2019-02-05 - These bills are now passed.

Gotham Whale, along with other conservationists and players in this game, were present at New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky’s press conference on the Long Beach Boardwalk at National Blvd on Superbowl Sunday. With the ocean and beach as the backdrop, Todd along with local government officials, announced two bills that will be signed on Tuesday. Both bills have everything to do with the health of our ocean and it’s just a start.

1. Anti-offshore drilling bill in NY waters bill.

2. Atlantic Menhaden (bunker) fish protection bill S2317. The Menhaden bill is sponsored by NYS Senator Todd Kaminsky (Long Beach). 

All the noise “WE” made when the large Omega Protein factory purse seine net ships came up here in NY waters, taking our local Bunker fish aka Menhaden by the millions, was heard and paid off!!!! Omega Protein reductions heard us loud and clear, that’s why their talking heads were badgering anyone who opposed them. The news outlets heard us, they came out and pushed the information forward. Followers on social media heard us and pushed the posts and tweets, increasing the outreach of our message. Local government heard us and here we stand today.

This blog post is what stirred the pot: MENHADEN AKA BUNKER ARE BEING TAKEN IN THE MILLIONS! The post instantly went viral and brought well needed attention to the cause, but many others have been in this fight for decades and this situation of menhaden reduction problems reaches back decades and more. This is not a new topic, even though you might not have even heard of the fish called Atlantic Menhaden (aka Bunker) until today. 

The Atlantic Menhaden protection bill – MY TAKE. It’s great for NY waters! The bill protects the East End and locks down the LI Sound waters because Connecticut has the same purse seine net legislation to protect Menhaden- that’s awesome! The problem we have here in our area is the bill only reaches out and protects NYS waters that are within three miles from the state's coastline, including the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound, and embayments. We need to keep the Omega Protein ships away from the Humpback Whale feeding areas. If you look at the map of where the Omega Protein ships were fishing along with the overlay of where humpback whales feed, it’s the exact same spots. WHY? Because the humpback whales eat Menhaden. Omega Protein catches Bunker (1.2 million pounds per boat load). They are fighting for the same food and that's where bycatch comes in and is a problem. remember what happened to Owl the Humpback whale???

Most of the time the whales are feeding outside the 3-mile line in federal waters. We need to do an addendum to protect NY Humpback feeding grounds or push the NY State water line to 12 miles instead of 3 miles; some say 15 miles and others say 50 miles.

Good News - Atlantic Menhaden in NYS are better protected.

Bad News – The Omega Protein ships from Virginia can still come up here and grab Atlantic Menhaden (Bunker), 1.2 million pounds of Menhaden per shipload. 

Above photo is the NYS cutoff line. Some, including myself think it should be 12 miles not 3 miles.