Saving Seafood

REPS LIEU AND HUFFMAN ANNOUNCE LAUNCH OF CALIFORNIA COASTAL CAUCUS

August 23, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA):

Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02) announced the launch of the Congressional California Coastal Caucus at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. The caucus will bring together members of the California House delegation to share and discuss federal policy to address matters of importance to the 840-mile California coast, including issues relating to the environment and economy. Congressman Lieu and Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26) will serve as co-chairs of the caucus. Additional members of the caucus include U.S. Representatives Eric Swalwell, Nanette Barragan, Alan Lowenthal, Jimmy Panetta, Jared Huffman, Mike Levin, Ro Khanna, Jackie Speier, Salud Carbajal, Barbara Lee, and Anna Eshoo.

Congressmembers Lieu and Huffman participated in a tour of The Marine Mammal Center, followed by a roundtable discussion moderated by Carol Costello with Dr. Jeff Boehm, Chief Executive Officer of The Marine Mammal Center, and Dr. Cara Field, Medical Director of The Marine Mammal Center, on the importance of the ocean in the fight against climate change.

“I am thrilled to announce the launch of the California Coastal Caucus, and grateful to The Marine Mammal Center for hosting us today to discuss the importance of our oceans and marine life,” said Co-Chair Rep. Lieu. “California is home to 840 miles of Pacific coastline and has the highest coastal population in the nation with over 26 million people living in coastal counties. The ocean is critically important to the people I represent in CA-33, as it provides work, food, and enjoyment to my constituents. Tragically, our oceans, marine life, beaches, and coastlines are in grave danger due to the existential threat of climate change. Now is the time for bold action. I’m pleased to join my co-chair, Representative Brownley, and Representative Huffman today to announce the formation of the California Coastal Caucus and look forward to working together to develop policies to effectively address a host of coastal issues and support our oceans.”

“As representative of Ventura County with its 42 miles of coastline, I am proud to join the California Coastal Caucus, which will focus legislative efforts on the myriad of challenges and issues facing coastal communities,” said Co-Chair Rep. Brownley. “From rising oceans, which threaten local community infrastructure, to ocean acidification and pollution, which threaten our local fisheries and tourism industries, Congress must tackle coastal policy head-on.  The Coastal Caucus will provide us an opportunity to work together – across the various committees that we each sit on – to advance policy that will protect our coastlines for future generations.”

“California’s scenic coastline is admired around the world, and I have the honor of representing – and working to protect – some of the most beautiful parts of it on the North Coast. Our state has long been a national leader in the ocean and environment space, and those lucky enough to represent coastal districts like mine have a responsibility to continue setting an example for the rest of the country,” said Rep. Huffman. “The California Coastal Caucus will be a platform for addressing coastal issues our state will face, many of which are driven by the climate crisis. The Caucus will provide a space where members, stakeholder groups, and constituents can discuss these issues, identify solutions, and determine a swift course of action. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Caucus on these pressing issues.”

“The Marine Mammal Center serves as the primary responder for 600 miles of the 840-mile California coastline, rescuing up to 1,800 marine mammals annually. As the caretakers of over two-thirds of the California coast, we intimately know the important role that our ocean has in the fight against climate change, which makes the California Coastal Caucus incredibly important,” said Dr. Jeff Boehm, CEO of The Marine Mammal Center. “The Center has been a strong advocate for the creation of the caucus. We appreciate Representatives Lieu, Brownley and Huffman as well as our entire Congressional delegation for focusing on such a crucial part of California’s ecology and economy – the California coastline.”

Read the full release here

US lawmakers want information on chemical toxic to salmon

August 20, 2021 — More than a dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to the heads of NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife on Thursday, 19 August, asking them to investigate the effect a toxic chemical has on salmon species.

Led by U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Katie Porter, both Califiornia Democrats, a total of 14 lawmakers are seeking answers from NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad and FWS Principal Deputy Director Martha Williams about their agencies’ efforts to examine the deleterious effects of 6PPD-quinone on wild salmon mortality.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CALIFORNIA: US Interior secretary touts Humboldt County offshore wind project

August 13, 2021 — Federal and state officials gathered at Woodley Island in Eureka on Tuesday to highlight Humboldt County’s promising future as a leader in offshore wind energy, a move that would bring thousands of jobs to the Humboldt Bay region.

Joined by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory and California Energy Commissioner Karen Douglas, North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman praised the Biden administration’s effort to pursue offshore wind energy in California.

“We’re getting it done here in California — that’s one of the most exciting things in the face of this daunting climate crisis,” Huffman said. “It is a big deal that today on Humboldt Bay we are being visited by the top environmental officials in the United States of America.”

Standing before Woodley Island’s iconic “Fisherman” statue after a tour of Humboldt Bay on the Madaket, Haaland said she was “thrilled to have the opportunity to see the excitement surrounding the future of this area.”

Read the full story at The Times-Standard

Huffman-sponsored bill seeks grant funding to restore kelp forests

August 10, 2021 — A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman to protect marine ecosystems in northern California recently got its first hearing in a subcommittee he chairs.

The California Democrat included H.R. 4458, the Keeping Ecosystems Living and Productive (KELP) Act, before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife during a 29 July hearing. The bill calls for creating a new grant program within NOAA to fund projects to restore kelp forests. It calls for USD 50 million (EUR 42.6 million) in funding annually from the 2022 fiscal year, which starts on 1 October, 2021, through fiscal year 2026.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US anti-IUU bill would expand SIMP to cover all imported seafood

August 9, 2021 — A recent committee meeting started the discussions on a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and slave labor in the seafood supply chain.

The bill, H.R. 3075, was covered during a recent meeting of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. It would enact the expansion of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to cover all seafood and seafood products – the program, initiated in 2016, originally included tuna, king crab, blue crab, red snapper, Pacific and Atlantic cod, dolphinfish, grouper, sea cucumber, swordfish, and sharks in its coverage requirements, with shrimp added in 2019.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization: “Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act” Introduced

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.

Read the full story at Seafood News

US Representative Don Young, industry groups “welcome” bill to reauthorize Magnuson-Stevens Act

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Interview: Huffman launches Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization

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.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

US Representative Jared Huffman files bill to reauthorize Magnuson-Stevens Act

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.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

For first time, U.S. fishing law could include climate focus

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.

Read the full story at E&E News