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Congressional
Research Service |
New info and changes since 10/17/97 are bracketed {...}.
New info and changes since 10/23/97 are double bracketed {{...}}Marine Fisheries
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{Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Meeting. The Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force is scheduled to hold its fall meeting on Nov. 13-14, 1997, in Riverdale, MD, to review and coordinate various regional programs and measures to monitor and control introduced (exotic) species. A field trip is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 14 to view Chesapeake Bay nonindigenous species and their impacts, and to view ballast water tank management facilities.} [personal communication]
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IFQ Meetings. The National Research Council's Committee to Review Individual Fishing Quotas is scheduled to hold public meetings in Seattle, WA, to take public comment on its review of IFQs on Nov. 12-13, 1997. [personal communication, Assoc Press]
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{Passamaquoddy Trial. On Oct. 23, 1997, the Calais District Court in ME was scheduled to begin the trial of 13 members of the Passamaquoddy tribe charged with various fishing violations, including taking sea urchins out of season and dragging for scallops without a license. The Passamaquoddy claim ancestral saltwater fishing rights, while the state claims that these rights were extinguished by 1980 legislation.} {{However, Judge John Romei recessed the case until Nov. 29, 1997, to give the defense additional time to prepare their case.}} [Assoc Press]
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{HMS Scoping Document. On Oct. 22, 1997, NMFS announced the availability of "Issues and Options for the Management of Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS)." This document will be the focus for HMS scoping meetings to be held between Oct. 27 and Nov. 18, 1997, along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and in the Caribbean.} [personal communication]
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{Illegal Toothfish Fishery. On Oct. 21, 1997, Australian military authorities arrested vessels registered in Belize and Panama for illegal foreign fishing for toothfish in waters of Australia's Heard and McDonald Island Territories in the sub-Antarctic.} [Reuters]
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{Sulfite in Seafood. On Oct. 21, 1997, Neogen Corporation (Lansing, MI) announced the introduction of a new rapid (less than 5 minutes) test for detecting excess sulfites in seafood. Although sulfiting agents are used by seafood processors to prevent enzyme breakdown, the amount of sulfite that can be used is federally regulated since excess sulfites pose a toxic threat to allergic consumers. The new sulfite test was developed in cooperation with the Aquatic Food Products Laboratory at the Univ. of FL.} [Neogen press release]
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{LA Gillnet Ban. On Oct. 20, 1997, the LA Supreme Court heard arguments on a case wherein fishermen charge that LA's ban of gillnets is unconstitutional because fishermen were not adequately compensated for property taken by net buy-back programs. District Court Judge Janice Clark agreed with the fishermen, but the state has asked the Supreme Court to overturn her lower court decision.} [Assoc Press]
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{LA Oyster Promotion. On Oct. 17, 1997, the LA Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget authorized expenditure of about $200,000 to promote oyster export and domestic consumption. Funds will be spent on advertizing various ways to cook oysters for domestic markets and identifying new Asian markets. Almost $140,000 of this funding was provided by a federal grant.} [Assoc Press]
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New ADB Fisheries Policy. On Oct. 16, 1997, the Asian Development Bank (ADB, Manila) announced a new fisheries policy, moving from an emphasis since 1979 on increasing production to a new focus on "equity, efficiency, and sustainability." The new policy seek to encourage greater private sector involvement in fishery production and processing while aiming to foster regional cooperation in developing policies for long-term sustainable fishery management. [Dow Jones News, Assoc Press]
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Native Title Fishing Rights. On Oct. 16-17, 1997, five Indonesian (Sama Bajau) "sea gypsies" from the island of Roti near Timor, who was detained for illegally fishing in Australian waters earlier in 1997, argued a unique test case in Australian court that he has an ancestral right to fish in Australian waters. The individual claims that his ancestors fished in Australian waters for many centuries preceding European settlement, and thus he retains the right to continue this traditional fishery. The court is expected to rule on this case in mid-November 1997. [Reuters]
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{Norwegian-Russian Fishery Zone Extension. In mid-October 1997, Norwegian Fisheries Minister Peter Angelsen announced that Norway will encourage Russia to agree to a joint extension of their fishery zones to 250 nautical miles to exclude Iceland and others from fishing in the Barents Sea loophole. Norway blames Icelandic fishermen for the decline in cod in the Barents Sea.} [Oslo Aftenposten via Foreign Broadcast Information Service]
