Saving Seafood

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell Voices Coalition Concern Over Marine Monuments at House Hearing

WASHINGTON – March 15, 2017 – The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Today, New Bedford, Mass. Mayor Jon Mitchell delivered written testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee on behalf of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities. His testimony expressed serious concerns about the impacts of marine monuments, designated using executive authority under the Antiquities Act, on fishermen and coastal communities.

Mayor Mitchell had planned to testify in person before the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans as a representative of the NCFC, but was unable to attend the hearing in Washington due to snow and severe weather conditions in the Northeast.

In his testimony, Mayor Mitchell questioned both the “poorly conceived terms of particular monument designations,” as well as “more fundamental concerns with the process itself.” Mayor Mitchell also delivered a letter to the committee signed by eleven NCFC member organizations further detailing their concerns with the monument process and how fishing communities across the country are affected by monument designations.

The letter was signed by the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, the California Wetfish Producers Association, the Fisheries Survival Fund, the Garden State Seafood Association, the Hawaii Longline Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition, the North Carolina Fisheries Association, the Southeastern Fisheries Association, the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and the Western Fishboat Owners Association.

In addition, three NCFC member organizations, the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, the Hawaii Longline Association, and the North Carolina Fisheries Association submitted individual letters outlining in further detail their opposition to marine monuments.

Mayor Mitchell was also critical of the monument designation process, by which a president can close off any federal lands or waters on a permanent basis using executive authority under the Antiquities Act. He instead praised the Fishery Management Council process created by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which he said affords greater opportunities for input from stakeholders, scientists, and the public.

“The monument designation process has evolved effectively into a parallel, much less robust fishery management apparatus that has been conducted entirely independent of the tried and true Fishery Management Council process,” Mayor Mitchell said. “It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: Scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency, and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review.”

Mayor Mitchell used his testimony to call attention to issues affecting fishing communities across the country, including New England fishermen harmed by the recently designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and Hawaii fishermen harmed by the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. He also expressed the concerns of fishermen in Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific waters in dealing with the monument process.

Mayor Mitchell concluded by calling on Congress to integrate the executive branch’s monument authority with the established processes of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, ensuring that the long-term interests of all stakeholders are accounted for.

“This Congress has an important opportunity to restore the centrality of Magnuson’s Fishery Management Councils to their rightful place as the critical arbiters of fisheries management matters,” Mayor Mitchell said. “Doing so would give fishing communities much more confidence in the way our nation approaches fisheries management. And it could give the marine monument designation process the credibility and acceptance that it regrettably lacks today.”

The mayor spoke at the hearing on behalf of the NCFC. The city of New Bedford, as Mayor Mitchell stated in his testimony, was instrumental in the founding of the Coalition, providing an initial seed grant for its creation.

Read Mayor Mitchell’s full testimony here

Read the NCFC letter here

Read the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association letter here

Read the Hawaii Longline Association letter here

Read the North Carolina Fisheries Association letter here

Marine Monument Designations Sideline Communities and the Domestic Fishing Industry

March 15, 2017 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources:

Today, the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans held an oversight hearing on the creation and management of marine monuments and sanctuaries. The panel overwhelmingly objected to the lack of local input, transparency and scientific scrutiny in the marine monument designation process.

“Federal decision-making directly impacts local citizens, local economies and the environment. It is important to review how these decisions are being implemented, and, where needed, correct or improve the laws guiding these decisions,” Subcommittee Vice Chairman Daniel Webster (R-FL) said.

Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) discussed his visit to New Bedford, MA, the nation’s top-grossing commercial fishing port, with Democrat Mayor Jon Mitchell, who was unable to attend due to weather.

“[D]uring my visit to New Bedford, we met with dozens of local fishermen and industry to talk about the Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization as well as the state of federal fisheries management. It didn’t take long for the conversation to quickly turn to the then-proposed Marine National Monument off of the coast of Massachusetts. However, the fishermen weren’t just blindly opposing the Monument, they actually came to the table with a pragmatic solution,” Bishop stated.

Unfortunately with the stroke of his pen, President Obama ignored a viable alternative developed with stakeholders and unnecessarily cordoned off vital acreage for fishing communities off the coast of Cape Cod.

In his written testimony, Mayor Mitchell pointed out inherently flawed issues in the monument designation process: “It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency, and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review,” Mitchell wrote.  

“A decision-making process driven by the simple assertion of executive branch authority ultimately leaves ocean management decisions permanently vulnerable to short-term political considerations,” Mitchell added. “Such an outcome is cause for deep concern no matter one’s position in the current policy debates.”

Brian Hallman, Executive Director of the American Tunaboat Association, outlined the troubling conflicts monuments and sanctuaries have with established procedures including the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act and international treaties and conventions.

