Saving Seafood

President Biden’s flurry of actions to protect the environment reignites a controversy about the Atlantic’s only marine monument

January 22, 2021 — Last June, as part of a concerted campaign to dismantle the environmental policies of the Obama administration, Donald Trump met with fishermen in Maine and signed a proclamation that allowed commercial fishing in nearly 5,000 square miles of federally protected waters southeast of Cape Cod.

But elections have consequences, and on Wednesday President Joe Biden signed an executive order that could overturn Trump’s decision and restore the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean to its former status, part of a flurry of executive actions Biden took on his first day in office to reverse many of the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks.

Environmental advocates called the first steps promising, a welcome change from the policies of the past four years.

In response to Biden’s order, representatives of fishing groups urged the new administration to consult them before overturning Trump’s policies.

“The hope of the fishing industry is that if the Biden administration is endeavoring to unite the country, then the Biden administration will actively reach out to fishing communities and not only discuss the marine monument with them but listen to the fishing communities’ concerns and act upon those concerns,” said Andrew Minkiewicz, an attorney at the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington, D.C.

He and others urged the Biden administration to respect the traditional fishery management process, which allows for councils composed of fishermen, environmental advocates, and regulators to determine where and how much fishing can occur.

“I believe, as long as this is reviewed fairly, in terms of the science and law, there’s no reason that fishing shouldn’t be allowed there,” said Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a Washington-based group that represents commercial fishermen. “It’s sustainable. But if it’s a political decision and about Obama’s legacy, then it’s going to be a problem.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

America’s scallop catch expected to dip somewhat in 2021

December 18, 2020 — The United States’ scallop catch is likely to decline by more than a fifth in the coming year, federal regulators have said.

The catch is predicted to come in at about 40 million pounds (18.1 million kilograms), the New England Fishery Management Council said in a statement. That’s a dip from a projected 51.6 million pounds (23.4 million kilograms) this year and 60.5 million pounds (27.4 million kilograms) in 2018.

The scallop fishery has benefited from a very large number of new scallops that began growing in 2012 and 2013, said Janice Plante, a spokesperson for the council. Those scallops are reaching the end of their lives, and that likely means fewer will eventually find their way to the docks, she said.

New Bedford, which has been the nation’s most valuable fishing port for 19 straight years, relies heavily on the scallop catch. In 2018, scallops accounted for 80 percent of the seafood landed in New Bedford.

New Bedford, which has been the nation’s most valuable fishing port for 19 straight years, relies heavily on the scallop catch. In 2018, scallops accounted for 80 percent of the seafood landed in New Bedford.

Despite the likely drop in catch, the scallop fishery remains strong, said Andrew Minkiewicz, a Washington attorney who works with fishing advocacy group Fisheries Survival Fund. The projected catch would still be more than any of the year from 2013 to 2015.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard Times

After Trump administration moves to pull plug, Vineyard Wind looks to Biden

December 16, 2020 — Vineyard Wind’s request for “a temporary pause” in the federal review of its 800-megawatt offshore wind energy project triggered an announcement from the Department of Interior that it must restart its entire permit application process.

In a flurry of activity by the outgoing Trump administration, the head of the Interior Department’s legal staff, solicitor Daniel H. Jorjani on Tuesday issued new guidance stressing that if Interior Secretary David Bernhardt “determines that either fishing or vessel transit constitute ‘reasonable uses…of the exclusive economic zone, the high seas and the territorial sea,’ the Secretary has a duty to prevent interference with that use.”

The 16-page memo asserts the secretary of Interior should determine “what is unreasonable” interference from offshore wind turbines “based on the perspective of the fishing user.” It’s a victory for commercial fishing advocates including the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and Fisheries Survival Fund, who went directly to Bernhardt in July with complaints their concerns are not adequately addressed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy.

The agency had been poised to issue a record of decision Jan. 15 that would allow Vineyard Wind to proceed toward construction – a timeline that now could stretch out another 18 months, unless a Biden administration very supportive of wind energy steps in.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Vineyard Wind project stalls, Maine begins information meetings on its own wind project

December 15, 2020 — The Vineyard Wind project, a proposed 800-megawatt offshore wind energy installation, has been stalled as the company – Vineyard Wind LLC – withdrew its construction and operations plan from review by the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM), on 1 December, effectively halting the project’s progress.

The withdrawal, announced in a letter to be published in the Federal Register on 16 December, is a win for the region’s fishing industry, which has objected to the project in addition to other proposed projects in the New England area. Fishermen have been worried about the proposed wind projects for years, and two groups representing fisheries in the region – the Fisheries Survival Fund and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) – have made layout suggestions, requested revisions to an earlier Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and have pushed for a pause on development amid the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fisheries Survival Fund Questions NOAA Over Decision to Reinstate Observers, But Cancel Surveys

August 17, 2020 — Why are fishery surveys being canceled but at-sea-observers being reinstated? That’s the tough question that the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) is asking. FSF submitted a letter to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver on August 13, just one day before the resumption of observer programs in the Northeast region.

“As you know, FSF represents the significant majority of full-time Limited Access permit holders in the Atlantic scallop fishery,” the letter reads. “Our members are home-ported along the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts through North Carolina. The scallop industry recognizes the value of observers, as well as the difficulty of decisions NMFS is confronting during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, FSF still does not understand why NMFS cancelled unique fishery-independent surveys critical to resource management yet is reinstating less critical fishery-dependent data collected by observers when other options (VTRs, vessel tracking, and electronic monitoring) are available.”

Read the full story at Seafood News

Fisheries Survival Fund ‘Alarmed’ by Current Protocols for Resumption of At-Sea Monitoring

June 29, 2020 — The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) has written to NOAA Fisheries, voicing concerns over the agency’s decision to resume at-sea monitoring beginning in July. Specifically, FSF, which represents limited access scallop fishermen in the area covered by the order, is “alarmed” at the protocols the agency currently has in place.

According to the letter, the quarantine protocols for observers are unclear, at best. It notes that, after a required initial 14-day quarantine period, “it is unclear whether that observer will be required to quarantine for an additional 14 days before boarding another vessel.”

“Our country continues to grapple with the impacts and uncertainties of COVID-19’s spread,” the letter states. “Resuming the observer program too quickly and without appropriate protocols in place would put our crewmembers at a heightened and unnecessary risk of exposure to the virus.”

FSF also highlights uncertainty over how vessel captains and owners should respond to an observer displaying symptoms of COVID-19 at the start of a trip. FSF requests that NOAA extend the current waiver on observer coverage, which was implemented in March at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, until it addresses these issues.

The letter to NOAA follows letters from both the New England Fishery Management Council and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which expressed similar concerns about the safety of resuming at-sea monitoring.

The full letter is available here

FSF Statement on Proclamation on Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

June 5, 2020 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) applauds the proclamation signed today by President Trump that will once again allow sustainable fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Fishermen had long been able to sustainably harvest fish from these areas without affecting the surrounding habitats, and this order ensures that they will continue to be able to do so in the future.

FSF has always held that designating marine monuments by executive order is not an appropriate way to regulate fishing. Fisheries management is best conducted through the collaborative process established by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and not through executive fiat. The Magnuson-Stevens Act has led to the best-managed and most conservation-minded fisheries in the world, and today’s order is a reaffirmation of that management.

FSF looks forward to continuing to work with fisheries managers to promote sustainable fisheries management for our Northeast fisheries.

MASSACHUSETTS: Executive order calls for reducing aquaculture regs

May 12, 2020 — Around the same time last week that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released $300 million in coronavirus aid to the seafood industry, President Donald Trump issued an executive order “Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth.”

The major reasons given to issue the executive order were familiar objectives of the administration: reduce our dependence on imported seafood by decreasing the regulatory burden on fishermen and the aquaculture, while creating a level playing field with other countries.

“The Fisheries Survival Fund has long supported efforts to revise and streamline unnecessary regulations, an effort that is more important now than ever,” spokesman John Cooke wrote in a statement.

Trump ordered each of the country’s regional fishery management councils to submit a prioritized list of recommended actions to reduce regulatory burdens on fishermen and increase production within six months. But the Trump administration already asked NOAA and the New England Fishery Management Council three years ago to develop a list of unnecessary and duplicative regulations, which has already been submitted, and it may be much harder to find the regulatory fat this time around.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Fisheries Survival Fund Applauds White House for Executive Order Supporting Domestic Seafood

May 8, 2020 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at promoting domestic seafood production and the U.S. seafood industry amid the current COVID-19 crisis. The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) is grateful to the Administration for its support of our nation’s fishing communities, and looks forward to working with the Administration in lifting unnecessary burdens to American fishermen.

“We appreciate that the President recognizes how important the seafood industry is in supplying our nation with essential products, especially during the current crisis,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for the Fisheries Survival Fund. “These measures will go a long way to ensure that our industry is able to meet the country’s needs, and will be able to recover once the crisis is over.”

One of the key measures in the order is to sustainably increase domestic seafood production through regulatory reform. FSF has long supported efforts to revise and streamline unnecessary regulations, an effort that is more important now than ever. FSF looks forward to working with NOAA and the Department of Commerce on implementing this directive, especially in opening up fishing grounds on the northern edge of Georges Bank. These grounds have been closed for nearly 30 years, at the cost of billions of dollars in lost revenue. The closures have long been unnecessary for the conservation of the species in the area, making them a prime candidate for reform under this order.

FSF also urges the Administration to reconsider current policies in place for offshore wind development, specifically the policy of accepting unsolicited bids for wind farms. This policy is poorly thought out, and is an unnecessary threat to the seafood industry. Eliminating it and similar policies will help meet the Administration’s goal of promoting local seafood and securing our food supply chain.

 

Warren releases ‘Blue New Deal,’ a plan to help ailing oceans

December 10, 2019 — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday released an addendum to her vision for a Green New Deal: the Blue New Deal.

The new plan seeks to address how climate change is affecting oceans and other waters, while ensuring a vibrant marine economy, she said.

“While the ocean is severely threatened, it can also be a major part of the climate solution,” she wrote in a nine-page summary of the plan. “That is why I believe that a Blue New Deal must be an essential part of any Green New Deal.”

“Not being consulted on this isn’t a good start to the relationship,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington, D.C., which represents the scallop industry. “We expected something more well-thought-out from her.”

Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing industry associations and companies, said that “any large industrial project in the ocean will have significant impacts to the sustainability of established activities and the marine environment.”

“To me, it seems like it was written by staff, and they did a lot of Googling,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a Washington-based group that represents commercial fishermen. “It’s disappointing, because we know Senator Warren has a more sophisticated understanding of fisheries.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe