My Report from DC

[Ron.38 Special]

The commercial perspective as I understand it:

The best argument presented by the commercial fishing industry for fishing in the closed zone is quite simple actually. US can’t meet our quota so the comms are looking for a quick bump in the total catch in the next 18 months so they can go to ICCAT in 2008 and show that we are making significant progress toward the increase in our catch rate, therefore we need to keep all of our quota.

In making this argument, the commercial fishing industry is ignoring how they really got to this point in the first place. There is no doubt that the closed zones caused some decrease in the catch rate by the PLL’s. But what were they really catching out here anyhow? The best available information indicates that the average fish is much smaller in the closed zone than for instance in the Grad Banks fishery. At the A/P meetings we had one report from a PLL that works the Grand Banks that indicate the average core weight was 120#’s this year, and several trips averaged as high as 220# average core weight.

This is a real fishery and extended effort in that area will put some real tonnage on the board. Fishing the closed zone will produce fish averaging 50# core weight so the catch rate will have to be four times as many fish per set to match the tonnage being boated in the Northern fishery.

The commercial fishery is looking for something like 350 to 500 tons of additional fish before our next ICCAT review. They ignore the fact that if we fish the closed zone, not only will we have the issue with average fish size, but we will must realize that not everything they catch will be extra to the quota. The only increase in the take toward the quota is the additional fish caught by the vessels. If they were not in the closed zone catching fish, they would be fishing somewhere else so you have to subtract the fish they are missing somewhere else to get to the real increase in catch.

The longline fleet last caught the US quota in 1997. Since that time, less than half of the PLL’s are still on the water. Of those, crew problems, captain problems , volatile fish process, and a host of other problems affect the total US catch.

No matter what the commercial fishing industry does, they will not catch the US quota this year, next year, or anything in the near future. The idea is to simply buy time and extend the US ownership of our quota as long as possible.

So what happens if we loose quota?

Its actually not if we loose the quota, but when we will loose the quota. Last year at ICCAT, the US gave away underage from previous years in the amount of something like 2000 tons. Some of that quota went to Caribbean nations who are now developing a longline fishery. Once they start development of their fishery, they have their foot in the door and will demand quota in the future. So we can expect over the near future, some increase in effort in the Caribbean and Western Gulf of Mexico by foreign fleets including Mexico and Belize. This does not mean anyone will be allowed in the US EEZ. Some of the greatest risk is that during the development of the fishery in the Caribbean, some countries may lease their quota to Nations like Tiawan or Spain and have the “rape the Ocean” mentality come with them. This isn’t good for billfish, swordfish, tuna or anything else that swims, but again, it won’t be in our EEZ.

What about the Science?

The PLL industry got a spanking from us last time they wanted to try Exept fishing in th closed zone. Last time they tried it they use the similar “Research” angle to try to get in. They were told at that time that plenty of unprotected water existed for research and apparently they decided to do nothing rather that experimentally fish in open zones.

Now they come back with the same old flawed plan but they admitted in DC that the real reason is simply to catch the quota.

This is not what the exempt fishery permit was supposed to be about.

What do the scientists say?

One thing I did hear in DC was that the impact of PLLs to the North is less than if they were to the South since most of our new fish come from the South. Of course the Southward migration of big fish would certainly be impacted by PLL’s to the North.


So What really happened in DC.

As you guys know, we were hit with the new EFP applications as we were packing to head to DC. Immediately upon settling in, the Blue Water Fishermens Association began lobbying anyone from Florida with any knowledge of the rec fishery. As you know we had both commercial reps and Recreational reps from Florida.

Blue Water does a good job of preparing their members for the meeting. They update them on the issues before hand, and they make sure the commercial industry has a representative at every table and near every recreational rep.

In several meetings, the Blue Water reps tried to influence our opinion on the EFP, with little progress. We have heard the story before, and we probably had our minds made up before we got there. The offer is anything they can chum us up with like, “We’;; get rid of the bouys, We’ll stop anymore bouys, We promise to never come any closer, etc.

