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SOUTHEAST REPS PUSH FOR MORE “FLEXIBLE” FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

When the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife met on October 27 in DC, longtime South Carolina Congressman Henry Brown, Jr. made it clear he was standing up for all of his coastal constituents at home.  “When opportunities for fishing are limited or closed altogether, it does not just affect the charter boats or the bait shops,” Rep. Brown said in his opening statement.  “When people come to South Carolina to fish, they stay at our fine luxury hotels, and eat at our world class restaurants.”

Rep. Brown noted that the recreational fishing industry means more to South Carolina than just the experience of catching a few fish, reporting that people who schedule weekend fishing trips do more than just catch fish.  “When they cancel their trips because the red snapper fishery is closed, the closure affects many more people than just the charter boat operators,” the ranking Republican member of the Subcommittee noted, explaining that harvest restrictions are enough to drive people away from the entire fishing experience, and the local businesses themselves.  

The recent hearing was held to explore progress made by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Regional Fishery Management Councils in setting annual catch limits (ACL) and accountability measures to end overfishing and rebuild overfished fish stocks as required by Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 2006 (MSA), signed into law in 2007.  As a representative of 75 percent of the coastline of South Carolina, Brown noted comprehensive amendments incorporated into MSA during the reauthorization debate in Congress during the last administration have had an adverse effect on coastal communities. “These 2006 amendments included a number of far-reaching provisions, a number of which are now beginning to cause heartache for our fishermen and our fishing communities,” Brown said.

In kicking off the subcommittee hearing, Rep. Brown also submitted information on behalf of Floridians, including a letter from Florida Rep. John Mica who recently introduced legislation that would put on hold a ban on red snapper fishing in the Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Florida, until a comprehensive study of the red snapper population could be completed for congressional review.  Furthermore, Rep. Brown also quoted an article where several prominent scientists are reporting that the Atlantic red snapper closures may in fact be unwarranted. 

“We need to make sure our fishery management decisions are based on valid science and that decisions to close entire fisheries are not made in haste,” Brown told the Subcommittee, adding “we need to manage our fisheries so that future generations can enjoy them as much as we do, but the economic needs of the coastal communities have to be factored into these decisions.”

In his testimony to the Subcommittee, charter and party boat Captain Mark Brown of Charleston, SC pointed out that the recreational sector has been forced to hire independent scientists to review the science currently being used to drive this decision making process, but still the “fatally flawed” harvest data is ultimately used to close specific fisheries.  “NMFS continues to move forward like a run-away train, processing unwarranted, draconian management measures for not only the red snapper fishery, but for the entire multi-species snapper/grouper complex of the Southeast Atlantic,” Capt. Brown said.

The captain further noted that these restrictive measures are required due to rigid language set in stone within the federal fisheries law.  “These measures are due to the mandates of the rigid and inflexible timeframes set forth within the MSA and are being forced upon the fishermen without sound statistics and without a clear understanding of why fisheries managers are forced to accept scientific information that makes absolutely no sense,” Capt. Brown said, adding “I am here to ask for the support of and need to move the Flexibility bills that are in both houses.”

The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 is sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone (HR 1584) and co-sponsored by 21 bipartisan coastal legislators including Rep. Brown and Rep. Mica.  If passed, the legislation would extend the authorized time period for rebuilding certain overfished fisheries provided that certain conditions are met.  Other Southeast and Gulf Coast representatives signing on to support HR 1584 include Allen Boyd (D-FL), Virginia Brown-Waite (R-FL), Clifford Stearns (R-FL), Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Solomon Ortiz (D-TX).  There’s also a Senate version (S 1255) sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.

Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), a national, grassroots political action organization that is lobbying for support of HR 1584 and S 1255 was on-hand for the hearing in DC and said he believes that the flexibility argument is lost on some of the bureaucrats at NMFS.  “From what I heard here in DC, NMFS doesn’t seem to be budging on the argument for building flexibility into MSA, which is clearly contradictory to their recent actions.” 

Donofrio said if fishery managers truly had flexibility to make more responsible management decisions, then socioeconomic factors within the coastal communities would have given NOAA pause to implement emergency closures based on uncertain data.  “Why is NOAA using broken harvest data to shut down these fisheries, deny public access and put our recreational industry at risk of collapse,” Donofrio asked.  “We’d understand if these fisheries were in trouble, but using MRFSS to close healthy fisheries isn’t being flexible, so their arguments really ring hollow,” he said. 

“Magnuson is clearly a broken instrument of the law that needs to be fixed to allow for more access, conservation, and rebuilding,” said Capt. Brown in his testimony, adding “All of these goals can be met without draconian measures that will certainly undermine sustainability.”

For an archived audio version of the October 27 Subcommittee hearing at the Longworth House Office Building in Washington DC, visit http://resourcescommittee.house.gov.

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The Recreational Fishing Alliance is a national, grassroots political action organization representing recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues.

The RFA Mission is to safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers, protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs, and ensure the long-term sustainability of our Nation’s saltwater fisheries.

For more information, call 888-JOIN-RFA or visit www.joinrfa.org.