News

US Senator Charles Schumer, at the Haverstraw Marina

(in the background -Charlie Gruetzner, President of the HVMTA)

WEST HAVERSTRAW - US Senator Charles Schumer Monday announced an initiative to battle a recent Environmental Protection Agency regulation that he says could be “just a scheme to increase revenues.”

A recent regulation change by the EPA will require small motorboat owners to register their marine vehicle with the EPA, forcing them to have the same permits as oil tankers, and failure to do so will result in a $32,000 per day fine."

Speaking on the shores of the Hudson in West Haverstraw, Schumer said their intent was to keep track of all commercial boats on the country’s rivers and estuaries, but that this new regulation that stretches to the nearly 40,000 recreational and commercial small boaters in the Hudson Valley is going too far.

“This is going to be very damaging to our economy here. The recreational boat industry here brings in an estimated $346 million. This is going to hurt all of the region,” said the senator.

Schumer said it is “a possibility” that the reason for the new registration is to secure a new funding stream. “The government is always looking for new ways to increase their revenues. Either way, it’s just plain D-U-M-B.”

The new EPA regulation goes into effect in late September. Schumer said he hopes to have small boaters removed from the new policy by the end of summer.

He is being joined by US senators from California and Florida, the other two of the three top boating states in the country, in this effort.

Article taken from: http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/June08/10/EPA_boats_Schumer-10Jun08.html

Emergency regulations impacting fish movement and the use of baitfish have been implemented in New York in response to an emerging disease threat, viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). Historically, VHS caused widespread fish mortalities in European aquaculture facilities and localized fish mortalities in Pacific Herring along the North American West Coast. In recognition of its potential for profound socio-economic consequences, VHS is one of nine reportable diseases to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE). VHS became a concern in New York due to outbreaks in the Great Lakes. The earliest confirmed VHS report in the Great Lakes was a frozen Lake St. Clair muskellunge taken in 2003 that had been retested after VHS was first documented in the Great Lakes during 2005. VHS has caused fish mortalities in Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair, and in New York waters including Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and Conesus Lake. Popular angling fish species involved in the fish mortalities were muskellunge, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, yellow perch, bluegill and pumpkinseed. The Animal Health Inspection Service (APHIS) lists 37 species of fish across 13 families that are susceptible to VHS, including all herring species and several popular baitfish species. It is unusual for a fish disease to affect so many fish species across such a variety of families. The greatest risk pathway for the spread of VHS was identified as fish movement, including stocking and the use of baitfish. Given this information, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had to respond to the VHS threat.

With the growing evidence of the threat VHS posed to the fisheries resources in New York, the DEC filed emergency fishing regulations on November 21, 2006. Those regulations strictly controlled the movement of fish. The significant impact to Hudson River anglers was that the emergency regulations did not allow the use of herring caught in the Hudson River’s tributaries to be used in the main stem of the Hudson. Additionally, the regulations required that all commercially sold bait fish had to be certified as "disease free" of six fish diseases, including herring. At the same time the emergency regulations were filed, the same regulations were proposed as part of a normal rule making that involved a comment period. Anglers commented that the herring in the tributaries were the same herring that were in the main stem of the Hudson and therefore posed no threat if used as bait in the Hudson River. Commercial bait dealers commented that they could not hold herring long enough to get the disease testing (takes 3 to 5 weeks) and that the striper run would be over by the time the herring were certified as disease free.

The DEC reviewed the comments submitted in response to the proposed fish health regulations and filed revised emergency regulations effective March 9, 2007. The revised emergency regulations were a compromise between issues raised during the comment period and the disease risk of moving fish from one body of water to another. The following revised emergency fish health regulations impact the Hudson River:

The "message" that the revised emergency regulations sends is that there can be serious negative impacts of moving fish from one body of water to another. That is why the DEC is restricting the use of uncertified baitfish to the water from which they were caught. The good news for Hudson River anglers is that herring caught in the tributaries of the Hudson will be able to be used as bait in the main stem of the Hudson. However, you cannot put herring, live or frozen, in your car to transport them overland from Hudson River tributaries or bait stores to the Hudson. This will change the way anglers buy and collect bait fish. Since you cannot put your baitfish in your car, you will have to purchase your baitfish on the water or within walking distance of the water. If you collect your own herring, you will have to collect them either within walking distance or boating distance from where you plan to fish. You will still be able to bring herring home for pickling, but you will not be able to bring them back to the water as baitfish once they are transported away from the Hudson.

Why can’t uncertified baitfish be transported overland by car? Enforcement! If uncertified baitfish were allowed to be transported in a car, then the regulations would be unenforceable. After all, bait fish don’t come with the label "raised in the Hudson River," so it would be impossible to tell where the baitfish came from. More importantly, people would be tempted to bring baitfish from one body of water to another. That is the risk the regulations avoid by not allowing uncertified baitfish to be placed in a car. The regulations allow a person to collect baitfish and use them on the same body of water. If you "need" to transport baitfish overland, then buy certified disease free bait fish and keep your receipt. The choice is yours.

The changes made in the revised emergency regulations were different enough that they warranted a second public comment period. Therefore, the DEC proposed a new set of regulations that are the same as the revised emergency regulations. Comments will be taken through April 27, 2007. For more information on VHS and how to submit public comments, please visit www.dec.ny.gov and type VHS in the search engine.