Washington

WASHINGTON – March 21, 2012 – Upon landing in Washington for "Keep Fishermen Fishing" rally, Mayors Jon Mitchell of New Bedford and Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester, Dr. Brian Rothschild of the University of Massachusetts, David Bergeron of the Gloucester Fisheries Commission, and one of the rally organizers, Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishermen's Association, joined us from Reagan Airport just outside of DC. Listen to the show here.

A discussion on the importance of the U.S. seafood industry to our economy.

March 22, 2012 – Washington, D.C. ‐ In a historic effort to sustain and grow jobs in the U.S. seafood industry, the National Seafood Marketing Coalition is pleased to have been asked to brief the U.S. Senate Oceans Caucus on seafood jobs in America and the importance of the U.S. seafood industry to our national and regional economies. The briefing will be held in Washington D.C. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 366 on Thursday, March 29, 2012, from 3:00pm to 4:30pm.

The director of the National Seafood Marketing Coalition, Bruce Schactler, will lead a panel of economists and representatives from the seafood industry encompassing most of the nation’s major fishing regions. The discussion will highlight the contribution of jobs and economic value from seafood nationwide, the effect of global market competition to the industry, and opportunity and challenges the seafood industry faces in increasing U.S. seafood jobs and value.

Other panelists will include Phil Lansing (Analytical Consulting, Seafood Economist), Dr. David Veal (Executive Director of American Shrimp Processor's Assoc.), Natalie Webster (Director of American Albacore Fishing Association and U.S. Pole & Troll Albacore Fishery), Jack Brooks (President of J M Clayton Co.), and Dane Sommers (Executive Director of the Maine Lobster Council).

The support for the efforts of the National Seafood Marketing Coalition has grown to encompass seventy‐five (75) organizations, including industry organizations from across the Gulf of Mexico, up and down the East and West Coasts, Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. aquaculture industry, and five (5) state Legislatures (Maine, Rhode Island, Florida, Louisiana, and Alaska).

This event is open to the public. The National Seafood Marketing Coalition urges its supporters to attend and contact their Senators and staff to request their attendance as well. Encouragement from constituents is always very powerful.

For more details regarding the U.S. Senate Oceans Caucus event, “Seafood Jobs in America”, contact Bruce Schactler at (907)‐738‐6451 or bschactler@ak.net .

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON — March 23, 2012 – New York Sen. Charles Schumer has pledged an all-out effort to get a hearing "this year" for his legislation make clear to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that rebuilding overfished stocks need not be forced into the 10-year window mandated by Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Schumer's pledge implicitly calls out Sen. John Kerry to make good on his support for the concept of flexibility.

The first speaker at Wednesday's "Keep Fishermen Fishing" rally, which drew 21 members of Congress in a bipartisan alliance that virtually as one called for adding "flexibility" to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, Schumer set the urgent tone and business-like theme of the rally event with his blunt and reasonable goal — to "begin hearings on Magnuson reform this year."

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 23, 2012 – This week Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) spoke to a crowd of roughly 2,000 fishermen from across the country at the “Keep Fishermen Fishing” rally.  The commercial and recreational fishermen gathered next to the U.S. Capitol to support fisheries management reform.  The demonstration emphasized the need for a variety of changes in federal fishing law, with particular emphasis on rebuilding flexibility, blocking new catch share programs and greater transparency and accountability at NOAA Fisheries and the Regional Fishery Management Councils.

“Fisheries reform cannot wait,” said Jones.  “Fishermen in North Carolina and across this nation our struggling mightily because the government is unnecessarily regulating them to the brink of bankruptcy.  At a time of persistently high unemployment, that’s just unacceptable.  Congress has got to step up to the plate and change the law to provide a statutory framework that will yield both healthy fish stocks and healthy fishing communities.”

Jones was among several legislators who gave remarks at the rally, including: Senators Charles Schumer (NY) and John Kerry (MA) and Representatives Sandy Adams (FL), Gus Bilirakis (FL), Alan West (FL), Barney Frank (MA), John Tierney (MA), Tim Scott (SC), Steve Southerland (FL), David Rivera (FL), Frank LoBiondo (NJ), John Runyan (NJ), Bill Keating (MA).  Jones also spoke individually with fishermen from Dare and Carteret Counties before and after his remarks at the rally.

Congressman Jones has been a national leader in fighting for reform of America’s fishing laws.  He was the original author of legislative language to provide flexibility in rebuilding fish stocks.  He was also the leader of a successful effort in 2011 to block funding for new catch programs on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.  And he helped lead the push that resulted in the Inspector General investigation into NOAA Fisheries’ overzealous law enforcement tactics.

