Long Island

ny-lifish0214

Phil Karlin's Mattituck-based fishing boat, the Brianna, has a rebuilt engine and a new coat of paint, but as he returns to <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Sound">Long Island Sound</a> for lobsters this month he is unsure how long he will be allowed to keep at it. 
Regulators set to meet in Alexandria, Va., later this month will determine the fate of the Southern New England lobster fishery, a region that includes the Sound and other locally accessible waters. Measures under consideration could include a summer closure of that fishery and further restrictions on the size of landed lobsters. 
As it stands, the hard economics of lobstering already limits participants. According to the state DEC, only 375 resident permits were issued in 2009, compared with a high of 1,265 in 1994. The catch in <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Sound">Long Island Sound</a> peaked in 1996 at 8.8 million pounds. By 2009, it had dropped to just over 1 million. 
The good news for fishermen appears to be that the meeting and required public comment periods to follow will delay the most severe restrictions. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission spokeswoman Tina Berger said that unless emergency action is taken, any new regulation probably won't take effect until next year. 
But longtime lobstermen like Karlin say the likely options don't bode well. 
"We'll see what they say at this meeting," said Karlin. He already supplements his 200-pot lobstering with bottom fishing and conch trapping because "it's hard to make it just on lobsters now." 
<a href="/topics/Jim_Gilmore">Jim Gilmore</a>, chief of the marine resources division of the <a href="/topics/New_York_%28state%29">New York</a> <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>, said data show the lobster population "is at a very low level" and "something has to be done." 
Culprits include predators like striped bass and dogfish, and water temperatures in Long Island Sound above 68 degrees the past few summers. 
"The biggest problem seems to be the temperature," he said. 
Regulators concede that overfishing likely isn't to blame for the low population, but "it's all we can control," <a href="/topics/Jim_Gilmore">Gilmore</a> said. 
Fishermen are preparing to battle against a summer shutdown, even if it happens next year, with Montauk lobsterman Al Schafer noting that June through September is his prime season."That's really when we catch everything," he said. "It'll be murder." 
Kim McKown, leader of the DEC's crustacean unit, said a summer closure would do the most to replenish the lobster population because that's when they molt and release eggs, and are most vulnerable. "Closing it [for those months] would be a real protection," she said. 
But Schafer said existing measures, including changes in traps that let smaller lobsters escape, need more time. 
"You're not catching a one-pound lobster anymore. You have to give that three or four years to work and then see what happens," he said.

LILOBS05

Lobstermen wary of possible new rules

In 2002, Warren Kremin lost a third-generation family fish dealership, $1 million in legal fees and fines, and a business partner after being hit with what he says were fabricated charges of failing to file proper fish-purchase reports in 1999.
His private practice lawyer, a former top fisheries lawyer, advised him not to fight the case, Kremin said. "He said, 'You cannot win. You will lose. It's a fix.' " 
On Thursday, investigators for the U.S. <a href="/topics/Commerce_Department">Commerce Department</a>'s Office of Inspector General released the latest in a series of reports finding fisheries lawyers and enforcement officers abused their power in prosecuting fishermen and dealers like Kremin, who lives in Rockland County. Among the most recent charges were cases of excessive fines and prosecutions that all but mandated costly settlements. 
"The problems identified by the inspector general are unacceptable, were allowed to persist for too long and will end on my watch," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Thursday in announcing a series of measures to end the abuses.
For Kremin, whose business partner committed suicide and who lost his grandfather's business, Joseph H. Carter Co., at Fulton Fish Market, the revelations were only the start of making things right. His case was settled for $150,000 but he wants a new trial and restitution. "I would like to see justice prevail," he said.
Last month, at a meeting arranged by Sen. Charles <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.) at the Shinnecock Commercial Dock in Hampton Bays, Kremin detailed his story to Jane Lubchenco, who heads the <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>.
Friday, Schumer sent a letter demanding that Kremin's case be reviewed by a special master appointed by Locke to review allegations of past abuse. 
"The inspector general's final report is a shocking indictment of the way fisheries enforcement agents were running roughshod in the Northeast region," Schumer said Friday. 
The inspector general's findings follow two previous explosive reports by the office showing that fisheries enforcement officers overzealously prosecuted fishermen, abused a fund of fishery fines to buy cars, boats and travel for personal use, and hit fishermen with inordinate fines.
In the new report, one fisherman explained the alleged tactics of an unnamed fisheries attorney pushing a settlement. 
"[He] said that if you don't pay $27,000 right now, if you want to go in front of one of my judges, you'll be paying $120,000 to $140,000. I settled for 25,000 bucks. I was scared to death. They wouldn't give me the boat back."
Bonnie Bradie, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, which supports the local industry, said it was about time federal regulators listened to fishermen's complaints."We've been screaming for years the enforcement is unfair and prejudicial," she said.
The <a href="/topics/National_Weather_Service">National Weather Service</a> Employees Organization, which represents the federal workers, called the report "flawed and politically motivated" and the workers "scapegoats." 
"The attorneys did their jobs. They enforced the laws, assessed penalties according to NOAA's guidelines and received awards and recognition for their work," said Dan Sobien, the employees organization president.
But locals attest to the findings. <a href="/topics/Mark_Phillips">Mark Phillips</a>, a Greenport fisherman, says he was hit with a $100,000 fine 20 years ago for fishing over the Canadian border, a charge he easily refuted with satellite records. Still, it cost him $5,000 for a lawyer to fight the charges, which were dropped. 
"The $100,000 fine would have put me out of business," he saidTom Kokell, a Northport fisherman hit with a $120,000 fine and a license suspension for overfishing fluke in 2007, ultimately settled for a $65,000 fine but near insolvency forced him to stop making payments. "If regulators don't listen to congressmen and senators, who are we kidding," Kokell said. "Nothing's going to change. You just get so disgusted."

