M A K I N G
Making Waves 2016 Making Waves Summer Spring 2020
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The Official Publication of the Recreational Fishing Alliance
Enter the RFA's Ultimate TRIP OF A LIFETIME SWEEPSTAKES Fish the Intensity in Guatemala! Details Inside
New Tack on MSA Reform * Report on Second Sat-Tagged Striper 20th Manhattan Cup * The Fall of the Mighty Codfish Shark Tagging Program Update * Get Down with Red Snapper News & Views and Much More Great Stuff to Read Spring 2020
WINTER 2019
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PROUD SPONSOR
M A K I N G
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Making Waves 2016 Making Waves Summer Spring 2020
The Official Publication of the Recreational Fishing Alliance
FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK By Gary Caputi
W
ell there probably isn't a person in the country who hasn't been affected in some way by COVID-19. We're all living a very strange period in history right now, but as many RFA members have pointed out in recent days, fishing is a great way to accomplish the goal of social distancing. So grab a fishing rod, get down to one of your favorite fishing holes or untie your boat and get on the water. Fresh air and sunlight is beneficial to fighting any viral transmission, and you might be able to put some fresh fillets on the table without having to brave the supermarket or local fish monger. That's if the continuing clamping down on recreational harvest will allow you to keep anything!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Publisher’s Desk
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Exec. Director's Report: New Tack on MSA Reform
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RFA Commentary : Menhaden Letter to SOC
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The Ultimate TRIP OF A LIFETIME SWEEPSKATES
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Born to Run: Freedom's Travels
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Breaking News: Atlantic Halibut Comeback?
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20th Manhattan Cup to benefit vets and stripers
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The RFA has put together a brand new Trip of a Lifetime Sweepstakes, and the first prize is unlike anything we've been able to offer before--Guatemala, luxury boutique lodge accommodations and fishing with legendary captain Mike Sheeder aboard the Intensity, the boat that has released more billfish than any other in the world. Read about it and enter soon.
Breaking News: Rep. Van Drew does A.C. Boat Show
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The Fall of the Mighty Cod
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NOAA Shark Tagging Update
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The 20th Manhattan Cup is coming up in June, hopefully well after the virus has abated, and will benefit transitioning combat veterans and striped bass tagging and conservation. Get involved with this great event. It will touch your heart.
57th Annual Buccaneer Cup Recap
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News & Views
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On that note, read Jim Donofrio's column on RFA's latest approach to encouraging positive changes to the Magnuson Act to make it more recreationally friendly.
Capt. Barry Gibson, RFA New England Director, charts the course of destruction of the cod fishery in the Western Atlantic starting on page 38. It's historical reporting at its best. There's lots more in this issue that will inform and entertain, and, with self-quarantine in place, you have plenty of time to read it. You might want to read some past issues, too, just to catch up. See them at www.joinRFA.org.
About the Cover
Guatemala, the Intensity and billfish, what fishing dreams are made of. Get ready for your chance at winning the RFA's Ultimate TRIP OF A LIFETIME and put yourself and a guest in this picture.
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Executive Director's Report by Jim Donofrio
MAGNUSON REFORM A NEW WAY FORWARD
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Commentary by Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director
RFA Becomes a Signatory to Angler - Industry Letter to Secretary of Commerce December 3, 2019 The Honorable Wilbur Ross Secretary U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20230 Dear Secretary Ross, As members of the recreational fishing and boating industry, we ask that you affirm the October 31, 2019, decision by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), which found the Commonwealth of Virginia out of compliance with Amendment 3 of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Menhaden for failing to fully and effectively implement and enforce the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap (Bay Cap). Furthermore, we ask that you take such action as deemed necessary and consistent with the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act to compel the Commonwealth of Virginia to come into compliance with the FMP. As ASMFC describes in their letter to you dated November 15, 2019, the Bay Cap is a management solution that conserves menhaden as critical forage for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, while reducing conflicts between an industrial fishing fleet and the sportfishing and boating communities. The Bay Cap is particularly important as of late because menhaden’s top predator, Atlantic striped bass, is currently in poor condition and the Chesapeake Bay is the primary spawning and nursery area for the species. Additionally, recent science suggests that the industrial harvest of menhaden contributes to the decline in striped bass biomass1. Therefore, the intent of the Bay Cap is to ensure adequate forage for striped bass and other important predator species (e.g., bluefish, summer flounder, black sea bass, weakfish) that have significant recreational fisheries within the Bay and along the Atlantic coast.
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These valuable recreational fisheries are major contributors to America’s economy and support many fishing-dependent businesses across our industry. A Department of Commerce report, “Fisheries Economics of the United States 2016”, details the economic contributions of these menhaden-dependent fisheries to the various regions along the Atlantic coast. Saltwater recreational fishing along the Atlantic is enjoyed by 6 million anglers annually, contributing $11.3 billion to the economy and supporting 120,236 jobs. The jobs created by these fisheries are the lifeblood of our Atlantic coastal communities as more than 90% of the sportfishing and boating industry is made up of small businesses. Furthermore, the sportfishing and boating industry consistently plays an integral role in stewardship of our fisheries by directly funding conservation and habitat restoration efforts through licensing fees and excise taxes set up through the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. In 2019 alone, $365.4 million was apportioned to the states to fund fishery conservation programs with the money generated from excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel. Our industry is proud to be a partner in this cooperative approach to fisheries management because we know that fisheries conservation and fishing access afforded by these funds directly supports outdoor recreation and the American economy. As stewards of our shared public resources, we respect the laws that govern our fisheries which ensure the sustainability of the resource and our industry. We simply cannot tolerate the recent actions of Omega Protein which willfully exceeded the Bay Cap and forced the Commonwealth of Virginia out of compliance with ASMFC. Interstate fishery management only succeeds when each state fully and effectively implements and enforces the requirements of ASMFC and its FMPs. Your affirmation of the finding of non-compliance will hold Omega Protein accountable for their actions; demonstrate clear leadership to the millions of Atlantic coast anglers and the thousands of businesses they support; and ensure the ASMFC process continues to bring cooperative management solutions to our shared fishery resources. Respectfully yours, Glenn Hughes, President American Sportfishing Association Alexandria, VA
Chris Edmonston, President BoatU.S. Springfield, VA
Jeff Angers, President Center for Sportfishing Policy Baton Rouge, LA
Patrick Murray, President Coastal Conservation Association Houston, TX
Jeff Crane, President Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Washington, DC
Jason Schratwieser, Acting President International Game Fish Association Dania Beach, FL
Matt Gruhn, President Marine Retailers Association of the Americas Minneapolis, MN
Frank Hugelmeyer, President National Marine Manufacturers Association Washington, DC
Jim Donofrio, President Recreational Fishing Alliance New Gretna, NJ
Whit Fosburgh, President and CEO Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Washington,
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Enter the RFA's Ultimate
TRIP OF A LIFETIME SWEEPSTAKES The winner and a guest will fish the world’s most prolific billfish waters with one of the top captains and crews on the planet, and will stay at an exclusive boutique lodge on the beautiful Pacific coast of Guatemala. The staff at the RFA is excited to put up for grabs what is truly the finest Trip of a Lifetime prize we've ever offered. Courtesy of Captain Mike Sheeder of Intensity Sportfishing and Herb Rosell who represents Sailfish Oasis Lodge we will be giving away a trip for two to experience Guatemala bluewater fishing at its finest.
random and the winner and a guest will receive a trip to Sailfish Oasis Lodge that includes fournights stay and three days of fishing aboard the Intensity with Capt. Mike Sheeder and his crew. It will cover private transportation to and from San Jose airport to the lodge, all deluxe gourmet meals and, a private bungalow and use of all facilities. The winner will also receive a travel To Enter voucher for $1000 towards airfare to Guatemala Here's how it works. In December, just in time for for a total prize value in excess of $15,000. The Christmas, one winning ticket will be drawn at winner will arrange travel dates directly with the
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Herb Rosell, the US representative of Intensity Sportfishing and Sailfish Oasis Lodge. If the winner would like to add additional fishing days, side trips to experience more of Guatemala or bring additional guests, arrangements can be made at that time and will incur appropriate charges.
The Boat & Crew
You’ll be fishing the sailfish mecca of the world, Guatemala’s Pacific Coast. Located along the Central American “billfish highway,” this is where sails along with striped, blue and black marlin, tuna and dorado cruise amongst underwater mountain ranges located less than 10 miles from RFA members will automatically receive five tick- the dock. You’ll be fishing on the most famous ets at the discounted price of $100 in the mail. billfish boat in Central America with more releasThe single ticket price is $25. Follow the instruces made from it’s deck than any other—the aptly tions to activate your tickets. The mailing will take named Intensity. You’ll fish with Captain Mike place in early April 2020. You can request addiSheeder, one of the top producing billfish captional tickets online at the RFA store tains of all times along with his crew of highly (www.joinrfa.org) or by calling the RFA headskilled mates who consistently rate at or near the quarters at 888-JOIN-RFA and requesting them. top of the IGFA Billfish Release leaderboard every year. Not a member? Join and your first ticket will be included as part of your $35 annual membership “For more than 20 years the Intensity has been dues. Sign up for 3 years for $90 and receive offering fly and conventional angling clients the three tickets with your membership. Additional finest billfishing in the world,” says Sheeder. “We tickets are available to all new members at the consistently receive the highest recommendatime of joining or by calling. tions and reviews from both novice and experienced anglers. We can’t wait to invite you to step aboard and begin your own fishing adventure. Make your fishing dreams a reality.
The Lodging
Pacific sailfish are insanely abundant in Guatemala. They frequently top 100-pounds are there is always the chance of having blue or striped marlin attacking the spread.
Welcome to the Sailfish Oasis Lodge where sunsets are celebrated every afternoon with refreshing drinks. Located in a secure residential community only five minutes from the marina and a 90minute drive from Guatemala City, Sailfish Oasis offers relaxing accommodations in a lush tropical setting. You’ll stay in a beautiful private bungalow done in local hardwoods and deco-
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Relax by the pool with one of the lodge's signature rum coolers after your days on the water. rated with local textiles and furnishings. Each bungalow is equipped with air-conditioning, comfortable beds and a private bath with plenty of hot water. Anglers and their guests are welcome to disconnect from the rest of the world in the lodge’s resort swimming pool surrounded by manicured lawns and flowering plants or to reconnect with friends and office via complementary WiFi service. Come dinnertime, you will gather around our private bar serving our signature cocktail “Canaso” or the libation of your choice. You can enjoy a selection of hors d’oeuvres while swapping tales of your day’s fishing in the open-air rancho style dining room. Dinners are a multi-course affair celebrating the finest in Guatemalan cuisine featuring fresh locally sourced organic ingredients. Sailfish Oasis prides itself in ocean-to-table dining. Signature dishes like dorado ceviche, giant prawns marinated in a ginger and Sailfish Oasis Lodge is located in a private, gated sweet chili sauce, pan-fried dorado community minutes from where the Intensity docks. topped with toasted
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face. Currents moving east from Mexico and west from Panama collide off Guatemala, creating enormous nutrient-rich eddies that attract and hold baitfish, which in turn attracts gamefish. Everywhere you look there is marine life. Not just sailfish, but whales, spinner dolphin, sea turtles and diving marine birds. Best of all, about 75 percent of the time this marine show happens in flat seas. Calm conditions that make Guatemala the ideal spot for first time fly fishermen wanting to catch billfish or new-to-offshore Each bungalow is beautifully decorated with fishing families seeking an introprivate bath, air conditioning and Wi-Fi. duction to the sport. In short, anyone who doesn’t like rough sea The Fishing conditions will find the ocean off the Port of San Sailfishing off Guatemala is phenomenal, the Jose a pleasure. best found anywhere in the world! Ah, but so is Sailfish, blue and black and striped marlin, wathe fishing for mahi, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and hoo, tunas and dorado are caught yearmarlin. Catching 15 out of 25 sailfish bites plus round. However, the peak billfish season is Octoscores of dorado and tuna is a routine day here. And when the waters are teaming with bait, as is usually the case, the catch rate can climb to three or more times that number. Guatemala holds the single day record of 124 sails released on conventional tackle and 57 on fly. No other fishing destination approaches the billfish numbers found off Guatemala. The reason for this amazingly consistent productivity has to do with the submarine mountains found just offshore. The bottom structure and the ocean currents that interact with it A blue marlin is always in the picture or you can plan your feed oxygenated water trip when they are in abundance. or upwellings to the sur-
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Dolphin and yellowfin tuna are caught year-round along with the legendary billfishing and often find their way onto the dinner table as ceviche, sushi or cooked to your liking for dinner.
ber through June. The summer months are tops for dorado and inshore species such as roosterfish, Cubera snapper and grouper on light tackle. Guatemala offers the finest saltwater sportfishing in the world and the Intensity has consistently been the top boat.
Conservation Guatemala is a leader in billfish conservation, which has played a big part in making this area a favorite destination for offshore fishing enthusiasts the world over. Guatemala was the first country to embrace and enact laws requiring the mandatory use of baited circle hooks in its off-
shore fishery. It also has a strict no kill billfish policy. Because of these policies, it has been able to sustain its reputation for the most sailfish releases in the Pacific every year since records have been kept. Capt. Sheeder proudly contributes to conservation research by keeping accurate records and data on his average yearly 1,500 to 2,000 billfish releases.
Check Them Out To learn more about Capt. Mike Sheeder and his crew go to www.Intensitysportfishing.com or call Herb Rosell at 305-632-4372 with questions.
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Hudson River to Hudson Canyon Striper
If one’s an anomaly, and two’s a coincidence, will three or more show a pattern?
By Jim Hutchinson, Jr. Story Courtesy
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Editor's Note: Last May The Fisherman in conjunction with Gray FishTag Research implanted archival satellite pop-off tags in two post-spawn Hudson River striped bass. The first to be recovered traced travels to distant offshore canyons, something scientists never considered before. The second one was recovered later and the results of that striper's movements are detailed as a follow-up to the story we ran in the last issue. Our thanks to Jim Hutchinson and The Fisherman for allowing us to reprint it here for your members and readers.
M
er to stumble upon a veritable needle in the hayention Asbury Park to just about anystack when he found the Wildlife Computers’ one and Bruce Springsteen is typically MiniPSAT device from the Northeast Striped Bass the response. However, for local surfcasters – Study. “I was cleaning the beach and picked up perhaps even the late Clarence Clemons, who as this thing. I knew it looked weird,” Dello told me legend has it, could often be found live lining eels while lying in his hospital bed where local surfers along the Monmouth County rockpiles in the and surfcasters alike have been sending well wee hours after a Stone Pony gig – this rock and wishes following his holiday scare and noticeably roll Jersey Shore town may best be known for the absent from those beaches where he’d rather be. celebrated runs of herring at Deal Lake on the “I grew up there, we used to play around in the northern border with Allenhurst, and the trophy flume,” he said. bass it would attract. The $5,000 satellite tag that washed up along The lake was open naturally to the sea until the that legendary striper hotspot at the Jersey Shore early 1890’s when a man-made channel (flume) began its transmission on October 19 after popwas built to allow the ocean to continue its con- ping free of the striper named Freedom; three nection. Significant work has been done by state days later, it was clanging around inside Dello’s and federal agencies to keep the flume operacoffee can. In early November, that tag was in tional over the years; but for Peter Dello of near- the hands of researchers who’ve been diligently by Ocean, NJ, keeping the flume clear of debris is working to analyze millions of data points stored more of a labor of love. “I’ve got my own little inside, telling the tale of a 42-inch striped bass Maxwell House coffee can, with a long stick so I caught and released from a Fin Chasers charter don’t have to bend down to pick up the trash,” on May 21 in the lower Hudson River. Where Dello told me by phone during a Thanksgiving she traveled in those 152 days, and how far she stay in the hospital following emergency bypass went, may surprise every striper fisherman and surgery. Dello has been a fixture on the local scientist along the entire Striper Coast, north, beaches where he has surfed for the past 40 south, and east of Asbury Park. years, and just recently began surfcasting. Suffice to say, this striper was born to run. Last October 22 while doing his regular cleanup, Dello became the second northeast beachcomb- GREETINGS FROM THE HUDSON
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The Northeast Striped Bass Study kicked off on May 21, 2019 when a team compromised of staff from The Fisherman, Navionics and Gray FishTag Research set upon New York Harbor to deploy a pair of satellite tags in post-spawn striped bass for a five-month study. The first large striper to get fixed with a satellite tag, aptly named Liberty, was caught aboard Rocket Charters out of New York City on the East River with Capt. Paul Risi. It was considered finding a “needle in a haystack” when the first tag washed up along the beach in Massachusetts back in the summer and was picked up by a woman walking the beach. (Check out the November edition of The Fisherman Magazine for details on Liberty’s journey.)
Making Waves Spring 2020
The second tagged fish, Freedom, was caught a little west of the first fish on May 21, not far from the Statue of Liberty aboard the charter boat Fin Chasers with captains Frank Wagenhoffer and Dave Rooney. The timing and location of the catch, tag and release project was planned around the end of the Hudson River spawning in hopes of capturing a pair of post-spawn bass; at 42 inches in length, Freedom was precisely the fish we were looking for! On December 5 at a conference at Gray FishTag Research in Florida, we learned the surprising truth behind Freedom. After being tagged in the lower Hudson River on May 21, data shows Freedom heading in a southeast direction above the Hudson Shelf Valley, making it to the westernmost tip of the Hudson Canyon just inside the Babylon Valley – a distance of roughly 100 miles – for the Memorial Day weekend. The information collected inside that Wildlife Computers MiniPAT tag reveals that Freedom spend the next month moving out and about within 20 or so nautical miles of that point, eventually zigzagging her way through Block Canyon out towards Veatch Canyon before heading north towards Nantucket Shoals in early July.
The beauty of these high-tech tags is that they incorporate light-based geolocation for tracking, time-at-depth histograms for measuring diving behavior, and a profile of depth and temperature. Some had questioned whether a larger predator like a white shark consumed the fish before making a beeline offshore; the data stored inside however shows that both tagged fish were alive and swimming the entire time at sea. NEW ENGLAND BOUND
This is the actual MiniPSAT tag recovered from after floating free from Freedom someplace in the NY Bight.
Freedom spent the better part of July and all of August covering ground on the shoals outside of Massachusetts state waters, before heading northwest into Rhode Island Sound in what appears from the data points to be a somewhat circular pattern before cruising past Block Island to pay a visit to Montauk in early October. For inshore fishermen and surfcasters in particular,
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From the Hudson River to the Hudson Canyon and beyond, Freedom's seasonal migration, much like Liberty's revealed earlier, is anything but what scientists thought striped bass were capable of, yet here they are in great detail. Freedom didn’t make herself too available for capture for very long, ultimately sticking to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for travel purposes, finally intersecting with her original May track out of the Hudson River in early October, before the tag disengaged pretty much on schedule east of Sandy Hook, NJ on Friday, October 18, just as crew from The Fisherman was compiling our fishing reports for the November edition. “Our predictions of a big bass attack this past week were right on the money,” reported North Jersey field editor JB Kasper that weekend. Sifting through our weekly reports at the time, it shows we had a pretty good nor’easter around that time, with a mid-week storm pushing wind and waves along the coast until that weekend. “When boats got back on the water on Saturday
the 19th the stripers were still there and a flotilla of boats found mixed results,” Kasper noted in his New Jersey edition reports for the weekend, adding “Some of the best fishing was just inside the three mile line on Saturday.” There’s no telling if Freedom made it past the “flotilla” of New York and New Jersey anglers on the grounds that week, but she did also have one of Gray’s green spaghetti tags affixed around her dorsal – as did Liberty - so there’s still a chance to learn more about both of these fish again in the future. One could roughly assume that Freedom enjoyed a bit of heavy feeding on bunker schools in the region before turning south along the three mile line with the rest of those big fish that anglers were finding off the Virginia coast as of early December. But as we’ve learned from the
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The corresponding depth and water temperature data gathered by the MiniPSAT tag that Freedom carried on her 6-month journey are also or great scientific interest. first two tags, our historic presumptions on this groundbreaking movement lets us know that striped bass migration might be off by as much as further work is a necessity from the team at Gray FishTag Research. There is so much more rea few hundred miles. search that needs to be done to study the current “The science doesn’t always bear out the assump- patters and movements of striped bass.” tions,” noted Dave Bulthuis, president of Pure Fishing’s North America division while sitting at In other words, if one is an anomaly, and two is a the December 5 conference held by Gray FishTag coincidence, it could take three or more high-tech in Lighthouse Point, FL. As one of the Advisory satellite tags to help determine actual patterns. Board Members at Gray, Bulthuis and others CRITICAL BUY-IN spoke at length during the session about the need to provide better, more improved data for Another exciting bit of news learned at the Gray researchers managing coastal fisheries. FishTag Research Advisory Board meeting in Florida on December 6 was that NOAA Fisheries is Dobbelier stressed the ongoing goal “to get the already actively engaged in the satellite tagging data we desperately need,” while outlining for efforts. Eric Orbesen, Research Fishery Biologist the group of advisors the urgency for better, with the fisheries agency and a specialist in highly more technologically advanced information. “This striped bass study reflects the movement of migratory species and spatial movement is has two fish caught and released in the Hudson River worked with Gray FishTag Research professionals in ongoing swordfish research. Orbesen works mouth and draws no conclusion of all striped bass behavior,” Dobbelier said, adding “however, out of NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center
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in Miami, but his ongoing participation in Gray tagging programs could be a good intro to other NOAA efforts with striped bass out of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center which manages marine resources from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras.
Closer to home for striper fishermen, funding efforts for new Wildlife Computers MiniPSAT devices for the ongoing Northeast Striped Bass Study have kicked into high gear. The 2019 study was funded by the charting professionals at Navionics which has already signed on again for 2020. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) through its “Our goal is to continue to satellite tag many Fisheries Conservation Trust is also sponsoring a more striped bass in the Hudson River mouth dur- tag in 2020 utilizing monies raised through the ing the same time of year in an effort to control annual Manhattan Cup catch and release striped the data collected on these great fish,” Dobbelaer bass tournament. Also kicking off during the holitold the folks assembled at the Florida conferday season was a new fundraising effort here at ence. In fact, based on the early success of this The Fisherman Magazine that seeks to find a core groundbreaking work with striped bass, a new group of 1,000 individual investors to participate “spaghetti tag” project has also been launched in the program. with bull redfish in Northeast Florida where proceeds from the Full of Bull Tournament out of For every $10 donation online, each “investor” Jacksonville have been used to purchase 100 will receive an exclusive Release, Reduce & Retags sticks and 1000 streamer tags along with build sticker to boast their participation in the tagpromotional materials as part of an education ging effort with their names added to an online program there. listing at TheFisherman.com. In just the first week of the fundraising effort, the effort raised $1,200 towards the purchase of additional Wildlife Computers MiniPSAT tags which are valued at roughly $5,000 apiece. The initial promotional boost has also led to new pledges from within the recreational fishing community; looking ahead to the next round of tag deployments sometime this spring, it’s entirely possible that we have six or seven post-spawn stripers swimming around with pricey MiniPSAT devices next summer. For more go to GrayFishtagResearch.org.
The author with a 45-inch striper caught and tagged with a Gray FishTag spaghetti tag, and released at the Manhattan Cup in June aboard Jersey Devil Sportfishing. Join the striped bass tagging team at GrayFishTagresearch.org. Photo courtesy of Capt. Brian Rice.
The Manhattan Cup Charity Striped Bass Tournament donated a portion of the proceeds from last year's event to sponsor a Gray FishTag MiniPSAT tag that will be implanted in a Hudson River striper in a few weeks. The tournament will make another donation to this fascinating project from the proceeds of this year's event, which is slated for June 5, 2020. For information on how to enter the Manhattan Cup read the article in this issue and go to www.manhattancup.com.
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Are Atlantic Halibut Making a Comeback in the Gulf of Maine? From NOAA Fisheries
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PRESENTED BY
T
his year marks the 20th anniversary of this all-release charity fishing tournament to benefit transitioning combat veterans and striped bass research and conservation. This article is a look back at its past and a look forward to this year’s event on June 5, 2020 by someone who has fished it, reported on it for the media and is now a valued member of the tournament committee.
If it’s a Friday during fishing season and you’re out on the water, you’ve won. Me, I remember sitting at my desk on a beautiful Friday morning in May of 2011, and on another one in May of 2012. I lost both times. At work in the financial district, the numbers on my computer screen didn’t matter and neither did the ones on the CNBC ticker on the TV. My mind was with the anglers fishing the Manhattan Cup and it was the images
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that played on the screens of dozens of center consoles and sportfishers running full throttle, waking the Statue of Liberty on their way to chase stripers and blues in the shadow on the Big Apple. That’s what mattered. Not being out there felt worse than losing a 40-pound striper at the boat.
knots down solid, yet alone understanding how this passion unites people from disparate walks of life. We all loved this thing called fishing and
I felt a hell of a lot better the following May because I was covering the Manhattan Cup for a regional fishing magazine. Going into the day I was thinking what a great way to just be able to walk up to anyone in the tournament and start a conversation. By the end of the night, I’d heard how a world record fish was caught—by the guy who caught it. I made friends with guys for whom fishing was only second to one thing, their families. Families that were put to the test that previous fall after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. I had the opportunity to tell warriors recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, “Thank you for your service” and heard why any of those brave men and women who were being honored that day would sacrifice again if called on. No questions asked.
Yes, that was a huge win for me, and it didn’t matter if I was writing an article or not. I was six years into my fishing evolution, and it was becoming more than just a hobby or annual ritual at that point. I wasn’t close to having all my
Author Mike Dean with the bass that won the 2012 Manhattan Cup. Like all fish caught in this event, it was released alive. Tagging is encouraged and Gray FishTags are provided by the tournament.
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we’d always work to protect and share it. And Long time organizer and chairman of the Manmost important, a fishing captain taught me how hattan Cup, Captain Frank Crescitelli once bellowed over applause for the guides and captains fishing could be used as a force for good. who donated their boats and services for the day I count weeks, then days on the calendar every to benefit the Manhattan Cup…. year until the next Manhattan Cup like a 7-yearold does for Christmas. Eleven weeks, 2 days, and “Look around the room, we’ve got all the top 7 hours until June 5, 2020 as of this writing, and I guides here, look at the good that was done here think about the fishing year’s past and hope for today. Like any one of us wouldn’t have a full good fishing for everyone who comes to fish it day trip booked on a Friday in the spring, but we again. all chose this and chose right!” In 2015, the fish were really in just one spot and they’d been there for a week. Everyone knew the spot. I was on the boat with the captain that knew the spot inside the spot and that’s where the winning fish was swimming and it was my year to win the cup.
That room’s gotten a lot more crowded since the first time I was in it. The view changed too, for the better. June 5, 2020 will be the 20th Manhattan Cup, and the third year the Recreational Fishing Alliance through their non-profit Fisheries Conservation Trust is ensuring Capt. Frank’s promise of conversation and using fishing as a There’s a small number of guides and captains force for good is kept. During those two years that are consistently on the bite. Their boats are there were more veterans brought into fish in the fast, their gear is never guilty of losing a fish, their tournament, more science funded to preserve, book is full a season out, and the waters of the NY protect, and understand our beloved striped bass, Bite and beyond are their place of business. and more anglers experiencing their first Manhat-
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tan Cup. This is a very special tournament held in Gray Fishtag, working with staff from The Fisherman magazine, caught two mature, post-spawn a very special place and emotions run deep. striped bass in lower NY Harbor aboard Capt. Just being a catch and release tournament, and Frank Wagenhoffer’s Fin Chaser guide boat. The the largest one in the Northeast, is not enough fish, one nicknamed Liberty and the other Freeon its own to protect and honor our local fishery. dom, became the first stripers ever implanted In our commitment to conservation through sci- with MiniPSAT satellite tags. Months later, the ence, there was a new trophy presented the past collective consciousness of the fishing community two years, a stunning striped bass mount provid- was turned upside down by the initial data reed by one of our sponsors, Gray Taxidermy. The trieved from these tags. These supposed mount is awarded to the boat responsible for tag- “inshore” fish were making a journey all the way ging the most fish during the day. The tagging out to deep ocean canyons and back. Liberty program is implemented with the help of a part- made that trip in just under two months. Freenering nonprofit organization, Gray Fishtag. A dom’s tag stayed intact longer and showed simiportion of the proceeds from our sponsors and lar travels with time spent in the Hudson Canyon entry fees is what makes this possible. Without and beyond before heading to New England wahard science, understanding of how we can bet- ters and then back toward the NY Bight. (For ter conserve this resource isn’t possible. more on this see Born to Run by Jim Hutchinson About a month before last year’s Manhattan Cup
Tags provided by Gray Fishtag Research are implanted in fish caught and released during the tournament.
