Saving Seafood

RODA statement on considerations for the Biden Administration from the fishing industry and coastal communities

January 28, 2021 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

The United States commercial fishing industry is united around the common goals of protecting our traditional fishing communities, maintaining domestic food security, and leading with evidence-based decision making during an era of rapidly changing ocean use. We are encouraged by the new Administration’s commitment to inclusivity and environmental science. We look forward to improving partnerships between lawmakers, policymakers, and fisheries experts to protect and promote this low-environmental impact protein source, which leads the world in sustainability through the rigorous fisheries management and conservation requirements of the Magnuson Stevens Act.

It is imperative that our elected officials support and adopt policies to minimize and mitigate the effects of climate change; the strategies to do so must equally address the pressing issues of food production, ecosystem health, and preserving cultural heritage. As evidenced by his Agency nominations and recent Executive Order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” we are encouraged that the President is taking a measured approach. We applaud leadership and processes that underscore the value of science-based collaboration with members of small communities who are most impacted by natural resource management decisions.

Offshore Renewable Energy Development

The Administration has made clear its commitment to address climate change, which is a matter of critical importance to seafood harvesters adapting to the effects of ecosystem changes every day. The rapid advancement of large offshore wind energy facilities to meet climate goals places our nation at the dawn of a new era of ocean industrialization. While mitigating carbon emissions is urgent and necessary, so is protecting and prioritizing domestic sourcing of sustainable, affordable, and healthy protein. This necessitates evaluating the most efficient means of reducing atmospheric carbon while minimizing impacts to biodiversity and the economy.

Fishing communities stand ready and willing to incorporate their unique expertise in the country’s transition to renewable energy but there must be meaningful ways for them to do so. Three key topics must be addressed to ensure responsible planning for the unprecedented demands that are anticipated to be placed on our oceans.

1. Improving regional research efforts and scientific understanding of offshore infrastructure projects

Development of the Outer Continental Shelf should only be done in a purposeful planned manner utilizing the best available science. Our scientific understanding of impacts from offshore wind energy development is improving, but there is far more unknown about how development will alter the physical, biological, economic and social dimensions of the marine environment.

Evidence-based planning is necessary to understand and minimize impacts, and currently that does not exist for the proposed scale of development to proceed responsibly. For commercial fishermen, it is extremely worrisome to see the push for a new industry that jeopardizes a sustainable and historic one without rigorous scientific due diligence. Such diligence must apply to transparent information about the environmental and economic effects associated with the entire offshore renewable energy supply chain, from mining rare earth minerals for battery components to turbine production to maritime traffic to decommissioning.

Currently, there is no balancing of priorities in offshore renewable energy permitting decisions. Promises to achieve production targets for offshore wind energy based solely on climate goals will significantly impact other public needs such as food production, tourism, and national security. Such targets, if adopted, must be accompanied by a comprehensive roadmap for evaluating tradeoffs and should not be pursued before the creation of balanced multi-use ocean plans. These must include funding for environmental research and compensatory mitigation for impacted sectors.

2. Enhanced interstate coordination and a clear delineation of authorities within federal agencies

Some of the biggest challenges around offshore renewable energy development are due to a lack of consistency in the leasing and planning processes, nonexistent or inconsistent engagement opportunities, and poor integration between planning and permitting authorities.

Regional issues associated with environmental and fisheries impacts require appropriate federal oversight. The current approach results in widespread duplication of efforts, inconsistency and inequity, misplaced interstate competition, and overall unpredictability. To help address the lack of coordination of regional research, RODA co-founded the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance with federal and state entities, offshore wind energy developers, and expert fisheries scientists to serve as a trusted regional coordinating entity. The Administration should reward the collaboration on this innovative public-private partnership and utilize it as a resource for improved coordination.

Responsibilities for the various federal agencies involved is often unclear. A clarification of the roles for these entities is urgently needed and regulatory authority should be returned to agencies with most expertise in the relevant aspects of environmental review.

We look forward to an incoming Commerce Secretary who can bring her expertise and knowledge of coordinating numerous federal, state and local agencies, as well as community members and regional partners together through her experience with the Block Island Wind Farm. As governor, Ms. Raimondo witnessed first hand the time and dedication required for effective collaboration and the complex links of offshore wind energy with the U.S. economy.

