WASHINGTON – November 26th, 2010 – Congressman Frank responded to a statement made by NOAA Chief Jane Lubchenco in which she said that the US government supports cuts in the commercial fishing quota for bluefin tuna in both the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Lubchenco expressed this position at a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the international body that sets catch limits on bluefin tuna. “I am very disappointed that Dr. Lubchenco has decided to unnecessarily punish the American Tuna fishing industry by advocating for cuts in the European and American tuna fishery” said Congressman Frank. “For many years now, US tuna fisherman have been fishing with strict catch limits, while their European counterparts have fished tuna with very few restrictions.”
Congressman Frank went on to say “the US has already done more than its part to address conservation — now Europe must limit their catch of bluefin tuna. Our government should be supporting US fisherman during these negotiations, but instead Dr. Lubchenco has stated that the European and the US tuna fishery should adopt further catch restricts. This stance by the administration fails to recognize the difficult restrictions that have already been adopted by the United States. Thus, NOAA is essentially punishing American fisherman for their previous conservation efforts. I strongly disagree with the Administration's position, and I ask them to insist that Europe increase their conservation efforts in line with our US fleet and that no further restricts be placed on US fisherman who have sacrificed so much to restore this resource.”