“The fundamental purpose of marine monuments, as I understand it, is to preclude, or at least severely limit, human activity in the designated area […] but limiting fishing via marine monuments makes no sense whatsoever. […] The establishment of marine monuments completely pre-empts and usurps these longstanding, legally binding and effective processes,” Hallman stated.

Click here to read full witness testimony.

Last week Chairman Bishop and Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) sent a letter to President Trump requesting the removal of all marine monument fishing prohibitions. Click here to read the letter.

New Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Lists U.S. Fisheries as a Top Department Priority

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – March 1, 2017 – In his first address (starts at 9:41 in the video) to Department of Commerce employees this morning, newly confirmed Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross included U.S. fisheries among his top priorities for the department.

In a list of ten challenges facing the Commerce Department’s 47,000 employees, including the launch of more NOAA satellites and changes to the methodology of the 2020 U.S. Census, Mr. Ross specifically identified the need for “obtaining maximum sustainable yield for our fisheries.”

Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) refers to the largest catch that can be sustainably taken from a fish stock over an indefinite period of time. Promoting sustainable fishing by achieving maximum sustainable yield is one of the primary goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the chief law governing fisheries management in the U.S.

The U.S. commercial fishing industry is a vital part of the U.S. economy, with landings of 9.7 billion pounds of seafood in 2015 worth $5.2 billion, according to the latest “Fisheries of the United States” report from NOAA Fisheries. Nevertheless, nearly 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported into the country.

Mr. Ross has previously expressed his support for domestic fisheries and his desire to reduce America’s reliance on seafood imports, which has created an $11 billion trade deficit for the U.S. seafood industry.

“Given the enormity of our coastlines, given the enormity of our freshwater, I would like to try to figure out how we can become much more self-sufficient in fishing and perhaps even a net exporter,” Mr. Ross said at his January confirmation hearing, according to Politico.

Mr. Ross was confirmed in a Senate vote 72-27 Monday night. He is a successful billionaire investor and founder of the private equity firm WL Ross & Co., from which he has agreed to divest as he takes on his new government role.

Federal Government Declares Fishery Disaster for Low Pink Salmon Harvest in Gulf of Alaska

January 30, 2017 — Governor Bill Walker and Lt. Governor Byron Mallott welcomed news that the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker accepted the state’s request for a disaster declaration on pink salmon harvests in the Gulf of Alaska last week. In accordance with Section 312 (a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act (MSA), the State of Alaska requested the federal government declare a fishery disaster for poor pink salmon runs across the Gulf region in 2016.

“The impacts of low pink salmon runs are being felt across the entire Gulf of Alaska,” said Governor Bill Walker. “In addition to commercial fishermen and fish processors, those who sell fuel, tackle, supplies, groceries, and lodging are also struggling from the poor season. Local governments will also feel the burden on their economic base. We are pleased with this news from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and we will work with the federal government going forward to address this issue. I thank all the legislators who tirelessly advocated for this declaration, especially Representative Louise Stutes for making the first request.”

Read more at Alaska Business Monthly 

Despite recent tweaks, New England fishermen want more changes in law

January 13, 2017 — Despite tweaks to fishing guidelines in 2016 aimed at increasing regulatory flexibility, some New England groundfishermen and recreational fishermen still support a move to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act, sources told Undercurrent News.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA’s) recently made changes to a guideline known National Standard One (NS1), but there will still likely be a push from east coast fishermen to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act as Republican president-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The effort intends to bring more “flexibility” to fishery management, sources told Undercurrent News. 

In October of 2016 NOAA made changes to NS1, which aims to prevent overfishing while achieving the optimum yield from each fishery.

Changes were first proposed in January 2015, and the final rule passed in October 2016 giving regional councils more latitude to set catch limits, a change that was opposed by environmental groups.

Call for flexibility 

Fishermen, particularly on the US east coast, have been critical for several years of what they say are rigid timelines that give regulators ten years to rebuild stocks deemed overfished.

Some sources told Undercurrent that the lack of flexibility sometimes forces regulators to severely — and some say, unnecessarily — cut quotas when fisheries are nearing the 10-year mark. If a fishery has shown improvement and is nearing its goal, they claim, it makes no difference in the long run whether they reach that goal in the allotted ten years or sooner.

“I think that it’s possible that those new guidelines acted as a relief valve for that pressure. I don’t know that you’re going to get as much pressure to create flexibility in the act that you would get two years ago,” Shannon Carroll of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council told Undercurrent.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Red snapper scarcity prompts push to change US fishing laws

January 13, 2017 — Proposed changes to the main US fishing law could alter the way scarce red snapper is regulated, even as a new advisory panel aimed at alleviating long-standing tension between recreational and commercial fishermen prepares its first report.

