Tag Archives: ENGOs

“Looking Back”: The Keep Fishermen Fishing Rally

Measured by any meaningful criteria the Keep Fishermen Fishing rally held on the steps of the Capitol on March 21 was a stunning success. It was attended by thousands of fishermen from as far away as Alaska, twenty one Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, and at least a half a dozen other VIPs made room in their busy schedules to come out and address the people who attended. From the most conservative of the conservatives to the most liberal of the liberals, these politically divergent speakers had one message; fix the Magnuson Act and bring back the balance between conservation and harvest. For the second time at the national level recreational and commercial fishermen – no matter what fisheries they participated in, no matter what their disagreements on allocation or lesser issues were, and no matter where they were from – were standing together and demanding a return to the original intent of the Magnuson Act;,,, >click to read< 08:09

UPDATED: The hidden cost of fishery monitoring

Recently my crewman came into the wheelhouse with a complaint. I am a commercial fisherman and we were on our third consecutive day of carrying at-sea monitors, which we are required to do in 2019 on at least 31% of trips. This is like having your own state policeman ride with you to work to make sure you do not exceed the speed limit. They watch you to make sure you do not throw over any fish that are part of your quota. Because the government wants their monies worth, they have them weigh everything you bring on board. By David Goethel  >click to read<  18:41 Dave sent these photo’s which were not included in the article.

100% fishing monitoring is unnecessary, David Goethel

August 13, 2019

I would like to correct some misconceptions and rebut some of the statements made by Ms. Johanna Thomas in her Aug. 2, 2019 opinion, Monitoring will help improve New England’s fisheries. >click to read< Ms. Thomas sites the West coast Groundfish fleet as a success story. That is not the case as told by the fishermen on the West coast. She also fails to mention that 50% of the fleet was bought out in a $60 million-plus dollar buy out prior to the implementation of catch shares. This alone should have rebuilt stocks. >click to read< 21:28

Nil’s Stolpe writes, The Magnuson-Stevens amendment I want under the Christmas tree

OVERFISHING! This has become one of the oceans branch of the doom and gloom prognisticator’s (aka Environmental Non Governmental Organizations or ENGOs) principal calls for alms. To wit, they have collectively raked in hundreds of millions of dollars from big business-supported foundations and trusting members of the public to persecute (generally commercial) fishermen who they preach are the cause of “overfishing,” the major threat to the sanctity of the oceans. (I’ll note here that the Pew “Charitable” Trusts was the multibillion dollar foundation that initiated the war on fishermen.) This purposeful misuse of the term “overfishing” has been one of the most subtle and most effective weapons in the anti-fishing activists’ arsenal. Nils Stolpe FishNetUSA >click to read< 18:00

Canastra Brothers Offering $93 Million for ‘Codfather’s’ Fishing Fleet

One of the owners of the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction in New Bedford is shedding more light on a proposed deal to buy the “codfather’s” fishing fleet. Carlos Rafael has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for his illegal fishing scheme, and cannot be involved in the fishing industry during that time and three years after his release. In an exclusive interview with WBSM’s Phil Paleologos, Richard Canastra confirms he and his brother, Ray, have entered into a memorandum of agreement with Rafael to buy his business, Carlos Seafood, Inc, for $93 million. Video, click here to read the story 16:41

Deal between Rafael, Canastra brothers worth $93M, still needs government OK – While the Canastras and Rafael have agreed, the deal isn’t complete. NOAA and the U.S. Attorney haven’t taken a final position on the proposed sale, according to court documents click here to read the story21:03

D.B. Pleschner: ENGO Extremists manufacture anchovy ‘crisis’ where none exists

northern anchovyWhen the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently reapproved the 2017 annual catch limit for the central stock of anchovy at 25,000 metric tons (mt), environmental extremists immediately cried foul. Press releases with doomsday headlines claimed that the anchovy catch limit is now higher than the total population of fish in the sea. Environmentalists claim the anchovy resource has “collapsed” and the current catch limit is dangerously high. But is the anchovy population really decimated, or are these alarmists simply manufacturing another anti-fishing crisis? In reality, anchovies are now amazingly abundant from San Diego to Northern California. Scientific data as well as fishermen’s observation bear this out: Read the op-ed here 12:22