in this issue)
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MiniPSAT tags are the most advanced available for research and expensive to purchase and implant. They record temperature, depth, light and GPS position as the host fish proceeds along its migratory path. In association with Gray Fishtag Research Manhattan Cup tournament anglers tag and released dozens of additional bass with conventional spaghetti tags that provide more basic information and proceeds from the tournament will be used to implant additional bass with satellite tags. This new tagging effort is one of the most effective steps to gain a better understanding of striped bass, knowledge that can be used to restore the stocks. If you’d like to learn more about tagged stripers or any of the species they are tagging worldwide, the data is available to anyone at www.GrayFishTagResearch.org. Gray tags are free to anglers and captains, and their engage-
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ment with the fishing community is crucial to the progress being made. Their motto, “Fish for fun, Tag for Science.” Crescitelli always pounds home his personal motto, “Using fishing as a force for good,” and it is embodied in the Manhattan Cup. Some of the good that’s been accomplished are the life changing moments for some of the warriors who are brought to the tournament as guests to spend the day on the water and, in many cases, being introduced to fishing for the first time. The early June sun gleamed off One World Trade Center across the Hudson River at the close of fishing at last year’s event. As scorecards were tallied, steaks and lobsters were grilling, Hummock Island oysters were being slurped and glasses clinked, the good-natured story telling of the day’s events began. Talk of the ones that got
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transitioning combat vets who are experiencing similar problems.
away and the ones that swam away after posing for the fishing paparazzi. I spotted SGT Robert Gil, Jr., a Manhattan Cup fishing convert from several years ago sharing his story with 20 or so other combat veterans. They were there because of his dedicated outreach and his experience at the Manhattan Cup had them mesmerized. The NYC skyline behind him was a much different one in he saw in 2001 before the destruction on 9/11. The hole in that skyline is what beckoned his and many others’ like him to do something to defend their country. A couple years later he was a warrior in an US Army Ranger battalion in Afghanistan, injured during an IED attack. Crippled by PTSD after returning home from battle, Robert shared his story with the audience at the Cup awards dinner several years later. He told of returning unable to adjust back into civilian life with nightmares, sleep deprivation and symptoms much worse, and he admitted he just didn’t want to live anymore having attempted suicide once. He never discounted the support of family, friends, doctors, and fellow warriors, but it was a fish, the fish that won the Manhattan Cup year’s before for a humble veteran who had never fished before, that became the transformational event in his life. He explained that his initial exposure to the Manhattan Cup literally saved his life, and he feels it can do the same for other
With restored faith and hope, Gil is dedicating to bringing these gifts to other seemingly hopeless veterans. The past two years he as been the veteran outreach coordinator for The Manhattan Cup, and he is involved in other fishing outreach programs the rest of his time. SGT Gil saves lives and we are privileged to bear witness to it through his work introducing other vets to the joy and serenity he has found through fishing.
The 2020 Manhattan Cup will be held on Friday June 5th at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City. Boats are available to accommodate teams of up to four and individual anglers are welcome to join other teams. You’re able to fish from your own boat in the Sportfishing division, or you can make a donation to fish one of the boats provided by the region’s top guides and charter captains. You or your business can donate to sponsor a boat for a team of vets or an individual warrior, and tickets for the awards cocktail party and dinner are available as well if a day of fishing isn’t in the cards for you. Sponsorships are still available for companies, individuals, and organizations to join leaders in the fishing and business community that enable this monumental day to happen. All donations are tax deductible through the Fisheries Conservation Trust, which hosts the event.
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Representative Jeff Van Drew Tours Atlantic City Boat Show
S
aturday, February 29, 2020, Congressman Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2) toured the Atlantic City Boat Show to visit and check in on his marine industry constituents. Prior to wining the 2nd district seat, Mr. Van Drew was solidly behind fishermen and all the marine related businesses in south Jersey while serving in the New Jersey Assembly and Senate. It was Mr. Van Drew who worked hard with Governor Chris Christie to stop an unnecessary saltwater fishing license. Jeff also led the charge in the New Jersey Senate to reduce the sales tax on boat purchases. New Jersey’s 2nd District Congressional District is the largest water district in the State. From Barnegat Light to Cape May and up the Delaware River to Gloucester County, the 2nd District includes numerous recreational fishing ports, marinas, and businesses. Van Drew is a staunch patriot and believes in the personal freedoms we all enjoy as Americans. Please remember Mr. Van Drew in November.
Van Drew (L) discusses marine industry concerns with Sean Healey of Viking Yachts and Valhalla Boats during the AC Show.
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THE FALL OF THE MIGHTY CODFISH
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New England’s iconic cod stocks, which once provided huge fortunes for those in international trade, are now but a shadow of their former abundance due to a deadly combination of runaway fisheries technology and lackluster, reactive management.
By Capt. Barry Gibson RFA New England Regional Director
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“Dories over!”
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Forty-one-year-old Captain Jonas Walford swings the bow of the 116-foot Gloucester-based banker It’s the call they’ve been waiting for, and Asa Al- Lillian Emmons due east. He likes the water depth he has found with his lead-line, as well as the lard and Harland Guidry hurriedly prepare their little boat. Thwarts are shipped, the bottom plug coarse gravel embedded in the tallow at the bottom of the lead. Within a few minutes he makes is jammed in, and oars, pen boards, water jug, the signal for the trailing dory to let go. The rebailer, bucket, gaff, bait knife, sail and mast, and maining seven are distributed at equal distances three tubs of hooks and line are hastily stowed. The 20-foot dory is lifted by means of a block and over a stretch of nearly four miles. The schooner hoves-to as Walford keeps one watchful eye on tackle secured to the schooner’s shrouds, and the weather and the other on those of his chargswung overboard. es within view. The two fishermen jump in, and the dory drifts Allard ships the dory’s oars and begins rowing, astern. Its painter, attached to a pin in the ship’s while Guidry secures the end line of the first tub taffrail, comes tight and the little craft is towed of gear to a small iron anchor to which a sturdy effortlessly over the gentle swells. Seven more wooden keg is attached. He throws the anchor dories, each manned by a pair of fishermen, are over and stands in the stern, whirling the coils of swung over and lowered into the sea, each atline and hooks out of the tub with his short heavtached to the one ahead of it. Soon all eight are ing stick. All three tubs, their lines tied together, towed in a string, looking for all the world like a are finally emptied, and over a mile of ground line line of orderly ducklings following its mother. festooned with 1,500 forty-inch snoods and
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1,500 hooks baited with herring settle to the sea floor 32 fathoms below.
handsome with mottled olive-brown backs, pale lateral lines, and pearlescent bellies. The occasional 30- or 40- pound cod makes an appearance at Two hours creep by, and it’s time to haul the line the roller along with a scattering of other groundback aboard. Allard inserts a lignum-vitae roller in fish, as do a variety of undesirables – skates, sculthe gunwale and pulls the anchor and buoy into pins, and the hated dogfish – which are knocked the dory. He detaches the longline and stands in off the hook with a spirited slat against the dory’s the bow and retrieves it, hand-over-hand. Guidry gunwale. positions himself behind Allard and coils the line back into the tubs, knocking off any untouched The hauling process takes several hours, and baits. Each fish that comes over the roller is dewhen the lines are finally in and the gear is hooked by a circular motion of Allard’s arm and stowed, Guidry ships the oars and pulls for the tossed into the bottom of the skiff. Those that waiting schooner. The painter is caught, the two have taken the bait deep are passed behind to men hand up their tubs of line and bare hooks, Guidry, who frees the hook by taking a few turns and proceed to pitch their catch – nearly 1,500 of the snood around his wooden gob stick and pounds of cod plus a handful of haddock, hake, twisting it sharply. and wolfish into pens on the schooner’s deck. And what fish they are! Most are cod weighing from six to 25 pounds, well-proportioned and
But the day is not over. Allard and Guidry will join the other 14 dorymen in splitting, gutting, wash-
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ing and icing down the day’s catch, which totals over six tons of groundfish. After that the tubs of longline must be re-baited. Cold, damp and tired, the men are finally done at midnight but will be back in their dories before dawn. Sleep is a scarce commodity aboard the Lillian Emmons when seas are calm, the cod are biting on the bank, and there’s money to be made.