Suffolk

LIFISH25

Feds find abuse of power in prosecuting fishermen

A proposed five-year ban on lobster fishing in <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Sound">Long Island Sound</a> and other waters south of Cape Cod may take a backseat to other measures - such as reducing the lobster catch by 50 percent to 75 percent - steps local lobstermen say would still inflict significant damage to their businesses. 
Regulators appeared to back off the controversial moratorium at a meeting this week in <a href="/topics/Rhode_Island">Rhode Island</a> attended by dozens of lobstermen, including several who traveled from Long Island. 
At the meeting, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's lobster board agreed to take a closer look at other ways to reverse a decline in the Southern New England lobster population. Among the options: leave rules as they are, increase the minimum size at which lobsters may be harvested, or shut down fishing in certain areas or for certain months. 
"We wanted to assure the public that a moratorium is not imminent and that we had other tools in the toolbox," said lobster board member Pat Augustine, one of three New York representatives to the multistate fisheries commission. 
Still, the mood Friday was relatively gloomy among Long Island lobstermen who attended. 
John German of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Sound">Long Island Sound</a> Lobstermen's Association and others questioned the scientific basis for any cutbacks. They said biologists on the lobster board's technical committee had "cherry-picked" data to make the situation seem more dire. Predators like scup and spiny dogfish killed more baby lobsters than fishermen, they said. 
"It's been proven that we're not the cause of any of this," said Al Schaffer, 48, of Montauk. "The cuts they're talking about, seasonal closures, trap limits . . . it's basically making it unfeasible for us to fish." 
The technical committee recommended the ban earlier this year, saying the region's lobster population was the lowest since the mid-1980s. While the stock is no longer overfished, scientists are worried by the low rate of young lobsters that reached legal harvest size between 1998 and 2005. 
"If you don't have any babies or females reproducing, then essentially sometime down the road you're not going to have any lobsters replacing the ones you're taking out of the fishery," said James Gilmore, marine resources bureau chief for the state <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>. 
The ban could still be instituted if the board decides other methods don't go far enough to ensure survival. In the meantime, an external panel of scientists will review the report calling for the moratorium to determine whether its conclusions are valid. 
Lobsterman <a href="/topics/Jim_King">Jim King</a>, 68, of Mattituck, said he's seen an uptick in young lobsters in the past few years. Still, he said, more restrictions may be needed to restore the fishery, adding, "Nobody likes them but they do work."

LILOBS24

LI lobstermen: Moratorium alternatives would still hurt

Tensions flared over one of the Atlantic coast's most prized sport fish last night in <a href="/topics/East_Setauket%2C_NY">East Setauket</a> as <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> fisherman argued over a proposal to increase commercial fishermen's share of the striped bass harvest. 
Around two dozen showed up at a hearing to share their views with representatives from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which manages coastal fisheries in the region and will decide on the matter in coming months. 
Prized by recreational anglers, striped bass also fetches a healthy price for commercial fishermen who catch the big predators in coastal waters off the South Shore and East End. Sport anglers, tackle shop owners and others opposed to the plan showed up for the hearing along with commercial fishermen, who complained their catch limits have not increased even as striped bass stocks have rebounded. 
"In the interests of fair management, it's time to increase the commercial quota," said Arnold Leo, fisheries consultant for the town of <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a>. 
Recreational fishermen fear opening up the commercial fishery could jeopardize gains made over the past two decades, as conservation measures brought stripers back from the brink of collapse due to overfishing. 
Over the past six years, Atlantic recreational fishermen caught on average more than three times as much striped bass as commercial fishermen, according to the state <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>. The agency issued 476 commercial striped bass permits this year. 
Those commercial captains face increasingly tough limits on the number of popular eating fish they catch and have been lobbying regulators to increase their striped bass harvest. 
Among opponents' concerns: a recent decline in the overall number of fish caught and a disease among striped bass in <a href="/topics/Chesapeake_Bay">Chesapeake Bay</a> that anglers fear could lead to future population declines. 
"The recreational catch has declined 65 percent between 2009 and 2006," said Charles Witek of the angler group Coastal Conservation Association of <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a>. "We should not be increasing mortality for any reason." 
James Gilmore of DEC's Bureau of Marine Resources says the population is now so abundant that hungry stripers may be contributing to declines in other fish like winter flounder. 
After hitting a low of 8.8 million fish in 1982, the Atlantic striped bass population is now estimated at 52.8 million, according to the commission. 
Summing up his objections, recreational angler Albert Albano, 33, of <a href="/topics/Sayville%2C_NY">Sayville</a> said: "I don't like to see the fishery toyed with in a way that could harm it in the future."

LIBASS22

Anglers argue over catch limits of striped bass

Sen. Charles Schumer Monday accused federal fisheries police of exploiting millions in fishermen's fines as a "slush fund for excess," and demanded money be returned to those wrongly or over-penalized. 
The demand comes in response to revelations that the law enforcement arm of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which polices national fishing grounds, spent millions on unauthorized travel, boats and cars, some for personal use. Local fishermen have complained about excessive fines for years. 
"It appears that we had an out-of-control regional fisheries office that used excess fines and forfeitures as a slush fund for excess," Schumer said. 
In a letter to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Schumer demanded that unauthorized assets be sold and the money returned to fishermen. 
Lubchenco last week said she was "deeply troubled by the way the [fund] has been handled in the past," and has already shifted its administration to a comptroller within NOAA. 
One of a dozen fishermen at a Schumer briefing Monday at the Town Dock in Port Washington was Tom Kokell, who had been fined $125,000 for possessing 600 pounds of fluke without a permit. He got it lowered to $65,000 by pleading guilty. Two months ago, he said, he stopped paying the fine, and has not fished since. 
"I'd like to see power taken out of the hands of these people," he said of fisheries police. "We don't stand a chance. If something doesn't happen, we're done." 
The report by the inspector general of the U.S. <a href="/topics/Commerce_Department">Commerce Department</a> came after complaints from fishermen. Besides car and boat purchases, the report focused new light on the fund's use to pay expenses of the legal team that prosecutes fishermen and sets fines. 
According to the report, nearly all non-payroll expenses come from fishermen, including pay for administrative law judges who oversee violation hearings. Some say the practice presents a conflict. 
"It's outrageous," said Steve Ouellette, an attorney in Gloucester, Mass., who represents fishermen. He said he's seen a sharp increase in fines for even minor violations and has suspicions about why. 
NOAA spokesman Justin Kenney said Lubchenco "greatly appreciates <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Senator Schumer</a>'s suggestions and shares his concerns. NOAA takes this issue very seriously and is aggressively responding to the report."

LIFISH13

Schumer: Reimburse fishermen for 'excessive' fees

The mayor of Northport, who is also a commercial fisherman, was charged with three violations of state law Saturday when conservation officers found him selling untagged clams and striped bass at a village farmer's market, a state official said. 
George Doll, 65, "received three tickets from environmental officers," Bill Fonda, regional spokesman for the <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>, said. "The tickets potentially could carry fines of $500" each, he said. 
One is for selling striped bass without tags, one for selling clams without tags, and a third because he failed to have the bones of the striped bass on display with the filleted fish, Fonda said. Doll, a veteran commercial fisherman, must appear Aug. 30 to answer the violations at First District Court in <a href="/topics/Central_Islip%2C_NY">Central Islip</a>, Fonda said. 
By law, clams must be tagged with the date and location they were harvested as a public health measure, to pinpoint beds polluted with fecal coliform or other bacteria. Bass fillets must be sold with the bones to show they meet the minimum legal length. 
Reached at home last evening, Doll acknowledged he'd been selling untagged clams and striped bass, but said he thought state commercial fishery laws didn't apply to informal retail sales at a farmer's market. 
"We dumped the clams into a bin and the bags with tags are in the garbage," Doll told Newsday. He also said he had thrown the bass carcass away. Doll said his understanding was that "the rules of the farmer's market is that you sell what you catch" so there was no need to follow state commercial fisheries law. 
A former Northport harbormaster, Doll said he plans to dispute the violations in court. 
Tags are a state and federal government method of controlling seasonal harvests of depleted striped bass stocks. A limited number of tags are allocated to commercial fishermen who, upon catching and keeping a legal striped bass, must insert a tag into the fish. That tag must remain on display with the carcass until the entire fish - whole or filleted - is sold.

