Saving Seafood

CHRISTIAN PUTNAM: Voters need to take action to save fishing industry

June 3, 2016 — Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker recently made significant changes to the state fisheries board after the board became bogged down in an internal struggle over which board member should be in charge. Bringing new blood into a broken governmental process is a smart move by an executive with significant private industry experience.

The federal government could take a page from Gov. Baker’s playbook when it comes to breaking through bureaucratic roadblocks and promoting efficiency. Instead the Obama administration created the National Ocean Policy in 2010 by executive order as a way to deal with the oceans and the future of commercial fishing.

In 2012, an implementation plan was outlined, resulting in a 2016 work plan. The National Ocean Policy was billed as a process by which stakeholders could have more direct and immediate control over stewardship of the oceans and the resources within. Instead it has turned into a regulatory burden that requires the participation of many federal agencies, creating an extended process in reacting to changes in the environment and the needs of stakeholders, including the endangered New England Commercial Fisherman.

Read the full story at the Scituate Mariner

Ocean Planning Update: Draft Northeast Ocean Plan and Public Comment Meetings

May 26, 2016 — The following email was released yesterday by the Northeast Regional Planning Body:

Earlier today [May 25, 2016], the Northeast Regional Planning Body (RPB), a group composed of representatives from six New England states, six federally recognized tribes, nine federal agencies, and the New England Fishery Management Council, announced the rollout of its Draft Northeast Ocean Plan. The Draft Plan is available at the RPB website: neoceanplanning.org. The RPB is seeking input on the Draft Plan in multiple ways: people can provide comment online or in writing (see the website for details) or by attending one of the following public meetings (please note: there have been a couple of schedule changes to this list, so please check the website for further updates):

Monday, June 6 – Maine

Location: Rockland Public Library, 80 Union Street, Rockland, ME

Time: 5PM to 8PM

Wednesday, June 8 – Connecticut

Location: Conference Room, Marine District Headquarters, 333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme, CT

Time: 7PM to 9PM

Monday, June 13 – Massachusetts

Location: Maritime Gloucester, 23 Harbor Loop, Gloucester, MA

Time: 6PM to 8:30PM

Tuesday, June 14 – Massachusetts

Location: Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, 100 Cambridge Street, 2nd Floor, Hearing Rooms C & D, Boston, MA

Time: 2PM to 4:30PM

Wednesday, June 15 – Massachusetts

Location: New Bedford Public Library, 613 Pleasant St., New Bedford, MA

Time: 6PM to 8:30PM

Monday, June 20 – Maine

Location: Ellsworth Public Library, 20 State Street, Ellsworth, ME

Time: 5PM to 8PM

Monday, June 27 – New Hampshire

Location: Portsmouth, NH DES Office 222 International Drive, Suite 175

Time: 6PM to 8:30PM

Wednesday, June 29 – Rhode Island

Location: TBD

Time: 6PM to 8:30PM

Thursday, June 30 – Maine

Location: Portland, ME TBD

Time: 5PM to 8PM

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you—

John Weber

 

On behalf of:

Betsy Nicholson, RPB Federal Co-lead

Grover Fugate, RPB State Co-lead

Richard Getchell, RPB Tribal Co-lead

Northeast Regional Planning Body Releases Draft Northeast Ocean Plan

May 26, 2016 — The following was released by the Northeast Regional Planning Body:

The Draft Plan

The Northeast Regional Planning Body (RPB) is proud to release the draft Northeast Regional Ocean Plan for public review and comment. Several years of public engagement, scientific study and data analysis, and collaboration has led to this draft, and the RPB looks forward to hearing the feedback of everyone who is interested in the future of New England’s ocean and its resources.

The RPB wants your feedback on this draft Plan. The public comment deadline is July 25, 2016, and you can comment on each chapter electronically at each chapter landing page, in-person at any of our upcoming public comment meetings, or by submitting written comments to:

Betsy Nicholson, NE RPB Federal Co-lead
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930-2276.

You may also provide comments by sending an e-mail to:
comment@neoceanplanning.org.

Review the Plan

Download the full plan as a PDF (198pp, 77.5M), or review the Table of Contents below to select a specific chapter. The full Draft Plan is also available as a low-resolution version (198pp, 11.7M). Development of the plan was informed by the draft Baseline Assessment, which also is available for review. The Northeast Ocean Data Portal is an essential component of the draft Plan, and also can inform review of the Plan.

Read more about the plan at the Northeast Regional Planning Body

National ocean policy threatens new regulatory burdens

May 26, 2016 — Since its creation by Executive Order in 2010, the Obama administration has hailed its National Ocean Policy (NOP) as a non-regulatory, stakeholder-driven initiative that will lead to reduced burdens and less uncertainty for ocean user groups.

In reality, it’s nothing of the sort.

This was highlighted recently during a hearing held by the U.S. House Natural Resources’ Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee on the implications of the NOP, where House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop summed up many of the concerns of stakeholders when he noted that “it’s creating more uncertainty, and it certainly is not helping the industry and it’s not helping the environment.”

You know what? He’s right.

The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association (LICFA) has been closely monitoring the development and implementation of the NOP since its establishment six years ago.  We’ve had no other choice, as we represent stakeholders in New York’s $1.4 billion boat-to-table seafood industry, with Long Island in particular landing 99 percent of the state’s wild-caught seafood.

Since the beginning, some of the greatest concerns with this policy have centered on the potential regulatory impacts of the policy’s coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) and ecosystem-based management (EBM) components.

Read the full story at The Hill

Draft Northeast Ocean Plan to be revealed in webinar

May 23, 2016 — The following was released by the Northeast Regional Planning Body:

Draft Northeast Ocean Plan Public Release Webinar

Date: May 25, 2016

Time: 12:00-2:00 pm ET

Objectives

  • Announce the availability of the draft Northeast Ocean Plan
  • Provide an overview of the draft Northeast Ocean Plan
  • Describe the public comment process and upcoming opportunities to discuss the draft Plan
  • Answer clarifying questions from the public on both the draft Northeast Ocean Plan and public engagement process

Read the full release as a PDF

House Hearing: Ocean Stakeholders Discuss National Ocean Policy

May 20, 2016 — WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – Earlier this week, ocean stakeholders – representatives from fishing, offshore power, agricultural industries – testified regarding their disparate experiences working with the Obama Administration’s National Ocean Policy. Their testimonies were part of an oversight hearing by the House Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, “The Implications of President Obama’s National Ocean Policy.”

“I have to wonder,” said Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA), “if perhaps some stakeholders are more equal than others.” The question of who benefits from current ocean policy framed the entire hearing.

Bob Zales, a fisherman of 50 years and president of the National Association of Charterboat Operators emphasized in his testimony the exclusion of fishery stakeholders from the formulation and implementation of the National Ocean Policy. In one telling anecdote, Mr. Zales described how his only means of participation in the planning process was a one-minute testimony during the public comment period of a hearing New Orleans.

“I drove from Panama City Florida to New Orleans – and back – in one day, to give one minute of testimony,” he said. “That one minute does nothing.”

Meghan Lapp, who represents commercial fishing company Seafreeze Ltd., echoed Mr. Zales’ testimony in her own statement, discussing the limited and frustrating interactions Seafreeze had had with planners during the formation state of the National Ocean Policy.

“They’ll listen to your comments, but they don’t do anything with them. They don’t incorporate them into whatever they are doing,” said Lapp.

In contrast, Jim Lanard, CEO of Magellan Wind, when questioned by Representative Tom McClintock about the level of input offshore power companies have had on the National Ocean Policy, protested, saying regulators had in fact listened to him. “No, that has not been my experience at all,” said Mr. Lanard.

Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT), Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, spoke for many at the hearing when in his comments he summarized the confusion created by the National Ocean Policy.

“This National Ocean Policy was created six years ago,” he said, “and six years later they [the Obama Administration] still don’t seem to know what they’re doing.”