More Criticism for New York Times' Dishonest Defense of Catch Shares

On May 18, I accused The New York Times of being dishonest in its defense of Catch Shares.

The editor of National Fisherman, a monthly newsletter that covers the commercial fishing industry, shares my belief. She’s written an opinion piece about the issue for the Gloucester Times, accusing the editorial of being “full of errors and slights on hardworking commercial fishermen.”

Here’s an example:

“It heralds Catch Shares for saving summer flounder and Northeast haddock, which is like crediting a freshman class for the seniors' high college placement rate. Summer flounder and haddock were healthy and strongly rebounding stocks long before catch share management was in place.”

And Jessica Hathaway provides a great explanation of the true nature of Catch Shares:

“What we can credit Catch Shares for is making it easier to manage some fisheries because, inevitably, it causes consolidation, a shrinking of the fleet and risks the changeover of valuable working waterfront properties to condos, offices and seasonal homes.

“Catch Shares do not affect the science with which we analyze fishery biomass. They do not affect the maximum sustainable yield or fishing quotas.

“They are merely a scheme that enables managers to assign the quotas to certain fishermen, groups of fishermen or other private entities.

“Catch Shares do not change the number of fish fishermen are allowed to catch, so how could they possibly be credited with the rebound of a species, especially a species that was rebounding before Catch Shares were applied as a management tactic?

Her main point is that Catch Shares are leading to the demise of many small commercial operators and working waterfronts, while doing nothing for the conservation of fisheries.

Read her opinion piece here.

Of course, Catch Shares also pose a threat to participation for sports anglers. When applied to mixed (commercial and recreational) fisheries, the scheme would deny growth to sports fishing by freezing its “share” at a fixed level. 

Algae Blooms Kill Fish in Maryland

Algae blooms in  creeks of upper Chesapeake Bay have killed more than 60,000 fish.

"You could smell it through the neighborhood," said Rob Rogers, 45, who took a break from work at the Point Pleasant Beach Tavern to describe what he called "unbelievable" conditions on the creeks. Rogers said boaters reported dead fish floating in the water so thick they couldn't avoid hitting them.

The blooms are a recurring problem for the Bay, fed by nutrient runoff from surrounding lands. This time, the situation could have been aggravated by a sewer line break in Baltimore County. That spilled an estimated 50 million gallons of untreated sewage into the lower Patapsco River.

Read The Baltimore Sun’s full story here.

Angler Caught With His Pants Down

A Canadian angler was dragged out of an outhouse by a black bear and narrowly escaped with this life.

“I’m sitting on the throne, and my feet are sort of up on the poopstool,” he said, adding that the door was open so he could enjoy the morning view.

“I’d already done my business,” he added. “All the defense I had is a piece of (toilet) paper in this hand.”

How did he survive? Read the full story here. 

Asian Carp Found in Chicago Park Lagoon

Two large bighead carp have been discovered in a lagoon of Chicago’s Garfield Park.

The Chicago Sun-Times says the fish “were about 60 pounds apiece and probably have been there for many years, perhaps brought there when the pond was stocked or by a fisherman’s bait bucket, state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud said.”

The newspaper also says that the lagoon isn’t connected to Lake Michigan or canals that connect the lake to the Illinois River.

That does not re-assure me. These fish were introduced by people, perhaps intentionally, as happened with snakeheads on the East Coast. If people put them in this lagoon, they also can release them into the Great Lakes or any other number of waters.

Read the full story here.