Fast -Forward 106 Years We are four miles southwest of Maine’s Monhegan Island, an area that once held one of the highest concentrations of cod in the world, in my 28-foot center console. It is a beautiful, calm July morning and I alternately scrutinize the LCD screen of the Furuno FCV-585 with its 1000-watt transducer and that of the Garmin 4212 chartplotter. The bottom contours all look vaguely familiar, as do the ridges and valleys displayed on the color fishfinder. But what I can’t find are the distinctive scratches of cod that used to appear so regularly back in the 1970s, etched into the paper by the stylus of my Gemtronics depth recorder. Perhaps the fish are simply hiding, so Chuck, Mark and I send ten-ounce Vike-E jigs and green, soft-plastic paddletail teasers to the bottom 210 feet below. We work the jigs. Nothing. We make a move to the northeast and try again over a A much younger Captain Barry hefts a 45-lb. lump 186 feet deep where a charter party of mine once took over 300 pounds of cod in a sin- cod jigged back in the 1980s when they were gle drift. It’s easy to find with the high-tech plotstill caught in good numbers in Gulf of Maine. ter, but there’s nothing there. Frustrated, I work another mile to the south and stop on a spire in 230 feet of water. Chuck brings in a nine-inch take. On the way home from the marina I stop off redfish, and Mark foul-hooks a cunner of about at Hannaford’s Supermarket to pick up somethe same size. thing for supper. I peer into the seafood case at the back of the store. Some grayish-looking, froFinally, at the edge of hard a ridge several miles zen-at-sea haddock marked “FAS – Product of Iceto the north in 160 feet of water, Mark boats a land,” two “Jet Fresh” South American swordfish cod -- and it’s a beauty. But it’s only 11 inches long, so he carefully removes the hook and drops steaks that look like they’d abandoned all hope of the fish back into the water. It floats belly-up, and ever seeing the inside of a gas grill, big shrimp from Thailand, crab from Canada, a few farmminutes later two seagulls swoop down and raised salmon steaks, and a stack of fresh cod filsquabble over the tiny prize. lets at $11.95 per pound all compete for space in We end the day with two cusk and four legal-size their bed of crushed ice. I grab a package of chicken and head for the checkout counter. redfish, which Chuck and I decide Mark should
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The Big Business of Cod The Atlantic cod was, and still is, is one of the most commercially important fish in the entire world. Although these nutritious and tasty whitefleshed bottom dwellers range throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere in cold salt waters, nowhere is their value more revered than in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Portugese, Spanish, French and English fishermen sailed to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland beginning in the early 1500s to load up on cod, which they dried or salted and brought back home to be sold for a tidy profit. In the early 1600s, Capt. John Smith launched several expeditions from England to map the east coast of America from Chesapeake Bay to Penobscot Bay, and became rich from the cod he would return with and sell. Smith’s fishing ventures off New England helped enhance the region’s early popularity, and soon British fishing colonies were established on and around Cape Ann and the islands of Monhegan and Damariscove off Maine. When explorer Batholomew Gosnold landed in New England in 1602 during an attempt to find a passage to Asia, he officially changed the name of the spit of land known as Pallavasino to Cape Cod because his ships were continually “pestered” by these fish. The Pilgrims, who arrived in 1620, had virtually no experience in fishing or even a taste for fish, but in time learned the business and soon established fishing stations along the Massachusetts coast to take advantage of the abundance of easilycaught cod. By the early 1700s fast and able fishing schooners were being built in Gloucester, and soon the fleet swelled to 400 vessels that worked the Grand Banks, Georges Bank, and the grounds in the Gulf of Maine. Copious amounts of fish were landed, and “Cod Trade” routes involving salt and dried cod, salt, sugar, tobacco, molasses, rum, and even slaves were soon established,
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connecting New England with Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. Commerce flourished and people prospered, and soon New Englanders -- British colonists -- began to suspect that they didn’t really need the supervision of England any more. The catching and trading of virtually unlimited amounts of cod, which triggered numerous political and economic skirmishes along the way, built fortunes for the new “Codfish Aristocracy” and a gilded “Sacred Cod” was even hung from the ceiling of the Boston Town Hall in 1747, a testament to the fish’s importance in New England. All this continued right up through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and into the 20th century, and in 1906 the first steam trawler was introduced. This would ultimately change everything, as codfish would no longer have anywhere to hide.
Fast Handsome, Hungry & Horny The reality is, of course, that the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is simply too busy eating or spawning to think about hiding from a net. The species, which developed into its current form about 120 million years ago, ranges in North America from Baffin Island to Cape Hatteras, but the nutrient-rich Gulf of Maine as well as Georges Bank, a shallow and fertile oval of ocean bottom some150 miles long and 75 miles lying 65 miles east of Cape Cod, hold most of the cod that exist today. This heavy-bodied groundfish, so named
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because it lives close to the sea floor or “ground,” can grow to better than 100 pounds although five- to 50-pounders are more commonly caught today. Cod migrate back and forth throughout the Gulf of Maine to feed and spawn, their routes dictated largely by the time of year, and there’s clear evidence of intermixing with the Georges Bank stock.
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Female cod are remarkably fecund. The average fish lays about one million eggs, but that jumps to three million or so when she’s 40 inches long and closer to nine million at 50 inches. The fertilized eggs are buoyant, drift with the currents, and incubate for 10 to 40 days depending on water temperature. The young cod float helplessly and are vulnerable to all sorts of predators including other finfish, birds, and jellyfish, but the few surviAnd they are -- as noted above -- a handsome fish. vors eventually work their way to the bottom and The color of their backs, upper sides, and six fins seek out areas of cobble and vegetation that will vary widely from almost black to brown to olive afford protection as they grow. If every female green to yellowish to pale gray, adorned with cod produces just two offspring that reach sexual speckles of varying colors. Bellies are whitish and maturity out of the millions of eggs she will lay in often tinted with the color of the bottom habitat her lifetime, the population will remain stable. from which they’re caught. Shallow-water “rock But that stability will only continue if at least a cercod,” which tend to be territorial rather than mi- tain percent of those cod get to remain in the wagratory, range from brown to brick red. All cod ter to spawn themselves….and that’s the rub. have a pale lateral line that stands out against the darker sides, and a fleshy barbel underneath its Too Much Tech, Not Enough chin that is thought to aid them in finding food on the bottom although these fish are thought to Fish be primarily sight-feeders By 1930 it was evident that that New England’s And if there’s one thing a cod is good at, it’s eat- groundfish fleet, now made up primarily of meching. Larval cod only six days old start chowing anized trawlers capable of towing efficient nets, down on copepods and tiny crustaceans, and as was able to catch more fish than could be rethey grow (they’ll reach six or seven inches in the placed by nature. In addition, the small mesh size first year) their diet expands to small worms, bar- of the nets captured tens of millions of juvenile nacle larvae, and a great variety of invertebrates. and thus unmarketable cod and haddock annualMature cod greedily feast on clams, mussels, cock- ly that were shoveled back overboard dead, and les, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, starfish, sea squirts, concerns about the health of the groundfish resquid, and a smorgasbord of finfish including source were soon raised. World War II reduced their own progeny. If it’s organic and will fit in its the size of the fleet somewhat as fishing boats mouth a codfish will eat it. were requisitioned for war duty, but demand for fish by the military and the general citizenry Cod also excel at spawning. In the western Gulf soared. After the war the return of the vessels to of Maine this takes place in 50 to 250 or more feet the fishery, coupled with reduced demand for of water depending on locale. Primary spawning fish, resulted in lean times for the industry and grounds include the stretch of water between sparked a number of government subsidy proCape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay, from grams that would continue for decades. about three to ten miles offshore, from December through February; the Stellwagen Bank area in The early 1960s heralded a new threat -- huge April and May; and a stretch of bottom extending foreign factory trawlers that had discovered the from Ipswich Bay up through southern Maine in abundance of groundfish on Georges Bank. December and January. Several smaller spawning These ships, capable of both catching and progrounds can be found off the southwest coast of cessing, came over from the USSR, East Germany, Maine. Spain, Poland and Japan and scooped up hundreds of thousand of tons of cod and haddock.
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that consisted of two vessels towing a huge net between them. “Back around 1979, these two boats would catch up to 50,000 pounds of cod in just a few hours, and the crews couldn’t possibly dress them so the fish came in round, many still flipping, “ recalls Ken Brown of Boothbay Harbor, where the fish were landed. “Canadian tractor-trailer trucks were waiting at the pier, and the fish disappeared down the road, load after load.” Stringent regulations to protect groundfish in Sheepcot Bay during the spawning months were finally implemented, but it was too little, too late. Years later, biologists from Maine’s Dept. of Marine Resources would issue a report concluding that the Sheepcot Bay race of cod, that A Soviet trawler is offloading its catch to a factory once populated hundreds of square miles of ocean, would perhaps never freezer ship off the New England coast in the 1960's. recover. The fish are just plain gone, the very reason Chuck, Mark, and I Some of these vessels even ventured into the Gulf were unable to catch a keeper that morning. of Maine, and by the mid-1970s the outcry from the U.S. fleet reached a crescendo. Finally, in Can We Rebuild the Stocks? 1976, Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens In the early days of the Magnuson Act, the New Act, which gave the U.S. complete control of its England Fishery Management Council attempted waters out to 200 miles. The act designated all this “new American water” as the Fishery Conser- to constrain catches through trip quotas placed on the vessels. But quotas proved unpopular with vation Zone, later renamed the Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ, and the foreign factory ships fishermen, and were soon replaced by “input were out on their collective ears. The Act also cre- controls” such as larger mesh size, increased miniated eight Regional Fishery Management Coun- mum fish sizes, and closed areas. New England’s cils around the country charged with developing cod, haddock and other groundfish didn’t seem to respond, however, so overfishing continued management plans for fisheries in the EEZ. and many stocks dwindled to a fraction of what Now that the foreigners were gone, a rush to they once were – and some actually collapsed -build newer, more powerful domestic stern trawl- while fishery managers wrestled with possible ers soon began, and it wasn’t long before U.S. solutions. fishing effort off New England actually exceeded In 1994, limits were placed on the number of that of the displaced foreign fleet, and stocks of days a vessel would be allowed to fish annually. cod, haddock and other groundfish began to These days-at-sea, as they are called, have been plummet. In one notable instance, the spring spawning aggregation of a distinct “race” of cod continually ratcheted down, and coupled with trip limits and closures have helped Gulf of Maine in the mouth of Maine’s Sheepcot River was (GOM) haddock begin to recover, but other wiped out by just two boats engaging in “pair trawling,” a now-illegal groundfishing technique stocks including GOM and Georges Bank cod,
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plus several species of flounder, still needed more 2020, is complicated and contentious, and has created some unintended problems. Large protection in order to be rebuild. draggers from New Bedford, that historically Days-at-sea and trip limits came to the point fished out on Georges Bank over 100 miles offwhere few commercial fishermen could make a shore, purchased GOM cod quota from other living, so an entirely new management plan was vessel owners and started fishing close to shore created that went into effect in 2010. Known as in the Gulf of Maine. These big boats quickly “Amendment 16,” the plan divvied up a predeter- wiped out the inshore stocks before returning to mined amount of cod among 17 “sectors,” selffish on George’s Bank, the results of which nearly managed groups of commercial vessels united by wiped out the remaining party and charter boats, geographic area or gear type, plus a “common particularly in Massachusetts, that depended on pool” of boats that do not elect to join a sector, groundfish. In addition, the sector management and a third group, recreational fishermen, that process allowed unscrupulous operators such as had been allocated 33% of the available GOM the infamous fleet operator Carlos Rafael of New cod. Bedford to falsify landing records to hide the catches of cod and other strictly regulated speThis “sector management” plan, still in effect in cies so that his boats could continue to fish for them even though the sector quota had actually been met. All of this has contributed to a lack of timely cod stock rebuilding. Now, in 2020, the overall GOM cod quota has been reduced even further in an attempt to stop the bleeding (see related article in this edition of Making Waves.) So will the cod come back? It’s hard to say. Whether they’ll ever return to the abundance of Capt. John Smith’s era, or even the plentitude of the days 250 years later when dory fishermen Asa Allard and Harland Guidry plied Georges Bank on the Lillian Emmons, is unlikely anytime soon. But there is no reason New England’s groundfish can’t be managed at sustainable levels in order to provide healthy, if modest, commercial and recreational fisheries well into the future. All we need to do is leave enough fish in the sea to “do their thing” and continually replenish themselves. It’s really just that simple.
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Updated Shark Tagging Atlas Provides More than 50 Years of Tagging and Recapture Data A citizen science program more than 50 years old has shed new light on the movements and distribution patterns of dozens of species of sharks. Courtesy NOAA Fisheries recaptured between 1962 and 2013. The sharks were found in the Atlantic Ocean and associated areas, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Participants tagged a total of 229,810 sharks of 35 species and recaptured 13,419 sharks of 31 species in that time span. The scientific journal Marine Fisheries Review recently published the data. This new atlas updates an earlier version covering 1962 to 1993 and adds information on 22 species. Detailed profiles are provided for 14 shark species, including bull and tiger sharks and smooth dogfish. The updated data significantly extended their known ranges and movements.
Long-Running Program The Cooperative Shark Tagging Program is the largest and longest-running in the world. The program is a collaborative effort among recreaAerial view of a blue shark circling a young dog- tional anglers, the commercial fishing industry, biologists, and NOAA Fisheries. Its goal is to study fish. Photo: NOAA Fisheries the life history of sharks in the Atlantic Ocean. 52-year database of the distribution and Initiated in 1962 by biologist and shark researchmovements of 35 Atlantic shark species reer John “Jack� Casey at the Northeast Fisheries vealed new information on some of the least Science Center, the original group of 74 volunknown species. It also uncovered a few surprises teer anglers began participating in the project in about where sharks go and how long they live. 1963. Since then the program has expanded to include thousands of participants along the enScientists collected data for sharks tagged and/or tire North American and European Atlantic
A
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coasts, including the Gulf of Mexico. “The program’s long-term data has shown the importance of tagging large numbers of each species and recording information in a database to determine shark movements,” said Lisa Natanson, a shark researcher in the Apex Predators Program at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center's Narragansett Laboratory in Rhode Island. For example, until the tagging program was 34 years old, no one knew that tiger sharks cross the Atlantic.
Tiger sharks have a wide range and are found close to shore and in the open ocean. Photo: NOAA Fisheries
An International Effort Anglers from 32 countries tagged sharks and persons representing 59 countries participated in returns. There are two principal types of tags: the dart or M tag, in use since 1965, and the fin or rototag, used primarily by participating biologists. Recreational fishermen, most using rod and reel, accomplished the majority of the tagging, followed by biologists using longline and net gear. Commercial fishermen using long line and net gear returned the most tags, followed closely by anglers using rod and reel. Blue sharks accounted for 51 percent of the tags at nearly 118,000, with sandbar sharks a distant second at just under 36,000. Just over 8,200 blue sharks and 1,471 sandbar sharks were recap-
tured. Of 20 tagged crocodile sharks, none were recaptured. Most species had more than 100 sharks tagged. A blue shark also set the record for traveling the greatest distance: 3,997 nautical miles. That shark was tagged off Long Island, New York and recaptured in the South Atlantic off Africa after more than 8 years. A sandbar shark holds the record for the longest time before recapture at 27.8 years.
Basking shark. Photo: NOAA Fisheries
Volunteer Citizen Scientists Atlas authors Nancy Kohler and Patricia Turner worked in the center's Apex Predators Program at the Narragansett Laboratory and are now both retired from NOAA Fisheries. They noted that the data collected through this program of citizen scientists would not have been possible for any individual, single institution or agency to accomplish. “A collective of thousands of knowledgeable volunteer recreational and commercial fishermen accomplished this for little more than the cost of the tags, making the cost/benefit ratio for this program extremely low,” according to the update authors. “The Cooperative Shark Tagging program creates an enormous body of scientific data for understanding distributions and migration patterns for shark species.”
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“Sustainable management is a dynamic process that requires the best available science," said Karyl Brewster-Geisz, a fishery management specialist with NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Sustainable Fisheries. "Data from the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program, one of the oldest shark data sets, plays an important role in establishing management measures that provide recreational and commercial fishing opportunities while preventing overfishing.” According to the authors, “Given the fact that shark species are slow growThe geographic distributions and movements for ing, long-lived, and highly mobile, with relatively most shark species—-particularly over large space low return rates for tagged sharks, continued tagand time scales—remain largely unknown, but ging efforts are essential to provide this critical life these data are filling in those gaps. This inforhistory and population dynamics information.” mation is vital for developing appropriate management strategies and determining the usefulFor more information, contact Shelley Dawicki. ness of conservation measures.
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The Buccaneer Cup Puts the Fun Back in Tournament Fishing! Sandman takes the Win in a Last Minute Leap
The
57th Annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Tournament was held January 22-25, 2020 off of Palm Beach. A total of 160 sailfish were released, The prize, a purse in excess of $250,000, the prestigious and beautiful Buccaneer Cup trophies for the top three boats, and bragging rights for placing in one of the oldest and most enduring billfish tournaments in the world. Add to that the knowledge that the tour-
nament proceeds benefits the Recreational Fishing Alliance and The Billfish Foundation, made the event all that more important. Teams fish a format giving them the choice to fish any two out of three possible days. With a cold front pushing through just before the first day, teams were rewarded with steady fishing. Although damp conditions put a damper on day two a northwest wind kept the bite consistent through lines out
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on the last day. Courtney Bowden, currently in her seventh year as director of the Buc Cup, did a spectacular job running one of the best-organized and classiest billfish tournaments on the east coast. Along with her team of volunteers and committee members including staff from the RFA and TBF, she has made the Buc one of the most exciting and talked about tournaments of the season. The comradery displayed by the teams in attendance proved to everyone that the Buc Cup is most definitely back! Having team after team noting this was the most Wicked Wahine slayed day one with consistent fun tournament they had fished in a while. releases and 2400 points on dead bait. Team Two The tournament opened with the Captains meetCats was not far behind having consistent days ing on Wednesday, Jan. 22 held outdoors at the on one and two. But Sandman is the team who recently completed private Tiki Bar at the Rycame out on top with a total of 2800 points on bovich Marine Center (North). The meeting was sponsored by Yamaha, the Viking Yacht Company live bait taking the lead in the last hour of the tournament and taking home over $131,900! In and HMY Yacht Sales. Robert “Fly” Navarro emaddition to the top three teams, Team Good Call, ceed the event, with his signature electric energy. took home the first ever sailfish tagging award Although it was cold and damp, participants with a total of 7 tags deployed safely and in acraved about the pig roast dinner, texting Bowden, cordance with TBF guidelines. History was also “it was the best food they have ever had at a Captains meeting”. A few changes in were made for made by Jill Yates, of The Eights Eights who became not only our top female angler but also the 2020 adding an all-new TBF tagging category TOP OVERALL ANGLER of the tournament, makand junior angler award. The meeting included ing her the first female top overall angler in the raffle items provided by the long list of tournahistory of the Buccaneer Cup. ment sponsors, featuring: Engel Coolers filled with goodies, Costa del Mar sunglasses, Maxel Reels, lures, AFTCO, Hi-Liner Offshore Tackle, Grand Slam Sport Fishing, Avid sportswear, Outrigger Yacht Products, Kohler, Kraft Power and Mustad to name a few. Time for competition! The majority of the fleet decided to fish on Day One, and lay on Friday. Leaving Saturday which, based on the forecast, held the best conditions of the three available fishing days. Tournament Director (Bowden) wrote; “This year each day was a wild card. And we never knew who would pull into the lead at any point. The
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The top angler trophies went to Jill Yates on the Eight Eights, who also took home the top female angler award.
competing and in comparison to other sailfish tournaments you do a top-notch job. Bravo to you and your volunteer staff”. – Juan Ruiz (Team Gypsea)
“What a fantastic event this was! We were so incredibly happy to be a part of a very prestigious venue with great fishermen! The Buccaneer Cup is a high-class event and we loved being a part of it. Thank you, Courtney for a spectacular event – we will see you next year!” – Frank Fini & Gerrard Weigold (Double Dia“We had a phenomenal group of competitors mond/ Outnumbered) and teams this year! History was made, fishing was consistent and you certainly won’t find any “Thank you for putting on an awesome weekend other tournament having this much fun on the for us, we all had a blast. And, the best food I’ve ever had at a captains meeting too. This will sureradio” said Bowden. ly be one of our regular yearly tournaments To add to the excitement, Sportfish Outfitters pro- now.” – Taylor Sanford vided a chase boat for one day and the Buccaneer Marina generously donated the use of their Awards: helicopter and pilot for the official photographer, Top 3 teams in order were Sandman, Wicked Steve Momot of @ah360views to take aerial pho- Wahine, Two Cats. The Buccaneer Cup Tournatos of the fleet on the final fishing day! And what ment cash award for the Most Points on Live Bait an exceptionally beautiful day it was! ($10,000) went to the Sandman, which pocketed Most Points on Dead Bait The winning teams flooded The Sailfish Club of $131,950 total. Florida on Palm Beach Island, Saturday Jan. 25 to ($10,000) went to Wicked Wahine, the team rereceive their awards and celebrate with a full surf ceiving a check for $24,580 in total purse for their and turf buffet that the historical club is known win. The InTheBite Top Captain cup was awarded for, seating over 250 guests for the awards din- to Captain John Dudas, who led team Sandman ners and taking home some very large checks to victory. and the coveted Buccaneer Cups!
