Food and Water Watch got it wrong again. You will remember this organization from my July blog, in which I addressed their ridiculous editorial on New England’s Catch Shares approach to correcting a regional fishery in decline.

Their latest misinformation campaign, to discredit a successful catch shares program in the Gulf of Mexico, is neither accurate nor credible.  Among Food and Water Watch’s many fatal errors:

• failing to reference even once NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico 2010 Red Snapper IFQ annual report — the most comprehensive and current body of research on the topic. NOAA released the report nearly a month ago;
• Failing to disclose that the majority of “lost” fishing jobs they claim is caused by catch shares were actually permits that hadn’t been used (fished on) in for years;
• Falsely doubling the percentage of red snapper permit reductions from its actual 22 percent;
• Falsely stating fish prices increased only 3% when the median real ex-vessel price has actually increased 15% since 2006 (NOAA 2010 p20);
• Misrepresenting changes in the total allowable catch under catch shares; the net change in commercial quota from 2007-2010 is a 6.8% increase, not a decrease as FWW writers say.

Food and Water Watch claims its mission is to promote safe and sustainable seafood but its propaganda shows even they don’t take their claims seriously. Their latest white paper actually targets the very hardworking, responsible fishermen who are diligently advocating year-round access to fresh and sustainable seafood. In fact, Food and Water Watch dedicates an entire page to assaulting Alliance fishermen with an ill-informed description our organization.

Our members, responsible fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico consider our work successful when the anti-catch share lobby calls our mission into question.  In the pursuit of a sustainable Gulf of Mexico fishery, our position is leadership, our mission is stewardship. Our lobby is simple: truth.