Saving Seafood

Gloucester Daily Times: Finding common ground on monitors

January 13, 2016 — It takes a lot to bring Democrats and Republicans together on any issue in these days of heightened, highly partisan politics. It seems, however, that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has done the trick.

Sixth District U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and 16 of his fellow New England congressmen — 12 Democrats, four Republicans and an independent — united last week to call on the agency to delay or call off its plans to force fishing vessel permit holders to pay to have someone looking over their shoulder as they work.

The so-called onboard monitoring program, where a federal observer rides along on fishing trips, is estimated to cost about $710 per day, per vessel. And NOAA expects fishermen to foot the bill. It’s an additional expense — the very definition of an unfunded mandate — that could put permit holders out of business for good. 

As Hampton, N.H., fisherman David Goethel asked John Kasich during the presidential candidate’s visit to Seabrook last week, “Can anyone in this room afford to spend $710 a day to drive to work, to have your own personal state trooper by your side to make sure you don’t go 66 on Interstate 95? (NOAA’s) own economists tell them that fishermen can’t afford it, and their answer is, basically, ‘tough.’ We shouldn’t have to sue our own government, but we have to because they’re not being held accountable.”

Goethel is suing the federal government over the monitoring plans. Kasich called the idea of forcing fishermen to pay for monitors “ridiculous” and “absurd.”

Goethel would seem to have allies — in spirit, at least — in the region’s congressmen. Their letter to NOAA Administrator Kathleen D. Sullivan urged the agency to delay shifting costs for the program to fishermen until a more efficient, less expensive plan is devised.

Read the full editorial at Gloucester Daily Times

Rep. Seth Moulton unites region on monitoring

January 11, 2016 — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton has expanded efforts to reform at-sea monitoring for groundfishing vessels, corralling a regional and bipartisan group of federal legislators to urge NOAA to accept changes already approved by the New England Fisheries Management Council and supported by NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard.

Moulton and 16 other members of Congress — totaling 12 Democrats, four Republicans and one Independent from five New England states — wrote to NOAA Administrator Kathleen D. Sullivan expressing support for the council motions approved in December and again voicing their opposition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s plans to transfer at-sea monitoring (ASM) costs to permit holders sometime early this year.

Those costs are estimated at about $710 per day per vessel with monitor coverage.

“We have requested that your agency utilize authority provided by Congress through the Fiscal Year 2015 Appropriations process to cover such expenses in fishing year 2015 and continue to strongly support the deferment of ASM costs to the industry until these program reforms are fully implemented,” the legislators wrote to Sullivan.

The letter, sent Friday, represents the broadest congressional reach on the issue to date and reflects Moulton’s emergence as a leading congressional ally in the fishing industry’s effort to recast the monitoring program into a more efficient and economical operation.

“We felt we needed to educate a broader group of leaders across the region and here in Washington,” Moulton, the first-term Democrat representing Massachusetts’ Sixth Congressional District that includes Cape Ann, said Friday of the monthlong work that went into drafting the letter and convincing the other legislators to sign on.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

Inouye-influenced rule enables extra Hawaii tuna fishing

January 5, 2016 — HONOLULU (AP) — Many Hawaii residents were thankful for plentiful platters of ahi tuna they were able to enjoy over the holidays. But few realized the critical role the late Sen. Daniel Inouye played in making sure Hawaii fishermen could get it to them.

A federal rule allowing Hawaii-based fishermen to catch more bigeye tuna than permitted under international agreements can be traced to his time as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

In 2010, catch limits forced Hawaii fishermen to stop catching bigeye in waters west of Hawaii in November. That left Hawaii markets without much locally caught tuna just as holiday demand spiked.

This year, Hawaii longline fishermen hit their limit in August. But the National Marine Fisheries Service created new limits for U.S. territories like Guam and allowed Hawaii’s fleet to use up to half of them.

The fisheries service’s Pacific Islands regional administrator, Michael Tosatto, said Congress directed the federal agencies to create the quota transfer program in a 2012 appropriations bill.

Inouye was Senate appropriations committee chairman at the time, not long before his death in December 2012. The senator’s then-chief of staff said Inouye was troubled to see local fishermen abiding by quotas that U.S. diplomats had agreed to, only to see foreign fishermen keep fishing.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at New Jersey Herald

US Congress Changes Market Name of the Nation’s Largest Fishery

January 4, 2016 — The law, which currently only applies to the USA, requires that the geographic descriptor “Alaska” be used only on pollock harvested from the state of Alaska changing the market name of the nation’s largest fishery from “Alaska pollock” to “pollock”.

The new law corrects decades of consumer and market confusion over the use of the market name “Alaska pollock” on the species Gadus chalcogrammus regardless of its origin.

Before the law was enacted, pollock from both Russia and Alaska were sold in under the name “Alaska pollock,” making it impossible for consumers to determine product origin and to make a choice between the two sources.

Alaska pollock is the eighth most consumed fish in the United Kingdom being a favorite for children in the form of fish fingers, with some 15,000 tonnes being used annually in the UK Russian pollock, which has a different quality profile can be sold in the UK as “Alaska Pollock.”

