Saving Seafood

Biden Signs Industry-Led American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act

May 16, 2022 — Yesterday morning President Biden signed into law Senate Bill 497 which creates an industry-led advisory committee within the Department of Commerce to assist in the awarding of fisheries research and development grants, including all Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) awards, and support the long-term vitality of American-caught seafood.

The law was passed overwhelmingly by both the House and Senate last month.

The S-K Act of 1954 established a program to provide funding for fisheries marketing, research, and development. The program is funded by a permanent appropriation of 30% of the previous calendar year’s customs receipts from imports of fish products. These funds have grown steadily from $26.7 million in 1980 to $182.8 million in 2020.

Read the full story at Seafood News

2nd Interior lease sale boosts N.C. offshore wind

May 13, 2022 — Developers bet big on the prospect of offshore wind in North Carolina yesterday in an auction that accelerates the momentum of the Biden administration’s offshore wind thrust — and proves the industry aims to grow its footprint in the southern Atlantic.

After an all-day bidding war, French oil giant TotalEnergies SE and southern utility Duke Energy Corp. pledged a combined $315 million for the right to raise turbines in the sea off the state’s coast.

The two lease areas sold yesterday by the Interior Department could support an estimated 1.3 gigawatts of wind power between them and total 110,000 acres in federal waters roughly 20 miles south of North Carolina’s Bald Head Island. That’s enough to potentially power a half-million homes (Energywire, March 25).

The sale is part of the Biden administration’s push to raise hundreds of offshore wind turbines — 30 gigawatts of clean energy — on the outer continental shelf by 2030. Offshore wind is a critical lever in the White House’s larger climate ambitions, to decarbonize the nation’s grid by 2035 and zero out emissions economywide by midcentury.

But the robust sale that closed after 17 rounds of bidding was widely seen also as a success for the industry’s regional prospects and the sector’s growing potential footprint in the U.S. energy mix.

Read the full story at E&E News

Biden signs Fisheries Advisory Committee Act into law

May 13, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law that establishes an industry-led panel to help federal officials oversee grant awards for fisheries.

The American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and was signed by Biden on Thursday, 12 May, 2022. The law will create the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, a 22-member panel representing six regions across the country. Regional members will be selected from the seafood processing, commercial, and recreational sectors, and from experts in regional fishery science. At-large members will include a representative of the foodservice sector, someone from both the commercial and recreational fishing industries, and a NOAA Fisheries representative with a background in research.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

President Biden signs American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act into law

May 12, 2022 — This morning, President Biden signed into law Senate Bill 497, the “American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act,” which “requires the Department of Commerce to establish an American Fisheries Advisory Committee to assist in the awarding of fisheries research and development grants,” restore the voice of the fisheries’ most important stakeholders, and support the long-term vitality of American-caught seafood.

The Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Act of 1954 established a program to provide funding for fisheries marketing, research, and development. The program is funded by a permanent appropriation of 30% of the previous calendar year’s customs receipts from imports of fish products. These funds have grown steadily from $26.7 million in 1980 to $182.8 million in 2020.

But since the early 1980s, Congress has directed NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to use these funds for stock assessments, fishing information networks, survey and monitoring projects, cooperative research, and “interjurisdictional functions.”

In 2021, only $11 million was left for grants to support the fishing industry. Critics have questioned whether this allocation reflects the original intent of the S-K Act.

To inform how grant funds are allocated, Congress originally authorized a group of experts from different segments of the fishing industry to advise on commercial fishing problems and needs. Following a 1972 law, the original American Fisheries Advisory Committee was disbanded. In the committee’s absence, NMFS decides, by its own criteria, who receives grants. Critics have questioned whether the priorities of commercial fishermen match those of NMFS, and whether the S-K Grant Program is addressing the needs and priorities of the domestic fishing industry.

The American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act reestablishes a board of experts, with members chosen regionally and across all sectors of the fishing industry, to bring fishermen back into the process of identifying needs and funding priorities.

S. 497 was sponsored by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and cosponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

More information about the Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program is available in this July 14, 2020 Congressional Research Service “Background and Issues” report by Harold F. Upton.  https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46335.pdf

 

Progressive and export-dependent: Oregon is a test for Democrats on trade

April 25, 2022 — Democrats’ conflicting impulses over the future of U.S. trade policy are playing out here in the nation’s Pacific Northwest.

Oregon, in particular, embodies the tension: The state’s economy is highly dependent on free trade and yet its progressive-leaning voters are typically skeptical of its benefits. That tug-of-war is vexing both parties as lawmakers weigh how much to push for more foreign market access for U.S. companies and investors despite the potential for political backlash.

In his visit to Portland late last week, President Joe Biden touted his administration’s investments in ports, airports and other infrastructure projects to speed the movement of goods, while at the same time acknowledging that snarled supply chains have sparked historic inflation.

“All across Oregon, we’re sending the message: These ports and airports are open for more business,” Biden told the crowd at Portland International Airport.

While back home in Oregon last week, [Sen. Ron] Wyden joined [U.S. Trade Representative Katherine] Tai and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on tours of a commercial fishing vessel and semiconductor development facility. The trio heard from seafood industry groups who say they’re being bested on the global market by Chinese rivals who have been accused of overfishing waterways, taking government subsidies and using forced labor.

