Saving Seafood

Committee votes to let states receive more money from offshore drilling

September 14, 2018 — A House committee voted Thursday to increase the money coastal states receive from offshore oil and natural gas drilling off their coasts.

The bill, from Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.), would give Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama half of the fee and royalty payments that companies give the federal government to drill for oil and gas in a set of new wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

That would be an increase from the current 37.5 percent, which last year amounted to 0.4 percent of the government’s total income from offshore drilling going to Louisiana last year, or $11 million, Graves said.

At a meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee, Graves framed the issue as one of shoring up states’ coasts. All of the money Louisiana gets from offshore drilling goes to coastal resilience, and Graves said his bill would mandate a quarter of the money go for that purpose for all four states.

“We’ve got to stop the stupidity of spending billions of dollars after disasters instead of millions before,” Graves said.

The panel passed the bill by voice vote after an intense debate over whether Gulf states should get special treatment for the drilling that occurs off their shores.

In one exchange, Rep. Raul Grijalva (Ariz.), the panel’s top Democrat, wanted the money to go to all coastal states for resilience, not just the Gulf of Mexico ones.

Read the full story at The Hill

House votes to overhaul fishery management law

July 12, 2018 — The House on Wednesday passed controversial legislation that aims to overhaul how the federal government manages the nation’s fisheries.

The measure would make significant changes to a 1976 law that’s been credited with boosting fish stocks through restrictions on overfishing, among other successes.

The GOP-backed bill would give more authority to local fishery councils to set fishing standards such as limits and seasons. It would allow for longer timelines for species recovery, or no timelines at all in some circumstances, and let fishery councils use alternative standards for measuring the health of a fishery.

The legislation, which passed in a 222-193 vote, is supported by recreational fishing groups and opposed by conservationists and major commercial fishing organizations who argue that it would threaten sustainable fishing practices that have helped revitalize many important species.

“I’m proud to say that my bill protects our commercial and recreational fisheries’ interests and allow councils to do their jobs in a more streamlined and effective manner,” Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the bill’s sponsor, said on the House floor.

“This legislation is written for fishermen, to ensure that they are able to catch sustainable yields of fish for the communities,” he added. “It is critical for the protection of coastal communities and for allowing the stakeholders to be part of the management of fisheries.”

While Republicans applauded the success of the existing law, they also said it is time to add more “flexibility” for local officials, and argued the bill wouldn’t threaten fisheries.

Read the full story at The Hill

Federal fisheries law could see changes

July 5, 2018 — The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill this week that has pitted sport-fishing interests against environmentalists.

It’s called the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, or H.R. 200. Also referred to as the Modern Fish Act, a vote on the bill was delayed about a week ago.

Its author, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, says the measure would update and improve the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law that guides federal fisheries regulators.

Young and supporters of his bill contend contend federal regulations, improper science and poor management decisions have hampered anglers’ access to U.S. fisheries.

“America’s fisheries are governed by an outdated regulatory scheme and inflexible decrees imposed by distant bureaucrats,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said after the panel advanced the measure in December. “Fishermen and biologists on the ground should be partners in the formation of management plans, not powerless onlookers.”

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

U.S. House set to vote on key fisheries bill Tuesday

June 25, 2018 — A hotly debated bill that would revamp the key law that governs how the federal government manages fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere off the nation’s coast is headed for a vote Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It’s called the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, or H.R. 200. It’s also referred to as the Modern Fish Act.

Its author, Rep. Don Young, says the bill would update and improve the Magnuson Stevens Act, the primary law that guides federal fisheries regulators.

“Reauthorizing the MSA will ensure a proper balance between the biological needs of fish stocks and the economic needs of fishermen and coastal communities,” Young said after the House Natural Resources Committee approved his bill in December. “MSA has not been reauthorized since 2006. It is long past time for this Congress to act and support our nation’s fisheries.”

Sport-fishing groups support the bill, saying it would give greater flexibility to states and regional boards to manage fisheries off their coasts and could lead to greater access for anglers.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

NFI’s Connelly: NOAA’s silence giving rise in US to third-party certifiers

June 11, 2018 — John Connelly, the president of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), used his opportunity in front of US representative Rob Bishop, chairman of the House’s Natural Resources Committee, to light a fire under the federal government’s top fisheries regulator to better promote its quality work.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) “regulation of seafood sets a global standard for success, but it needs to do a better job of explaining that”, said Connelly, whose group most significantly represents seafood processors, wholesalers and importers, according to a statement.

“…Communicating about its successes raises NOAA’s profile, while a sea of third-party certifiers jockey for recognition in the commercial landscape,” he continued.

“Fisheries managed by NOAA shouldn’t need a third party to come in and certify that they’re doing a good job. We spend more than 800 million taxpayer dollars on fisheries management annually, the least NOAA can do is talk about it.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fishermen call for defense of science-based fishery management

June 7, 2018 — Fishermen from across the United States have set up shop in Washington this week for Capitol Hill Ocean Week 2018, and the message they’re sending to lawmakers is: Defend science-based fishery management policies.

Ocean Week is an annual conference where stakeholders meet in the nation’s capital to discuss policy issues that affect the oceans and Great Lakes. The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation organizes the event and brings together stakeholders for high level discussions on these issues.

This year’s conference comes the Magnuson-Stevens act comes up for reauthorization. Some lawmakers have taken the opportunity to propose changes to fishery management policies, such as allowing states to have more flexibility and say in managing their plans.

However, one group of commercial fishermen are hoping that federal officials stick to science-based management plans. They note NOAA Fisheries’ most recent report to Congress that indicates the number of stocks on the overfished list is at 35, an all-time low. In addition, 44 stocks have been rebuilt since 2000.

“This latest report reaffirms that the Magnuson-Stevens Act is working,” said John Pappalardo, FCC President and CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. “But there is much work to do, and reversing course would be a grave mistake. Congress must continue to invest in fisheries science to ensure we have the data on which to base important management decisions and resist shortsighted efforts to undermine key Magnuson-Stevens Act accountability provisions.”

Among the meetings that took place on Wednesday 6 June was a roundtable meeting held by U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, with seafood industry leaders.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Bill’s changes would allow industrial-scale oyster farming in N.C.

June 6, 2018 — Should oyster farming in North Carolina be a cottage industry or marine industrial operations owned by nonresident corporations?

That is the question facing legislators working on changes to the state’s oyster aquaculture statutes enacted in 2017.

Senate Bill 738, sponsored by Sen. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort, Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow and Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, drew strong opinions when it was discussed on May 30 at a meeting of the Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee co-chaired by Cook and Sanderson.

The meeting was announced late the afternoon before and caught many by surprise because the bill is still assigned to the Rules Committee.

Proposed changes include removing the residency requirement and allowing individuals or companies to own up to a total of 300 acres in water column/bottom leases. Now, individual leases can range from .5 acre to 10 acres.

Oyster aquaculture consists of suspending bags or cages of oysters in the water column while they grow to an acceptable size. Traditional oyster leases involve leasing the bottom and planting oyster shells to attract spat — baby oysters.

In a rare instance of unity, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) and commercial fishermen attended the meeting to voice objections to lifting the residency requirement and the increase in total leases from 50 to 300 acres.

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice

Sustainable Shark Alliance Condemn Fin Ban, Push For Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act

April 18, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Should shark fin sales be banned in the U.S.? That’ the current debate.

On Tuesday members of the Sustainable Shark Alliance (SSA) testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans to support legislation that would promote shark conservation and oppose the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.

As we previously reported, chefs and restaurant owners from over 30 states have sent a letter to Congress asking that they pass the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2017, which would ban the trade of shark fins nationwide. Shark finning is often cruel and wasteful, with some fishermen discarding the sharks at sea after cutting off their fins. Those sharks often drown, bleed to death, or get eaten alive by other fish.

The SSA is supporting the Sustainable Shark and Fisheries Trade Act (SSFTA), which would “incentivize” other nations to meet the same high standards of sustainability that U.S. shark fishermen follow.

“The SSFTA creates an incentive for other nations to end shark finning and meet the same high standards for marine conservation which the United States holds its fishermen,” SSA member and fisherman John Polston told the House Natural Resources Committee. “This bill recognizes the sacrifices our fishermen have made, and continue to make, to rebuild domestic shark populations by leveling the playing field with our foreign competitors.”

Dr. Robert Hueter, Director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory, added that the SSFTA would stop the importing and consumption of unsustainably fished shark on American soil, but not completely ban the sale of shark fins. The argument is that banning the sale of shark fins hurts U.S. fishermen who sustainably harvest and sell shark fins and other shark products.

“This bill punishes me and others in the shark fishery by taking away an important income source, undoubtedly pushing some small businesses into unprofitability,” said Polston. “It is an insult to American fishermen who have been required to give so much for decades to create a sustainable fishery.”

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

House Bill Threatens To Bury U.S. Fisheries Under Redundant Regulation

April 18, 2018 — A bill before the House would ban the sale of shark fins — considered a delicacy in many Asian cultures — to stop the already illegal practice of shark finning.

Shark finning is the practice of catching sharks and cutting off their fins, often while the animal is still alive, then throwing the body of shark back into the ocean. The practice has been outlawed for 18 years in the U.S.

California Democratic Rep. Edward Royce authored the bill to ban fin sales and defended his proposal Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans — one of the six subcommittees under the Committee on Natural Resources.

“The bill does not prohibit shark fishing. The proposal builds on previous congressional action targeting the shark fin trade, and it mirrors similar state level bans.” GOP Rep. Edward Royce of California told the committee. “It makes an awful lot of sense economically.”

At the top of the food chain, sharks are often the predators of the predators — sharks defend fish lower on the food chain by killing others that hunt them. Fishermen catch the fish sharks indirectly save, fueling the fishing industry, Royce argued.

Read the full story at the Daily Caller

 

62 Shark Scientists Endorse Bipartisan Shark Sustainability Bill

April 17, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the Wildlife Conservation Society:

Ahead of a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on various shark conservation bills, 62 marine scientists with expertise on sharks and rays submitted a letter to the committee calling for passage of the H.R. 5248, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act.

The scientists urge a science-based approach to fisheries conservation and management, as prescribed by H.R. 5248, to significantly reduce the overfishing and unsustainable trade of sharks, rays, and skates around the world and prevent shark finning.

The letter states, “Although it is not the largest importer of shark products, the U.S. is a major shark and skate fishing and exporting country and therefore can lead in both modeling and promoting sustainable shark fisheries management and responsible trade for these species. Continuing to exercise this leadership can help to reverse the declining trend in many shark, skate, and ray populations around the world. We heartily endorse the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act of 2018 and strongly urge its prompt passage by Congress.”

The 62 signatories come from research institutions, conservation organizations, and academia. This group also includes 12 past presidents of the American Elasmobranch Society.

Read the full release here