Saving Seafood

Seafood Harvesters Applaud Passage of Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018

November 15, 2018 — The following was released by the Seafood Harvesters of America:

Today, the Senate passed the “Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018.” This bill updates and authorizes U.S. Coast Guard activities and provides long-sought relief for the fishing industry by providing a permanent exemption for fishing vessels from the Environmental Protection Agency’s incidental discharge regulations. It also increases the maximum length for vessels that must be maintained to class, and provides for regional and fishery specific alternative safety compliance programs to be developed.

“The passage of this bill is a breakthrough for the commercial fishing industry and it’s been a long time coming,” said Chris Brown, President of the Seafood Harvesters of America. “We are grateful to the numerous Senators who worked hard to permanently exempt fishing vessels from onerous regulations that would require us to monitor and log any water running off boat decks. We now have regulatory certainty for our businesses instead of operating under stopgap exemptions to these regulations. We applaud the Senate for passing this bill that also addresses our concerns with vessel classification and the development of the alternative safety compliance program.

The bipartisan nature of this bill is reflected in its maintenance of strong environmental protections for our nation’s waters, along with the reduction of nonsensical regulatory burdens on the commercial fishing industry. The bill effectively safeguards our waters from invasive species and provides the Great Lakes states flexibility with regards to the discharge of ballast water standards. Additionally, the bill increases the maximum length of vessels that must be maintained to vessel class standards for newly built vessels and includes language that allows alternative safety compliance programs to be developed in regional and fishery specific manners for existing vessels.

Seafood Harvesters Executive Director, Leigh Habegger, applauded the bipartisan bill, noting that the national commercial fishermen’s organization that represents over 3,900 small businesses and $1.25 billion in economic output has been pushing for enactment of a USCG reauthorization bill for five years. “Nothing unites fishermen more than the waters we navigate and the commitment we share to protect them.” Habegger said. “With the passation of this bill, fishermen are freed from the fear of having to remain tied to the docks from erroneous regulations. They can now focus on responsibly harvesting domestic seafood enjoyed by millions of consumers every day. This bill took a lot of work and we appreciate the sincere efforts and ongoing negotiations on both sides of the aisle. We look forward to working with the EPA and the Coast Guard through the implementation process.”

Senate letter urges funding for fishing safety programs

March 23, 2016 — WASHINGTON — In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, six U.S. senators urged funding for the Fishing Safety Training Grant Program and Fishing Safety Research Grant Program in Homeland Security’s 2017 appropriations bill.

“The safety and survival of our commercial fishermen are of the utmost importance, and we fully support the expansion of safety training requirements,” the senators wrote. “We are concerned, however, that the high costs of this required training will fall entirely on the fishing families in our states who continue to experience tremendous financial strain.”

The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (CGAA) extended the scope of safety and survival training programs for commercial fishermen. The safety rules, which took effect in 2015, require individuals in charge of commercial fishing vessels to complete the training if they operate beyond three nautical miles offshore. Previously, this training was only mandatory for individuals operating beyond 13 nautical miles offshore.

“Safety and survival training is critically important for fishermen who, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, work in the deadliest industry in America and are 37 times more likely to die on the job than a police officer,” the senators wrote. “This training undoubtedly saves lives.”

The signatories were Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

Read the full letter

ALASKA: New Life Raft Regulations for Fishing Boats No Longer Required

February 26, 2016 — Commercial fishermen scrambling to buy life rafts for their boats this winter can rest a little easier. Congress has changed a new law that would have required life rafts for fishing boats traveling at least three miles off shore.

Less than two weeks ago, U.S. Coast Guard officials were in Petersburg explaining new safety requirements announced in January: that fishing boats under 36 feet would have to carry life rafts if traveling more than three miles off shore. The law was supposed to take effect Feb. 26. Also, larger boats over 36 feet needed to upgrade their life rings or floats to life rafts by Nov. 1. But all that’s changed.

