A “LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN” WITH THE ANGEL ANGLERS
Boys & Girls Club youth team with Bassmaster Elite Series pros

Alexandria, VA – August 19, 2008 – For 40 novice anglers from Boys & Girls Clubs around the country, having the opportunity to fish alongside the Bassmaster Elite Series professional anglers was an experience of a lifetime. The young anglers participated in the Future Fisherman Foundation’s Youth Fishing competition held Saturday, August 2, in Buffalo, N.Y, during the Elite Series Empire Chase.

The Future Fisherman Foundation, the angling education arm of the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), is in its second year of a partnership with the Department of Justice Law Enforcement and Youth Partnerships for Crime Prevention initiative to implement the Future Fisherman Foundation’s Hooked on Fishing–Not on Drugs® program bringing fishing and aquatic education to Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. Each club selected its youth participants based on solid leadership, good behavior and demonstrated angling skills.

The teams traveled to Buffalo to compete alongside nineteen of the Bassmaster’s Elite Series professionals known as the Angel Anglers. The Angel Anglers are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of kids through participation in fishing. The Angel Anglers program was launched four years ago to introduce young people to bass fishing who would not otherwise have an opportunity to participate.

Junior anglers Krysta Johnson and Aaron Patterson, both 13, of the Sanford/Lee County (North Carolina) Boys & Girls Club teamed up with the 2007 Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the Year Derek Remitz to win the youth fishing competition.

Remitz, Johnson and Patterson weighed in five fish with an overall weight of 14 pounds, 6 ounces to nudge out the team from Santa Monica, Calif. The tournament weigh- in was shared with the public through ESPN’s live online feed.

The winning team members said they enjoyed their time on the water with Remitz who also shared a few new angling skills. “He taught me how to cast and fish with a baitcasting reel,” said Patterson. “I had a great time.” Johnson added, “Derek showed me how to spot where fish are hiding and how to cast to them so you don’t scare them and that makes catching fish much more fun.” The 2007 youth competition champions, Suzette Martinez and Ingrid Camberos of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Bay (Calif.), returned both as junior instructors and to defend their title. They teamed up again with their 2007 partner, Elite Series pro Steve Kennedy, but were no match for the bag brought in by the Sanford/Lee County Boys & Girls club team.

“Last year was fabulous and this year was even better since we were able to bring more youth and pair them up with such fantastic pros,” said Anne Danielski, Future Fisherman Foundation executive director. “I cannot say enough positive things about the Angel Anglers, BASS, ESPN and everyone associated with this event. The kids were so excited they had trouble sleeping and so did I!”

Danielski further said, “Although Johnson and Patterson were the official winners of the youth tournament, all of the young anglers returned home with new skills, new equipment, and guidance from a mentor and memories that will last a lifetime.” 

The event was a success thanks to the considerable support and donations provided by ASA member companies and partner organizations. Gear and program support were provided by BASS/ESPN Outdoors, Gemini Sport Marketing, Shakespeare, ZEBCO Brands, Plano Molding Company, FISHHER, TTI Blakemore Fishing Group, BoatU.S.Angler, Erie County Bassmasters, New York Sea Grant and Xtreme Glove. Danielski said, “The foundation thanks these angels as well for their generous contributions of equipment in support of this program.”

To obtain copies of the photos, please contact the Future Fisherman Foundation at 703-519-9691.

For more information about becoming involved in youth angling programs, contact the Future Fisherman Foundation at 703-519-9691, www.futurefisherman.org.

MISSION COMPLETED:

Aquarius Coral Restoration/Resilience Experiments (ACRRE)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Margaret Miller, NOAA Fisheries

The Aquarius Coral Restoration/Resilience Experiments (ACRREs) are aimed to increase our understanding of why and how some corals may perform much better as transplants than others. Coral fragments from different sources, including healthy wild colonies from nearby reefs, rescued corals from far-away reefs, and corals that have been cultured in aquaria or field nurseries will be transplanted together to a single location, a “common garden”, at the Aquarius Reef Base. Each transplant will be evaluated in many different ways to understand how their genetic or physiological status may determine their ability to thrive in their new home. We hope to continue this experiment over a long time frame so that the resilience of the transplants can be examined during natural disturbances such as warm water bleaching or disease outbreak events that happen episodically.

The results of this study will help scientists and reef managers to plan, permit, and execute coral rescue and transplantation/restoration project more effectively. We will learn what sources of corals can be most successful in enhancing depleted reef populations both in the short term by transplantation, and in the longer term by understanding better what genetic or other biological conditions of the coral aid in their resilience to the changing reef environment.

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Tuna Purse Seiner Threatens Costa Rican Sport Fleet

Watch Video Here: http://www.billfish.org/new/video.asp

Sportfishing boat crews, guests and owners fishing off of Quepos, Los Suenos and Cabo Blanco were the target of tuna purse seine vessels in a series of incidents documented last week. Vessels fishing schools of large yellowfin tuna were first harassed on Friday, June 20, when helicopters launched from a purse seiner drove them off the school of tuna by dropping small explosive charges on the boats. The next day, the fishing vessel Andrea F, a Nicaraguan flagged boat owned by a "blind" Panamanian corporation, intentionally encircled seven sportfishing boats fishing a school of yellowfin and confined them inside the diameter of its large net. The incident lasted more than an hour, during which time the seven boats were harassed and threatened by the netters with the commercial vessel's helicopter buzzing the sport boats at a very close range. The sport boats included five Costa Rican vessels and two U.S. flagged boats. Reports of a similar incident were heard on the following day.

Larry Drivon of Maverick Sportfishing Yachts contacted TBF's Chair, Joan Vernon, and Dr. Russell Nelson last Monday informing them of the series of incidents and supplying several video tapes and photos taken during the June 21 incident. Nelson and TBF's Central American Conservation Director Herbert Nanne were in Panama representing TBF at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission meeting at the time and immediately brought the matter to the attention of Carlos Villalobos, head of Costa Rica's fisheries agency INCOPESCA. Upon viewing the tapes and photos, Villalobos acted decisively and quickly, ordering an immediate formal government investigation into these potentially criminal acts. He vowed that this type of incident would not be tolerated in Costa Rica.

This afternoon, Nanne, along with INCOPESCA attorney Guillermo Ramirez, are scheduled to meet with the captains, crew and owners who were subjected to the harassment by the purse seiner at Los Suenos. Formal, sworn statements will be given to launch the investigation. "TBF was happy to bring these dangerous actions to the attention of the proper officials," said TBF President Ellen Peel, "and we look forward to prompt justice from INCOPESCA - this vessel should be stripped of its permit to fish in Costa Rican waters and the incident should be reported to the Nicaraguan authorities as well.""

Fisherman Dies While Fighting Tuna

A fisherman discovered an empty boat cruising off the North Carolina coast Tuesday morning with its harpoon line in the water.

When he reeled in the line, he found a live bluefin tuna speared on the end -- and the captain's entangled body.

The captain, Bruce Bartlett of South Plainfield, N.J., apparently harpooned the fish, then got his left leg caught in the 200-foot line, Coast Guard officials said. When the tuna swam away, Bartlett was pulled into the ocean off Morehead City and drowned.

Bartlett was a commercial fisherman who traveled up and down the coast, Coast Guard officials said. He was alone in the 35-foot boat, named Flat Calm, when he died, fighting a fish that can weigh from 200 to 500 pounds.

"They're not easy to handle by yourself," said Ensign Andy Green-wood, with the Coast Guard's Fort Macon group.

Greenwood said Bartlett's was one of several boats that left Morehead City early Tuesday. He was last seen at 8 a.m.

About 9:30 a.m., another fisherman found Bartlett's boat 13 miles offshore, its motor running. The man climbed aboard and pulled up about 150 feet of the line before finding Bartlett's body, Greenwood said. The catch was on the line, but it got away before Coast Guard officials arrived.

Efforts to reach Bartlett's family Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Anthony Ng of Winterville, a commercial fisherman who was also in the area Tuesday morning, said 6- and 7-foot swells were battering the boats.

He said many fishermen work alone, hauling in tuna on giant rods, then stabbing them with harpoons and chasing them until they tire. A single tuna can sell for thousands of dollars.

Ng said it is more profitable to work alone but, of course, more dangerous. "Those fish, they pull hard," he said. "All it takes is one slip."

The Coast Guard advises against fishing alone. But even having company can't always prevent accidents. In 1994, a man was pulled overboard during the Morehead City-based Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. He had wrapped line around his arm and was trying to pull a fish aboard a 52-foot boat. His body was never found.

Proposed Rule Alters How the National Environmental
Policy Act Applies to Oceans;
Would Create a Bad Precedent, Stifle Public Participation

WASHINGTON— The Bush administration has proposed a new rule that threatens to hurt ocean resources and prevent the public from doing anything about it. In response, conservationists today urged the administration to withdraw its proposed procedures for complying with the National Environmental Policy Act when managing ocean fish, and to craft a new rule that will protect valuable natural resources while allowing for greater public participation in the environmental review process.

The National Environmental Policy Act, the nation’s preeminent conservation law, ensures that public officials make informed decisions about the environmental consequences of their actions by requiring thorough environmental assessments with public participation. This is the same law that helped to protect thousands of square miles of deep sea coral, reduced mortality of endangered sea turtles, and began the process of rebuilding depleted fish populations while ensuring robust public participation in federal fisheries management. But the Bush administration’s proposal, published on May 14, 2008, is full of loopholes and exclusions that would do little to protect the environment.

This NEPA proposal could create a bad precedent, affecting the application of NEPA to other aspects of the environment since it provides a roadmap for other federal agencies to modify their NEPA procedures.

“This proposal is a cynical attempt to shove the public out of its rightful role in protecting public resources,” said Andrea Treece, senior attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity’s Oceans program. “Fishing affects virtually every ecosystem and species in the sea, from the fish we eat, to whales we thrill to watch, sea turtles we strive to protect, and coral reefs that support local economies. Leaving the management of these national treasures to guesswork and backroom deals instead of sound science and public input is simply unacceptable.”

According to law, a NEPA review must include an analysis of a full suite of alternatives to the proposed action. This will help ensure that the broader impacts of a proposed action are examined and minimized. But, the Bush administration’s proposal not only undercuts and complicates the NEPA process, it also makes it even more difficult to conduct a proper and necessary environmental review.

“Overfishing, pollution, bycatch, and global warming are already putting a heavy strain on the habitats of several imperiled seabird species,” said Steve Kress, director of Audubon’s seabirds program. “More than ever, we need to make decisions based on good science. Instead, the federal government's weakening of environmental review protections will stack the odds in favor of industry and likely degrade habitat further.”

As written, the Bush administration’s proposed rule would undermine NEPA by severely limiting the public’s right to participate in fishery management decisions and even shutting out the public from future participation if they don’t weigh in during the initial round of public comments. It would also allow regional fishery management councils to control environmental reviews. Many of these councils are dominated by fishing interests and have mismanaged our oceans for decades. Additionally, the proposal gives fishery managers the power to make fishing decisions without adequately considering the impacts on other components of ocean ecosystems such as sea turtles, seals, corals, and other precious ocean life.

“The effectiveness of NEPA is due, in large part, to the fact that it provides a concrete method for concerned citizens to become involved in and to challenge government actions if they are not following the law,” said Caitlin Hills, National Forest program director for American Lands Alliance. “The government moves through the guidelines and procedures to implement the law and make decisions. This common sense ‘look before you leap’ requirement leads to better decisions and helps the government avoid making mistakes. This proposal weakens that process.”

The public can submit official comments on the proposal through August 12, 2008 by going to http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/MFCN/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24897.

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