LIFISH11

Northport mayor hit with fishing violation charges

An audit of federal fisheries police that found they misspent millions of dollars collected in fines from fishermen on unauthorized cars, boats and travel evoked outrage from Northport fisherman Tom Kokell Friday.
"It's devastating what they've done to me," said Kokell, who was hit with $65,000 in fines for holding 600 pounds of unauthorized fluke in 2007. In May, he asked that the fine be reduced, to no avail. "You just sit back and say, 'Who are these people?' They're like criminals. Nobody oversees what they do."
Last week, the U.S. <a href="/topics/Commerce_Department">Commerce Department</a>'s inspector general released a report saying the fund run by law enforcement officers of the National Marine Fisheries Agency was administered "in a manner that is neither transparent nor conducive to accountability, thus rendering it susceptible to both error and abuse." Among the findings:
 The fund was used to buy 202 cars between 2005 and 2009 at a cost of $4.6 million, though rules banned car purchases and there were only 176 officers in the agency.
 There was no policy for take-home vehicles, yet an agency director frequently left his car (a <a href="/topics/Chrysler_Pacifica">Chrysler Pacifica</a>) at a commuter rail station, and took a train to work free.
 Boat purchases also weren't authorized, yet the fund was used to buy 22 vessels at a cost of $2.7 million, including a "luxurious" $300,000 boat with a "beautifully appointed cabin."
 Nearly $580,000 was spent on travel by officers to 40 destinations primarily to attend unauthorized conferences, despite a rule that limits travel to enforcement actions.
The fund took in more than $96 million in fines primarily from commercial fishermen between January 2005 and June 2009, and spent more than $49 million, yet it lists a balance of just $8.4 million.
"I am deeply troubled by the way the [fund] has been handled in the past," Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> said last week. She ordered oversight of the fund to be shifted to a NOAA controller.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and others this week called for Lubchenco to step down, but Friday he rescinded the demand after promises from the Obama administration that the issues are being "seriously" addressed. U.S. Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.) said the latest "bombshell casts NOAA's entire enforcement program into doubt," adding, "There needs to be an immediate halt on the use of forfeiture money until we get to the bottom of this."
For years, Kokell and other fishermen have complained the fines were excessive. A related report by the inspector general earlier this year found total fines paid by Northeast fishermen were substantially higher than those in other regions, and that enforcement actions were overzealous.
Kokell was originally hit with a $120,000 fine and a year's suspension, but settled for $65,000. Two months ago, the married father of two buckled under the weight of the fines. In May, after a request that the fine be reduced, he stopped paying, and stopped fishing.
"I called them two months ago and said, 'I don't have anymore,'" said Kokell, who still owes $30,000. "They can come down and take my boat."

LIFISH10

Fisheries police audit findings spurs outrage

The steel dory that led the last protest is no longer seaworthy, its <a href="/topics/Stars_and_Stripes">Stars and Stripes</a> paint job fading and chipping, and the ban on haul seining for striped bass that it was used to demonstrate against has held for 20 years. But that hasn't stopped Arnold Leo from bracing for a new fight. 
Leo, 74, of <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a>, who was among 20 people issued summonses in 1992 for having striped bass illegally caught through haul seining, is organizing another act of civil disobedience, this time against what he calls "restrictive and inflexible" fishing regulations in state waters around <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a>. 
On Saturday, Leo stood beside the boat now known as the Flag Dory, outside the East Hampton Marine Museum in <a href="/topics/Amagansett%2C_NY">Amagansett</a> to discuss next month's protest. He was joined by would-be fisherman Jim Bennett, 28, of East Hampton; and <a href="/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a> lawyer Dan Rodgers. 
Rodgers represents brothers Daniel and Paul Lester of East Hampton, who have pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of taking porgies and fluke without permits and out of season. 
"Regulation to manage the fishery has become so restrictive and inflexible that nobody can make a living at it," said Leo, who will not participate in the protest because he is a fisheries consultant to East Hampton Town. 
He cited continued restrictions on porgies, even though he said regulators acknowledge the species has been rebuilt to 200 percent of normal levels. 
Each protester will sell three porgies to Stuart's Seafood Market in <a href="/topics/Amagansett%2C_NY">Amagansett</a> in violation of a state law that requires a commercial fish food license to sell fish. They will face a maximum $325 fine and as much as 15 days in jail, although such high penalties are rare. 
The East Hampton Town Baymen's Association, which is sponsoring the protest, will pay their fines up to $200 and supply a lawyer, said Leo, who is secretary of the organization. 
Leo said he expects 20 people to protest June 26. 
Bennett, who plans to participate, said restrictions have driven him and his family from a livelihood they practiced for generations. 
He said he earns most of his income working nights in a lumberyard and also landscapes with Daniel Lester. 
"What these protesters are doing is important not only to the fishing community, but to our case as well," Rodgers said. "It will send a message to regulatory authorities that enough is enough." 
Leo said he expects the state <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a> to issue summonses at the protest. 
DEC officials were not available Saturday to comment but previously have defended the rules. 
"We're always looking to make sure people are abiding by the limits that are set," DEC marine enforcement unit captain Dorothy Thumm said in March. "It's a way of protecting other fishermen."

