Montauk Pioneer - June 26, 2009 - Make Some Noise About Fish Regs

Montauk pretty much has two main industries: tourism and fishing. And as the "sport-fishing capital of the world," the fishing out here in Montauk definitely contributes to its popularity as a tourist destination.

The New York Sea Grant Institute estimated in 2001 that our state's saltwater recreational fishing industry brings in more than $1.3 billion to our economy and promotes approximately 20,000 jobs.

You have only to walk down the 300-some yards from Gosman's dock down West Lake Drive to see the dozens of businesses that rely on recreational fishing; sign after sign advertising "half-day fluke fishing", "full-day fishing", "night bass trips," et cetera literally line the docks. However, everyone who lives here year-round knows that the tourist (and therefore recreational fishing) season only really lasts through Columbus Day.

For the majority of the year then, the only industry out in Montauk is commercial fishing. Several laws, both new and outdated, have recently contributed to a loss in money for Montauk's commercial fishermen.

One of the biggest problems out here is with the federal quota system on fluke. For all of you out there who, like me, like fishing but really are kind of clueless about it, this is what that means: the federal government appoint different percentages of the annual federal fluke allotment to different states. This means that different states are only allowed to catch a certain amount of fluke in federal waters.

To illustrate that more clearly, New York vessels get 7.6% of this allotment whereas North Carolina gets almost quadruple that with 27.4%. In 2004, New York fishermen brought in 1,587,033 pounds of fluke and North Carolina landed 4,884,126 pounds.

Now it is not that North Carolina waters have less of a problem with over-fishing, or that they just have a larger population of fluke than we do out here, because these percentages do not have anything to do with where the fish are caught.

Technically, there could be a little group of boats from different states fishing together in one area and a boat from New Jersey would be able to take over double what a Long Island vessel could take home based simply on inaccurate data that does not reflect the real fishing activity. This is because New York's share was in fact based on port samplings and not actual weigh-out information, which is how every other state's was calculated. The whole thing sounds pretty ridiculous and unfair to me.

And thankfully, mine is an opinion that is also shared by Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton.) Bishop realizes that this is a burning issue not only for the livelihood of so many New Yorkers, but that it's also crucial when it comes to maintaining the traditions and heritage of Long Island.

Bishop has said that he believes litigation is inevitable, meaning that New York State may well be suing the federal government over this matter. However, this is not a simple issue. As Bishop said in a Russell Drumm article from earlier this month in the East Hampton Star "The pie is only so big. We're getting a little over 7 percent. If we get 10, someone's giving up fish. Their fishermen will fight tenaciously."

These quotas do not only affect the earnings and lives of Montauk fishermen, but also result in fish being killed needlessly. If a fisherman catches more than his quota of fluke, they, by law, have to be thrown back into the water. This happens so frequently, because after catching their limit of 150 lbs a day, most vessels continue to go for other types of fish, in effort to turn over more of a profit. This is problem with trawlers in particular, because by the time they return fish to the water, more times than not, they're already dead.

In this economic climate, Montauk fishermen are being hit by this law harder than ever before. What I find truly ironic and somewhat tragic is that people across the country are striving to support local food producers more than ever, and that the federal government is hindering our community from doing just that. Before any new allotments can be made, information must be collected to prove that New York should have a bigger allotment for fluke, which could take a long time.

Fingers crossed that our federal quota goes up soon, and that somehow the commercial fishermen of Montauk manage to get through another season out on the water.