Saving Seafood

Rep. Frank Guinta calls for NOAA to stop at-sea monitoring or pay for it

October 8, 2015 — A New Hampshire congressman is turning up the heat on the at-sea monitoring issue, filing a bill that would terminate the current at-sea monitoring program for fishing sectors in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery until NOAA agrees to fully fund it.

U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta’s bill would exempt fishermen from having to “comply with the independent, third-party monitoring program” required by the NOAA unless the federal fisheries regulator “fully funds the program with funds appropriated from the administration.”

The goal of the legislation, Guinta said, is to preclude the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from shifting the cost of at-sea monitoring — estimated at $710 per day per trip — from its budget to the federal permit holders — of which, he said, there remain only nine active groundfish sector boats working out of New Hampshire ports.

“I really question why the federal government would force their financial obligation onto the boats,” said Guinta, who represents New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District and is a member of the House Financial Services Committee. “It’s unfortunate what the federal government is doing. If they require it, they should at the very least pay for it.”

Guinta also questioned why the at-sea monitoring is so expensive and why NOAA contracts the services out to third-party operators rather than performing the tasks with its own staff.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

 

 

PORTSMOUTH HERALD: NOAA monitoring fee will kill local fishing industry

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — October 6, 2015 — The following editorial appeared yesterday in the Portsmouth Herald in Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

Local fishermen say the looming cost of paying $700 per day, for at-sea monitors, could put them out of business by the end of the year.

It’s a threat that everyone should take seriously.

“The day I really have to pay for this is the day I stop going fishing,” says David Goethel, a commercial fisherman from Hampton.

Stringent federal catch limits have already crippled the 400-year-old fishing industry in New Hampshire to the point where there are now only nine active groundfishing boat operators.

This additional expense, to make sure fishermen are following regulations put forward by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), could be the final nail in the coffin.

That’s why we were pleased that last week NOAA delayed the downshifting of the costs to fishermen until Dec. 1. We urge NOAA and our congressional leaders to do what they can to ensure that the delay is permanent because it’s the right thing to do.

NOAA has been footing the bill for the at-sea monitoring program for several years, and rightly so as it’s the federal agency’s responsibility to ensure that annual catch limits are not exceeded.

At-sea monitors keep track of how vessels are meeting their groundfishing allocations set by NOAA to keep groundfish stocks like cod, haddock and flounder from being destroyed.

NOAA’s current rules state that at-sea monitoring costs were to be instituted in 2012. However, they have delayed implementation because of the “continuing economic problems” in the industry, according to Teri Frady, spokesperson for NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

While the fishing industry is still in crisis, NOAA is now claiming it can’t afford to foot the bill for the monitors.

We find it hard, however, to believe that an agency with a billion dollar budget can’t afford it.

The real people who can’t afford it are the fishermen, who are already struggling to stay afloat due to the heavy regulations.

The cost for at-sea monitors will likely be near $700 per day for each vessel, a figure based on what NOAA paid in fiscal year 2015.

In an email to congressional staff, NOAA regulators admit the change would be “economically challenging” for many.

Studies by NOAA show that as many as 60 percent of affected boats could be pushed out of profitability if they have to pay those fees.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte was right to question whether this decision to downshift costs violates the law.

By law, according to the National Standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NOAA is directed to sustain both fish stocks and fishing communities.

Forcing fishermen to pay for at-sea monitors may support sustainable fisheries but it will kill the local groundfishing industry.

Read the full editorial from the Portsmouth Herald

“New England Fishermen Preservation Act” From Rep. Guinta to Cancel Federal Fees

October 1, 2015 — WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — The following was released from the Office of Congressman Frank Guinta (NH):

With his New England Fishermen Preservation Act (H.R. 3661) today, Congressman Frank Guinta continued his effort to stop federal fees that could extinguish New Hampshire’s fishing industry. Just nine Granite State operators still fish the Gulf of Maine, where National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) regulations have reduced their catch by 95 percent, report members of Seabrook’s Yankee Fishermen’s Co-op.  

New fees, averaging over $700 per vessel every few days, could cost fishermen in the region thousands of dollars monthly. “These are small, family businesses,” said Rep. Guinta (NH01), a member of the House Financial Services Committee. “Many are struggling to stay afloat, due to heavy regulations that seem to change from week to week. Fishermen up and down the Northeast could be sunk, when NOAA finally makes good on its threat.”

Rep. Guinta explained that under his bill “NOAA will continue to pay the costs of monitoring fishermen at sea, as the agency has for years.” Currently, NOAA pays contractors to accompany crews but has proposed shifting payment to fishermen themselves. The agency has shifted deadlines several times, recently from the end of October to December. In an email to congressional staff, NOAA regulators admit the change would be “economically challenging” for many.

“It’s economically challenging that an agency with a several-billon dollar budget is demanding fishermen pay its operating costs,” responded Rep. Guinta.

The New England Fishermen Preservation Act exempts Northeast fishermen from compliance with monitoring rules, until NOAA funds the program. Earlier this Congress, Rep. Guinta introduced the bipartisan Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act, which would re-direct existing federal money to U.S. fisheries and strengthen local control.

Read Rep. Guinta’s New England Fishermen Preservation Act here

New Hampshire fishing industry gets more $1M in federal aid

October 2, 2015 — More than $1 million in federal funding has been released to help struggling New Hampshire fishermen and fishing communities.

The money released from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will assist the commercial ground-fishing industry and for-hire fishing vessels. It is in addition to the more than $2 million in fishery disaster funds that have been released to New Hampshire in the past two years.

Read the full story at WMUR

 

NOAA delays new fees that fishermen say will kill industry

October 1, 2015 — HAMPTON, N.H. — New costs New Hampshire fishermen say will end their industry for good have been delayed by one month, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials announced this week.

NOAA said this summer fishermen would have to begin paying roughly $700 per day for 24 percent of their fishing days starting Nov. 1, covering the cost of at-sea monitors to observe fishermen’s compliance with regulations. That November deadline is now pushed to Dec. 1, NOAA spokesperson Jennifer Goebel said. NOAA currently pays for the at-sea monitoring.

Fishermen have said the costs are too much for them to bear, as they don’t gross $700 in a single day. The costs also come as fishing regulations on cod have diminished the commercial fleet to just nine active vessels, many having left the business completely.

Hampton fisherman David Goethel said the delay is good news, but not good enough to remove the threat of ending the New Hampshire fishery. He said he believes NOAA will eventually force the fishermen to pay for the monitors.

NOAA Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator John Bullard said his agency has delayed shifting the payment to the industry because the budget has allowed it to do so, but that it would eventually need to stop funding the at-sea monitoring program.

Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald

Disbursement of Groundfish Disaster Funds (Bin 3)

October 1, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The final installment of groundfish fishery disaster aid, commonly known as Bin 3, has been released to four of the affected states (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut) by NOAA Fisheries. Bin 3 represents the final third of $32.8 million available to assist the groundfish industry. This action allows the states to move forward with the development of individual spend plans for economic assistance to include direct aid to permit holders and crew.  

For more information on the spend plans, contact:

Maine: Meredith Mendelson (207) 624-6553 

New Hampshire: Cheri Patterson (603) 868-1095

Massachusetts: Melanie Griffin (617) 626-1528

Connecticut: David Simpson (860) 434-6043 

New York and Rhode Island continue to work with NOAA Fisheries to develop and complete grant applications to benefit affected fishers and their families.

More information is available on our website.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-6175 or Jennifer.Goebel@noaa.gov.

Credit: NOAA

 

Fishermen worry as black sea bass stake New England claim

September 25, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – As waters warm off the coast of New England, black sea bass are moving north and, fishermen say, threatening the region’s most valuable aquatic species: the lobster.

The influx of sea bass – among a number of species that are appearing in greater numbers off of Maine and New Hampshire as ocean temperatures climb – has some fishermen and lobstermen saying the best solution is to ease restrictions on catching the newcomers.

The sea bass prey on lobsters, a much more economically important commercial species and a key piece of New England’s culture, and quotas that have drifted downward in recent years should be increased, fishermen said.

“What we need is a major increase in the allowable catch, both commercially and recreationally, because black sea bass are wiping out your lobsters,” said Marc Hoffman, a Long Island, New York, recreational bass fisherman.

Hoffman, who sits on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission advisory panel for sea bass, said the time to raise the quota is overdue. He said it is particularly important in southern New England waters, where fishing managers say the population of lobsters has fallen to the lowest levels on record.

Black sea bass are a sought-after sport fish, but they are also popular as food and are growing in commercial value – federal statistics show black sea bass were worth a record of more than $8.5 million in 2013.

Scientists with the commission say more research is needed to determine just how abundant black sea bass are in New England waters. But about a quarter of the black sea bass caught in 2013 came ashore in New England; the fish is more often caught in the mid-Atlantic states, especially New Jersey and Virginia.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at New Jersey Herald

 

Senator Ayotte, fishermen meet with federal officials

September 18, 2015 — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Fishermen aired grievances face to face with federal officials they say are ruining their industry, backed in person by U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who arranged the meeting at Pease Tradeport Friday.

Roughly 40 members of the fishing industry, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator John Bullard and a representative from U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s office joined Ayotte for the 2 p.m. roundtable.

Ayotte, seeking to be a voice for New Hampshire fishermen, called the meeting to address regulations NOAA has imposed on the Gulf of Maine fishery. The regulations are meant to help cod stocks rise from disastrously low numbers, but fishermen have said restrictions are strict enough to put them out of business.

Central to the discussion were at-sea monitors NOAA plans to force fishermen to pay for starting Nov. 1. The monitors would watch fishermen on 24 percent of each vessel’s fishing days to make sure they comply with the regulations. The cost is expected to be roughly $700 per day for each vessel, more than fishermen say they gross in a day.

Read the full story at Hampton Union

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Congressional delegation stands with fishermen

September 20, 2015 — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Fishermen have said this month that the U.S. Congress is their last hope in preventing federal regulations from destroying their industry.

So it was a boost of confidence this week when three New Hampshire congressional legislators took a stand for the fishing industry. They filed legislation, sent letters requesting action and held a roundtable that placed themselves, fishermen and federal officials in the same room to discuss the fate of the fishing industry.

“I think they’re all believable,” said Peter Kendall, a former New Hampshire commercial fisherman. “I think they’re all behind us.”

On Friday, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., held the roundtable meeting at Pease International Tradeport that put fishermen across the table from officials from the federal agency imposing what fishermen say are back-breaking regulations and costs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At the meeting, Ayotte spoke in support of the fishermen, saying those fees and regulations fly in the face of federal law.

Ayotte and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., on Thursday wrote a letter asking the U.S. inspector general to investigate an at-sea monitoring program that fishermen are expected to pay for as soon as Nov. 1. The program will require observers go to sea with fishermen for 24 percent of their fishing days, monitoring their compliance with groundfishing regulations. Cost is expected to be roughly $700 a day, more than fishermen gross in a day’s work, they say.

Ayotte also filed legislation to terminate the observer program unless it was funded by NOAA, which currently covers the cost.

This past Monday, U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., met with commercial fishermen at Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative in Seabrook to promise them he’d file a bill to delay the Nov. 1 deadline, if not kill the program altogether.

Read the full story at New Bedford Standard-Times

 

 

Fisheries Regulation and Catch Limits Round Table With US Senator Kelly Ayotte & NOAA Officials

September 17, 2015 — The following was released by the office of Sen. Kelly Ayotte:

 

United States Senator Kelly Ayotte will hold a round table discussion with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials, New Hampshire fishermen, and business leaders.

When:          Friday September 18, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Where:        1 New Hampshire Avenue – Suite 300 (New Hampshire Room – 3rd Floor)

Pease Trade Port, Portsmouth, NH

United States Senator Kelly Ayotte has asked NOAA officials to come to New Hampshire to hear directly from New Hampshire fishermen and business leaders whose businesses rely on commercial and recreational fishing off New Hampshire’s seacoast.  NOAA has been asked to discuss and answer questions regarding fishing regulations, including catch limits, NOAA’s process for assessing and determining fish stocks, the imposition of fees for monitors on commercial fishing vessels, and NOAA’s application of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.  Following introductory remarks from Senator Ayotte, attendees will have an opportunity present questions or comments to the NOAA officials.