Saving Seafood

Secretary of Commerce Announces Allocation of an Additional $255 Million in CARES Act Funding to States and Territories

March 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announced the allocation of an additional $255 million in fisheries assistance funding provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The funding will support activities previously authorized under Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). It will be allocated to states and territories with coastal and marine fishery participants who have been negatively affected by COVID-19.

“Our priority is to award these funds as quickly as possible using existing processes established under the CARES Act,” said Paul Doremus, Acting Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “As a next step, we will use these allocations to provide additional funds to our partners—the interstate marine fisheries commissions, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—to disburse funds to address direct or indirect fishery-related losses as well as subsistence, cultural, or ceremonial impacts related to COVID-19.”

The commissions then will work with each state and territory to revise their prior spend plans to be consistent with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the CARES Act, and NOAA’s guidance. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will submit spend plans to the agency directly. All spend plans must describe the main categories for funding, including direct payments, fishery-related infrastructure, and fishery-related education. The funding will address direct and indirect COVID-19 impacts to eligible fishery participants, including:

  • Commercial fishermen
  • Charter businesses
  • Qualified aquaculture operations
  • Subsistence, cultural, and ceremonial users
  • Processors
  • Other fishery-related businesses

Congress also designated $30 million for all federally recognized Tribes in coastal states and the Great Lakes and $15 million for Great Lakes states. We will work with our state partners and Tribes to determine the approach we will use to allocate this funding to eligible fishery participants as quickly as possible.

Read the full release here

Gina Raimondo confirmed as US Commerce Department secretary

March 4, 2021 — By an 84-15 vote on the afternoon of Tuesday, 2 March, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo as the next U.S. secretary of Commerce. In that position, Raimondo will be the top official in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to oversee the federal government’s policies concerning the fishing industry.

Raimondo was nominated for the position on 7 January and testified before the Senate on 27 January. She was sworn into her new position in the evening of Wednesday, 3 March.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Biden’s Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, Confirmed By Senate

March 2, 2021 — The Senate confirmed Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo on Tuesday as the next secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department.

With a 84-15 confirmation vote that was delayed by a procedural move in February by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Raimondo is set to lead one of the federal government’s most eclectic departments, which includes the Census Bureau, close to two months after President Biden announced the Democratic governor’s nomination.

As secretary, Raimondo is set to take on a portfolio of agencies that also includes the Minority Business Development Agency, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Raimondo, the first woman to lead Rhode Island, is cutting short her second term as governor of the country’s smallest state to join the Biden administration.

During the confirmation process, Raimondo emphasized the need for the department to address how the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the economy and underscored structural inequities facing people of color and families with lower incomes.

Read the full story at NPR

NFI’s John Connelly: US seafood industry faces whole new set of challenges under Biden

February 17, 2021 — Donald Trump’s presidency was a mixed bag for the U.S. seafood industry, according to National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly. Now almost a month into the presidency of Joe Biden, the industry faces a whole different set of challenges, Connelly told SeafoodSource.

Connelly is optimistic Biden will be less aggressive in the use of tariffs than Trump, and he said he’s comforted by the fact that Biden’s picks for U.S. Commerce secretary and U.S. trade representative, Gina Raimondo and Katherine Tai – both of whom are awaiting confirmation votes by the U.S. Senate – are familiar with the seafood industry. But Biden’s environmental initiatives may prove thorny for the industry, and it remains to be seen whether the administration will prioritize the reopening of the foodservice sector, Connelly said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Gina Raimondo nomination rekindles fish vs. turbine fight

February 12, 2021 — In 2019, long-simmering differences between Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) and the state’s fishing industry boiled over.

The dispute concerned a plan to limit fishermen’s financial losses associated with a proposed $2 billion offshore wind project. Many boat captains felt the deal undervalued their catch, and they directed their ire at Raimondo, an outspoken offshore wind advocate, accusing her of freezing the fishing industry out of negotiations with Vineyard Wind, the project developer.

At a meeting of the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council that February, many lined up to blast the package. Council members, who are appointed by the governor, expressed sympathy for the concerns but argued that it represented the best offer. They ultimately signed off on the deal.

Fishing companies, incensed by the decision, turned their attention to NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency tasked with assessing the project’s impact on fish stocks. One outspoken critic wrote an email to NOAA staffers the next day calling the deal “an absolute roll over of the fishing industry” (Climatewire, Oct. 25, 2019).

A NOAA official wrote back a week later saying that many at the agency shared the concerns, foreshadowing a decision from the agency two months later not to sign off on a draft environmental study conducted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the lead federal permitting agency.

Read the full story at E&E News

US Senate committee backs Raimondo for commerce secretary

February 4, 2021 — Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo is one step away from Washington, D.C.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation voted 21-3 Wednesday to advance to the full Senate Raimondo’s nomination to be President Biden’s secretary of commerce. The hearing lasted just 15 minutes, and the overwhelming support is a sign that she is likely to be confirmed.

“I think it’s very important that we have someone at the department of commerce who is from the private sector, and we’re blessed with Governor Raimondo’s being both in the public sector and the private sector,” Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington said prior to the vote.

Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Rick Scott of Florida, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee voted against Raimondo.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

US Commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo discusses fishing industry concerns at Senate confirmation hearing

January 27, 2021 — Testifying on Tuesday, 26 January, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo pledged to use science and data to help move the seafood industry forward if she becomes the country’s next secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

With senators from several major fishing states represented on the panel, Raimondo got plenty of time to discuss her views on the commercial fishing industry during the hearing, which lasted over two-and-a-half hours. She noted seafood is a key industry in her home state of Rhode Island.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Biden’s Commerce Pick Vows to Combat China and Climate Change

January 26, 2021 — Gina M. Raimondo, President Biden’s nominee to be the next commerce secretary, told lawmakers on Tuesday that she planned to help American communities bounce back from coronavirus, aggressively enforce trade rules to combat unfair Chinese practices and leverage the government’s power to mitigate climate change if confirmed.

Ms. Raimondo, the current governor of Rhode Island and a former venture capitalist, tried to reassure members of the Senate Commerce Committee that she would work with them on priorities like protecting American fisheries, expanding broadband access and promoting American research into cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced communications.

“In this time of overlapping crises, the Commerce Department must be a partner to businesses and workers to help them innovate and grow,” Ms. Raimondo said.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Sen. Cantwell Calls on Commerce Secretary Nominee to Put Science First, Protect Salmon, Act on Washington Economic Priorities

January 26, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):

Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing with Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, President Biden’s nominee to be U.S. Secretary of Commerce. At the hearing, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the incoming Chair of the committee, spoke about the importance of the Department of Commerce to the economy and way of life in the Pacific Northwest and asked Raimondo about her plans for salmon and fisheries management, protecting scientific integrity, and COVID-19 recovery.

In her opening statement, Cantwell talked about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Washington’s maritime economy and highlighted the critical need to get recovery funds to those impacted: “One of the key responsibilities will be in response to the larger COVID pandemic in the country and what we should do about it. I hope that the Secretary of Commerce will play an important role in strengthening our economy, in trying to defeat the pandemic and recover from its economic impacts,” Cantwell said.

“All of our sectors have been impacted. Congress appropriated $600 million in fisheries assistance for state and Tribal needs, but so far, the fishermen and our state have yet to receive $1 from this program, so I hope we can get her assistance in implementing and moving forward on this.”

Later in the hearing, Cantwell secured commitments from Raimondo to work on increasing investments in salmon habitat and prioritizing fisheries management. Cantwell asked: “As we’re talking about a seafood and fishing economy, salmon is particularly important to the Pacific Northwest. Keeping salmon habitat and restoration in a very robust state is very critical to keeping salmon. So will you work with us on a more targeted, larger-scale investment in stormwater restoration and in building critical habitat for everything from oyster reefs to eel and seagrass and critical habitat?”

“Yes, I would very much look forward to working with you and other members of the committee,”Raimondo responded.

“We believe in good fisheries management policy, and the key to that is stock assessment. And so I hope you’ll work with us on increasing the amount of dollars that go into the science behind stock assessment so we can make good management plans,” Cantwell continued.

“Yes, again absolutely. I plan to lead with science and lead with data,” Raimondo said.

As part of her focus on reprioritizing science and data, Cantwell also spoke about increasing the department’s investment in weather forecasting and emphasized the importance of safeguarding scientific integrity and listening to science throughout the department: “In my opinion, there’s no reason why the United States should not be a leader in weather forecasting. This is an important issue for us, whether you’re talking about fires or you’re talking about ocean issues. Making a better, crucial investment in the science for maritime, aviation, space, and agriculture industries will be very important for us moving forward,”Cantwell said.

“I appreciate that [Raimondo] will lead the agency in making decisions based on science and data that will help our economy grow in the future, everything from oceans issues and fisheries to spectrum and space issues. We in the Pacific Northwest know that we can’t always agree on issues, but we know we can agree on science, and that’s why science needs to continue to prevail.”

Cantwell also emphasized the importance of trade to Washington’s economy: “I hope that we will continue to look at this issue of competitiveness. In my state, [roughly] one in four jobs are related to trade, and I hope the Secretary and the administration will make a goal for export advancement. Increasing exports is a great way to grow our economy.”

Video of Senator Cantwell’s opening statement can be found HERE and audio is HERE.

Video of Senator Cantwell’s Q&A with Raimondo can be found HERE and audio is HERE.

RHODE ISLAND: As Commerce Secretary, Raimondo to play key role in offshore wind

January 19, 2021 — In the selection of Gina Raimondo as the next U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the offshore wind industry would get a champion in Washington.

What influence she could bring to bear for the emerging energy sector remains to be seen, but if confirmed to her new position in the Biden cabinet, Raimondo would oversee federal fisheries regulators who have raised some of the concerns about potential negative impacts of erecting what could be many hundreds of wind turbines in the ocean waters off southern New England.

It’s those concerns that have played a major role in delaying the approval process for the first set of large wind farms proposed in the nation.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an arm of the Department of the Interior, has permitting authority over the multibillion-dollar projects, which are all planned for the Atlantic Ocean waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts. But both federal fisheries management and coastal zone management are under the aegis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is part of the Department of Commerce.

“I think it’s fantastic to have someone that does have experience with offshore wind and knows the extent of the conflicts,” said Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a group representing fishing interests in the development of offshore wind. “She understands coastal communities and their concerns. I think there is a real opportunity here.”

Read the full story at the Providence Journal