Saving Seafood

Alaska rejects salmon habitat protection measure, elects Mike Dunleavy governor

November 8, 2018 — In a midterm election which will likely have a significant impact on Alaska’s lucrative seafood industry, U.S. Representative Don Young was re-elected, State Senator Mike Dunleavy will become Alaska’s governor, and Ballot Measure 1, which sought to ensconce greater protections for salmon habitat, was defeated.

Young, the longest serving member of Congress (he has served since 1973), handily defeated his opponent, Alyse Galvin, who ran as an independent, to secure his 24th term in the House of Representatives. Young is the lead sponsor of a bill amending the Manguson-Stevens Act, which passed the House in July and is currently pending in the Senate. Young’s amendment would eliminate restrictions placed on regional fishery management councils and would give the councils more control over no-fishing timeframes in order to rebuild stocks.

Ballot Measure 1, which would have enacted stricter regulations for oil and gas development in salmon habitats and added regulations for restoring salmon streams if they are disturbed by development, was also defeated by a large margin. The measure drew criticism from Republicans, including U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who said it would interfere with business and development in the state.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Industry begins fight against Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Portland Pact

November 8, 2018 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium is preparing a campaign to recruit chefs from across the country to lobby the U.S. Congress to support measures that would hold fisheries accountable for overfishing and call for science-based decision making in the management process.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium advocates for greater sustainability in the seafood industry and operates the Seafood Watch initiative, which categorizes seafood items into one of three options: Best Choices, Good Alternatives, or Avoid. Its new initiative, called The Portland Pact, has not officially launched yet, said Erin Eastwood, an ocean policy program specialist for the organization, in a statement to SeafoodSource.

“The Portland Pact is not about the election or partisan politics,” she said. “It is about supporting strong policies to ensure the sustainability of U.S. seafood now and for the future.”

However, seafood industry leaders have already initiated a countermeasure, saying the Portland Pact is trying to undo steps proposed in H.R. 200, a bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed in July that would reauthorize and make changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).

H.R. 200, which has not been passed in the Senate, will need to be re-filed when the new Congress reconvenes in January if it’s not signed into law by then. Ryan Bradley, director of Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, said he and other commercial fishing groups do not expect the lame-duck Congress to take up the MSA bill.

“We do not anticipate MSA reauthorization being a top priority for Congress, at least through the rest of this year,” Bradley told SeafoodSource.

The National Coalition for Fishing Communities, a commercial fisheries group, said the changes the bill makes to the MSA would enable regional councils to make decisions based on needs of the fishing community and changing ecological conditions.

In what it called an open letter to America’s chefs, the coalition called on chefs to consult with fishermen before agreeing to join the Portland Pact. It was signed by 15 industry leaders from across the country.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

House flips in US elections, impact likely on MSA reauthorization

November 7, 2018 — Democrats wrestled control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in eight years in Tuesday’s elections across the United States, and that change in control may have implications for the fishing industry.

As of Wednesday morning, 7 November, the Associated Press had 219 House seats going to the Democrats, with 193 going to the Republicans. Democrats needed just 218 seats to win a majority, but with 23 seats still up for grabs, they could see their caucus grow to 230 or more once all election results have been tabulated.

Where Tuesday’s results may have the most impact on the seafood community is through the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Industry insiders who spoke to SeafoodSource Wednesday said they did not expect H.R. 200, a bill which passed the House earlier this year, to get a vote in the Senate before the term ends next month.

That means, the process would start over again when the new Congress convenes in January. U.S. Rep. Don Young, who sponsored the reauthorization bill in this Congress, won re-election for his seat in Alaska, but as a Republican, he’ll be in the minority starting next year.

One thing that may help the seafood industry is that many Democrats represent coastal communities reliant on fishing, according to Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, which conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry. Vanasse told SeafoodSource that his group will work with Democrats to vote for the interests of their constituents. He urged them to follow in the path of former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who worked to support fishermen, many of whom were middle-class small business owners.

“One can be a good liberal and also represent your fishing constituents,” Vanasse said. “One would think that would be a natural fit.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Young’s win in Alaska caps long US election night for seafood industry

November 7, 2018 — It wasn’t expected to be so close.

Until roughly a month ago, most pundits expected Alaska Republican Don Young — the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, a colorful, 85-year-old personality who has an office decorated with wild game trophies, has been known to wield a walrus penis bone in order to make a point, and is also one of the commercial seafood industry’s biggest champions — to handily defeat his Democratic opponent and retain his seat, as usual, on Nov. 6.

Then, a few days before the election, it wasn’t such a given, as polls showed Young’s 53-year-old Democratic challenger, Alyse Galvin, winning by a percentage point.

In the end, Young kept his job, apparently winning a 45th term with roughly 54% of the vote, though more votes remain to be counted.

“We got more votes this time than we got before, and everybody had me down,” he reportedly told the Associated Press in the early morning hours, after Galvin gave her concession speech.

“I feel real good about our campaign, and we were able to prove that Alaskans appreciate what I’ve been able to do. I’m going to have a good two years ahead of us,” he added.

Follow the examples set by Frank and Kennedy

Young wasn’t the only congressional race of consequence to the commercial fishing industry in the 2018 election.

Representative Bill Keating, the Massachusetts Democrat whose 9th district includes New Bedford, home of the US’ most valuable commercial fishing port, is the projected winner over GOP challenger Peter Tedeschi, having secured 61.3% of the vote with 43% of the precincts reporting.

Keating, who outraised Tedeschi by about $1.2 million to $800,000 in his campaign, is one of the Democrats that Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, hopes will continue to represent commercial seafood harvesters in the new Congress.

“Many of our coastal communities are represented by Democrats and they have been in the minority,” said Vanasse, whose group represents pro-commercial fishing interests. “We are hopeful that they will follow the examples of such members of Congress as Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy who demonstrated unequivocally that one can be a strong Democrat and a strong liberal and also stand up for the working families in their fishing communities.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fishery Council Announces Recommendations for Hawaiʻi Fisheries

November 5, 2018 — After a four-day meeting last week, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council announced their recommendations for nearshore fisheries in Hawai’i and Guam. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the council has authority over fisheries throughout Hawai’i, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and the US Pacific Remote Islands.

During the meeting, the Council prepared an amendment to the Hawai’i Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) to revise the precious corals essential fish habitat (EFH) document. The council specifically recommended revising existing seabeds and designating new seabeds as EFH for deepwater precious corals. The council also decided that the geographic extent and habitat characteristics for shallow-water precious corals should be updated.

The council recommended that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) set the MHI non-Deep 7 bottomfish ACL at 127,205 pounds and MHI deep-water shrimp ACL at 250,773 pounds for fishing years 2019-2021. The council also recommended that the NMFS set the MHI Kona crab ACL at 3,500 pounds for fishing year 2019.

For precious corals, the council recommended that the ACLs for 2019-2021 be set to 5,512 pounds for ‘Au’au Channel black coral, 2,205 pounds for Makapu’u Bed pink coral, 55 for Makapu’u Bed bamboo, 489 pounds for 180 Fathom Bank pink coral, 123 pounds for 180 Fathom Bank bamboo coral, 979 pounds for Brooks Bank pink coral, 245 pounds for Brooks Bank bamboo coral, 148 pounds for Ka’ena Point Bed pink coral, 37 pounds for Ka’ena Point Bed bamboo coral, 148 pounds for Keahole Bed pink coral, 37 pounds for Keahole Bed bamboo coral, and 2,205 pounds for precious coral in MHI exploratory area.

Read the full story at Maui Now

Monterey Bay campaign targets new lawmakers, but MSA bill not only focus

November 2, 2018 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of multiple ocean conservation groups opposed to a bill that would update the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA), won’t waste any time in its efforts to influence new US members of Congress. It has launched a chefs-oriented campaign intended to begin reaching lawmakers the day after the Nov. 6 election, Undercurrent News has learned.

The advocacy group, which runs the Seafood Watch sustainability initiative, held a meeting on Oct. 24 in Portland, Oregon, where it got chefs to discuss, finalize and sign a “Portland Pact for Sustainable Seafood”. The document calls on “the new Congress to prioritize the long-term health of US fish stocks by protecting the strong conservation measures of the [MSA]”, reveals an email sent by Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch manager of culinary and strategic initiatives, a copy of which was obtained by Undercurrent.

The email requested recipients to sign an attached copy of the document before Nov. 1, joining “other Blue Ribbon Task Force chefs”, but not to share it with anyone until Nov. 7. By signing the letter, the chefs would be agreeing with Monterey Bay Aquarium and its #ChefsForFish campaign that US commercial fishing policy would be best served by:

  • “Requiring management decisions be science-based;
  • “Avoiding overfishing with catch limits and tools that hold everyone accountable for the fish that they remove from the ocean; and
  • “Ensuring the timely recovery of depleted fish stocks.”

“On November 7: We will send another email asking you to help spread the word so that we can gather more chef signatures,” Bowman instructs in her email. “Our hope is to have hundreds of chefs representing all 50 states!”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Boating group doubles PAC contribution goal in midst of MSA reauthorization fight

November 1, 2018 — The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), a trade group that has pushed for the passage of several controversial commercial fishing bills, has released a three-year strategic plan that would boost the amount of funds it spends on the political action committee (PAC) it supports.