LIFISH30

LI protest planned against NYS commercial fishing rules

A short-lived plan that would have seen two Montauk commercial fishing docks put on the selling block was scuttled Friday night after a four-hour conference among <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a> town officials and attorneys. 
"It's off the table," said supervisor Bill Wilkinson, who hatched the plan to sell the two town-owned commercial fishing docks in Montauk harbor as a way to plug a $30 million budget deficit. 
The proposal evoked protests from the scores of commercial fisherman who viewed the plan as the latest setback for their battered industry. 
Wilkinson, who met with town attorneys late Friday, said that stipulations in a local waterfront revitalization plan the town adopted with state and federal regulators prevented <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a> from selling the docks. 
Some 50 commercial fishing boats depend on the dock, many year round, as a home port for fishing locally and throughout the northeast. 
Commercial boats require lots of room to moor, maneuver and store gear, needs few local marinas can accommodate. In addition, tie-up costs at private docks are several times what the town charges the commercial boats. 
"The long liners, the lobster boats, gill netters, draggers - there's no [other] place for these boats to go," said lobsterman Bob Huser, 68, who ties his 35-foot boat, Top Notch, at the Star Island Commercial Dock. "It closing the door and locking it." 
Earlier in the day, Wilkinson said he'd been bombarded by calls and visits from local fishermen telling him to reconsider the plan. Even in the early afternoon, he had been steadfast in keeping all sale options on the table. 
"I'm not taking anything off" the table, said Wilkinson, a Republican from Montauk who campaigned on fiscal prudence. 
Fishermen and their representatives who faced the loss of their dock spaces expressed relief Friday night. 
"I am beyond elated," said Bonnie Brady, director of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Commercial Fishing Association, which represents local commercial fishing interests. Earlier, she had threatened a lawsuit based on the waterfront plan's stipulations." 
"I'm very happy," said longtime Montauk fisherman Dave Aripotch, who has kept commercial boats at the Star Island commercial dock in Montauk for 23 years. He is married to Brady. "The thing that scares us the most is losing local infrastructure [like dockage] that obviously is in demand." 
Fishermen pay between $2,000 and $4,000 a year to tie up at the docks. Critics say the town is subsidizing commercial boats while charters and other recreation boats pay considerably higher costs at nearby private marinas. 
Brady said commercial fishing is vital to the Montauk economy, with $12 million in fish landings last year, and a local business impact of four times that. 
Wilkinson said the town loses money on the two docks - it took in $55,000 last year, but has spent $1.2 million on them over the past 10 years. Fishermen dispute the investment number, noting some dock areas are in long disrepair. 
While the sale is off, its potential resonated quickly around Montauk Harbor in the day since it was first reported in the East Hampton Star. A block from one commercial port, at a restaurant/bar called The Dock, the day's special was replaced by a statement: "Montauk's soul for sale. Contact Town Hall." 
With Mitchell Freedman

LIFISH22

Plan scrapped to sell Montauk commercial fishing docks

The state has reopened most shellfish harvesting areas in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> and <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> that have been closed because of runoff from heavy rain during the past weekend storm. 
But state environmental officials said some bays and harbors in both counties still remain off limits, pending additional water quality tests. Storm water washes pollutants into bays and harbors that can make shellfish hazardous for human consumption. 
Normally certified shellfish areas in the following locations were reopened on Thursday and Friday: 
Town of <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> (North Shore): <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> Harbor and <a href="/topics/Cold_Spring_Harbor%2C_NY">Cold Spring Harbor</a>. 
Town of <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>: <a href="/topics/Cold_Spring_Harbor%2C_NY">Cold Spring Harbor</a>, <a href="/topics/Lloyd_Harbor%2C_NY">Lloyd Harbor</a>, <a href="/topics/Centerport%2C_NY">Centerport</a> Harbor, Duck Island Harbor, <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a> Bay and the southern portion of <a href="/topics/Huntington_Bay%2C_NY">Huntington Bay</a>. 
Towns of <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> and <a href="/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a>: <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook%2C_NY">Stony Brook</a> Harbor and its tributaries. 
Town of <a href="/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a>: <a href="/topics/Flanders%2C_NY">Flanders</a> Bay and its tributaries. 
Town of <a href="/topics/Southampton%2C_NY">Southampton</a>: <a href="/topics/Sag_Harbor%2C_NY">Sag Harbor</a> and outer <a href="/topics/Sag_Harbor%2C_NY">Sag Harbor</a>, all certified areas along the town's North Shore between Red Cedar Point and the <a href="/topics/North_Haven%2C_NY">North Haven</a> peninsula, as well as Mecox Bay, Quantuck Bay, Quantuck Canal and <a href="/topics/Shinnecock_Bay%2C_NY">Shinnecock Bay</a> and their tributaries. 
Town of <a href="/topics/Southold%2C_NY">Southold</a>: All shellfish lands within the creeks, harbors and bays within the Town of <a href="/topics/Southold%2C_NY">Southold</a>, including <a href="/topics/Fishers_Island%2C_NY">Fishers Island</a>; and a portion of <a href="/topics/Cutchogue%2C_NY">Cutchogue</a> Harbor and a portion of Southold Bay. 
Town of <a href="/topics/Shelter_Island%2C_NY">Shelter Island</a>: All shellfish lands within the town, including Coecles Harbor, Manantic Creek, West Neck Bay, West Neck Creek and West Neck Harbor. 
Town of <a href="/topics/East_Hampton%2C_NY">East Hampton</a>: Sag Harbor, outer Sag Harbor and <a href="/topics/Northwest_Harbor%2C_NY">Northwest Harbor</a>, Three Mile Harbor, Hog Creek, Acabonac Harbor, <a href="/topics/Napeague%2C_NY">Napeague</a> Harbor and <a href="/topics/Montauk%2C_NY">Montauk</a> Harbor. 
The following areas are still closed but may be opened in the next few days: 
Town of <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a>: All shellfish lands 
Town of Oyster Bay: South Oyster Bay 
For updates, contact the <a href="/topics/US_State_Department">State Department</a> of Environmental Conservation at 631-444-0480.

Nassau

LISHEL20

Most shellfish harvesting areas reopened

The debate over how best to manage coastal fisheries moves to the storied port of New Bedford, Mass., tomorrow as fishermen, environmentalists and government officials examine rules that have revived once-depleted species but also hurt a once-thriving fishing industry. 
What's billed as a summit falls two weeks after a Washington, D.C., rally drew thousands of angry fishermen from around the country - including busloads from Long Island - and pledges of action from influential lawmakers. 
The attendee list for the Northeast Fisheries Summit includes Eric Schwaab, the newly appointed assistant administrator for fisheries with the <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. 
Schwaab has previously expressed a reluctance to weaken the Magnuson Stevens Act, which sets strict and fast-approaching timetables for rebuilding fish populations. 
"Magnuson already contains the flexibility we need for rebuilding stocks by allowing certain exceptions based on biology and other issues," Schwaab said in a statement last month. 
Fishermen want the timetables extended by as much as five years for fish populations such as fluke and scup that are clearly rebuilding, arguing that current rules would effectively close vital fisheries. The debate will be at the center of the summit. 
Greenport commercial fisherman <a href="/topics/Mark_Phillips">Mark Phillips</a> said his message to Schwaab and others attending the summit is to pass legislation introduced by Sen. Charles <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.), that extends the rebuilding timetables and adds "flexibility" to the Magnuson act so fishermen can continue to fish. "We need the flexibility act," he said from his boat Friday. 
While the rules are well intended, Schumer says, "We are erring on the side of caution so much we won't have an industry." 
But environmentalists and scientists say the rules were badly needed for fish populations that were depleted from decades of overfishing and other factors. 
And they say that even though many species have been rebuilt, the rules haven't had a chance to fully work, even if the science underlying the limits can be faulty.