“It’s all been put on hold,” said Steve Ramp, Commercial Fishing Vessel Examiner for the Coast Guard based in Sitka. He said Congress decided to repeal the change in safety requirements earlier this month.

“For some reason Congress, the Senate and the House, put some riders on a Coast Guard appropriation bill to change the implementation of these increased survival craft rules,” Ramp said.

The President signed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 on Feb. 8. It now calls for a formal rule making process before any new regulations can take effect. Ramp said the process is quite lengthy. It includes publishing in the federal register, a public comment period, a review period, and then formalizing the law into a regulation.

“That process we anticipate will take a year or more,” said Ramp.

That means it will be at least a year before survival craft requirements will change for commercial fishermen.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Federal government should fully fund fisherman safety programs

December 28, 2015 —  Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. Groundfishermen in the Northeast are 37 times more likely to die on the job than police officers, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. They are 171 times more likely to die on the job than that average American worker.

As Massachusetts lawmakers noted in a joint letter to the president earlier this year, “If our school teachers died on the job at the same rate as our fishermen in Massachusetts, we would lose 400 public school teachers each year.”

Because there is no controlling the open ocean and offshore weather is difficult to impossible to consistently predict, fishing will always carry an element of danger.

It can, however, be safer. Only 10 percent of New England’s offshore fishermen have been through safety training. Raising that percentage will save lives.

Congress decided as much in 2010, when it passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act, which among other things required additional safety and survival training for those operating commercial fishing boats more than 3 nautical miles from shore.

The act established two competitive grant programs to help pay for the needed training; $3 million was to be set aside for fishing safety training, with another $3 million for fishing safety research grant programs and safety equipment.

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

Governor Baker, Federal Delegation Urge President Obama to Fund Protections for Northeast Fishing Industry

December 21, 2015 – The following was released from the Office of Governor Charlie Baker:

In a letter sent to President Barack Obama, Governor Charlie Baker and the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation petitioned funding for the Fishing Safety Training Grants Program and Fishing Safety Research Grant Program as part of the president’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget. In the letter, Governor Baker and the delegation make the case for $6 million in matching federal funds to support the safety and survival of commercial fisherman, who perform the deadliest job in the country based on the rate of on-the-job fatalities.

“Every day in Massachusetts, our fishermen perform the harrowing tasks at sea that have made their industry a vital part of our heritage as well as our economy,” said Governor Baker. “These modest investments by the federal government would not only equip them with new life-saving technologies, but also make good fiscal sense through the reduction of costly search-and-rescue missions.” 

“Fishing families greatly appreciate that Governor Baker and the entire Massachusetts delegation are making the safety of fishermen a priority,” said J.J. Bartlett, President of Fishing Partnership Support Services. “For too long, fishermen have been forced to work without access to the information and training necessary to do their jobs safely. Access to these essential grant funds will save lives and reduce the number of risky and costly search-and-rescue missions.”

In 2015, new rules under the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (CGGA) took effect and require commercial fishing vessels operating beyond three nautical miles to be outfitted with an updated safety and survival training program. Prior to this change, similar regulations only applied to vessels operating outside of 13 nautical miles. To date, Congress has not funded the two grant programs set aside to help absorb ancillary costs to fishing families associated with this change. 

Authorization of $3 million for both the training and research grant programs has been extended through Fiscal Year 2017, but funds have yet to be appropriated. If approved, non-federal grant applicants such as the Fishing Partnerships Support Services are prepared to provide matching funds for New England with the goal of training one hundred percent of Massachusetts fishermen within 10 years. 

The letter points to conclusive evidence that these trainings save lives, including the nation’s largest decrease in on-the-job fatalities among Alaskan fisherman between 1986 and 2012. Additionally, the letter states that preventing just one search and rescue operation – often $200,000 per day or more than $1.5 million in multiday searches by the U.S. Coast Guard – would more than pay for the cost of running the training program in New England for an entire year.

View a PDF of the letter