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14 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, April 14 - April 20, 2000
DNREC officials talk about future of commercial fishing
By Jim Cresson
The state's environmental and
wildlife resource managers last
week answered charges from lo-
cal watermen who claim the state
is putting them out of business by
issuing a call for improved dia-
logue and working relations be-
tween watermen and state regula-
tors.
David Small, executive assis-
tant to the director of the Depart-
ment of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control
(DNREC), said he appreciates the
dilemma watermen feel they are
facing as federal and state fish-
eries managers work to balance
the interests of commercial fisher-
men, recreational fishermen and
conservation groups while still fo-
cusing on protecting the fish and
shellfish resources in Delaware
waters.
"In many ways, the commercial
watermen are suffering now for
past actions," said Small.
"It's kind of like death by a
thousand cuts, but the bottom line
is that fisheries management is
moving into a new century and
policies are initiated as much re-
gionally as they are locally in an
effort toward resource conserva-
tion."
Small said many of the issues
watermen are complaining about
now were raised 16 years ago dur-
ing a year of talks prior to the
state enacting the 1985 Finfishing
Law, Title 7, Chapter 9 of the
Delaware Code.
"What we need to do is reestab-
Sewer
Continued from page 10
Finance Director David Baker.
Those guidelines allow a maxi-
mum income of $27,850 (for a
family of two).
The state has already commit-
ted to keeping the average sewer
cost for an Oak, Orchard resident
to $595 per year. That figure,
based upon a lot frontage of 75
feet, is down from approximately
$726 estimated last year. Homes
with higher front footage pay a
greater amount while homes on
lots with less width or front
footage pay a smaller fee.
Baker said he could not tell how
much the possible funding might
cut sewer costs because federal
funding could well be combined
with state funding. While it could
help, he said he just did not know
how much.
County officials expect to know
by approximately June whether
they will receive the extra funds.
County Administrator Bob Stick-
els said that the county is still fo-
cusing on the West Rehoboth
Sewer District and this does not
mean the county is neglecting that
area. "West Rehoboth is still at the
top of our list," he said, noting
that the disaster funding wasn't
available for the West Rehoboth
district.
lish a dialogue with the watermen
now and address the issues
they've raised," said Small.
"If anything comes out of this
latest round of complaints, I'd
hope for more dialogue as a start."
Watermen have charged that
state regulators set unrealistically
low quotas for fish harvests, even
during years when the fish runs
are good.
They also charge there is no
benefit to holding any of the 17
possible fish and shellfish permits
the state issues, because they can-
not be transferred to anyone out-
side the permit holder's family.
And as the harvest quotas get
smaller as years go by, watermen
say their sons see no future in the
commercial fishery and don't
want to continue the family tradi-
tion under their father's permits.
Andy Manus, director of the
state Fish & Wildlife Division in
DNREC, admitted this week there
will probably be more attrition
ahead in the commercial fisheries
as more older watermen retire and
their sons do not pick up their li-
censes.
But Manus said his division,
and especially the fisheries sec-
tion within it, have done a lot to
protect the future of Delaware
watermen in recent years.
"We've proposed an apprentice-
ship program, a true apprentice-
ship, that would enable watermen
to have someone else who is qual-
ified and allowed to go out fishing
under their permits," said Manns.
"But we have to sit down with
the watermen and work out the
details of such a program. We
can't have a dialogue with them
unless they organize as a group
and bring their positions to the
table. That would be a good place
to start."
Although federal commercial
fishing and shellfishing permits
are allowed to be transferred in
the market place, usually being
sold with a boat, both Manus and
Fish & Wildlife fisheries section
chief Charlie Lesser say Delaware
would never agree to such a trans-
fer.
"If we allowed dollars to drive
this industry, we'd end up with
corporate fishermen from Virginia
buying all the available permits
and harvesting in the Delaware
Bay," said
Manus. "No-
body would be
in favor of
that."
Lesser said
that proposal
came up in
talks prior to
the 1985 Fin-
MANUS fishing Act but
it was scuttled.
"We've been told by the courts
that we can't discriminate against
non-residents because it's illegal,"
Lesser said.
"So we simply can't make li-
censes transferable on the open
market. We could support a true
apprenticeship program, though."
On the issue of annual fish quo-
tas, Lesser objected to the water-
men opinion that his section is out
to undermine their business.
"The shad fishery may look
good this year, but it isn't," Lesser
said.
"There's an alarming decline,
which is why we've closed the
ocean intercept fishery for shad.
The Hudson River spawning area
is in decline; the Connecticut Riv-
East Coast
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er spawning area is in decline, and
the Delaware River spawning area
had a 90 percent drop in the shad
count this year over last year.
"If we didn't close the ocean in-
tercept fishery for shad, one big
corporate fisherman could possi-
bly wipe out the remaining shad
from any one
of those rivers'
population."
While the
ocean shad
fishing will be
closed, regula=
tars say the
riverine fishery
for shad is still
LESSER
open, with con-
trolled numbers for harvest.
"When you look at this realisti-
cally, it's a balancing act to protect
the resource while we allow some
fishing and search for the reasons
the fishery is in decline," said
Manus.
"It would be totally irresponsi-
ble for us to ignore the influences
on the fishery; it's our business."
Managing a fishery - whether it
is rockfish, shad or weakfish - is
much harder, Lesser said, when
the fish populations are high, be-
cause everybody wants in on the
action.
Managing a fishery when it is in
trouble - such as rockfish were in
trouble in the 1980s - is much eas-
ier, because fishermen understand
the problem and want to protect
the resource, too.
"We understand all the various
perspectives out there, but we've
got to put the resource firsL" said
Manus. "If we don't, we lose the
whole fishery."
"If the watermen throw up their
hands and say they want no part of
the process, they are just giving in
to the interests of recreational
fishermen and the conservation-
ists," said Lesser.
"They've got to organize and
come join us in upcoming discus-
sions on further cuts in the rock-
fish quotas for next year and other
issues they want to address. That
way, watermen will have a voice
in the policies and maybe under-
stand them better."
As Manus says, "Watermen
have more influence in this state
than they may think."
VICTORIAN
,ail ferry as a passenger
the
foot
and
enjoy a carefree, car-free day in Cape
May, N.J., any Saturday or Sunday during
spring. Shuttles make trips between the terminal
and downtown Cape May, all day long on week-
ends. Limited daily serce begins May 13.
The Cape May Ferry special includes a scenic
round-trip from Lewes and a shuttle trip to the
center of Cape May. From there, the Mid-Atlantic
Center for the Arts will take you on
a guided tour of the town's
Historic District. The $18.5o /'
package price includes your
round-trip ferry and shuttle
rides plus guided trolley tour. II;llmY
For tour information, call MAC at (8oo) 275-4278
or the Lewes ferry terminal at o2) 644-6o3o.
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