3. Facilitation of industry to industry cooperation

As users who will inevitably share the ocean space, regulations, and potential workforce, it is paramount that industry to industry cooperation improves between offshore wind energy development and fishing. Currently this is very difficult to achieve and would benefit from regulatory incentives or direct federal involvement.

RODA has worked to bring industries together through its Joint Industry Task Force and fishing industry leaders are committed to direct engagement when assured those efforts can bear fruit. Small collaborative projects and communication have added value to the process, but not enough resources have been committed to truly catalyze the industries working together in a meaningful way. Absent resources and in a regulatory atmosphere that strongly favors one party, progress is difficult. To be effective, support must be directed to fisheries-driven efforts, not just wind-organized ones. Similarly, some wind developers have expended far more effort than others to work with affected communities in good faith. Incentives to do so must be greatly expanded.

“30×30”

The Presidential Memorandum on scientific integrity must extend to implementation of science-based recommendations for conservation and environmental protection. We are encouraged by the Administration’s commitment to collect input from stakeholders in the “30×30” provisions included in the Executive Order on climate change, which implements a goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. waters by 2030. We echo the concern expressed by fishing communities and scientists across the country that arbitrary closures, or targets for the total area of closures, based on political negotiations rather than science could have greater negative impacts to ocean conservation than no closures at all.

For conservation measures to be beneficial, they must be carefully designed for specific outcomes such as enhancing ecosystem production, protecting sensitive habitat, or preserving fish spawning activity. The public and transparent fishery management council process is the appropriate way to ensure the best available science determines such design.  We must also be mindful that for a vast majority of Americans, the only access they have to the marine resources in U.S. oceans is a direct result of the U.S. fishing industry.  The Executive Order clearly states environmental and economic justice are important considerations in developing programs and policies. Reducing our abilities to provide U.S. seafood to disadvantaged communities would not further environmental and economic justice.

Support for the Buy American Initiative

The Biden Administration should champion the U.S. commercial fishing industry, which complies with a multitude of regulations to provide renewable protein to Americans across the country. U.S. fisheries are among the most sustainable around the world and constitute one of the lowest-carbon methods of food production. Too often we hear public misconceptions that wild harvest fisheries are on the verge of extinction or utilize destructive practices, but that is not true for U.S. based fisheries. Domestic fisheries are the most strictly regulated in the world and have rebounded extraordinarily from overfishing decades ago; failing to recognize their success only pushes consumers toward seafood from other markets with much looser environmental oversight. The coastal communities across the nation that support our fishing heritage must be protected and celebrated.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and staggering unemployment rates, efforts to promote jobs should be maximized across all maritime sectors and ensure that any new coastal uses benefit the U.S. economy and Americans. RODA calls on the Biden administration to work with fishing companies and crews, offshore wind supply chains, unions, and workforce development programs to create robust mechanisms that create and maintain jobs across all maritime trades.

Complementary to this, offshore wind energy development should be the poster industry for the President’s “Buy American” initiative. Current infrastructure in the U.S. does not support the manufacturing or installation of offshore wind turbine components and thus energy development companies are poised to purchase from foreign countries. For example, GE Renewable Energy, a main supplier of wind turbines and turbine parts, recently opened a new offshore wind and development center in China. The Administration should support American labor by requiring turbines, monopiles and blades be manufactured here in the U.S., ensuring that they meet our world-class environmental standards.

As small business owners reliant upon a healthy U.S. environment, our members look forward to working with the President’s appointments for the Secretaries of Commerce, Interior, and Labor. Their experience working with small communities, including coastal and fishing communities, will prove vital as we tackle some of the biggest issues facing our nation. We also look forward to working with the entire Administration on protecting and promoting sustainable U.S. seafood. RODA is committed to helping our members stay on the water and will continue to advocate for protecting the important heritage of the fishing industry and coastal communities across the country.

Saving Seafood Statement on President Biden’s National Monuments Order

January 22, 2021 — Saving Seafood members believe that the lack of benefit from a prohibition on commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument, the harm to domestic sustainable seafood production and coastal communities, the lack of scientific evidence demonstrating any harm from decades of commercial fishing in the region, and the inherent unfairness of the Obama administration’s decision to ban commercial harvesting while permitting recreational fishing have already been well-documented in the press and reviewed by appropriate government agencies.

