Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is offering to fight new federal fishing rules. Fishermen say those rules could put them out of business.
Sen. Kerry discusses ways to improve fishing industry
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) – Senator John Kerry was in New Bedford Thursday, to discuss the fishing industry and also announce grants for the city's fire department.
Kerry and several other city leaders talked about ways to improve Massachusetts' fishing industry, which has a large presence in New Bedford.
Sen. Kerry said, "Our fisherman across Massachusetts are hurting, not just the economy, but the government and some the decisions that have been made without sensitivity and without adequate creativity. I believe we can do better."
Read the complete story from WPRI Providence.
In Md., felt boots blamed for invasive ‘rock snot’
MONKTON, Md.—As an algae with a gross nickname invades pristine trout streams across the U.S., Maryland is about to become the first state to enforce a ban on a type of footgear the organism uses to hitchhike from stream to stream: felt-soled fishing boots.
The state Department of Natural Resources plans to prohibit wading with felt soles starting March 21 to curb the spread of invasive organisms that can get trapped in the damp fibers and carried from one body of water to another.
Similar bans will take effect April 1 in Vermont and next year in Alaska, aimed especially at didymo, a type of algae that coats riverbeds with thick mats of yellow-brown vegetation commonly called "rock snot."
Read the complete story by The AP at The Boston Globe.
House backs killing NOAA catch share funds
The U.S. House has voted to cut off funding for future catch share programs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration policy that opens the door to commodities trading of fishermen's catch allocations — and a policy already steering control of the fishing industry to larger corporations while driving out smaller, independent boats.
The 259-159 vote early Saturday morning was largely un-lobbied by either fishing industry backers or the Obama administration and its environmental allies, notably the Environmental Defense Fund that developed and has pushed hard for catch share policies.
The vote marked the first time a House of Congress has weighed in on the management regimen, and it looms as a setback for the Obama administration, whose most visible advocate of catch shares is Jane Lubchenco, the embattled NOAA administrator who formerly served as a top board member with Environmental Defense.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.
John Kerry spending President’s Day in New Bedford
NEW BEDFORD — Sen. John Kerry is spending President’s Day in New Bedford.
Kerry is planning to start the day by participating in a roundtable discussion on federal funding for affordable housing, job training and human services. The discussion will take place at the New Bedford Community Development Center with New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang and Newton Mayor Setti Warren.
Kerry then heads to a press conference with Lang and members of the Massachusetts fishing community to discuss fishing regulations and enforcement.
Read the complete story by the AP at The Boston Herald.
House amendment would cut NOAA spending on new catch share programs
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment early Saturday that would prevent NOAA from spending money to promote and institute new limited-access fishing programs such as catch shares on the East Coast, a development that commercial fishing advocates have labeled as "very significant."
Bob Vanasse, head of the fisheries public relations campaign Saving Seafood, called the vote on the Jones Amendment "a major salvo" fired at federal fishing regulators.
"Basically, the message was, 'We've had it and we're going to use the power of the purse to have you reconsider your policies,' " Vanasse said.
Jim Kendall, president of New Bedford Seafood Consulting, said the amendment could prevent NOAA from spending "another $50 million to advocate and promote catch shares."
"A lot of the money is used to essentially disseminate propaganda," Kendall said. "They've been forcing catch shares down the throats of various fisheries."
Last May, federal regulators introduced the New England groundfishing industry to a new fishing management system, replacing a days-at-sea model with "catch shares" and "sector management."
The system requires boat owners to join cooperatives and manage
their share allocations, or "catch shares," as they best see fit within the law.
The new system has been met with opposition and controversy.
Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.
Barney Frank Opposes Interior’s Decision to Consider Requests to Build Wind Farms near Georges Bank
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released the following statement in response to the announcement that the Interior Department would consider requests to build wind farms in the area of Georges Bank fishing grounds.
“I am deeply disappointed by this decision by the Interior Department and upset that neither Congress, the fishing industry, nor fishing regulators were notified before the decision was made.”
“Georges Bank is a critical fishing ground for northeastern fishermen and it must be protected for future generations. I will work closely with my colleagues in both the House and the Senate to insist that the Interior Department extend the period during which it must accept comments on this proposal. And I will submit comments against opening areas near Georges Bank to any form of energy development that would potentially harm the fishing industry.”
Regulators shut down shrimp season
PORTLAND, Maine — Regulators on Friday voted to shut down New England's shrimp season early for the second consecutive season because fishermen surpassed the target set by biologists.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided at an emergency meeting to close the fishery Feb. 28, about 6½ weeks earlier than scheduled. Even with the early closing, the amount of shrimp pulled from the North Atlantic will exceed the 8.8 million pound limit set by scientists.
Because of the decision, hundreds of fishermen will have to tie up their boats earlier than expected and fish processing plants on the mainland will run out of shrimp.
Longtime shrimp fishermen say there are too many fishermen going after the shrimp. That includes groundfishermen whose days at sea have been cut, as well as lobster fishermen.
Read the complete story by The AP at The South Coast Today.
Frank chides feds over Georges Bank wind
NEW BEDFORD — Add U.S. Rep. Barney Frank to the list of those opposed to the notion that Georges Bank, or parts of it, may be suitable for wind farms.
Frank, D-Mass., on Friday issued a terse statement scolding the Interior Department for promoting the idea with a "request for interest" notification.
"I am deeply disappointed by this decision by the Interior Department and upset that neither Congress, the fishing industry nor fishing regulators were notified before the decision was made," he said.
Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.
Documents: NOAA chief was told of shredding
The document shredding undertaken by the then-national director of law enforcement for federal fisheries — previously described by officials as a routine cleanup of paperwork — included evidence related to an investigation of law enforcement practices then underway by the Inspector General's office, according to an internal memo from the investigating officer.
And the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been aware for 10 months of the Inspector General's finding that the effort was designed to conceal evidence from the IG's probe, according to documents obtained by the Times.
Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser wrote to NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco on April 2, 2010, that the document-shredding in October 2010 involved the destruction of "75-80 percent of the files in the office of Dale J. Jones Jr.," then the director of NOAA law enforcement.
The IG wrote that "the shredding implicates that it was done to conceal information from the (inspector general)."
According to Zinser's report, "about six of law enforcement headquarters' 40 employees" contributed files for shredding.
"Such office-wide shredding was not a routine function for the Office of Law Enforcement; rather, the director and deputy director (Mark Spurrier) told us this was the first such an exercise in their 10-plus years with OLE," Zinser wrote.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.