Read the full story at The Fish Site

 

Statement from Paul Doremus, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations at NOAA Fisheries on Recent Press Regarding Relocation of NOAA Fisheries Woods Hole Laboratory

December 24, 2015 — The following was released from NOAA Fisheries:

On December 23, 2015, the Falmouth Enterprise published a story that NOAA “is exploring the possibility of relocating the Northeast Fisheries Science Center to a new facility outside of Woods Hole.” While the story suggests that relocation may be imminent, we are in fact very early in the process of considering how best to update the buildings and associated operations of the 54-year-old Woods Hole complex. The Enterprise story also contains statements from a Science Center employee that do not represent the views of the agency. At this point, NOAA has not made a decision to relocate the laboratory and will only pursue a recapitalization option after extensive analysis and consultations with the Administration and Congress.

Right now, NOAA is conducting a large-scale study that will evaluate all of our options for upgrading the Woods Hole complex. Studies like this are a normal business practice for long-term planning. This type of study requires the agency to evaluate multiple options to inform the overall decision-making process.

While NOAA Fisheries is fully committed to maintaining its scientific capabilities in the Northeast, the condition of that laboratory, built in 1961, will make it increasingly difficult for NOAA to continue its tradition of world-class fisheries science in the region into the future.

The current study will be completed sometime in the spring. Starting with this study, Fisheries will continue to work with NOAA and the Department of Commerce to ensure they have everything they need to evaluate our options, including information on potential community impacts, costs and benefits to our mission, and the ability for our Agency to continue to do our scientific work in the Woods Hole area.

We look forward to working further with the Administration, with Congress, and with all of our partners in the region as we evaluate our options for upgrading our facilities and providing the best long-term support for our scientific work in the Northeast.

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Governor, delegation appeal to Obama for fishing safety money

December 21, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD — The entire Massachusetts congressional delegation has co-signed a letter to President Barack Obama by Gov. Charlie Baker, appealing for the fishing safety money promised in legislation two years ago but never released.

The Fishing Safety Training Grants Program and Fishing Safety Research Grant Program were supposed to get $3 million each to target the safety issues that make commercial fishing the most dangerous job in the nation.

“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 Baker in a statement. “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.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-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

Gulf Congressional Delegation Teams for Big Win for Gulf Reef Fish Accountability in 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act

December 19, 2015 — The Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act heading to the White House for a Presidential signature includes $10 million for Gulf of Mexico fisheries data collection, stock assessments and research due to the tireless efforts led by Alabama’s Senator Richard Shelby, Chairman of the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, and Florida’s 13th District Representative David Jolly, who sits on the House’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science.

Additionally, the bill directs NOAA to count fish on artificial reefs and offshore energy exploration infrastructure, and incorporate those counts into future stock assessments and management decisions for reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.  It provides continued support for electronic monitoring and reporting to collect real-time data that is more economical and efficient than current management processes. According to Senator Shelby, who authored the provisions for red snapper in the legislation, the 2016 omnibus provides up to $5 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant College program to support external research and development through its network of academic institutions for a red snapper tagging study in the Gulf of Mexico.  In addition, it provides $5 million for independent, non-NOAA stock assessments for Gulf reef fish, including red snapper.

“Commercial and recreational anglers across the Gulf Coast depend on the red snapper fishery, which is not only a key economic driver, but also integral to their way of life,” Senator Shelby told Gulf Seafood News. “That is why I pushed to include common-sense reforms in this year’s omnibus bill to ensure that both commercial and recreational fishermen have increased access to the red snapper population in the Gulf.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

FDA must develop plan to label genetically engineered salmon, Congress says

December 17, 2015 — The sprawling federal spending bill unveiled this week on Capitol Hill included a small passage with potentially big implications in the food world.

In two paragraphs on page 106, lawmakers instructed the Food and Drug Administration to forbid the sale of genetically engineered salmon until the agency puts in place labeling guidelines and “a program to disclose to consumers” whether a fish has been genetically altered. The language comes just a month after FDA made salmon the first genetically modified animal approved for human consumption and represents a victory for advocates who have long opposed such foods from reaching Americans’ dinner plates. At the very least, they say, consumers ought to know what they are buying.

The fish in the spotlight is the AquAdvantage salmon, produced by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty. The Atlantic salmon contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and a gene from the ocean pout — a combination to help it grow large enough for consumption in 18 months instead of the typical three years.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

 

Congressional GMO Labelling Fight Set For January

December 17, 2015 — Lawmakers are pledging to re-double efforts to pass legislation early next year to block state GMO labeling laws and set national disclosure standards.

The industry wanted to get a bill attached to the must-pass fiscal 2016 spending agreement that congressional leaders reached on Tuesday, but talks stalled and Senate Democrats stopped even a temporary preemption measure from being included.

“The clock’s ticking. We’ll be back in session in January and that’s got to be at the front,” said House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Kansas. “We’ve got it fixed in the House. We’ve just to get the Senate to move on it.”

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, has also pledged to make the issue a top priority in January. She had been leading negotiations on the legislation this fall and had said in October that she wanted a bill passed by the end of the year.

An industry lobbyist who didn’t want to be quoted by name said negotiations would “begin in earnest” right after the first of the year on broad legislation.

A Vermont labeling laws is set to take effect in July, and the failure of the federal preemption measure could embolden labeling proponents who are gearing up to push next year for labeling laws in New York state and Connecticut, said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch, which supports the state labeling efforts.

Read the full story at KTIC