However, we appreciate that President Biden has requested a review of the Trump administration’s actions on the monument rather than issuing an immediate reversal. Our members look forward to discussing these issues with Rep. Deb Haaland as soon as she is confirmed as Interior Secretary, just as we met with Secretary Ryan Zinke and Secretary David Bernhardt.

Contrary to the dramatic tone of some press releases and online campaigns from conservation groups, the Trump administration action last June did nothing more than create parity between recreational and commercial fishing in the monument, allowing both recreational and commercial fishermen to harvest sustainably in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Magnuson-Stevens Act has been hailed by U.S. conservation groups and by international bodies as one of the most successful laws in the world for managing fisheries responsibly and sustainably.

Sustainable fishing has taken place in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area for decades. Conservation groups and proponents of the monument have described the area where fishing has taken place as “pristine.” There is no evidence that commercial fishing has ever damaged these canyons and seamounts or the corals and other marine life that exist there.

Our members have worked diligently with officials and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle since secret proposals for an Atlantic Marine Monument were revealed in emails between conservation groups and former Obama administration officials through a public records request in 2015.

The region now encompassed by the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument is important to the offshore lobster, red crab, and swordfish and tuna fisheries. And displacement of the offshore lobster fishery from their historic location would likely harm the highly successful and sustainable Atlantic scallop industry. We appreciated that the Obama administration recognized that an immediate closure would have serious negative consequences to the red crab and offshore lobster fisheries, and were grateful for the seven-year extension which allowed those fisheries to continue to operate. Unfortunately, no such extension was granted to commercial swordfish and tuna fishermen, who were harmed from the time the closure went into effect until last summer when parity and fairness were restored.

President Biden has vowed to make science a central theme of his administration. In an online briefing introducing his team of top five science advisors before the inauguration, he said, “As president, I’ll pay great attention” to science and scientists.

As long as the review ordered by President Biden is conducted fairly and honestly, and in accordance with science and data, we believe the results should be to continue to allow sustainable fishing, both commercial and recreational, under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Congressman Don Young Fights for Alaska’s Fishermen, Reintroduces Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization

January 5, 2021 — This week, on the opening day of the 117th Congress, Congressman Don Young (R-AK) introduced the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. This legislation reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act – landmark fisheries management and conservation legislation first written by Congressman Young in 1975. The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) was last reauthorized in 2006.

“Alaska’s seafood industry is one of the primary drivers of our state economy, and for over forty years, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has allowed our fishermen, processors, and coastal communities to thrive,” said Congressman Young. “In 1976, I was proud to fight for our Nation’s fishermen alongside my dear friend Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA) as we first drafted this bipartisan legislation, and I am proud to continue the fight. As the nature of our ecosystem and fishing industry changes, we must ensure our laws are updated to keep pace in an evolving world. COVID-19 has impacted Alaska’s fishermen and processors, and we need to help them bounce back from this public health crisis. One crucial way of securing economic opportunity is to manage our fisheries sustainably, so that our fishermen have product to bring to market in the first place. I am pleased to work with industry leaders, and stakeholders in Alaska and throughout the country to update this important law. Future generations must have access to our ocean’s renewable resources. Simply put, sustainability is not a partisan issue – Alaskans know that more than anyone else. This reauthorization takes important steps to protect one of our most important renewable resources, and ensures that generations of fishermen to come can earn a living by putting sustainable seafood on the tables of families across the country. I will be working diligently to earn bipartisan support for our reauthorization so that it gets across the finish line and is signed into law.”

“Congressman Young has always fought for Alaska’s fishing industry in Washington, D.C., and he knows first-hand how important sustainable fisheries are to our state,” said Clay Koplin, Mayor of Cordova, Alaska. “I am very pleased that he has introduced legislation to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which has had an incredibly positive impact on Alaska for over 40 years. Commercial fishing has a significant footprint here in Cordova, and this bill will help Alaska continue to be a model for the nation on sustainable seafood practices. I am very grateful for Congressman Young’s long-time leadership on this vital issue. For the sake of fishermen in Alaska and across the country, I call on Congress to help us get the job done by taking up Congressman Young’s MSA reauthorization bill.”

