Saving Seafood

NEFMC Chairman Testifies Tuesday in D.C.

August 1, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — John Quinn will appear in front of the U.S. Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard as a representative of the nation’s fisheries on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Washington D.C.

The Director of Public Interest Law Program at UMass Law School in Dartmouth is also the chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council and the national chair of the Council Coordinating Committee.

The hearing is the first in a series to examine the nation’s fishery laws and the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which is discussed about every decade. The second is scheduled for Aug. 23 in Alaska.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

U.S. Senate Takes Up Fisheries Reform

Rep. Frank Pallone and Sen. Bob Menendez make the rounds in Atlantic Highlands talking with recreational fishermen, while back in DC their fellow congressmen are tackling fisheries reform.

July 31, 2017 — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, will convene a hearing on the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 1.

This hearing is the first in a series of Senate hearings to examine the state of our nation’s fishery laws and guide the reauthorization of our federal fisheries law. Witnesses slated to testify include Dr. John Quinn, chairman of the New England Fishery Management Council Chairman, and Christopher Oliver, newly appointed Assistant Administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

In early July, the recreational fishing and boating community praised the Senate introduction of the Modern Fish Act by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Brian Schatz (D-HI), John Kennedy (R-LA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Supported by the American Sportfishing Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Recreational Fishing Alliance, Coastal Conservation Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, International Game Fish Association and other groups, the new bill in the U.S. Senate (S.1520) would improve public access to America’s federal waters, promote conservation of our natural marine resources and spur economic growth within the recreational fishing community.

Read the full story at The Fisherman

NEFMC Chair Dr. John Quinn to Testify on MSA Reauthorization

July 26, 2017 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

New England Fishery Management Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard on Tuesday, Aug. 1 at a 10 a.m. hearing on reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The subcommittee is under the wing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. Dr. Quinn, who is Director of Public interest Law Programs at the University of Massachusetts School of Law, will be speaking on behalf of the Council Coordination Committee (CCC). The CCC is comprised of the leadership teams of all eight of the nation’s regional fishery management councils.

“I’m honored to be testifying before the Senate subcommittee on behalf of my fellow Council chairmen, vice chairs, and executive directors,” said Dr. Quinn. “We discussed Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization extensively at our mid-May CCC meeting in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and I look forward to presenting our position during the hearing.”

The MSA is the primary law governing marine fisheries management in U.S. federal waters. It was first passed in 1976 as the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, extending U.S. jurisdiction out to 200 nautical miles and establishing the regional fishery management council system. The act underwent two major reauthorizations – the first in 1996 through the Sustainable Fisheries Act and the second in 2007, resulting in the current Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) chairs the 17-member subcommittee that scheduled this Aug. 1 hearing. Chris Oliver, the newly appointed assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, also will be testifying. Live video with opening statements, witness testimony, and questioning will be available at the Senate link below. The hearing will focus on “NOAA and Council Perspectives” related to MSA reauthorization issues.

The subcommittee has scheduled a second hearing for Aug. 23 in Soldotna, AK. This hearing will focus on the MSA’s “fisheries management successes and challenges.”

Fisheries council seeks voice in marine monument review

May 31, 2017 — New England fishery regulators might seek to reclaim some of the authority they lost when President Barack Obama virtually walled off thousands of square miles of ocean south of Cape Cod to commercial fisheries.

The designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument last year was cheered by environmentalists, who said it would provide a “safe haven” for the birds, mammals and fish that live there. It is now part of a review President Donald Trump ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to conduct of certain national monuments and marine monuments.

On Tuesday, the New England Fisheries Management Council’s Habitat Committee recommended that the regulatory council provide feedback to the Trump administration about the designation of the 4,913 square-mile area by the continental shelf.

“I would strongly suggest we take the opportunity to comment,” said Eric Reid, a council member and the general manager of Seafreeze Shoreside, a seafood processing facility in Galilee, Rhode Island.

While the committee members did not delve into what the letter should say during Tuesday’s meeting, the council chairman, former Rep. John Quinn, the director of public interest at the UMass School of Law in Dartmouth, made clear he believes the council should have jurisdiction.

“The councils are the ones that are involved in opening and closing areas to fishing so we really want a seat at the table” of the review, Quinn told the News Service. He said, “That’s why these entities exist.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Fishing and offshore wind can co-exist, leaders say

May 3, 2017 — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and about 20 civic, business, and academic representatives spent the first full day of their wind-focused trade visit to England Tuesday in Grimbsy, the largest fishing port in the world in the 1950s — which gives the New Bedford group food for thought.

New Bedford has landed the highest dollar-value catch in the United States for 16 years running. But in Grimsby and England at large, the fishing industry declined sharply in the 20th century following a period known as the “Cod Wars,” when Iceland asserted territorial authority over waters where English vessels were fishing.

Thus, as SouthCoast leaders learn from Grimsby about its success in offshore wind, they also have their minds on fishing, and how the two industries can coexist.

Around 5:45 a.m., some of the New Bedford group left their hotel for the Grimsby Fish Auction. Grimsby still handles about 70 percent of all the fish processed in the United Kingdom, according to Neil Mello, Mitchell’s chief of staff.

Among the auction visitors was John F. Quinn, a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives who now chairs the New England Fisheries Management Council. Asked if he could see evidence that offshore wind is compatible with the fishing industry, he said, “most certainly.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford-Standard Times