“On a good day, we struggle to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace,” said Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association. “Our days have not been good lately.”

Read the full story at Politico

These whales are on the brink. Now comes climate change — and wind power.

April 22, 2022 — About 17 nautical miles south of Nantucket, a half-dozen New England Aquarium researchers scrambled across this vessel’s icy deck. Clutching binoculars, clipboards and cameras, they strained to catch a glimpse and scribble notes about a pair of creatures they fear are disappearing from this world.

After nine hours on the water, Amy Warren’s team had found two animals it knew by name. As the pair arched their heads above the water, the research scientist urged her colleagues with cameras to capture them.

“Get it, get it, get it, get it!”

With only about 300 left, the North Atlantic right whale ranks as one of the world’s most endangered marine mammals. Nearly annihilated centuries ago by whalers, the slow-swimming species is said to have earned its name because it was the “right” whale to hunt.

Old-fashioned harpoons have yielded to other threats. Humans are still killing right whales at startlingly high numbers — but by accident. Waters free from whalers now brim with ships that strike them, and ropes that entangle them.

The latest challenges come in a changing climate. Rising temperatures are driving them to new seas. And soon, dozens of offshore wind turbines — part of President Biden’s clean energy agenda — will encroach their habitat as the administration tries to balance tackling global warming with protecting wildlife.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Do Offshore Wind Turbines Impact Fishing?

April 20, 2022 — Offshore wind seems poised to set sail on U.S. coasts. According to the Department of Energy, the burgeoning electricity source has the potential to generate more than 2,000 gigawatts (GW) of capacity per year—nearly double the nation’s current electricity use. Last fall, the Interior Department announced the commencement of construction on the nation’s first commercial scale wind farm, 15 miles off Martha’s Vineyard, and approved a deal for the second off Rhode Island. The Biden administration aspires to launch 16 such sites by 2025 and generate 30 GW of energy by 2030. But what impact will all the construction have on wildlife and fishing? A 10-year, $11 million U.S. Wind and University of Maryland study aims to find out.

Wind is the fastest growing energy source in the U.S., providing 42 percent of the country’s new energy in 2020. So far, most of that has come from land-based wind turbines. But, faster and steadier offshore wind speeds offer more potential. And as the cost of efficiently harnessing offshore wind has plummeted, that potential has soared.

But not everyone is pleased. A lone standoff last fall between a fishing boat and one of U.S. Winds’ giant research vessels symbolized the grievances of a key constituency: the ocean fishing community. Fishermen expressed concerns about damage to their equipment, disruption of the fishing grounds, and even the loss of their way of life. Annie Hawkins, the executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a trade association representing commercial fishermen, told the Guardian, “The fishing industry feels very strongly that they still do not have a meaningful voice in the process nor an authentic seat at the table.”

Read the full story at Field & Stream

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $38 Million from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Protect Aquatic Species and Habitats

April 15, 2022 — The following was released by the U.S. Department of the Interior:

Today, the Department of the Interior announced that 40 fish passage projects in 23 states and Puerto Rico will receive a total of nearly $38 million in fiscal year 2022 funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With a total of $200 million in investments in the National Fish Passage Program over the next five years, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will bolster efforts to address outdated, unsafe or obsolete dams, culverts, levees and other barriers fragmenting our nation’s rivers and streams, which will help restore fish passages and aquatic connectivity.

The National Fish Passage Program, facilitated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supports aquatic ecosystem restoration projects and restores free-flowing waters, allowing for enhanced fish migration and protecting communities from flooding.

“Across the country, millions of barriers block fish migration and put communities at higher risk of flooding,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in our nation’s rivers, streams and communities and help restore habitat connectivity for aquatic species around the country.”

Several of the projects receiving funding will directly address issues related to climate change and serve disadvantaged communities, while also spanning the nation geographically and addressing a wide array of diverse aquatic resource issues.

Read the full release from the U.S. Department of the Interior

Biden named in North Atlantic commercial fishing ban lawsuit filed by fishermen

April 14, 2022 — Fishermen in Massachusetts and New Jersey are challenging a Biden administration proclamation in court.

The fishermen have filed a lawsuit, Fehily et al. v. Biden et al., in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey alleging the proclamation that bans commercial fishing in the North Atlantic Ocean, primarily the Georges Bank area, saying it harms their ability to earn a living.

“The creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument violated the core requirements of the Antiquities Act to limit protections to specific monuments,” Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Frank Garrison said in a news release. “Most fundamentally, the Act gives the president authority to create monuments on federally owned or controlled land. The ocean is not land. Presidential action that goes beyond laws passed by Congress undermines the democratic process and the Constitution’s separation of powers.”

Read the full story at The Center Square

Fishermen from Mass., N.J., sue federal government to block ban on fishing near Gulf of Maine

April 13, 2022 — Two fishermen, one from Massachusetts and one from New Jersey, filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Biden administration ban on commercial fishing in the Georges Bank area of the North Atlantic Ocean.

David T. Malley of Massachusetts and Patrick Fehily of New Jersey are commercial fisherman who work near the Gulf of Maine, within the roughly 5,000 square miles that President Biden designated in October as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, according to court documents.

Malley, a fisherman for more than 50 years, and Fehily, a fisherman for more than a decade, name Biden, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland as defendants in the suit, filed in US District Court in New Jersey, according to court documents.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe