Saving Seafood

In Congress, an effort to curtail national monuments

October 18, 2017 — WASHINGTON — On Oct. 11, the House Natural Resources Committee approved a proposal from its chairman, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, to overhaul the Antiquities Act. Bishop’s “National Monument Creation and Protection Act” would severely constrain the power of the president to designate national monuments. It would limit the size of monuments a president could designate as well as the kinds of places protected.

The 1906 Antiquities Act allows a president to act swiftly to protect federal lands facing imminent threats without legislation getting bogged down in Congress. Many popular areas, including Zion, Bryce and Arches national parks in Bishop’s home state, were first protected this way.

Under Bishop’s legislation, any proposal for a monument larger than 640 acres — one square mile — would be subject to a review process: Areas up to 10,000 acres would be subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act, while those between 10,000 and 85,000 acres would require approval from state and local government. The bill would allow emergency declarations, but they would expire after a year without Congress approval. It would also codify the president’s power to modify monuments — a power that has been contested in light of the Interior Department’s recent recommendations that President Donald Trump reduce the size of several monuments, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah.

Read the full story at High Country News

Fight over national monuments intensifies

October 16, 2017 — WASHINGTON — Conservatives have opened a new front in the fight over the future of America’s national monuments.

House Republicans are moving forward with a bill to reform a century-old conservation law, raising the stakes in their ongoing effort to curtail the president’s’ ability to set aside wide swaths of federal land as national monuments and protect them from future development.

The new legislation, from Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), comes as the White House mulls reductions to several previously declared monuments. That’s an effort environmentalists consider an affront to the Antiquities Act, a law signed by conservation champion Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

Conservatives, industry groups and Westerners have long pushed for changes to the Antiquities Act, saying presidents of both parties have abused the law, handcuffing local communities who could look to create jobs on public land. President Trump is an ally in that effort.

Environmentalists and most Democrats consider the Antiquities Act a bedrock American conservation law and have vowed to fight any effort to water it down.

The reform effort has its impetus in what conservatives consider an abuse of federal monument designation powers.

Sixteen presidents have used the Antiquities Act to lock up federal land over the last century. But President Obama used it the most often, and protected by far the most acreage — 553.6 million acres of land and sea monuments — inspiring a fresh round of legislative proposals.

Read the full story at The Hill

Rep. Bishop Statement on Appointment of Kathleen Hartnett White as CEQ Chair

October 13, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources:

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White to chair the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement:

“Kathleen Hartnett White is a great choice to help the administration realign priorities at CEQ. Over the past eight years, this executive office has attempted to use the National Environmental Policy Act as a tool to stonewall any project with a federal nexus. I look forward to working with her on a long overdue streamlining of NEPA and other efforts to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of the administrative state to people.”

Trump nominates AccuWeather CEO to run NOAA

October 12, 2017 — President Trump has chosen Barry Myers, the CEO of the private weather forecaster AccuWeather, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In that role, Myers, who has served as the chief executive of AccuWeather since 2007, would head the agency charged with executing a broad portfolio of responsibilities ranging from providing severe storm warnings to managing the nation’s fisheries.

If confirmed by the Senate, the nomination would install a business executive at an agency more recently headed by scientists. Former President Obama’s last NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan, for example, was a geologist and former astronaut.

Ray Ban, the co-chair of the weather industry advocacy group the Weather Coalition, praised Myers’  success in growing AccuWeather’s business, and said he would bring that expertise to the Trump administration.

“[I]n an administration that places high value on business acumen, Barry brings a strong track record in growing one of the most successful companies in the weather industry,” Ban told The Washington Post.

Read the full story at The Hill

Alaska gears up for new round of Pebble Mine fight

October 12, 2017 — As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers removing limitations against a proposed mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, opponents of the measure are making their stances known.

With less than a week before the EPA’s 17 October deadline for public comment, more than 40 Democratic House and Senate members sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to maintain Clean Water Act restrictions against the proposed copper and gold mine in the southeastern part of the state. In addition, a group of business leaders formed a coalition that pledges to defend the fishing industry it says would be harmed by the mine.

“Bristol Bay’s sustainable salmon resource is the foundation of our region’s economy, food security, and culture,” said Norm Van Vactor, president of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation in a statement released by Businesses for Bristol Bay. “The proposed Pebble Mine threatens all of this and would only provide a limited number of jobs for a limited number of years.  It’s not worth the risk to the people, fishermen, and businesses of Bristol Bay.  Our region has said it before and we’ll keep saying it – the Pebble Mine is the wrong mine in the wrong place.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Cantwell, Huffman, Colleagues to Trump Admin: “Listen to Our Fishermen” and Save Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine

White House plan to reverse clean water rules paves the way for construction of Pebble Mine, a catastrophic move for Bristol Bay watershed, 60 million salmon, and more than 20,000 jobs

Decision flies in the face of science and basic reason, made with no public input from fishermen or business groups

October 11, 2017 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the office of Senator Maria Cantwell:

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02), and 40 of their colleagues in the House and Senate sent a forceful letter to President Trump urging caution and a careful consideration of the facts before his administration removes the science-based environmental rules that protect Alaska’s Bristol Bay and the fishermen who depend on it.

Removing the existing clean water protections allows for the construction of Pebble Mine, an open-pit copper and gold mine that could have a depth equivalent to as much as two and a half Trump Towers. The mine would be an unmitigated catastrophe for the Bristol Bay watershed and the 40-60 million salmon who return to it every year. A three-year Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study in 2014 found that the proposed mine would, even in the course of normal, safe mine operations, destroy 24 to 94 miles of salmon-producing waterways and pristine environment.

The University of Alaska Institute of Social and Economic Research found that the Bristol Bay fishery supports more than 20,000 jobs and adds $674 million of economic activity to the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. The region also supports a prolific outdoor recreation industry; anglers from around the world take roughly 37,000 fishing trips annually to Bristol Bay, generating $60 million in economic activity.

“The EPA’s plan to reverse clean water safeguards is egregious and inconsistent with science, and frankly, inconsistent with basic logic,” wrote the members of Congress. “The Pebble Mine directly threatens our maritime economy and thousands of American jobs that rely on this world class fishery. We ask you to listen to America’s fishermen and businesses and reverse EPA’s decision to undo strong protections and clean water safeguards in Bristol Bay.”

Cantwell, Huffman, and their colleagues note the process that established the current clean water safeguards were the result of rigorous scientific analysis and peer review, over one million public comments, and eight public hearings.

In stark contrast, the Trump Administration’s recent decision to roll back the protections has no scientific basis and has been carefully removed from the public eye. There has been no input from stakeholders such as the fishing, tourism, and outdoor industries. Only two public hearings have been noticed, neither of which are scheduled for Washington, Oregon or California where many Bristol Bay commercial and sports fishermen reside.

In their letter, the members of Congress also called for public hearings, a 90-day extension of the public comment period, and other transparency measures to ensure the public is allowed to make their voices heard. Restrictions on mining have the support of 90% of local Bristol Bay residents.

Senator Cantwell successfully led the fight to save Bristol Bay when Pebble Mine was first proposed. In 2011, she urged the EPA to use authority under the Clean Water Act to block large scale development in Bristol Bay. She continued the drumbeat through 2014, when she rallied supporters at Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle to urge President Obama and the EPA to continue to prevent mining in the area.

In addition to Sen. Cantwell and Rep. Huffman, 40 additional member of Congress signed the letter including: Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Grace Napolitano (CA-32), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Anna Eshoo (CA-18), William Keating (MA-09), Adam Smith (WA-09), Denny Heck (WA-10), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-Del.), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Dwight Evans (PA-02), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Emanual Cleaver, II (MO-05), Rick Larsen (WA-02), Derek Kilmer (WA-06), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Judy Chu (CA-27), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Jerry McNerney (CA-9), John Garamendi (CA-3), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (VA-08), Norma Torres (CA-35), Doris Matsui (CA-06), Ted Lieu (CA-33), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Julia Brownley (CA-26), and Salud Carbajal (CA-24).

A copy of the letter can be found here.

MASSACHUSETTS: Gov. Baker team swims around marine monument controversy

Trump administration may reverse Obama decision creating monument

October 5, 2017 — BOSTON — In the course of the past year, a Connecticut-sized marine area off the coast of Cape Cod has been officially designated a national monument by one president and targeted for potential changes by the next.

It became subject to a new ban on commercial fishing, and now might have that ban removed.

Throughout the ping-ponging presidential decisions that have left the future of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument somewhat murky, the same concerns Gov. Charlie Baker first raised almost two years ago remain on the mind of his top environmental official.

“I think we’ve always pointed to the process, and making sure there was enough of a process that we know the right decisions have been made,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton said. “We weren’t definitely saying the right or wrong decision was made. We definitely think there is value in conservation of those resources, but it’s just is the management plan that’s put out as part of it the right one, and I think we would know that answer through a more robust process, and that’s what we’ve always pointed to as having not occurred.”

In September 2016, President Barack Obama declared the canyons and seamounts area, about 130 miles southeast of Massachusetts, the Atlantic Ocean’s first marine monument. When the White House changed hands this year, it was one of 27 monuments the President Donald Trump charged his interior secretary with reviewing.

Trump’s executive order called on Secretary Ryan Zinke to study certain monuments designated under the Antiquities Act, including those where the Interior Department determined the decision “was made without adequate public outreach and coordination with relevant stakeholders.”

Read the full story from State House News Service at WWLP

Oregon, California senators step up pressure on Trump administration to approve salmon emergency cash

October 5, 2017 — Oregon and California’s four senators, all Democrats, stepped up the pressure on the Trump administration Wednesday to approve disaster assistance for salmon fishermen along 200 miles of coastline.

In April, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages coastal salmon seasons, recommended closing coastal and commercial salmon fishing entirely along an area equal to roughly half of Oregon’s coastline. Govs. Kate Brown of Oregon and Jerry Brown of California requested emergency funding relief in May, to no avail.

The fall chinook fun on the Klamath is the biggest and is important for recreational and tribal fisherman as well as commercial fisheries. The Yurok tribe, which has preference along the waterway, also had its allocation severely curtailed this year, to roughly 650 fish. Management officials estimated returning salmon to be roughly 12,000.

Oregon has had success in securing emergency assistance for salmon fishery disasters under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Emergency funds were approved in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and their California counterparts, Sens. Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris, sent a letter Wednesday to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division urging action before the end of 2017.

Read the full story at The Oregonian

NCFC Member Grant Moore Joins Sen. Lee, Chairman Bishop on Antiquities Act Panel in Washington

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – October 4, 2017 – Grant Moore, president of NCFC member the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, joined Utah Senator Mike Lee and House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop in a Heritage Foundation panel today on Capitol Hill to discuss national monuments and the Antiquities Act.

At the panel, “National Monuments and the Communities They Impact: Views Beyond the Beltway,” Mr. Moore criticized last year’s designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument by President Barack Obama, which he said lacked sufficient industry input and public deliberation. The monument designation affects fisheries worth more than $100 million, he said.

“We’re not opposed to monuments,” Mr. Moore said. “We’re opposed to the process in which it was done. It was not transparent. It was not open. If we hadn’t stumbled upon what was happening, we would have had a signature and we wouldn’t have had a say at all.”

Mr. Moore complimented Chairman Bishop for meeting with fishermen and listening to their story in a visit to New Bedford, Mass., last year arranged by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities. He also praised another meeting organized by the NCFC earlier this year in which Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with fishermen in Boston as part of his review of national monuments.

Secretary Zinke has reportedly recommended to President Donald Trump that commercial fishing be allowed in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument. The Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, based in Newport, R.I., was one of eleven NCFC member organizations that publicly voiced its support for the Secretary’s reported recommendations. At today’s panel, Mr. Moore praised these recommendations, but called them a “Band Aid” that would not prevent the Antiquities Act from being misused to create large national monuments in the future.

“We need to reform the Antiquities Act so it’s not abused,” Mr. Moore said. “Nobody should have the power with the stroke of a pen to put people out of business. Nobody. It has to go through a public process.”

In his remarks, Senator Lee also called for changes to the Antiquities Act. “What’s needed is a wholesale reform of the Antiquities Act to return its monumental power back to where it belongs – to the people who reside closest to the proposed monuments,” he said. “Local residents must have ultimate say over whether their communities can be upended in this way.”

Chairman Bishop discussed the original intent of the Antiquities Act to save endangered antiquities while leaving the smallest footprint possible. But with national monuments now frequently encompassing hundreds of millions of acres, he argued that they are no longer leaving the smallest footprint possible.

“What started as something noble and grand turned into something far different, far less, and it is time now to reform it and make it useful again,” Chairman Bishop said. “The Antiquities Act desperately needs some kind of reform because it is being abused today.”

Watch the full panel here

New Bedford Standard-Times: Fishing industry may get a win from Washington

September 25, 2017 — The unexpected re-examination of the status of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument under President Trump is a welcome development for New Bedford’s commercial fisherman.

The nearly 5,000 square miles of protected waters that lie about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod was closed off to commercial fishing last year when President Obama designated the area the first Atlantic marine national monument. The decision came despite fishing industry outcries about both the lack of public input during the process and the harm to the fishing way of life.

Several industry organizations, including the New England Fishery Management Council, rightly pointed out, at the time, that fisheries have worked with government, scientific, and environmental communities for years to create regulations and oversight procedures to protect marine resources. And that important regional stakeholders were working on an ocean management plan to preserve resources.

Most notably, fisheries have been managed for more than 40 years under the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, put in place to protect marine environments, prevent overfishing, and promote biological sustainability of marine life.

Read the full editorial at the New Bedford Standard-Times