Please forward this to any NY commercial fishermen or other interested NY stakeholders
Because the MAFMC did not approve of the motions made by NY’s MAFMC representatives to address the state by state quota inequity in the fluke fishery during the joint April 2018 MAFMC/ASMFC meeting, we as NYS stakeholders must request of MAFMC that two motions be re-added to the draft amendment via public comment by Friday, October 12, 2018.
There was a public hearing last week that I know was difficult to get to in Stony Brook, so we really need to get comments, a lot of them, sent in to the MAFMC by Friday.
You can do so in one of two ways:
1) I have created a Google form as a quick way to do so- please share it with ANY AND ALL NY fluke fishery stakeholders. Click here https://goo.gl/forms/7YRb9JiSfm9w4yZv2 and fill out. And share that link with ANY AND ALL STAKEHOLDERS THAT CAN BREATHE AND TYPE. SHARE, SHARE and SHARE via social media also! I will be putting it on my personal FB page and the LICFA Facebook page.
Click the box that says
I request that the Mid Atlantic Fishery Mgt Council move to develop two additional options to the summer flounder draft amendment. One: to negotiate new state quota shares of summer flounder, and Two: to include coastwise quota and management of summer flounder
and then go to the next statement below
Please include your name, mailing address and describe how you are a stakeholder within the New York commercial fluke fishery, along with any other pertinent info related as it relates to the summer flounder (fluke) draft amendment
By that I mean briefly tell who you are, full name, with your full mailing address included, and why as a stakeholder, getting a bigger/more fair share of the quota is important to you.
Within the description, a stakeholders would include comm fishermen, license holders, their crew, pack-out docks, seafood shops, ice houses, fish buyers, fish dealers and their employees, wholesalers, restaurant owners, chefs, restaurant patrons, fluke-eating consumers at large, and the wives/husbands/children of commercial fishermen here in New York. In other words anyone that you know that has an NY involvement with fluke directly or indirectly. Catch it, ice it, box it, truck it, sell it, cook it or eat it. Boat to plate, have them fill out this form. Everyone.
The public comment period is open until 11:59 p.m. on October 12th. The close-off on comments through this Google form will be at 10 p.m. on Friday October 12 so they can be submitted to the MAFMC. I’ve already spoken to someone at the MAFMC that has told me that a spreadsheet format (which I will be printing out to send) would be accepted as separate letters. I will confirm that with the specific MAFMC fluke amendment folks tomorrow.
Should you wish to not use this format, you may still use the contact info below to comment until 11:50 on Friday.
ONLINE: http://www.mafmc.org/comments/summer-flounder-amendment
EMAIL: nmfs.flukeamendment@noaa.gov
MAIL OR FAX TO:
Chris Moore, Ph.D., Executive Director
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
800 North State Street, Suite 201
Dover, DE 19901
FAX: 302.674.5399
What you should include:
Name,
full mailing address.
Email contact address
I request that the Mid Atlantic Council move to develop two additional options to the summer flounder draft amendment. One: to negotiate new state quota shares of summer flounder, and Two: to include coastwise quota and management of summer flounder.
Sincerely,
Background:
The motion above was the motion made at the MAFMC in April 2018 by Steve Heins-NY; with a second by Lori Nolan-NY (Page 29). Motion failed (Page 32).
The ASMFC Motion was made by Emerson Hasbrouck; seconded by Matt Gates (Page 29). Motion carried (Page 31).
Note: It passed the Commission but was shot down by the Council. Even Mike Pentony of GARFO supported it. As such, without agreement, it could not go forward.
The point of the Google form comments, or individual email comments, is to get a LOT of New Yorkers requesting that the Council develop those two additional options which might give NY a chance to get its fair share of quota. Without it, we will not be treated fairly. No guarantee actually that we will get these approved by the council, but we need to at the very least get them put back into the amendment.
From the MAFMC website:
Following public hearings, written and oral comments will be compiled and provided to the Council and Board for review. These comments will be considered prior to taking final action on the amendment, which is tentatively scheduled for December 2018. The Council’s recommendations are not final until they are approved or partially approved by the Secretary of Commerce through the National Marine Fisheries Service, so the timing of full implementation of this action will depend on the federal rulemaking timeline. This rulemaking process is expected to occur in 2019, with revised measures possibly effective at the start of the 2020 fishing year.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) are soliciting public input on a draft amendment to address several potential changes to the management of the commercial summer flounder fishery, as well as modifications to the fishery management plan (FMP) goals and objectives for summer flounder. Written comments will be accepted through October 12, 2018. http://www.mafmc.org/actions/summer-flounder-amendment
The specific issues under consideration in this amendment include: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/511cdc7fe4b00307a2628ac6/t/5b96c8df562fa7f1fc78d634/1536608480350/SF+Am+PHD+Final+August+2018.pdf
1. Requalifying criteria for federal commercial moratorium permits to address latent effort in the fishery: The amendment includes options to reduce the number of eligible commercial federal moratorium permits by implementing requalifying criteria for existing permits.
2. Modifying commercial quota allocation: The amendment proposes several options for revising the current commercial allocation to the states, which has been in place since 1993 and is based on average landings from 1980-1989.
3. Adding commercial landings flexibility as a framework issue in the Council’s FMP: This action does not consider implementing landings flexibility policies at this time but considers allowing the Council to implement landings flexibility through a future framework action instead of an amendment. The Commission’s adaptive management process already allows for landings flexibility.
4. Revising the FMP objectives for summer flounder: This amendment proposes revisions to the current FMP objectives for summer flounder management to provide more meaningful and up-to-date guidance to managers.
Thank you. Any questions, call me tomorrow 516-527-3099
Thanks
Bonnie
LICFA
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