Gulf anglers finally catch a break

Fall red snapper season starts to take shape

HOUSTON, TX – A fall red snapper season is in the works thanks to a vote of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council at its meeting last week in Florida. The extension is designed to give recreational anglers who might have missed out on the 53-day season due to closures associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill a chance to fish.

“The Council is making the best of an unprecedented situation and they should be commended for coming up with this arrangement after a very difficult summer for Gulf Coast anglers,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “As long as quota remains to be caught and the stock stays on track to rebuild, re-opening this fishery will provide a huge boost to the angling communities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.”

At its meeting in June, the Gulf Council cleared the way for an extension of the season with an emergency rule giving NOAA Regional Administrator Roy Crabtree the authority to extend the season if recreational quota remained available after the season closed on July 24. NOAA Fisheries has since determined that approximately 2.3 million pounds of the 3.4-million-pound recreational quota remain uncaught. The emergency rule passed by the Council last week would allow anglers to fish each weekend (12:01 a.m. Friday to 12:01 a.m. Monday) from Oct. 1 to Nov. 22, for a total of 24 additional fishing days. The daily bag limit will remain two fish per person with a 16-inch minimum size limit.

“With some good luck and good weather, the anglers who have been forced to stay at the dock this summer will be able to get out and take advantage of this recovering fishery,” said Russell Nelson, CCA’s Gulf Fisheries consultant. “Managers will need to guard against letting an extension negatively impact the red snapper quota next year, but properly monitored, this is a good move by the Council that will be much appreciated.”

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CCA is the largest marine resource conservation group of its kind in the nation. With almost 100,000 members in 17 state chapters, CCA has been active in state, national and international fisheries management issues since 1977. Visit www.JoinCCA.org for more information

Coastal Conservation Association Texas 

Vancouver Reef expansion splashes down

CCA Texas partners with state to add 250 tons of materials to reef of Freeport

Texas anglers now have more fishing room at Vancouver Reef after more than 250 tons of concrete and granite reefing material were added to the popular fishing site this week through a cooperative effort of CCA Texas and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The addition of the material marks the single largest addition to the reef since the original Liberty ship was sunk at the site off Freeport in 1976.

“This project is a win-win situation for anglers and for the resource. Creating reef habitat is not just about building biomass, it is also about creating a destination for recreational anglers to access the resource,” said John Blaha, director of CCA Texas’s Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT) program. “We learned a great deal during this project and will be looking to use that experience to build more habitat and create better angling opportunities for the future.”

The effort to expand Vancouver Reef began with CCA Texas securing 23 granite blocks from Texas A&M Galveston in 2009. After CCA Texas contributed $25,000 to moving those blocks to the Vancouver reef site, a private Houston foundation stepped up to support the project with another $25,000 donation. With $50,000 in hand, CCA Texas moved to expand the endeavor and sought additional partners. Ultimately, Old Castle Precast agreed to supply approximately 110 concrete catch basins and Dorsett Brothers Concrete provided storage and use of their docking facilities in Freeport.

“Once the ball was rolling, we were fortunate to have Dale Shively, head of the TPWD Artificial Reef Program, to work on an agreement to cover the logistics and costs of actually dropping all that material,” said Blaha. “There a lot of complex, moving parts to a project like this and the partnerships that were forged throughout this process were key to its success. It was an awesome feeling to watch those rocks finally dropped into the Gulf.”

“This is the perfect example of how organizations can work together to improve habitat for marine life,” said Shively. “I look forward to working with CCA Texas on many more reefing projects.”

The CCA Texas habitat initiative was launched in 2009 and has already set in motion a number of projects important to Texas recreational anglers. In addition to the Vancouver expansion, CCA Texas has earmarked $50,000 for the Port Mansfield reefing project and another $35,000 for the Matagorda reef project. TPWD is currently securing permits from the Corps of Engineers to proceed with the Matagorda reef.

Visit www.CCATexas.org for more information.

Detailed maps of the Vancouver and other reef sites are available from TPWD’s Artificial Reef Program, http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/water/habitats/artificial_reef/

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For these and other high-resolution photos of the Vancouver Reef expansion, contact John Blaha at CCA Texas, jdblaha@ccatexas.org.

Materials splash down at the Vancouver reef site

Lil' Mo heads out the Freeport Jetties for the Vancouver Reef site

Lil' Mo drops material at the Vancouver Reef site

Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow Director John Blaha and TPWD Artificial Reef Coordinator Dale Shively and some of the materials deployed at the Vancouver Reef site.

Workers load reefing materials to be taken to the Vancouver Reef site

S.3594, The Fishery Conservation Transition Act, was introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) on July 15, 2010. FCTA has five key areas which steer NOAA Fisheries back to the intent of the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA): ending overfishing.

1. A Transition to Rational Management and Sustainable Fishing – Bill Section Two
FCTA addresses current MSA problems pertaining to fishing in a fishery that includes a stock that is undergoing overfishing. Gaps in MSA regarding multispecies complexes have led to overreaching moves such as the current proposal in the South Atlantic to close all bottom fishing for all snapper-grouper species in order to carry out rebuilding of one species — red snapper. This section maintains the prohibition on fishing for an overfished stock. However, FCTA gives the Secretary of Commerce the ability to allow fishing for other stocks in the complex IF specific thresholds are met and IF certain conservation actions prescribed in the bill are being taken, such as:
• Measures to minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality;
• Actions to improve data collection and implementation of a targeted research and monitoring program for the challenged fish stock and the fishery as a whole;
• A program for on-board observers;
• Immediate steps to close stock assessment data gaps in that fishery complex including a stock assessment for the challenged stock, and
• A report from the regional fishery management council on a long-term discard mortality reduction program for the challenged stock.

2. Time to Transition – Bill Section Two
FCTA gives NOAA Fisheries and the regional councils time to transition to a new management framework that will deal more rationally and scientifically with rebuilding of stocks undergoing overfishing. Closures will still be an option but only after actions above have been taken. Under FCTA, if actions above have been taken and total fishing closures are still deemed necessary, they would not be considered before the end of fishery year 2015.

3. Economic Assistance – Bill Section Three
FCTA amends MSA’s economic assistance program to better ensure funding is targeted to those directly affected by closures. The bill more specifically directs the Commerce Secretary to carry out an examination of who is being affected and how they are being affected when prioritizing economic assistance.

4. Better Information Gathering and Use – Bill Section Five
FCTA directs Commerce to carry out better social and economic data gathering and analysis pertaining to a given fishery closure decision and directs the department to look at alternative fishery management measures. Requirements in this area include analysis of social and economic impacts on fishing communities and industries related to the fishery in question; fishery management measures to enhance the sustainability of the challenged stock; an evaluation of alternative measures to enhance the sustainability of that stock and a stock assessment update for stocks undergoing overfishing every two years and a full assessment at least every five years.

5. National Academy of Science Study – Bill Section Five
FCTA directs the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a National Academy of Science study focused on questions surrounding multispecies complexes and the impediments to managing all stocks in such a fishery to maximum sustainable yield.

Legislation introduces measures to address management deficiencies and prevent precipitous, massive fisheries closures

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 15, 2010 – Today, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced legislation designed to safeguard the strong conservation standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) while addressing a growing crisis within the federal marine fisheries management system. S.3594, the Fishery Conservation Transition Act (FCTA), will give federal marine fisheries managers the time, resources and more specific direction necessary to address the chronic deficiencies in data collection and science. Nowhere are these deficiencies more acute than in the South Atlantic where the lack of proper data exacerbated problems in the red snapper fishery and may ultimately result in a closure of all bottom fishing in a 5,000-square-mile area.

