July 28, 2021 — Last Friday the long-awaited “Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act”, a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), was introduced by Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Ed Case (D-HI). Huffman is chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee, within the House Natural Resources Committee.
This is the first time the MSA, the preeminent law on the management of the nations fisheries from 3- to 200-miles, has addressed climate change.
July 27, 2021 — In the moments on Monday, 26 July, after U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman officially announced the filing of a bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, statements supporting the legislation started to flow out from the press offices of seafood and fishing interest groups and environmental non-governmental organizations.
Conservation groups lauded H.R. 4690, sponsored by the California Democrat and U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii). In particular, those organizations appreciated the recognition of climate change as a factor in fishing.
July 27, 2021 — Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Ed Case (D-Hawaii) introduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act, a bill to amend and reauthorize the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, on Monday, July 26.
Some of the most significant updates include mandating assessments for fisheries’ climate readiness at the council level, changing the term “overfished” to “depleted,” streamlining access to disaster relief funds, increasing funds to support seafood marketing and working waterfronts, and improving flexibility on rebuilding timelines for certain stocks.
“We’re not just reauthorizing a really important law. We’re trying to reset a really important process,” Huffman told National Fisherman. “Through our stakeholder-driven, science-based approach, we have crafted legislation that rises to the challenges of the 21st century and includes critical updates to this landmark law,” he added in a release with the legislation on Monday.
Huffman, who serves as chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, conducted a yearlong tour consisting of eight listening sessions at fishing ports on every coast of the country. He and Case, a subcommittee member, introduced a discussion draft of the reauthorization in December.
The revamped bill incorporates more changes following feedback on the draft. Huffman, Case and their staffs took additional input from stakeholders and industry leaders in the intervening months to ensure that the bill meets the needs of the industry while also propelling fishery management into the modern era and allowing flexibility for each region to manage fisheries based on local needs.
July 26, 2021 — U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) announced on Monday 26 July, 2021, that he introduced a reauthorization bill for the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law that oversees fishery management in the United States.
In a statement, Huffman said it’s time for a new reauthorization of the landmark legislation because of changes within the industry and the challenges it faces.
July 26, 2021 — A long-awaited overhaul of the nation’s primary fishing law would require NOAA to devise plans for “climate ready fisheries” to deal with shifting stocks, under a bill expected to be introduced later today.
If approved, it would mark the first time that climate change received a mention in the landmark Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which Congress first passed in 1976.
The law, which has not been reauthorized since 2006, governs fishing in all federal waters. It would be revamped under legislation sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the chair of a House subcommittee that oversees fisheries.
Huffman, who conducted a two-year national “listening tour” to collect ideas on how to change the law, plans to introduce his bill this afternoon.
“When Magnuson was written and reauthorized, most, if not all, of the climate impacts that fishery managers are dealing with were not contemplated,” Huffman said in an interview on Friday. “It’s one of the biggest changes.”
Huffman said his bill, called the “Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act,” will otherwise include no “radical or dramatic changes.”
“We set out to modernize and fine-tune and improve a statute that is universally revered by most stakeholders and experts — it’s not like this is something that was terribly broken,” said Huffman, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife.
June 4, 2021 — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) on May 11 introduced a bipartisan bill to end foreign Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, which he says is negatively impacting America’s fisheries, particularly in his home state of Louisiana.
“Generations of Louisiana’s fishing families have made our state one of the top seafood producers in the country. The combination of great chefs and our seafood has resulted in Louisiana being a foodie destination,” Rep. Graves said. “However, hurricanes, government regulations, the pandemic and unfair competition from foreign fishing fleets are threatening the future of these hard-working men and women and threatening the sustainability of fisheries around the globe.
“It has evolved from an environmental issue to an economic issue to a national security issue,” he said.
The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, H.R. 3075, which Rep. Graves introduced with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), would establish monitoring and detection programs to identify and prevent IUU fisheries from unfair competition with United States domestic fishing boats, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Graves’ office.
May 17, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):
North Coast Congressman joined a subcommittee hearing on Thursday on protecting coastal communities and ocean resources from offshore drilling, which included consideration of his legislation, the North Pacific Ocean Protection Act.
Huffman said the bill would prohibit new oil and gas leases off the coasts of Northern and Central California, Oregon, and Washington, ensuring a sustainable future for coastal communities and the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in wages that depend on healthy oceans and coasts.
