TIDE BITS
CCANATIONAL
NOAA Fisheries set to close another vital fishery
Federal fisheries managers are set to close another popular recreational fish- ery in the South Atlantic in the latest example of how chronic lapses in sci- ence and data-collection are wreaking havoc on the recreational angling sec- tor. Less than two months after nar- rowly avoiding a massive closure of all bottom fishing in the South Atlantic to recover red snapper, federal managers have announced that black sea bass are set to become off-limits from February to June due to circumstances that sound frustratingly familiar to anglers. “When Congress strengthened the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 2006 in an effort to end overfishing, it did not intend NOAA Fisheries to achieve that goal simply by ending all fishing,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of Coastal Conservation Association’s National Government Relations Committee. “We need to end overfishing, but we have to have better data and more timely assessments before such harsh restrictions are imposed.” The last full benchmark assessment for black sea bass was conducted in 2001, and was simply updated in 2005. Based on those reports, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council adopted a management plan in 2006 that used a constant catch strategy despite strong objections from CCA. The strategy allows for a slightly high- er catch limit for the first three years of the plan, but locks in a lower limit until at least 2015. As the stock rebuilds, anglers are encountering black sea bass more often and, according to the gov- ernment’s notoriously suspect recre- ational catch data, anglers are over their quota by as much as 30 percent. Managers are once again left with using the most draconian management measure available to fix a problem that may not even exist anymore. Black sea bass were scheduled to undergo anoth- er full benchmark assessment in 2010, but the furor over red snapper delayed it until 2011.
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“This is painfully like red snapper,” said Mike Able, CCA South Carolina board member. “Managers are using a sledge hammer to enforce the findings of an assessment that is essentially 10 years old. We are urging the federal government to wait for the new assess- ment before taking such drastic action and examine conservation alternatives in the meantime, such as lower bag limits, to address overfishing. We have to find ways to achieve conservation that don’t simply ban fishing.” Black sea bass are the latest demon- stration of how unprepared NOAA Fisheries was to implement the ambi- tious goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 2006 to end rampant, serial overfishing.
“This is further confirmation that
the Agency does not have the under- pinnings to support the goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and it is vital that we continue to explore legislation that provides a bridge to the time when federal managers have the tools and the will to dedicate the funding to do their job the way Congress envi- sioned,” said Jeff Angers, president of Center for Coastal Conservation, a coali- tion of leading advocates for marine recreational fishing and boating.
ALABAMA
First partnership oyster reef to be built
1000 acres of sea grasses in Alabama’s coastal waters. The first oyster reef pro- ject kicked off on Jan. 22 at Helen Wood Park on the western shore of Mobile Bay where volunteers deployed 23,000 bags of oyster shells near the mouth of Dog River.
Jason Miller, CCA Alabama Government Relations Committee Member
“Oyster reef restoration projects
have already been successful in Mobile Bay,” said Lee Shook, president of CCA Alabama, “We hope that this step is just one of many to achieve the part- nership’s goal of restoring 100 miles of oyster reefs for the benefit of our marine resources.”
FLORIDA
CCA Treasure Coast habitat restoration project
Mac McGinnis, CCA Alabama Mobile Chapter Member
After the Macondo well explosion,
CCA Alabama joined the 100-1000 Restore Coastal Alabama Partnership. The mission of the partnership is to restore 100 miles of oyster reefs and
www.joincca.org
Members of the CCATreasure Coast
Chapter recently kicked off a year-long habitat restoration project. Working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the project is focused on Pelican Island in the Vero Beach area. The project includes the monitoring of water quality
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