. Doing so is very important and will just take a minute.
Brad Burns
President Stripers Forever
_______________________________________________
On April 16th and 17th, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) held a Saltwater Anglers Recreational Fishing Summit in Arlington, VA. Stripers Forever was among the nationally recognized recreational saltwater fishing groups invited to participate.~ The views expressed by Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Eric Schwab, the new head of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), reflect a true recognition that fundamental changes in the allocation and management of marine resources need to be made as soon as possible.
The presentations made at the summit by Dr. Lubchenco and Mr. Schwab can be found at this website: http://consensus.fsu.edu/Saltwater-Recreational-Fishing/index.html. We encourage you to review their presentations - you'll find the button on the left side of this home page.
Two of the presentations are especially worth your review. The first was made by **** Brame of CCA who explained quite clearly how the economic value in recreational fishing increases as the quality of the fishery improves. Although Brame's color file is very large and responds slowly on the computer, it is particularly valuable to understanding the content of the meeting.
Brad Gentner, an economist specializing in natural resource management, addressed the socio-economics of fishery management. In his presentation, which can also be quickly reviewed on this website, Gentner highlighted some very revealing statistics:
<LI style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Commercial fishing, taken as a whole, generates sales in the U.S. of about 25 percent more than recreational fishing. However, this greater value is almost entirely centered in fisheries which have no recreational fishing component.
The value of recreational fishing is many times greater than commercial fishing in EVERY fishery that has both a recreational and commercial fishing component. The species specifically highlighted by Gentner were red snapper, striped bass, and summer flounder (fluke).
**** Brame from CCA made a point that had everyone in the room nodding in agreement. The goals of commercial fisheries managers are very different from those of recreational fishermen, Brame explained. Anglers want more fish and larger fish alive in the population, while commercial interests view fish strictly as a crop to harvest for maximum sustainable poundage. The two goals are simply not compatible.
Both Eric Schwab and Dr. Lubchenco then told the audience that they understood our concerns and that they are committed to finding ways to change the management and allocation of the key species shared by recreational and commercial interests in order to benefit the more socio-economically valuable recreational side. That message was clear, strong, and very well received by all of us at the summit.
So how will the rubber meet the road? The top conservation advocates for saltwater recreational fishing and their DC lobbyists attended the summit, as did many important players in the recreational fishing industry. These folks will be working daily with NMFS officials to develop ways to accomplish the goals discussed. The exact solutions are not yet determined, but one that came up often and was roundly supported by the participants is the concept of transferable quotas between recreational fishermen and commercial fishing industries. These quotas could simply be purchased by the more valuable recreational fishing sector. The financing could be secured via government revenue bonds or by the sale of game fish stamps.
Right now, simply having NMFS as an advocate for allocations of these resources to the recreational sector at the council and commission levels would have a big impact. An important test of this advocacy could happen this summer as commercial interests continue to pressure the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission (ASMFC) to increase commercial striped bass quotas in spite of the obvious decline in the striper fishery.
Striped bass game fish designation is no more than a 100 percent allocation to the recreational sector -- an allocation justified by the recognition that it will yield the greatest benefit to the most people both socially and financially.~ The summit certainly reminded me that we are not alone in recognizing the virtue of designating striped bass as game fish.~
The ASMFC has talked for years about how conservatively it manages striped bass. Nothing could be further from the truth! We recently learned that the ASMFC striped bass technical committee calculates that the current regulation of two fish per day at 28" - in combination with the current commercial quotas - will produce a spawning stock biomass equal to just 30 percent of an unfished population! In other words, the population of the sexually mature striped bass we fish for is being reduced to only 30 percent of what it could be if no striped bass were killed by recreational and commercial fishermen.
To us, 30 percent is anything but conservative. If this fishery were solely in the hands of recreational fishermen, we would demand a spawning stock biomass much higher than 30 percent of potential. It will take making the striper a game fish to ever see that day, so let's roll up our sleeves and continue to forcefully deliver the message that game fish designation is the only way we will ever successfully manage striped bass.
As a first step in holding NMFS to its commitments at the summit, we are asking you to send the letter below or something like it to Dr. Jane Lubchenco at NOAA and to Eric Schwab at NMFS. Here are their e-mail addresses:
jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov (jane.lubchenco@noaa.gov) Under Secretary of NOAA
eric.schwaab@noaa.gov Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
"Dear Dr. Lubchenco/Mr. Schwab -
Thank you for holding the recent Saltwater Anglers Recreational Fishing Summit. I understand that NMFS is prepared to recognize the need for different management measures and fairer allocations concerning fish species that are important to the recreational angling community. We could start with striped bass on the Atlantic coast.
NMFS reps to the ASMFC have been at best allocation neutral in spite of studies that clearly show the maximum public benefit would come from a total allocation to the recreational community. Additionally, NMFS reps have not recognized the need for more conservative management of striped bass and now the great success story of the striper's recovery is more than threatened. Recreational catches have declined over 50 percent annually in the last few years, and there are no good year classes in the wings. Meanwhile, commercial catches have continued without reduced quotas and large illegal commercial catches have also been verified.
Please direct your representatives to strongly support decreased fishing mortality for striped bass and to safeguard the already declining recreational share of this resource."
It is vital that we let Dr. Lubchenco and Eric Schwab know what we think. You can bet that commercial interests will vehemently oppose these changes, and they won't be quiet about it either. Even though Lubchenco and Schwab agree with us, showing our support for them will be necessary as they stand up for needed changes.
Please send those e-mails right now. Doing so is very important and will just take a minute.
Brad Burns
President Stripers Forever
_______________________________________________