Washington

June 26, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: The U.S. Commerce Department today announced the appointment of 22 new and returning members to the eight regional fishery management councils that partner with NOAA’s Fisheries Service to manage ocean fish stocks. The new and reappointed council members begin their three-year terms on August 11. Click here to read the full announcement.

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Michael Ramsingh — June 26, 2014 — Louisiana's Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu has directed $3 million be used to collect anti-dumping duties from overseas seafood seafood exporters, specifically mentioning shrimp and crawfish exporters.

Sen. Landrieu is the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee and is using funds that are part of the Department's  2015 budget.

The directive will require Customs and Border Protection to work with the Commerce, Justice and Treasury departments to increase the collection of anti-dumping and countervailing duty fees from certain seafood exporters.

The Senator said the directive will target shrimp and crawfish meat exports, but will also include other seafood products from overseas suppliers.  Landrieu's announcement was praised by the Southern Shrimp Alliance's Director John Williams.

Back in April key US shrimp suppliers Vietnam, India and Thailand were hit with increased anti-dumping duties during the Commerce Department's eight period of review.  The estimated impact to importers was in the realm of $35 million.

However, previous attempts to levy CVD fines on overseas exporters including India, Thailand and Ecuador were tossed out last September by  the US International Trade Commission.

The following story originally appeared on seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

WASHINGTON — June 26, 2014 — The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it’s can’t find emails from a former biologist who was evaluating the impact of a large gold and copper mine proposed in southwest Alaska.

EPA administrator Gina McCarthy told a House oversight committee that the agency to date has been unable to recover some records the panel is seeking on the Pebble Mine project. The agency notified the National Archives and Records Administration of the missing emails on Tuesday, the same day its chief told Congress that the Internal Revenue Service had violated the law by not reporting a loss of records after an executive’s computer crashed.

“We have notified the appropriate authorities that we may have some emails that we cannot produce that we should have kept,” McCarthy said.

Read the full story from Juneau Empire

SEAFOODNEWS.COM — June 25, 2014 — According to a report on Politico this morning, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich told their reporter he is planning on releasing a second discussion draft of Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization legislation some time this week. He would like to introduce the actual legislation after the July 4th recess. Begich is still seeking more information on changes that might be made. 

Politico says that it’s unclear what the next draft will look like.  However, from other discussions, one of the implications is that different regions may have different priorities, and the bill may attempt to accomodate these regional variations.

Begich was found at an event where both he and Alaska Sen. Murkowski, who was not present, were being honored by Food Policy Action with a 'Golden Apple' award.  Both he and Murkowski were recognized for their leadership against GMO salmon, and advocacy for GMO labeling.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

June 25, 2014 — The federal disaster aid to fishermen and industry stakeholders is in the pipeline, and now much of the industry’s attention — here and across the rest of the coastal United States — has turned to the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that regulates the nation’s fisheries.

With that in mind, U.S. Rep. John Tierney is hosting a special listening session Tuesday in Gloucester on the commercial fishing industry, and he’s bringing with him the ranking member of the House committee with jurisdiction over the reauthorization of Magnuson-Stevens.

Tierney and Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio, the senior Democrat and a ranking member on the House Committee on Natural Resources, are scheduled to meet with commercial fishermen, industry stakeholders and others in Kyrouz Auditorium at City Hall to hear their thoughts and concerns with the current state of the fishery.

The session is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. and run about an hour.

“I continue to work closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on reauthorizing this important law,” Tierney wrote in the invitation that has gone out for the event. “I look forward to hearing your perspective on what a reformed Magnuson-Stevens Act would do for Gloucester and the fisheries of the northeast.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

June 19, 2014 — In Congress today, a bill that would allow foreign students to work in Alaska fish processing plants cleared a major committee. The provision is part of a spending bill now headed to the Senate floor. Both Alaska senators say they pressed for the return of the J-1 visa program to help meet demand for seasonal seafood processors. But the program is controversial.

J-1 visas are intended to promote cultural exchange. As the State Department explains it in promotional materials, it’s all about “hands-on experience to learn about U.S. society and culture.”

But some U.S. employers and overseas recruiters exploited the program, exposing students only to the culture of hard labor, night shifts and squalid housing. After a protest at a Hershey factory in Pennsylvania, the State Department changed the rules in 2012. It barred J-1 students from certain jobs, including seafood processing. The Alaska industry had been hiring several thousand J-1s a year.

Daniel Costa, who researches immigration issues for the Economic Policy Institute, says the processors should not be allowed to employ J-1s again.

“It was being used more as a cheap labor program,” he said.

He says Alaska fish plants aren’t a good place for these students to fulfill the purpose of the visa.

“They’re stuck out in the middle of nowhere, in isolated towns where there aren’t a lot of cultural exchange activities to do,” he said.

The U.S. has another type of visa for temporary workers, the H2B. Costa says fish processors should really hire H2Bs, but then they’d have to run ads announcing the vacancies to locals first, so employers prefer J-1.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at Alaska Public Media

June 18, 2014 — Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced several ocean-related initiatives.

According to a White House fact sheet, the administration’s National Ocean Policy Initiatives include an effort to address pirate fishing, a white paper on ocean acidification, and an aquaculture research plan.

The pirate fishing initiative directs federal agencies to “develop a comprehensive program aimed at deterring illegal fishing, addressing seafood fraud, and preventing illegally caught fish from entering the marketplace by increasing traceability and transparency.”

The details of such a program have yet to be announced, but Sen. Mark Begich praised the focus on pirate fishing.

“Shutting down pirate fishing in Alaska has been a priority for me since I arrived in the Senate,” Begich said in a formal statement. “I helped pass pirate fishing legislation out of the Commerce Committee last year so this is welcome news. As chairman of the Senate Oceans Subcommittee, I know how pirate fishing affects our fishing communities in Alaska. Up to 40 percent of king crab on the market is illegally caught Russian crab, which has cost our fishermen some $600 million since 2000 and cost our communities millions in lost tax revenues. I will continue to use my position to make sure this program succeeds in putting an end to pirate fishing in our coastal communities.”

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

June 17, 2014 — The Senate accepted House changes Tuesday to a bill that requires the administration to report to Congress on the harmful effects too much algae are having on fish.

Through a unanimous consent agreement, the Senate accepted a House amended S. 1254. The House acted on the legislation last week, while the Senate originally passed it in February.

S. 1254, the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act, would require the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to establish a national harmful algal bloom and hypoxia program and report a plan for Congress to address the issue.

Read the full story from The Hill

June 17, 2014 — The following was released by Eileen Sobeck, Head of NOAA Fisheries:

I am pleased to announce that the White Houses' Office of Science and Technology Policy has released its National Strategic Plan for Federal Aquaculture Research which includes a clear role for NOAA in advancing aquaculture research.

This plan also represents an important milestone in efforts to support economically and environmentally sustainable marine aquaculture. Over the past 30 years, we have learned a lot about how to manage aquaculture sustainably.  The practices and technologies available today are significantly improved over what was available during the industry's early years.  As the domestic industry develops further, we will need to continue to make improvements in large part through advances in science and technology development. This research plan provides a road map for NOAA, our federal partners, our academic research partners, and our stakeholders to effectively coordinate, collaborate, and prioritize aquaculture-related research and development activities.

Read the full message from Eileen Sobeck, Head of NOAA Fisheries

June 17, 2014 — The following was released by the office of U.S. Senator Mark Begich:

A leader in the fight against pirate fishing, U.S. Senator Mark Begich today welcomed the administration’s attention to an international problem that undercuts Alaska fishermen and others who play by the rules. Today the White House directed federal agencies to develop a comprehensive program aimed at deterring illegal fishing, addressing seafood fraud, and preventing illegally caught fish from entering the marketplace.
 
“Shutting down pirate fishing in Alaska has been a priority for me since I arrived in the Senate,” Begich said.  “I helped pass pirate fishing legislation out of the Commerce Committee last year so this is welcome news. As chairman of the Senate Oceans Subcommittee, I know how pirate fishing affects our fishing communities in Alaska.  Up to 40 percent of king crab on the market is illegally caught Russian crab, which has cost our fishermen some $600 million since 2000 and cost our communities millions in lost tax revenues.  I will continue to use my position to make sure this program succeeds in putting an end to pirate fishing in our coastal communities.”
 
Pirate fishing constitutes up to 20 percent of the wild marine fish caught each year around the world, and drains up to $23 billion from legitimate fishing enterprises. The program will be an important step in ending illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, building the market for legally and sustainably caught seafood, and supporting the men and women of the fishing industry.
 
Begich sponsored two bills that passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee last year to protect Alaska fishermen from the harmful economic effects of illegal pirate fishing.  The Pirate Fishing Vessels Elimination Act would deny entry into U.S. ports vessels that are known to engage in pirate fishing and improve cooperation with other nations to identify pirate fishing vessels and prevent them from entering ports.  His second bill, the International Fisheries Stewardship and Enforcement Act, gives the Coast Guard additional authority to prosecute pirate fishing.  Begich also sponsored the Safety And Fraud Enforcement for Seafood Act to improve interagency cooperation on seafood safety and fraud prevention.
 
Begich recently supported four treaties ratified by the Senate to address these and other issues affecting fisheries at home and abroad.  They include an agreement on Port State Measures that strengthens inspections and enforcement of seafood imports and the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Resources in the North Pacific.
 
Also, today the administration announced it would immediately consider how to expand protections near the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in the south-central Pacific Ocean.
 
“While I appreciate the need to protect remote Pacific islands and their resources, Alaskans have serious concerns over unilateral withdrawals and I want to make sure that local residents and leaders were involved in the process,” said Begich. “These issues are best worked out in public.  Our own North Pacific Fishery Management Council has taken numerous steps over the years to set aside critical habitat, restricted areas to certain gear types, even completely areas closed to fishing such as the Arctic. Their open, public process works – it recognizes the jobs and economic gains that come from Alaska’s oceans, and in my book is preferable to executive action.”
 
The official name of Begich’s committee is the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard.
 
For more information on Begich’s work on oceans and fisheries visit his Senate website here.