Saving Seafood

RODA statement on considerations for the Biden Administration from the fishing industry and coastal communities

January 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

The United States commercial fishing industry is united around the common goals of protecting our traditional fishing communities, maintaining domestic food security, and leading with evidence-based decision making during an era of rapidly changing ocean use. We are encouraged by the new Administration’s commitment to inclusivity and environmental science. We look forward to improving partnerships between lawmakers, policymakers, and fisheries experts to protect and promote this low-environmental impact protein source, which leads the world in sustainability through the rigorous fisheries management and conservation requirements of the Magnuson Stevens Act.

It is imperative that our elected officials support and adopt policies to minimize and mitigate the effects of climate change; the strategies to do so must equally address the pressing issues of food production, ecosystem health, and preserving cultural heritage. As evidenced by his Agency nominations and recent Executive Order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” we are encouraged that the President is taking a measured approach. We applaud leadership and processes that underscore the value of science-based collaboration with members of small communities who are most impacted by natural resource management decisions.

Offshore Renewable Energy Development

The Administration has made clear its commitment to address climate change, which is a matter of critical importance to seafood harvesters adapting to the effects of ecosystem changes every day. The rapid advancement of large offshore wind energy facilities to meet climate goals places our nation at the dawn of a new era of ocean industrialization. While mitigating carbon emissions is urgent and necessary, so is protecting and prioritizing domestic sourcing of sustainable, affordable, and healthy protein. This necessitates evaluating the most efficient means of reducing atmospheric carbon while minimizing impacts to biodiversity and the economy.

Fishing communities stand ready and willing to incorporate their unique expertise in the country’s transition to renewable energy but there must be meaningful ways for them to do so. Three key topics must be addressed to ensure responsible planning for the unprecedented demands that are anticipated to be placed on our oceans.

1. Improving regional research efforts and scientific understanding of offshore infrastructure projects

Development of the Outer Continental Shelf should only be done in a purposeful planned manner utilizing the best available science. Our scientific understanding of impacts from offshore wind energy development is improving, but there is far more unknown about how development will alter the physical, biological, economic and social dimensions of the marine environment.

Evidence-based planning is necessary to understand and minimize impacts, and currently that does not exist for the proposed scale of development to proceed responsibly. For commercial fishermen, it is extremely worrisome to see the push for a new industry that jeopardizes a sustainable and historic one without rigorous scientific due diligence. Such diligence must apply to transparent information about the environmental and economic effects associated with the entire offshore renewable energy supply chain, from mining rare earth minerals for battery components to turbine production to maritime traffic to decommissioning.

Currently, there is no balancing of priorities in offshore renewable energy permitting decisions. Promises to achieve production targets for offshore wind energy based solely on climate goals will significantly impact other public needs such as food production, tourism, and national security. Such targets, if adopted, must be accompanied by a comprehensive roadmap for evaluating tradeoffs and should not be pursued before the creation of balanced multi-use ocean plans. These must include funding for environmental research and compensatory mitigation for impacted sectors.

2. Enhanced interstate coordination and a clear delineation of authorities within federal agencies

Some of the biggest challenges around offshore renewable energy development are due to a lack of consistency in the leasing and planning processes, nonexistent or inconsistent engagement opportunities, and poor integration between planning and permitting authorities.

Regional issues associated with environmental and fisheries impacts require appropriate federal oversight. The current approach results in widespread duplication of efforts, inconsistency and inequity, misplaced interstate competition, and overall unpredictability. To help address the lack of coordination of regional research, RODA co-founded the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance with federal and state entities, offshore wind energy developers, and expert fisheries scientists to serve as a trusted regional coordinating entity. The Administration should reward the collaboration on this innovative public-private partnership and utilize it as a resource for improved coordination.

Responsibilities for the various federal agencies involved is often unclear. A clarification of the roles for these entities is urgently needed and regulatory authority should be returned to agencies with most expertise in the relevant aspects of environmental review.

