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Crossroads Bait and Tackle Fish Report > pretty soon all fishing will be outlawed
pretty soon all fishing will be outlawed

Mar 26, 2011

I ask for your assistance in resolving a very serious matter pertaining to Bluefin Tuna (BFT) quota allocation. The matter will have detrimental consequences for this year and future years if we don’t mobilize and make compelling argument to stop it.

In a simplified explanation of our BFT dilemma, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing to allocate 160 metric tons of US BFT quota to cover the “dead discard” of the Pelagic Long Line (PLL) fishery and then to further allocate another 69.5 metric tons to them for BFT that they can retain and sell. The NMFS intends to take the 160 metric tons away the Angling, General and Harpoon Categories to cover the indiscriminate and wasteful killing of this gear type. This strategy punishes the highly selective and discriminate gear types for the wastefulness of PLL fishermen. It further rewards the PLL fishermen by giving them 69.5 metric tons to profit from.

If you’re wondering how much BFT 160 metric tons represents, here is a perspective. The 2011 proposed quota for the entire Angling Category from Florida to Maine is just 169.1 tons. So in essence, the PLL fishermen will kick over a dead discarded BFT for every BFT landed by a Recreational Fisherman!

This is nothing short of outrageous and you should be appalled over the wastefulness and senseless killing of this gear type. Further, you should be infuriated that the NMFS intends to punish the other BFT Category Fishermen by taking their quota to cover for the PLL fishermen’s wastefulness. And as a finale insult to the injury, the NMFS proposes to allocate 69.5 metric tons of BFT to this wasteful gear type so they can further exploit the resource for profit.

We need to organize and put a stop to this and the only way we’re going to make the impact that’s necessary is by attending the Gloucester Meeting on April 1st. And yes, I wish this were an April fool’s joke but instead it is the sad state of affair that our BFT fishery faces.

We need as many feet on the ground as we can get for the Gloucester Meeting and I ask that you please join me in trying to put an end to this non-sense. The meeting will be held on:

April 1, 2011, 1 to 3 p.m. at NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA.



Please pass this msg along to your fishing buddies and ask that they attend the Gloucester meeting to voice their opposition to the NMFS quota proposal.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

 

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