Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 08:10:05 -0500
From: Kate Wing <[log in to unmask]>
Fisheries and Marine Mammals: Most Recent Developments -- 3/28/97
(available via e-mail; updated daily)
Eugene H. Buck, Senior Analyst
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division
Congressional Research Service
New info and changes since 3/21/97 are bracketed {...}.
New info and changes since 3/27/97 are in CAPITAL LETTERS.
Marine Fisheries
NCRI Research Proposals. Apr. 7, 1997 is the deadline for
preliminary proposals for new project funding by the National
Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute (NCRI) in
Portland, OR, in 4 program areas: aquaculture and fisheries,
coastal business and community economic development,
environmental and marine technology, and seafood technology and
production. Projects can be anywhere in the coastal U.S.,
including the Great Lakes and U.S. Territories. [NCRI program
announcement]
{GULF DRUG SMUGGLING. ON MAR. 27, 1997, U.S. AND TEXAS STATE
OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED A NEW ANTI-DRUG EFFORT, OPERATION GULF
SHIELD, FOCUSING ON SMALL, SWIFT FISHING VESSELS (SHARK BOATS OR
LANCHAS) SMUGGLING DRUGS ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO TO REMOTE
TEXAS BEACHES. ABOUT 700 FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL EMPLOYEES
WILL PARTICIPATE IN THIS EFFORT.} [ASSOC PRESS]
{EU FLEET RESTRUCTURING. IN LATE MARCH 1997, THE EU'S COMMITTEE
OF PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES DISCUSSED A NEW DRAFT COMPROMISE ON
RESTRUCTURING EU FISHING FLEETS. THE COMPROMISE PROPOSES THAT
CATCHES OF ENDANGERED FISH STOCKS BE REDUCED BY 30% WHILE CATCHES
OF OVERFISHED STOCKS BE REDUCED BY 20% DURING THE PERIOD
1997-1999. MEMBER STATES CAN CHOOSE TO ACHIEVE THIS REDUCTION
THROUGH FISHING VESSEL CAPACITY REDUCTION, REDUCED FISHING
ACTIVITY, OR A COMBINATION OF BOTH. THE COUNCIL OF FISHERIES
MINISTERS WILL DISCUSS THIS COMPROMISE ON APR. 14, 1997.}
[AGENCE EUROPE VIA REUTERS]
{SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE BLUEFIN TUNA. IN LATE MARCH 1997,
GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCHING OF A CAMPAIGN TO
SUSPEND FISHING FOR SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE BLUEFIN TUNA, CLAIMING
THE STOCK IS ONLY ABOUT 2% OF ITS FORMER ABUNDANCE IN THE 1960S.
ALTHOUGH A COMMISSION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF SOUTHERN BLUEFIN
TUNA SETS ANNUAL CATCH QUOTAS, NON-MEMBER NATIONS DO NOT ABIDE BY
THE QUOTAS.} [REUTERS]
{New England Groundfish. In late March 1997, NMFS identified 3
ME and 5 MA fishing vessels that will be purchased as part of
NMFS's $23 million buyback of New England fishing vessels. As
many as 70 other vessels will be identified for purchase in the
next few weeks.} [Assoc Press]
Seafood Industry's Principles for Responsible Fisheries. On Mar.
20, 1997, a coalition of U.S. seafood associations and companies
announced the development of a voluntary set of "principles for
responsible fisheries" to guide the U.S. seafood industry in
responsible resource use. The principles seek to improve the way
seafood is caught, processed, and distributed; to ensure
environmentally sound use of seafood resources; and to offer
guidance from the fishing industry to government managers.
Elements of the fishing industry adopting these principles are
anticipated to enter cooperative efforts with government managers
to improve resource use and management. [National Fisheries
Institute press release]
Early Swordfish Closure. On Mar. 20, 1997, NMFS published
notice in the Federal Register that the semiannual Atlantic
swordfish fishery would close six weeks early at noon on Apr.
12, 1997, due to recalculated, and larger, estimates for discards
of incidentally caught swordfish during the 1995 and 1996
seasons. In addition, the swordfish bycatch allowance for
longline vessels fishing for other species was reduced to no more
than 5 swordfish per vessel per trip. [Federal Register]
EU Fisheries Promotion. On Mar. 18, 1997, the European
Commission announced the launching of a year-long $2 million
information campaign to promote fish consumption, especially
non-traditional species. Emphasis will be place on nutritional
values as well as the necessity to wisely manage fish resources.
[Agence Europe via Reuters]
Record World Fish Production. On Mar. 17, 1997, officials of
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization announced that 1995
world fish production reached a record 112.3 million metric tons.
Fish farming contributed to most of the recent growth, but also
was seen responsible for environmental damage. An additional 20
million metric tons of annual fish production was deemed feasible
if underdeveloped resources were exploited, bycatch and waste
were reduced, and measures were taken to reduce overfishing.
However, bycatch in some groundfish fisheries is reported to be
as much as half the groundfish harvest. [Reuters]
UN Code of Conduct Implementation Plan. On Mar. 17, 1997, NMFS
announced that a new draft U.S. implementation plan for the UN's
Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries was available for
public comment through Apr. 28, 1997. [NOAA press release]
Sea Turtle Land Purchase. In mid-March 1997, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service officials announced the award of a $500,000
grant to Volusia County, FL, for purchasing land for off-beach
parking. Off-beach parking is intended to reduce the number of
vehicles driving in sea turtle habitat on beaches. The pilot
grant program aims to assist states in buying land to support
habitat conservation. [Assoc Press]
North Sea Ecosystem Meeting. On Mar. 13-14, 1997, Norwegian and
EU commissioners and ministers for fishing and the environment
met in Bergen, Norway, to discuss fishing and its impact on the
North Sea ecosystem. The meeting sought to strike a balance
between meeting environmental objectives and safeguarding the
interests of the fishing industry. On Mar. 14, 1997, the
assembled parties agreed to a non-binding "Statement of
Conclusions" inviting competent authorities in respective nations
to take recommended steps to better protect North Sea fish stocks
from collapse due to overfishing. [Reuters, Agence Europe via
Reuters]
Pacific Tuna Meeting. On Mar. 13, 1997, the South Pacific's
Forum Fisheries Agency announced that the United States, Japan,
Taiwan, South Korea, China, and other tuna fishing nations had
been invited to a June 10-13, 1997 conference at Majuro, Marshall
Islands, to discuss management of South and Central Pacific tuna
stocks. The Agency is concerned with better regulation and
control of overharvesting in international waters and is seeking
ways to increase the revenue for Island nations from foreign tuna
harvesters. [Assoc Press]
Mississippi Floodwaters. On Mar. 12, 1997, the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers announced that it would begin opening the Bonnet
Carre spillway, north of New Orleans, on Mar. 17 to divert
rising Mississippi River waters into Lake Pontchartrain. This is
the first large-scale opening of the Spillway since 1983. The MS
Dept. of Marine Resources will monitor the impact of lower
salinity waters on oyster reefs and shrimp in Mississippi Sound.
[Assoc Press]
Sharks. On Mar. 12, 1997, the Center for Marine Conservation
(CMC) and TRAFFIC International released a study, "Managing Shark
Fisheries: Opportunities for International Conservation,"
outlining a blueprint for action by international and national
fishery managers to promote shark conservation. The study
evaluates the potential for shark conservation under 9 existing
international regimes using the standards of the UN agreement on
highly migratory fish stocks. On Mar. 21-Apr. 28, 1997, NMFS
will conduct a series of 12 public hearings along the Atlantic
and Gulf coasts and in the Caribbean on an NMFS proposal (Dec.
27. 1996, Federal Register, p. 68202) to create a two-tiered
(direct or incidental catch) permit and limited access system for
39 species of sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and
the Caribbean. NMFS determined this fishery to be severely
overcapitalized and proposes to eliminate more than 2,300 of
about 2,700 current permits in this fishery; 134 fishermen
regularly fish for and land sharks. {On Mar. 25, 1997, the VA
Marine Resources Commission received proposals to restrict shark
fisheries in Chesapeake Bay waters. A public hearing will be
held on Apr. 22, 1997, on the proposals for a minimum length and
closure of state waters to shark fishing after a harvest quota is
taken.} [CMC press release, NOAA press releases, personal
communication, Assoc Press]
Florida Net Ban. On Mar. 12, 1997, the FL Senate Committee on
Natural Resources approved a bill (CS-SB 412) that would make the
Marine Fisheries Commission the final authority on fishing
regulations (no longer would the state governor and cabinet have
to approve any regulations), prohibit substitutes for traditional
nets that have been restricted, and increase penalties for
violations. [Assoc Press]
Contaminated NC Fish and Crabs? On Mar. 11, 1997, NC Dept. of
Environment, Health, and Natural Resources officials announced
that they are investigating preliminary reports of elevated
mercury levels in fish and elevated arsenic and lead levels in
crabs from Brinson Creek, found during a contractor's Superfund
assessment of a waste site on the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps
facility. [Assoc Press]
Clam Contract Award. On Mar. 10, 1997, the Supreme Court of New
Jersey overturned an appeals court decision and reinstated a 1993
lower court jury verdict for $738,000 against Borden Inc.
(Columbus, OH), in a case wherein Borden had been charged with
not acting in good faith under a 1984 contract to buy clams from
a Cape May, NJ fishing operation, by urging the company to assume
debt and then not purchasing clams from it, even though Borden's
contract to buy clams was legally canceled. [Assoc Press, Wall
Street Journal]
Red Snapper Peer Review Panels. On Mar. 10, 1997, NMFS
announced that it is seeking nominations for 3 peer review panels
authorized under section 407(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act to review of red snapper stock
management in the Gulf of Mexico. [Federal Register]
Canadian Groundfish Enforcement. On Mar. 10, 1997, Canadian
Fisheries Minister Fred Mifflin reported that the Spanish trawler
Hermanos Gandon IV was fined and had its license revoked by
Spanish authorities after it was reported by Canadian inspectors
on Feb. 27 and confirmed by EU inspectors on Mar. 1 to have
underlogged its catch of Greenland halibut (turbot) in waters off
Canada's east coast. [Reuters]
Russia Seizes Polish Trawler. On Mar. 9, 1997, Russian
authorities in Moscow announced that the Polish vessel seized in
the Sea of Okhotsk had been ordered released. However, Kamchatka
regional authorities ordered the Aquarius to Petropavlovsk, where
the local prosecutor's office was investigating the incident. On
Mar. 20, 1997, Polish officials delivered an official protest to
Russia on detention of the Aquarius and demanding its release.
On Mar. 21, 1997, Kamchatka authorities released the Polish
fishing vessel Aquarius, after Poland agreed to pay $100,000 for
its release. [Warsaw PAP, Warsaw Polskie Radio First Program
Network, and Warsaw Third Program Radio Network via Foreign
Broadcast Information Service, Reuters, Interfax]
Tuna and Consumers. On Mar. 7, 1997, U.S. Food and Drug
Administration officials warned that consumers sensitive to
sulfites should temporarily avoid canned albacore (white) tuna,
after the tuna industry reported on Mar. 6 that, without its
knowledge, sulfites had been added to a vegetable protein raw
material used in canning tuna. Tuna industry officials announced
that special labels would be immediately placed on canned tuna to
provide warning, but that tuna will again be sulfite-free within
a short time. On Mar. 19, 1997, British doctors wrote in the
Journal of Accident and Emergency Medicine that food poisoning
(scombrotoxin poisoning) from tuna and related fish is more
common than formerly believed because the condition is
mis-diagnosed. [Reuters]
Fishing Gear Review. On Mar. 7, 1997, Canada's Fisheries
Resource Conservation Council released a report concluding that
new fishing technology and equipment should be reviewed by a
special panel before being allowed in the fishery, to assure that
new gear is conservation-friendly and does not adversely affect
fishery resources or their habitat. The report also recommends
strategies for each gear type to better protect groundfish
stocks. [Assoc Press]
Illegal Scallop Labeling. On Mar. 7, 1997, a VA seafood company
agreed to pay a $54,272 fine in U.S. District Court for alleged
mislabeling of scallops, switching uninspected seafood into boxes
marked as "FDA approved" and not noting the use of sodium
tripolyphosphate to increase the moisture content in scallops on
labels. U.S. Customs agents indicated that other individuals
and corporations may be charged for similar activities within the
next few months. [Assoc Press]
NC Shrimp Trawl Ban. On Mar. 7, 1997, NC officials announced
that a ban on shrimp trawling south of Cape Hatteras was no
longer necessary, and was being dropped. In response to this
action, the NC Fisheries Assoc. agreed to drop its lawsuit
against the State. [Assoc Press]
SC Shrimping Moratorium? On Mar. 7, 1997, the SC Marine
Advisory Committee voted to support a resolution drafted by the
SC Shrimpers Assoc. calling for a 2-year moratorium on new
shrimping licenses. The proposal would be submitted to the State
Legislature in an effort to forestall an influx of out-of-state
trawlers, make licensed trawlers more profitable, and better
protect sea turtles. [Assoc Press]
CA Abalone Fishery. On Mar. 6, 1997, the CA Fish and Game
Commission ordered a detailed environmental study of abalone
fisheries (to be completed by December 1997) and scheduled
consideration of a ban on red abalone harvesting for its May 1997
meeting. [Assoc Press]
Joint Venture Protest in India. On Mar. 6, 1997, Indian
fishermen ended harbor blockades begun Mar. 5 to protest
government licensing of foreign joint venture trawlers, after
Indian government officials gave assurances that all joint
venture licenses would be canceled and trawlers would cease
fishing by Apr. 9, 1997. Fishermen were concerned that trawlers
might be depleting fish stocks and unfairly competing against
smaller coastal vessels. [Reuters]
Heinz Tuna Reorganization. In early March 1997, as part of a
major corporate reorganization plan, H.J. Heinz Co. announced
plans to scale back operations at or close as many as 3 of the
company's tuna canneries. [Assoc Press]
Heroes of Reinvention -- Hammer Award. In early March 1997, the
FL Dept. of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Marine Resource
Regulation and Development was notified that it had received Vice
President Gore's "Heroes of Reinvention" Hammer Award for it blue
crab partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The partnership developed a mechanism to share inspection and
analytical data as well as regulatory information to allow more
accurate and timely decisions improving consumer protection in
FL's blue crab meat processing industry. [personal
communication]
TEDs and Biodegradable Panels on Crab Traps? In early March
1997, the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection issued
regulations that would require installation of biodegradable
panels as well as devices to prevent diamondback terrapin turtle
entry on most crab traps by Jan. 1, 1998. Although diamondback
terrapins are neither endangered nor protected in NJ, between
17,000 and 40,000 are reported to die each year in crab traps.
[Assoc Press]
....
end of Part 1
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