John Sackton: Are the big NGOs winning the marine monument battle, but losing the war?

barry-obamaCoinciding with the opening of the Our Oceans conference in Washington, D.C., last week, President Obama announced a new 5,000-square-mile marine monument on the southeast corner of Georges Bank, encompassing three submarine canyons and some seamounts further off the continental shelf. The map of the monument closely hews to the proposed map put out by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal in a letter to Obama in July. It follows a letter at the end of June from the six senators representing Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, along with a host of environmental non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. Read the op-ed here 10:04

Europeche accuses Pew of defending the ideas of “false and contrary” to the weight and impact science discussion forums, advisory councils and ideas.

193X122PEWLogoAs fishermen provide more and more data and reap the benefits of their efforts to curb by-catches and fish more sustainably through technical methods so the big NGOs will respond in ever more aggressive ways as the evidence begins to undermine their attempts to indirectly and directly influence legislators – in this instance they have upset Europeche who have accused the Pew Foundation (an American charity like the Oak Foundation which sees fit to fund many anti-fishing activities here in Europe – High Fearnley-Whittingstall’s infamous FishFight being one to the tune of,,, Read the rest here 15:00

Captain Paul Cohan, Gloucester: NOAA’s latest data doesn’t pass smell test

I smell a rat,,,, NOAA and its National Marine Fisheries Service stinks to high heaven,,,, If there was ever any doubt about the catastrophic effects of “catch shares” it should now be dismissed. Sectors, ITQ’s, Closures, and Consolidation, have not created conservation — instead devastation of all, well most, involved, both fish and fishermen, as well as those who depend upon them.  As much at fault, perhaps more so are the environmental non-government organization — or ENGO’s. For it was their infiltration of NOAA at the highest levels that facilitated this debacle. GDT letter <Read more here> 07:28

Philanthropic Colonialism – The Charitable-Industrial Complex. Driven by guilt, manipulated by ENGO opportunists to “fix all that’s wrong”.

At the same time, according to the Urban Institute, the nonprofit sector has been steadily growing. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of nonprofits increased 25 percent. Their growth rate now exceeds that of both the business and government sectors. It’s a massive business, with approximately $316 Billion given away in 2012 in the United States alone and more than 9.4 million employed. continued@nyt

Nils Stolpe: A staggering loss to U.S. fishermen and U.S. seafood consumers. And while on the subject of press releases…. CLF and Earthjusice

NetLogoBackground500It was back in June of 2008 that I first became aware of Richard Gaines’ work in the Gloucester Times in a three part series exploring the interplay between fishermen, feds, ENGOs and the mega-foundations that funded them in a controversial move to close Stellwagen Bank to fishing (see http://tinyurl.com/n8m3voh for the first installment). A letter about the series I wrote to Times Editor Ray Lamont started “kudos to Richard Gaines for reporting what is going on behind the smoke and mirrors obscuring the struggle to maintain the historical fisheries that have thrived on Stellwagan Bank for generations. He couldn’t be more on-target when writing ‘Pew is associated with public information campaigns against fishing and fish consumption.’”  continued@thewritingsofnilsstolpe

Editorial: IG’s NOAA report puts onus on the White House

Let’s face it, NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco has shown nothing but contempt for Congress and for America’s fishermen since President Obama plopped her into the top NOAA seat in 2009 to do the bidding of the Environmental Defense Fund and other nonprofit giants. http://www.gloucestertimes.com/opinion/x2120614248/Editorial-IGs-NOAA-report-puts-onus-on-the-White-House

IG cites NOAA for lack of response – implies clearly that NOAA officials are showing insufficient interest in resolving these problems.

“We are currently reviewing NOAA’s controls and processes surrounding fisheries rulemaking as the first phase of our assessment of transparency and the rule of fishery councils in rulemaking,” the Zinser report states. “An effective regulatory environment requires a fair and transparent rulemaking process. Our review will consider the interactions among federal officials, fishing industry members, and non-government organizations in the development of fishing regulations.”

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x520558903/IG-cites-NOAA-for-lack-of-response