Mr. Wise reminded the Council that it was on record as supporting the concept of placing a numerical cap on the number of state charter and party boat operators licenses.  In 2004, it established a subcommittee to consult with the marine “for hire” industry in New York to determine the extent of industry support for such a cap and to make recommendations on what the cap should be and how it might be implemented.  Councilor Joe McBride, chairman of the subcommittee, presented the group’s findings and the following recommendations, which include the license cap and two other issues:

License Cap

• Set a cap at 100 more licenses than are presently extant
• Issue licenses to new entrants for a year, or until the cap is reached
• Establishing transferability for this license equivalent to that for state commercial fishing licenses         
• Put a 5-year sunset on the cap

State Diesel Fuel Tax Rebate

• allow owners/operators of “for hire” vessels to qualify for state diesel fuel tax rebate offered to other commercial industries, e.g., commercial fishermen

Commercial Sale of Striped Bass from “For Hire” Vessels

• allow a small number of striped bass (3-7 fish per vessel per trip) caught while a vessel is sailing “for hire” to be sold commercially

Mr. McBride noted that the Montauk Captains Association and the Long Island Farm Bureau are actively pursuing the extension of the diesel fuel tax rebate allowance to “for hire” vessels.  He commented that, while it is currently illegal to sell fish caught from a vessel while it was fishing “for hire,” the Council recently recommended to DEC that it increase the striped bass by-catch allowance for trawl fishermen from 7 to 21 fish to assist the economic condition of trawl fishermen.  The subcommittee’s recommendation to allow sale of a few bass caught while fishing for hire would, in similar fashion, provide an economic boost to those in the “for hire” industry.

Councilor John Davi, Jr. remarked that the subcommittee was inappropriately conflating the charter and party boat operators license with a commercial fishing license.  The latter is a license allowing commercial harvest of a public marine fishery resource, while the former is a license to operate a vessel engaged in a particular business.  In his view, these purposes are quite dissimilar and, while a case can be made for capping commercial fishing licenses, he was not convinced it had been made for limiting the “for hire” vessel operators license. 

Councilor Sima Freierman asked if there has been any recent attrition within the “for hire” fleet?  The number of boats in the Montauk area is relatively stable, but this is not true in other parts of the Island.  Mr. McBride stated that, in some parts of the Island, there are too many people presenting themselves as “for hire” vessels but they are not seriously engaged in the activity.  Many bona fide “for hire” operators would like to minimize or eliminate this practice of “sailing under the hat.” Charter rates in the industry are set by the full-time operators.  There are a series of gentlemen’s agreements within the industry regarding charter rates.

Councilor Witek was concerned about any “gentlemen’s agreement” within the “for hire” sector.  He stated that the commercial fishery is a wholesale fishery.  The commercial fisherman is a direct harvester who sells fish to a market, which are later purchased by the consumer.  The charter fishery is a retail fishery; it deals directly with the consumer.  In his view, the charter boat is not the harvester; it is a platform that a harvester may opt to use to harvest the resource.  Mr. Witek continued that the public interest in the commercial fishery is to have quality seafood available for the public to purchase; the secondary interest is in reducing overcapitalization by limiting the number of licenses so that you can efficiently manage and not over harvest the resource.  The public interest in charter fishery is to have ready access to the resource so that people are not limited in their choices, or the amount of service.  Price competition is good for the public.  To him, any “gentlemen’s agreement” on the cost/availability of “for hire” vessels is not in the best interest of the public.  Councilor Witek also expressed concern regarding the subcommittee’s recommendation to allow striped bass caught on a “for hire” cruise to be subsequently sold commercially.  Many charter boat clients are first-time customers, just beginning to create their recreational fishing ethics.  Allowing striped bass to be sold off a “for hire” vessel conveys the wrong message; better to emphasize catch and release ethics in the “for hire” sector. Mr. Witek commented that there are many smaller “for hire” boats being seen on Long Island, carrying fewer people and focusing on the angling experience and not selling “harvest.”  In his view, this is the way to go.

Joe McBride responded that the Council, and fishery management in general, is legitimately concerned with overcapitalization.  Why should this concern be restricted to commercial food fishermen and not extend to the “for hire” sector?  He observed that catch and release fishing is a matter of personal philosophy and shouldn’t be used as a tool to drive a wedge between sectors of the recreational fishing community.

Mr. Colvin asked whether the subcommittee had discussed criteria that might be used, once the cap had been reached, to issue licenses to new entrants under it?  He noted that, if, as suggested by the subcommittee, a cap is set that is quite a bit higher than the current number of licenses, it may be years before the number of issued licenses reaches the cap.   Mr. McBride responded that the subcommittee had not developed any recommended criteria for qualifying new entrants under a license cap; it would presumably done on a “first-come-first-served” basis.

Mr. John German of the Long Island Sound Lobstermen’s Associated stated, if a person possesses commercial striped bass tags, he/she should be able to catch these fish however they wish. 

Councilor Freierman suggested that when the group looks at transferability, they should look at past license history.

Councilor McBride then asked for authorization from the Council before moving forward with a final proposal, which he received.

 

Page last modified Friday, March 10, 2006 by George E. Carroll