“We are not going to sacrifice the scenic, economic, tourism, cultural, and environmental values of our coastal regions at the altar of short-term profits for the fossil fuel industry. The risks of offshore drilling for our ocean-dependent economies and for marine ecosystems is not even close to worth it for us,” Rep. Huffman said during the hearing. “The bills we’re considering today go hand in hand with other necessary actions to reduce emissions and invest in renewable energy all while reducing risks and making sure that our coasts are clean, safe, and available to all Americans, not a sacrifice zone for the fossil fuel industry. Now we have an administration that gets it, and they are putting forward thoughtful, comprehensive solutions. But administrations can change, and we saw that during the last four years — what it means when an administration has a reckless drill everywhere agenda. We should not leave this to chance. Our oceans, our fisheries, our coastal communities and economies, and our planet are too important to put at risk.”
Read the full press release:
House Natural Resources Committee Holds Hearing on Huffman’s Bill to Ban Offshore Drilling
Legislation would protect North Pacific Coast, Communities from Offshore Drilling Risks
Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) joined a subcommittee hearing on protecting coastal communities and ocean resources from offshore drilling, which included consideration of his legislation, H.R. 3048, the North Pacific Ocean Protection Act. This bill would prohibit new oil and gas leases off the coasts of Northern and Central California, Oregon, and Washington, ensuring a sustainable future for coastal communities and the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in wages that depend on healthy oceans and coasts.
Representative Huffman has led the charge to protect the entire West Coast as well as the Arctic Ocean from offshore drilling. In 2015, Rep Huffman first introduced his West Coast Ocean Protection Act to permanently protect the California, Oregon, and Washington coasts by amending the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit new oil or natural gas leases in each state’s outer continental shelves and permanently protect the $44 billion coastal economies of the three states.
Rep. Huffman has led several other key pieces of legislation to shepherd permanent protections for the West Coast, including:
“We are not going to sacrifice the scenic, economic, tourism, cultural, and environmental values of our coastal regions at the altar of short-term profits for the fossil fuel industry. The risks of offshore drilling for our ocean-dependent economies and for marine ecosystems is not even close to worth it for us,” Rep. Huffman said during the hearing. “The bills we’re considering today go hand in hand with other necessary actions to reduce emissions and invest in renewable energy all while reducing risks and making sure that our coasts are clean, safe, and available to all Americans, not a sacrifice zone for the fossil fuel industry. Now we have an administration that gets it, and they are putting forward thoughtful, comprehensive solutions. But administrations can change, and we saw that during the last four years — what it means when an administration has a reckless drill everywhere agenda. We should not leave this to chance. Our oceans, our fisheries, our coastal communities and economies, and our planet are too important to put at risk.”
“Permanently protecting our coasts from dirty and dangerous drilling is a crucial step toward addressing the climate crisis and protecting millions of jobs nationwide that rely on a clean coast economy,” said Oceana Campaign Director Diane Hoskins. “Oceana applauds Congressman Huffman for introducing the North Pacific Ocean Protection Act, which would permanently protect the waters off of Central and Northern California, as well as Oregon and Washington from new oil drilling. From toxic oil spills to accelerated climate devastation, we cannot afford any new offshore drilling. We must permanently end new leasing for offshore drilling and transition to clean, renewable energy sources like offshore wind to create jobs and power our clean energy future.”
“The North Pacific Ocean Protection Act will ensure that the Washington, Oregon and Northern and Central California coastal environments, economies and ways of life will be protected from the harmful effects of offshore oil and gas development. The Surfrider Foundation strongly endorses HR 3048 and urges members of Congress to support this and other legislation to permanently ban new offshore drilling in U.S. water,” said Pete Stauffer, Environmental Director, Surfrider Foundation
“Offshore drilling and leasing are not compatible with President Biden’s climate goal of protecting 30 percent of our lands and 30 percent of our waters by 2030, for a safe, livable future. We need to protect our coastal economies, stop pollution and spills from damaging fragile coastal ecosystems, and fight climate change. That’s why the Sierra Club continues to oppose any leasing or drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and wholeheartedly supports this legislation,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program.
“This bill is exactly what is needed now to safeguard our coastal economy, restaurant and fishing jobs, and the health of our oceans. We can’t afford to subject our coastline or our country to more industrial pollution and the ever-present threat of another BP-style disaster,” said Irene Gutierrez, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council.
May 14, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):
A bipartisan bill introduced this week seeks to end slavery and human rights abuses in the international seafood supply chain and fight illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, commonly known as IUU fishing.
“IUU fishing is an environmental and humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. should be a global leader in solving it,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife and sponsor of the bill, H.R. 3075, called the “Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act.”
“Illegal fishing operations damage ocean ecosystems and healthy fisheries, and are often the same ones that rely on atrocious, illegal practices like human trafficking and forced labor,” added Huffman, who introduced the bill Tuesday with Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.).
Among other things, the bill would expand NOAA’s seafood import monitoring program to cover all species and increase data requirements for monitoring, including the consideration of labor conditions and improved detection of imports deemed to be at risk of IUU fishing.
Last year, the Government Accountability Office criticized U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials for not doing enough to stop the use of slaves and illegal labor practices in the seafood industry.
Customs works with officials at the seafood import monitoring program and others to find seafood that has been illegally produced (E&E News PM, June 18, 2020).
The focus on the issue has grown in Congress in recent years, with the U.S. importing nearly 90% of its seafood.
In 2016, the Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a series of stories that exposed the use of slaves in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia. The stories showed how the seafood ended up in U.S. supermarkets. After the 18-month investigation, more than 2,000 slaves were freed.
The Huffman-Graves bill would also establish new seafood traceability and labelling requirements, increase outreach on seafood safety and fraud issues, and seek to improve both seafood inspections and the federal enforcement of seafood fraud.
Another provision in the bill would expand the authority of U.S. officials to revoke port privileges for any fishing vessel associated with IUU fishing.
“Our new legislation tackles IUU fishing to protect human lives, promote responsible fishing around the world, and level the playing field for U.S. fishermen,” Huffman said in a statement.
“Not only do we need to ensure an ethical seafood supply chain, but we also need to stop IUU products from entering our markets and competing with those who follow the rules and who keep our domestic fishing industry sustainable.”
Up to a third of the annual global seafood catch, or as much as 56 billion pounds, is the product of IUU fishing, according to estimates.
In the United States, a report by the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2019 found nearly 11% of the nation’s total seafood imports — worth $24 billion — were the products of illegal or unreported fishing.
That report also found that if those IUU imports were eliminated, U.S. fishers would increase their income by nearly $61 million per year.
“The United States can close our markets to illegally sourced seafood, and this bill offers a promising pathway to level the playing field for U.S. fishermen, protect workers at sea and prevent seafood fraud,” said Beth Lowell, deputy vice president of U.S. campaigns for Oceana, one of a handful of organizations that endorsed the bill.
Fisheries research
Separately, Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young introduced H.R. 3128, a bill that would establish the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, a panel that would aid in the awarding of federal grants for fisheries research and development.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee yesterday approved its version of the legislation, S. 497, the “American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act,” sponsored by Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) (Greenwire, May 12).
May 13, 2021 — North Coast Congressional Rep. Jared Huffman on Tuesday introduced legislation to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
In a press release, Huffman said the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Act would also address human rights abuses in the seafood supply chain.
“This legislation would link IUU fishing to forced labor in the seafood supply chain and make seafood import monitoring more effective,” the release said. “It would also increase transparency and traceability from catch to plate, strengthen enforcement against IUU fishing and forced labor, improve interagency cooperation, and increase pressure on other countries to tackle IUU fishing and human rights abuses.”
Huffman, chair of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, introduced the bill along with Rep. Garret Graves, a republican congressman of Louisiana.
“IUU fishing is an environmental and humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. should be a global leader in solving it,” Rep. Huffman said via the press release. “Illegal fishing operations damage ocean ecosystems and healthy fisheries, and are often the same ones that rely on atrocious, illegal practices like human trafficking and forced labor. Our new legislation tackles IUU fishing to protect human lives, promote responsible fishing around the world, and level the playing field for U.S. fishermen. Not only do we need to ensure an ethical seafood supply chain, but we also need to stop IUU products from entering our markets and competing with those who follow the rules and who keep our domestic fishing industry sustainable.”
May 12, 2021 — Two U.S. congressmen have filed legislation that would expand the role of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to include all species, including shrimp.
U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-California) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) unveiled the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act on Tuesday, 11 May. The purpose of the legislation is to better connect illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing to forced labor practices in the seafood trade, and to bolster the effectiveness of SIMP.