A coalition of marine recreational fishing, boating, and conservation organizations and businesses, including the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), The Billfish Foundation (TBF), the Center for Coastal Conservation (Center), the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) lauds the introduction of the FCTA and strongly supports the new bill. The coalition will continue to advocate with Members of Congress for their support of the bill and to seek additional sponsors.

While the Obama administration’s outreach to the recreational fishing and conservation community has been encouraging, the need to address the current fisheries management crisis is urgent given 2010 and 2011 MSA deadlines. After working to find solutions outside the legislative arena to address the unintended consequences of the 2006 MSA reauthorization, the coalition has determined that a legislative remedy such as the FCTA is the only option given the lack of feasible solutions outside the legislative arena.

After the 2006 MSA reauthorization, it became apparent that NOAA Fisheries was ill-prepared to implement new provisions to end overfishing by 2010 and 2011 without resorting to abrupt and precipitous fishery closures. Throughout its history, NOAA Fisheries has virtually ignored the recreational fishing sector, its $82 billion annual impact on the nation’s economy, its support of 533,000 jobs and its critical contributions to marine resource conservation. Under the current administration, NOAA is taking steps to improve their understanding and appreciation of recreational fishing and the wide array of associated boating and fishing industries. The FCTA establishes a logical transition time for NOAA Fisheries to make
improvements to data collection that will lead to science-based management decisions instead of hasty closures by default.

FCTA has five key areas that will steer NOAA Fisheries back towards the true intentions of the overfishing amendments made to MSA in 2006. (See FCTA Fact Sheet for more details.)

• Filling gaps in MSA regarding multispecies fisheries by mandating specific conservation and science-based actions that would be taken in part to allow fishing for healthy stocks;

• Allowing reasonable time to transition to a new management framework that will deal more rationally and scientifically with rebuilding of stocks undergoing overfishing;

• Sharpening MSA economic assistance programs to insure funding is directed to those most affected by closures after carrying out full examination of who would be affected by closure;

• Requiring the agency to look at alternative fishery management measures to enhance the sustainability of an overfished stock and carry out more frequent stock assessments;

• Directing the agency, along with the National Academy of Science, to conduct a long-needed study on questions surrounding multispecies complexes and how all stocks in such a fishery can be managed for maximum yield.

Below are comments made today by the coalition’s group leaders:

American Sportfishing Association
Mike Nussman, President and CEO
“The sportfishing industry applauds Senator Nelson’s effort to re-inject balance and common-sense in our federal marine fisheries management system. The amendments in the Fishery Conservation Transition Act are a way to maintain and improve the conservation principles of the Magnuson-Stevens Act while addressing the current marine fisheries management crisis. NOAA Fisheries is being forced to make draconian fishing management decisions, such as the proposed closure on bottom fishing in large parts of the South Atlantic, based on inadequate data, including angler catch data, stock assessments and economic data. We support healthy fisheries and good fisheries management, but unnecessarily closing businesses and putting people out of work is unacceptable.”

The Billfish Foundation
Ellen Peel, President
“Our sincere thanks goes to Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida — the state with the most recreational fishing and boating constituents in the nation — for introducing this important piece of legislation. The Fishery Conservation Transition Act provides a fair, rational and competent rebuilding of marine fish stocks while avoiding massive, abrupt and unnecessary closures of important recreational saltwater fisheries. Nelson is a leader who all in our recreational fishing and boating community should appreciate.”

Center for Coastal Conservation
Jeff Angers, President
“This visionary legislation sets NOAA Fisheries on a path to ensure sound conservation of America’s marine resources. It is the path Congress intended when it reauthorized MSA in 2006, and it is the path to the kind of management that our fishery resources deserve.”

Coastal Conservation Association
Patrick Murray, President
“Recreational anglers have historically been the best conservationists and stewards of the resource. We need the federal government to recognize the value and importance of the angling community and for managers to take the necessary steps in data collection, stock assessments, and reallocation to implement the Magnuson-Stevens Act the way it was originally envisioned. We look forward to working with Sen. Nelson to begin building a new future for recreational anglers and our shared marine resources.”

Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
Jeff Crane, President
“CSF and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus are working on behalf of the 13 million saltwater anglers and the businesses and jobs that depend on them in this effort to properly implement the true objectives of the reauthorized 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Act. This legislation is intended to give federal marine fisheries managers the time and resources necessary to address the chronic deficiencies in data collection and science that are resulting in massive and abrupt closures of popular recreational saltwater fishing areas.”

International Game Fish Association
Rob Kramer, President
“While it was our sincere hope that a solution to the current fisheries management crisis could be achieved without amending the Magnuson-Stevens Act, we are grateful for Sen. Bill Nelson’s efforts to craft legislation that retains the important conservation provisions within the Act. It is time to give NOAA Fisheries the necessary tools to properly implement MSA in the manner in which it was originally envisioned by Congress in 2006.”

National Marine Manufacturers Association
Thomas J. Dammrich, President
“Once again, Sen. Bill Nelson is offering common-sense, practical legislation that will help protect the great American tradition of boating and fishing while enhancing the ability for federal agencies to properly manage and conserve fisheries based on adequate and meaningful scientific data. Healthy and abundant fisheries and recreational access are the key to a strong boating and fishing industry, and we applaud Sen. Nelson for his leadership.”

Habitat restoration focus of CCA presentation to Senate Democrats

WASHINGTON DC – Key conservation leaders from groups including Coastal Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited, The Isaac Walton League and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and other members of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee this week to discuss critical conservation issues facing recreational anglers and hunters.

The meeting addressed important topics such as Gulf oil crisis relief for recreational fishing industries, access issues and need for proper conservation of natural resources. CCA President Patrick D. Murray took the opportunity to express concern over the short and long-term conservation needs of coastal resources in light of the oil spill.

“Recreational anglers and the businesses they support along the Gulf are struggling,” Murray told the gathering. “The immediate need to help these businesses must be combined with a long-term vision for restoring the resources that support recreational angling. Planning should begin now to rebuild the marine environment of the Gulf Coast through massive habitat programs, construction of hatcheries and development of marine research centers.”

In previous meetings with Administration officials and with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), as well as in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, CCA has encouraged federal lawmakers to make preparations now for when efforts shift from cleaning up the oil to the enduring task of repairing the damage.

“CCA has run successful marine habitat enhancement programs throughout its 30-plus-year history, and we have tens of thousands of members who were on the Gulf Coast before the oil spill and will be here long after the cameras and microphones are gone,” said Murray. “However, with the scale of the challenge now before us, we need lawmakers to commit to rebuilding the marsh, the reefs and the fish stocks. That will define long-term success.”

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CCA is the largest marine resource conservation group of its kind in the nation. With almost 100,000 members in 17 state chapters, CCA has been active in state, national and international fisheries management issues since 1977. Visit www.JoinCCA.org for more information.

CCA outlines plans for oil spill recovery

Meeting with Sen. Richard Shelby seeks

support for habitat restoration, hatchery

ORANGE BEACH, AL - In a meeting with U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Coastal Conservation Association Alabama called on BP and the federal government to support plans for habitat restoration and construction of a saltwater fish hatchery/research center to reverse damages to Gulf marine resources as quickly as possible. Sen. Shelby traveled to Orange Beach on June 19 to meet with business owners, recreational anglers, and commercial fisherman impacted by the spill.

“The quality of recreational fishing is not just a matter for fishermen,” CCA Alabama Chairman Edwin Lamberth told Sen. Shelby. “It affects every single business that depends on revenue from recreational fishermen visiting Alabama’s coast. We must restore recreational fishing quickly not only to ensure that the resource is protected for the long-term, but also to get business back on their feet.”

Lamberth explained that the best way to reverse the damage done to the recreational fishery is to begin habitat restoration projects as soon as the oil spill is contained or stopped, and begin preparations for construction of a fish hatchery and marine research center to rebuild local fish populations.