An offer was even made to the RFA to not fish PLL’s in th area of the Big Rock and Mid Atlantic Tournaments for a few weeks before. No bites, No deal.

The biggest and most vocal opponent of the closure with the exception of the Florida recreational delegation is Jim Donofrio with the RFA. He is relentless in his opposition of anhy changes to the closed zone and he fights a good battle in DC. Before the swordfish workshops, he was very vocal.

So then came those swordfish workshops. This is where Skip Smith and I felt like we had been fed to the bears. By the time these important issues came up, most of the recreational reps left, and many of the Enviro’s left. If was really down to myself and Skip to protect the closed zone. RFA was gone, but left a one line statement for Skip to read, Ken Hillman with the NCMC, who’s lawsuit started the closed zone to begin with, was gone, and the remaining recs didn’t speak up, or didn’t know the issues. Skip and I carried the ball and fought for the continued closure with a lot of good arguments. We then took the burnt of the commercial attack, something I’m not sure I was ready for. It sure would have been better if the remaining recs and enviro’s had stood common ground on the issues but it didn’t happen.

And CCA, where were they???? Bob Hayes walked in for aobut 10 minutes on Wednesday, apparently had a personal meeting with Dr. Hogarth that afternoon and then never came back. What exactly is the position of the CCA, RFA has made it very clear they will fight this with their best weapons, but CCA was siltent.

At the end of our presentation, we were able to get Tim Palmer up to talk about bouys and we let them know what kind of BS this bouy research is going to be. If we are going to characterize the bouy gear fishery, then we should study it the way its being fished, and not some other technique. This could be the start of more bad science we will have to defend against in the future. If they study the real facts, we can deal with it in a professional manner, but we don’t want to deal with BS. Hopefully we can influence this study before it gets out of hand.

My Opinion

The commercial fishing industry give us lip service about their respect of the recreational perspective. They are courting us so they can slip it too us when it counts. I truly don’t believe this industry really cares about the health of the fishery, only about catching some quick bucks and moving on. They would have no problem if our rec fishery collapsed and they had to move to other waters in a couple of years.

The commercial fishing industry is fighting a loosing battle. No matter what they do, we’re loosing quota and nothing they can do at this late time will stop it.

In the late 90’s the commercial PLL industry soundly supported a buy out of the permits and vessels so how committed are they to this quota BS and the underlying issue of US ownership of our fish. They voted to give up and quit once but want the Us taxpayers to line their pockets one more time before they go.

Recreational fishing may contribute as much as 250 tons to the US catch , but we are dismal in our reporting. If we did nothing but reported every fish we catch, we would do more for the US quota than the remaining lonline fleet could ever do. We need true legitimate recognition of the fishery and we can only get it by reporting.

In their quick fix,or band-aid approach, the PLL industry completely ignore any impact they will have on the hopefully stabilizing Whit Marlin fishery. We know the area they want to fish is ripe with Whites in the spring and we know an offset circle hook is just a J hook in disguise. But we are supposed to ignore this fact and let them fish? It doesn’t make good sense from a fishery management perspective of a conservation perspective.

What’s happening now?

A group from LHP has taken this issue to Ron Klien and he is listening. We believe he is going to write a letter to Hogarth trying to stop this joke before no one is laughing.

You guy’s out there need to keep writing emails and letters. Apparently emails work, but letters work better and I don’t mean form letters. Tell it like you see it and let our feeling be known in DC.

There is the possibility of further meetings with NMFS between the Recs and Comms regarding this issue but I am afraid it will simply be more attempt to put us on the spot with no real change in the commercial position.

The recreational fishery is not about to budge on this one and if we go down, we will go down fighting.

[bullfighter]

Thanks for the update.

Two questions:
1) Are the experimental permits a done deal?
2) If so, when, where, and how will they be fished?

[Verado06]

Thanks for the update Ron.