Read the full story at the Alaska Native News

President Trump Vetoes S. 906 Over Fishing Gear Provisions

January 2, 2021 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by the White House:

TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

I am returning, without my approval, S. 906, the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act. America’s fishermen have made great sacrifices to ensure that our Nation’s marine fisheries are a sustainable economic engine for coastal communities. Under my Administration, the number of United States fish stocks subject to overfishing is at a historic low. This achievement is the result of a transparent and collaborative regulatory process that is supported by regional fishery management councils. At council meetings, fishermen work with Federal Government and State government representatives to meet their statutory obligations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

In passing S. 906, the Congress has ignored the fact that the regional fishery management process has had strong, bipartisan support since its creation. By forcing the West Coast drift gillnet fishery to use alternative gear that has not been proven to be an economically viable substitute for gillnets, the Congress is effectively terminating the fishery. As a result, an estimated 30 fishing vessels, all of which are operated by family-owned small businesses, will no longer be able to bring their bounty to shore. At a time when our Nation has a seafood trade deficit of nearly $17 billion, S. 906 will exacerbate this imbalance.

Further, S. 906 will not achieve its purported conservation benefits. The West Coast drift gillnet fishery is subject to robust legal and regulatory requirements for environmental protection that equal or exceed the environmental protections that apply to foreign fisheries. Without this fishery, Americans will import more swordfish and other species from foreign sources that frequently have more bycatch than our own fisheries. If the Congress wants to address bycatch, it should insist on a level playing field for imported seafood instead of crushing American fishing families.

My Administration has done more for American fishermen than any President before me. On May 7, 2020, I signed an Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth to bolster our domestic seafood industry while curbing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing abroad. On June 5, 2020, I issued a Proclamation on Modifying the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument to open it to commercial fishing that is conducted in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws, regulations, and requirements. And as fishermen struggled to stay on the water during the pandemic, I issued a Memorandum on Protecting the United States Lobster Industry and later made approximately $530 million available, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Seafood Trade Relief Program, to support the United States seafood industry and fishermen affected by retaliatory tariffs from foreign governments.

My Administration would support provisions of the enrolled bill, if passed separately, which would authorize fee collection in a different fishery — the Pacific Halibut fishery. This authority is needed to implement a provision of the International Pacific Halibut Commission Convention, to which the United States is a party. However, for the sake of American fishermen nationwide, I will not let the Congress circumvent the fisheries management process by effectively terminating a fishery without appropriate consultation and input from fishery management councils. If this occurred, it would increase our reliance on imported seafood and take away the livelihoods of hard-working Americans and their family businesses. It is my duty to return S. 906 to the Senate without my approval.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 1, 2021.

Rep. Huffman reveals preview of federal fisheries management legislation

December 22, 2020 — North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman released a draft of legislation Friday that would reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which is the primary law governing federal fisheries management and conservation.

Rep. Huffman, chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee, and subcommittee member Ed Case of Honolulu, introduced a discussion draft to reauthorize the MSA. Huffman said the legislation has made the U.S. a global leader in sustainable fisheries.

The draft comes at the end of a year-long listening tour Huffman led. In a press release, he said the tour was part of his effort to promote a “uniquely transparent, inclusive, science-based approach to updating this important law governing fisheries in American waters.”

Read the full story at KRCR

Fish bill: Huffman submits draft to reauthorize Magnuson

December 21, 2020 — Following a yearlong tour and eight listening sessions at fishing ports on every coast of the country, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) introduced a draft reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act with Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) on Friday, Dec. 18.

The Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act was enacted in 1976 and last reauthorized in 2006.

The new draft leads with consideration for the effects of climate change on wild fisheries, but also includes:

  • A timeline for the management of federal fishery disaster declarations and disbursal of funds;
  • A grant program for working waterfronts;
  • Reinstitution of the National Seafood Council to promote U.S. seafood products;
  • Revision of Saltonstall-Kennedy program to return funds to their original purpose;
  • The addition of a tribal member to the Pacific council.

“This draft includes important and timely updates to the MSA as well as provisions to strengthen communities and support those whose lives and livelihoods depend on healthy oceans and fisheries,” said Reps. Huffman and Case in a statement on the draft. “With the growing impacts of climate change, difficulties due to the ongoing pandemic, and rapidly evolving needs in fisheries management and science, amending and reauthorizing the MSA remains a top priority. We’re looking forward to the next phase of this process and receiving constructive commentary to inform and shape the bill’s introduction next year.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

CATHERINE CASSIDY: Is Alaska open for business? Not from where I stand.

December 18, 2020 — A freak storm descended on Cook Inlet this month. The fallout threatens my family business and hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital investment. Over a thousand other similar businesses around Cook Inlet face the same peril. The disaster? Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy made the bizarre decision to effectively shut down the commercial salmon fishing industry here.

At the very end of a four-year process intended to bring the Cook Inlet salmon fishery into compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the state announced that it would refuse to cooperate with the program and basically forced the closure of federal waters in Cook Inlet to commercial fishing.

Before you conclude that this action was some kind of noble defiance to federal overreach, you should know that the state of Alaska already has multiple collaborative agreements with the federal government on managing numerous other fisheries in Alaska, including crab, cod, rockfish and salmon.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

Huffman, Case Unveil Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization Discussion Draft to Update Federal Fisheries Management

December 18, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):

Today, Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee, and subcommittee member Ed Case (D-Honolulu) introduced a discussion draft to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the primary law governing federal fisheries management and conservation that has made the U.S. a global leader in sustainable fisheries. This draft is the culmination of a year-long listening tour Rep. Huffman led to get feedback on the legislation – part of his ongoing effort to foster a uniquely transparent, inclusive, science-based approach to updating this important law governing fisheries in American waters.

“This draft includes important and timely updates to the MSA as well as provisions to strengthen communities and support those whose lives and livelihoods depend on healthy oceans and fisheries,” said Reps. Huffman and Case.“With the growing impacts of climate change, difficulties due to the ongoing pandemic, and rapidly evolving needs in fisheries management and science, amending and reauthorizing the MSA remains a top priority. We’re looking forward to the next phase of this process and receiving constructive commentary to inform and shape the bill’s introduction next year.”

In an effort to include as many opinions and viewpoints as possible, Rep. Huffman and Rep. Case held eight listening sessions and covered seven management regions on their nationwide fisheries listening tour. They heard from 80 different experts and stakeholders, in addition to public comments from dozens of members of the public in person and online. From the very beginning, this has been one of the most deliberative, transparent efforts to reauthorize the MSA.

The text of the MSA Reauthorization discussion draft is here. A one-pager on the legislation is here. A section-by-section summary is here. A cover letter on the legislation can be found here.

Fishing interests fight ocean closures bill

November 20, 2020 — A national coalition of seafood industry and commercial fishery stakeholders is mobilizing against congressional legislation that would exclude commercial fishing from wide swaths of the nation’s fisheries.

The House bill, filed in late October by U.S. Rep. Raul Grivalja of Arizona, seeks to use “marine protected areas” to ban all “commercial extractive use” across 30% of the nation’s exclusive economic zone by 2030. The closures would be part of the so-called “30×30” strategy to conserve 30% of ocean habitat worldwide by the 2030 target date.

In a letter to Grivalja, more than 800 fishing stakeholders, including the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, framed the conservation-fueled proposal as an undermining threat to the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and an assault on the economic viability of fishing communities from New England to Alaska.

“Members are the commercial fishing industry are very concerned about the attempt to undermine the Magnuson Act via these proposed pieces of legislation,” said Jackie Odell, executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Senators introduce Fishermen’s Fairness Act

October 29, 2020 — Last week Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse introduced Senate Bill S. 4804, the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Fairness Act. The bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the fishing law of this nation, to add Rhode Island to the list of seven states represented on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The Council is one of eight regional bodies that regulate fishing with NOAA.

The Senate bill would give Rhode Island two new voting seats on the council. Many of the fish caught off our coast are regulated by the Mid-Atlantic Council, yet Rhode Island has no representation on the Council.

Senator Reed said, “The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is a key decision making body that determines what happens off the coast of Rhode Island, but our state doesn’t have a seat on the Council.” Senator Whitehouse, said, “As climate change heats up the oceans, fish that once lived in the warmer mid-Atlantic have migrated north to the waters off New England.”

Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline of Rhode Island are expected to introduce a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Ocean-based Climate Solutions Act to address climate change impacts

Read the full story at The Cranston Herald