Saving Seafood

Hawaii and other big marine protected areas ‘could work against conservation’

September 6, 2016 — British and US marine scientists say that the race to designate ever-bigger marine national parks in remote parts of the world could work against conservation.

In an commentary timed to coincide with President Obama’s announcement of the huge extension of a marine park off Hawaii, the authors argue that the creation of very large marine protection areas (Vlmpas) may give the illusion of conservation, when in fact they may be little more than “paper parks”.

“It is not enough to simply cover the remotest parts of our oceans in notional ‘protection’ – we need to focus on seas closer to shore, where most of the fishing and drilling actually happens,” said Peter Jones, a marine researcher at University College London.

Co-author Elizabeth de Santo, an assistant professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, added that the push for quantity over quality threatens to undermine sustainability.

“There are concerns that marine conservation aims could be undermined by this focus on a few big areas. The marine biodiversity target is about much more than the proportion of the seas that are covered,” she said.

In the past five years over 20 huge new marine parks have been designated by countries, including Britain, in response to calls by marine scientists to protect more of the oceans.

Read the full story at The Guardian

Statement from the New England Red Crab Harvester’s Association on ASMFC Marine Monument Policy

June 1, 2016 — The following statement was released by Jon Williams, President of the New England Red Crab Harvester’s Association, in response to the passage of the ASMFC motion calling for the president not to declare a marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean:

“Never in the history of New England commercial fishing have we seen the entire industry and its regulatory bodies unite behind a single cause. 

Yet with its recent unanimous vote on the marine monument designation, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission joined industry leaders in sending a clear message to the Obama administration: the current monument process poses a serious threat to effective ocean management, and would have disastrous environmental and economic impacts.

The ASMFC deserves the highest praise for both its strong regulatory record over these last decades, and for its current commitment to conservation efforts. The Atlantic Red Crab Company stands with the commission in our belief that allowing outside groups with far less expertise to take over ocean management is an entirely unnecessary threat to our fragile ecosystem.

We hope the Obama administration understands the importance of such unity within the commercial fishing community, and that it allows the ASMFC and NEFMC to continue their regulatory and conservation efforts.”

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Southeastern Fisheries Association Statement on ASMFC Marine Monument Policy

May 11, 2016 — The following statement was released by Bob Jones, Executive Director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, following the passage of the ASMFC motion calling for the president not to declare a marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean:

“The Southeastern Fisheries Association supports the ASMFC Resolution in support of continuing the current New England Fishery Management Council’s coral management process. We respectfully oppose a Presidential Proclamation designating a deep water marine monument. It is unnecessary and would have a negative impact on the nation’s ability to produce seafood on a sustainable basis.

Please allow the Magnuson Act to address these fishing issues.”

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SFA’s mission is to defend, protect and enhance the commercial fishing industry in the southeastern United States for present participants as well as future generations through all legal means while maintaining healthy and sustainable stocks of fish.

Considering Pacific marine monument expansion

May 9, 2016 — HONOLULU — A Native Hawaiian proposal that calls for the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is picking up steam and this week a delegation from the Obama Administration is meeting with stakeholders to discuss the possibility.

The waters around Kauai and Niihau, however, would be exempt from the expansion, according to news release sent to The Garden Island on Thursday.

“As Native Hawaiians, our core identity and survival is tied to the ocean. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is where we believe life originated,” said Kekuewa Kikiloi, Chair, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group. “All resources in nature – from corals to sharks – have cultural significance for Native Hawaiians and are an embodiment of our ancestors. By expanding Papahanaumokuakea we can help protect our cultural ocean-scapes and show future generations that preservation of the environment is preservation of our cultural traditions.”

Read the full story at the Garden Island

Statement from the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association on ASMFC Marine Monument Policy

May 6, 2016 — The following statement was released by Bonnie Brady, Executive Director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, following the passage of the ASMFC motion calling for the president not to declare a marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean:

“The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association fully supports the motion approved by the ASMFC. The plan is a win for all. It allows for the protection of deep-sea corals, while at the at the same time protects commercial fishing jobs. It prevents the further contraction of our fisheries as we try to reclaim domestic markets from the onslaught of imported fish and shrimp, which too often is harvested by forced and involuntary laborers working in inhumane conditions.”

