New US Fish and Wildlife Service Report on NC Gill Nets; Waterfowl and Shorebirds Killed

View the entire report at this link......

http://www.fws.gov/raleigh/pdfs/Gill_Net_Fact_Sheet_Bird.pdf

North Carolina Sportsman Magazine Op-Ed On Gill Nets Tells it Like it Is!

The problem of more wisely managing N.C. saltwater resources may require a Gordian Knot solution. And it could happen soon.

Students of Greek legend will remember the Gordian knot story — a king (Gordius) hitched his wagon to the temple of Zeus with an intricate knot, one so intricately entwined no citizen could unloose it. Zeus, it was said, declared anyone who could untie the knot eventually would rule all Asia. For years no one could loosen the puzzling knot.

Enter Alexander the Great. He, legend says, simply drew his sword and hacked the knot asunder — and went on to conquer Asia.

For years saltwater anglers have tried to solve the knotty bureaucracy of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission and N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries in order to get the agencies to alter policies critics claim harm fisheries, tourism and, ultimately, the state’s economy.

Why? The evidence seems clear. We’ve been bombarded for years with photos of red drum illegally left to rot in nets, sea birds entangled in monofilament and sea turtles caught in the stuff.

The Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina and the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group have cajoled, petitioned and pleaded with DMF to do something (anything) to protect and conserve saltwater sportfish species from death by nets.

The DMF, it must be noted, is tasked by law (1997 Fisheries Reform Act) with managing coastal fishes for recreational and commercial use. DMF directors quickly refer to their dual responsibilities when it comes to their reluctance to change policies to please recreational anglers (1.2 million) instead of approximately 5,000 licensed commercial anglers.

Meanwhile, reds keep getting caught, creeks are wrapped up in nets preventing access by hook-and-line anglers to spotted sea trout and red drum, ducks and shorebirds become entangled, and endangered/threatened sea turtles keep dying in nylon-encased caskets.

Raleigh’s legislative leadership kills attempts to curtail netting (a bill to give red drum and spotted seatrout gamefish status and protect them from nets never got out of committee this past session. Neither did a bill to protect menhaden from factory ships based in another state).

The DMF’s advisory committees are, to put it mildly, a joke. Intended to offer a facade of fairness, helpful committee ideas never are implemented by a MFC that almost always favors netting.

An advisory committee member told us last week if a proposal would help specks or reds by curtailing netting, a commercial member will say: “We don’t have any data to support that” or “(the proposal) might work down south but not up here.” And the idea dies.

In short, nothing changes when it comes to state-managed saltwater resources. So the next step is, logically, federal intervention.

And that’s what the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center plans to do. It will sue DMF and MFC in federal court if, by Dec. 18, 2009, DMF doesn’t remove gill nets from N.C. waters . The last time a 4th District Court judge got involved in such an issue, surf anglers were banned from driving ORVs at OBX beaches because of six birds.

Will the same judge be inclined to wield his Gordian knot sword to DMF/MFC policy to save thousands of sea turtles? Stay tuned.

Legal Notice of Pending Lawsuit Given to NMFS; NCDMF, NCMFC Given Sixty Days to Respond

Topsail Island, North Carolina, October 20, 2009

The Coastal Fisheries Reform Group supports action taken today to halt the incidental killing and injuring of sea turtles by gill nets.

The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, of Topsail Beach, North Carolina, has given the National Marine Fisheries Service notice that it will pursue legal remedies in Federal Court against the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission. The notice is a prerequisite to any formal legal proceedings based upon the Endangered Species Act, and pertains to the unlawful take of endangered and threatened sea turtles along the entire North Carolina coast. The notice requests that all “gill nets” be removed from all North Carolina coastal waters. If no remedy is found within sixty days then the Beasley Center can file formal legal proceedings.

The sixty day Notice of Intent was filed with all three agencies today.

THE COASTAL FISHERIES REFORM GROUP fully supports this action in light of the “Collateral Damage” created daily by gill nets in NC coastal waters. Sea turtles are endangered, but the carnage and waste of unwanted fish, waterfowl, mammals, and endangered Sturgeon impacted by destructive and indiscriminate gill nets must come to an end now.

