Senator John Kerry, Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney are commended by SMAST's Dr. Brian Rothschild for their longstanding work for the industry. And Senator Scott Brown is applauded for joining them to form a bipartisan group of hard-working legislators.
Kudos to the Standard-Times for the increased, and well-researched, coverage of issues facing the commercial fishing industry.
I read with great interest your recent editorial "Brown shows real leadership on fisheries" (Our View, June 23). The editorial succinctly listed the many concerns still outstanding despite dogged advocacy by the elected leadership of New Bedford, America's economically most valuable fishing port.
I appreciate that the paper noted my earlier praise for our elected officials. Since space constraints in a brief editorial require that long comments must be paraphrased, I wanted to elaborate on a few points.
As the Standard-Times accurately noted, the actions of many unelected officials in both leadership and rank-and-file positions of NOAA have unnecessarily caused pain and problems for our fishing families. Elected officials from coastal communities around the nation have fought diligently — across state lines and partisan divides — against these policies, officials and employees. In the very recent past, we have finally begun to see long-needed changes in management and enforcement. The same is beginning to take place in science.
In New Bedford, specifically, and in Massachusetts, more generally, we've had the good fortune of being represented by some of the most proactive elected officials. New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang and Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk advocate for fisheries non-stop both at home and in Washington. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, and Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown all have outstanding staff members dedicated to fisheries issues. The value of knowledgeable and quality staff cannot be overstated.
Action by state legislators from New Bedford to Gloucester initially petitioned Sens. John Kerry and Edward Kennedy and Reps. Frank, John Tierney and William Delahunt leading to those members taking the bold step of asking that the inspector general investigate the allegations of excessive fines and retaliatory actions by the Office of Law Enforcement.
Despite having supported the appointment of Dr. Jane Lubchenco to the position of NOAA Administrator, Sen. Kerry has called her to task when her agency has failed to take action for fishermen. And when the agency initially refused to reopen cases of fishermen who had been abused by enforcement, Sen. Kerry went directly to the Secretary of Commerce and had NOAA's position overturned.
Sen. Kerry, the late Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Frank secured millions of dollars in vital funding for University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's School for Marine Science and Technology. In the 1990s, poor scientific data and understanding of the scallop fishery almost led to a collapse of that fishery. It was not until the SMAST, at the request of fishermen, embarked on a scientific study of Atlantic scallops utilizing groundbreaking underwater camera technology that confirmed that scallops had recovered and were in fact abundant.
Sen.s Kerry and Kennedy, along with Rep. Frank, have funded SMAST through direct appropriations for many years to further enhance the study of scallops, groundfish and other fish species. This research has paid for itself many times over by providing improved science that has resulted in higher stock assessments, which has allowed an increase in allowable catch and had a direct impact on the local economy. Unfortunately, despite the impressive research conducted by the university, SMAST has become a victim of the congressional earmark ban. This loss of appropriated funding has resulted in the loss of young instructors who were educated at SMAST with the help of this money and threatens important marine programs offered through the university.
Continuing funding for the university is a priority for the industry. I know from years of experience that we can continue to count on Rep. Frank to support funding in the House of Representatives (where, constitutionally, spending bills must originate), and on Sen. Kerry to support that funding in the Senate.
The loss of Sen. Kennedy's leadership on fisheries concerned everyone in the industry. It did not take long for us to realize that Sen. Brown intended to follow in Sen. Kennedy's footsteps and be a strong voice and leader for Massachusetts' fishing interests. When the Commerce Secretary failed to declare the northeast fisheries an economic disaster, Sen. Brown was first to join Rep. Frank in denouncing this action, and later, Sen. Kerry took the region's concerns directly to the secretary.
Sen. Brown's recent demonstration of his willingness to use his position as the ranking member of the Financial Management subcommittee to exert oversight into NOAA's use of funds is appropriate and commendable.
Sen. Kerry's commitment to use his position on the Oceans subcommittee to ask hard questions about NOAA's fisheries policies is crucial to our future.
And Rep. Frank's leadership together with Rep. Tierney to ask our senators to raise fishery-specific questions of the administration's Commerce Secretary nominee John Bryson is exactly the kind of proactive representation we need.
We are fortunate to be represented by a bipartisan group of hard-working legislators.
Read this opinion piece from The Standard-Times.