Darrell Ticehurst/Fisheries Issues
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NOAA Fisheries Needs to Get its Act Together
Dec. 2 2009, 9:41 AM
Dec. 2 2009, 9:41 AM
NOAA Fisheries Needs to Get its Act Together
It's the death of a thousand cuts. I have worked for NOAA fisheries (NMFS or National Marine Fisheries is the old name) on the PFMC and also observed their practices over a the past 20 years while they slowly, painfully, inflict slice after slice, cut after cut, in our fisheries, never working to improve our lot, only offering not so benign neglect.
It's the death of a thousand cuts. I have worked for NOAA fisheries (NMFS or National Marine Fisheries is the old name) on the PFMC and also observed their practices over a the past 20 years while they slowly, painfully, inflict slice after slice, cut after cut, in our fisheries, never working to improve our lot, only offering not so benign neglect.
Because we take so few fish in comparison with our commercial friends, NOAA historically has made allocations to the recreational sector an afterthought. Because the NOAA economic analyses were defined so narrowly, recreational fishing was thought to have little economic value and never has been a priority within NOAA. Because NOAA has in the past carefully avoided any analysis of environmental damage from such mind boggling NOAA approved commercial practices as bottom dragging, bouncing dingle bars across the bottom, harvesting forage fish that the ocean desperately needs in order to recover, because of this and many other NOAA practices, the fish populations, and the vital structure that fish need to survive, has had devastating effects on the catch of the environmentally clean recreational fishery. And because NOAA treats recreational fishing as an ugly stepchild, we have been tarred with the same brush for fishery practices we were never a part of, and never has NOAA defended us to the public, nor educated their regional management councils on the fact that recreational fishing is not damaging to the environment.
So recreational fishing slowly languishes, small cuts in the season here, maybe a reduction in the limit there, unnecessary marine protected area closures when recreational fishing wouldn’t have impacted the health of the area, a gas dock closes here, a party boat landing goes out of business there, the bait shop can’t afford to stock live bait anymore, a boat manufacturer closes its doors, tackle stores close one by one, rod manufacturers dwindle in numbers, lure makers look for greener pastures, fishing magazine ad revenue drops, and where is NOAA? They are looking out the window, wondering why the recreational industry isn’t so healthy any more, if they even bother to think about us.
So recreational fishing slowly languishes, small cuts in the season here, maybe a reduction in the limit there, unnecessary marine protected area closures when recreational fishing wouldn’t have impacted the health of the area, a gas dock closes here, a party boat landing goes out of business there, the bait shop can’t afford to stock live bait anymore, a boat manufacturer closes its doors, tackle stores close one by one, rod manufacturers dwindle in numbers, lure makers look for greener pastures, fishing magazine ad revenue drops, and where is NOAA? They are looking out the window, wondering why the recreational industry isn’t so healthy any more, if they even bother to think about us.
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January 4, 2010, 3:22 pm
Amen Darrell! I hope someone pays attention to this because it is absolutely right on the mark. I have been in the fisheries of the North Pacific for over 50 years, have served on three guided sport (charter) committees at the NPFMC and participated actively in many other fisheries management venues. Your scenario is even worse at the North Council, where there is little or no sport representation on the 20+ member Advisory Panel and only one voting member out of 11 on the MPFMC itself. And the State Dept of Fish and Game is no better. This year they expressed some concern because their revenues, which come mainly from sport licenses were down considerably. Duh!
Captain Mac