North Carolina has almost three million acres of coastal and joint waters and four thousand miles of coastline. It’s high time that North Carolina joins our other southern coastal states in the removal of the destructive gill nets from all NC Coastal waters. From here to Mexico the only states that still allow this archaic practice of gill netting in coastal waters are North Carolina and Mississippi. We have world class universities within two hour’s drive from our coastal waters, yet up until this point science has been stopped at our coastal water’s edge for political considerations.

See the actual notice at this link......
http://www.law.duke.edu/news/pdf/beasleynotice.pdf

Recreational Fisherman Comes to the Rescue!

Many Threatened and Endangered Species Sea Turtles die a slow and tortuous death everyday in NC gill nets! North Carolina Recreational fishermen are continually doing what they can to free these beautiful creatures from these underwater "walls of death"!

NMFS Report: Loggerhead Turtles at Risk of Extinction; NC Coastal Waters Play Major Role

WASHINGTON – It's a scene that scientists say is all too common: A commercial fishing boat pulls in a net full of shrimp or tuna and finds a loggerhead sea turtle mixed in with the catch.

Biologists like Matthew Godfrey say one or two such takings can happen every day among fishing fleets off the Southeast coast. Those numbers can add up to thousands annually for a turtle species that has traveled the oceans for 200 million years but now faces a growing array of threats.

Godfrey is among the authors of the latest federal report on loggerheads that says most groups of the ancient reptile are at risk of extinction — in large part due to increased commercial fishing.

The study, released last month, predicted broad population declines across the globe in the coming years, including in a nesting area along the southeastern United States that is one of the world's largest.

"Unfortunately, a lot of times the target fish habitat and the turtle habitat overlap," said Godfrey, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. "The turtles are air breathers, so they need to get to the surface, but if they're tangled up in the net, they can't get to the surface, and they essentially drown."

Loggerheads have been listed as a threatened species since 1978. This latest report puts new pressure on the government to upgrade their status to endangered and further restrict commercial fisheries.

But even the increased awareness that an endangered listing would bring might not save the turtles, which migrate thousands of miles through the sea.

Meaningful protections require broad global cooperation given the turtles' far-flung travels. Fishing operators already are chafing under regulations aimed at protecting the animals, and further restrictions could draw strong opposition and fresh concerns about hurting coastal economies.

"These trends are very difficult to reverse. It's like turning a big battleship," said Blair Witherington, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who helped write the report. "We really ought to be doing it now."

The report was commissioned by the National Marine Fisheries Service as a result of petitions from environmental groups, who say the government is moving too slowly to protect loggerheads and have sued to force stronger actions. Many of the study's authors work for the federal agencies that will decide whether to change its status to endangered.

For the first time, the study called for dividing loggerhead populations into nine distinct global populations, a potentially key recommendation that would allow each to be studied and protected as a separate species.

It said seven of those nine populations are in danger of extinction, including two along U.S. coasts: the major population in the Atlantic Ocean, which has nesting concentrated along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, and a smaller population that migrates through Pacific waters off the West Coast and Hawaii.

Aside from fishing, the report said other major threats include coastal development that disrupts nesting, such as erosion-control barriers and other structures that prevent mothers from nesting and bright lights that can disorient hatchlings. The animals and their eggs are also still hunted for consumption in some parts of the world, the report said, and will probably be threatened by changing sea levels from climate change, which could wash away nesting habitats.

The U.S. and other countries already have adopted a number of protections, but the report said their effectiveness has been incomplete.

Since the mid-1990s, shrimp trawlers have been required to use gear that allows turtles to escape, for example. But the National Marine Fisheries Service has estimated that nearly 650 turtles a year are still killed by shrimpers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

In April, federal regulators restricted the use of long fishing lines for catching red grouper off Florida's western coast after studies showed that as many as 800 loggerheads were caught by the lines every 18 months. The temporary ban, from mid-May to mid-October — when sea turtles feed in the warm Gulf waters — angered fishing operators, who said it could kill their business.