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At Wednesday's "Keep Fishermen Fishing Rally" on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA) offered Rally attendees comments on the current status of federal fisheries management.

The Congressman specifically endorsed a "common sense" approach to fisheries management, including a departure from the current ten year rebuilding timeline mandated under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Urging attendees to leverage their concerns for fisheries management in upcoming elections, Frank assured the crowd at Upper Senate Park of their ability to mobilize reforms to the Magnuson Act by tailoring their support for future candidates based on each candidate's stance on fisheries management reform.  

Watch Congressman Frank's speech.            

 

 

 

 

Senator Susan Collins of Maine has joined the chorus of lawmakers asking questions about NOAA Law Enforcement's use of the Asset Forfeiture Fund.  Senator Collins has written to Commerce Secretary John Bryson asking about "the accountability and integrity of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) in the oversight and use of funds derived from the Asset Forfeiture Fund."

The Honorable John Bryson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20230
 
March 22, 2012
 
 
Dear Secretary Bryson:
 
            I am concerned regarding the accountability and integrity of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) in the oversight and use of funds derived from the Asset Forfeiture Fund.  Over a period of several years, reports from the Department’s Inspector General, whistleblowers, and the media have surfaced regarding:
 
    • Unjustified and questionable charges filed against the fishing industry and the resulting fines which contribute to the fund;
    • Duplicative, undocumented and sometimes unexplained uses of money from the fund;
    • A $300,000 luxury boat—solely purchased with funding from the Asset Forfeiture Fund—supposedly to be used for undercover patrols but ultimately used as a personal pleasure craft for a senior OLE manager;
    • The use of resources from the fund for questionable travel; and
    • An apparent lack of disciplinary action against NOAA officials involved in wrongdoing documented by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
          
            Several of my colleagues, including Senators Scott Brown and Tom Carper, have experienced considerable difficulties getting answers from NOAA regarding the management of the Asset Forfeiture Fund, the integrity and accountability of those managing the fund, the disposition of the $300,000 luxury boat and what, if any, disciplinary actions have been taken against employees found culpable in the misuse of the fund.
 
            For example, a July 2011 OIG investigative report documents how the OLE senior manager who purchased the $300,000 boat not only “violated agency policy and ethical standards” but misled the OIG investigators by making assertions that “lack[ed] validity and candor” and were “not true.”  On February 17, 2012, a NOAA spokesman was quoted by the Associated Press claiming “appropriate action has or will be taken against the employees involved.”  At a March 7, 2012 hearing, Undersecretary Jane Lubchenco assured Congress that she “took immediate action.”  Despite these assurances, the Department has provided no documented evidence that disciplinary action has actually taken place, despite requests from the OIG and Congress.
 
            This is not the first time there has been a documented instance of abusive conduct on the part of senior OLE officials.  For example, according to an April 2010 report from the OIG to Under Secretary Lubchenco, the now former OLE Director, Dale Jones, held a “shredding party” during an investigation of the OLE by the Inspector General.  The OIG found that Mr. Jones accomplished this by using a “truck from a mobile document destruction company….and spent an hour shredding multiple large bags of documents on the street outside OLE headquarters.”
 
            These are serious issues that Congress has a duty to investigate and ensure are brought to appropriate resolution.   NOAA officials have failed to provide answers to Congress, often citing Privacy Act restrictions that may bar public disclosure of certain aspects of these cases.  NOAA officials’ use of the Privacy Act as a sword to protect its reputation rather than as a shield, as Congress intended, to protect the privacy rights of private citizens is unacceptable.

Read the letter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON —March 22, 2012 —  Hundreds of fishermen converged on Capitol Hill Wednesday, fewer than for the first “United We Fish” rally in 2010, but this time more elected officials came to speak — a sign the industry is successfully pushing the often-arcane debates of fishery management into the political mainstream.

The rally was held to ask Congress to ease rules on the length of fishing seasons and sizes of catches, which the fishermen say make it harder for them to make a living.
Most of all, activists want a change in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to end the congressional mandate that fish stocks must be rebuilt within 10 years.

Political pressure from New Jersey has led to one exception so far — a three-year extension for the summer flounder restoration program.

Environmental groups adamantly oppose easing the deadline, warning that would return fisheries to days when economic interests routinely trumped scientists’ recommendations to reduce catches.

Bogan said those three years gave an industry group — the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund — time to engage an independent fisheries scientist whose work led to federal officials raising their estimate of the stock size.

That was followed up by the summer flounder themselves, with “the biggest (spawning season) ever counted,” Bogan said. “Now they hold it up as a poster child for staying the course, and not changing Magnuson.”

WASHINGTON — March 22, 2012 — There were more people at the fishermen's rally here two years ago — perhaps twice as many as the 2,000 or so solid souls who made it to the Capitol.

Vito Giacalone, the Gloucester-based industry leader and fisherman who serves as policy director with the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said many fishermen were working in the unseasonably inviting weather.

But while they were fewer in number, those who took in the "Keep Fishermen Fishing" event were stronger in passion, volume and anger.

"This is about getting NOAA out of your boat and out of your baitbox," Congressman Frank Lobiondo, a New Jersey Democrat, told a crowd that came from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Maryland, Georgia, Alaska, California, Oregon and maybe more.

Some of the states had particular grievances, with the mix of recreational and commercial fishing interests morphing into unique mixes port to port, region to region, all with special needs.

Some protesters were mad at the proposals to fix the mess, mad at their colleagues for not fighting as hard as they might, mad at those who didn't show.

"This is about freedom," shouted Congressman Allen West, a Florida Democrat with a gospel preacher's voice. "Fishing law has been hijacked by extreme environmentalists."

The crowd roared.

The enthusiasm peaked with Gloucester's state Sen. Bruce Tarr recounting how his former colleague and now U.S. Sen. Scott Brown had "asked for Dr. Lubchenco to be removed."

Then Sen. Brown got up and did it all over again, reprising his now famous question. "What does it take to get fired at NOAA?" he asked as the fishermen chanted "No more Jane."

Retiring Congressman Barney Frank began reasoning that all voters should insist that their candidates vote "to get rid of the 10-year period" now imposed to fully restore overfished stocks. It is that deadline that pushed the catch share system championed by NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco.

"So when we come back next year it will be to celebrate, not to agitate," Frank said to a round of cheers. "How fast fish have sex is not a great environmental issue."

Read the complete story in the Gloucester Daily Times

WASHINGTON – March 22, 2012 – Around 1,000 commercial and recreational fishermen from around the country gathered near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to call attention to the regulatory difficulties facing the fishing industry on the East and West coasts.

The rally, billed as Keep Fishermen Fishing, was organized to seek reforms to the Magnuson Stevens Act, the law that governs fishing in federal waters.

Fishermen and industry groups have long complained that inflexible and onerous regulations are hampering their ability to fish and forcing some independent fishermen to abandon their traditional way of life.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell was among those who spoke at the rally. "There was a great show of support from the fishing community and a big turnout from Congress," he said. Several senators and around a dozen House members spoke at the gathering, according to the mayor, including a large New England delegation that included Massachusetts Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown and Reps. Barney Frank, John Tierney and Bill Keating.

Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, running against Keating for Congress in the 9th District, also spoke.

Dr. Brian Rothschild from the School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth, also addressed the rally and said later that its achievement had been "to provide the politicians with ammunition."

Fishermen in the Northeast are now harvesting only a fraction of their allowable catch, he said, due to ineffective fishery management. In 2010, only 32,000 metric tons were landed in New England from a catch limit set at 95,000 metric tons, according to Rothschild. "That's a $200 million shortfall and thousands of jobs," he said.

The theme that emerged among the many speakers at the rally was strong congressional support for introducing more flexibility to the regulations, Rothschild said.

"NOAA needs to do a better job, think things through and be held accountable," he said.

Richie Canastra, co-owner of the Buyers and Sellers Exchange seafood auction in New Bedford also joined the rally, which mirrored a similar demonstration two years ago on the same spot.

"There were less fishermen but more members of Congress speaking than two years ago," he said. "I think we have their attention. Now let's see if they can get things done."

Various environmental groups issued statements opposing the rally's aims. The Pew Environment Group said in a press release that the reforms being proposed "would derail years of hard work to end overfishing and rebuild depleted U.S. ocean fish populations."

 

Read the story in the Standard-Times

WASHINGTON — March 21, 2012 – Fishermen from across the United States descended upon Capitol Hill Wednesday to voice their displeasure with a federal bureaucracy they believe is regulating them out of business.

Politicians from both sides of the political aisle and both houses of Congress joined a crowd of several hundred current and former fishermen, along with industry advocates, in lambasting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its director, Jane Lubchenco.

One small boy wore a sign around his neck reading, “NOAA, Jesus was a fisherman. Why can’t I be?” Others waved signs declaring, “Show Me The Science” and “Let Fishermen Fish.”

Read the complete story from Seacoast Online.