making waves - fall 2015

Page Making Waves Fall 2015

Making Waves Fall 2015 Page

In This Issue

New North Carolina RFA Chapter Breaking Legislative News

Environmental Groups-Friend or Foe? Summer Flounder– MPA’s –Buccaneer

Cup and more!

See Page Six for Raffle Information!

waveswaveswaves M A K I N G M A K I N G

O F F I C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E R E C R E A T I O N A L F I S H I N G A L L I A N C E

Fall 2015

Page Making Waves Fall 2015

M A K I N G


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Making Waves Fall 2015

Making Waves Fall 2015 Page 3

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK By Gary Caputi

From the Publisher’s Desk

3

Executive Director’s Report: Follow the Money

5

Win a Hot Fish Boat! There’s Still Time

6

Breaking Legislative News: American Eels; Cod & Haddock Man-

9

Fish the Buccaneer

Cup and Support the

RFA

14

New RFA-North Caro-

lina Chapter Takes

Flight

18

Environmental Groups Friend or Foe? Reprint from 2001

20

The All New Miami Boat Show

24

Southern Kingfish

Association and the

RFA

27

Summer Flounder

Stock Assessment

Woes

30

Enviros Push for

MPA’s off Northeast

Coast

32

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

T ime for another issue of Making Waves. The RFA has been work-ing hard on Magnuson reform with a coalition of industry and fishing organizations. Legislation is complete in the House, but

getting the Senate to move will be impossible until after the Presiden-tial election. Hopefully the result will be an administration that is not in the back pocket of the environmental community at their beg and call to shut down anything that would move fishery management in a pos-itive direction that acknowledges recreational fishing.

The RFA has a new state chapter in North Carolina and it is headed by a group of hard-charging Carolinians who are on a mission to fight the unholy alliance between the state government, the marine fish com-mission and the commercial fishing industry. With help from RFA Na-tional and a growing membership they are really Making Waves!

If you haven’t purchased tickets for the RFA Contender/Yamaha Boat Raffle you still have time before the drawing in February. You will nev-er find better odds at winning the boat of your dreams than here and you’ll be helping support the RFA, too! Check out how to purchase tickets on page 6.

And while we’re on the subject of raffles read about the fund raising raffle held at the SKA National Championships to benefit the RFA last month. The SKA has been a solid ally of the RFA in the past and the re-lationship continues under a new management team. Their parent company, the National Boat Owners Association (NBOA) might have some new benefits coming your way in the not too distant future, too.

RFA board member Nick Cicero is featured in a guest editorial about the insanity of the current summer flounder quota process that you won’t want to miss and watch out for the latest push for marine pro-tected areas under the guise of the Federal National Monument desig-nation. Hope you enjoy the read and gather lots of new information in the offing.

waves M A K I N G


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https://www.facebook.com/#!/RecreationalFishingAlliance

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ALL PROCEEDS

BENEFIT THE

RECREATIONAL

FISHING ALLIANCE

http://www.buccaneercup.com/



Executive Director’s Report

By Jim Donofrio

FOLLOW THE MONEY

T he change in leadership in the House two elec-

tions ago brought about a dras-tic change in the political dynam-

ics in DC. One of the most dras-tic changes was the elimination of earmarks. Earmarks were the long held political currency in DC. A legislator, regardless of his or her party, had the incentive of working with members of the other party. By crossing the aisle, that legislator then had the leverage to secure funding (earmarks) for a project that

would benefit their district. Ear-marks were the capital that legis-lators used to gain reelection, something tangible they could show their constituents that they

had accomplished in DC.

The republican leadership, upon taking control of the House, felt that doing away of earmarks was consistent with a more conserva-tive agenda. Earmarks, de-scribed as pork barrel spending, are a congressional directive to-

wards a particular purpose and at the time, accounted for rough-ly 0.05% of the total budget. Th at purpose co ul d range from a highway project, to beach replenishment to funding a science program to improve the stock assessment for summer flounder. Like anything in con-gress, earmarks had positive and

negatives. One such positive re-sult of earmarks was funding for the Partnership for Mid Atlantic

Fisheries, which was doing ex-tremely valuable work on the summer flounder and black sea

bass.

In the current age of earmark-free congress, legislators with ambitions to stay in congress

gain more funding and support by fighting legislators on the op-posite party. This situation has also been exacerbated by the Citizens United case. Legislators no longer have an incentive to work to accomplish things in DC because the big money comes from SuperPACs. It's a different game now in DC and it's hard to

say if anyone is winning.

Going back to the earmark for the Partnership for the Mid-

Atlantic Fisheries Science, this organization, composed of com-mercial and recreational fisher-men along with researchers and academics, used a $250,000 to help improve the stock assess-m e n t f o r s u m m e r f l o u n -der. Considering that summer flounder is the most popular rec-reational fishery in the state of New Jersey, legislators, both

Democrats and Republicans, sup-ported the program because im-proving the assessment and man-agement of summer flounder was very popular and important for voters in the state. It was something tangible that legisla-tors could bring back to the dis-trict. The Partnership was gath-ering information regard the sex

composition and growth parame-ters of summer flounder. Its was collecting this much needed data because the federal government was not doing it That all ended

when earmarks were thrown in the trash can like some polluted habitat that no one wanted to be

associated with anymore.

What was the result of doing away with earmarks? The fishing industry is now the primary or-ganizer and funder of necessary assessment improvements to summer flounder. Let's not for-got that the recreational summer flounder fishery alone likely gen-erates upwards of $750 million

in federal taxes to DC while poli-ticians pat themselves on the back for taking a stand against ‘pork projects’. They rob the fish-ing industry of much needed sci-ence improvements to the tune of $250,000, a measly 0.3% of the federal taxes that this one

fishery sends to DC.

I say bring back the ear-marks. We and the media can always make fun of the bridges to nowhere, funding for rodeo

museums and projects to look at the sex composition of summer flounder. At least money would be coming back to the districts and making a difference for those who actually vote the poli-

ticians into office instead of sending all our money into that cesspool we call DC. .

http://www.buccaneercup.com/


I f you haven’t already purchased tickets for you chance to win this exciting Yamaha-powered Contender boat there's still time.

The odds of winning couldn’t be better and there are only three months left before the big draw-ing. Read on to learn more.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance is pleased to announce an exciting fundraiser that gives you the opportunity to support the RFA with a mod-est donation and get a shot at winning an awe-some prize—a Contender 22 Sport center console fishing boat powered by a Yamaha F300 out-board, both riding on an AmeraTrail custom alu-minum trailer valued at over $85,000!

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer tickets to win this beautiful Contender/Yamaha fishing package as part of our fundraising efforts for 2015,” said Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director. “We would

like to thank our friends at Contender Boats, Yamaha Outboards and AmeraTrail Trailers for helping make this raffle possible.

The prize boat, Contender’s brand new 22’ Sport center console, has a classy ice-blue hull and a custom embroidered cushion package, a deluxe T-top with rod holders, a leaning post and the fa-mous Contender ride. It’s powered by a Yamaha F300 four-stroke outboard, Yamaha’s top-of-the-line V6. The combination of hull and engine is blazing fast and the ideal package to provide a quick ride to the fish.

The winner will be towing his boat in style on the best trailer in the industry, a custom AmeraTrail dual-axle aluminum drive on trailer with mag wheels. All AmeraTrail aluminum boat trailer fea-ture heavy aluminum I-beam construction, alumi-num cross braces, aluminum bunk brackets, gal-

http://www.joinrfa.org/win-a-22-contender



vanized torsion axles and hubs with super-lube removable spin-dles.

You can buy tickets NOW through a spe-cial page on the RFA website (www.JOINRFA.org/win-a-22-contender. Single tickets cost $25 or you can increase your chances to win and your donation to the RFA by purchas-ing tickets in blocks of five for $100 per five pack. The site accepts credit cards and Pay-Pal payments. Ticket stubs will be mailed when you purchase online.

If you would like to obtain bulk tickets for club

meetings or events please contact the RFA office at 888-JOIN RFA for details. We will send you a package that you can distribute to members who wish to enter. They simply tear off the stub and send the remaining portion of the ticket to the RFA, P.O. Box 3080, New Gretna, NJ 08824 along with a check for the tickets.

Remember, the RFA is a political action organiza-tion with a 19 year track record of working to protect your right to fish. Its mission is to safe-guard the rights of saltwater anglers, protect ma-rine, boat and tackle industry jobs and ensure the long-term sustainability of U.S. saltwater fisheries. Now more than ever the RFA needs the support of a growing grassroots army of anglers and this raffle is a fun way to make a donation and take a chance at winning an amazing prize!

All proceeds from the raffle benefit the Recreational Fishing Alliance (Registration Identification: 22-5-39533 RL# 3957-2015). The drawing will be held on February 20, 2016 at the New Jersey Boat Expo in Edison, NJ.

You must be 21 years of age to win and all applicable taxes are the responsibility of the winner. If gambling is a prob-lem for you or someone in your family dial 1-800-GAMBLER.

To learn more about the RFA and to join go to www.joinrfa.org.

You could be heading to the fishing grounds in a new Contender 22 Sport

for a modest donation to the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

http://www.JOINRFA.org/win-a-22-contender

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BREAKING REGULATORY

NEWS

O n October 7

th, the United States

Fish & Wildlife Service (released a statement rejecting a push to

list the American eel under the Endan-

gered Species Act.

A petition to list eels as endangered was submitted to the USF&WS back in

2010 by the California-based Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy & Reliability. The group alleged that eels have lost nearly 80 percent of their habitat, and suffer from commercial

fishing pressure.

In response, the USF&WS conducted an in-depth, 12-month study in conjunc-tion with the National Oce-anic & Atmospheric Admin-istration, the U.S. Geologi-cal Survey, the U.S. Forest

Service, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Eel Technical Committee. After examining the best scien-tific and commercial infor-mation available regarding past, pre-sent, and future impacts on the spe-cies, the USF&WS ultimately deter-mined that the population of eels is stable overall and not likely to become

endangered or threatened in the for-

seeable future.

This is good news for recreational fish-ermen, as eels have been a widely pop-ular and effective bait along the U.S. East Coast for perhaps 100 years, pri-marily by anglers targeting striped bass. Live eels, and to a lesser extent rigged eels, are a staple in bait shops

from Maine to North Carolina and cre-ate their own slice of economic activity

within the larger sport fishing industry.

A listing as “endangered” would have huge ramifications for the recreational striped bass fishery. “If eels had be-come listed, it would have been disas-

trous for striper fishermen,” said Jim Donofrio, RFA’s Executive Director. “It would have completely shut down the harvest of eels of any size, and prohibit-ed sale and even possession. Tens of

thousands of anglers who depend on eels as a readily available and easily-

purchased live bait would be left with few alternatives. There’s no question that this would discourage a lot of peo-ple from continuing to participate in salt water fishing, and would financial-ly impact bait eel harvesters and the

tackle shops as well.”

The American eel is an interesting crea-ture. It is considered a catadromous fish, meaning that it lives most of its life in fresh water but spawns in salt, the opposite of anadromous fish such as

salmon. Eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea east of the Bahamas, and the tiny juveniles then make their way to the mainland of North, Central, and South America. Here the young, almost trans-

parent 2-inch to 3.5-inch eels known as elvers or ‘glass eels” ascend coastal streams and rivers that lead to fresh water ponds and lakes, where they will grow to adulthood. After reaching ma-turity and ready to spawn, they will head back down the streams and riv-

ers and swim all the way out to the Sargasso Sea to do so,

completing the cycle.

Eels, however, face plenty of stress in their lives. Besides being gobbled up by a myri-

ad of natural predators such as fish, birds, and mammals, eels face habitat loss throughout their range. Dams which prevent eels from ascending and descend-ing waterways are a big problem, as is mortality in hydroelectric turbines and

diminished water quality. Dam remov-als, culvert replacement, night-time

hydroelectric facility shut-downs, and upgraded fish passages have helped restore habitat to some extent, and the USF&WS has secured $10.4 million in funding to remove 13 more dams from

Rhode Island through Maryland.

Harvesting is responsible for another significant impact on American eel stocks, and it needs to be carefully con-trolled. More mature, pigmented “yellow” or adult “silver” eels are caught by recreational fishermen, and

Study finds American eels are not endangered. Eel photos

courtesy Mike Laptew Fine Arts Images.

USF&WS Says American Eel Population Not Endangered

http://www.mikelaptewfineartimages.com/


many states have bag and size limits. Commercial fishermen catch these larger eels for food or to sell to tackle shops for bait, as mentioned above, yet in many cases have restrictions on min-imum size and the types of pots or net mesh that can be used. About 1 million pounds of yellow and silver eels are harvested annually coast-wide, with a

value of around $1.5 million.

The tiny elvers, or glass eels, are anoth-er story. These juveniles, which are netted at night while ascending the

streams and rivers in the spring, were worth up to $2,100 per pound in 2015, up from $100 per pound in 2009. The elvers are sold to dealers, who ship them live to Asia where they are reared to adulthood in ponds and

used as food.

The elvers’ high value has dramatically increased pressure on the stock. Most East Coast states have banned elver harvesting, but it is still allowed in Maine, and to a much smaller extent in South Carolina. Maine’s 920 licensed

elver fishermen netted 5,242 pounds of eels during the 2015 season, worth some $11.4 million. While the pound-age doesn’t sound like much com-pared to harvests of other types of sea-food, each pound is made up of over

1,000 elvers. The result is that millions of young eels get

caught and shipped overseas

each year.

Poaching, which many believe is a rampant problem, adds addi-tional pres-sure. Elvers are illegally

netted in streams in states that do not al-low it, nota-bly Massa-chusetts and New

Jersey, and taken over the road to Maine and sold as “Maine elvers,” a violation of state and federal law. But

poachers are difficult to catch in the act and prosecute, so it remains a crimi-

nal activity that entices the unscrupu-

lous.

Is the elver harvest sustainable? Alt-hough poundage and value has de-

creased since 2012, largely due to the implementation and reduction of over-all quota in Maine, many scientists be-lieve that the removal of this number of juvenile eels from the ecosystem is

detrimental to the stock and to the predators that depend upon them for forage. Although ASMFC has coerced Maine into lowering its quota, the state continues to allow the fishery due to its monetary value. Maine is not a wealthy state with an abundance of good jobs, so $11 million in economic activity is difficult to give up, even in the name of

conservation.

“As much as we’re pleased with the USF&WS’s decision not to list eels as endangered, we think it’s time to con-

sider ending the elver fishery,” says RFA’s Donofrio. “This would leave mil-lions more eels in the ecosystem, bol-ster the stock, and put an end to the poaching, and unreported harvesting. We realize that it would be an eco-nomic loss for Maine and its elver har-vesters, but we have to look at the big picture, and the future. We may have ducked the bullet this time, but we don’t want to have to revisit this issue

in five years when someone files an-other petition for endangered species

status. Let’s build up the eel stock and

maintain it at a healthy level.”

- Capt. Barry Gibson, New England Regional Director

It is feared that elvers, also called glass eels, are being overfished hurting future

stock abundance. With stronger harvest controls the stock can be protected.



