Saving Seafood

Eleven of 27 Amendments Proposed for Magnuson Reauthorization Bill HR 200 Could Go to House Vote

June 28, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — An anticipated House of Representatives floor vote on H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, was delayed Tuesday. More than 25 amendments were proposed for the bill reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. It went to the Rules Committee instead.

The Rules Committee held a hearing Monday night and passed a rule to provide a structured amendment process for floor consideration. The rule included 11 of the 27 amendments.

H.R. 200, sponsored by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, was the primary bill proposed to re-authorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It garnered both strong support and strong opposition.

Opponents blanketed Capitol Hill offices and committees with reasons why the bill should not pass. At the same time, many Democratic lawmakers proposed amendments or changes, some that could fundamentally change Young’s original bill.

Outside supporters and lawmakers were also busy lining up votes and proposing amendments to the bill.

By Monday night, 27 amendments had been submitted: 16 from Democrats and 7 from Republicans; four were bi-partisan. Five were revised amendments and four were submitted late, after the 10 a.m. Monday deadline.

California Democrat Jared Huffman led the opposition to H.R. 200. Both he and Young were the invited witnesses to the Rules Committee hearing Monday evening.

Young, one of the creators of the first Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, said he recognizes the successes this bill and subsequent reauthorizations have made over the years and that he, better than anyone, understands what else is needed to protect fish stocks while helping communities. “This legislation is dear to my heart,” Young said during the Rules Committee hearing.

Young also referred to recent lawmakers proposing changes to the bill as “Johnny-come-latelys” who don’t understand the fundamentals of the language that protects the stocks while balancing communities’ needs. The proposed bill was made with the suggestions from regional Councils and scientists, Young said.

Huffman countered that several provisions in the bill would roll back fish stock protections and the current language doesn’t prevent overfishing. He also noted that all previous bills reauthorizing the Fishery Conservation and Management Act were bipartisan; this one isn’t he said. It passed out of committee on party lines, Huffman added.

To that end, Huffman proposed four amendments, one considered a substitution for the entire bill. That particular amendment was not included in the committee’s final rule

By the end of the hearing, the Rules Committee passed a rule that included 11 of the 27 amendments — also along party lines. If that rule also passes the House, only those 11 amendments can be considered when H.R. 200 comes up for a floor vote again.

Those amendments, in order, include:

1. A revised manager’s amendment by Young and Rep. Garret Graves, R-La. It revises some sections and adds a new section regarding the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program;

2. An amendment to create an industry-based pilot trawl survey for the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council regions (Reps. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. and Lee Zeldin, R-NY);

3. A provision for a voting representative from Rhode Island on the MAFMC (Reps. Jim Langevin and David Cicilline, D-RI);

4. An amendment ensuring rebuilding plans are successful in rebuilding overfished fish stocks (Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.);

5. Waiving compensatory mitigation requirements for maintenance dredging projects in certain waterways (Reps. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., and Daniel Webster, R-Fla.);

6. Requiring the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the resource rent of Limited Access Privilege Programs in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management Council areas (Rep. Garret Graves, R-La.);

7. A plan to establish fully operational electronic monitoring and reporting procedures for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery (Rep. William Keating, D-Ma.);

8. A requirement for NOAA to conduct a study on all fees it charges the lobster industry and report those findings to Congress (Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine);

9. Lifting the ban on striped bass fishing in the Block Island transit zone between Montauk, NY and Block Island, RI (Rep. Zeldin, R-NY);

10. Directing the Secretary of Commerce to use funds collected from penalties and fines for monitoring, in addition to traditional enforcement activities (Rep. Keating); and

11. Rewarding the elimination of lionfish from US. waters by allowing individuals to exchange lionfish for tags authorizing fishing for certain species in addition to the number of such species otherwise authorized to be taken by such individuals (Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.)

Some of the amendments that didn’t pass muster in the Rules Committee included refinancing a Pacific Coast groundfish buyback loan; two amendments related to sharks and shark finning; a prohibition on offshore drilling In essential fish habitat areas on Atlantic and Pacific coasts; additional funding for stock assessments; two amendments related to aquaculture; and more.

The earliest the committee’s rule and H.R. 200, with the 11 amendments, is likely come up on the House floor for a vote is the week of July 11. However, it may be delayed again if appropriations bills are ready in the next week and a half.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

Big group of seafood distributors join opposition to Magnuson-Stevens update

June 28, 2018 — Opponents to representative Don Young’s bill to update the Magnuson-Stevens Act are continuing to make noise as the bill waits its turn for a vote on the floor of the US House of Representatives. The latest to sound off: Sea Pact, a coalition of 10 large US and Canadian seafood distributors, including Fortune Fish & Gourmet, in Chicago, Illinois, and Santa Monica Seafood, in Los Angeles, California.

The group called on Congress Tuesday to reject Young’s bill, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, HR 200, saying it “risks the United States’ competitive advantage in the marketplace and weakens the sustainability of our fisheries”. It is urging lawmakers instead to “focus on supporting new market opportunities for sustainable U.S. seafood”.

