In Congress Overview intro text.
Frank to hold fishing meeting in D.C.
NEW BEDFORD, MA (December 4, 2008) – Representatives of the city’s groundfishing industry are headed to Washington, D.C., to speak with federal regulators about fishing policy concerns raised during a May summit in New Bedford.
Topping the agenda are three key concerns: how to maximize the harvest of healthy fish stocks; how to reduce bycatch, or fish caught unintentionally and thrown overboard (usually dead or dying) due to regulatory limits; and how to manage large swaths of ocean that have been closed to fishing for years.
Read the Standard-Times story in full
Senator Snowe: Maine’s fishermen in trouble
Maine’s groundfishing industry could be regulated "out of existence" if federal regulators aren’t careful, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, warned yesterday at a field meeting in Portland.
Snowe’s comment was in response to a plan proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service to temporarily reduce the number of days New England’s groundfishing fleet is allowed at sea from around 48 to 40, or by 18%, to rebuild depleted fish stocks. Snowe held a meeting of the Senate’s subcommittee on Oceans, Atmospheres, Fisheries and the Coast Guard in Portland yesterday to listen to the public’s opinions on the cuts proposed for 2009. In 1990, Maine had about 350 groundfishing boats that worked about 116 days a year, but only 75 or so operate today, according to a press release from Snowe’s office.
Read the MainBiz Online story in full
Testimony: Maine’s Groundfish Industry Could Collapse
PORTLAND, Maine (October 14, 2008) — At its current pace, Maine’s groundfish industry is on the verge of collapse, according to testimony from the Maine fishing industry.
Industry members testified at a hearing Tuesday chaired by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, D-Maine, that most fishermen fear new proposed regulations will mean even fewer boats along the Maine coast.
Read the WMTW-TV story in full
Snowe: Further fishing cuts catastrophic
PORTLAND, Maine (October 15, 2008) — Sen. Olympia Snowe says plans to cut the number of days that groundfishing boats are permitted to spend at sea next year "would be a death knell" for New England’s fishing industry.
"The horizon before us is ominous," the Maine Republican warned Tuesday at a field hearing before the Senate subcommittee on oceans, atmospheres, fisheries and the Coast Guard.
Read the Associated Press story in full
Sen. Snowe Says Federal Plans “Would Be a Death Knell”
PORTLAND, Maine (October 17, 2008) — U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe says plans to cut the number of days that groundfishing boats are permitted to spend at sea next year "would be a death knell" for New England’s fishing industry.
"The horizon before us is ominous," the Maine Republican warned Tuesday at a field hearing before the Senate subcommittee on oceans, atmospheres, fisheries and the Coast Guard.
Boats already are restricted to 48 days of fishing a year in order to help rebuild depleted fish stocks, and Snowe said rules that could bring additional cuts might "regulate our nation’s first fishery out of existence."
Read the Associated Press story in full
Kerry & Kennedy introduce legislation to permanently ban drilling in Georges Bank
BOSTON, MA (September 25, 2008) – Senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy today introduced legislation to permanently ban drilling in Georges Bank, one of the most prolific fishing grounds in the Atlantic.
Under pressure from President Bush, who lifted the Presidential moratorium on offshore drilling earlier this year, the longstanding Congressional ban on offshore drilling will expire next Tuesday and all coastal waters three miles off the Massachusetts coastline – including Georges Bank – will be open to oil exploration.
"Fishing has been a way of life in Massachusetts for as long as our state has been in existence. Georges Bank is one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, and it is unconscionable to risk it all for the slim possibility of extracting a minuscule amount of oil and gas. Senator Kennedy and I, along with our colleagues in the House, will do everything we can to ensure no drilling occurs in Georges Bank now – or ever," said Senator Kerry.
Read the legislative announcement in full
Snowe calls for investigation of Northeast Fisheries Science Center to verify NMFS fish stock data accuracy
WASHINGTON, DC (August 28, 2008) – In response to recent complaints by local fishermen questioning the veracity of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s (NFSC) stock assessment data, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmospheres, Fisheries, and Coast Guard U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) sent a letter today, cosigned by Senator Collins, Senator Kerry, and Senator Kennedy, to U.S. Department of Commerce Inspector General Todd J. Zinser requesting an independent investigation to evaluate the Center’s scientific process as it relates to groundfish and to all of the fish stocks it analyzes.
Read the official letter in full