“I have always been a supporter of marine habitat projects such as oyster bed restoration on Alabama’s coast, and I will continue to do everything I can to make sure our habitat is protected and restored,” Sen. Shelby said.

CCA Louisiana Executive Director David Cresson recently testified before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife on the impacts of the oil spill and also emphasized the need for a commitment to habitat restoration and hatchery/research facilities. CCA’s Building Conservation Program has initiated hundreds of projects to protect and restore marine habitat.

“CCA Alabama has made substantial investments in the construction of inshore and offshore artificial reefs, grass bed and marsh protection, and oyster bed projects,” Lamberth said. “Our members undertook those projects proactively to ensure our fisheries would remain robust and healthy. But the scale of this disaster is unprecedented and while we certainly have the manpower and the willpower to do our part, we’ll need willing partners to do everything that needs to be done to restore the marine environment now.”

CCA Alabama intends to meet with BP officials, the State of Alabama Department of Conservation, and the marine science departments of the University of South Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of Alabama to formulate plans for a hatchery/research center and to develop habitat projects that will produce the greatest impact when the leak is stopped and efforts shift from clean-up to repair.

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CCA is the largest marine resource conservation group of its kind in the nation. With almost 100,000 members in 17 state chapters, CCA has been active in state, national and international fisheries management issues since 1977. Visit www.JoinCCA.org for more information.

In response to the tragic rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Coastal Conservation Association chapters along the Gulf Coast have offered assistance to state agencies as they enact plans for clean-up efforts.

“Our chapters have been in contact with the appropriate fish and game management agencies in each state and have notified their local membership that they may be needed in the coming weeks and months to do some heavy lifting to protect and restore our coastal environment,” said Pat Murray, CCA president. “The concern from our membership has been overwhelming. I’m confident when and if we are asked to assist, we will have no shortage of volunteers ready and willing to do whatever they can to help.”

A massive clean-up effort is already underway in the Gulf of Mexico even as more oil is leaking from the well where a devastating explosion and fire sank the Deepwater Horizon rig 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana almost two weeks ago.

“Anglers know better than almost anyone of both the value and fragile nature of coastal wetlands, and our members are dedicated to the health of our shared coastal marine resources,” said David Cresson, executive director of CCA Louisiana. “This is a serious situation that poses a real threat to our fisheries and we stand ready to do anything we can to protect our coastal resources.”

As the spill has progressed and repeated efforts to cap the well have struggled, it has become more apparent that Gulf Coast residents can expect a significant impact from this event. CCA and its army of volunteers will be a critical part of clean-up efforts as those projects are defined. Additionally, now more than ever the role of habitat restoration and creation will be vital. CCA’s Building Conservation habitat program will be an important tool in the long-term recovery of the Gulf Coast. 

CCA Invited to Testify before

United States House of Representatives on Oil Spill

David Cresson, executive director of CCA Louisiana, will testify before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife of the Committee this week on the short and long term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  Cresson’s comments will address issues ranging from the economic impacts of the spill to the damage being done to the lives of coastal residents all along the Gulf Coast who depend on recreational angling.

“There have not been many challenges in the past 25 years that the members of CCA have not met head on, with their eyes clearly on the horizon. What I see now is a remarkably committed group of people who, for the moment at least, simply don’t know where to even begin,” says Cresson. “However, I have no doubt that we will find a way to reverse this disaster. I am confident that these darkest of days will be beaten back by the people of Louisiana and the other Gulf States through the same types of projects that have defined CCA since the beginning. We will rebuild reef by reef, acre by acre, fish by fish.”

Cresson was one of a handful of Gulf residents invited to testify before the Subcommittee.

Oil spill closures maps, bulletins, CCA updates and

other news items are being compiled on the

Gulf Oil Spill Response

tab in the CCA Newsroom

http://www.wfn.tv/reelroadtrip/video.php?video=403785