Sea Pact does not say which particular provisions it takes issue with in the bill. Other opponents, including several advocacy groups, have noted their dislike of the flexibility HR 200 would give regional fishery management councils in following the acceptable catch limits recommended by their scientific advisory panels  and the top statutory authority the bill would give MSA over other laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

House Sends Darren Soto’s Billfish Bill to the President’s Desk

June 27, 2018 — On Monday, the U.S. House passed without opposition freshman U.S. Rep. Darren Soto’s, D-Fla., proposal limiting the sale of billfish caught by American vessels and giving the U.S. Commerce secretary more authority to  manage Atlantic highly migratory species.

Soto introduced his proposal back in December and it was backed by the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee last week.

“Under current law, billfish caught by U.S. vessels that land in Hawaii or Pacific Insular Areas (American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Island, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island) may be sold and exported to non-U.S. markets or transported to other U.S. markets,” Soto’s office noted about the legislation. “This bill requires billfish caught by U.S. vessels that land in Hawaii or Pacific Insular Areas to be retained for sale in those areas. This strikes a balance between preserving traditional cultural fishing in these areas and the overall intent to prevent large scale commercial fishing of these billfish.

“Moreover, the bill clarifies that there is no language in the Shark Conservation Act (SCA) of 2010 that alters existing authority of the Secretary of Commerce to manage Atlantic highly migratory species under the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” Soto’s office added. “It also cleans up language in the SCA by removing an expired offset. The main goal of this fix is to ensure protection against shark finning.”

Read the full story at Sunshine State News

Jessica Hathaway: Outboards overboard

June 26, 2018 — In the coming weeks, the House is likely to vote on Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, or H.R. 200.

This revision and reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act garnered a lot of support in the industry but has since been amended to include anti-commercial-fishing language that all but assures the slow creep of commercial quota to the sport fleet in favor of a tourism-based economy.

“It’s time for the federal policies that govern U.S. fisheries to account for the impact the recreational and boating industries have on the economy,” said Martin Peters, Government Relations Manager for Yamaha Marine Group in a press release.

A band of charter fishermen out of Galveston, Texas, is publicly protesting Yamaha Marine Group because the company has actively been lobbying for the amendment, which weakens the commercial fleet’s access to reef fish quota on the Gulf Coast.

“We had turned the corner and rebuilt these fisheries,” Scott Hickman, owner of charter fishing company Circle H Outfitters of Galveston, Texas, told the Daily News in Galveston. “Now, companies like Yamaha are funding bad legislation that would roll back the conservation aspects of the act.”

Yamaha’s advocacy cemented the company’s alliance with recreational fishing interests and the Coastal Conservation Association. But the push to strip the commercial fleet of its quota reportedly has broader support among other members of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, as well.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Mark Eustis: Magnuson — act now

June 26, 2018 — If you are not tracking changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, it’s time to put it on your radar. Washington lobbyists working for the recreational fishing industry are trying to rewrite America’s fisheries laws to serve their own interests, and commercial fishermen could be left at the dock.

Gulf Coast groups that once were grass-roots conservationists are now a multi-million-dollar advocacy business — complete with a political action committee funded by recreational marine manufacturers. This PAC is lobbying hard to change Magnuson, and the results are two new bills in Congress — S. 1520 and H.R. 200.

Among many, many changes, each of these acts “modifies the annual catch limit requirement to allow for more adaptive approaches” to “increase access” for recreational anglers. And most importantly for commercial fishermen, they allow for reallocation based on “socioeconomic benefits.” This is a zero-sum taking that will affect commercial fisheries. Eric Brazer said it well here in “Sustainability in the crosshairs” (NF Oct. 2017):

“Reallocating more fish to the recreational sector at the expense of the commercial sector does nothing to solve the fundamental problems… Nobody knows precisely how many recreational red snapper fishermen there are or how many fish they catch.”

Read the full op-ed at National Fisherman

 

East and West Coast NCFC Members: ‘H.R. 200 Will Create Flexibility Without Compromising Conservation’

June 25, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Today, East and West Coast members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) submitted a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in support of H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, which would update the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The letter, which was also sent to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Emeritus Don Young, and other top Congressional officials, states that H.R. 200 will “create flexibility without compromising conservation.”

“We want a Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) that allows for both sustainable fisheries management, and the long-term preservation of our nation’s fishing communities,” the groups wrote. “We firmly believe that Congress can meet these goals by allowing for more flexibility in management, eliminating arbitrary rebuilding timelines, and adding other reforms that better take into account the complex challenges facing commercial fishermen.”

The letter does not include support from the NCFC’s Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic members, which supported the legislation from the beginning, but withdrew their support due to a late change to the Manager’s Amendment that would negatively impact their region. The NCFC’s East and West Coast members continue to support the bill on its overall merits, but share the concerns of Gulf and South Atlantic fishermen over this late alteration.

Organizations affiliated with the NCFC do not accept money from ENGOs, and represent the authentic views of the U.S. commercial fishing industry.