Will the experiement permits be using longline gear or the buoy gear?

[DonK]

Ron.38, thank you for your ongoing efforts and for providing status reports. We (those of us who cannot be more overtly active) are fortunate to have you looking out for us. Futhermore thanks for continually giving us tips, suggestions, and direction on what we CAN do to help!

[The BEAST]

Originally Posted by Ron.38 Special

The commercial fishing industry give us lip service about their respect of the recreational perspective. They are courting us so they can slip it too us when it counts. I truly don’t believe this industry really cares about the health of the fishery, only about catching some quick bucks and moving on. They would have no problem if our rec fishery collapsed and they had to move to other waters in a couple of years.

Thanks Ron,

How ironic that I posted that exact opinion yesterday. When it comes to the commercial mentality, you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[CaptKen]

Great Job Ron and Skip !
Keep fighting and never give up !
We Love you guys !

[catching]

Thanks for the update Ron

[Ron.38 Special]

EFP's are not a done deal!

Write you comments to NMFS, write your congressman, write everyone. Letters and emails have a lot of weight in DC. But if you can influence a politician to write a letter, it can start a chain of events the commerical industry cannot fight.

If we did nothing, the PLL's would hve been fishing before the end of April. With our very loud voice, we can stop this before it happens.

[Another Grand]

Awesome post.....great job

[LIGHTS OUT]

Thanks for the update and for all of your efforts.

[Gaitor]

Thanks Ron and Skip
As Jim observed earlier in this thread .... we could tell from your updates where the commercial guys were really coming from on this attempt to get their foot back in the door (under the guise of "research"). It really wasn't about Iccat either ... it was about getting into an area where they could catch more fish (albeit smaller), with more table-sized steaks, and closer to shore so they could save money on gas, and thus increase profitability. That's my take on the situation.

[Broadbill-Pro]

Ron's post was accurate with the exception of the exaggerated strength of the recreational sector at the meeting. The over-whelming opinion of the 30+ HMS-AP Members was not in favor of reserving a rebuilt fishery for one user group.

Ron, Skip, Jim Donofrio, Ken Hillman were for the most part the only vocal represenitives for the Recreational sector. There is no doubt in my mind that each of those voices speaks for many recreational fisherman, but to be clear there was no spanking of commercial interests going on. If anyone got spanked it was Ron and Skip when the rest bailed out on them.

You guys should be proud to have Ron and Skip on your side, they bring good points to the table even if they are based more on emotion than science.

[quack quack]

We need to thank Tim Palmer for his help as well

[Broadbill]

An offer was even made to the RFA to not fish PLL’s in th area of the Big Rock and Mid Atlantic Tournaments for a few weeks before. No bites, No deal.

How do they make comments like this and then act like their bycatch is minimal and has no effect on anything. Obvioulsy if they make an offer to stay away from two of the biggest billfish tournaments in the world for two weeks they know how much damage they are doing. Why is it so hard for people to look at this and see how detrimental it is????

Thanks to Ron and Skip for all the effort and help!

[Broadbill]

An offer was even made to the RFA to not fish PLL’s in th area of the Big Rock and Mid Atlantic Tournaments for a few weeks before. No bites, No deal.

How do they make comments like this and then act like their bycatch is minimal and has no effect on anything. Obvioulsy if they make an offer to stay away from two of the biggest billfish tournaments in the world for two weeks they know how much damage they are doing. Why is it so hard for people to look at this and see how detrimental it is????

Thanks to Ron, Tim and Skip for all the effort and help!

[Broadbill-Pro]

Originally Posted by Broadbill

An offer was even made to the RFA to not fish PLL’s in th area of the Big Rock and Mid Atlantic Tournaments for a few weeks before. No bites, No deal.

How do they make comments like this and then act like their bycatch is minimal and has no effect on anything. Obvioulsy if they make an offer to stay away from two of the biggest billfish tournaments in the world for two weeks they know how much damage they are doing. Why is it so hard for people to look at this and see how detrimental it is????

