Monday, June 18, 2012 — Portland, ME
Read about the meeting at the NEFMC webpage
Commerce chief’s leave leaves fishery issues on table
June 13, 2012 — Facing possible felony hit-and-run charges for a chain of traffic mishaps ending with him unconscious behind the wheel of his car in the Los Angeles area near his home, Commerce Secretary John Bryson has taken a medical leave of absence.
Bryson notified President Obama of his decision late Monday. Bryson was hospitalized late Saturday, but was released within hours and he was back in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank assumed authority at the department and, at least for now, has sign-off authority on a number of important fisheries decisions directly affecting Gloucester and other New England ports.
These include a long pending disaster declaration request filed by Gov. Deval Patrick for the Massachusetts groundfishery, which has been hemorrhaging jobs under a new management regimen and hard catch limits mandated by Congress.
In addition, the secretary is believed to have on his desk the second major report on case studies of fishermen wronged by NOAA law enforcement. As many as 60 cases were under investigation by a special judicial master appointed by Bryson's predecessor, Gary Locke, now ambassador to China.
After the May 2011 release of the first master's report, Locke issued an apology and reparations to eight victims of justice miscarried.
The Secretary of Commerce is the official of record on matters covered by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the superstructure for the nation's fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration and its subdivision, the National Marine Fisheries Service, both fall under the wing of the Department of Commerce.
$3 Million Marketing plan aims to heat up lobster demand
June 12, 2012 — Buoyed by the success of food and drink advertising campaigns like "Got Milk?" the state Lobster Advisory Council wants Maine's lobster industry to spend $3 million to boost sales and market prices.
In a series of four meetings across the state, the Lobster Advisory Council will present a business plan and marketing proposal to strengthen the brand of the Maine lobster and build more profitable demand in new and existing markets. The first meeting will be held from 6 to 9 tonight at the Log Cabin in Yarmouth.
"The time has come. We need to do something," said Bob Baines, the council's chairman. "The price of lobster is the same as it was 10 years ago. The cost of bait has doubled. Fuel has tripled."
The new business effort includes a goal of spending $3 million on marketing, up from about $400,000 currently, Baines said. The budget and marketing effort would be phased in over three years.
The money for the campaign would come from lobster harvesters, dealers and processors. The industry employs about 4,000 people in Maine.
"It's a supply-and-demand business. We need to increase demand," Baines said. "Our biggest competition is the other seafood on the center of the plate. We need to do more to get that center plate role."
The meetings will provide a chance for the council and its consultant to present the marketing plan and for people in the industry to provide feedback. That will determine whether the Lobster Advisory Council moves forward with the idea or abandons it. Officials from the state Department of Marine Resources will be at the meetings to hear responses.
Details of the marketing plan were not available Monday.
"Selling a commodity is very challenging," said Timothy Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "It's not enough to say that it's a Maine lobster. You need to say why that matters."
Discussion documents for NEFMC council meeting on June 19-21, 2012 now posted online
June 12, 2012 – THe New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has posted the discussion document for the upcomming meeting on June 19-21 on the Council website.
New England Fishery Management Council announces vacancy for Executive Director position
June 12, 2012 – The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) announced that it is looking to fill the position of Executive Director. The following is an excerpt from their vacancy announcement:
Position Description: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is one of eight Regional Councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Council is charged with developing fishery management plans for fisheries in the New England region (Maine through Connecticut). It is comprised of 21 members from the sport and commercial fisheries and government. The Executive Director is responsible for the activities of 19 technical and administrative staff members and the management of Council operations. The Executive Director serves at the pleasure of the Council and reports directly to an elected Chairman and/or Executive Committee as appropriate. More background information about the Council is available at: http://www.nefmc.org/.
Read the full announcement here.
Embattled Commerce chief has grim fishing record
June 12, 2012 – U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who was involved in a potential felony hit-and-run traffic incident Saturday night and found unconscious behind the wheel of his car in the Los Angeles area, has been no more than a virtual presence for the hard-pressed New England fishing industry in his brief tenure in the Obama Cabinet.
In October, soon after he was confirmed by the Senate and praised by Sen. John Kerry as the ideal candidate, Bryson promised Kerry to visit Massachusetts to get a firsthand view of the industry, struggling under regulations authorized by the secretary. But that visit never came off, nor was it ever rescheduled.
A former utility executive and adviser to the global private equity firm, Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co., Bryson made streamlined regulation, job creation and exports his priorities in confirmation hearing testimony, but his early involvement with the Natural Resources Defense Council, drew opposition from Congressmen John Tierney and Barney Frank.
In November, Gov. Deval Patrick filed a set of socioeconomic scientific studies to make the necessary legal case for Bryson to declare that federal fisheries policies had created a job-destroying economic disaster for the state and region.
But Bryson has taken no action on the request which was upgraded from an earlier filing that was deemed to lack the necessary "new" scientific proof of a fisheries failure.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times.
Crews begin removing Great Works dam; Interior Secretary calls effort ‘milestone for river conservation’
June 11, 2012 – Workers began removing the Great Works dam late Monday morning, part of a historic effort to open nearly 1,000 miles of habitat to 11 species of fish that haven’t had open access to the Penobscot River for two centuries.
U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar joined about 300 conservationists, government officials, tribal leaders and residents to witness the first tangible step in what has been a 13-year push to revive the river.
“Today marks an important milestone for river conservation in America,” Salazar said moments before heavy equipment operators fired up their engines. “Through a historic partnership that exemplifies President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, we are reconnecting 1,000 miles of river, restoring vital habitat for fish and wildlife, expanding opportunities for outdoor recreation, and supporting energy production, jobs and economic growth in communities throughout Maine.”
The Great Works dam stretches across the Penobscot River from Bradley to Old Town. The Veazie dam also is slated for removal beginning in 2013, the Milford dam will get a new fish lift, and a fish bypass will be built at the Howland dam. The project, led by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, has been called the biggest river restoration project in the eastern U.S. and is expected to cost about $62 million.
Crews from Ellsworth-based R.F. Jordan & Sons Construction Inc. used two excavators with hoe ram attachments — essentially large jackhammers — to break apart the fishway portion of the 1,000-foot-long dam piece by piece. A third excavator scooped up debris and loaded it into a dump truck that hauled the rubble off site.
Demolition is scheduled to be completed in November.
Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News.
Farm Bill Faceoff: Catfish Farmers vs. Fisheries Institute
June 11, 2012 — Last week we told you about how sugar growers and food manufacturers were fighting over the farm bill's sugar policies. Now, it's the catfish farmers versus a seafood trade association and agricultural groups clashing over a catfish inspection program.
Catfish farmers say the changes would improve food safety. Critics argue that it's protectionism masquerading as food safety.
The program in question would shift catfish inspection and oversight to the U.S. Department of Agriculture from the Food and Drug Administration. The change was part of the last farm bill and is set to be implemented next year and critics are trying to undo the change in this year's farm bill.
"For U.S. catfish farmers, food safety is our highest priority and we welcome stricter USDA oversight of both our domestic and imported catfish," Butch Wilson, the president of the Catfish Farmers of America, said in an email. "Whether a food safety incident results from domestic or foreign fish, the impact is the same: consumer confidence in all catfish plummets."
The Catfish Farmers of America spent $200,000 on lobbying in 2010 and $320,000 in 2011.
But critics say catfish farmers are supporting the program because it would essentially halt similar imports from Vietnam, which, they warn, could prompt retaliatory trade restrictions on American products.
"This is at heart a trade issue," said Gavin Gibbons, a spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute. "The domestic catfish folks aren't interested in a new regulator. They're actually interested in a new trade barrier."
Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom is mourned
June 12, 2012 – The entire Indiana University community mourns the passing today of Distinguished Professor Elinor Ostrom, who received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for her groundbreaking research on the ways that people organize themselves to manage resources.
Ostrom, 78, died of cancer at 6:40 a.m. today at IU Health Bloomington Hospital surrounded by friends. She was senior research director of the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Distinguished Professor and Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences, and professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is survived by Vincent Ostrom, her husband and colleague. She also leaves behind a large extended family of colleagues, collaborators, staff and friends, in Bloomington and on five continents, who worked closely with her during an extraordinary 50-year career.
Ostrom shared the 2009 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, also known as the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, with University of California economist Oliver Williamson. She was the first woman and remains the only woman to be awarded the prize.
Read the full story from the University of Indiana here.
Read about some of Professor Ostrom's work as it relates to catch shares here.
Commerce Secretary John Bryson, accused of hit-and-run, takes medical leave
June 11, 2012 – Commerce Secretary John Bryson said Monday night that he is taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with health problems, after officials said the Cabinet member had a seizure while driving Saturday and was involved in three traffic collisions.
Bryson’s leave was announced after 10 p.m. Monday. It followed a day of confusion about his medical condition and about the crashes that led to Bryson being cited for felony hit-and-run in California. In a memo released to reporters, Bryson said his leave would last “during the period of my illness.”
“I notified President Obama this evening that effective immediately I am taking a medical leave of absence so I can focus all of my attention on resolving the health issues that arose over the weekend,” Bryson wrote. He said his second in command, Rebecca Blank, would be the acting secretary in his absence. Blank has already served in that capacity, filling in after former secretary Gary Locke left to be ambassador to China.
Bryson did not say more about the nature of his health issues. Neither did the White House, which said that “President Obama’s thoughts are with Secretary Bryson and his family during this time.”
The length of Bryson’s leave is undetermined, and a Commerce official said late Monday that he is undergoing tests and will consult with doctors before making a final decision about whether to return to work.
Bryson, 68, is the newest permanent member of Obama’s 21-person Cabinet, taking his post in October. His leave ended a tumultuous day in which White House officials conceded that they had not learned of Bryson’s accidents until a full day after they occurred. They acknowledged that, even two days afterward, they did not fully understand what had happened.
Bryson was driving alone when his Lexus ran into two other cars shortly after 5 p.m. Pacific time Saturday — hitting one of the vehicles twice. Nobody in the other cars was seriously hurt. After the third crash, Bryson was found unconscious behind the wheel. He was treated overnight at a Los Angeles area hospital.
On Monday, Commerce Department spokeswoman Jennifer Friedman said the secretary had suffered a seizure — his first — at some point during the incident. She said toxicology tests confirmed that neither alcohol nor drugs played a role in the crashes. A spokesman from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the tests.
Read the full story at the Washington Post.