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{Petroleum Exploration and Corals. In mid-October 1997, Britain's High Court rejected Greenpeace's request for a judicial investigation into the legality of granting petroleum exploration licenses for waters north of Scotland where the slow-growing cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa grows on the grounds that the lawsuit was not filed in a timely manner. Greenpeace announced that it would lodge an official complaint with the European Commission that issuing these licenses would breach the European Habitats Directive.} [Reuters]
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U.S.-Canada Tuna Vessel Port Privileges. On Oct. 15, 1997, U.S. and Canadian officials announced that amendments had been accepted to a 1981 bilateral agreement to increase the number of ports that could be used by the other nation's tuna vessels. U.S. tuna vessels may now use Vancouver, BC, in addition to previously agreed upon Canadian ports while Canadian tuna vessels may now use Eureka, CA, Newport, OR, and Westport, WA, in addition to previously agreed upon U.S. ports. [Assoc Press]
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Coral Anchoring Ban. On Oct. 14, 1997, NOAA and the state of FL jointly announced an emergency rule prohibiting freighters from anchoring on a coral reef west of the Dry Tortugas where widespread coral damage has occurred on a newly discovered reef within the FL Keys National Marine Sanctuary. [Assoc Press]
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Atlantic HMS Scoping Meetings. On Oct. 10, 1997, NMFS announced a series of 21 scoping meetings along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts to take public comment on management of Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS -- tunas, swordfish, sharks, and billfish) to be held between Oct. 27, 1997, and Nov. 17, 1997. [Fed. Register]
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Coral Reef Conference. On Oct. 9-11, 1997, the World Bank in cooperation with the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, the International Coral Reef Initiative, the Smithsonian Institution, the World Conservation Union, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority held a conference on coral reefs at the World Bank Main Complex in Washington, DC. [http://www-esd.worldbank.org/coralreef97/]
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Mediterranean Fisheries. On Oct. 9, 1997, a coalition of 41 environmental groups announced that it would urge the General Fisheries Council of the Mediterranean, meeting Oct. 13, 1997, in Rome, Italy, to adopt new mechanisms to enforce its formerly non-binding recommendations to member nations for better managing Mediterranean fisheries. Concerns include overfishing, destructive fishing methods, and overcapitalized fishing fleets. [Reuters]
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El Nino. On Oct. 8, 1997, Peruvian officials announced that a ban on anchovy fishing, in effect since March 1997 due to El Nino conditions, would be terminated on Oct. 15, 1997, due to increased anchovy abundance. The U.S. Global Change Research Program has scheduled a seminar on the 1997-1998 El Nino forecast on Oct. 20, 1997, in the Rayburn House Office Bldg., in Washington, DC. {{On Oct. 21, 1997, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists reported that hundreds of thousands of AK seabirds (primarily short-tailed shearwaters, black-legged kittiwakes, and murres) died this summer from the Gulf of Alaska to the Chukchi Sea, possibly from starvation due to the effects of El Nino on the marine ecosystem.}} [Dow Jones News, USGCRP Seminar announcement]
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Illegal Aliens. In early October 1997, the Immigration and Naturalization Service completed "Operation Cheechako," a two-week investigation of the southwest Alaska fishing industry. During this operation, INS agents identified 80 individuals accused of being illegal aliens upon boarding and inspecting more than 60 fishing vessels, including floating processors. Most of the alleged illegal workers were processing workers. [Assoc Press]
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Social Aspects of Fishing. On Oct. 3-4, 1997, Europeche, the Association of National Organizations of Fisheries Companies in the European Union, was scheduled to meet in Cadiz, Spain, to discuss the social aspects of commercial fisheries, including working hours, environmental issues, relations with non-EU countries in fisheries, and professional consultation. [Agence Europe via Reuters]
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Status of Fisheries Report. On Oct. 3, 1997, NMFS announced the release of a report to Congress entitled "Status of Fisheries of the United States" identifying 86 species as overfished, 10 species as approaching an overfished condition, 183 species as not overfished, and 448 species of unknown status. Regional Fishery Management Council are required to develop programs to end overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks. This report states that these numbers probably understate the number of fisheries that will eventually be determined to be overfished. [NOAA press release, Assoc Press, Dow Jones News]
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Coral Reef Damage Compensation. On Oct. 3, 1997, NOAA officials announced that the Rama Shipping Company of Thailand agreed on Sept. 11, 1997, to pay $1,250,000 for repairs to damaged coral reefs near Mona Island, Puerto Rico, after its freighter Fortuna Reefer ran aground on July 24, 1997. [Assoc Press, NOAA press release]
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Health Insurance for Fishermen. On Oct. 2, 1997, the Associated Press reported that Caritas Christi, a health care organization affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston, was awarded a $1.9 million federal grant to finance a program to assist New England commercial fishermen in obtaining health insurance. The grant funds were provided as part of a federal effort to assist New England fisheries. Federal funds will supplement state funding for this program. Enrollment in the program begins Oct. 20, 1997, for MA fishermen, with fishermen from other states scheduled to be enrolled in June 1998. [Assoc Press, personal communication]
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Shrimp Virus Study. In early October 1997, the Coastal Fisheries Division of the TX Parks and Wildlife Dept. was scheduled to begin testing for diseased shrimp in TX bays in an effort to determine if introduced exotic viral diseases are adversely affecting native shrimp. [Assoc Press]
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Geoduck Discovery. In early October 1997, the Associated Press reported the discovery of an estimated 12 million pound bed of geoducks off Sitka, AK. The exploration leading to this discovery was funded by federal dollars distributed to aid southeast AK communities that had been dependent upon the timber industry. [Assoc Press]
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Fishermen's Oil Spill Response Team. On Sept. 29, 1997, the first of 16 commercial fishing vessels were deployed by CA's Fishermen's Oil Spill Response Team (F.O.R.T.) to assist in the containment and cleanup of oil spilled at Santa Barbara platform Irene. Vessels began returning from the completed activity on Oct. 2, 1997. [CA Seafood Council press release via Dow Jones News]
.TX Red Tide. On Sept. 29, 1997, the TX Dept. of Health banned clam, oyster, and mussel harvesting along the lower TX coast (from Port Aransas south to South Padre Island, excluding Galveston Bay) in response to red tide conditions. About 2.5 million fish were reported to have been killed near San Jose Island by these conditions in late September 1997. On Oct. 15, 1997, thousands of mullet and menhaden as well as some redfish and seatrout killed by red tide washed ashore from Padre Island National Seashore south to Port Isabel. An estimated 14 million fish have been killed since the red tide event began in late September 1997. [Assoc Press]
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Summer Flounder Lawsuit. On Sept. 29, 1997, Federal Judge Robert Doumar began a trial on a complaint by NC commercial fishermen that NMFS's summer flounder quotas are unfair and did not account for the economic impact on fishing communities; Judge Doumar ordered the U.S. Dept. of Commerce to conduct a study of the economic impact of flounder quotas on small businesses. [Assoc Press]
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NPFMC Meetings. On Sept. 28, 1997, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) voted to review how Bering Sea pollock is allocated; the Council's study of pollock allocation is expected to be completed by June 1998. In addition, the NPFMC adopted recommended harvest guidelines for southcentral and southeast AK halibut charter fleets, limiting their harvest to not more than 125% of that taken in 1995. [Assoc Press]
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Surimi Processing Plant Collapse. On Sept. 28, 1997, the cold storage portion of the Crystal Ocean Seafood Inc. plant in Astoria, OR, collapsed into the Columbia River. The cold storage area, on pilings over the river, was reportedly packed full with frozen fish product, and may have overloaded the structure. [Assoc Press]
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New England Fisheries. On Sept. 28, 1997, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tahoma boarded and seized the catch of a New Bedford fishing vessel, alleged to be fishing within a closed area about 114 miles east of Cape Cod. The vessel's catch of scallops and monkfish will be sold, with the proceeds held in escrow until the case is decided. [Assoc Press]
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Horseshoe Crab Fishery. In late September 1997, the NJ Audubon Society filed an appeal, charging that the Marine Fisheries Council did not have authority to set aside the Governor's action and that a fishing industry employee sitting on the Council should not have voted. On Oct. 8, 1997, Appellate Division Judge Philip Carchman issued a temporary stay on horseshoe crab trawling until Oct. 15, 1997, to allow the Court time to review the issues and possible threat to crab populations. {On Oct. 17, 1997, the NJ Marine Fisheries Council voted to change its position, approving new state regulations imposing a year-round ban on trawler harvest of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay and NJ coastal waters and allowing hand-harvesting for 16 days annually in May and June in limited areas. Fishermen were reported to say that they will move their trawling operations to MD.} [Assoc Press]
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