NMMA says it will now seek to contribute $500,000 per year or $1 million per two-year election cycle to BoatPAC, nearly double what it was previously spending.

That would give the group more firepower to support such legislation as Alaska Republican representative Don Young’s Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) reauthorization bill (HR 200) or Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act (S. 1520), also known as the “Modern Fish Act,” a bill from senators Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat.

The two bills could wind up not getting passed during the 115th congressional session and come back for another try in the 116th, when the BoatPAC money might help.

HR 200 was passed in the US House of Representatives, in July, by a 222-193 vote, but the clock is ticking. A companion bill is needed in the Senate, which lawmakers could act on after the Nov. 6 election, during the two abbreviated months before the beginning of the new session in January.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fish council to review catch share regulations

November 1, 2018 — In May 2010, the world of the Northeast groundfishermen experienced a seismic transformation, as federal fishery managers ditched days-at-sea as its primary management tool and implemented a sector system centered on an expanded catch share program.

Now, nearly nine years later, the New England Fishery Management Council said it will conduct its first comprehensive evaluation of the groundfish catch share program to determine whether it is meeting its goals and objectives to improve the management of the fishery.

The review, according to council Executive Director Tom Nies, is not connected to any specific event or issue within the fishery, such as the widescale cheating, sector manipulation and ultimate conviction of New Bedford fishing kingpin Carlos A. Rafael.

“It’s not a response to Carlos, but it may help us identify areas related to his activities that we can address,” Nies said Wednesday.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s own catch share policy actually mandate that the councils periodically produce “a formal and detailed review … no less frequently than once every seven years” on catch share programs.

“This is the first review, really, since catch shares originally were implemented in 2004, and more importantly, expanded in 2010,” Nies said. “It’s been on our radar for a couple of years. The next step is to assemble a staff and get the report written.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

National Coalition for Fishing Communities: An Open Letter to America’s Chefs

October 31, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of the National Coalition for Fishing Communities have long believed that the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) is one of the great success stories in fisheries management. Originally co-sponsored in the House over 40 years ago by Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Gerry Studds (D-Massachusetts), the MSA has become a worldwide model, and is one of the reasons the U.S. has some of the best-managed and most sustainable fish stocks in the world. The bill is named for its Senate champions, Warren Magnuson (D-Washington) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

But we are concerned by a new “nationwide #ChefsForFish campaign targeted at the new 2019 Congress, to launch after the elections in early November,” being organized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which the Aquarium calls the “next phase” of its “defense” of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Monterey Bay Aquarium described this campaign in an October 25 email sent to its “Blue Ribbon Task Force chefs.” The email asked this network of chefs to support the “Portland Pact for Sustainable Seafood” (attached).

On the surface, the Portland Pact matter-of-factly states sound principles:

  • “Requiring management decisions be science-based;
  • Avoiding overfishing with catch limits and tools that hold everyone accountable for the fish that they remove from the ocean; and
  • Ensuring the timely recovery of depleted fish stocks.”

However, in the last Congress, the Monterey Bay Aquarium used similar language to falsely characterize legitimate attempts to pass needed improvements to the MSA as betraying these principles. In fact, these changes would have made the landmark law even better.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has repeatedly called on Congress to reject efforts, such as H.R. 200, which passed the U.S. House in July, and was sponsored by the now Dean of the House Don Young, that would amend the Act to introduce needed updates for U.S. fisheries management. If the chefs being asked to sign onto the Portland Pact were to talk to our fishermen, they would know how important these reforms are for the health of our nation’s fishing communities.

Any suggestion that the original co-sponsor of the bill would, 40 years later, act to undermine America’s fisheries, is inappropriate. In fact, most of the “fishing groups” that opposed Congressman Young’s bill, are financially supported by environmental activists and their funders.

No legislation, no matter how well designed is perfect or timeless. In fact, Congress has twice made significant revisions to the MSA, first in 1996 with the passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act and in 2007 with the MSA Reauthorization Act. Like many other valued and successful laws, the Magnuson-Stevens Act is both working well, and in need of updates.

We agree that “management decisions be science-based.” One of the most significant issues with the current MSA is that it requires that fish stocks be rebuilt according to rigid, arbitrary timeframes that have no scientific or biological basis. Bills like H.R. 200, officially the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, would instead require that stocks be rebuilt according to an appropriate biological timeframe determined by the regional councils that manage the stocks.

H.R. 200 would also introduce other important measures that would better allow the councils to adapt their management plans to fit changing ecological conditions and the needs of fishing communities, which will become increasingly important as our coastal areas experience the effects of climate change.

American fishermen, like many American chefs, are committed to sustainable fishing and healthy oceans. Our businesses need sustainable, abundant fish stocks for us to make a living, and we all want a thriving resource that we can pass down to the next generation. We would never endorse a law that would threaten the long-term survival of our environment or our industry. That is why we endorse changes to the MSA that would ensure both.

We ask that any chef who is considering signing onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium letter to Congress first consult the local fishermen who supply them with fresh, quality products to learn how this law affects their communities.

NCFC members are available to connect chefs with seafood industry leaders, who would be happy to discuss how the MSA can be updated to help both fish and fishermen.

Sincerely,

Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries
Kathy Fosmark, Co-Chair
CA

Atlantic Red Crab Company
Jon Williams, President
MA

California Wetfish Producers Association
Diane Pleschner-Steele
CA

Delmarva Fisheries Association
Capt. Rob Newberry, Chairman
MD, VA

Fishermen’s Dock Co-Op
Jim Lovgren, Board Member
NJ

Garden State Seafood Association
Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director
NJ

Hawaii Longline Association
Sean Martin, Executive Director
HI

Long Island Commercial Fishermen’s Association
Bonnie Brady, Executive Director
NY

Lunds Fisheries, Inc.
Wayne Reichle, President
CA, NJ

Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance
Rich Fuka, Executive Director
RI

Seafreeze, Ltd.
Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison
RI

Southeastern Fisheries Association
Bob Jones, Executive Director
FL

Viking Village
Jim Gutowski, Owner
NJ

West Coast Seafood Processors Association
Lori Steele, Executive Director
CA, WA, OR

Western Fishboat Owners Association
Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director
AK, CA, OR, WA

PRESS CONTACT

Bob Vanasse
bob@savingseafood.org 
202-333-2628

View the letter here

 

DON CUDDY: Seamounts and canyons: It seems fishermen can’t win

October 29, 2018 — In general, sad to say, commercial fishermen are not well-regarded and struggle for respect. They don’t have powerful lobbyists or image makers and are so independent and competitive by nature that they don’t work well together. As such they are easily defeated politically when opposed by environmental groups with plenty of capital and connections. The headlong rush to deploy wind turbines offshore from here down to Delaware is now gathering momentum. From the deck of a fishing vessel that prospect is akin to a Plains Indian catching a first glimpse of smoke on the horizon, rising from an Iron Horse. “Progress,” they told him. Before long the plains were littered with the carcasses of dead buffalo, shot for fun from train windows and an ancient way of life vanished. In our time, fishermen seem just as likely to be swept from their traditional hunting grounds by this new behemoth.

Here in New England, the fishing industry lost more ground, literally, in another recent battle when a federal judge on Oct. 5 threw out an appeal, led by the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, to overturn the Obama administration’s September 2016 designation of a 5,000 square-mile area offshore as a national monument under the Antiquities Act. Most people probably support the idea of creating sanctuaries but fishermen and their families need some protection as well. The arguments put forth in favor of establishing this sanctuary spoke of it as a pristine area. Well, fishermen have been going out to the canyons for a long time and it remains pristine so apparently their customary fishing practices have had no destructive effect on the environment.

There was also much talk of the need to preserve deep-sea corals from fishing gear. Most mobile-gear fishermen are not going to drag a $60,000 net over coral because of their interest in protecting their investment from the potential damage that corals could inflict on their gear. And fishermen who target migratory species in the water column, such as swordfish, tuna and marlin, generally fish by day, I’m told, and drift at night, since the water is way too deep to anchor, so they are not going to harm corals.

It’s not as though fishing activity was unrestricted prior to the creation of the monument. Commercial fishing in all U.S. waters is highly regulated, by regional fishery councils as well as the Magnuson Stevens Act. But it’s almost all banned now. Lobstermen and the red crab guys can carry on fishing there for seven more years before they too become persona non grata. Recreational fishing is still permitted. The Act prohibits drilling for oil and gas, it should be noted, and that is laudable, but there is room for some compromise on fishing, I believe. The judge, a man named James Boasberg, certainly does not agree and had no hesitation in dismissing the case. Now having read the judgement I will be the first to concede that, on purely legal grounds, the arguments for overturning the designation were not persuasive, particularly to people without knowledge of, or any sympathy for, the commercial fishing industry. However, in issuing his ruling the judge adopted a tone that can, at best, be described as flippant, presumably in an attempt to demonstrate his cleverness. He went to Oxford, don’t you know, and makes a hobby of amateur dramatics.

Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times