New for 2020 the TBF top tagging team was “Thanks for putting on a great tournament! It’s awarded to Team Good Call with 7 total tags succome a long way in the past few years thanks to cessfully and safely deployed with video validayour dedication. Well done!” – Richard Robinson tion. (Southern Run) The awards dinner was emceed by Robert “Fly” “Just wanted to congratulate you on an amazing Navarro and Courtney Bowden. job coordinating the Buc Cup. It was my first time
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Team Sandman took home the took home the top boat prize along with a pile of Calcutta money totaling $131,950!
Pat Healey, President of Viking Yachts and member of the RFA Board of Directors, welcomed participants and spoke on the importance of the support we as an industry receive from the RFA. Pat presented Ellen Peel of the Billfish Foundation with a check to aid the organization in its ongoing efforts to advance the science used for billfish management and assessment. Great strides are being made by both organizations to ensure the longevity of our fisheries and industry. The awards banquet was sponsored by MTU Marine Power, Florida Detroit Diesel Allison, and Johnson and Towers.
American Custom Yachts, Akzo Nobel-Interlux Paint, Seakeeper, Garmin, Kohler, Electrosea, Sportfish Outfitters, Christi/Travelers Insurance, Atlantic Marine Electronics, American Fishing Wire/Hi-Seas, Release Marine, Reel Time Apps, Rybovich Marina, and Outrigger Marine Products.
This event would not be possible without the generous support of its sponsors including YAMAHA OUTBOARDS, MTU Diesel, Florida Detroit Diesel Allison, Johnson & Towers, Viking Yachts, Viking Service Center, HMY Yacht Sales, The Buccaneer Marina, C. Nicklaus Starling, Jupiter Beach Spa & Resort, Downey Yachts, Contender Boats,
561-909-7868 ¡ director@buccaneercup.com
We look forward to seeing all our teams and more next year for the prestigious 58th Buccaneer Cup where we hope to make sportfishing history again. 2021 Dates TBA. For more information please contact: Courtney Bowden, Tournament Director
Resource links: Photos: https://Drop Box - Buc Cup 2020 Media Photos Buccaneer Cup History and Program: https://issuu.com/recreationalfishingalliance/docs /57_buc_cup_program
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NEWS & VIEWS Striped Bass Season for the Roanoke Opened RALEIGH, N.C. — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will open the entire Roanoke River Management Area to striped bass harvest from March 1 through April 30, unless closed or extended through proclamation. The Roanoke River Management Area includes the Roanoke River and tributaries from Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam downstream to Albemarle Sound, including the Cashie, Middle and Eastmost rivers.
from the Roanoke River and also the Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. These sampling updates will be supplemented with information on striped bass fishing and boating access areas on the Commission’s fishing page.
About the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission
Since 1947, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has been dedicated to the conservation and sustainability of the state’s fish and wildlife resources through research, scientific management, wise use and public input. The Commission is the state regulatory agency responsible for the The daily creel limit within the Roanoke River Management Area is two striped bass per angler. enforcement of fishing, hunting, trapping and boating laws and provides programs and opporThe minimum length limit is 18 inches, and no tunities for wildlife-related educational, recreastriped bass between 22 and 27 inches can be possessed at any time. Only one striped bass larg- tional and sporting activities. er than 27 inches can be included in the daily creel limit.
Snook Season Opens in Florida
Anglers are required to use a single barbless hook or a lure with a single barbless hook when The recreational harvest season for snook opens fishing in the upper Roanoke River from April 1 March 1 in some Gulf waters, including Escambia through June 30. The upper Roanoke River is defined as the main river channel and all tributaries, upstream from the U.S. Highway 258 Bridge near Scotland Neck to Roanoke Rapids Lake Dam. Additionally, anglers cannot possess river herring (blueback herring and alewife) greater than six inches, regardless of origin, while fishing in or boating on the Roanoke River downstream of Roanoke Rapids Dam, its tributaries and the Albemarle Sound. From early March until the end of May, the Commission will post online weekly fisheries reports
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through Hernando counties, and waters south of Gordon Pass in Collier County through Monroe County (also includes Everglades National Park). Snook remains catch-and-release only in state waters from the Hernando/Pasco county line south through Gordon Pass in Collier County (includes all of Pasco County, Tampa Bay and Hillsborough County) through May 31, 2021, in response to the impacts of a prolonged red tide that occurred in late 2017 through early 2019. Because snook has a May 1-Aug. 31 annual season closure, this species would reopen Sept. 1, 2021. Unique to the region, snook are one of the many reasons Florida is the Fishing Capital of the World. Seasonal harvest closures and anglers using proper handling methods when practicing catch-and-release help conserve Florida’s valuable snook populations and can ensure the species’ abundance for anglers today and generations to come. To learn more and see a video about catch-and-release fishing and the best way to handle a fish, visit MyFWC.com/Marine and click on “Recreational Regulations” and then “Fish Handling Tips.”
Sustainable Management Means We Can have our Tuna and Eat it Too
That value may sound low to those who’ve read about bluefin selling for millions or watched popular fishing shows touting higher prices for this species. As with any product, the value of bluefin will fluctuate with demand, quantity, and quality. Commercial marketing and traditions like celebrating the first bluefin purchased each year can also drive up prices in limited situations. But the million-dollar price tags occasionally reported are far from the norm. In fact, the median value a bluefin tuna in 2018 was just over $2,000.
Once harvested at too high a rate, Atlantic bluefin tuna today are not subject to overfishing thanks to our comprehensive, sustainable management. Bluefin tuna is often used as a poster species for the impacts of overfishing. But we have good news for seafood lovers eyeing bluefin sashimi at their local sushi restaurant: U.S.caught Atlantic bluefin tuna is a sustainable food choice. A Valuable Resource Bluefin tuna are some of the most valuable fish in the Atlantic. In 2017 alone, U.S. commercial fishermen generated an estimated $9.6 million in revenue from harvesting bluefin. That year, fishermen earned an estimated $6.45 for every pound Atlantic bluefin tuna are also a coveted recreational species that support millions of dollars in of bluefin they harvested–more than any other economic value each year. A 2015 study conAtlantic tuna. ducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Scienc-
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es analyzed recreational anglers’ willingness to pay for bluefin tuna trips. The results showed that the private boat bluefin tuna fishery had an estimated value of $14 million that year. Comprehensive Management We want to ensure the demand for Atlantic bluefin tuna doesn’t lead to overfishing. That’s why we oversee, in collaboration with the international community, one of the most comprehensive and responsive fishery management systems in the world. For example, our rules restrict commercial fishermen targeting bluefin to hand gears like rod and reel and harpoon. We also enforce retention limits specific to gears, locations, and fish sizes and close commercial fisheries seasonally throughout the year if needed.
Making Waves Spring 2020
by 65 percent—or more than 330,000 pounds— compared to the three years before. That success comes from making commercial fishermen accountable for reducing bluefin bycatch. It’s also why we are now exploring lifting now redundant limits on where vessels can fish. We’re also considering changing when Gulf of Mexico fishermen are required to use weak hooks. These are designed to reduce bluefin bycatch but have been shown to actually increase unintentional white marlin catches. Our proposed changes would balance these impacts by requiring weak hooks only when bluefin tuna are more likely to be in the Gulf. Every Atlantic bluefin tuna caught through the program or in any other domestic fishery is fitted with a uniquely numbered tag specific to the dealer who bought it. Exported tuna are also assigned an identification number by the Electronic Bluefin Tuna Catch Documentation System. All bluefin tuna brought into the United States from any other country are entered into the system as well. These tools allow us to trace Atlantic bluefin tuna—regardless of where it was caught—from vessel to market.
“Our management approach balances the health of fish populations with the need to provide as many commercial and recreational fishing opportunities as possible,” said Randy Blankinship, who leads the group responsible for managing bluefin tuna in the Atlantic. “Seasonal closures and retention limits are important tools to maintain that balance. They can allow us to extend fishing opportunities throughout the year without causing We see the impacts of our sustainable manageoverfishing.” ment in population assessments. A 2017 report In addition to these tried-and-true fishery management techniques, we also enforce innovative from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) indicated that bycatch reduction and trade programs. These the western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock is not exsafeguard the western Atlantic bluefin stock while providing commercial and recreational fish- periencing overfishing. The stock’s overfished status is unknown due to scientific uncertainties. ing opportunities. The Individual Bluefin Tuna Quota Program creates an economic incentive for fishermen to use their expertise to avoid interactions with bluefin. It applies to fishermen targeting swordfish and other tunas with pelagic longline gear. Every bluefin landed or discarded dead is deducted from a vessel’s account balance. This balance has to stay above a minimum amount in order to pursue the desired species. If a vessel falls below its quota, it won’t be allowed to set off on a longline fishing trip unless the owners lease some quota from others in the fleet. Since it was implemented in 2015, the program has reduced the average annual bluefin bycatch
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However, scientists estimate that the total weight other circumstances beyond the control of fishery of the western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock has managers, resulting in sudden and unexpected losses within the fishery and leading to serious been increasing since approximately 2004. economic impacts to those who rely on them. “When seafood consumers purchase Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the United States, they’re supporting robust environmental standards that bolster both bluefin populations and our economy,” said Blankinship.
