Anglers in D.C. to fight for livelihood

WASHINGTON -- Fishermen took to the nation's capital Wednesday to blast federal regulators and their rules, while a lawmaker promised Senate hearings on their complaints.

After years of criticizing the impact of the Magnuson Stevens fisheries management act, fishermen may finally get their day in Congress. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), standing before a contingent of Long Island fishermen and women, said he would push for hearings this year.

"We will go to bat for you and try to get Magnuson Stevens changed once and for all," he said.

The East End contingent was among thousands at the rally here -- the second in two years -- aimed at reforming the act, including its ambitious 10-year timetable to rebuild fish stocks. Many, such as fluke and porgies are more than rebuilt, but others, such as winter flounder, remain severely under pressure.

Some of the loudest complaints from Long Island fishermen relate to state-by-state quotas that give New York a relatively small percentage of core species such as fluke.

"They are telling us the fisheries are all rebuilt," said charter boat captain Jamie Quaresimo, owner of the Miss Montauk. "Why am I not allowed to catch them?"

"NOAA doesn't know what it's doing," Schumer said of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which regulates fisheries.

In a statement, Sam Rauch, the acting chief of NOAA Fisheries, said that because of Magnuson Stevens, "our fisheries are rebuilding."

"U.S. fishermen deserve credit for the sacrifices they have made to rebuild stocks," he added. "Our goals will continue to be to end overfishing and work with the regional fishery management councils to manage and sustain a robust U.S. fishing industry."

Commercial trawling ship captains Mike Fallon and Richie Jones of Montauk noted that New York fishermen right now can take 70 pounds of fluke a day from federal waters. Boats from North Carolina and Virginia have limits of up to 17,000 pounds over two weeks.

Another big complaint among fishermen is the requirement that they discard fish, dead or alive, when they hit their quota on a targeted species, but can continue fishing for other species.

Fallon said he is allotted tags to catch 249 striped bass per year, but is only allowed to keep 21 each day. Any others he catches in his trawl go back to the water, most dead -- sometimes more than 100 fish. "It's totally against what they [regulators] are supposed to be about: conservation," he said.

But some say Magnuson Stevens has worked, and should be left alone.

Michael Frisk, an associate professor in Stony Brook University's marine sciences school and a science and statistical committee member of the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council, said the law makes allowances for "uncertainties" in the data, which he said has improved as the science for tracking fish improves.

Because some species such as winter flounder remain threatened, the law needs to remain in place, he said.