Thanks to Ron, Tim and Skip for all the effort and help!

Correction - In the spirit of compromise I asked Jim Donofrio what the RFA would like to see in order to strike a compromise with the commercial sector, his comment was that staying away from those 2 tournaments would be a start. BWFA did not see that as a problem. In no way, shape or form did BWFA bring that to the table as a bargaining tool. This comment was made outside of the meetings. Skip, Ron, Tim, Rich BWFA, Don L/P and I were at the table when this (suggestion) was raised by the RFA.

Amazing how words get twisted.

[Another Grand]

Originally Posted by Broadbill-Pro

Ron's post was accurate with the exception of the exaggerated strength of the recreational sector at the meeting. The over-whelming opinion of the 30+ HMS-AP Members was not in favor of reserving a rebuilt fishery for one user group.

If the over-whelming opinion of the 30+ HMS-AP Members was not in favor of reserving a rebuilt fishery for one user group, how could they be in favor of exploiting it for the gains of maybe 20 people at most. I ask you how many user groups there are? The commercial arguments.."so that we can reach our quota" and "for scientific purposes" are getting a little old, and are unfounded at best. Reserving the fishery would mean that recreational fisherman are the only one allowed to swordfish, this is not the type of reserving that we are talking about, we are talking about keeping a vital area closed so that the stocks arent decimated. The commercial sector keeps alluding that what they are doing is for the best of the fishery so that we as a country can reach our ICCAT quota. If the commerical sector is so worried about our ICCAT quota, why not petition for more LL permits for more boats to go fish other areas. An increase in LL boats in other parts of the Atlantic off of Florida's coast is a viable alternative, perhaps you should push for that. Surely swordfish abound in other places besides the Florida straights and the areas immediately North and South, that is no secret. You guys can go fish wherever you want...in fact, you can do all the "scientific testing" you want....just not in the closed zone. There are areas of the United States protected by the environmental park service, Riley's hump west of the Fort is closed to fishing, etc. These type closures are necessary to protect fisheries. The mullet populations were unable to sustain gillnet fishing during their migration, why is it so hard to see that swordfish are in the same boat.

Perhaps the commercial sector is the one that is underestimating the power of the recreational sector. We are comprise of Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, the wealthy and the poor, the young and the old. We are under represented at those meetings, not because we lack power or voice, simply due to the adverse manner in which the meetings are set up by the fisheries people, and the distorted viewpoint of the fisheries people in determining whose voice is of importance. It is my viewpoint that an informed weekend angler should have just a much credibility as a life time commercial swordfisherman.

Your commercial interests are many years deep in organization of people to represent and defend your views. Contrastingly, while the fishery existed, the recreational fishery and our need for organized representation is relatively new. The majority of the recreational people out there fishing have been doing it for less than 5 years. With each attempt to get back in the closed area you are just making us stronger and more unified. While it may have been just Skip, Tim, and Ron this time, each time it will be a larger, stronger, and more informed opposition you face if the masses of people have access to the information, such as that contained in Ron's post.

[The BEAST]

This subject should, in actuality, be brought to national attention. The last time that happened the Swordfish market hit the bottom in sales. Don't limit our resource to only the rec fisherman because there are many NON fishing people out there who have and would once again stand by the right to keep a healthy fishery from depletion.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[The BEAST]

Originally Posted by Another Grand

If the over-whelming opinion of the 30+ HMS-AP Members was not in favor of reserving a rebuilt fishery for one user group, how could they be in favor of exploiting it for the gains of maybe 20 people at most.

Johnny,

This is a gross misconception that they dwell on. A bogus point! If I'm not mistaken don't we have commercial guys fishing buoy gear out there?????? Our major complaint is that we don't want the PLL's back and limited buoy permits also.

So in truth, the commercial sector is represented in the "zone", just not the ones that BWFA wants in here.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST