Saving Seafood

King, Pingree Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Support Fishing Communities

April 1, 2025 — The following was released by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree:

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) today introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to expand financial support for fishing communities in Maine and across the country. The Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act wouldallow businesses that provide direct assistance to fishing operations—like gear producers or cold storage—to access loans from the Farm Credit System (FCS) that are already offered to service providers for farmers, ranchers and loggers. The FCS is a network of lending institutions that provides credit to the agriculture industry

Joining King and Pingree in leading the introduction are Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA).

“Maine’s fishing industry is more than just the hardworking folks who catch and harvest our delicious seafood, it is also hundreds of small family businesses that make gear, build and maintain fish freezers, and distribute the state’s iconic produce,” said Senator King. “The Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act would allow fishing-support businesses to access the loans of the Farm Credit System like similar small businesses working with livestock and crop farmers. These reliable loans unlock rural economies, and help businesses invest in new expansions. Opening this program to the men and women who put fish on grocery shelves and kitchen plates is a smart way to help them hire more workers, and modernize operations to meet the demands of the 21st century economy.”

“Fisheries are not only the backbone of Maine’s coastal communities and economy, they are a living, breathing ecosystem of interconnected businesses and generational knowledge—one that too often falls through the cracks of traditional credit systems,” said Congresswoman Pingree, a member of the House Agriculture Committee. “Our coastal communities need strategic, pragmatic policy solutions that acknowledge their economic realities. This bill does precisely that: creating a fair lending environment that mirrors the support we’ve long provided to agricultural sectors. It’s about economic resilience and honoring the profound maritime heritage that defines regions like coastal Maine.”

“Our fishermen share the same mission as the American agriculture industry: to strengthen national food security with locally sourced, high-quality foods while building our economies,“ said Senator Murkowski. “Whether it’s the Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act or amending the Farm Bill, I am actively working to ensure that Alaska’s fishermen and the businesses they rely on can access the same resources available to American farmers and ranchers.”

“Louisiana is home to a strong generational seafood industry, and our fishermen deserve a level playing field,” said Congressman Higgins. “Our legislation provides greater parity for America’s seafood producers and the supporting industries. We are working to provide the same financial opportunities and loan access that other agricultural commodities are entitled to.”

“The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) supports legislation that would allow Farm Credit institutions to lend to fishing-related businesses in the same way they lend to farm-related businesses. This change will increase the options for and availability of credit to businesses supporting the fishing industry in Maine and other coastal states,” said Patrice McCarron, Executive Director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “The economies of Maine’s coastal communities center around commercial fishing and the businesses that support the fishing industry in the same way that many rural communities revolve around farming and businesses supporting farming. Fishing-related businesses deserve the same access to competitive financing.”

“Representatives Pingree and Higgins are strong advocates for U.S. fishermen, and we appreciate their leadership in introducing the Fishing Industry Credit Enhancement Act. Supporting rural communities is a vital piece of Farm Credit’s mission, and this bill will provide more financing options for our rural coastal communities,” said Farm Credit Council President and CEO Christy Seyfert. “Businesses providing services directly to the commercial fishing operators are impacted by same the pressures as the U.S. fishing industry. These businesses need access to competitive financing to maintain service to the U.S. fishing industry. We look forward to working with Reps. Higgins and Pingree include this commonsense legislation in the upcoming Farm Bill.”

The FCS was founded in Congress in 1916 to help farmers who historically struggled to access reliable credit and has since provided almost a million loans totaling more than $373 billion to farmers, ranchers, fishermen, aquatic producers, and more. Borrowers must meet eligibility and creditworthiness requirements. It currently provides more than one-third of the credit used by those who live and work in rural America.

Legislation seeks $500M to protect working waterfronts

March 8, 2025 — Lawmakers have introduced bipartisan legislation to safeguard and strengthen working waterfronts by creating a $500 million grant program and preservation loan fund over five years to provide funding options for coastal communities and establish a Working Waterfronts Task Force in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act, introduced by Rep. Wittman, R-Va., and Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, aims to support coastal communities by ensuring access to working waterfronts for commercial fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries.

“Deteriorating waterfronts don’t just weaken our economy—they erode the heart of our communities, especially in Virginia’s First District,” Wittman said in a statement.

He continued, “Working waterfronts support businesses, provide access to water, drive economic vitality, and enhance our quality of life. Yet, rising pressure from population growth and development threatens to displace Virginia’s water-dependent industries and the families who have deep cultural and historical ties to these areas.”

Read the full article at The Center Square

Pingree, Wittman Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Preserve Working Waterfronts

December 7, 2023 — The following was released by the office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree:

U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.) today reintroduced the bipartisan Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act, legislation to preserve America’s working waterfronts by creating a grant program and preservation loan fund to provide funding options for waterfront preservation and improvement projects. The bill would also establish a Working Waterfronts Task Force at the Department of Commerce. These resources would support coastal communities grappling with the climate crisis and preserve the character of coastal communities by protecting jobs, commercial activities, and public access to America’s coast. The legislation passed the House in the 116th Congress.

“More than 30,000 Mainers rely on marine-related industries for their livelihoods. Yet out of 5,000 miles of coastline in Maine, just about 20 miles of working waterfronts remain. Working waterfronts are rapidly disappearing nationwide due to heavy development pressure. When fishermen must grapple with the loss of wharves, processing facilities, and other essential infrastructure in addition to navigating the challenge of climate change, it threatens the very survival of our coastal communities,” said Pingree. “Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have been proud to work across the aisle with my colleagues to create bipartisan solutions that can work for America’s coastal communities. My and Congressman Wittman’s bipartisan Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act will help reverse a worrying trend of shrinking waterfronts, while simultaneously protecting jobs and preserving the character of our coastal communities. Working waterfronts are an integral part of our coastal economies, communities, and traditions. We must do our part to ensure they survive into the future.”

“Deteriorating waterfronts don’t just hurt the American economy; they hurt the bedrock of our coastal communities, particularly in Virginia’s 1st District. These waterfronts support our local businesses, offer recreational access to water, and enhance the quality of life for so many people. Unfortunately, population growth and development threaten Virginia’s water-dependent industries and the families deeply rooted in our region’s cultural heritage,” said Wittman. “The Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act is a vital safeguard, shielding coastal communities by bolstering the maritime industry, preserving jobs, and preserving our natural resources. I’m proud to partner with Congresswoman Pingree on this critical piece of bipartisan legislation.”

Pingree and Wittman’s bill offers much needed support to states, Tribes, and municipalities seeking to preserve these invaluable spaces, while also making sure that they remain relevant for contemporary and future activities.

Read the full release at the office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

Maine’s fisheries and agricultural delegation meets with buyers in Cuba

June 13, 2022 — Representatives of Maine’s fisheries, apples, seed potatoes and vegetable seeds traveled to explore export opportunities in Cuba. After a first visit in May, an expanded delegation will return in October.

Those delegates from Maine agricultural growers and fisheries met with buyers and officials from the Cuba Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) to develop a pipeline of Maine agricultural products for export to Cuba.

The delegation was developed by Doyle Marchant, president of Cedar Spring Agricultural Co., at the direct invitation of the Cuba Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG).

“It was important for Maine growers and producers to act on this unique invitation for Maine to build a reliable source of products and begin a normalization of relations between the two countries,” said Marchant. “The primary currency in Cuba is not money but building trust that can benefit both Maine and Cuba.”

While in Havana, letters of support for the delegation from Maine lawmakers Sen. Susan Collins, Rep. Chellie Pingree, and Rep. Jared Golden were presented to Sr. Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, vice minister of Ministry of Foreign Relations for the Republic of Cuba. The meetings also coincided with an important announcement by the Biden administration to lift certain restrictions on Cuba.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NOAA agrees to ‘graduated enforcement’ of new lobster gear rules

April 20, 2022 — Federal officials are giving Maine lobster fisheries more time to purchase new, environmentally friendly fishing gear, after hearing from Gov. Janet Mills and Maine’s congressional delegation.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday it would still require lobstermen and women to upgrade their gear, but would “implement a graduated enforcement effort” for those who can show they are genuinely trying to meet the May 1 deadline.

The new requirements call for gear with weaker rope lines, which are less likely to entangle whales. Mills, together with U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, petitioned NOAA to recognize that supply chain delays are making it difficult for Maine’s lobster fishing fleets to meet the deadline.

Read the full story at Spectrum News

MAINE: $17 million for lobster industry included in bill

March 17, 2022 — A sum of $17,065,000 to support Maine’s lobster industry was included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced March 11. Collins is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and a member of the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee. Pingree is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairs the Interior and Environment Subcommittee.

The omnibus funding package passed the House and the Senate before heading to the President’s desk.

“NOAA’s own data show that the Maine fishery has never been linked to a right whale death, and the record clearly demonstrates that ship strikes and Canadian fishing activities are major contributors to right whale mortalities,” said Sens. Collins and King and Reps. Pingree and Golden in a joint statement. “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it. That’s why it is extremely frustrating that they have been targeted by the deeply flawed and unfair Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Rule.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

Sen. Collins, Rep. Golden Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Lobster Industry Afford New Gear

March 9, 2022 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Jared Golden:

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME) today introduced bipartisan legislation to support lobstermen by creating a grant program to help them comply with federal right whale regulations requiring a change in fishing gear. The Stewarding Atlantic Fisheries Ecosystems by Supporting Economic Assistance and Sustainability (SAFE SEAS) Act of 2022 will help lobstermen and women with the financial burden of this transition by authorizing grant assistance for fiscal years 2022 through 2024 to help cover the costs of compliance. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) have signed on as cosponsors of the bill.

According to an estimate by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP) rule will cost Maine lobstermen and women at least $45 million due to the expense of trawling up, acquiring and adding weak points, purchasing specialized rope, lengthening groundlines, marking gear, and hiring additional crew to complete this work.  Notably, there are no known cases of Maine’s lobster industry being responsible for killing a right whale, and there has not been a single right whale entanglement attributed to Maine lobster fisheries in nearly two decades.

 “Maine lobstermen and women have always been good stewards of the environment and have taken numerous actions to protect right whales when the science has warranted it,” said Senator Collins.  “As NOAA moves ahead with this rule despite the Maine delegation’s urging against it, our legislation would help alleviate the financial burden our lobstermen and women face. We must ensure that this heritage industry has the assistance it needs to continue to support coastal families and communities for generations to come.”

Read the full release at the office of Congressman Jared Golden

 

Maine delegates decry ‘broken promise’ in China lobster-buying deal

February 22, 2022 — All four members of Maine’s congressional delegation want the Biden administration to hold China accountable for its apparent failure to live up to a 2020 trade deal.

In a letter sent Thursday to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Sen. Angus King and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden said China has broken its promise to buy more Maine lobster. They also requested details on exactly how much lobster China agreed to buy under the trade deal, which was negotiated and signed during the Trump administration. Sen. Susan Collins sent Tai a similar letter Wednesday.

Recent analyses indicate that China has failed to buy all of the additional $200 million in U.S. goods that trade officials said the country committed to in the “Phase One Deal” unveiled in early 2020. An analysis by Bloomberg released last month said China had only purchased 63 percent of the U.S. goods it had agreed to buy as part of an effort to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries.

In their letter, King, Pingree and Golden said China has bought “almost no lobster above 2017 levels” and said U.S. officials need to take action to make sure the additional purchases spelled out in the agreement take place.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Rep. Pingree, New England lawmakers urge Biden administration to study sustainable offshore wind development

February 22, 2022 — Rep. Chellie Pingree and other New England lawmakers are pressuring federal ocean regulators charged with siting offshore wind energy projects to pay close attention to the health of Gulf of Maine ecosystems and fishermen.

Pingree chairs a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s budget, and she’s concerned that with the Biden administration’s push to open up new offshore leases as soon as 2024, the gulf’s ecosystems and economies might get overlooked.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Pingree, New England Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Study Sustainable Offshore Wind Development in Gulf Of Maine

February 22, 2022 — The following was released by The Office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree:

U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) are urging the Biden Administration to fund critical baseline research and scientific studies to advance sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. In a letter to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton, the New England lawmakers urged BOEM to prioritize two studies that are crucial in determining habitat use and distribution of species in the Gulf of Maine—information they say is needed to protect critically important habitats for American lobster and Atlantic cod.

“Our states have enormous potential to produce significant renewable energy as well as anchor a burgeoning industry and workforce through the responsible development of offshore wind,” Pingree, Moulton, Kuster, and Pappas wrote. “While our state governments are already engaging with leaders of our region’s fishing industries and other ocean users to lessen conflicts with existing users and marine life, it is still crucial that BOEM complete further stakeholder outreach and scientific research to inform the agency’s planning process before conducting lease sales.”

“BOEM’s work to support regional outreach and comprehensive habitat and wildlife data collection and analyses using the best available science will be essential to advancing offshore wind in a way that is environmentally and economically responsible,” they continued.

In late January, Maine Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also wrote to Director Lefton to highlight the significant potential for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine, but stressed that additional thorough research is needed to assess the impacts on local industries and ecosystems.

Pingree, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and current Chair of the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees funding for BOEM, has been a longtime supporter of the efforts to develop sustainable offshore wind power.

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Director Lefton,

As members of the Congressional delegations of Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, we write in support of funding for critical baseline research and scientific studies to advance sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. The recent announcement from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland outlining BOEM’s plans to pursue offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine by mid-2024 brings new urgency to commence key research studies that will ensure offshore wind development in this area is underpinned by robust scientific research.

Our states have enormous potential to produce significant renewable energy as well as anchor a burgeoning industry and workforce through the responsible development of offshore wind. While our state governments are already engaging with leaders of our region’s fishing industries and other ocean users to lessen conflicts with existing users and marine life, it is still crucial that BOEM complete further stakeholder outreach and scientific research to inform the agency’s planning process before conducting lease sales.

In BOEM’s National Studies List for 2022, the Office of Renewable Energy Programs identified two studies that would provide essential information and enhance BOEM’s capacity to assess, predict, monitor, and manage the potential environmental impacts of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine prior to inform the agency’s planning process. The two studies include an Ecological Baseline Study of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Off Maine (AT-22-12), and a Comprehensive Assessment of Existing Gulf of Maine Ecosystem Data and Identification of Data Gaps to Inform Future Research (AT-22-11).

We urge BOEM to invest in the Gulf of Maine as funding decisions are made for the fiscal year by prioritizing these two studies, in particular the Ecological Baseline Study (AT-22-12). As part of this study, BOEM should consider using targeted benthic habitat surveys collected via high resolution multibeam mapping and ground truthing of the data using sediment sampling and benthic fauna characterization to generate detailed habitat and sediment maps.

Existing bathymetric and benthic habitat data is extremely limited for the Gulf of Maine, yet it is fundamental to determine habitat use and distribution of species. This information is needed to determine areas of complex habitats, which are critically important for several important species including American lobster and Atlantic cod. This survey would also protect areas in the Gulf of Maine that have been designated as critical habitat for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and other species. We also encourage you to prioritize a comprehensive marine mammal and wildlife surveys and the collection of fisheries data in coordination with NOAA and state marine resource agencies to inform our understanding of the potential impact of offshore wind development on regional fisheries and marine species.

Continuing engagement with regional stakeholders has identified gaps related to the socioeconomic and cumulative impact assessments of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. Accordingly, we support regionally specific research to investigate the projected economic impacts of offshore wind development on existing ocean users, as well as its cumulative impacts on our natural resources, existing uses, industries, and people.

The State of Maine spent more than a year working directly with fishermen and other stakeholders to put forward a comprehensive application to BOEM for a research lease. This project would use an innovative floating wind turbine technology developed at the University of Maine, which was developed with funding from the Department of Energy. We strongly support this research array application and believe it would contribute valuable and complementary data to an Ecological Baseline Study and a comprehensive evaluation of existing ecosystem data in the Gulf of Maine. Together, the resulting information will help advance floating offshore wind in the U.S. and build on our collective understanding of how to best minimize impacts to the fishing industry and the environment.

BOEM’s work to support regional outreach and comprehensive habitat and wildlife data collection and analyses using the best available science will be essential to advancing offshore wind in a way that is environmentally and economically responsible. We thank you for your attention to the Gulf of Maine and look forward to continuing to engage with you as you initiate these essential studies to aid in responsibly developing offshore wind.