NOAA Fisheries used commercial revenue loss information to allocate funding among the eligible disasters. NOAA Fisheries also took into consideration traditional uses that cannot be accounted for in commercial revenue loss alone.
Secretary of Commerce Allocates $65 Million for Fishery Disasters
The allocated funds can be used to help the fishing community including commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, charter businesses, shoreside infrastructure, and subsistence users, as well as improve the fishing ecosystem and environment. These funds will improve the long term economic and environmental sustainability of the impacted fisheries. Activities that can be considered for funding include infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and fishing permit buybacks, and job retraining. In addition, some of the affected fishing communities may be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration or other Federal agencies.
Funds provided to support communities impacted by fishery disasters between 2017 and 2019. Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $65 million to communities in Alaska, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and the Yurok Tribe (California) that suffered fishery disasters between 2017 and 2019. “These funds help impacted fisheries recover from recent disasters and make them more resilient to future challenges,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This allocation supports the hardworking American fishing communities suffering from impacts beyond their control.” Fisheries play a critical role for coastal economies, providing jobs for fishermen, fish processors, and other related maritime industries. However, fisheries can experience natural disaster events and
U.S. Achievements at ICCAT Include Measures to Address Overfishing of Marlin Measures to reduce juvenile mortality of big eye tuna and advance observer safety also adopted. Read more in this leadership message from Drew Lawler, United States Commissioner to the Inter-
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national Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. The United States achieved several victories for our commercial and recreational fisheries at the 2019 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Mallorca, Spain, which ended November 26, 2019. The U.S. delegation was central to the negotiations to address juvenile mortality of overfished big eye tuna through increases in fish aggregating devices (FADs) closure periods Atlanticwide as well as a reduction in the total allowable catch. Of particular note was a win for observer safety, an issue that NOAA has long been advancing in multiple regional fisheries management organizations.
Making Waves Spring 2020
tuna and includes measures to protect juvenile bigeye and yellowfin, including an Atlantic-wide closure of fish aggregating devices (FADs) and reduced FAD deployment limits. Prior to this meeting, the FAD closure was limited to the Gulf of Guinea only for 2 months and we were able to extend it to Atlantic-wide for 2 months in 2020 and 3 months in 2021.
We anticipate this will reduce juvenile mortality of bigeye and enable the stock to begin rebuilding. Rebuilding Programs for Atlantic Blue Marlin and White Marlin The Commission adopted a measure cosponsored by the United States to implement rebuilding programs for Atlantic blue marlin and white marlin stocks including TACs consistent with scientific advice. This success reduces the TAC for blue marlin from 2000t to 1,670t.
The Commission adopted a measure to reduce the total allowable catch for blue marlin and white marlin, both of which have been overfished for years. This measure will end overfishing Protection of Observers of these magnificent species and allow for the reAs initially proposed by the United States, building of the stock. measures were passed to protect the safety of obWhile we are thrilled to get our measure passed servers in ICCAT’s regional observer programs to end overfishing of marlin, we had also hoped and which harmonized with global initiatives adto get progress on shortfin Mako. The United dressing observer safety. States advanced a no retention measure that ofOther U.S. Priorities fered an incentive to member nations if they reduced their mortality of shortfin mako by 80%, Several other U.S. priorities were addressed at the which would have resulted in less mortality than 2019 ICCAT meeting, including: a simple no retention policy. Unfortunately, we could not gain the required consensus. • A one-year extension of current management measures for North Atlantic shortfin mako shark Significant U.S. Achievements while the Commission works toward adoption of a comprehensive rebuilding program. Modernization of Fisheries Management Comprehensive amendments were made to the 50-year-old ICCAT Convention to bring it into line with modern fisheries management standards, clarify ICCAT’s mandate to manage sharks, and ensure that all key fleets targeting ICCAT species are bound by its rules. Conservation and Management Plan for Bigeye and Yellowfin Tuna A conservation and management plan for tropical tunas was adopted which will reduce the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for overfished bigeye
• Precautionary TACs for North and South Atlantic blue shark. • A roadmap for management strategy evaluation (MSE), proposed by the United States, that outlines next steps for northern swordfish, northern albacore, bluefin, and tropical tunas MSE. • A stock assessment update scheduled for eastern and western Atlantic bluefin tuna in 2020 to provide scientific advice for 2021 and 2022.
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management measures in 2019.
Managing Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish, and billfish presents unique challenges. These species can travel vast distances across state and international borders to find food or reproduce. Highly migratory species (HMS) are also some of the most economically important fish in the Atlantic. Managing them sustainably requires collaboration and the best available science. We took important steps in 2019 to prevent overfishing of HMS while providing commercial and recreational fishing opportunities. Read more about some of these successes below.
Historic Agreement Brings Sharks Under Stronger International Management In November, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) took the first steps toward establishing international
2019 Sees Sustainability Successes for Atlantic HMS A look back at important scientific findings and
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management of open-ocean and highly migratory sharks and rays. The commission adopted amendments to its 50-year-old agreement that clarifies its authority to manage these species. The decision, endorsed by 53 countries, concludes a 10-year negotiation led by the United States.
Making Waves Spring 2020
Co-sponsored by the United States, the measure is expected to end overfishing and allow the stock to rebuild. U.S. recreational anglers have only been able to keep a combined total of 250 blue marlin, white marlin, and roundscale spearfish each year since 2001. And commercial fishermen are not allowed to fish for any billfish. Thanks to these wellestablished conservation measures, the new Atlantic-wide catch limit will not require U.S. fishermen to catch fewer marlin.
The amendments establish a strong foundation for precautionary and ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. Once implemented, they are expected to ensure that all countries with shark fisheries will be required to meet ICCAT conservation measures—just as countries have to do with other ICCAT-managed fish- Catch Share Program Successfully Reeries like Atlantic bluefin tuna and white marlin. duced Bluefin Bycatch ICCAT also adopted new limits on the number of North Atlantic blue sharks that major fishing nations can catch each year. The decision won’t affect American fishermen since the United States has already set similar limits. This new measure will help hold other ICCAT members accountable to agreed limits and support long-term sustainability.
We conducted a formal review this year of our Individual Bluefin Quota Program. Launched in 2015, the program gives fishermen using pelagic longline gear an economic incentive to avoid interactions with bluefin tuna. That allows us to reduce the number of bluefin caught unintentionally while keeping longline fishermen on the water.
Learn more about U.S. achievements at ICCAT
And it worked. The program reduced the average annual bluefin bycatch by 65 percent compared to the three years before it began. That’s about 330,000 pounds—or around four fully loaded semitrucks—less bycatch each year.
Lower Total Allowable Catch for Marlin Will Spur Rebuilding
The number of blue marlin that countries can fish from the Atlantic will be lower in 2020. ICCAT There is more work to be done to ensure our regulations are effective in both maintaining the bluefin population and supporting the fishing industry. But it’s clear that this program has successfully made commercial fishermen accountable for reducing bluefin bycatch. Learn more about our review of the Individual Bluefin Quota Program
members agreed in November to reduce the annual total allowable catch for all Atlantic blue marlin to 1,670 tonnes. That’s 330 tonnes less than in past years.
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Chairman Robert T. Healey Jr.
Viking Group
Treasurer John Kasinski
Viking Yacht Company
Board Members Bob Healey, Sr. Pat Healey Nick Cicero Mike Leech Nate Odum Andrew Semprevivo Tony Novelli Jim Motsko Mark Odom Carl T. Huffman Bob Flocken Martin Peters Libby Yranski Bob Shomo Jr. Andy Dormois
Viking Yacht Company Viking Yacht Company Folsom Corporation World Cup Blue Marlin Tournament Mexico Beach Marina & Outfitters Seakeeper, Inc. Contender Boats Ocean City White Marlin Open Main Street Properties Elec-Tra-Mate, Inc Hi-Liner/Diamond Fishing Products Yamaha Marine Group National Marine Manufacturers Assn. Johnson and Towers Inc AmeraTrail Trailers
M A K I N G
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The Official Publication of the Recreational Fishing Alliance
The RFA Mission Safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers Protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs Ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation’s fisheries. Anti-fishing groups and radical environmentalists are pushing their agenda on marine fisheries issues affecting you. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is in the trenches too, lobbying, educating decision makers and ensuring that the interests of America’s coastal fishermen are being heard loud and clear. Incorporated in 1996 as a 501c4 national, grassroots political action organization, RFA represents recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues on every coast, with state chapters established to spearhead the regional issues while building local support. “The biggest challenge we face is the fight to reform and bring common sense and sound science into the fisheries management process," says James Donofrio, RFA founder and Executive Director. “Anti-fishing and extreme environmental groups are working everyday to get us off the water.” Despite the threats to diminish access to our nation’s resources, Donofrio says that RFA offers members hope in an organization that’s designed from the ground up to fight back. “As individuals, our concerns will simply not be heard; but as a united group, we can and do stand up to anyone who threatens the sport we enjoy so much – fishing!” After nearly 20 years working inside the Beltway and within state capitols along the coast, RFA has become known as one of the nation’s most respected lobbying organizations, and our members have a lot to celebrate.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance Headquarters P.O. Box 3080 New Gretna, New Jersey 08224 Phone: 1-888-JOIN RFA toll free Fax: (609) 294-3812
Jim Donofrio Executive Director
John DePersenaire Managing Director
Gary Caputi Corp. Relations Director
Barry Gibson New England Director
Jim Martin West Coast Director
Sharon Scaltrito Office Manager