LIFISH07

Fishing industry summit looms large for LI

Two dozen East End fishermen and their families packed an East Hampton courtroom Thursday in support of two men charged with harvesting fluke and porgies without permits and out of season.
The men, brothers Daniel and Paul Lester of East Hampton, pleaded not guilty to numerous felony and misdemeanor charges Thursday. The brothers are sons of the late East Hampton fisherman Calvin Lester, who waged an unsuccessful battle against laws that ended a traditional type of commercial off-beach fishing of striped bass, known as haul seining, in the 1980s. Daniel Lester is an East Hampton harbormaster.
At a briefing after the arraignment yesterday morning, the men's lawyer, Daniel Rodgers of <a href="/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a>, read a statement saying the state <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>, which brought the charges, was "attempting to regulate the commercial fishery into permanent foreclosure."
Rodgers charged the DEC has a "long history" of "harassing, browbeating and intimidation of local commercial fishermen," and added, "That is going to end."
He alleged the agency relies on "faulty and outdated" scientific data to set catch limits, and he asserted the DEC "lacks jurisdiction" over East Hampton fisheries. In a statement, the DEC suggested the fishermen's anger was misguided.
"We understand the concerns of the fishing industry and we share its concerns about the unfair federal quotas for some species," spokeswoman Maureen Wren said. "But it should be pointed out that DEC has led the fight for New Yorkers on this front. It would be in error to place the blame on DEC."
But Rodgers laid the blame squarely at the DEC's feet, and pointed to the abrupt end to Calvin Lester's career as a storied haul-seiner of striped bass.
Fishermen who showed up in support of the Lesters said regulations and enforcement are out of step and heavy-handed.
"The problem is, we in the fishing community are being made to pay a terrible price because of scientific uncertainty when these regulatory decisions are supposed to be made using the best available data," said Arnold Leo, secretary of the East End Baymen's Association, a fishermen's group. 
He said the group plans to conduct an illegal haul of fish in the bay this spring to protest the rules. A chorus of lawmakers who attended a fishermen's rally in Washington last week vowed to change the rules. But environmentalists, marine scientists and regulators say the restrictions are working to rebuild fish stocks long depleted, and should not be weakened.
One fisherman who supported the Lesters said the laws are crippling their livelihood.
Jim Bennett, an East Hampton fisherman who attended the court appearance, said armed DEC enforcement officers "are always breathing down your neck" and "always out to get you."
"We have a right to go fishing in these waters," Bennett said. "They're trying to cut us out of an industry."

LIFISH05

Dozens pack courtroom in support of East End fishermen

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - Looming federal deadlines to rebuild fish populations have ensnared fishermen in red tape and threatened their communities with extinction, legislators and fishermen told regulators at a summit here. 
"Fifty percent of you will be out of business by August," Carlos Rafael, a commercial fisherman from this city, told a crowd of several hundred during the Northeast Fisheries Summit.
The conference was the latest forum in which fishermen, both commercial and recreational, say they are being driven to the edge by flawed regulations and questionable science - much of it the result of fast-approaching timetables. Federal regulators say the rules designed to rebuild fish populations aren't perfect but are the best available - and need to be implemented to see whether they can succeed. A recent fishermen's rally in Washington and a protest last week in East Hampton highlighted the urgency of the concerns. 
Nowhere was the impact of the timetables felt more acutely than in the Northeast and this storied fishing port, where a new program goes into effect May 1. 
Even as there are uncertainties about the "catch shares" program, which will allocate portions of the fish catch or a section of fisheries to community groups or co-ops, there's little doubt it will lead to "consolidation" among fishermen. 
Rafael suggested that the federal National Marine Fisheries Service, which oversees fisheries management, reduce its staff and $300-million budget proportionately. 
Eric Schwaab - the recently named chief of the fisheries service, part of the <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> - acknowledged challenges and impacts. "The big challenge here is implementing the long-term vision while still recognizing the short-term realities" on fishermen, he said. 
Panelists spoke of problems caused by the restrictions, and said one - throwing back large numbers of untargeted fish - is wasteful and not useful in conservation. In 2009, they said, Northeast fishermen caught 1.5 million pounds of yellowtail flounder and of that, 1.3 million pounds were thrown back.
"What I see out there is not conservation by far," said Tina Jackson, who fishes out of Point Judith, R.I., and is president of the American Alliance of Fishermen and Their Communities. 
Meghan Lapp, a recent law school graduate who has trap-fished on the North Fork, said rules limiting the fluke catch for New York fishermen "don't make sense considering that a lot of [out-of-state boats] are fishing in the same waters" and taking considerably larger catches. "New York has an extremely viable fluke fishery," she added. 
Julie Wormser, regional director for ocean programs at the <a href="/topics/Environmental_Defense_Fund">Environmental Defense Fund</a>, said while the science that most fishermen here complained about isn't perfect, fisheries managers have no choice but to rely on it. 
"You're legally required to err on the side of caution," she said. Programs like catch shares, she said, are better than existing days-at-sea management programs - which limit the time, to the hour, fishermen can fish a specific area - because monitoring is better and fisherman aren't vying so fiercely for the same resource.

