01 August 2008
Posted by
edgar3 (
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Published on August 1st, 2008 @ 09:44:14 pm, using 121 words, 262 views
IMPORTANT PLEASE ATTEND!
The SMB Committee also meets on Tuesday morning (8:30 to 10) to “review and
consider qualifying criteria to be used in mackerel limited entry system (Amendment 11).”
Mid-Atlantic Council Squid, Mackerel, Butterfish Committee meeting
The Mid-Atlantic Council meeting is at the Renaissance Philadelphia Hotel (500 Stevens Dr., telephone 610-521-5900) next week. The Squid, Mackerel, Butterfish Committee is meeting on Monday morning (August 4) from 8:00 am until noon. The two agenda items are “review public comments regarding Amendment 10″ and “develop preferred alternatives regarding Amendment 10 for Council consideration and action.” It’s critical that squid fishermen attend this Committee meeting.
The full Council will take action on Amendment 10 on Tuesday from 1:00 to 2:30.
Depending on what the Committee decides, be prepared to return for this session.
01 July 2008
Posted by
edgar3 (
)
Published on July 1st, 2008 @ 09:01:04 am, using 167 words, 359 views
GSSA is asking you to please call Governor Corzine’s office in support of bill S1553 Marina Access Legislation and bill 1390 Abandoned Vessel Bill.
The Governor’s office phone is (609) 292-6000.
You can respectfully request he sign both bills.
Below is a brief description of the legislation
Thank you for your support.
Greg DiDomenico
GSSA
Waterfront Access Legislation S1553- The Senate and the Assembly passed this legislation and will impose a two year moratorium on the NJDEP Public Access requirements pertaining to 24-hour access for the public at waterfront properties in New Jersey. This legislation is on the Governor’s desk waiting his signature.
Abandoned Vessel Bill S-1390/A1796- This legislation was successfully passed by both the Senate and Assembly and went to the Governor’s desk for his signature. This legislation would revise statutes concerning abandoned vessels to include sunken vessels and authorize municipalities to remove abandoned vessels from municipal waterways. This would apply to all boats including New Jersey registered recreational boats and USCG Documented vessels.
18 April 2008
Posted by
edgar3 (
)
Published on April 18th, 2008 @ 11:29:03 am, using 482 words, 573 views
Trenton, NJ - In a recent opinion piece in the Asbury Park Press, Coastal Ocean Coalition Director Benson Chiles has once again demonstrated his organization’s willingness to stretch credulity far beyond normal bounds.
In an assault on the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council (Council), he first attacks it for supporting the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) horseshoe crab management plan allowing a severely restricted commercial harvest. He then attacks it for not supporting the Commission’s tautog management plan.
He goes on to list what he terms “overfished” New Jersey fisheries, including monkfish, lobster, summer flounder, scup, and tautog, as further justification for removing or revamping the Council. The Council does not manage any of those species. While it determines how New Jersey’s share of the final three species will be caught (i.e. closed seasons, trip limits, etc.), that’s as far as its authority extends. Of the remaining two, the Council is not involved in managing either, and neither the monkfish nor the lobster fishery is considered overfished. While we agree with Mr. Chiles’ conclusion that these fisheries are not being managed as they should be, his attempt to attribute the responsibility for that to the Council and the fishermen on it is sadly misinformed if not purposely misleading.
While New Jersey was found to be out of compliance with the Commission (not the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council, as Mr. Chiles called it) in tautog management, this wasn’t because the Council determined that effective management measures weren’t necessary, only that the measures proposed by New Jersey weren’t acceptable to the Commission. The issue wasn’t whether New Jersey was going to comply or not, it was how New Jersey proposed to do so.
As far as his claim of imminent peril for the red knot, a migratory shorebird that feeds, among other things, on horseshoe crab eggs, he failed to mention that the species is not on any “endangered” list, and in spite of his implication to the contrary, not all scientists feel that the species is in imminent threat of extinction. Regardless of the species’ status, measures have been taken to protect it, including the Commission’s recommendation for a limited male horseshoe crab harvest for New Jersey and Delaware. This prudent recommendation is what caused the commercial fishing members of the Council to vote against the moratorium, not a disregard for the red knot.
Mr. Chiles and his foundation-supported cronies want to replace the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council with their own bureaucratic creation heavily weighted with environmental activists who, we have no doubt, share his biases. Any evaluation of such a move should be based on realities, not misinformation.
Garden State Seafood Association represents New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry and associated businesses. For more information, please contact Greg DiDomenico (gregdi@voicenet.com) at 609 675 0202 or Scot Mackey at 609-392-3100.
11 March 2008
Posted by
edgar3 (
)
Published on March 11th, 2008 @ 05:38:19 pm, using 193 words, 493 views
NEW JERSEY REGISTER
VOLUME 40, NUMBER 4
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008
PUBLIC NOTICE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS
NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
Division of Fish and Wildlife Rules
Horseshoe Crabs
N.J.A.C. 7:25-18.16
Petitioner: Michael Litchko
Take notice that on January 17, 2008, the Department of EnvironmentalProtection (Department) received a petition for rulemaking pursuant toN.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(f) and N.J.A.C. 7:1D-1.1 from Michael Litchko(petitioner). The petitioner requests that the Department amend its Fish andWildlife Rules to make changes related to the taking of horseshoe crabs asdescribed below.
The petitioner asserts that, under the present regulations, the Division ofFish and Wildlife is out of compliance with the Atlantic States MarineFisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board’s recommendations, whichthe petitioner indicates call for harvest of 100,000 male horseshoe crabs for2008. Therefore, petitioner, as a New Jersey licensed horseshoe crab harvester,requests that the Department propose and adopt amendments that would allow amale only harvest of 100,000 horseshoe crabs for 2008. In accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:1D-1.1, the Department will subsequently mailto the petitioner and file with the Office of Administrative Law a notice ofaction on the petition.
40 N.J.R. 893(a)
06 March 2008
Posted by
edgar3 (
)
Published on March 6th, 2008 @ 09:28:27 am, using 241 words, 193 views
The Garden State Seafood Association, representing New Jersey~s ocean-oriented commercial fishing industry, enthusiastically endorses the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 (HR 5425), introduced by New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone and extending the provisions of earlier legislation sponsored by North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones and Massachusetts Congressman Barney Franks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed. The legislation contains amendments to avoid unnecessarily harsh management measures being imposed in fisheries in which the stocks are increasing but the rebuilding rates are beyond the influence of the recreational or commercial harvest levels.
The Bill includes safeguards that will provide the affected fish stocks with more than adequate protection from overharvesting. However, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 will allow fisheries managers to also protect fishermen and fishing communities when arbitrary and inflexible regulations would otherwise punish fishermen ~ and the communities that depend on them ~ for environmental or anthropogenic factors beyond their control that affect those stocks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed.
Congressman Pallone and his co-sponsors have earned the respect of commercial and recreational fishermen on both coasts for recognizing that they are as important as the fish that they harvest.
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