"I don't know what else they could expect us to do," said Woody Moore, a commercial fisherman out of Jacksonville, Fla., who said he thinks the dangers posed by fishing fleets are exaggerated.
"I've never in my life caught a dead one," he said. "And I've been fishing 30 years."

Elizabeth Griffin, fisheries campaign manager at Oceana, an advocacy group that has sued the government to protect loggerheads more aggressively, acknowledged that significant steps have been taken but said the turtles remain largely unprotected in the water.

She said the United States, which hosts about 90 percent of loggerhead nesting off the Atlantic Ocean, should heed its own scientists' advice. "We're a key player in preventing loggerheads from going extinct in the Atlantic so we really need to be a leader on this issue," Griffin said.

Therese Conant, deputy director of the Fisheries Service's endangered species division and another of the report's authors, said the government would probably issue a proposed decision in February on whether to change the turtles' status.

NC Gill Nets Capturing Sea Turtles Draws Federal Intervention, Permit #1528 Questionable

In a letter dated July 7, 2009 to NCDMF Director Louis Daniel, Dr. Roy Crabtree of the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of NOAA, expressed serious concerns about the catching and killing of Sea Turtles by gill nets here in North Carolina. All Sea Turtles in North Carolina Coastal waters are protected by the Endangered Species Act. The NCDMF obtained a permit in 2005 from the NMFS which allows the "incidental capture" of over 200 Sea Turtles per year in the Pamilco Sound by gill-net fishermen. This permit, #1528 is due to expire on December 31, 2010.

The concern was raised when during a period from June 17th thru June 25th of this year, NMFS Observers accompanied commercial net fishermen on five trips. On four of those trips, eleven Sea Turtles were discovered entangled in the gill-nets. Four of the Sea Turtles were dead.

Dr. Crabtree expressed the NMFS concerns in the letter as follows; "We do not have sufficient information to extrapolate the observed takes into total estimated takes for that time period. However, eleven Sea Turtles in five trips is indicative of a high level of take and a problem that needs to be addressed promptly."

We suspect the reason for the concern is that many more Sea Turtles are being entangled and killed in gill-nets than are being reported. The small window of "takes" observed by the NMFS confirms what those of us who live on the coast here in NC have known all along. Gill-nets are indiscriminate underwater "Walls of Death"!

This whole episode begs the question; Just how many Sea Turtles and other animals both fish, birds, and mammals are killed in our coastal waters every year by these gill-nets that are never reported? Dr. Crabtree points out very clearly in his letter that both the State and the gill- net fishermen can be prosecuted for violating the Endangered Species Act.

Part of the "Conditions of the Permit" contained in Section IV, A #6, part B reads as follows;

"For sea turtles that are injured, lethargic, or
dead, fishermen must contact the NCDMF Marine
Patrol and transfer the turtle to an NCDMF patrol
vessel, if one is located in the GNRA. If no NCDMF
patrol vessel is in the vicinity, fishermen must
transport the turtle to the U.S. Coast Guard
Station at Oregon Inlet or Hatteras Inlet and turn
the turtle over to Coast Guard personnel."

Here are questions we would like answered by the NCDMF; How many Sea Turtles have been killed in gill-nets since the permit was issued in 2005? How many of these Sea Turtles were reported and delivered to DMF personnel or Coast Guard personnel in accordance with the Permit as described above by commercial fishermen in the last four years?

The general public of not only North Carolina has a right to know, but the nation as a whole is entitled to the same! North Carolina is endowed with the sacred trust of our nation for the protection of all marine life for all citizens. The belief that our coastal fisheries should be managed for the few at the expense of all citizens is a short sighted position that is wrought with a history of political garbage that will soon be exposed for what it is!

We have only seen the tip of the iceberg concerning the sordid truth behind the destructive practice of gill-nets! Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of an ugly chapter of heritage and history here in North Carolina!

Merger of MFC and WRC; Common Sense and Fiscal Responsibility Demand Action!

Jim Holshouser and Jim Martin both commissioned efficiency studies when they were elected Governor in an attempt to improve the way state government delivered services. One of the conclusions of both studies was that the WRC and MFC should be merged to save significant funds and to improve efficiency. When the salt water fishing license was enacted in 2006, the law mandated that the WRC give written approval to all proposals from MFC to expend money from the Marine Resources Trust Fund and the Marine Resources Endowment Fund. Most coastal states have merged Marine and Fresh Water Fish and Wildlife agencies. The reasons are powerful and obvious:

1. Fiscal Savings – by merging the two agencies, an economy of scale would be realized that would eliminate duplication of programs and services that are quite similar in most regards, thereby saving millions of dollars every year and presenting a new image of efficiency to the general public. Just a few of the duplicated programs are:

a. Enforcement of boating laws and coastal recreational fishing license requirements. We now have vessels of each agency on the water together but neither agency enforces the other’s rules, thus creating confusion to the public and inefficiency.

b. Each agency currently has its own air force, including pilots and aircraft. Great efficiency would be realized by combining the two air forces into one.

c. Each agency presently has its own communications system, in many cases each has a radio repeater on the same tower and the state pays two rental fees for the use of the tower. Consolidating the two communication systems would result in better purchasing and maintenance bargaining power with vendors, and would streamline the interface with the general public. Now there are two communications centers, one in Morehead City and one in Raleigh. One entire center could be eliminated and the cost of several radio operator positions could be saved

d. MFC has no grass roots and outreach section to get the important message out to their constituents, MFC has no magazine. WRC has both functioning at high levels of output and effectiveness.

e. Both agencies have well developed Administrative Sections to handle Personnel, budget, inventory, warehousing, fulfillment, purchasing, accounts payable, federal financial assistance, information technology and other administrative responsibilities. Great efficiency and savings can be realized by combining these identical functions.

f. Both agencies have several and elaborate facilities on the coast which could be shared, thereby creating economy and efficiency. For instance oyster shells for reef creation could be readily stored on WRC gamelands, avoiding the cost of renting or buying land on which to store oyster shells.

g. The fishery research and management work of the two agencies are almost identical except for the salinity of the water and the difference in fish species. The procedures and requirements are almost identical. Great efficiency and savings can be realized by combining and sharing the laboratories, equipment, and technicians required to do this work.

h. Coordination and interaction with other agencies inside and outside state government and with the several conservation organizations and general public would be improved by consolidation and the interface with all these entities would be simplified.

i. Both the MFC and WRC have large boards that are expensive and cumbersome. Many would say that these Commissions are too large to be responsive and efficient. A single Commission of 9 members could readily handle the responsibilities of marine and fish and wildlife programs in NC. Such consolidation would streamline many processes that currently require participation and action by each board separately. Plus one Commission could operate in shorter time frames and less expensively.

j. The administrative staffs of both agencies could be streamlined thus freeing up positions to serve in research, habitat protection and management, and law enforcement.
These are just a few of the many savings and improvements that can be accomplished by combining WRC and MFC / DMF.

How can this merger be accomplished?

* Both agencies, WRC and MFC / DMF, are part of the Executive Branch of government, so the Governor would have to endorse the change. The Governor could recommend to the General Assembly in 2009 that the two agencies be combined. The actual combination would then be done by amending the statutes that apply.

* Due to the complicated interplay of laws and rules as they now exist, the NCGA may well see merit in appointing a Study Commission to develop plans for merger to be reported in bill format to the 2010 Short Session of the NCGA (May 2010.) The Study Commission would represent the two agencies, the Governor, the NCGA, and constituencies in some workable and fair format. The Study should be charged in the legislation to conduct certain reviews to determine the savings and improvements to be realized and the Study should also have a required Public Review and Input aspect to its work.


It is quite feasible that the applicable laws could be changed by October 1, 2010 and that the merger could be accomplished by July 1, 2012. The result would be a less expensive, more efficient, more responsive, more effective program to administer the fish and wildlife and marine resources of NC and to provide equitable access to these resources for livelihoods and recreation to all within the ability of the resources to support such activities.

In light of recent and historical actions by the MFC, and the absolute necessity for the NC Government to "tighten its belt", this merger just makes plain common sense!