The incoming administration of Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled congress may make it easier for proponents to achieve changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the law that governs all fishing regulation in the US federal waters, sources have told Undercurrent News.

Some of the most vocal proponents of changes to the current law and their critics are users of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery, which was once overfished but has recovered amid strict regulation.

With recovery, however, has come controversy, particularly among recreational red snapper fishermen who have seen the number of days they are allowed to fish in federal waters dwindle even as the number and quality of fish in the water improve.

In response, the five gulf states have set their own recreational fishing seasons in near-shore state waters. Keeping this in mind, federal officials have responded by drastically cutting the number of days red snapper fisherman can fish in federal waters. Multiple lawsuits followed.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Trump’s rise may bring big changes to main US fishing law

January 12, 2017 — Previously unsuccessful efforts to reform the US’s main federal fishing law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, are positioned to move ahead under a Donald Trump administration.

New efforts to amend the US Magnuson-Stevens Act are expected from the new Congress, leaving some in industry concerned with any move away from a law judged by many to have worked reasonably well for four decades.

Some in industry have told Undercurrent News that they fear pressures to add more “flexibility” could allow political considerations to undermine science-driven decision-making currently enshrined in the bill, which forms the basis for most federal fishing regulation in US waters.

“Right now you might be looking at potential for a whole lot of changes and revisions,” said an Alaska-based source who wished to remain unnamed. “I would say there should be some anxiety about how far you go giving people flexibility that moves outside the scientific realm.”

But how drastically Magnuson Stevens might change, if at all, remains to be seen, he added.

HR 1335

One such effort, a bill known as HR 1335 sponsored by Alaskan Representative Don Young, faced a veto threat from president Barack Obama, who will be replaced by Trump on Jan. 20.

One of the bill’s central provisions would have reformed Magnuson-Stevens’s mandatory 10-year stock rebuilding timeline, incorporating additional flexibility. Instead of formally defining all stocks in decline as “overfished”, Young’s amendment would allow the term “depleted” when the reason for a stock’s decline is due to depredation or other non-fishing factors.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Oceana Files Legal Challenge to Northern Anchovy Catch Limit

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — November 29, 2016 — Last week, environmental group Oceana filed a lawsuit alleging that a recent National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) specification rule allows commercial fishing for northern anchovy at levels that threaten the anchovy population and the marine ecosystem. The complaint was filed against the NMFS, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the District Court of Northern California.

The specification rule in question, announced October 26, 2016 under the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan, set an annual catch limit (ACL) of 25,000 metric tons for the central subpopulation of anchovy. In its lawsuit, Oceana claims that the NMFS did not articulate the scientific basis for this ACL, did not base the ACL and related management measures on best available science, and did not explain how it would prevent overfishing and protect the West Coast marine ecosystem’s food web.

In doing so, Oceana claims that the rule violates the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. The complaint claims that the northern anchovy population has severely declined since 2009, and that northern anchovy are “one of the most important forage species” in the California marine ecosystem.

“The Fisheries Service’s actions and failures to act have harmed Oceana’s members’ interest in rebuilding and maintaining a healthy and sustainable population of northern anchovy and a healthy ocean ecosystem,” said the lawsuit, which was filed by lawyers from Earthjustice on Oceana’s behalf. “This harm will continue in the absence of action by the Court.”

Read the full legal complaint as a PDF

CHRISTOPHER BROWN: A New Administration and our Nation’s Fisheries

November 16, 2016 — The following was released by the Seafood Harvesters of America:

Commercial fishing employs over 187,000 Americans and provides $14.8 billion in economic output. The Seafood Harvesters are a unified voice for thousands of small businesses and self-determined fishing families who exercise the privilege of putting delicious, healthful seafood on America’s dinner plates.

As harvesters of a public resource we recognize and embrace our stewardship responsibility. We strive for accountability in our fisheries and encourage others to do the same. In doing so we honor both the bounty of our oceans and the many millions of Americans who enjoy seafood.

We know that the only way to ensure a plentiful and lasting seafood harvest for America is through science-based management of our fisheries. By respecting both the letter and the spirit of the Magnuson-Stevens Act – our nation’s foundational fisheries law – America’s commercial fishermen have played a central role in the remarkable success of U.S. fisheries and a 98% increase in the sustainability of our 199 most important fish stocks. When we focus on accountability in fishing practices and fishery management we make economic success possible, while at the same time working to curb illegal and unregulated seafood imports that put American workers and consumers at risk.

We call on the incoming Trump administration to join us in championing tens of thousands of commercial fishing businesses in this country. And we look forward to working with accountability-focused members of the recreational fishing community as they demonstrate their own commitment to the economic and environmental sustainability of our nation’s priceless marine resources.