We look forward to an incoming Commerce Secretary who can bring her expertise and knowledge of coordinating numerous federal, state and local agencies, as well as community members and regional partners together through her experience with the Block Island Wind Farm. As governor, Ms. Raimondo witnessed first hand the time and dedication required for effective collaboration and the complex links of offshore wind energy with the U.S. economy.

3. Facilitation of industry to industry cooperation

As users who will inevitably share the ocean space, regulations, and potential workforce, it is paramount that industry to industry cooperation improves between offshore wind energy development and fishing. Currently this is very difficult to achieve and would benefit from regulatory incentives or direct federal involvement.

RODA has worked to bring industries together through its Joint Industry Task Force and fishing industry leaders are committed to direct engagement when assured those efforts can bear fruit. Small collaborative projects and communication have added value to the process, but not enough resources have been committed to truly catalyze the industries working together in a meaningful way. Absent resources and in a regulatory atmosphere that strongly favors one party, progress is difficult. To be effective, support must be directed to fisheries-driven efforts, not just wind-organized ones. Similarly, some wind developers have expended far more effort than others to work with affected communities in good faith. Incentives to do so must be greatly expanded.

“30×30”

The Presidential Memorandum on scientific integrity must extend to implementation of science-based recommendations for conservation and environmental protection. We are encouraged by the Administration’s commitment to collect input from stakeholders in the “30×30” provisions included in the Executive Order on climate change, which implements a goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. waters by 2030. We echo the concern expressed by fishing communities and scientists across the country that arbitrary closures, or targets for the total area of closures, based on political negotiations rather than science could have greater negative impacts to ocean conservation than no closures at all.

For conservation measures to be beneficial, they must be carefully designed for specific outcomes such as enhancing ecosystem production, protecting sensitive habitat, or preserving fish spawning activity. The public and transparent fishery management council process is the appropriate way to ensure the best available science determines such design.  We must also be mindful that for a vast majority of Americans, the only access they have to the marine resources in U.S. oceans is a direct result of the U.S. fishing industry.  The Executive Order clearly states environmental and economic justice are important considerations in developing programs and policies. Reducing our abilities to provide U.S. seafood to disadvantaged communities would not further environmental and economic justice.

Support for the Buy American Initiative

The Biden Administration should champion the U.S. commercial fishing industry, which complies with a multitude of regulations to provide renewable protein to Americans across the country. U.S. fisheries are among the most sustainable around the world and constitute one of the lowest-carbon methods of food production. Too often we hear public misconceptions that wild harvest fisheries are on the verge of extinction or utilize destructive practices, but that is not true for U.S. based fisheries. Domestic fisheries are the most strictly regulated in the world and have rebounded extraordinarily from overfishing decades ago; failing to recognize their success only pushes consumers toward seafood from other markets with much looser environmental oversight. The coastal communities across the nation that support our fishing heritage must be protected and celebrated.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and staggering unemployment rates, efforts to promote jobs should be maximized across all maritime sectors and ensure that any new coastal uses benefit the U.S. economy and Americans. RODA calls on the Biden administration to work with fishing companies and crews, offshore wind supply chains, unions, and workforce development programs to create robust mechanisms that create and maintain jobs across all maritime trades.

Complementary to this, offshore wind energy development should be the poster industry for the President’s “Buy American” initiative. Current infrastructure in the U.S. does not support the manufacturing or installation of offshore wind turbine components and thus energy development companies are poised to purchase from foreign countries. For example, GE Renewable Energy, a main supplier of wind turbines and turbine parts, recently opened a new offshore wind and development center in China. The Administration should support American labor by requiring turbines, monopiles and blades be manufactured here in the U.S., ensuring that they meet our world-class environmental standards.

As small business owners reliant upon a healthy U.S. environment, our members look forward to working with the President’s appointments for the Secretaries of Commerce, Interior, and Labor. Their experience working with small communities, including coastal and fishing communities, will prove vital as we tackle some of the biggest issues facing our nation. We also look forward to working with the entire Administration on protecting and promoting sustainable U.S. seafood. RODA is committed to helping our members stay on the water and will continue to advocate for protecting the important heritage of the fishing industry and coastal communities across the country.

Biden’s “30 by 30” order could close-off 30 percent of US ocean to fishing

January 27, 2021 — The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced on 27 January that the president plans to sign an executive order that commits to a “30 by 30” goal first envisioned in the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act that was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.

The “30 by 30” plan aims to commit 30 percent of lands and oceans to conservation by 2030, which in the House version of the bill entails a complete ban on “commercial extractive use” in areas of the ocean conserved. The planned executive order, according to a White House statement, is intended to “tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fishing industry moves to head off Northeast canyons monument reversal

January 27, 2021 — Northeast fishing advocates mobilized as President Biden moved fast to reverse executive orders from the Trump administration — possibly including Trump’s move to back off fishing restrictions in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument.

Biden ordered a broad review of more than 100 actions by the Trump administration on environmental issues, including the former president’s attempts to alter national monuments. Fishing advocates moved to get in early and persuade the new administration that the U.S. fisheries management system that’s been in place for more than 40 years can handle protecting the Northeast offshore habitat without executive intervention.

“We kind of saw it coming, and we sent letters off to politicians,” said Jim Budi, who owns a swordfish and tuna longline vessel that works out of New Bedford, Mass. “We had great fishing there this year. If it wasn’t for that, we’d be in the red.”

Environmental groups pushed Biden on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, to reinstate the Obama administration’s offshore monument declaration, with its potential to foreclose most fishing at the edge of the continental shelf.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Major U.S. offshore wind project asks Biden administration to restart permitting

January 26, 2021 — Vineyard Wind, the developer of the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, said on Monday it has asked the Biden administration to restart its permitting process after former President Donald Trump’s government abruptly canceled it last month.

The company said in a statement it had notified the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that the project would not need to change its construction plan as a result of switching to a new turbine supplier, General Electric Co.

Last month, Vineyard Wind had requested a pause in the federal permitting process while it determined whether changes to its design were necessary, prompting the BOEM to terminate its entire review.

Read the full story at Reuters

The national security imperative to tackle illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing

January 26, 2021 — Over the last few years illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has become more recognized as a national security concern. At first glance, fish hardly seem to be on par with other cutting edge national security issues — cyber, space, artificial intelligence, drones, nuclear proliferation, and perhaps most importantly the return of strategic competition now commonly referred to “great” power rivalry (although perhaps not for long). But in the years to come, make no mistake, fishin’ may indeed become an increasingly important mission for the United States and its security partners and allies around the world, and most certainly those in the Indo-Pacific.

To succeed in this mission, the Biden administration should lean on the U.S. Coast Guard to do what it does best, especially in the Pacific, where Chinese fishing fleets do double-duty as maritime militias that threaten and intimidate the fishers from neighboring nations. The administration should also continue to develop counter-IUU bilateral agreements, including those that may allow prosecuting masters of vessels that commit “grave breaches.” It may also need to make a hard choice between partnering with China’s neighbors, or with China itself, to best address this threat.

Fishing, a $401 billion global industry, provides 20% of the protein intake for nearly half of the world’s population, and global fish consumption has been on the rise for almost 60 years. Yet 93% of the world’s fish stocks are fully exploited, overexploited, or significantly depleted, and global climate change is adversely affecting stocks.

Read the full story at the Brookings Institute

LINDA BEHNKEN: Biden administration should steer clear of environmental colonialism

January 26, 2021 — In the next few weeks, the Biden administration is expected to take sweeping climate action as promised. The president has already done so on day one, including laudable actions such as rejoining the Paris Agreement and promulgating systematic review of Trump administration environmental rollbacks.

But very soon, we expect to see an executive order advancing an initiative called “30×30″ (pronounced ‘thirty-by-thirty’) that calls for the protection of 30% of the world’s oceans to commercial extractive use by 2030. For Americans, this could mean sealing off our access to an area of the ocean larger than Texas off the continental U.S. and Alaska. The move is staggering in its scope, and it could do severe harm to fishing communities.

