February 24, 2010: Congressman Barney Frank, D-MA, who represents the Port of New Bedford, addresses assembled fisherman at the United We Fish rally in Washington, DC. The rally is intended to express support for revisiting the Magnuson-Stevens Act to foster greater flexibility. This bill, introduced by Congressman Frank Pallone and supported by Barney Frank and many others, is the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 (HR 1584).
[click here to listen now]
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Barney Frank told a rally of several hundred fishermen in Washington today, including a number from New Bedford, that their advocacy was an important step in rewriting unfair provisions of the Magnuson Act which affect the fishing industry.
“I appreciate the effort here, I am encouraged by it. We’re going to fix that law,” Frank told a cheering crowd.
“I have a sharp disagreement with regulators who think they have to tell fishermen how important it is to have fish ten years from now. Fishermen have more of an interest and more of an understanding of keeping the fish around than the people who are regulating them. It’s absolutely backwards.”
Frank told the fishermen that regulators have been too hard on the fishing industry. “I wish, because I am on the Financial Services Committee, that the federal government had treated some of the people in the financial industry as harshly as the NMFS [the National Marine Fisheries Service] has treated fisherman. They got it backwards. They have it absolutely backwards.”
Frank also stated that current policies which increase costs to fishermen could have unintended impacts on millions of Americans. “One of things that we are told is that we should combat obsesity and promote healthy eating,” he said. “Making it more expensive for people to catch and bring in fish you undercut efforts to promote healthier eating habits.”
In 2006, when the Magnuson Act was in the process of being re-enacted, Frank had fought for changes to mitigate its effects on the fishing industry. When his efforts to increase flexibility were defeated he voted against the bill. Since then, Frank has been working to amend the law closely with a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress who represent fishing ports.
Frank and his colleagues have achieved some success in getting the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) to recognize that the regulations had gone too far and were hurting the industry without a good environmental reason.
Because of the importance of this issue, Frank recently postponed an important national hearing on the future of housing finance set for March 2nd so he can attend a meeting that morning in Gloucester about NOAA enforcement of fishing regulations.
In a formal statement Frank made earlier today, he said that “Changes in the law are necessary to provide the kind of flexibility needed to prevent undue economic harm to the fishing industry and the communities where it is located. A rigid ten-year rebuilding of all stocks makes no environmental sense and creates undue economic damage. Revising the Magnuson Act will remain one of my highest legislative priorities.”