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Region/State

LIFISH09

Fishermen: Federal red tape a threat to Northeast

As thousands of fishermen planned to converge Wednesday on Washington, D.C., to protest a federal law they say is strangling an industry and taking the fun out of recreation, some marine experts contend the rules have been effective in rebuilding stocks - to fishermen's ultimate benefit. 
The fishermen seek to ease provisions in the Magnuson Stevens Act, which enacted timetables for rebuilding fish species. Under the changes fishermen seek, stocks that are clearly rebuilding would not be subject to the same restrictions, and would have longer timetables to fully rebuild. 
Opponents, including Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.), who is sponsoring some of the legislative changes the fishermen support, say the rules are based on faulty science and don't take into account the difficult economics of commercial and recreational fishing. 
"There's more fish around now than I've ever seen in my life," said <a href="/topics/Mark_Phillips">Mark Phillips</a> of Greenport, a fisherman for nearly 40 years, who landed his commercial boat in <a href="/topics/Virginia">Virginia</a> to attend the rally. "There's no question we were under-regulated" years ago, he said, but "the pendulum has swung too far" the other way. 
Several busloads of Long Islanders - representing commercial and recreational interests - are set to attend the rally. 
Scientists and regulators say that recent successes in rebuilding stocks are due in part to provisions in the 2006 reauthorization of Magnuson Stevens, compared with previous rules that left rebuilding time frames open-ended. 
David Conover, dean of the marine sciences research center at <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a>, said easing the timetables now is a mistake. 
"We would go right back to where we were before," he said. Leaving the rules in place could raise some fish stocks to previously unrecorded highs - levels predating decades of fishing. 
<a href="/topics/Jim_Gilmore">Jim Gilmore</a>, who heads the New York <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>'s marine resources bureau, said while it's uncertain easing the rules is advisable, regulators need to take a more realistic view of quotas for rebounding stocks such as scup (porgies). 
"The sea is paved with scup," he said, and yet a federal panel recently denied a request to increase the catch allotment by 30 percent, limiting the increase to 10 percent. "They're saying it's rebuilt but also saying there's uncertainty in the stock estimates," to explain restricting the allotment. 
Conservationists remain unconvinced. Easing the rules "would be very destructive," said Carl Safina, founder of the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group in East Norwich. "The reason there is a rebuilding mandate with a timetable is that when there wasn't, we had just about every fishery in the country on the downturn and being depleted."

LIFISH24

Conservationists say strict fishing rules work

WASHINGTON - They came from ports as far away as Montauk and Kodiak, <a href="/topics/Alaska">Alaska</a>, <a href="/topics/Panama_City">Panama City</a>, Fla., and New Bedford, Mass., wearing baseball caps and blue jeans and fish-embroidered windbreakers. With shouts and hand-lettered signs, they issued a single demand: Fix crippling fishing laws now. 
More than 3,000 men, women and children came to Washington Wednesday, cheering lawmakers who vowed to champion their cause. 
The chief target of their wrath: the 2006 iteration of the Magnuson Stevens act, which mandates strict timetables for rebuilding once-depleted fish populations. 
As they have for years, fishermen questioned the science that says some populations remain overfished. 
Lawmakers including Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kirsten <a href="/topics/Kirsten_E_Gillibrand">Gillibrand</a> (D-N.Y.), Rep. <a href="/topics/Tim_Bishop">Tim Bishop</a> (D-Southampton) and Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) spoke to the crowd and said they would respond. 
"I am listening to you and we will change this law," Gillibrand said. Fisherman want the rebuilding timetables extended up to five years. 
Even as fishermen rallied, Eric Schwaab, <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> assistant administrator for fisheries, released a statement saying the law doesn't need to be changed - a view held by many conservationists. 
"I understand the criticism of the 10-year rebuilding time frames in Magnuson," he said. "However, I believe Magnuson already contains the flexibility we need for rebuilding stocks by allowing certain exceptions based on biology and other issues." 
But local fishermen said the 2006 constraints threaten their way of life on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>. 
"If we have to stay within the guidelines of Magnuson, there's a good chance most commercial operations [in <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a>] will shut down in two years," said Hank Lackner, who operates a trawler out of Montauk. He said he has worked with government researchers on fish counts and demonstrated faulty equipment and methods that proved to regulators the science of counting fish to set quotas needed fixing. 
Margie Higgins, first mate of Captree charter boat Laura Lee, said - and others agreed - that in the last two years the Captree fleet is down to 23 boats from 35. 
Billy Reed, a commercial fisherman in Shinnecock, wore a placard naming the 16 boats that have been sold at that dock in recent years. New restrictions on weakfish, black-back flounder and scallops, he said, hit hard at the backbone of <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> fishing. 
Many are concerned there won't be a next generation to take over the fleet. 
Terence Wallace, a commercial fisherman in Montauk, attended the rally with his wife and three young sons, one of whom carried a sign questioning whether he'd be a "future fisherman." Wallace said the answer to the question seems increasingly uncertain, given his own finances. "We're pretty far behind," he said.

More than 3,000 come to Washington to protest fishing limits

Hundreds of <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> fishermen are expected to join thousands of East and Gulf Coast anglers in Washington next week at a rally to protest federal fishery management policies they say threaten commercial and recreational activities. 
The fishermen say that while some species such as porgies and black sea bass are rebounding, the federal catch limits continue to decrease. They add that bad policy based on bad science threatens to put commercial captains out of business and curtail recreational fishing. 
The rally outside the Capitol at noon Wednesday is being organized by a group called United We Fish, and local fishing groups are chartering buses. Speakers will include Sen. Charles <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Schumer</a>, who is sponsoring legislation that would give federal fisheries managers more flexibility when rebuilding depleted fish stocks, and Rep. <a href="/topics/Tim_Bishop">Tim Bishop</a> (D-<a href="/topics/Southampton%2C_NY">Southampton</a>.) 
"We need to get federal fisheries law fixed because it's broken," said Jim Hutchinson Jr. of Forest Hills, managing director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, a lobbying group helping to organize the rally. "This is the first time in the history of fisheries management that recreational fishermen and the commercial fishermen are going to stand side-by-side in a unified effort." 
The fishermen are at odds with the <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> over their refusal to increase fishing quotas. Federal officials have said they will not boost quotas until the populations have increased to be sustainable. Currently, federal fish estimates are based primarily on dockside surveys and questionnaires sent to fishermen, which the anglers say are inefficient and outdated. 
In fact, the amount of fish in Long Island waters has already increased even as strict federal catch limits are tightened, said Capt. Paul Forsberg, owner of <a href="/topics/Montauk%2C_NY">Montauk</a>'s Viking Fleet of fishing party boats. "The fish population is growing higher and higher and we are being allowed to catch less and less," he said. 
"We need better science and more flexibility in our fishing management regulations," Schumer said. 
Said Bishop, "We need to get an allocation in <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> that is based on sound science and is equitable to the other states with which we share the Atlantic coast." 
Rick Cohen, 49, of <a href="/topics/Oceanside%2C_NY">Oceanside</a>, who operates a recreational fishing boat out of <a href="/topics/Freeport%2C_NY">Freeport</a>, said he'll attend the rally because the government's quotas are based on "a guy walking around the dock asking people how many fish they caught. It's completely arbitrary." 
Teri Frady, spokeswoman for NOAA, which administers fisheries regulations set by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, said, "NOAA is keenly interested in any way that we can make management more effective and in balancing what the stocks can and will produce and on the socio-economic side what's going to work for communities." 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
<h3>What LI fishermen want:</h3> 
&nbsp; 
Passage of the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009, which Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> is sponsoring in the <a href="/topics/U.S._Senate">Senate</a>. Backers say it will remedy shortcomings of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, last updated in 2007.

LIFISH17

Anglers to rally against federal catch limits

A new federal fisheries decision will ease strict limits on recreational fishing of black sea bass this year.
Now, instead of two months, anglers may get nearly four months to fish for black sea bass, a relief to Long Island party and charter boat captains who had said the tighter rules set last month could put them out of business.
Based on an emergency rule issued last week by the <a href="/topics/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administration">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, regional fisheries managers are expected to set new dates for the recreational season in coming weeks.
Black sea bass frequent local waters from May through November. Captains say they rely more on black sea bass these days because of restrictions on summer flounder, a longtime staple of Long Island's recreational fishing industry.
"Any extension of the season is going to help everybody - charter boats, recreational fishermen, the tackle shops," said Dennis Kanyuk, a <a href="/topics/Point_Lookout%2C_NY">Point Lookout</a> party boat captain and president of the industry group United Boatmen of <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a>.
Once open year-round, the black sea bass season was limited to two months under measures announced by state officials in January. That was in part because anglers were thought to have caught more than their share last year, according to federal fishing surveys whose accuracy was questioned by fishermen and some environmental officials.
The latest change came after regional fisheries managers revised their recommendations upward on how much could be caught without overfishing this year.
In response, the NOAA issued the emergency rule on Wednesday that increased the 2010 coastwide landings from 2.3 million pounds to 3.7 million pounds. 
"This is an opportunity to open the fishery and provide access to the resource more quickly," said Maggie Mooney-Seus, a regional spokeswoman for NOAA's fisheries service.
In a letter to the agency, Sen. Charles <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Schumer</a> praised the decision but said anglers were still suffering from flawed methods used to estimate their annual catch. Schumer and recreational fishing advocates say NOAA should disregard those numbers - which have also led to tight restrictions on summer flounder - until a more accurate system is put in place.
Mooney-Seus said Friday the agency could not comment because it had yet to receive Schumer's letter.

LIBASS14

Limits eased on black sea bass fishing off LI

Christian Mir looks forward all year to the Peconic Bay scallops. The chef-owner of Stone Creek in East Quogue doesn't put scallops on his menu at any other time of the year, but in November, he said, "we start looking for them, and the customers start asking for them. I think Peconic Bay scallops are really the best."
Mir is serving the scallops, sauteed in the Provençal style with olive oil, roasted tomatoes, garlic, deglazed with butter and Pastis.
Other restaurants serving the scallops include A Mano in Mattituck, Blackstone Steakhouse in Melville, Coach Grill in Oyster Bay, Hudson's Mill in Massapequa, Jolly Fisherman in Roslyn, The Lake House in Bay Shore, Nautilus Cafe in Freeport and The Seafood Barge in Southold.
And most good local seafood markets will be stocking them: Alice's Fish Market in Greenport, Artie's South Shore Fish in Island Park, Braun Seafood in Cutchogue, Cor-J in Hampton Bays and Westhampton Beach, Dean's Seafood in Bay Shore. To cook, season with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and sautee over medium heat in butter until lightly brown.

TXTSCAL13

LI chefs wait all year for Peconic Bay scallops

New state fishing rules for black sea bass will shorten the recreational season from 12 months to two - a move Long Island party and charter boat captains said would likely drive some of them out of business.
Black sea bass frequent Long Island coastal waters from May through November. But anglers can only catch them in June and September, under 2010 rules announced Thursday by the state <a href="/topics/Department_of_Environmental_Conservation">Department of Environmental Conservation</a>.
The cuts, which follow a similar federal closure, come because Atlantic coast anglers are thought to have caught more than twice their allotted quota of black sea bass last year, based on preliminary estimates from a 2009 federal fishing survey. As a result, states from <a href="/topics/Massachusetts">Massachusetts</a> to <a href="/topics/North_Carolina">North Carolina</a> must impose the shortened season even though black sea bass are no longer considered overfished.
The rules, however, could loosen up if regional fisheries managers increase the 2010 coastwide catch limit from 2.3 million pounds to 3.7 million pounds. The National Marine Fisheries Service would have to approve the change, which is being sought based on reconsidered population data about black sea bass.
New York shut down the season now "because we have to," said DEC Marine Resources Director <a href="/topics/Jim_Gilmore">Jim Gilmore</a>. But he said the season could be extended in light of the new figures.
The sea bass rules are the latest to buffet the region's recreational fishing industry. Captains and bait and tackle shops have chafed under a new state saltwater license requirement and stricter limits on summer flounder, the party boat staple also known as fluke.
"You can't fluke because the limits are too high, so they've taken to sea bass. Now if they close that down they're really cornering us," said Mike Barnett, who runs a charter boat out of Freeport.