The letter signers represent the American Scallop Association, Atlantic Red Crab Company, Atlantic Capes Fisheries, BASE Seafood, California Wetfish Producers Association, Cape Seafood, Garden State Seafood Association, Inlet Seafood, Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, Lund’s Fisheries, North Carolina Fisheries Association, Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, Seafreeze Ltd., Town Dock, West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and Western Fishboat Owners Association.

Read the full letter here

 

U.S. House set to vote on key fisheries bill Tuesday

June 25, 2018 — A hotly debated bill that would revamp the key law that governs how the federal government manages fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere off the nation’s coast is headed for a vote Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It’s called the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, or H.R. 200. It’s also referred to as the Modern Fish Act.

Its author, Rep. Don Young, says the bill would update and improve the Magnuson Stevens Act, the primary law that guides federal fisheries regulators.

“Reauthorizing the MSA will ensure a proper balance between the biological needs of fish stocks and the economic needs of fishermen and coastal communities,” Young said after the House Natural Resources Committee approved his bill in December. “MSA has not been reauthorized since 2006. It is long past time for this Congress to act and support our nation’s fisheries.”

Sport-fishing groups support the bill, saying it would give greater flexibility to states and regional boards to manage fisheries off their coasts and could lead to greater access for anglers.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

JEFF CRANE: Bipartisan solution is hooked on facts, not fiction

June 25, 2018 — The spirit of bipartisanship is alive and well on Capitol Hill – at least when it comes to federal marine fisheries management. The House leadership of the bipartisan Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, which includes Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Gene Green (D-Texas), Austin Scott (D-Ga.) and Marc Veasey (D-Texas), have come together in the interest of what is best for the American public in supporting Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. For the first time since the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) was passed in 1976, we are on the verge of truly recognizing the significance of recreational fishing in the nation’s principal fisheries law that will benefit 11-million saltwater anglers.

Among other things, H.R. 200 provides federal fisheries managers with the tools to effectively manage recreational fisheries, provides for better science to guide fisheries management decisions and further ensures our marine resources are managed for abundance, long-term sustainability and to the greatest benefit to the nation. H.R. 200 has been amended several times based on bipartisan feedback, as any good legislation should be, yet we still find ourselves up against the “never let the facts get in the way of a good story” scenario.

Specifically, I’m speaking to the fiction of the misinformed rhetoric that passing these bills will roll back the conservation gains made thus far under the current MSA, or somehow lead to less seafood on the menu at popular restaurants. Several chefs have repeated this mistruth in newspapers around the country in an unfounded fear that they will somehow lose their seafood supply. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, H.R. 200 would help ensure chefs in coastal communities throughout the country continue to have a strong customer base of recreational fishermen who travel to the coast, eat at restaurants, rent hotel rooms and buy supplies, all for the opportunity to catch a few fish.

Read the full opinion piece at The Hill

Magnuson-Stevens update up for floor vote next week

June 22, 2018 — A bill that would update the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) — changing the US rules around annual catch limits (ACLs) and stock-rebuilding programs — is set to take a major step toward final passage next week.

The US House of Representatives’ Rules Committee has scheduled a discussion about procedures, meaning the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act (HR 200) is headed for a vote by the full lower chamber. The vote could happen as soon as Tuesday, though a date has not yet been picked, a House staffer told Undercurrent News.

The bill, introduced by Alaska representative Don Young, a Republican, was passed by the House Committee on Natural Resources by a 23-17 vote in December and now has 11 cosponsors, including two Democrats, Texas representatives Gene Green and Marc Veasey.

Natural Resources Committee chairman Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican, had described the measure as one of his top two priorities.

“America’s fisheries are governed by an outdated regulatory scheme and inflexible decrees imposed by distant bureaucrats,” Bishop said after the December vote. “Fishermen and biologists on the ground should be partners in the formation of management plans, not powerless onlookers. This bill provides flexibility so we can better meet local needs, expand economic activity and conserve ecosystems.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ALASKA: Coastal Villages study renews fight over CDQ quota allocations

June 21, 2018 — A new study reaffirms that large and long-standing inequities still exist in a federal program aimed at improving the economic situation in Western Alaska.

Coastal Villages Region Fund commissioned the report conducted by the Seattle-based research firm Community Attributes Inc., which concludes the fisheries allocations in the Community Development Quota Program prevent the groups representing the poorest regions in Western Alaska from fully achieving their mission.

Coastal Villages is the CDQ group for 20 villages on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, which is one of the most economically depressed regions not only of Alaska, but the country as well.

The Western Alaska CDQ Economic Needs Report notes that Coastal Villages serves 35 percent of the population meant to benefit from the program, yet has access to just 24 percent of the pollock, about 18 percent of the crab and 17 percent of the Pacific cod quota dedicated to the CDQ Program.

Those fisheries quotas are allocated amongst the six CDQ groups that cover residents within 50 miles of the Bering Sea coast in an area starting north of Nome on the Seward Peninsula south and west through Bristol Bay and out the Aleutian chain.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce