October
1997 Issue
#69
October
1997 Issue
#69
SeaWatch is underwritten by THE ORVIS COMPANY
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Paid Commercial Lobbyist Appointed to Fishery Regulatory Council
by Ted Forsgren
U.S. taxpayers are now paying travel expenses and a daily salary for a commercial industry lobbyist to vote with and lobby members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
A U. S. Commerce Department appointment of a paid lobbyist for the commercial fishing industry to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has been characterized as "an outrageous conflict of interest" by the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida.
"We are shocked and outraged at this appointment," said CCA Florida Chairman, Robert Oglesby.
The decision also effectively denies all citizen representation from any Florida conservation or recreational fishing group on this important fishery regulatory council; despite the fact that Florida has greater than two million resident saltwater anglers, more than the total number of recreational fishermen in all the other three South Atlantic Council states combined.
"What possible justification can there be for your Department’s decision to remove all of Florida’s citizen conservation and recreational representation from the Council and replace such with a full-time employee and paid lobbyist for a commercial fishing industry lobbying organization," asked Oglesby in a July 3 letter to U. S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley.
CCA Florida urged Secretary Daley to take immediate action to correct the irresponsible decision by withdrawing the appointment of John Sanchez, from the South Atlantic Council, and reprimanding, or firing, all Departmental officials responsible for making such an irresponsible and improper decision.
The Department of Commerce’s written response refused to address the issue of financial conflicts of paid lobbyists, saying only that the appointment was made to "fulfill evolving fishery management issues and concerns, as well as the prevailing fishery management needs" and that the "appointment decisions reflect the best effort to bring sector balance to the council."
John Sanchez is employed by the Monroe County Commercial Fishermen, Inc. (MCCF), an association of commercial fishermen and wholesale fish houses in Monroe County, as their full-time executive director and lobbyist. The 400 members of MCCF have substantial financial interests in the commercial take of spiny lobster, king and Spanish mackerel, snappers, groupers, stone crabs and amberjack, all of which are regulated by the South Atlantic Council.
Commercial industry domination on the U.S. Fishery Management Councils and federal mismanagement has led to fishery stock collapses and economic disasters such as the collapse of king mackerel stocks in the Gulf of Mexico. The complete collapse of the groundfish stocks in New England destroyed a fishery that had existed for four centuries. These, and other disasters led to last year’s major revisions to federal fishery laws contained in the Magnuson Act. One such provision dealt directly with the prevention and elimination of financial conflicts of interest on the Fishery Councils.
"If the appointment of a paid lobbyist is not a conflict of interest then the new conflicts provisions are simply a sham," said Oglesby.
Amberjack Management Aborted by Council Appointment
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In September, a multi-year effort to implement amberjack conservation laws in Atlantic Coast waters was seriously damaged by actions of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. As predicted by CCA, when John Sanchez, a commercial industry lobbyist, was appointed to the council in August, his first motion was to "gut" the proposed amberjack rules by substituting a 1,000 pound trip limit for the two months of spawning season closures. National Marine Fisheries Service representative Andy Kemmerer, who played a major role in getting Sanchez appointed to the Council, also argued in favor of and voted for the Sanchez motion, which passed.
The Florida Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) and the overwhelming majority of Florida charter boat captains and saltwater anglers consider amberjack to be severely overfished with great declines in overall abundance and average size of fish. Before the recent change in voting members, the South Atlantic Council had proposed adding two months to the existing one month commercial closure. It’s during the months of March, April and May, that amberjack are aggregated for spawning and are highly vulnerable to large-volume commercial take.
Two years ago, the month of April was closed to commercial take. However, according to Dr. Russell Nelson, a member of the council and executive director of the Florida MFC, one month was not long enough to prevent the industry from simply increasing efforts on either side of the closure and undermining the benefits. In fact, Nelson showed that annual commercial landings actually increased after the one month closure was implemented.
The Council also proposed to lower the recreational bag limit from three fish to one and increase recreational size limit from 28 to 36 inches. Conservation and recreational fishing groups supported the measures and urged the Council to act quickly. Commercial fishermen from Monroe County strongly opposed the measures.
Nevertheless, the Council voted to eliminate the best, most reliable and enforceable regulation, which would be the complete prohibition on commercial harvest and sale during the peak amberjack spawning season months of March, April and May. Instead of the three-month spawning season closure, there is only a one month closure, a 1,000 pound trip limit and a quota.
Prior to the vote, Eugene Proulx, a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) special enforcement agent, stated that "trip limits were rendered useless when cellular phones came into operation." With cell phones, violators can easily monitor and check for the presence or absence of dockside enforcement officers before getting close to land.
On the final day of the three-day meeting, conservation-oriented Council members attempted to reinstate the three-month spawning season closure. Marsha Hass (South Carolina), Belinda Flanigan (Georgia) and Dr. Russell Nelson (Florida MFC) argued that the spawning season closure was the only way to ensure protection and reduce intense, high volume take on spawning aggregations. Their motion failed 6 to 5, with Sanchez and NMFS casting deciding votes against the measure.
In addition to gutting amberjack protection in the Atlantic, the Council’s actions undermine amberjack protection measures already adopted for Gulf waters and proposed for state waters. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has already approved a March, April, May spawning season closure for commercial harvest and sale. Thus, in Monroe County, where much of the spawning season take occurs, the Atlantic side of U.S. 1 will be open and the Gulf side will be closed, rendering the Gulf side closure virtually unenforceable.
The Florida MFC’s recommended March, April, May spawning season closure is also undermined because law enforcement officers will not be able to determine whether the amberjack were caught in offshore Atlantic federal waters or in nearshore state waters unless they actually see the fish being taken.
"I’m afraid we’re just riding this stock down just like we did for king and Spanish mackerel," said Dr. Nelson.
CCA Florida urges all saltwater anglers and other conservationists to contact their U.S. Senators and call for the removal of paid lobbyists from the Council and the implementation of meaningful conservation measures to protect amberjack.
Senator Bob Graham, 524 Hart Senate Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510 Office:(202)224-3041; Fax: (202)224-2237; or e-mail:bob_graham@graham.senate.gov.
Senator Connie Mack, 517 Hart Senate Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510 Office:(202)224-5274; Fax: (202) 224-8022; or e-mail: connie@mack.senate.gov
Save Our Sealife Amendment Passes Supreme Court Challenge
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The court has ruled that limiting nets is a valid way for the state to protect its natural resources and economic assets.
On August 21, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in agreement with the judgement of the Circuit Court of Leon County, which upheld the constitutionality of Article X, Section 16, of the Florida Constitution, limiting marine net fishing. The ruling puts to rest the major lawsuit that was filed against the state of Florida by commercial interests just days before implementation of the net ban in 1995.
The court agreed with the finding that the amendment violated no one’s right to due process, or equal protection; nor does it violate anyone’s property rights or the right to engage in a lawful occupation.
CCA Florida, represented by Attorney Terry McCollough, intervened in the suit on behalf of the state, providing written briefs and oral testimony at every hearing.
CCA Florida members are encouraged to communicate their appreciation to Attorney General Bob Butterworth and Assistant Attorney General John Glogau for their strong and committed legal support for the SOS court defense. They can be contacted at PL01 The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050; (904) 487-1963; fax 487-2564.
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As reported in the last issue of SeaWatch, the Marine Fisheries Commission had become concerned over the problem of large numbers of blue crab traps being altered to catch reef fish. The throats (entrances) of the traps have been changed from a horizontal to a vertical configuration which allows fish to enter.
The traps are then being used illegally as finfish traps while being regulated and permitted as crab traps. As such, trappers have been able to circumvent fish trap rules such as daily retrieval of all traps in federal waters and the complete ban on fish traps in Florida waters.
In early September, the Marine Fisheries Commission held a final public hearing on proposed blue crab and stone crab rules amendments that will effectively end the use of crab traps for illegal fish trapping operations.
The rule would prohibit the use of blue crab traps in federal waters adjacent to Florida; require that each entrance be horizontally oriented; and regulates the size of the marking buoys.
The rule will go before the Governor and Cabinet for approval on November 18, 1997, and will take effect January 1, 1998 if approved.
CCA members are encouraged to contact the Governor and Cabinet to express support for the rule. For contact information refer to the Legislative Yellow Pages which were provided in the March issue of SeaWatch. Or call CCA Florida's Tallahasssee office at (850) 224-3474 or e-mail: info@cca-florida.com