RFA-NY: NYSF to donate $10k towards sportfishing protection

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NYSF TO DONATE $10K TOWARDS SPORTFISHING PROTECTION

RFA & United Boatmen Receive 2010 Contributions

The 28th Annual New York Sportfishing Federation (Federation) Forum & Auction eclipsed last year's attendance levels, as more than 1600 hardcore fishermen walked through the gate at the Freeport Recreation Center from February 12-14. According to the Federation Board of Directors, despite the down economy and a Valentine's Day conflict, the 'Freeport Show' was another big success, with proceeds raised from the show already contributed towards key initiatives to help safeguard the rights of New York sportfishermen.

The Federation Board met earlier this month and unanimously approved plans to contribute $10,000 in 2010 towards key lobbying efforts on behalf of recreational fishermen throughout the New York marine district, which includes $5,000 dedicated to the United Boatmen (UBNY) for the ongoing lawsuit brought by the state of New York, UBNY, New York Fishing Tackle Trades Association (NYFTA) and the Fishermen's Conservation Association to force the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) into a more equitable allotment of New York's shares of the fluke fishery.

"While the Federation is pleased that the 2010 fluke season will not include a midseason recreational closure as we had last year, the two fish at 21-inch limit that our sportsmen are forced to adhere to is debilitating to both our fishing industry and the fish stocks themselves," said Board president, Jim Hutchinson, Jr, adding "the discard mortality and the selective removal of large females from the population are both of great concern to us." Last week, the Federation sent the first of two checks towards UBNY lawsuit, this in the amount of $3,000 on behalf of the Federation and its members. The Federation is also contributing $5,000 towards the ongoing lobbying efforts by the national Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) in Washington DC towards helping reform the federal fisheries law, the Magnuson Stevens Act. The Federation's first check of $3,000 was sent to the RFA to help defray the costs of the historic fishermen's rally in the Capitol on February 24 which was organized by the RFA, the Federation and several other allied national and regional fishing groups.

More than 20 federal lawmakers joined several thousand fishermen from around the country next to the US Capitol in a three-hour rally supporting national fisheries reform on February 24. Journalists on the scene tabbed attendance at between 3,000 and 5,000 with fishermen standing elbow-to-elbow at Upper Senate Park in Washington DC, and key New York legislators on-hand to show support for the unprecented mix of recreational and commercial fishermen in attendance. New York legislators leading impassioned speeches before the crowd included U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, in addition to U.S. Congressman Tim Bishop of Long Island.

Sen. Schumer is lead sponsor of Senate Bill 1255 to help reform the federal fisheries law to provide fisheries managers with more flexibility to address rebuilding deadlines. Schumer told rally attendees that the Magnuson Stevens Act as currently written denies fishermen access to healthy and rebuilding stocks due to arbitrary, 'time-specific' deadlines. "We need flexibility to be able to thrive," Schumer promised the crowd, while charging federal bureaucrats with failure to recognize the impact of their decisions on working families. "We need to start caring about our fishermen as much as our fish." Sen. Schumer finished his February 24 rally speech by praising both the RFA and the New York Sportfishing Federation for efforts on behalf of New York fishermen.

"You can't brush aside basic science," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, co-sponsor of the Schumer Bill. Both Schumer and Gillibrand expressed dismay at the lack of scientific justifications used by NMFS when addressing key coastal fisheries like fluke. Rep. Bishop, who previously challenged NMFS on its faulty system of fisheries data collection, also elicited an approving roar from the crowd when he got onstage and said "We are going to fix this problem." Rep. Bishop is one of two U.S. congressmen from New York (Rep. Peter King is the other) to sign on as cosponsors of the House version (HR 1584) of Schumer's Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act. Since the February 24 rally, five additional congressmen have signed on as HR 1584 cosponsors, while S 1255 picked up another three senate cosponsors as a result of fishermen's rally in Washington.

"Yes, the fishermen's rally did have an immediate impact on our legislators, and I think the recreational anglers of New York can make big inroads this year thanks to these types of united efforts by groups like the Federation, RFA UBNY and NYFTTA," Hutchinson said, adding "There's power in numbers, and now's the time to be counted."

