sushiman50
12-20-2009, 03:38 PM
Please write to NMFS and your US Senators and Congressmen to support the proposed 12-month equal-access fishery for bluefin tuna. New England bluefin fishermen have long cornered the market on bluefin season open/close dates and quota allocations, and this is our first real opportunity for mid-Atlantic and southern states to get equal access to the fishery.
For the first time, NMFS has proposed a regulation that would establish a 12-month bluefin fishery with equal 8.33% shares of the quota for each month of the fishery, Jan 1 to Dec 31. If a monthly quota is not caught, the balance rolls over to the next month and accumulates until the quota is caught up to or the season ends on Dec 31. This would give every state equal and fair access to bluefin quota, consistent with National Standard 4 on page 66 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (known as the MSA).
On November 4, 2009, NMFS proposed this and other BFT management changes. Comments are due to NMFS by close of business tomorrow, Dec 21, 2009. Please write NMFS and your elected officials (Senators and Congressmen) in support of Alternative B3 (Alt B3), which is the 12-month fishery alternative. If adopted, this would give MD, VA, and NC fair opportunity to catch bluefin tuna, which would also likely result in substantial boosts to local economies and fishermen.
See attached sample letter from NC Sen. Tim Spear and the NMFS NPRM. You can submit comments electronically via the link Regulations.gov (http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480a50325) , and you can ask your elected reps to submit comments by locating them at this website Contact Elected Officials: USA.gov (http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml) .
With ICCAT decreasing the Med quota to 12,500 tons as of last month, down from 30,000+ tons, and with the US quota decreasing to about 1,000 tons this year, we're hoping BFT stocks will begin to grow and we can once again have a great fishery. With a 12-month fishery for BFT, we are also hoping to improve recreational and commercial fishing opportunities for BFT in southern and mid-Atlantic states while learning more about their migratory and spawning patterns, developing better management measures to increase spawning opportunity and efficiency, and protect spawning areas such as the Gulf of Mexico and Med.
Thanks for your support on this issue, and please join WBA at Winter Bluefin Association - Southeast Coast (http://www.winterbluefin.org). We will be having a membership meeting in the Morehead City area in January and will be updating members on recent BFT regulatory and scientific issues.
Capt. Charley Pereira
Winter Bluefin Association
252-216-6291 cell
For the first time, NMFS has proposed a regulation that would establish a 12-month bluefin fishery with equal 8.33% shares of the quota for each month of the fishery, Jan 1 to Dec 31. If a monthly quota is not caught, the balance rolls over to the next month and accumulates until the quota is caught up to or the season ends on Dec 31. This would give every state equal and fair access to bluefin quota, consistent with National Standard 4 on page 66 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (known as the MSA).
On November 4, 2009, NMFS proposed this and other BFT management changes. Comments are due to NMFS by close of business tomorrow, Dec 21, 2009. Please write NMFS and your elected officials (Senators and Congressmen) in support of Alternative B3 (Alt B3), which is the 12-month fishery alternative. If adopted, this would give MD, VA, and NC fair opportunity to catch bluefin tuna, which would also likely result in substantial boosts to local economies and fishermen.
See attached sample letter from NC Sen. Tim Spear and the NMFS NPRM. You can submit comments electronically via the link Regulations.gov (http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480a50325) , and you can ask your elected reps to submit comments by locating them at this website Contact Elected Officials: USA.gov (http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml) .
With ICCAT decreasing the Med quota to 12,500 tons as of last month, down from 30,000+ tons, and with the US quota decreasing to about 1,000 tons this year, we're hoping BFT stocks will begin to grow and we can once again have a great fishery. With a 12-month fishery for BFT, we are also hoping to improve recreational and commercial fishing opportunities for BFT in southern and mid-Atlantic states while learning more about their migratory and spawning patterns, developing better management measures to increase spawning opportunity and efficiency, and protect spawning areas such as the Gulf of Mexico and Med.
Thanks for your support on this issue, and please join WBA at Winter Bluefin Association - Southeast Coast (http://www.winterbluefin.org). We will be having a membership meeting in the Morehead City area in January and will be updating members on recent BFT regulatory and scientific issues.
Capt. Charley Pereira
Winter Bluefin Association
252-216-6291 cell