Saving Seafood

Sanfilippo resigns from fisheries commission

December 19, 2017 — Longtime Gloucester fisherman Gus Sanfilippo has resigned from the state’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, leaving Arthur “Sooky” Sawyer as the only Gloucester resident on the commission.

Sanfilippo, appointed to the commission in May 2016 as part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s wholesale purge of existing commission members, said he resigned so he could spend more time fishing.

“I just didn’t have the time now that I’m back fishing again,” said Sanfilippo, who has been working on the fishing vessel Miss Trish. “I found it really interesting, but it was really just a matter of not having the time.”

Sanfilippo said his time on the commission gave him a greater appreciation for the complexities of the state’s varied fisheries and the overall performance of the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries.

“It’s something I’d definitely do again if I have the time,” he said.

Sanfilippo hails from an established Gloucester fishing family and skippered the 80-foot F/V Lily Jean on the History Channel’s 2012 fishing mini-series, “Nor’easter Men,’ a three-hour documentary that focused on draggers from several New England ports.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times 

 

MASS. STATE REP. BILL STRAUS: Baker has the right to change board’s makeup

June 9, 2016 — To the editor:

On May 24, your paper published an article regarding the action of the Baker administration in replacing seven of the nine members of the state’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission.

All seven members whom Gov. Baker replaced were serving as hold overs whose statutory terms had long expired; five of them had begun on the panel as appointees of Republican governors going back to 1991.

I believe the new appointees reflect a diverse experience in fisheries and no one quoted in your article could credibly assert that the new members aren’t qualified for this panel.

Read the full letter at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Governor Baker shakes up state fisheries commission

June 8, 2016 — When the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker announced a couple of weeks ago that seven of the nine sitting members of the state’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission were being replaced, many assumed the worst.

“This is strange and not well-thought-out,” said Phil Coates, of Sandwich, the retired former director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries. “It will have an impact that will go far beyond the new members.”

Coates, like many, wondered if the sacking of so many commissioners was retribution for the board not supporting Douglas Christel for Division of Marines Fisheries director last fall. Christel is a former NOAA Fisheries employee whose candidacy was backed by the Baker administration. Christel was the top choice of a screening committee to replace retired Director Paul Diodati over Division of Marine Fisheries deputy directors David Pierce and Dan McKiernan.

The commission selected Pierce, a longtime Marine Fisheries employee with many years working on state and federal fisheries issues, as Diodati’s representative on the New England Fishery Management Council.

Baker, Coates said, ignored the wisdom of replacing just three members at a time on the advisory commission to maintain institutional memory while managing a wide range of recreational and commercial fisheries that intersect with both federal fisheries management through the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and coastwide species through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Fisheries meetings pushed back

June 2, 2016 — The state Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission was scheduled to hold its regular monthly meeting in Gloucester on Thursday, but that was before Gov. Charlie Baker purged seven of its sitting members and replaced them with new appointees.

Those wholesale changes on the nine-member board, which prompted charges of political tampering from many of the outgoing members, forced the Baker administration to reschedule Thursday’s meeting until later in the month.

Actually, two meetings.

The first, which Baker administration officials describe as an informal orientation meeting to help indoctrinate the new members on the workings of the commission, has been set for June 15 at a Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Field Headquarters in Westborough.

The second will be the regular monthly business meeting, set for June 28, also at the DFW facility in Westborough. That will be the first time the full board has met for a business meeting since April.

Read the full story in the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Governor Baker reshapes state fisheries board

May 27, 2016 — State environmental officials quietly replaced the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission members last Friday, after a disagreement last year over who should serve as the division’s director. The board blocked Governor Charlie Baker’s choice for the job, later choosing longtime division official David Pierce as director.

The Baker administration did not issue a press release on the personnel moves, and longtime fishing boat captains and several industry activists said they were unaware of the changes until contacted this week by the Globe.

Daniel Sieger, assistant secretary for the environment, said the administration was motivated by a desire to bring in new blood and said there were no concrete policy goals associated with the move.

“There’s people that have provided their viewpoint on that board for a long time, and we thought it was a good time to provide some additional perspective,” he said. All of the commissioners who were dismissed were serving past the length of their terms.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe