Last week’s coming together of the Atlantic U.S. of A. Marine Fisheries Commission’s Striped Bass Management Board was expected to endure uneventful. It was only scheduled for 45 minutes of discussion, in addition to that give-and-take was going to revolve around purely routine matters, including a review of nation compliance amongst the direction plan, an update on the pending benchmark stock assessment, in addition to electing the Management Board’s Vice-Chair.
I had something planned for Wed afternoon, in addition to therefore wasn’t able to nous inwards on the meeting, but inwards all honesty, fifty-fifty if my fourth dimension was free, I belike wouldn’t receive got signed onto the webinar, every bit the coming together promised to endure pretty dull.
Unfortunately, that hope was broken.
Things went pretty good through all of the scheduled agenda items. There was a pocket-sized hiccup involving Maryland’s compliance amongst circle claw requirements, in addition to an fifty-fifty smaller number involving Maine, but inwards the end, the compliance study sailed through the Board without a lot of debate.
No problems arose until what was usually the most innocuous business office of the meeting, the telephone telephone for whatever novel business.
It’s commonly routine. More times than not, no issues are raised. But terminal Wednesday, at the Management Board meeting, that wasn’t the case. A representative of the National Marine Fisheries Service rose to inform the Management Board that, at the apparent behest of higher-ups inwards the Department of Commerce, NMFS volition before long endure asset scoping hearings on opening upward sections of the Exclusive Economic Zone around Block Island to striped bass fishing.
That was a chip of a bombshell. And things didn’t halt there.
According to folks who attended or listened inwards on the meeting, at that spot was also a rigid proffer that Commerce was thinking nearly eliminating the 30-year-old ban on striped bass angling inwards the EEZ altogether.
That would sure as shooting endure a bad thing.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York) has been trying to opened upward the EEZ around Block Island for a long time. He has stated that
“One of the top legislative priorities of Long Island fishermen is the postulate to clarify the federal regulations regarding striped bass angling inwards the pocket-sized expanse of federally controlled waters betwixt Montauk Point in addition to Block Island.”
That’s a dubious declaration at best.
I’m a long Island fisherman, in addition to I know a lot of other Long Island fishermen, in addition to that’s sure as shooting non our “top legislative priorit[y].”
We tin read pretty well—as far every bit I know, nosotros all made it through high school, inwards the twenty-four hr menstruation when passing English linguistic communication remained a graduation requirement—and the wording of the regulations inwards question, 50 C.F.R. 697.7(b), is already perfectly clear.
You can’t fish for striped bass inwards federal waters betwixt Montauk in addition to Block Island. Period. End of discussion. No clarification needed.
What Zeldin is trying to practice isn’t to “clarify” such regulations, but to negate them. At the least, he should endure upward front end nearly that.
Of course, he mightiness non wish to accept credit for some of his before efforts.
Like his to a greater extent than recent efforts, H.R. 3070 didn’t “clarify” anything at all. Instead, it dingy the waters considerably, past times creating ii different EEZs—the first, the boundary that nosotros all know in addition to love, drawn 3 miles off the Atlantic coast, in addition to the second, a carve upward EEZ that would endure the same every bit the kickoff for most purposes, but would brand some crazy zigs in addition to zags around Block Island, in addition to would only apply to fishery direction questions.
To add together a niggling to a greater extent than “clarity” to the mix, the initial draft of H.R, 3070 genuinely had the "second" EEZ running through the southeast corner of Block Island, therefore that a surfcaster amongst his feet firmly planted on a Block Island boulder would endure illegally angling for striped bass inwards federal waters, piece a Montauk charter boat captain angling dead inwards the kernel betwixt Block Island in addition to the Montauk Light would endure on the correct side of the law.
Zeldin, or at to the lowest degree 1 of his staffers, belike should receive got taken the fourth dimension to aspect at a nautical chart before dropping that bill, but I suppose the postulate to frustrate conservation efforts was a far to a greater extent than pressing concern than drawing boundaries that made some variety of sense.
And, of course, that assumes that either he or 1 of his staffers would genuinely know how to plot out the boundaries of his "new" EEZ, in addition to genuinely read a chart, if they tried to consult one.
The mistake must receive got been caught over time, because an amendment was eventually filed that did away amongst the “clarity” created past times the ii EEZs, in addition to only encouraged federal managers to operate amongst ASMFC to consider opening the waters inwards inquiry to striped bass fishing.
Zeldin kept trying to opened upward federal waters off Montauk to striped bass fishing, filing H.R. 1195, the “Local Fishing Access Act,” during the most recent session of Congress, but that nib was niggling to a greater extent than than a rehash of his amended H.R. 3070.
His side past times side genuinely notable lawsuit didn’t occur until nearly a yr ago, when he seemed to hope that Long Island’s striped bass poaching community—which includes a fair number of constituents agency out on the South Fork—might shout out him their “Man of the Year.”
He did that past times having two amendments attached to the House version of terminal year’s Omnibus Spending Bill, which would receive got prevented both NMFS in addition to the Coast Guard from spending whatever of their appropriated funds to enforce the regulations prohibiting striped bass angling inwards federal waters northward in addition to W of Block Island. If Rep. Zeldin had gotten his way, striped bass poachers would receive got been able to operate inwards the clear low-cal of day, flagrantly violating the law, knowing that they were complimentary to flip the plane to the Coast Guard in addition to NMFS enforcement agents who mightiness otherwise cite them for illegal striped bass harvest.
Fortunately—at to the lowest degree that’s what nosotros thought at the time—the Senate watered downwards the linguistic communication to aspect a lot similar the linguistic communication of H.R. 1195 in addition to the amended H.R. 3070, only encouraging NMFS to operate amongst ASMFC to consider allowing striped bass to endure harvested inwards a pocket-sized department of the federal bounding main off Block Island.
Unfortunately, nosotros weren’t every bit fortunate every bit nosotros had kickoff believed.
As mentioned earlier, Zeldin's revised language, NMFS is forthwith manifestly planning to concord scoping hearings on the topic, hearings that volition probable atomic number 82 to proposed regulations opening the EEZ, non only off Block Island, but real mayhap along the entire East Coast.
That bodes sick for the striped bass, because if we’ve seen whatever 1 thing from this administration, it’s that they assist niggling for fisheries conservation, in addition to whether we’re summer flounder or—I’m afraid—striped bass, in addition to are ever going to favor someone making abundant dollars today over everyone having good for you lot fisheries tomorrow.
A lot of folks fearfulness that, every bit of correct now, the striped bass population is already less than healthy. Although at that spot was a dominant yr degree inwards 2011, in addition to some other that was significantly above-average inwards 2015, a 2016 stock assessment update even therefore shows the population to endure barely 1,000 metric tons higher upward the spawning stock biomass threshold that defines an overfished stock, piece 13,000 metric tons below the target that defines a fully good for you lot spawning stock. The assessment update made no projections every bit to whether the stock is probable to increment substantially nether electrical current regulations, but found it unlikely that it would endure come upward overfished.
At the same time, there are some members of the Striped Bass Management Board who believe that the electrical current target in addition to threshold are also high, in addition to that to a greater extent than bass ought to endure killed for the green “socio-economic benefits” (i.e., short-term profits) that such higher kill would bring. The upcoming benchmark stock assessment volition include a hit of reference points, some of which could allow a substantially larger harvest than is currently the case.
Such higher harvest, coupled amongst an EEZ opening, could create a perfect tempest for the striped bass.
If the only thing that nosotros were talking nearly was opening the EEZ on ii sides of Block Island, things would endure bad enough. The additional fish that would endure caught every bit a termination (and don’t retrieve for a infinitesimal this isn’t nearly killing to a greater extent than fish; folks wouldn’t endure trying therefore hard, for therefore long, to larn the rules changed) mightiness endure enough, inwards some years, to atomic number 82 to overfishing, although whatever overage would belike endure fairly small.
But if NMFS opened the entire EEZ...
“It offers a uncomplicated local solution to a unique local issue,”
comments that seemingly reverberate the testimony of Capt. Joe McBride, of the Montauk Boatmen in addition to Captains’ Association, at a Dec 2015 champaign hearing on the bill, where Capt. McBride claimed that
“This anomaly exists only inwards this expanse because of the extended distance betwixt Block Island, RI in addition to Montauk Point, NY…
Over the terminal 35 years, I’ve gone to a lot of fisheries hearings hither inwards New York, in addition to the Montauk for-hire fleet has ever claimed that they are inwards some agency unique, in addition to therefore somehow entitled to particular consideration. But anyone familiar amongst the entire, coastal striped bass fishery knows that is untrue.
There are plenty of bass on Stellwagen Bank inwards the EEZ off northern Massachusetts, in addition to anglers illegally fish for them there, precisely every bit they illegally target them inwards the EEZ off Block Island.
Further southward inwards the Bay State, charter boats who wish to fish rips off southern Cape Cod, Nantucket in addition to Martha’s Vineyard receive got their ain “unique” geographical arguments to brand nearly why the EEZ should endure opened upward along their business office of the coast.
That’s a pretty “unique” situation, too.
And I’ve seen boats, individual in addition to for-hire, cross the three-mile line inwards the autumn off Long Island, to jig striped bass feeding on sand eels.
The story’s the same every bit you lot motion downwards the coast, where precisely nearly every nation has a “unique” province of affairs where bottom topography in addition to bait concentrations predictably coincide, to create a “unique” province of affairs that could endure used to justify striped bass harvest inwards the EEZ.
But nowhere does the province of affairs larn every bit critical for the striped bass every bit it does inwards the wintertime off Virginia in addition to North Carolina, where most of the Chesapeake stock concentrates offshore. There, the bulk of the prime number brood fish—the 40, 50 in addition to fifty-fifty 60-pound fish that make huge quantities of the most feasible eggs—would endure vulnerable to harvest if the EEZ opened up.
“Winter striped bass angling large disappointment along Virginia coast,”
and goes on to say
“Statistics from the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament order the story. The 2013 citation count for the stripers stands at around 325, amongst a few to a greater extent than to endure added every bit belatedly forms are tallied. In 2012 the count was nearly a one one thousand more, the 2nd highest on tape at 1,331. Of that number, 107 fish weighed to a greater extent than than 50 pounds apiece; eleven of those fish were to a greater extent than than lx pounds. Included was a massive 74-pound nation record…”
It’s belike no coincidence that the drib inwards the number of large fish beingness caught coincided amongst NMFS bringing charges against 5 charter boat captains who were regularly angling for, in addition to catching big, prime number woman somebody striped bass inwards the EEZ off Virginia, arrests that brought penalties serious plenty to incentivize fishermen--and the for-hires--to play past times the rules.
It seems that they receive got a “unique” situation, too.
Thus, it’s pretty clear that Zeldin has opened Pandora’s Box.
He was an early on supporter of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, getting behind the then-candidate Trump good before the 2016 Republican primary. He has remained real unopen to the Administration ever since. Because of that, his continuing wish to receive got the EEZ opened to striped bass angling inwards going to behave substantial weight amongst the Commerce Department.
But what Zeldin manifestly didn’t appreciate—or, precisely every bit likely, he appreciated, but precisely didn’t assist about—is that past times insisting on opening the EEZ off Block Island, he drew the Administration’s attending to the entire EEZ closure.
And in 1 lawsuit this direction starts looking at a regulation intended to promote conservation, such every bit the EEZ closure, the kickoff thing they’re going to practice is assay to figure out how to brand that regulation travel away, because every bit whatever Administration official volition endure to a greater extent than than happy to order you, conservation is bad for business, in addition to line of piece of job concern is the only thing that they give a unmarried damn about.
So, piece striped bass almost sure as shooting wouldn’t accept a fatal hitting if the EEZ around Block Island was opened to fishing, eliminating the EEZ closure alone would practice some existent harm.
The commercial fishery wouldn’t practice much to a greater extent than damage, because it is dependent area to a hard-poundage annual pick out grip of limit, in addition to therefore its harvest wouldn’t automatically increase. That’s non the representative amongst the recreational fishery, which has no pick out grip of limit, but instead is dependent area only to a “soft cap” based on removal rates, in addition to such rates aren’t fifty-fifty calculated every year.
Thus, recreational overfishing tin travel along for quite a long fourth dimension before anyone fifty-fifty knows that it's happening.
To brand things worse, the upcoming benchmark stock assessment volition calculate stock wellness at the halt of 2017, in addition to volition belike endure used to found regulations, which could good allow a bigger kill, during the course of study of 2019. Such regulations would, most likely, larn effective inwards 2020.
Because regulations to opened upward the EEZ would belike endure adopted during 2019,their effects won’t endure considered inwards either the 2018 benchmark assessment or the regulations adopted inwards 2019.
That timing, coupled amongst the lack of an annual pick out grip of boundary for recreational fishermen, would laid the phase for years of overfishing, driven past times the harvest of a lot to a greater extent than large females inwards the EEZ. Such angling would travel undetected until the stock assessment is updated inwards 2021 or 2022, past times which indicate the spawning stock biomass could good endure badly depleted.
Thus, the striped bass, striped bass fishermen and, appropriately, fifty-fifty the Montauk for-hires that receive got kept the EEZ number endure volition all lose, in addition to lose badly, if the EEZ opening occurs.
But there’s no argue to believe that Zeldin is thinking that far ahead.
Which is why, when the scoping hearings begin, it volition endure upward to folks who genuinely assist nearly the striped bass, in addition to nearly the future, to practice his thinking for him.
Because this screw-up would endure far worse than precisely drawing the EEZ across southeastern Block Island, inwards a nib that died long ago.
And fixing it could accept many years.
Rep. Zeldin Continues His Assail On Striped Bass
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