Let me be clear: Commercial fishermen are on the front lines of climate change, and we have been calling for meaningful climate action for years. We support reductions in carbon emissions globally, and our organization has worked to reduce the Southeast Alaska fleet’s emissions. Nationally, we have led the world in our sustainable fisheries management, including prohibiting bottom trawling in more than 76% of our oceans already, without the need for blanket prohibitions. We proudly provide sustainable high-quality protein to both domestic and foreign markets, and this year provided over 400,000 seafood meals for free to families in need to address regional food insecurity. Despite all this, fisheries stakeholders have had no meaningful opportunities whatsoever to engage in policy discussions around this initiative.

Read the full opinion piece at Anchorage Daily News

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

Biden administration moves to expand P-EBT, SNAP programs

January 22, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is increasing the Pandemic-EBT benefit and plans to further expand funding of its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), presenting significant new opportunities for seafood suppliers to sell their products to fulfill the program’s needs.

Soon after taking office, U.S. President Joe Biden raised the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) benefit by around 15 percent, according to USDA. The program connects low-income families with kids with food dollars equivalent to the value of the meals missed due to COVID-related school and childcare closures.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Biden plans review of national monuments, including Northeast Canyons and Seamounts

January 22, 2021 — Recently inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden announced – just hours after he was sworn in – that he plans to perform a review of the Trump administration’s actions regarding a number of national monuments, including the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument is the first national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, and one of just five marine monuments in the U.S. Located off the east coast, the monument was created in 2016 by U.S. President Barack Obama and encompasses 4,913 square miles of ocean.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Saving Seafood Statement on President Biden’s National Monuments Order

January 22, 2021 — Saving Seafood members believe that the lack of benefit from a prohibition on commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument, the harm to domestic sustainable seafood production and coastal communities, the lack of scientific evidence demonstrating any harm from decades of commercial fishing in the region, and the inherent unfairness of the Obama administration’s decision to ban commercial harvesting while permitting recreational fishing have already been well-documented in the press and reviewed by appropriate government agencies.

However, we appreciate that President Biden has requested a review of the Trump administration’s actions on the monument rather than issuing an immediate reversal. Our members look forward to discussing these issues with Rep. Deb Haaland as soon as she is confirmed as Interior Secretary, just as we met with Secretary Ryan Zinke and Secretary David Bernhardt.

Contrary to the dramatic tone of some press releases and online campaigns from conservation groups, the Trump administration action last June did nothing more than create parity between recreational and commercial fishing in the monument, allowing both recreational and commercial fishermen to harvest sustainably in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Magnuson-Stevens Act has been hailed by U.S. conservation groups and by international bodies as one of the most successful laws in the world for managing fisheries responsibly and sustainably.

Sustainable fishing has taken place in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area for decades. Conservation groups and proponents of the monument have described the area where fishing has taken place as “pristine.” There is no evidence that commercial fishing has ever damaged these canyons and seamounts or the corals and other marine life that exist there.

Our members have worked diligently with officials and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle since secret proposals for an Atlantic Marine Monument were revealed in emails between conservation groups and former Obama administration officials through a public records request in 2015.

The region now encompassed by the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument is important to the offshore lobster, red crab, and swordfish and tuna fisheries. And displacement of the offshore lobster fishery from their historic location would likely harm the highly successful and sustainable Atlantic scallop industry. We appreciated that the Obama administration recognized that an immediate closure would have serious negative consequences to the red crab and offshore lobster fisheries, and were grateful for the seven-year extension which allowed those fisheries to continue to operate. Unfortunately, no such extension was granted to commercial swordfish and tuna fishermen, who were harmed from the time the closure went into effect until last summer when parity and fairness were restored.

President Biden has vowed to make science a central theme of his administration. In an online briefing introducing his team of top five science advisors before the inauguration, he said, “As president, I’ll pay great attention” to science and scientists.

As long as the review ordered by President Biden is conducted fairly and honestly, and in accordance with science and data, we believe the results should be to continue to allow sustainable fishing, both commercial and recreational, under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.