January 21, 2019 — In the chaotic landscape of the partial federal shutdown, some constituencies have gotten speedy relief and attention from federal officials — while others are still trying to get in the door.
In some cases, even players within the same industry find themselves in starkly different predicaments.
When the shutdown began, members of Alaska’s congressional delegation said they made it clear that it was imperative that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service keep enough managers on the job. Without the inspections the NOAA staff perform, boat operators would not be able to head out to the Bering Sea to catch cod starting Jan. 1 and pollock beginning on Jan. 20.
Chris Oliver, NOAA assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service — an Alaskan himself — tapped funds the agency had collected from industry to keep some employees at work over the past month and brought at least a couple back from furlough this month, according to several individuals briefed on the matter.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) credited Oliver’s “outstanding work” for keeping the fisheries in business.
“Since holiday break, my office and I have worked and been in direct communication with a number of Commerce Department officials to ensure that federal fisheries in Alaska opened on time and fishermen were able to gain the necessary approvals and inspections to get out on the water,” Sullivan said in a statement. “This approach is vastly different from the 2013 government shutdown, which delayed Alaska’s lucrative and iconic crab fishery, and the agency’s efforts at mitigating impacts from the lapse in funding should be commended.”
But some fishing operators on the East Coast have yet to receive similar help — leaving their vessels grounded.
John Lees, managing partner of the scallop fishing vessel Madison Kate in New Bedford, Mass., said he was in the final stages of getting NOAA officials to transfer his federal permit from his old boat to his new one last month when the agency closed. Under federal rules, he has until March 31 to catch 134,000 pounds of scallops under certain conditions.
If he cannot sail, he said, he and his crew stand to lose $1.5 million worth of seafood.
“All we’re looking for now is for NOAA to just assign a number. That’s it,” Lees said in an interview, adding that he is working to reach agency officials amid the short staffing and that his assigned quota could now be out of reach. “It’s possible that we won’t be able to do it.”
NOAA spokeswoman Julie Roberts said in an email that agency staffers were working on key matters, despite the shutdown.
“NOAA continues to conduct enforcement activities for the protection of marine fisheries including quota monitoring, observer activities, and regulatory actions to prevent overfishing,” she said. “This is not specific to Alaska.”