Dear Friend:

Knowing of your keen interest in fishing, I write to update you on my efforts to create a level playing field for Long Island fluke fishing enthusiasts. For many Long Islanders, fishing is a treasured pastime and an essential part of its history, but it is also a vital industry that generates over a billion dollars a year for New York’s economy.

That’s why I am pushing as hard as I can for fairness and flexibility in outdated federal fluke regulations that have conspired to potentially decimate Long Island’s commercial and recreational fishing industry.

We have had some success in this fight. In December, Long Island fishermen were given some desperately needed relief with the passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 – a move I lobbied hard for. The Senate and House versions included a critical provision to increase the rebuilding period for fluke for an additional 3 years, raising the rebuilding deadline from 2010 to 2013. This new extension will give the Long Island fluke industry the tools necessary to keep their businesses alive and still allow for the fluke stocks to grow as we keep working to provide more flexibility. This 3 year extension will prevent the potentially devastating reduction that would have followed from the original 2007 quota proposal.

Yet we still have a long way to go. In addition to reforming the outmoded regulations and arbitrary deadline set forth by Magnuson-Stevens, I am leading the charge to forge regulatory fairness. These inequitable rules put New York at a significant disadvantage and encourage business to flock elsewhere.

It makes no sense that in New York you can only retain 4 fluke per outing and that the season runs from May to September, when in neighboring New Jersey and Connecticut you can keep 6-8 fluke per outing and have fishing seasons that last between five and eight months. I recently testified at a meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council about the urgent need to level the playing field, and bring equity to the key regulations that vary between New York and neighboring states.

Specifically, I emphasized in my testimony to the Council that, despite the abundance of fish – especially fluke – in local waters, New York is unfairly burdened with a short fishing season, and size and catch limits that pale in comparison New Jersey and Connecticut. This illogical, and unfair system is causing Long Island’s fishing industry to bleed at the wrists.

To change this, I asked the Council to implement the following:

• make the length of season, number and size of keepers consistent across the region;

• work with the Secretary of Commerce to evaluate a new type of data collection to ensure the most accurate statistics are being used to form any future recommendations;

• work with the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an annual analysis of the cumulative socioeconomic impacts to a fishing community when determining timelines, cutbacks and quotas, as well as multiyear management plans to reflect an average of fishing quotas as opposed to attempting to offset annual fluctuations.

I hope that together we can create a healthy environment for both our fishing industry and our natural resources. Please feel free to contact my Long Island Director, Matthew Cohen, at 631-753-0978 should you wish to express your concerns on this issue.


Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

Please do not respond to this email. To send another message please visit my website at http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm . Thank you.