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The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association works to promote and educate the public about commercial fishing on Long Island.

Read more about the ASMFC decision at Saving Seafood

Mid-Atlantic Eyed for Marine Reserve, Monument

March 29, 2016 — WASHINGTON — With less than one year left in office, President Barack Obama is moving forward with plans to restrict fishing in two areas off the Atlantic Coast.

In February, the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fishery Council voted to name an off-shore area stretching from North Carolina to New York State the Frank J. Lautenberg Deep Sea Coral Protection Area.

Spanning 35,000 square miles, approximately the size of South Carolina, the area contains some 15 undersea canyons. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to approve the name and the designation of the area as a marine reserve.

Once the reserve is officially established, bottom trawling within its boundaries will be banned as part of an effort to protect slow-growing, deep-water corals, which provide homes for numerous species.

Read the full story at The Heartland Institute

Kerry: Obama looking to senators to make Atlantic monument happen

October 8, 2015 — Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking Tuesday from Chile, did nothing to tamp down the flames over a conservationist-led movement for President Obama to use executive decree to create a marine sanctuary or national monument off the coast of New England.

Speaking at the Our Oceans Conference in Valparaiso, Chile, Kerry followed a reference to the newly created sanctuaries off the coast of Maryland and along the Great Lakes coast of Wisconsin, by saying “We also have plans in the works which we are pursuing for still another significant one in the Atlantic, where we don’t have the kind of presence that we want and should.”

Kerry added that the Obama administration is working with senators “engaged in that particular area in order to make that happen.”

That seemed to toss the ball squarely back into the court of, among other New England senators, Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, both of whom have been silent on the issue.

Meanwhile, concerned by what it regards as a lack of transparency and undue influence from conservationists, a House committee on Wednesday sought more answers from the Obama administration on potential plans to create a national marine monument off the coast of New England that would be fully off limits to fishing or sea-bed harvesting.

In a letter to officials at NOAA and the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, members of the Committee on Natural Resources, said witness testimony at last week’s oversight hearing on marine national monuments showed “the public input process surrounding the designation or expansion of national marine monuments has been woefully inadequate or even non-existent.”

The letter also pointedly questioned the relationship between the Obama administration and the phalanx of conservationist groups urging the president to use the Antiquities Act to create national marine monument in the vicinity of Cashes Ledge and Georges Bank.

The letter referenced a chain of emails — first obtained and reported by the Saving Seafood website — that committee members regard as raising “serious questions regarding the Administration’s plans for a new marine monument designation and the potential involvement of a number of outside interests.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

House Natural Resources Committee Demands Obama Administration Info on Marine Monument Designations

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) October 7, 2015 — In a letter signed by the full committee chairman, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, and the chairman and vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaska Native Affairs, the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee has demanded records of all meetings, correspondence and memos related to marine monument designations. 

The letter references emails that “show representatives from the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Pew Charitable Trusts warning their members to avoid talking to the ‘outside world’ about the organizations’ efforts to influence the Administration to announce a Marine National Monument off of New England during the ‘Our Ocean Conference’ in Chile.” The emails in question were originally obtained by Saving Seafood via public records requests, and were first reported by Greenwire.

The following is the text of the press release from the House Natural Resources Committee:

Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), and Reps. John Fleming (R-LA), Don Young (R-AK), and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS) sent a letter today to Council on Environmental Quality Managing Director Christy Goldfuss and Assistant Administrator for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Eileen Sobeck to request further information on the Obama Administration’s plans to designate new marine monuments or expand existing monuments. This concerns all coastal states.

In particular, the members of the Committee raised concerns about the apparent collusion and influence of environmental groups with regard to the Interior Department’s designation process, with almost no local input.

The letter stated, “[T]he day after the Subcommittee’s hearing, a chain of emails were publicly released which raise serious questions regarding the Administration’s plans for a new marine monument designation and the potential involvement of a number of outside interests. Specifically, the emails show representatives from the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Pew warning their members to avoid talking to the ‘outside world’ about the organizations’ efforts to influence the Administration to announce a Marine National Monument off of New England during the ‘Our Ocean Conference’ in Chile.”

