State and Local

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, welcomed the decision by the U.S. Commerce Department to assess economic conditions in six Northeast fishing communities, including Portland.  The Commerce Department has stated the purpose of the assessments is to meet with local leaders to identify economic development challenges and opportunities facing local industries and communities. “I commend the Department of Commerce’s decision to learn firsthand the challenges faced by our fishermen and communities,” said Senator Snowe.  “I welcome any effort that will build on the progress we have made in the last year to expand Maine’s fishing industries.” 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, welcomed the decision by the U.S. Commerce Department to assess economic conditions in six Northeast fishing communities, including Portland.  The Commerce Department has stated the purpose of the assessments is to meet with local leaders to identify economic development challenges and opportunities facing local industries and communities.

“I commend the Department of Commerce’s decision to learn firsthand the challenges faced by our fishermen and communities,” said Senator Snowe.  “I welcome any effort that will build on the progress we have made in the last year to expand Maine’s fishing industries.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD — There will be something of a role reversal on Capitol Hill on April 5 as the mayor's Ocean and Fisheries Council holds a public meeting within the walls of the U.S. Senate.

Dr. Brian Rothschild of the UMass Marine Science and Technology Center, who chairs the council, is appealing to fishing interests up and down the coastline from Maine to North Carolina to urge their senators and congressmen to attend.

The meeting, during which the council will spell out specific concerns and problems with fisheries management, will be similar to the one held last month in Portsmouth, N.H. That venue was a role reversal, too: The New England Fishery Management Council was meeting at the other end of the hotel hallway, and walked over to attend New Bedford's presentation.

The meetings, which are essentially seminars that involve a number of speakers, some of them fisheries experts, are a relatively inexpensive alternative to hiring paid lobbyists in the manner of large, well-financed environmental organizations such as the Environmental Defense fund and the Pew Foundation.

Dozens of people attended sessions in New Bedford, and although the size of the loosely organized council is somewhat uncertain, numbering around a dozen, people from outside New Bedford have been attending the meetings with little distinction made between who is a member and who is not.

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

The U.S. maintains a $9.36 billion trade deficit in seafood, according to government reports for 2009, the last full year of published figures by the US Commerce Department.

If there is a silver lining behind the figures — they show exports of only $3.74 billion against imports of $13.10 million, the largest portion from China — it is that the constraints of U.S. output derive largely from intense conservation efforts here in U.S. waters.

Those have made the U.S. the global leader in fisheries management policies that foster sustainable stocks, as federal fisheries administrator Eric Schwaab asserted in multiple appearances during this week's International Boston Seafood Show.

But a dedicated fund for marketing domestic seafood products that Congress ordered drawn from the hundreds of millions of dollars collected in import tariffs on fish products has never materialized.

And the geography of fishing, in regions around three sides of the nation in a 10,000 mile necklace from Maine to the Alaska — plus the fragmentation of the industry into gear, boat, target stock, wild and aqua-cultured sectors in fresh and saltwater — have all but ensured until now that the industry spoke more like beer line than a choir, putting marketers at a distinct disadvantage.

While political and legal battles rage in Congress and the federal courts to halt or slow the Obama administration's determination to convert weakened fishing industry sectors into commodities markets, a nationwide coalition of seafood processors, including Massachusetts and New England interests, has established a unified program for a dependable national Seafood Marketing Fund.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAIRHAVEN — The fishing tradition in the Kvilhaug family dates back to the Vikings in Norway. Now they are looking to the future, however, by building a new scalloper.

Malvin Kvilhaug, who was born in Karmoy, Norway, 73 years ago, and his son, Brian, are confident enough in the future of scalloping to have a new boat built at Fairhaven Shipyard.

While the Kvilhaugs have had other boats built in Florida, this one is employing all local workers.

"Everything that goes into this boat is local," the senior Mr. Kvilhaug said.

Even the electronics and hydraulics are coming from local companies, he said, thus supporting the local economy.

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Governor Chafee has submitted three Rhode Islanders — Theodore A. Platz, Seth S. Macinko, and Jason D. Jarvis — for nomination to the New England Fisheries Management Council.

Chafee made the announcement in a Wednesday news release. The names were submitted for consideration, said Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator for fisheries at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

According to the news release, Platz, who operates out of Newport, is the owner of three fishing vessels, and has been a commercial fisherman for 26 years. He is president of the Rhode Island Monkfish Association and of the Rhode Island Commercial Fisheries Center.

Read the complete story from The Providence Journal.

 

 

 

 

 

Just when the menhaden industry thought it had jumped its legislative hurdles for the year, a pair of Maryland legislators has proposed making products containing menhaden byproducts illegal in the state across the Bay.

The legislation sponsored by Maryland Delegates Peter Murphy (D-District 28) and David Rudolph (D-District 34B), would effectively ban popular omega-3 protein supplements as well as products that range from paint to plant fertilizer.

In a recent interview, Murphy defended his legislation by saying that it stems from an understanding of menhaden's role in cleaning up the Bay and its importance in the fishery food chain as a staple food of Striped Bass, a species prized by anglers.

"The Bill says because we recognize how valuable this fish is, we will not participate as a state in these processes," Murphy said, referring to the large-scale tactics used by commercial menhaden fishermen, which have been outlawed in Maryland waters. Menhaden would still be allowed for use as bait for sport fishermen.

Read the complete story from Northern Neck News.

OTHER PERSPECTIVES:

Maryland Bill Targets Menhaden Reduction Industry

ATLANTIC MENHADEN: Facts and Unsubstantiated Claims

Virginia Legislators Withdraw Bills that Would Hurt Menhaden Industry

 

 

 

 

FAIRHAVEN — Federal bluefin tuna fishing rules will be the topic of a public hearing early next month at a time and place in Fairhaven soon to be announced by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency announced Thursday.

Jane Lubchenco, director of NOAA and head of the American delegation to Paris in December, came under fire from U.S. fishermen and lawmakers by suggesting that after years of restraint and cooperation that rebuilt bluefin stocks, there should be further restrictions on U.S. fishermen to encourage the Europeans to follow suit.

Eventually, the meeting failed to impose significant restrictions in the eastern Atlantic, frustrating environmentalists and some recreational fishermen. The problem is overfishing in the eastern Atlantic, fueled by a black market in bluefin tuna for Japanese sushi restaurants that charge their customers up to $75 per piece.

There is continuing pressure from environmentalists for a total moratorium on bluefin tuna fishing because of the belief by some that the fish are at the brink of extinction. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last year considered such a move but didn't make it.

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

The mayors of Gloucester and New Bedford on Wednesday sent letters to all 100 U.S. senators to drum up support for the House-passed budget amendment that would cut off the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's spending on new catch share programs in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

Seeking to halt the spread of catch shares, a system that is "crippling the lives of groundfishermen in the South Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, New England and Gulf of Mexico," Mayors Carolyn Kirk and Scott Lang wrote that the Senate could strike a blow for the owner-operator, small-business model against investor influences and the corporatization of the fisheries.

The mayors noted NOAA's relentless push to convert the New England groundfishery to a catch share management system.

The letter identified the Environmental Defense Fund as the "chief proponent" of the change. EDF's former vice chairwoman, Jane Lubchenco, came to office as head of the NOAA in 2009, pushing for a quick approval of the New England catch share plan.

Due to the market dynamics which encourage the trading in allocated shares of the stocks, barely one half of New England's independent fishing boats were active in the first 11 months of the catch share experience, and one-fifth of the working boats accounted for 61 percent of revenues.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

See also: Mayors of New Bedford and Gloucester ask all 100 Senators to support Jones Amendment.

View a PDF with images of all 100 letters 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – March 16, 2011 – Yesterday, Mayor Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester joined Mayor Scott Lang of New Bedford and wrote to all 100 United State Senators to ask their support for inclusion of the Jones Amendment, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a bipartisan majority of 259-159 in any final 2011 budget legislation. It is not yet clear what specific mandates the Senate leadership will allow in such legislation.

The Jones Amendment, authored by Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina and supported by Congressmen Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Frank Pallone of New Jersey would prevent NOAA from expending funds on the creation of additional Catch Share programs on the east coast.  It would not prevent NOAA from providing funding to existing programs to cover mandated costs such as the cost of paying observers (as much as $75/hour for the entire duration of a trip) and operating computer monitoring systems, etc.

The mayors stated "Before the implementation of the system, elected officials and industry representatives asked NOAA for a reasonable delay on implementation, to allow for time to get it right.   We noted that extraordinarily conservative and scientifically unnecessary low allocations were likely to cause the "sectors" to fail.  We noted that the retention of parts of the old effort control regulations from the previous system was contradictory and incompatible with LAPP or quota systems such as catch shares.  We noted that Magnuson-Stevens requires an industry-wide referendum before LAPP systems are implanted, a requirement which NOAA ignored using legal slight-of hand."

Yesterday, in Federal Court in Boston, attorneys for the Mayors argued a case that accuses the Commerce Department and NOAA of violating the intent of the Magnuson-Stevens act in implementation of the most recent fishing rules in the Northeast.  

Having previously appealed unsucessfully to National Marine Fisheries Service Administrator Eric Schwaab, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Admnistrator Jane Lubchenco, and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the mayors support the effort in Congress to de-fund new programs for the upcoming year in order to force NOAA to slow down implementation in order to get it right.

The text of the joint letter follows:  
 

Dear Senator ______:

As the mayors of the port cities of New Bedford and Gloucester, the number one fishing port and the oldest fishing port in America, we are writing together to urge your support for retaining Amendment No. 548 to H.R. 1 – the Jones Amendment — in any final 2011 budget legislation. This bipartisan amendment, authored by Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina and supported by Congressmen Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Frank Pallone of New Jersey, is a vital move needed to support fishing industry jobs and families that are the backbone of the nation's coastal communities.

The amendment would prevent the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) from expending funds to create new regulatory systems under its highly-controversial National Catch Share Program, a regime that has created regulations that are crippling the livelihoods of ground fisherman in the South Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, New England and Gulf of Mexico.

Of the 500 groundfishing vessels in Massachusetts only 253 were active in the first five months of 2010.  Vessels formerly in operation are now sitting at the dock. The loss of jobs in our region has been devastating to local economies.  The implementation of Amendment16 has done nothing to slow the deterioration of New England's fishing ports; on the contrary it has accelerated consolidation. As of December, the economic pressure to consolidate operations deriving from per-boat fishing limits resulted in 55 of the 247 boats fishing in New England earning 61 percent of sector revenue. The remaining 192 earned only 39 percent.

The term "Catch Shares" has no consistent meaning, but rather is used to describe different systems in various fisheries across geographic regions of the nation.  In fact, the term does not exist in law.  It was originally promoted by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and describes many versions of Limited Access Privilege Permit (LAPP) systems.  NOAA refers to Catch Shares as merely one "tool" available to fisheries regulators.

For some fisheries in some geographic areas, some forms of Catch Shares have been successful.  But as EDF, the chief proponent of Catch Shares in the United States, notes Catch Share systems must be well designed.   Unfortunately, in a rush to urge – even force – fisheries regulators to adopt this "tool", ill-conceived and poorly designed versions of Catch Shares are being implemented prematurely.

The bipartisan House vote is a sign of the increasing opposition to failed, fiscally unsound programs that have already put thousands of fishermen out of work. With the Obama administration planning to spend $54 million next year to further ramp up these regulations on a highly questionable scientific basis — and one that that makes industrialized fishing operations win out over the small family-owned businesses that are the economic and social heart of our communities — the economic costs are too high.

Introduced in May 2010, the "sector" version of Catch Shares forced Northeast boat operators and groundfishing operations into costly and complex management cooperatives that are destroying an otherwise viable historic industry.  The system is failing to implement the law and intent of Magnuson-Stevens, which is the balancing resource conservation with community needs. Fishing interests from Maine to North Carolina – including both of our cities – are currently involved in a federal lawsuit to force NOAA to correct these problems and to change its methods of operation.

Before the implementation of the system, elected officials and industry representatives asked NOAA for a reasonable delay on implementation, to allow for time to get it right.   We noted that extraordinarily conservative and scientifically unnecessary low allocations were likely to cause the "sectors" to fail.  We noted that the retention of parts of the old effort control regulations from the previous system was contradictory and incompatible with LAPP or quota systems such as catch shares.  We noted that Magnuson-Stevens requires an industry-wide referendum before LAPP systems are implanted, a requirement which NOAA ignored using legal slight-of hand.

Despite the sustained efforts of local fishing communities, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, as well as Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate, NOAA has refused to use their power under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to allow for the increased, yet scientifically sound, fishing quotas that might allow the program to work. This has left many small fishermen with little choice than to sell their allocation to large entities and close.

As Governor Patrick noted in his November plea to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke for regulatory relief, the Division of Marine Fisheries and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found that an additional 14,500 metric tons of fish caught in East Coast waters can be brought to market with no negative impact on species sustainability.    

Please join the bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers who have urged the unresponsive Commerce Department to consider alternatives to this terribly flawed, economically and scientifically unsound regulatory scheme by supporting its defunding.     

Thank you for your time and consideration of the hard working people and families of our communities.

 

Scott Lang                                                                  Carolyn A. Kirk

Mayor                                                                         Mayor

New Bedford, Massachusetts                                    Gloucester, Massachusetts

 

 

 

View a PDF with images of all 100 letters