approached 100 percent (the $750,000- $950,000 vendor fee must be deducted from such gross receipts). In addition, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the match- ing grants, was prepared to pay New York $6.65 for each “new” angler repre- sented by a saltwater license. In decid- ing how many saltwater licenses were sold to such “new” anglers rather than to persons already on the freshwater license rolls, USF&W was going to deem three-quarters of all such licenses to have been issued to “new” anglers. Thus, at the assumed 75 percent com- pliance rate for 2011, New York would have received about $1.7 million from USF&W. If compliance approached 100 percent, federal grants would have approached $2.25 million.
The bottom line is that, for the next couple of years, the DEC’s Marine Bureau will be operating on a budget that will not permit it to fund all of its planned programs. The planned artifi- cial reef off Shinnecock (the so-called “Twelve Mile Reef”) will not be devel- oped, and planned improvements to existing reefs will probably not be made. There will be no money to fund planned improvements to coastal launching ramps, marinas and similar boating facilities. New ramps and other facilities will, of course, not be built. Fisheries management efforts will be scaled back substantially, and may not amount to much more than the bare minimum needed to carry out Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com- mission mandates. New York will also have to abandon its plans to create a state harvest data collection process that could have been used to challenge the results of the infamous Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey (or its successor, and yet-untested Marine Recreational Information Pro- gram), which many anglers believe overstates New York’s recreational har- vest, and forces New Yorkers to fish under unnecessarily tight regulations. However, any such supplemental sur- vey will cost far more than the Marine Bureau can currently afford, so relief from current regulations is probably a pipe dream, until a source for addition- al funding (such as a new license) can be found.
As time goes on, we will probably learn that the costs of the “no-fee” reg- istration are actually significantly high- er than what is set forth above. How- ever, CCA New York is already work- ing to educate both anglers and legisla-
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tors, and hopes that, when the current two-year suspension of the salt water license sunsets, policymakers will rec- ognize their past folly and a license will again be available to fund a full range of Marine Bureau programs.
Directed trawl fishery for stripers defeated?
For the past year, New York’s striped bass and striped bass anglers have been threatened with the creation of a directed trawl fishery in the waters of the state. Currently, trawlers are per- mitted to harvest a “bycatch” of no more than 21 striped bass per day. However, trawlers, primarily from the East End of Long Island, have asked the New York Marine Resources Advisory Council to recommend to the DEC that the current bycatch allocation be eliminated. Despite reservations held by some members, MRAC ultimately voted to create a committee to investigate the possibility of creating a directed trawl fishery or, in the alternative, increase the current “bycatch” trip limit. That would effectively create a de facto directed fishery, as there is no require- ment that the “bycatch” of striped bass be limited to a specified percent of the harvest; by the trawlers’ admission, such an “off-the-radar” directed fish- ery has already been inspired by the current 21-fish bycatch allowance. However, at a May meeting of the committee, the majority of the persons present made it clear that there was substantial opposition to any liberal- ization of the trawl fishery for stripers. Based on that opposition, MRAC Chair Bill Wise decided to terminate the activities of such committee, and asked it to produce a report that will be pre- sented at the July meeting of MRAC. Given that such report will be drafted by the Vice Chairman of CCA New York, anglers can rest assured that it will be a strong and comprehensive rejection of the proposal to create a directed trawl fishery. Although noth- ing will be certain until MRAC meets and accepts the committee report, there is good reason to believe that the trawlers’ efforts will be frustrated for the foreseeable future.
OREGON Sea lion plan supported
The California Sea Lion population in the Columbia and Willamette rivers has exploded in recent years, and has
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resulted in significant predation on ESA-listed salmon and steelhead. Hydroelectric dams and fish ladders concentrate salmon and provide the sea lions with an unnatural advantage. Commercial overharvest of many of our marine forage fish puts additional pressure on the sea lions to focus their predation on salmon.
House Joint Memorial (HJM) 17 and HB 3255 provide fisheries managers the tools they need to manage sea lion predation. HJM 17 urges the United States Secretary of Commerce to approve immediate removal of Cali- fornia sea lions from the Columbia River basin as a means of protecting salmon and steelhead that are threat- ened or endangered. The Memorial also urges the United States Congress to undertake recommended revisions to the federal Marine Mammal Pro- tection Act that consider pinniped pre- dation on threatened and endangered salmonids and approve immediate removal of California sea lions in the Columbia River and other Oregon rivers during salmon runs. HB 3255 allocates $112,932 and
requires the State Department of Fish and Wildlife to increase its hazing program of pinnipeds at Willamette Falls from five days a week to seven days a week.
Top salmon guide on board
While the CCA “twisted fish” logo is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest, increasing our brand awareness took a big step forward this spring when guide Trevor Smith agreed to wrap his boat in a CCAtheme. Trevor has been a longtime CCA supporter, donating guided trips and being actively involved in the Salem Oregon Chapter’s banquet. Now in addition to catching a lot of salmon, Trevor’s boat is a 23-foot CCA billboard located right where the anglers are…on the water.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Palmetto Moon, LLC, Guy Harvey team on funding habitat program
Mt. Pleasant-based Palmetto Moon, LLC and world-renowned fishing icon
TIDE
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