What's it gonna be guys...Profit or Pleasure?

[happy2fish]

This is an article in The Press of Atlantic City that was written by Richard Degener on Saturday, June 9, 2007

CAPE MAY —The commercial fishing industry is offering a compromise plan designed to reduce gear conflicts with recreational anglers on the state's artificial reefs, but sport-fishing groups are soundly rejecting it. The compromise proposal from the Garden State Seafood Association would include use of a sinking line to hold the commercial fish pots. A floating line is now used and it tends to balloon toward the surface and snag fishing hooks. The GSSA said the sinking line would reduce the problem by 90 percent. A floating line is cheaper and preferred by the commercial fishermen. The proposal would also include new ways to identify commercial gear at the reefs, so anglers know where it is. There would also be an education effort so anglers can look at markers on the surface and figure out where the underwater gear is on the sea floor. The compromise released this week by the association is a reaction to proposed state legislation that would ban pot fishing on the two reefs in state waters.

If this law passes the federal government would then be asked to ban pot fishing on the 13 other reefs off New Jersey in U.S. territorial seas outside three miles. While the reefs cover only a miniscule percentage of the ocean, commercial fishermen say this is the best sea bottom to land some fish species such as lobster, sea bass and tautog. They argue that seafood consumers, at least those who don't fish, rely on them to supply it. They also are concerned what such a ban could lead to next. One fisherman called it “ocean zoning.”


“My whole concern is it's just a foot in the door for those guys to eventually push us out of the ocean. The goal is to ban fish traps everywhere, like in Florida. They want to make it like their private park,” said Port of Cape May pot fisherman Joe Wagner. Comparing it to a park sits pretty well with Tom Fote of the sport-fishing group Jersey Coast Angler's Association, or JCAA. Fote said the reefs are like fishing parks for the public and commercial operations have the “rest of the ocean.” “I can't use public parks to hunt. There are beaches I can't take my four-wheel drive on,” Fote said.


Jim Donofrio, who heads the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said the compromise is unacceptable and the group wants all pots off the reefs, even pots used by recreational fishermen. Donofrio said it has been a state policy since 2005, and the group will push to make it a law.
“They need some bottom and we need some bottom. That's one little piece we want. They need to back off and go find another spot,” Donofrio said.


Commercial fisherman Dan Cohen said the state policy from 2005 does not ban pots. He said the policy said they were built for rod-and-reel fishing, but it never specifically bans pots. He notes recreational fishermen also use pots. Cohen said the initial reef plan from 1987 makes it clear the sites are for commercial and recreational fishing. “More than 50 percent of reef fishing is lobster. You can't use a hook and line to catch lobster,” Cohen said.


A conflict between a fish potter and a party boat off Atlantic City led to the latest skirmish over the reefs, but the two sides have been fighting for years. The conflict is billed as being over space and not the resource, but that's not entirely accurate. Both sides do have regulations governing how many fish they may catch, but the reefs are places to catch them quicker and with more success.


The commercial fishermen talk about the price of gas and how they want to keep down consumer costs for fish. They say reef materials were dumped on many places they used to fish, and this has taken away ocean bottom for other fisheries that drag the sea floor.
Recreational anglers want to make sure they land something during their day on the water. Fote said 20 percent of the fish anglers in New Jersey land are from the reefs. “These were not designed for 60 potters. It's .03 percent of New Jersey waters. They have 99 percent of the ocean,” Fote said.


The only thing both sides agree on is that more science needs to be done. There is limited data on whether reefs create fish or merely attract them. If they attract fish to one area it would not seem fair to let one group catch them there while the other group's area has fewer fish.
“They don't enhance the fishery. They enhance the capability of catching the fish. It's a big fish trap with an open door,” Wagner said.
Fote argues putting a line of pots on open bottom has the same effect in attracting fish, so commercial fishermen should be happy doing that. But Fote also agrees much more money is needed for research.

More science is also needed on what is snagging the hooks. Garden State Seafood acknowledges it sometimes is commercial gear but argues divers should be sent down to study this since tons of sport-fishing gear is also at the reefs. Many snags could be from monofilament line or reef materials. “They're drifting across subway cars, tanks and other reef materials. There are many ways to snag the bottom,” said Marty Buzas, a commercial fisherman in Wildwood.


Another big argument is funding the reefs. Fote notes that sport groups have contributed the most to sinking materials offshore.
The Garden State Seafood Association acknowledges that 12 percent of the funding comes from private donations from anglers and a federal fund sport fishermen pay into. They also argue the other 88 percent comes from state and county taxes, military funding, and corporate donations of vessels and other materials to sink. Cohen noted he has contributed five boats himself to the reefs. They also point to a utility on the Delaware Bay that contributed $500,000 to the reefs to pay for fish killed by nuclear power plants in Salem County. Those fish kills hurt both commercial and recreational fishermen.


The sport groups have no problem with commercial fishers working the reefs with rod and reel. Opposition against pots is not just about space conflicts. “It's highly efficient gear. The reefs are designed for lots of people to catch little amounts of fish, not a few people catching lots of fish,” Donofrio said.


Both groups seem to be sharing the catch. Commercial potters land most of the lobsters, but anglers get 90 percent of the tog. Black sea bass is split almost right down the middle. There are 74 vessels with commercial pot permits, but estimates vary on how many are active. Cohen said 30 at most, but the state says 50. This compares with 1.3 million anglers in the state, though GSSA Executive Director Greg DiDomenico said pot fisherman also serve consumers.


“We catch fish for those who can't or don't. The vast majority don't fish and have to buy it,” DiDomenico said.