NYSF SUPPORTS CLOSED-CYCLE COOLING AT E.F. BARRETT
Requests Remediation Effort to Protect Coastal Fish Stocks

On March 24th, the New York Sportfishing Federation (Federation) sent an official letter to the New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC), expressing support for modifications to the Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit for the E.F. Barrett Power Station in Island Park, NY. The Federation, along with the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), is supporting a draft permit issued by the NYSDEC which recommends closed-cycle cooling technology to minimize adverse environmental impacts.

E.F. Barrett is a natural gas/oil fired steam electric generating facility located on Barnum's channel, in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County. Barrett uses a once-through cooling system, where cooling water is withdrawn from the western end of Barnum's channel via two shoreline intake structures. It's the use of this outdated cooling technology requiring the intake and discharge of waters from and into Barnum's Channel and Middle Bay for which the Federation and the RFA have deep concerns.

"This type of 'once through' cooling technology results in significant mortality to marine and estuarine species and alters the marine environment," said Jim Hutchinson, Jr. in the official letter to NYSDEC, while adding "The impacts associated with E.F. Barrett outdated 'once through' cooling system can no longer be deemed acceptable."

Studies conducted from February 2003 through February 2004 showed that approximately 1.2 billion fish eggs and larvae were entrained, and approximately 178,000 fish were impinged on the intake screens including cunner, bay anchovy, tautog, windowpane, and sea robin, menhaden, silversides, mummichogs, striped killifish and winter flounder. The studies go on to show that the E.F. Barrett facility entrains more winter flounder eggs and larvae than any other steam electric generating facility located in the marine district. Based on reports provided to the Department by National Grid, almost 40 percent of the estimated annual entrainment of winter flounder by power plants in New York State occurs at E.F. Barrett.

In the letter on behalf of their membership, Hutchinson said the Federation supports NYSDEC's included modifications requiring a closed loop cooling system, explaining that the technology is readily available to reduce nearly all mortality associated with the operation of this facility. "The time has come where costs of upgrading compared the ecological impacts are no longer justifiable," Hutchinson said.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently determined that winter flounder as been overharvested throughout its range, with only 9 percent of the target biomass remaining. As such, the Commission is requiring New York, along with all Mid-Atlantic States, to impose drastic reductions in both the commercial and recreational take in 2010.

Last September, Hutchinson spoke before the New York Marine Resources Advisory Council (MRAC) and pointed to environmental factors and the open-cycle cooling at coastal power plants as primary reasons for the winter flounder decline. MRAC member Charles Witek made a motion to institute a complete harvest closure for winter flounder in 2010, which Hutchinson said was not in the best interest of either the fish or the fishermen of New York. "Most scientists say that even a complete moratorium on harvests won't impact the winter flounder stock's chances of recovery in the foreseeable future," Hutchinson said, adding "This should be a key consideration when making a decision." Noting that New York's recreational fishermen deserve an opportunity to fish, MRAC voted 8-2 in favor of keeping the winter flounder fishery open in 2010.

"Recreational anglers, as a whole, have endured significant sacrifices to ensure the rebuilding of species they target," Hutchinson noted in the letter to NYSDEC, saying that "allowing E.F. Barrett to continue to operate with its 'once through' system flies in the face of all the conservation efforts made on behalf of these anglers. While we are sensitive to the costs to comply with the revised permit, a 'once through' system is simply not acceptable."

Hutchinson, who is President of the Federation and Managing Director of the RFA, said that a number of conservation groups in the New York marine district have been highly critical of anglers' efforts to maintain some type of regulatory sanity in terms of harvest limits for species like winter flounder, fluke and weakfish. "Some of these groups seem to enjoy taking a heavy-hand to the recreational sector," Hutchinson said, adding "I would hope they might someday join us in applying some of that passion to attacking these other known sources of wanton mortality, as we see at the E.F. Barrett facility." The public comment period regarding the E.F. Barrett permit closes on May 9th.

For more information, visit www.nysf.org or www.joinrfa.org.

About Recreational Fishing Alliance

The Recreational Fishing Alliance is a national, grassroots political action organization representing recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues. The RFA Mission is to safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers, protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our Nation's saltwater fisheries. For more information, call 888-JOIN-RFA or visit www.joinrfa.org.