The lack of transparency surrounding the number and scope of potential future designations was a point of emphasis for the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Ocean’s oversight hearing on September 29, 2015.

“As witnesses indicated in testimony before the Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee hearing, the public input process surrounding the designation or expansion of national marine monuments has been woefully inadequate, or even nonexistent. The American people and those impacted by such potential designations deserve the right to know now what the federal government is or has been doing behind closed doors, given that a true public process simply does not exist under current law or practice.”

The letter requests records of all meetings regarding the designation or revision of national monuments, correspondence and memos related to national marine monument designations, and Executive branch communications including those with non-governmental organizations connected to the September 15, 2015 National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Town Hall meeting in Providence, Rhode Island.

Read the House Natural Resources Committee’s press release online

View a PDF of the House Natural Resources Committee’s letter to Christy Goldfuss and Eileen Sobeck

 

GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES: Cooler heads needed on marine monument plan

September 24, 2015 — Everyone — from fishermen to environmentalists — agrees on the need to preserve Cashes Ledge and the swath of deepwater canyons and seabeds south of Georges Bank.

There is a deep distrust, however, over the method several environmental groups — including the Conservation Law Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pew Charitable Trusts — are using to make that happen.

Their heavy-handed, autocratic attempt to create a so-called “marine national monument” off the coast of Cape Ann is creating a political quagmire, with Democrats and Republicans weighing in on the issue alongside fishermen and environmentalists. The resulting scrum could lead to a situation no one wants, namely fewer protections for one of the more stunning underwater regions in the Atlantic Ocean.

We are hoping cooler heads — including U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem — can prevail on the interested parties to collaborate on a preservation plan, bypassing a proposed presidential fiat.

The fight centers on conservationists’ push to create the national monument at Cashes Ledge and south of Georges Bank. President Obama, they note, can use his executive powers — through the Antiquities Act — to make it happen with little or no public input.

The move would make the areas, located between 80 and 100 miles off Cape Ann, permanently off limits to activities such as drilling and fishing (though that’s not happening there now).

No one is arguing the areas shouldn’t be protected. The spot south of Georges Bank, parallel to Cape Cod, for example, is made up of stunning seamounts and canyons that rise and plunge thousands of feet from the sea floor.

Somehow, however, the conservation groups decided they were the sole arbiters of the best way to manage the area, and have moved to shut out other stakeholders, including the region’s fishermen. That’s not only wrong, it’s anti-democratic. The Gulf of Maine is a shared resource, which by definition means the decisions about how to manage it must also be shared. Fishermen and other groups deserve a voice.

Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

CONGRESSMEN JONES & YOUNG FILE BILL TO PREVENT MARINE MONUMENT DESIGNATIONS WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL CONSENT

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 23, 2015 – The following was released by the Office of Congressman Walter Jones:

Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina) and Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) have cosponsored H.R. 330, the Marine Access and State Transparency (MAST) Act.  The bill would prevent President Barack Obama, or any future president, from unilaterally designating offshore areas as “national monuments” and restricting the public’s ability to fish there.  Instead, the bill would require a president to get the approval of Congress and the legislature of each state within 100 nautical miles of the monument before any “monument” designation could take effect.

The bill comes in response to increasing speculation that President Obama may follow the example of his predecessor George W. Bush and unilaterally designate large swaths of coastal America as “national monuments.”  In 2006, President Bush short circuited the established process of public consultation and input and unilaterally designated 84 million acres off the coast of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The new monument, which is larger than 46 of America’s 50 states, was then closed to fishing.    

“Presidents from both parties have abused their monument designation authority for far too long,” said Congressman Jones.  “No president should be allowed to just lock up millions of acres of fishing grounds by fiat, with no public input whatsoever.  Frankly, it’s un-American, and it must be stopped.  I am proud to be the first member of Congress to join my friend Don Young in fighting for this legislation, and I urge the rest of my colleagues to get behind it.” 

For additional information, please contact Maria Jeffrey in Congressman Jones’ office at (202) 225-3415 or at maria.jeffrey@mail.house.gov.

Read the release from Congressman Jones online