PROPOSED COD & HADDOCK BAG LIMITS IN THE

WESTERN GULF OF MAINE ARE OF CONCERN

D uring the past few years we have seen our Gulf of Maine

haddock bag limits go from unlimited to 10 per angler and, in 2015, a mere 3

per angler. With a zero cod retention limit and only 3 haddock, few recrea-tional anglers even left the dock, and the charter and party boats saw a 90% or more reduction in their businesses. This has resulted in a significant detri-mental impact to the economy to the costal communities of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

In 2015 we found haddock throughout our waters in great numbers, which was incon-sistent with the models and esti-mates used by the National Ma-rine Fisheries Service (NMFS) as to the status of both stocks. We had examples of shoals of had-dock observed near shore south of Race Point, Cape Cod, being

feasted upon by striped bass. We have not observed or experi-enced such haddock numbers in years. Cod and haddock are both cur-rently found in healthy numbers in the Western Gulf of Maine (WGOM) waters, yet the NMFS studies and flawed trawl sur-veys, impacted by the changed

spatial distribution of these spe-cies as a result of environmental factors, are not considered in the assessments. NMFS has concluded that there are so few cod in our waters that they are concerned about cod bycatch and release mortali-ty in the recreational pursuit of had-dock. We are now told that the had-

dock stock is approximately five times larger than previously estimated, but NMFS says it cannot increase the had-dock bag limit because of potential mortality of cod if people continue to fish to try and catch more than

three haddock. If there are so few cod out there, how can we be catching very many while we target the abun-dant haddock, which are normally found in different water depths and

over different bottom types than cod inhabit? We are waiting for an answer to that question. The 2015 and 2016, bag limits if they remain the same, will result in a col-

lapse of the groundish for-hire and pri-vate recreational fleet. For example, the Green Harbor, MA groundfish charter

fleet experienced a 90 percent reduc-tion in trips this year. No one left the dock. The landings for 2015, and those projected for 2016, do not seem to accurately reflect the fact that few people are fishing. Lack of fishing has

resulted in a financial hardship to all who rely on the party/charter fleet for employment, along with shore-side businesses that support private recrea-tional anglers.

On November 17

th there will be a New

England Fishery Management Council Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) meeting where we will be given the details of proposed haddock and cod

bag limits for 2016. There are dif-ferent options before us, from landing haddock greater than 17 inches with a bag limit of 3, to 8 haddock per person, to unlimited

haddock per angler. The variation in bag limits will be subject to what month or months an angler will be permitted to land the had-dock. There is not much of a change to the cod bag limit, which will range from zero reten-tion to perhaps 1 cod, and with sizes ranging from 23 to 24 inches or larger in size. Careful review of

the MRIP data that is utilized to estimate the cod and haddock landed in 2015 continues to suffer from flawed data, evidenced by a standard deviation percentage that is, in some instance, greater than 102%. That’s totally unac-ceptable. Ultimately, our on-the-water ob-servations of the healthy levels of

cod and haddock in the GOM is not consistent with the govern-ment data. The result may be that continued low bag limits and shortened seasons will result in the complete collapse of the groundfish for-hire fleet, with few if any private recreational anglers

leaving the dock. This will result in a significant detrimental economic im-pact on all who rely on recreational

groundfishing to make a living. We’ll report on the November RAP meeting and any further developments in the next issue of Making Waves. – Capt. Mike Pierdinock, Massachusetts RFA Director


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T he Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament has been a perennial Florida tradition and is one of the oldest continuously run billfish tour-

naments in the world! This year, with the support of sponsors including MTU, Johnson & Towers, Florida Detroit Diesel Allison, Viking Yachts, HMY Yacht Sales, Bimini Bay, Salt Life Optics, American Custom Yachts, Con-tender Boats, Jarrett Bay Boatworks, In-ternational Paint, AFW/Hi-Seas, Cum-mins Marine, Yama-ha, Seakeeper, Baha-ma Boats, Rybovich Marine and others we are reaching out to a broader group of fishing teams to expand the tourna-ment’s reach, pay-out and fundraising potential.

The two-day format starts off with the Captains Meeting/Party at the leg-endary Buccaneer Marina Restaurant on January 21

st

followed by two fishing days, capped off by the awards dinner at the Sailfish Club of Florida that is always the talk of the tournament circuit. Both loca-tions are steeped in bluewater fishing history and you can feel the presences of the legends of our sport around you.

Your entry fee puts you in the running for the $10,000 cash payout plus tickets to the captain’s party and awards dinner. Enter the Calcutta, which in-cludes overall, live and dead bait categories, and the potential winnings increase exponentially. Last year’s top boat, the Apava, went home with over $92,000 in cash and trophies and owner Dave Przysinda and crew are returning to defend their title! Total payout

was over a quarter million dollars and with a wider field this year the dollars could increase significantly.

The Buccaneer Cup’s roots are in the Palm Beach area where it has been run for 52 consecutive years! You can fish from and return to either Lake Worth or Jupi-ter inlet. The tournament is non-profit with all the pro-

ceeds going to the Recreational Fishing Alliance so your par-ticipation is helping fund the work of this organization. The RFA is fighting every day to assure our sport has a bright future de-serves your support. What better way to get involved than to enter the Buc Cup. In 2015 the tourna-ment generated $50,000 for the RFA!

To enter go to www.BuccaneerCup.com and follow the instructions on the home page. You can register and pay online with a credit card or follow up your registration by sending a check for payment. Questions? Call or write Gary Caputi 732-740-9982 ([email protected]) or Courtney Bowden 561-909-7868 ([email protected]).

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Captain’s Meeting & Party; January 21, 2016 – Bucca-neer Restaurant & Marina, Palm Beach Shores

Fishing Days: January 22 – 23, 2016. No Lay Day.

Awards Banquet:: January 23, 2016 – Sailfish Club of Florida, Palm Beach – 7 PM

Free water taxi service from Sailfish Marina to Club dock.

53rd Annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Release Tournament

January 21– 23, 2016 Benefits the RFA

http://www.BuccaneerCup.com

mailto:[email protected]




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N orth Carolina boasts some of the best recreational fishing opportunities along

the Atlantic Coast. This is largely in part to its location at the epicenter of two distinct ocean regions, the south Atlantic and the Mid-Atlantic, which gives anglers a wide range of fishing options and target spe-cies. From speckled trout in quiet creeks to bull red drum charging the beach; striped bass , Volkswagen-size bluefin near shore in the winter, and amazing bluewater fishery for marlin and tuna and nu-merous species of snapper and grouper, the diversity and range of fish is off the charts in North Carolina. Al-so contributing to the State’s unique offerings are its hun-dreds of miles of largely un-developed estuaries that serve as critical nursery areas for many important species that end up in North Carolina and others that ride the coastal current and make their way up to the Gulf of Maine or the Straits of Florida. NC has long been a destination for anglers from neighboring state and internationally. According to the US Department of Commerce, 1,655,544 saltwater anglers fish in

North Carolina Of those, 48% are anglers from out of state which contributes significantly to the state’s billion dollar plus tourism industry. Both resident and non-resident anglers are a huge eco-nomic engine in the state, support-ing thousands of full-time jobs and sending over $100 million in state sales tax to Raleigh. It’s easy to do the math on the economic impact

of recreational fishing in North Car-olina when you consider that 4,954,073 fishing trips are estimat-ed to occur every year. This num-ber equates to 13,572 trips per day which is an impressive num-ber. Drive through Wanchese in-dustrial complex, once a dominant commercial fishing hub, and you find it is now home to more custom sportfish boat builders per square mile than any area in the United

States. Throw in million dollar off-shore fishing tournaments and a growing tackle manufacturing sec-tor and you can’t deny that North Carolina is a recreational fishing powerhouse. Considering the huge social and economic importance of recrea-tional fishing and recreational fish-ing associated businesses in the

state, you would think that legislators and policy makers would work hard to accom-modate the needs of the rec-reational fishing community, anglers and the tens of thou-sands of residents whose businesses depend on healthy fisheries and public access to them. Unfortu-nately, nothing could be fur-ther from the current situa-tion in state politics and the

state’s marine fish regulatory agen-cy! The state government in Ra-leigh and the North Carolina Ma-rine Fisheries Commission has long devoted the overwhelming amount of its attention to the com-mercial fishing sector. Commercial fishing lobbyists have run rough shod over state legislators and the NCMFC for years with little push back from the recreational commu-nity. This institutional bias is

New RFA North Carolina

Chapter on the March! The RFA’s newest state chapter is manned by a core

group of dedicated people.

Would you like to get involved?

“These guys really hit the ground running.” said Donofrio. “They wanted to make a difference for the better in their home state and nothing is going to get in their way!”



steeped in a long history of com-mercial fishing in the state coupled with politically savvy commercial fishing organizations who gave to the right legislators and effectively created voting blocs, and that has resulted in the simple fact that the needs of the commercial sector continually getting preference over the long-term sustainability of the state's marine resources and cer-tainly over the interests of the rec-reational fishermen. Perhaps dis-missed by some as a pastime or hobby, it is no longer possible to deny or ignore the significant posi-tive impact that fishing has on the state. Enter the North Carolina chapter of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA-NC). Organized as a political action organization, the chapter, in short order, has made its presence known in the Raleigh and at the Marine Fisheries Commission meet-ings. The chapter engaged the service of a well-known lobbying firm in Raleigh to help them with access to key legislators and to let those legislators know there is a new player in their midst, one that plans to shine the light of day on the cozy relationship they have had with the commercial industry and how that has resulted in over-fishing of fisheries to the detriment of the recreational fishing industry and visitors to the state. Spearheaded by father and son, Captains Charlie and Robert Schoonmaker along with Captain Owen Sewell were tired of seeing recreational fishing trampled and decided to do something about it. They did their research and decid-ed the one organization that un-derstood the politics of fishery management was the RFA. They contacted executive director Jim Donofrio and managing director John DePersenaire and started the work of forming a chapter.

“These guys really hit the ground running.” said Donofrio. “They wanted to make a difference for the better in their home state and nothing was going to get in their way!” One of the first campaigns the chapter undertook was addressing the logbook regulation that was rammed through without the sup-port of the for-hire sector by the unholy alliance between the com-mercial lobbyists and the NCDFC. The chapter worked to modify the regulations to capture the necessary data while not being a burden on owner/operators. The chapter took a hard stance on southern flounder, a popular recreational fishery that was being overfished by the com-mercial sector. The chapter made a sound argument that measures needed to be put in place to en-sure the long-term sustainability of the stock and that such measures should not fall solely on the backs of recreational anglers. The chap-ter is making significant progress and for the first time, having the interests of the recreational com-munity put on a comparable level to that of the commercial fisher-men. This is not about a commer-cial/recreational power struggle but simply making sure that an-glers and the businesses supported by anglers are heard. The folks at RFA-NC are not anti-commercial fishing. They are strongly pro-recreational fishing and they are convinced that with fair represen-tation and the appropriate plans to protect critical species from over-fishing the two sectors can co-exist and thrive while managing the re-source for long term sustainability. “The RFA-NC is making considera-ble headway in our efforts on the Southern Flounder issues in North Carolina,” reported Charlie

Schoonmaker. “The stock is de-pressed at best and may be on the verge of collapse but the NCDMF headed by Dr. Louis Daniel has for years failed in their attempts to im-prove or protect the stock and this cannot be allowed to continue. The RFA-NC has championed the fight to bring to the public’s atten-tion this sorry state of affairs and is working with members of the North Carolina Legislature and government entities to pressure the NCDMF to correct their failing policies. “On November 18th there will be a pivotal meeting of the State’s Ma-rine Fisheries Commissioners as they may, for the first time in over 30 years, recognize the value of the state’s recreational fishermen and begin the process of address-ing their problems with the current lack of management of the re-source,” he continued. “The RFA-NC will continue to work hard for our resources and improvement of our resources.” If you’d like to join the members of the RFA-NC contact are below and be prepared to get active. Charter captains, members of the tackle and recreational marine industry, fishing clubs and individual anglers all need to come together to build a political action presences in Ra-leigh and around the state to bring sanity and balance to the manage-ment of marine fisheries in North Carolina. Capt. Owen Sewell (910) 622-3474 [email protected]

Capt. Charlie Schoonmaker (910) 262-3474 [email protected]

Capt. Robert Schoonmaker (910) 264-1807 [email protected]





I n recent months environmental groups that once courted recrea-tional fishermen calling us allies in

conservation have struck out on cours-es of action that have left most anglers

a bit bewildered and feeling disenfran-chised. It seems that some eco-groups want our support and the benefit of our growing political influence for their pet issues, but when it comes to exer-cising a reasonable approach on issues affecting recreational fishing, they aren’t interested in our input or our concerns. Three current issues come to mind, one on a state level, another on a more regional scale and the last na-

tional in scope. What all three have in common is a lack of consideration for recreational fishing members and asso-ciated organizations that were consid-ered an important part of the coalitions these groups forged. It appears that once some eco-groups get the bit in their teeth they have no problem leav-ing recreational fishermen standing in the wings, or even worse, out in the

cold.

The NY Subway Car De-bacle

Artificial reefs are good things, right? A number of states on the eastern sea-

board have worked long and hard to

find money and materials to create these ecosystem-building manmade structures. Much of the impetus has come from recreational fishermen and their associations since most states

have little or no funding available for artificial reef construction. In many cas-es they raise private money to cover the cost of obtaining, preparing and placing reef materials to create habitat for marine life. Typically, artificial reefs are constructed using derelict ships, surplus military hardware, concrete rubble, construction materials and simi-lar items that require disposal or recy-cling when they wear out or become

obsolete. Within just a few weeks of deployment the colonization process begins. Tiny mussels and barnacles kick off the encrustation by attaching them-selves to exposed surfaces. Then imma-ture crabs, sea worms and tiny species of shrimp take up residence. In a mat-ter of months, structures become a complete food web with forage and predatory fish there to take advantage

of the protection the cover offers and

the abundance of the food it provides.

State governments working with pri-

vate groups have been sinking all man-ner of approved materials on designat-ed reef sites to increase the marine life in areas that were once only a barren sand bottomscape. New Jersey and

New York have relatively extensive reef systems while other states are finding how beneficial they are to improving fish habitat and are competing for reef materials for their own federally ap-

proved sites.

Enter New York City Transit, a division

of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, faced with the dilemma of what to do with a few thousand obsolete subway cars scheduled to be decommissioned in the coming years. Recycling heavy steel components like wheels and run-ning gear was no problem, but they still had to contend with how and where to dispose of the car bodies. They decided to explore donating the bodies to constructing artificial reefs

with the realization that New Jersey had 25 square miles of federally desig-nated reef sites that only had about 2% coverage with materials and New York had similar needs for materials for their reef program. Each state could receive up to 650 cars in the next year, already cleaned to Coast Guard/NOAA specifi-cations, shipped by barge to any reef site they designated and deposited there free of charge. The deal would

also allowed the states to apply for fed-eral Wallop-Breaux Sportfishing Resto-ration Funds as matching money when weighed against the cost of shipping the cars to the sites even

Environmental Groups: Friend or Foe

Reprinted from Making Waves, September 2001

Editors Note: It’s interesting to learn from the past and this article, originally pub-lished in the print version of Making Waves almost 15 years ago is a good example. Keep in mind the article comments on issues that were taking place at the time, but the situations are not much different from the issues we face today except now they are bigger and more far-reaching. The Environmental Industry, as they have be-come known in more recent years, has proven to be a nemesis rather than an ally.

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though NYC Transit was paying for shipping. It would provide the state with at least a couple million dollars in found money to use for other reef or sportfishing restoration projects. It was

a real sweetheart deal.

Negotiations were going smoothly un-

til two regional environmental groups decided that using subway cars on reefs was, in their opinion, the equiva-lent of ocean dumping because they felt the cars would deteriorate too quickly. So they began a campaign in opposition of the project using un-founded allegations and old, unproven scientific studies. Both groups had long-standing agreements with recreational fishing associations and clubs that were

part of a standing coalition dealing with environmental and clean water issues, yet the group’s directors came out in opposition to this project with-out discussion with their recreational fishing affiliates and without polling their memberships. Recreational fisher-men were overwhelmingly in favor of the subway car reef project yet even

after fishing members found out about the campaign and voiced their dissent, the directors persisted in opposing the project so vehemently that the acting governor of New Jersey refused to ac-

cept the cars and New York followed

suit.

After investigating the use of subway cars for reefs and finding that they met all state and federal criteria for use, the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife, with the blessing of Governor Ruth Ann Minner, said they would accepted an initial deployment of 400 cars and began construction of the Red Bird Reef off Indian River Inlet. They re-ceived the same letters and calls in op-position from the New Jersey environ-

mental groups, but found their objec-

tions without merit.

The two groups in question lost a great deal of credibility with recreational fish-ermen and are now viewed with suspi-cion. They have lost the ability to use the names and the clout of once affiliat-ed recreational fishing associations and

clubs in their other campaigns without express written permission on an issue by issue basis. They have lost the re-spect of a large number of members in the offing and all over a position on an

issue that end up having no basis in

science and even less credibility.

The Summer Flounder Lawsuit The summer flounder is the most popu-lar fish pursued by anglers in saltwater in the Mid-Atlantic States and, there-fore, one of the most economically im-portant. More angler days are spent chasing these tasty flatfish than even the highly regarded striped bass! The species has been under management by the Mid Atlantic Fishery Manage-

ment Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission since the early 1980s because stocks had been overfished to near collapse. The re-building plan, while getting off to a very slow start, showed significant pro-gress the later half of the 1990s. By 2001, the overall stock size has reached

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levels not seen since the early 1980s and the spawning stock (fish two years and older) was triple the highest level recorded in the prior 20 years. With such a remarkable increase in popula-

tion and expansion in age structure, one might think that enviro-groups would be pleased that the plan was finally working and stocks were re-sponding in dramatic fashion. Well,

that wasn’t the case.

In 2000, it became possible to begin relaxing some of the highly restrictive quotas set on commercial and recrea-tional fishermen, but optimism quickly faded when a consortium of environ-mental groups decided to sue the Na-tional Maine Fishery Service over what

they felt was a risky level of landings set back in 1998. The suit was one of many funded by the Pew Foundation in an effort to have environmental groups flex their muscles over the man-agement system. It worked, but not the first time out. After winning their point on a narrowly based decision in a fed-eral court of appeals, the court deter-mined that a quota reduction in 2001 would be required to make up for the

mistake in 1998, a mistake that had had little or no impact on stock rebuild-

ing.

The environmental groups won the suit and the result was a punitive stock reduction that would do little to im-prove the rapid rebuilding process un-

der the management plan while ex-tracting heavy economic and social costs from fishermen. As a result, sever-al states increased size limits to meet the mandated reduction so dramatical-ly that release mortality increased. Oth-er states reduced their already truncat-ed open seasons with disastrous re-sults. New Jersey, where summer flounder represent an enormously im-portant recreational fishery, lopped

almost a month off the summer floun-der season in the fall. Such loses in fish-ing opportunities have a negative im-pact on the state’s economy to the

tune of $20 million to $40 million!

The pressure on the summer flounder fishery by environmental groups isn’t over yet and recreational fishermen who were once allies with some of these groups today realize that the

battles they choose can have a very detrimental impact on their fishing ac-tivities. In this case winning the suit did not equate to increased abundance or better management so it can only be

assumed that the motive was to win at all costs to make a point. Fishermen who were members of some of these groups have had to rethink their in-

volvement as a result.

“No Fishing! This Means YOU! There is a great deal of pressure being placed on politicians in Washington responsible for writing legislation that govern the management of marine fisheries by environmental groups to close large areas of the ocean to all

“consumptive” uses. Consumptive means fishing including recreational fishing. Marine Reserves or Sanctuaries are No Take Zones, but they are being included under the general term “Marine Protected Areas,” which can mean any of a host of measures that pertain to a designated location vary-ing from restriction of certain activities to complete exclusion of human con-

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Editors Note: A lot of water has gone under the bridge since this article was published in 2001 including two reauthorizations of the Magnuson Stevens Act that, while rebuilding some fish-eries have also done an excellent job of destroying recreational fishing . Both were heavily influ-enced by the environmental groups that once counted recre-ational fishermen among their supporters. The rise to political prominence of the environmental lobby has continued under the two terms of the Obama Administration and it is unlikely substantive changes in the way recreational fishing is managed under the current Federal law will change until a new Administration is sworn in, but the fight can not be put on hold . Now is the time to continue the groundwork in Congress and build our coalition and power base.

tact.

Some “marine protected area” designa-tions have the potential to benefit sen-sitive habitats from a wide variety of impacts, but overall the science sur-rounding the benefits accrued from closing vast areas of the ocean as re-

serves is still weak and the benefits can vary dramatically from region to re-gion. Yet the push to incorporate lan-guage mandating the use of reserves is becoming a full court press by environ-mental groups through an organized and well-funded effort. An Executive Order announced during the waning days of the Clinton Administration set the process in motion to explore the possibility of a network of reserves in

U.S. waters and the order remains in effect since the Bush Administration

has decided to let it stand.

The problem with marine reserves pro-hibiting recreational fishing in all forms is that there is scarce evidence that recreational fishing has a negative im-pact on the habitat or marine life when managed through other measures like seasonal closures to protect spawning fish, size limits to improve age structure of stocks and/or bag limits to prevent overfishing. Yet “no take zones” are

being touted as a hedge against inef-fective fishery management plans at a time when an increasing number of plans are better written and more ef-fective than ever before. Many recrea-tional fishermen feel their activities are not the problem and, therefore, should not be locked out of fishing grounds that might need protection from other impacts, especially when they are al-ready being managed through other

means.

No-Take Zones will become a battle-

field in the upcoming reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Sustainable Fisheries Act next year unless environ-mental groups and politicians take heed of recreational fishermen. The RFA is looking very carefully at the de-bate and the tactics being used and will work to prevent wholesale clo-sures that will have little positive bene-fits to habitat and fisheries while inflict-

ing serious social and economic dam-age on anglers and the industry. In fact, Senators John Breaux and Kay

Bailey Hutchinson, both worried about such negative impacts on recreational fishing by the push to close the ocean by extreme environmental groups and the wide latitude of the Executive Or-

der on the subject, recently worked with the American Sportfishing Associ-ation (an industry trade goup) on wording for legislation they call the “Freedom to Fish Act.” It requires feder-al agencies to prove recreational fish-ing is having a detrimental impact be-fore it can be prohibited from reserves. The RFA is supporting this legislation as a counterpoint to the rush to close large areas of the ocean from public

use.

Jim Donofrio, RFA executive director,

said, “while creating reserves prohibit-ing some forms of activities can be a good thing, the wholesale prohibition of public use should not be allowed to occur. It would be the equivalent of the federal government closing Na-tional Parks to all public access. The public is allowed to fish recreationally in National Parks, adhering to fish and game laws, but their access is not de-nied. Recreational fishermen should be

allowed to fish in marine protected areas under the same conditions, un-less there is scientific proof that such activities are having a serious negative impact. The RFA will have a strong presence in Washington on your be-half working with members of Con-gress on reauthorization language and issues that will impact your fishing in

the future.”

Protecting the Environ-ment For The Public Working to protect the marine environ-

ment and conserve fishery resources has been a goal of recreational fisher-men long before the explosion of envi-ronmental groups came on the scene. Today, millions of dollars are being channeled into some of these groups through none-profit funds and public donations and some have leveled their sights on recreational fishing. There will be times when the RFA will work on issues of concern in concert with

environmental groups, but unfortu-nately, it appears that great efforts will have to be made to keep track of those groups that would just as soon see

angling prohibited altogether. While that may seem extreme, some environ-mental groups have become just that, extreme. They will slowly chip away at your right to fish and, if you let them,

do it with your donations. If you be-long to any such groups, take the time to find out what ocean issues are on their agenda. Clean water and healthy, sustainable fisheries are certainly com-mon goals, but there are those are act-ing on issues that can and will nega-tively impact your ability to fish. Your best defense is to know who it is you are supporting and where your money is being spent. Supporting the RFA is

the best way to fulfill your desire to promote conservation while maintain-ing your right to fish.


I don’t have to tell you that the Miami International Boat Show is one of the worlds largest and has been for as long as I can remember. I started going to the show

over 35 years ago and have only missed a few. It marks the new model year for most boat and is a huge event for fish-

ing boat builders of all sizes, especially saltwater fish boats! You can always count on something new from the engine companies, too, whether it’s a new arrival in diesel propul-sion to power big sportfish convertibles or the next advance in outboard technology with more horsepower. It you want see what’s new in electronics, accessories for your boat and the latest in fishing tackle and gear, you just have to be there. And the deals you can get from the hundreds of ven-dors in attendance makes it the place to buy everything from a new pair of boat shoes to a boatload of new lures. It doesn’t hurt that it’s held in Florida where the weather is

warm even in February!

The upcoming show marks the 75th anniversary for the Mi-

ami Boat Show and they are doing it up right by moving it to a brand new home - the iconic Miami Marine Stadium

Park & Basin, just minutes from downtown Miami.

“We are absolutely thrilled to take make the move to the new location,” said Thom Dammrich, president of the Na-tional Marine Manufacturers Association, the organization that puts on the show. “Miami Marine Park is located on Vir-

ginia Key so think of it as a boat show on an island!”

The biggest complaints received from people attending the show in recent years revolve around the lack of parking and

the traffic congestion near the old convention center in Mi-ami Beach. Getting from the convention center to the vari-ous marinas for the in-water segments of the show was diffi-cult and time consuming even with the huge fleet of shuttle

buses the promoters had running constantly.

“With this move we’ve addressed those problems by bring-ing the entire show to one beautiful location,” Dammrich said. “This year the land-based portion of the show, the ex-tensive Marine Mart and the in-water boat displays will all be at Miami Marina Park so you won’t have to shuttle around

town to get to the various locations.”

The NMMA will be working with Park Jockey to assure park-ing will not be an issue and to provide the public with a

GET READY FOR A WHOLE NEW

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INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW 2016 Progressive Insurance Miami International Boat Show Cruises

into Miami Marine Stadium Park & Basin - February 11-15, 2016



wide range of parking choices with online registration and reservations. There closest and most costly parking will be on Virginia Key at the Marine Park, approximate 4,200 in all at a cost of $35 per day. There are over 10,000 spaces are available at locations in downtown Miami at a cost of $5

per day, which includes free shuttle buses and water taxi service to the show and an additional 5,000 spaces will be reserved at Marlin Stadium also with free shuttles to and from the show. To check out the parking options and make reservations for the day or days you plan to attend go to www.miamiboatshow.com and click the show information tab, then navigate to parking. Pick your option and even pay in advance online for your reservation. It’s that easy and you’ll be assured of the parking space that meets your

needs and budget.

“The show will be bigger and better with over 1,200 boats on land and in-water at Ma-

rine Park,” Dammrich ex-plained, “but the experience of attending and getting around will be much more convenient and user friendly. And it will include the best food service at any boat show you’ve ever been to so you can enjoy a wide range of foods while enjoying the

show!”

In addition to the new loca-tion and logistical work done

to solve the parking situation NMMA has made booking rooms for the show easier, too. Check out the listing of ho-tels offering special room rates all in one place right on the show website. You can browse and book from a variety of hotels that have blocks of rooms set aside for the show. All the hotels participating will also have shuttle service to and

from the show.

So what can you expect from the all new Progressive Insur-ance Miami International Boat Show this year in the way of

exhibits this year? Check this out.

New For Fishermen. In addition to the 1,200 new boats both on land and in-water including hundreds of fishing

boats, plus thousands of marine accessories, gear and tech-nologies, you won’t want to miss the new Sportfishing Pavil-ion featuring hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the best in

fishing products.

A boater’s shopping paradise. The boat show’s new foot-print elevates the entertainment experiences. Exhibit areas are situated in large, state of the art air-conditioned tents for boats, engines, accessories, and the latest boating technolo-gies. Temporary vessel slips will house more than 400 boats in a marina setting, featuring boat demonstrations and sea

trials for serious shoppers.

Get your feet wet. For those looking to get out and learn on the water, Discover Boating Hands-On Skills Training offers exclusive on-the-water power boating and sailing workshops. Water sport lovers can make their way to the new Try It Cove and try activities such as kayaking and stand up paddle boarding, all while enjoying the pictur-

esque backdrop of downtown Miami.

Wine & dine like a boater. Food and beverage experiences

also play a big part of the Miami Boat Show’s makeover. From on-water dining locations to popup restaurants, a beer garden and upscale wine bar, attendees can please their palates with a variety of options. An interactive kids’

area is also onsite, where chil-dren can build their own piz-zas, play, and be a part of the family fun at Miami Interna-

tional Boat Show.

Celebrating 75 years of boat-ing in Miami. The Miami Boat Show celebrates its 75th anni-versary in 2016 and is featur-

ing two iconic South Florida boats. The Pilar, a replica and “sistership” of Ernest Heming-way’s famous boat, is on dis-play, offering show goers a glimpse of the boat that influ-enced several of Heming-way’s finest books, like The Old Man and the Sea. “Carol Suzanne,” built by well-known hydroplane driver Robert

Schroeder, is one of Miami Marine Stadium basin’s most prominent racing boats and

makes her show debut.

Travel to the show like a boater – come by sea! New, park and ride options include dozens of pick-up and drop-off points for free water taxi and shuttle bus service, located throughout Miami, making getting to and from the show seamless and fun. Attendees can board a water taxi or shut-tle bus from mainland hotels, park & ride lots, and Metro Rail stations in Downtown, Brickell and Coconut Grove are-as. Visit http://www.miamiboatshow.com/public-transportation to view the full list of pick-up and drop-off

points to access the show.

Accommodations: Visit

http://www.miamiboatshow.com/accomodations now to book rooms at the best rates through the boat show’s offi-

cial housing partner, OnPeak.

If you’ve been going to the boat show in Miami for years or if this is going to be your first time expect to be immersed in a totally new look and vibe. It promises to be the most

amazing boat show ever!

Tom Dammrich, President

National Marine Manufacturers Association

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T he Southern Kingfish Association (www.fishska.com) hosts the larg-

est saltwater tournament series in the country. Sponsored by Mercury Ma-

rine, the SKA Mercury Tournament Trail spans 8 states in the Southeast that are bro-ken up into nine Divisions with over 50 sanctioned events attract-ing thousands of anglers in three boat size

classes. These dedicated an-glers go head to head each year to com-pete for the coveted title of National Champion.

Tournaments are divided into the nine geographic regions with each Division holding three to five sanc-tioned events during the fish-ing year. While

SKA competition members are encour-aged to fish the events within their geographic region they are always welcomed and encouraged to fish tournaments outside their Division. Teams placing high enough in Division competition receive an invitation to compete head-to-head with the most successful anglers from all the Divisions

in the SKA National Championships. The elite teams that fish in the Mercury Pro Tour also receive invitations to fish the Nationals so you know the compe-

tition is going to be fierce.

The SKA has been closely aligned with the Recreational Fishing Alliance for a number of years, encouraging its mem-bers to join RFA, support it financially and get involved politically. The recent-ly retired managing partner of the SKA, Jack Holmes, and the former opera-tions manager, Bob Flocken, handed over the management reins under the

watchful eyes of Iceseas Farrell, SKA president, Jim Butler and Erin Hen-shaw, operations managers, have worked hard to maintain the close rela-

tionship with RFA. As a result, many SKA members are also grass-roots

members of the RFA. The National Champion-ship was held in Morehead City, North Carolina Oc-

tober 23—24 with 200 competition teams towing their fast and seaworthy center con-sole boats into town to see who

would be crowned champion. And while that would not be deter-mined until the final fish-ing day, one thing was certain, the

RFA would be a big winner the night of the captain’s meeting and awards dinner when the division champions would be announced and a great barbeque dinner would be shared by over 700 people in attendance. The fundraiser put together for the day was a huge raffle with several silent

Southern Kingfish Association Hosts Fundraiser for the RFA

“The Southern Kingfish Association was delighted to support the Recreational Fishing Alliance once again. It’s important to both of our organizations to encourage fishing while simultaneously re-specting our fisheries for future generations and protecting the public’s right to access those fisher-ies. We appreciate all of the efforts of the RFA.” —Erin Henshaw, SKA

RFA’s friends at the SKA presenting the Lady Angler of the Year Pro Division award to

Shayna Griffin (center) of team Wild Ride at the ceremonies in the Crystal Coast Conven-

tion Center prior to the raffle drawing. From right to left: Iceseas Farrel, Jim Butler,

Shayna, Michelle Kilburn from Mercury Marina, David Worsham and Erin Henshaw.

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auction items with a total value of over $17,000 . The big items were an original artwork by Hank Bufkin, a complete electric kite fishing kit courtesy of Elec-Tra-Mate, Tuppens and Tigress, fishing combos from Half Hitch Tackle and loads of rods, reels, fish bags, prints, bean bags, tackle as-

sortments, knifes, sunglasses, a 3D camera, boat accessories and more. The raffle tickets went on sale earlier in the day during reg-istration for the championship and continued during the

happy hour and through dinner with the help of members from the newly charter RFA-North Carolina Chapter. If you are from the Carolinas and want to get involved with a

bunch of great guys who are changing North Carolina fish-eries management and the political landscape of the state call the RFA office and we will put you in touch with them. The raffle culminated in the drawing immediately after the Division awards were presented. When all was said and done it generated $10,000 in ticket sales and the SKA was kind enough to write an additional check to the North Car-olina chapter from the proceeds from liquor sales at the bar that evening. We would like to thank everyone at the SKA for once again

helping us reach out to their membership for this fundrais-ing event and also for encouraging them and us to work harder to protect recreational fishing for today and for fu-ture generations. A big thank you goes out to Bob Flocken for his yeoman work getting the goodies for the raffle and

for driving to North Carolina from his home base in Florida specifically for the raffle. We also send out a big thank you to Jack and Deona Holmes for also driving to Morehead City to help with the raffle. Jack has been on the RFA board of directors for a number of years and Bob is the most re-

cently elected members of the board. All three of these great folks are huge assets to the organization.

The RFA and SKA would like to thank Economy Tackle, Elec-tric Fishing Reel Co., Inc., Ford Foods, Tigress, Tuppens, Bufkin Air Designs, Half Hitch Tackle, Loadmaster, Guy Har-vey, Blue Water Candy, Raymarine, Garmin, C&H Lures, Ocean Tamer, Sea Angler Gear, Diamond Fishing, Buck Knives, Smith Optics, BlackBird Products, Clean Way, AF-TCO, Bimini Bay, Crowder Rods, Daiwa, Moldcraft, Salt Life Optics, Carey Chen, Z Stuff, Lee’s Live Bait, Balloon Fisher King, Mercury Marine, Yamaha Marine, Grundens, Corona Beer and Swisher for their generosity in helping make the event such a success.

One of the four big tables full of great merchandise donated for the raffle by a great bunch of companies and

individuals show support the Recreational Fishing Alliance. All photos Courtesy Mark Calabro.



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A ssessing a marine fish popu-lation is similar in many re-gards to forecasting weath-er. Both the stock assess-

ment team and weather forecasters

take a pile of data and plug it into a model to produce a range of potential outcomes. Those outcomes are used on numerous levels from the commodi-ty trader buying/selling futures on heating oil, to the farmer planning his planting and/or irrigation schedule to the fisherman looking to see when the wind will blow northwest and possibly

turn on a striper bite.

Most people understand and accept the limitation of weather forecast-ers. No one would expect the weath-

erman to tell them whether it will rain or not on a given day one year in the future for planning a family barbe-que. Historical averages provide the best prediction in terms of a range of temperatures and possibilities for rain and based on this information, one can make reasonable assumptions and preparations, but even historical aver-ages provide no guarantee they will be on the money. Yet in the fisheries man-

agement world, stock assessment teams are expected to determine the population size of a stock years into the future using data that is frequently sus-

pect or outright unreliable.

Summer flounder has been getting a lot of press lately for the pending quota reductions in 2016. The quota reduc-tion is due in large part to the below average recruitment during the three year period beginning in 2010 and

lasting through 2013.

We all know that the science behind stock assessments is less than perfect and that there is a great deal of room

for improvement. What people don’t always realize is that the fishermen are the ones that pay for the lack of data and how many levels of precaution are added into the calculations by the as-

sessment scientists. The last bench-mark assessment for Summer Flounder was conducted in 2013 (SAW 57). One of the most important out-comes of an assessment are the projec-tions that predict spawning stock bio-mass over the coming years. These projection are used to set the overfish-ing limit (OFL) from which the annual

catch limits are set.

Fishermen are used to questioning the science used in stock assessments, es-pecially when it comes the methodolo-

gy used for monitoring recreational landings. It is not that fishermen be-lieve the data has no relevance, but they lack confidence in the data when it is used for making important deci-sions such as setting quotas or recrea-tional regulations. This sets up the long-standing battles between fisher-men and fishery managers and rightly so. Recreational landing estimates are notoriously inaccurate and NOAA has

done little to address the inaccuracies.

What fishermen rarely see is how the

lack of confidence in the data cumula-tively results in a significant reduction in the quota available to anglers. In the example of summer flounder, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) in their 2015 assessment up-date revised the 2016 through 2018 OFL based on the below average re-cruitment that occurred from 2010 through 2013. Those limits were set at 18.06 million pounds in 2016, 19.82

million pounds in 2017 and 22.40 mil-lion pounds in 2018. For reference, the OFL in 2015 was 27.06 million

pounds.

The Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council has its own internal risk policy which gives their Scientific and Statisti-cal Committee (SSC) guidance when setting acceptable biological catch lim-its (ABC). At the core of the policy is a

formula that prescribes the level of risk that can be taken based on the grade quality (1-4 with 1 being the best). The 2013 benchmark assessment for fluke was given a value of 3, not very confi-dence inspiring. Considering the amount of money, resources and data that goes into the summer flounder assessment it is hard to ever imagine an assessment making the top grade of 1. Following the risk policy and the

level 3 grade for the fluke assessment, the SSC put forward and ABC of 16.26mp, 15.86mp and 15.68mp re-spectively through 2018. Note that the NEFSC OFL’s go up each year through 2018, the SSC recommendations go down each year through 2018. In 2016, the ABC is reduced from the OFL by 9.9%. This departure increases to 30% by 2018. The cumulative impact of the lack of confidence is 12.48 mil-

lion pounds of quota over the three year period if the quota was set at or near the OFL. Likewise, the recreation-al summer flounder annual harvest limit will decrease from 5.42million

pounds in 2016 to 5.26 in 2018.

How does the SSC grade assess-ments? The following wording is from SSC chairman John Boreman in a memo to MAFMC Chairman Richard Robins in September of 2013 regarding the summer flounder assessment might

shed some light.

The SSC was not comfortable with de-fining the assessment (Summer Floun-

A Look at the Summer Flounder Stock

Assessment Process

By John DePersenaire

With Guest Commentary by Nick Cicero, RFA Board of Directors



Reprinted courtesy of The Fisherman Magazine, October, 2015 Author Nick Cicero has been in the tackle industry for over 30 years, is a lifelong saltwater fisherman and holds a seat on the RFA Board of Directors.

der) as Level 1. Because no alternative level of uncertainty in OFL was provided in the assessment, the SSC is constrained to deter-mine the Summer Flounder assessment as Level 3.