LIBASS15

New rules to shorten black sea bass season to 2 months

Commercial fishing for summer flounder re-opened in <a href="/topics/New_York">New York</a> waters on March 1, but the Shinnecock II, a hulking black-and-white trawler, remained moored in <a href="/topics/Hampton_Bays">Hampton Bays</a>, its name all but obliterated by rust. 
J.J. Hand, 44, the boat's third-generation owner, hasn't fished for more than a year, after taking a job on a tugboat out of <a href="/topics/Brooklyn">Brooklyn</a>. A fisherman since his teens, Hand is facing the hard economics of fishing on <a href="/topics/Long_Island">Long Island</a>: His home is in foreclosure, and spiking fuel costs, tightening regulations and mounting debt have kept him out of full-time fishing. His 70-foot boat was once valued at $300,000; a scrap dealer recently offered him $2,000 for the boat, which is 30 years old. 
"Everything started going downhill, and it just snowballed," he said. 
Faced with the likely closure of federal fishing grounds for winter flounder from the Gulf of <a href="/topics/Maine">Maine</a> to southern New England on May 1, fishermen say the hard economics of commercial fishing on Long Island are about to worsen. 
The commercial fishing catch landed at Shinnecock fell by half between 2000 and 2006 - from 13.7 million pounds to 6.1 million, according to federal statistics. It's down by nearly two-thirds from a 1995 high of 17.8 million pounds. Montauk landings are down 10 to 15 percent from the late 1990s, and commercial ground-fishing permits for New York fishermen have dropped from a high of nearly 400 in 1992 to just over 100 last year. 
The decline is visible at the Shinnecock Commercial Dock in Hampton Bays. Fourteen of the 18 commercial boats at the town-owned dock are on the selling block; last year, two were sold to scrappers, fishermen say. 
Bob Soleau, owner of Soleau's Wharf adjacent to the town dock, said 35 to 40 boats fished out of the port 10 years ago, and he oversaw three busy fish-packing facilities. These days, he said, 20 to 22 boats regularly work from the port, and he's down to one packing house. Fuel sales are a third of what they used to be. "It's a tough way to make a living," said Soleau, who has sold his five commercial boats during that decade of decline. 
 UNEVEN RESTRICTIONS 
One of the boats still for sale at Shinnecock belongs to Sandy Mason, 67, who fishes out of Shinnecock and is on the Marine Resources Advisory Council, a citizens' committee convened by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. He was one of many local fishermen stung last summer when the price of diesel fuel hit $4.60 a gallon, though it settled back down to $2.20 and on Friday was $2.50. 
But he and other fishermen said longer-term issues, including dizzying restrictions and seasonal quota changes, stack the deck against the local fleet. The fuel-price spike last summer led many fishermen faced with daily catch limits to forgo trips to federal waters. 
Federal catch ratios, for instance, favor boats from four other coastal states whose fleets fish alongside Long Island boats - often in the waters off New York. 
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said in an e-mail last week that he is calling for a single coastwide standard for catch limits for each state, "not one that unfairly punishes New York and Long Island." 
Just last week, fisherman Mason said, a trawler from Wanchese, N.C., that had docked near his boat in Shinnecock caught its state's 10,000-pound weekly limit of summer flounder in 42 hours, and returned home to unload the fish. But when the quota for summer flounder for Long Island's commercial fishermen re-opened March 1, the daily catch limit was just 150 pounds. The problem: New York fishermen are not allowed to combine daily limits into a weekly haul - meaning they must gas up and steam to the fishing grounds each day to hit the quota. It can make the four-hour trip unfeasible. 
"We're basically on a fixed income," said Bruce Beckwith, 60, a commercial fisherman out of Montauk for 45 years. "We're all just squeaking by." 
 THEIR FAIR SHARE 
Fishermen say they understand the need for limits to protect species, but question the logic of New York's rules and its low proportion of the federal quotas. 
Even those who enforce the rules agree they need revising. 
"It's just a nightmare," said <a href="/topics/Jim_Gilmore">Jim Gilmore</a>, chief of the DEC's Bureau of Marine Resources. The DEC has said it would switch to weekly limits, but never moved forward with the plan. Steve Heins, another DEC official, said the weekly rule couldn't be enacted this year because of a staff shortage. He expects it to be in place next year. 
The state-by-state allotments are based on the amount of fish caught by each state's fleets in the 1980s, but that data has been debated for years. Still, the result is New York fishermen get 7.6 percent of the annual federally set allotment of summer flounder, compared with 27.4 percent for <a href="/topics/North_Carolina">North Carolina</a>, 21 percent for <a href="/topics/Virginia">Virginia</a> and 16 percent for <a href="/topics/New_Jersey">New Jersey</a>. The ratios pay no regard to where the fish are caught. 
"We may have the largest percentage of the fishery, but we're not getting a fair share of the fish," Gilmore said. Many fish species, including striped bass, summer flounder, porgies and dogfish have rebounded since declines of the past two decades, a turning of the tides that some scientists say has bolstered predators at the expense of winter flounder and weakfish, which remain troubled. 
Toni Kerns, senior fisheries management plan coordinator at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an agency with representation from coastal states that sets the limits, said the commission has considered the adoption of an overall coastal limit rather than state-by-state quotas. But the proposal has been rejected, with deciding votes coming from states with a higher percentage of the catch. She said states are free to apply for a change in their quota, though a ruling would rely on data fishermen here believe way undercounted New York's tally. 
Because fishermen who reach their daily allotment of 150 pounds of summer flounder continue fishing for other species to make the trip worthwhile, the trawlers are bound to catch many more summer flounder and other fish than allowed. All must go back in the water. 
"We're throwing a lot of fish overboard," said Beckwith, the Montauk fisherman. 
 LOOKING ELSEWHERE 
To avoid New York's restrictions, some Long Islanders are buying fishing permits to land fish in other states, costing New York tax dollars, and reducing revenue for New York ports. Billy Reed of Hampton Bays, for instance, owns two commercial boats: the North Sea, which lands fish in Shinnecock, and another, the Providence, which brings its catch to New Jersey. Reed, who paid $30,000 for the New Jersey permit, threw up his hands discussing New York's limits. Of the 30,000 gallons of fuel he bought last year, he said "probably 5,000 was waste" because of New York's trip limits. 
Last month, Jon Schneider, an aide to Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), met with fishermen at the Shinnecock dock and expressed a desire to change the daily limit, including filing a lawsuit if need be. 
The meeting took place at a restaurant owned by Soleau, a former commercial fisherman whose fortunes remain tied to the dock. Still, two of Soleau's sons who had been in commercial fishing now work for tugboat companies. Just like Shinnecock II owner Hand, who said he has kept his 11-year-old son far away from the trade. "I don't want him to like it," Hand said from the tugboat dock. "It's torture."

ny-lifish0812523543mar16

LI commercial fishermen expect hard times to get harder

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Hard times for LI fishing industry

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The attorney general's investigation affirms the stories told by multiple women during an emotional, hourslong school board meeting in November 2021 — a turning point that sparked a public reckoning and spawned the state probe. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

'At times I felt like I had my hopes up and nothing would come of it'

Michelle Chronick Tyson, 59, has been charged with murder in the killing of a newborn, whose body was found in a movie theater toilet in 1996. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

'We look forward to litigating this case'

Across the Island, authorities raided more than 250 illicit spas in the past five years. Only three of them have been in the Town of Islip. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and the Newsday investigative team report.

'I'm very shocked this is going on'

A car sliced through the hedges and fence of a Huntington Station adult assisted living facility Sunday night, displacing 27 residents, police said. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie has more.

'It was loud'

The new owners of the iconic property "love the castle," according to their attorney. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

'Very, very nice people'

The lawsuit contains new public allegations of abuse of Jor'Dynn Duncan and another child, as well as more details on previously reported abuse allegations. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

'I don't have my daughter anymore'

Three Long Island schools have been chosen for pilot programs designed to help the district phase out Regents exams. Newsday education reporter Dandan Zou has the details.

'How are we assessing students holistically?'

Some critics question whether for-profit developers who build market-rate rentals should get tax assistance offered by local agencies. NewsdayTV's Pat Dolan reports.

'Why are we giving them more than they're giving us?'

'It will damage the social fabric'

Experts say the crash that seriously injured two teens highlights how a failure to improve roadways can leave taxpayers liable for damages and legal bills. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

'I was a victim here as well'

Joel Rifkin was convicted of murdering 17 women decades ago and authorities say some of the victims were killed in that house. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa has more.

Serial killer's LI home sells

According to a Newsday analysis, Long Island's highest-paid nonprofit employees work in the healthcare industry. Newsday investigative reporter Joshua Solomon explains.

'It gives Long Islanders a better understanding'

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