Senator Snowe released the following statement: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Recognizing the ongoing plight of the New England groundfishing industry, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Ranking Member on the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard today, in a letter, urged Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to exercise his authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) and implement emergency regulations to increase the 2010 annual catch limits (ACL) for fish stocks in the New England multispecies fishery, also known as the groundfishery. On May 1, 2010, the groundfishery will begin operating under a management structure knows as “sectors” and will be forced to adhere to catch limits for some species that have been reduced by as much as 75 percent from 2009 levels. Senator Snowe drafted the letter with Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), and they were joined in this request by 21 of their House and Senate colleagues. “Past regulatory structures have managed this fishery in a way that works for neither the fish nor the fishermen, and without emergency Secretarial action, we will doom sector management to the same failure,” said Senator Snowe. “Many of the annual catch limits the agency has imposed for 2010 are based on science that is imply insufficient to provide a valid population estimate, yet they will unquestionably lead to a premature closure of this fishery and an economic disaster for our coastal communities. The 2010 ACL of pollock, for example, is just one quarter of the 2009 catch limit, and some fishermen have reported that the amount of pollock they caught in a single tow last year would exhaust their share of the species, shutting them out of the fishery for the rest of the season. We cannot ask our fishermen to operate in an environment where the first tow they make could literally be their last.” Section 305(c) of the Magnuson Stevens Act as last amended in 2006 gives the Secretary of Commerce the authority to promulgate emergency interim measures if he finds that an emergency exists. The letter makes the case that the drastic cuts to ACLs for 2010 constitute such an emergency. “This Administration has made a concerted push for more catch share systems, like sector management. As one of the first such systems to go into effect since the issuance of NOAA’s draft catch share policy, I’m sure the agency agrees with my desire to see sector management succeed,” added Senator Snowe. “Therefore I hope the Secretary will give this request serious consideration and come up with concrete solutions that will pave the way for a smooth transition to this new system and a sustainable future for the fishery.” The entire Senate delegations from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York joined Senator Snowe and Rep. Frank in sending the letter today, along with 13 U.S. Representatives. The signatories were: Senators Olympia Snowe (R, Maine), Susan Collins (R, Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D, NH), Judd Gregg (R, NH), John Kerry (D, MA), Scott Brown (R, MA), Jack Reed (D, RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D, RI), Chuck Schumer (D, NY), and Kristen Gillibrand (D, NY); and Representatives Barney Frank (D, MA), John Tierney (D, MA), Chellie Pingree (D, ME), Michael Capuano (D, MA), Jim Langevin (D, RI), Joe Courtney (D, CT), Timothy Bishop (D, NY), Peter King (R, NY), James McGovern (D, MA), Patrick Kennedy (D, RI), Carol Shea-Porter (D, NH), and Paul Hodes (D, NH).
