Saving Seafood

Fishermen get face-to-face meeting with NOAA official

October 29, 2015 — HAMPTON, N.H. – Fishermen had a rare meeting Saturday with the federal administrator whose agency has put what Granite State fishermen call backbreaking regulations on their industry.

While no promises for action were made by the official — Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association — those who met with her said they appreciated the hour and a half sit-down she gave them at the Ashworth by the Sea Hotel.

Sullivan took notes, asked questions and heard right from the mouths of the fishermen their fears that recent regulations will make New Hampshire the first state to have its groundfishing industry completely wiped out.

“I said (to Sullivan) I felt that I’m very patriotic, I love my country, but I feel my government has completely failed us in New Hampshire and in the fishing industry, and the public process has been non-existent,” said Ellen Goethel, Hampton marine biologist and wife of commercial fisherman David Goethel. Both met with Sullivan, as well as Portsmouth commercial fisherman Erik Anderson, Fish and Game’s Marine Fishery Division Chief Doug Grout, state Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) and state Rep. Renny Cushing (D-Hampton).

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., organized the 4 p.m. meeting. Shaheen contacted the NOAA administrator when she learned Sullivan would be attending a summit at the Ashworth Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25.

Ellen Goethel said it was important for Sullivan to hear about the economic impact the regulations have had on the fisheries in New Hampshire, supported by information gathered by Grout.

Grout said the gross income for New Hampshire’s groundfishermen was reduced roughly 69 percent between 2009 and 2014, according to analysis provided by NOAA. That’s a bigger impact on groundfishermen income than in any other state, the analysis showed.

Also discussed was the core of the problem for struggling fishermen in New Hampshire – whether the science behind the strict regulations is accurate.

Grout told Sullivan there was an apparent disconnect between what NOAA’s scientists were reporting for cod stock levels and what fishermen are seeing on the water.

Read the full story at Portsmouth Herald

NEW BEDFORD STANDARD-TIMES: Fishery science will make all the difference

October 29, 2015 — The message coming to New Bedford fishermen from federal regulators isn’t all bad.

On Tuesday, the top administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, visited New Bedford to meet with local members of the fishing community and spoke in a way that suggests the regulators understand the industry’s perspective.

“We are committed to working with the best science and trying to find the right way forward to sustain the health of the fisheries and the fishing community,” she said following a closed-door meeting, a harbor tour and a discussion at the School for Marine Science and Technology in the South End.

There are short-term crises for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery as well as long-term crises. A brief postponement of industry-funded observers takes some pressure off the fishermen and allows more work to find a compromise that satisfies the requirement of the law without driving boats out of business. In the meantime, while the right folks work out that short-term crisis, there is a necessity to keep working on the long-term issues.

The industry can hardly focus beyond the looming requirement that they pay for the implementation of at-sea monitors on groundfish boats and the immediate economic effect it will have on marginally profitable permit holders.

For too long, the message from the courts, some environmental groups and older NOAA enforcement actions had been concerned with only the resource, not the impacts of trying to sustainably harvest that resource. Administrator Sullivan’s statement of NOAA’s commitment to keeping both strong — and underpinning that work with science — opens great opportunities for collaboration and success.

Read the full editorial at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: NOAA head visits New Bedford, tours harbor

October 28, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The commercial fishing community had an opportunity to meet and discuss regulations on Tuesday with Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the first in person meeting between the NOAA administrator and local fishing community since 1993.

The closed-door meeting included a boat tour of the New Bedford Harbor and a discussion at the School for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth with fishermen, city leaders, and other officials.

Sullivan’s visit comes as the ground fishing industry prepares to take another hit with the cost of at-sea monitors shifting to the fishing boats. Estimates are it will cost fishing boats $710 or more each day to employ a person to count the fish that a boat takes in.

The meeting was meant to spark a conversation between the regulators and the commercial fishing community in New Bedford, which is considered the United States’ top fishing port with annual landings valued at $379 million.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan to Visit New Bedford, Mass.

October 26, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The following was released by Center for Sustainable Fisheries: 

Mayor Jon Mitchell will host a visit by NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27, 2015. 

Administrator Sullivan and Mayor Mitchell, accompanied by other officials, will meet with local fishing industry leaders as well as tour New Bedford harbor and the SMAST campus (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology).

Following a lunch at SMAST, participants will be available to answers questions from the press at 12:45 P.M. (706 South Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford)

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is the federal agency charged with managing the nation’s fisheries; NMFS is an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Department of Commerce.

New Bedford is the America’s top fishing port for fourteen consecutive years with annual landings valued at $379 million.

Shaheen Presses Federal Agency Leader Not to Shift Burdensome Fees to NH Fishermen

WASHINGTON — September 17, 2015 — The following was released by the office of U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH):

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today advocated for New Hampshire fishermen in a phone call with Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Shaheen specifically urged the Administrator not to force New Hampshire fishermen to pay expensive new fees – more than $700 per trip – to cover the cost of the agency’s at-sea observer program, which monitors catch sizes and collects data in the region. NOAA announced last month that fishermen will be responsible for these fees starting October 31 of this year.

“New England’s fishing industry is in crisis, with many of New Hampshire’s remaining fishermen fighting for survival,” said Shaheen. “These fees will cut into incredibly thin margins and could be the tipping point for many of our fishermen. I’ve made it crystal clear to Administrator Sullivan that these fees threaten the very existence of New Hampshire’s fishing industry.”

As a Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shaheen included provisions in Fiscal Year 2016 legislation directing NOAA to alleviate this problem and to develop new technology that would be more efficient and cost-effective. In the call with NOAA’s administrator today, Shaheen was asking for NOAA to continue funding the program while that work proceeds.

Today Shaheen also sent a letter with U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) to the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce, calling for an investigation into the costs and operation of NOAA’s at-sea monitoring program.