Flotsam and jetsom

(from the June,  2008 issue of National Fisherman)

Texas is off-base on menhaden – Jumping on the “they’re big boats so they don’t belong here” bandwagon, some of the folks doing what I’ll call, for want of a better term, fisheries management in Texas are considering closing state waters to menhaden fishing. Like other knee-jerk assaults on this historic fishery, they’re using bycatch and the species’ ecological role as justification. Under contract to Omega Protein, John Everett of Ocean Associates in Arlington, VA reviewed the “science” underlying the proposed ban (and by implication similar measures elsewhere.)  Guess what? As every credible researcher has determined for most of the last century, the menhaden purse seine fishery is among the cleanest, and menhaden, being omnivorous rather that vegetarian as the antis would have us believe, can have severe negative impacts of other estuarine species. In Dr. Everett’s words, “if Texas restricts its menhaden harvest, the result will quite likely be decreased shrimp and gamefish populations."

Who’s the goose and who’s the gander? -  From its website, Stripers Forever has “only one purpose, which is to enhance public fishing for striped bass by making the striped bass a gamefish and ending commercial exploitation of this vital recreational species.” Brad Burns is listed as the president. In a column titled “Shad runs are part of our coastal heritage” about a New York State move to ban recreational shad fishing in the Hudson, author Dick Pinney quotes Mr. Burns “essentially, the DEC (New York Department of Environmental Conservation) is privatizing the Hudson River shad resource by forcing sport fishermen who want a shad for a meal to buy that fish from a member of a select group of commercial fishermen who have been given the exclusive right to harvest a public resource... the lack of social fairness in its proposed regulation — is appalling.” How can it be “appalling” to give commercial fishermen – and the consumers they serve – the rights to one species but laudable to give recreational fishermen exclusive rights to another?

Do they like anyone who fishes? In “Greenpeace eyes Alaska pollock in red-list campaign” in the Alaska Journal of Commerce, Laine Welch writes “Greenpeace is launching an assault against U.S. seafood retailers, and Alaska pollock tops the list of fish the environmental group wants removed from the marketplace.” As she points out, this fishery is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council and is generally agreed to be among the best managed anywhere. She continues “Greenpeace demands that 23 seafood species be removed from U.S. retail shelves, including farmed salmon and shrimp.” Do you ever wonder what these people really want? In her article Ms. Welch notes that the National Fisheries Institute estimates that “if Greenpeace is successful, it will halt sales of nearly 47 percent of the seafood sold in the U.S.” It almost seems as if Greenpeace has sworn a vendetta against humanity, and plans on carrying it out by subverting everyone’s diet.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium people, like Greenpeace, have determined they can carry out their fisheries agenda by going directly to the consumers. One of their vehicles for doing this is the “Seafood Watch” program, aimed at alerting consumers to “problems” with potential purchases. They had cautioned consumers to avoid scallops from the Mid-Atlantic because “the population in the region“ is currently being overfished,” and monkfish because its “high demand has encouraged heavy fishing and populations have become overfished off the U.S. Atlantic coast.”

It took me about two minutes to confirm that neither domestic monkfish nor sea scallops were classified as overfished. Sea scallops haven’t been “overfished” since 2001, overfishing hasn’t happened since 2006, and with the stock being managed as a unit throughout its range, there's no way that the status of a particular area can be considered on its own. The status of monkfish was changed as the result of a new assessment last summer.

I and several other people notified Seafood Watch of this. I just received word that the classification of Mid-Atlantic scallops will be changed from “Avoid” to “Good Alternative” within two weeks (I’m writing this on April 11.) I haven’t had any word yet about monkfish.

The Seafood Watch staff’s willingness to listen was laudable and I compliment them for it. But, considering that they have been distributing pocket guides with the inaccurate classifications, and that other classifications are bound to change, such changes should be highlighted on their website, in their newsletter, etc. as they are made.)

Nils E. Stolpe