Senator Snowe, the Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, said:

"I am profoundly grateful that NOAA has committed to provide funding to cover at-sea monitoring for the 2012 fishing year.  The industry, despite its diversity of opinions, has been unified in its request that Congress and the agency work together during these difficult and early transitional years of the sector management system.  In Maine, small inshore boats as well as the offshore fleet shared deep concerns about their inability to bear the burden of this expense.  I commend the agency for instituting pragmatic changes and demonstrating its willingness to work with New England to create long-term economic sustainability for this historic industry and I look forward to continuing our work toward that goal."

BACKGROUND: In July 2011, Senator Snowe led New England’s Senators in calling for common-sense fishery management adjustments to the sector-based management system.  In the letter to Eric Schwaab, NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, Snowe and a bipartisan group of Senators proposed several adjustments to the 15-month-old management plan to help the region's fishermen achieve greater predictability in their business and harvesting practices.

The letter asserted, "Effective fisheries management rests on reliable processes that promote stability for both fishing businesses and managers.  Consistent with national fisheries policy, these adjustments will provide significant benefits both to fishermen and for the resource, and help the New England groundfish fishery move further down the path to a sustainable ecological and economic future."

Here is a copy of the July 2011 letter to NOAA.

 ###