Saving Seafood

Aleutians monument fought as threat, derided as ‘straw man’

September 29, 2015 — Alaska Congressman Don Young and other Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee this morning attacked the idea that President Obama might create a marine national monument around the Aleutian Islands, with unknown effects on the fishing industry. But the administration has given no sign it’s considering the notion.

At a subcommittee hearing, Congressman Young said a marine national monument around the Aleutians would be terrible for the fishing industry.

“I’ve watched this over and over: The creeping cancer of the federal government overreaching,” Young said. “The worst managers of any resource is the federal government. They do not manage. They preclude.”

The idea of protecting the waters of the Aleutian Chain came from environmentalist and retired UAA professor Rick Steiner. Last year, he proposed a massive marine sanctuary, covering all the federal waters of Bristol Bay and thousands of miles of the Bering Sea. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration killed the idea, saying it lacked local support. That seemed to be the end of it, except that Steiner launched an online petition telling President Obama he should create an Aleutian national monument instead. (Under the Antiquities Act, the president can just declare a monument on his own.) Steiner’s plea to Obama, on thepetitionsite.com, has attracted more than 100,000 supporters, many from foreign countries. Steiner was not invited to the hearing to defend his idea.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

 

Over 1,500 Coastal Residents Join Federal, State, and Congressional Leaders in Opposing Atlantic Marine Monument

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 25, 2015 – A letter delivered this week to the President and other top Federal officials has been signed by more than 1,500 fishermen and other residents from coastal communities opposing recent calls to create a marine national monument along America’s Atlantic Coast. The letter’s signers join a growing list of citizens, stakeholders, governors, Senators, Members of Congress, and local leaders speaking out publicly against the monument campaign. The letter’s signers call the measure an unnecessary use of Executive authority that undermines the public management of natural resources, which are being successfully managed through public processes.

READ THE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT AND TOP FEDERAL OFFICIALS

Saving Seafood has published the letter online today, which was produced jointly by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) and the Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC). In addition to President Obama, the letter was also delivered to Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, and NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eileen Sobeck.

According to the letter, a recent campaign to designate an Atlantic marine national monument, specifically in the Cashes Ledge area of the Gulf of Maine and around the New England Canyons and Seamounts, circumvents and diminishes the public management procedures that currently manage these areas. In the view of the signers, a process that is open and collaborative, and considers the input of scientific experts, fishermen, and other stakeholders, is best way to successfully manage marine resources.

The signers also contend that these proposals do not properly take into account the existing protections already in place in many of these areas. They note that Cashes Ledge has been closed to most forms of commercial fishing for over a decade, and that the New England Fishery Management Council recently took steps to extend these protections into the future with the approval of Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2. The Council is set to further examine additional habitat protections for the region when it considers the Deep Sea Coral Amendment later this year. To the signers of the letter, these are clear signs that the current management process is working.

The letter joins increasingly vocal opposition to a national monument designation. Maine Governor Paul LePage, as well as Maine Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Bruce Poliquin, have all written to the Obama Administration opposing any monument in the Gulf of Maine. Sefatia Romeo Theken, the Mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, home to the nation’s oldest fishing port and its historic groundfish fishery, has also written a letter in opposition. Jon Mitchell, the Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s most valuable port and home to the Atlantic scallop fishery, is one of the signers of this week’s letter. Legislatively, Congressmen Don Young and Walter Jones recently introduced the Marine Access and State Transparency Act, which would prevent the President from declaring offshore national monuments.

 

Congressmen Jones & Young File Bill to Prevent Marine Monument Designations Without Congressional Consent

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 23, 2015 – The following was released by the Office of Congressman Walter Jones:

Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina) and Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) have cosponsored H.R. 330, the Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act.  The bill would prevent President Barack Obama, or any future president, from unilaterally designating offshore areas as “national monuments” and restricting the public’s ability to fish there.  Instead, the bill would require a president to get the approval of Congress and the legislature of each state within 100 nautical miles of the monument before any “monument” designation could take effect.

The bill comes in response to increasing speculation that President Obama may follow the example of his predecessor George W. Bush and unilaterally designate large swaths of coastal America as “national monuments.”  In 2006, President Bush short circuited the established process of public consultation and input and unilaterally designated 84 million acres off the coast of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The new monument, which is larger than 46 of America’s 50 states, was then closed to fishing.    

“Presidents from both parties have abused their monument designation authority for far too long,” said Congressman Jones.  “No president should be allowed to just lock up millions of acres of fishing grounds by fiat, with no public input whatsoever.  Frankly, it’s un-American, and it must be stopped.  I am proud to be the first member of Congress to join my friend Don Young in fighting for this legislation, and I urge the rest of my colleagues to get behind it.” 

For additional information, please contact Maria Jeffrey in Congressman Jones’ office at (202) 225-3415 or at maria.jeffrey@mail.house.gov.

Read the release from Congressman Jones online

CONGRESSMEN JONES & YOUNG FILE BILL TO PREVENT MARINE MONUMENT DESIGNATIONS WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 23, 2015 – The following was released by the Office of Congressman Walter Jones:

Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina) and Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) have cosponsored H.R. 330, the Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act.  The bill would prevent President Barack Obama, or any future president, from unilaterally designating offshore areas as “national monuments” and restricting the public’s ability to fish there.  Instead, the bill would require a president to get the approval of Congress and the legislature of each state within 100 nautical miles of the monument before any “monument” designation could take effect.

The bill comes in response to increasing speculation that President Obama may follow the example of his predecessor George W. Bush and unilaterally designate large swaths of coastal America as “national monuments.”  In 2006, President Bush short circuited the established process of public consultation and input and unilaterally designated 84 million acres off the coast of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The new monument, which is larger than 46 of America’s 50 states, was then closed to fishing.    

“Presidents from both parties have abused their monument designation authority for far too long,” said Congressman Jones.  “No president should be allowed to just lock up millions of acres of fishing grounds by fiat, with no public input whatsoever.  Frankly, it’s un-American, and it must be stopped.  I am proud to be the first member of Congress to join my friend Don Young in fighting for this legislation, and I urge the rest of my colleagues to get behind it.” 

For additional information, please contact Maria Jeffrey in Congressman Jones’ office at (202) 225-3415 or at maria.jeffrey@mail.house.gov.

Read the release from Congressman Jones online

Former Kodiak setnetter launches U.S. House challenge to Alaska’s Don Young

September 20, 2015 — KODIAK, Ala. — A newly minted lawyer and former Kodiak setnetter is challenging U.S. Rep. Don Young in next year’s Republican Party primary.

Paul Hannan, who moved back to the Kenai Peninsula town of Homer in June after three years of law school in Alabama, makes up for his scant political experience with self-confidence.

If elected, Hannan says, he’d improve American relations with Russia by scheduling a sit-down with President Vladimir Putin, through Hannan’s connections with the Russian Orthodox Church.

He has a plan to cut down on the number of suicides committed by Alaska Natives. And, Hannan says, he could force through construction of a long-sought road through a national wildlife refuge sought by residents of King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula — a project that remains unbuilt despite an unrelenting campaign from the state’s congressional delegation.

“Within the first 90 days in Congress, I will get that deal done,” Hannan said in a phone interview Thursday. “I know how to cut deals — I’ve got a bit of Trump in me.”

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News