As NOAA rolls out the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy – Implementa-

tion Plan look carefully to see how much money NOAA will be putting towards to the direct improvement or gathering of data to run stock assessments. Make no mistake, when inadequate resources are put into the assessment process, fishermen and fishing related businesses are the ones who directly suffer. All the grandiose, feel good concepts in the implementation plan are just window dressing. The most meaningful thing that NOAA could do for the recreational fishing

community would be to adequately fund both the recreational data collection pro-grams and the assessment for species im-portant to the recreational fishing community so that uncertainty can be reduced and more

fish are made available to anglers.

Circling back to the weatherman, it's always easy to tell the accuracy of their forecasts when the forecast weather event comes to pass. In the world of fisheries management, we never really know how many summer flounder were in a particular year-class nor can we count every pound of fish that makes

up SSB estimate. If we will never know and it is pretty clear that NOAA will never allocate enough money to find out, why continue to treat uncertainty in the assessments as some-thing that can be fixed? Not to minimize the work that the industry has done, particularly the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund which has vastly accelerated the rate at which the summer flounder and black sea bass assessment has been funded, but how can you expect an industry that is being pun-

ished for poor science to pay for the improve-ments, That is not to say that improvements can’t be made and shouldn't be pursued, but this perpetual drive to micromanage and the subsequent reduction of quota that resulted in an attempt oo reduce uncertainty is a

failed endeavor.

Let's accept the current quality of the summer flounder assessment as adequate from a risk standpoint and stop taking a significant amount of the quota away from fisher-men. Fishermen can not continue to be pun-

ished in way of quota reductions and lost opportunities due to the shortcomings of the

stock assessment.


A coalition of environmental groups including the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Conservation Law Foun-dation, and the National Resources Defense Coun-

cil, is pushing hard to create a half-dozen “marine national monuments” in the Atlantic

Ocean that would prohibit com-mercial fishing and could ban

recreational fishing as well.

The coalition is encouraging President Obama to use his au-thority to designate the monu-ments through the Antiquities Act of 1906, which was created to “protect the objects of historic and scientific interest” and is supposed to be limited to “the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of

the objects to be protected.” Through the Act, a president can unilaterally create these are-as without any public or con-gressional oversight or input. A number of presidents have exer-cised this privilege in the past, yet most monuments have been designated on land or in the

Western Pacific Ocean.

At the time of this writing the areas under consideration are not completely clear, but appear

to include at least three canyons – Lydonia, Gilbert, and Ocean-ographer – along with four sea-mounts to the south, as well as Cashes Ledge some 50 miles offshore in the Gulf of Maine. Other canyons and seamounts are also reportedly under con-

sideration.

It is clear to many of us, however, that the coalition’s intent in creating these monuments has little to do with historical

or cultural preservation. As Maine’s Gov. Paul LePage put it, the monuments designations “would serve only one pur-pose – excluding commercial fishing from certain segments

of the ocean.”

The recreational sector, howev-er, needs to be very careful – and skeptical as well. At least

one attorney for the Conserva-tion Law Foundation (CLF) has suggested that recreational fish-ing would likely be allowed in the monuments, in order to gar-ner support from sport fisher-men, and indicated that it would be a real “win” for the recrea-tional sector if just the commer-cials were prohibited in these

areas.

But the rec sector isn’t taking the bait. “Just because a couple of

environmental groups claim they wouldn’t oppose recrea-tional fishing in the monuments doesn’t mean that sport fishing would be allowed once the final regulations are drafted in D.C.,” explained Frank Blount, chair-man of the New England Fishery Management Council’s (NEFMC) Groundfish Committee and a party boat fleet owner in RI.

“There’s no way to predict what the language in any monument designation will entail. We need to oppose the whole idea, right

from the get-go.”

One of the biggest problems with the Antiquities Act of 1906

is that it strips away the open, democratic processes that protect these areas yet can allow sustainable and appropri-ate fishing activity. The open federal Fishery Management Council system is the vehicle by which this is best accom-

Enviros Push for “National Monuments”

Off Northeast Coast that Could Ban

Recreational Fishing By Capt. Barry Gibson

National Monument designation is the latest way

enviros are trying to implement Marine Sanctuaries.



plished, and in fact the NEFMC has already implemented strong protections for Cashes Ledge, where most commer-cial fishing is already now prohibited. And in June, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to protect 38,000 square miles of marine habitat in order to protect

deep-sea corals.

A marine monuments designation, in contrast, would nulli-

fy these existing management actions, and deny the public any input into what new restrictions might, or should, be enacted. “Instead, it all becomes purely political,” says Jim Donofrio, the RFA’s Executive Director. “Whoever has the most influence on the administration and the president will get what they want in the way of restrictions in these areas. This is no way to manage our publicly-owned marine re-sources. We already have a transparent process via the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It’s certainly not perfect, to be sure,

but it at least allows for public participation.”

Obviously, there has been a significant backlash against the enviros’ monument proposals. A “Town Meeting” was held to air out the subject in mid-September in Providence, RI,

and both commercial and recreational fishermen turned

out in force to oppose the idea.

In response, U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Rep. Don Young (R-AK) recently co-sponsored H.R. 330, “The Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act,” which would prevent President Obama and any future president from unilaterally designating offshore ocean areas as “national

monuments” and restricting the public’s ability to fish there.

The RFA will be monitoring this issue closely in the weeks and months to come. The Northeast canyons are signifi-cantly important offshore recreational fishing areas for many hundreds of private and for-hire vessels and their anglers who target yellowfin, big eye, and bluefin tuna, as well as albacore, swordfish, mahi-mahi, marlin, wahoo, and

deep-water bottom species. Cashes Ledge, in the Gulf of Maine, is a historically important destination for those pur-

suing cod, haddock, pollock, and halibut with rod and reel.

“We simply cannot lose the potential for recreational access to these areas that provide so much in the way of social and economic benefit to our country,” says RFA’s Donofrio. “The Antiquities Act of 1906 may work for a few small, spe-cific areas on dry land, but is totally inappropriate for ocean

management.”

We’ll report on any new developments in the next issue of

Making Waves.

http://www.elec-tra-mate.com/


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The Recreational Fishing Alliance Headquarters P.O. Box 3080

New Gretna, New Jersey 08224 Phone: 1-888-564-6732 toll free Fax: (609) 294-3812

Cover & Background Designs by

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The RFA Mission Safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers

Protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs Ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation’s fisheries.

Anti-fishing groups and radical environmentalists are pushing their agenda on marine fisheries issues affecting you. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is in the trenches too, lobbying, educating decision makers and ensuring that the interests of America’s coastal fishermen are being heard loud and clear. Incorporated in 1996 as a 501c4 national, grassroots political action organization, RFA represents recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues on every coast, with state chapters established to spearhead the regional issues while building local support. “The biggest challenge we face is the fight to reform and bring common sense and sound science into the fisheries management process, says James Donofrio, RFA founder and Executive Director. “Anti-fishing and extreme environ-mental groups are working everyday to get us off the water.” Despite the threats to diminish access to our nation’s re-sources, Donofrio says that RFA offers members hope in an organization that’s designed from the ground up to fight back. “As individuals, our concerns will simply not be heard; but as a united group, we can and do stand up to anyone who threatens the sport we enjoy so much – fishing!” After nearly 20 years working inside the Beltway and within state capitols along the coast, RFA has become known as one of the nation’s most respected lobbying organizations, and our members have a lot to celebrate.

Jim Donofrio Executive Director John DePersenaire Managing Director

Capt. Barry Gibson New England Regional Director Gary Caputi Corporate Relations Director

Jim Martin West Coast Regional Director

T. J. Cheek Southeast Regional Director

waves M A K I N G


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