Saving Seafood

New Faces on the Docks: NOAA Hires Uniformed Enforcement Officers

January 5, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This year NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement in the Northeast Division hired seven new uniformed enforcement officers in an effort to increase patrol presence with a focus on compliance assistance and education.

“OLE will continue to bolster its enforcement officer staff across the country over the next several years,” said OLE Deputy Director Logan Gregory. “Fair and effective law enforcement is critical toward protecting the commercial and recreational fishing industries, and the sustainability of our living marine resources.”

OLE’s sworn personnel are comprised of enforcement officers and special agents, each with their own distinct roles.

Enforcement officers focus on improving compliance via face-to-face interactions with industry. Through patrols enforcement officers increase NOAA’s presence, provide information about regulations directly to the fishing industry, and at-sea enforcement in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard and state partners. Enforcement officers focus on directly engaging with fishermen to help ensure they understand fishing regulations. Additionally, EOs handle patrol-level investigations such as landing fish in excess of possession limits or prohibited and undersized species, fishing in closed areas, illegal fishing gear and reporting issues.

 

Special agents conduct more complex and long term investigations in area such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, fraudulent mislabeling of seafood, smuggling or trafficking of threatened or endangered marine animal parts such as sperm whale teeth; and the intentional harm or attempt to harm protected marine animals such as whales, seals, and turtles.

With the area of responsibility spanning more than 3 million square miles of ocean, 85,000 miles of U.S. coastline, 13 National Marine Sanctuaries, and four Marine National Monuments, OLE has an extensive mission. OLE’s Northeast Division expects to hire and train seven additional enforcement officers in 2016. This strategic shift in staffing will increase the visibility of OLE’s programs and provide greater outreach, emphasizing prevention of unintentional violations, and education as a means to improve voluntary compliance.

“Most fishermen and seafood dealers are honest, hardworking individuals, with difficult jobs in a highly regulated industry,” said Gregory. “We are committed to helping them understand the regulations they must abide by. Increasing our patrol presence will strengthen our ability to ensure compliance assistance and education is available, while helping to ensure a level playing field for the industry.”

Meet the New Enforcement Officers

Eric Provencher, Lieutenant, North East Supervisory Enforcement Officer

Lt. Provencher began his law enforcement career in 1996 with the National Park Service, where he last served as the Deputy Chief Ranger at Delaware Water Gap before joining OLE.

Jason Berthiaume, Enforcement Officer, Gloucester, MA

Before graduating the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 2005, Officer Berthiaume realized his interest in marine law enforcement and quickly began his career as a Fisheries Observer. From there he was hired as a Marine Patrol Officer for the state of Maine where he worked closely with the lobster industry in Stonington and other local ports. In 2009 Berthiaume transitioned to the NOAA Sustainable Fisheries Division, where he was involved with policy and regulatory development. This year he joined OLE for the face-to-face interactions with local fishermen and opportunity to help the industry navigate and comply with the complex regulations in the Northeast.

Kevin Swiechowicz, Enforcement Officer, New Bedford, MA

After completing a degree in wildlife conservation at the University of Massachusetts Officer Swiechowicz became a Wildlife Inspector for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This position afforded him the opportunity to work alongside USFWS Agents who were regulating the international and interstate trade in wildlife products. Swiechowicz became involved with investigations covering topics from sport hunted trophies originating in Zimbabwe to smuggled corals from Indonesia. Swiechowicz made the jump to OLE to assist in leveling the playing field for all industry partners.

Mark Kerr, Enforcement Officer, Portland, ME

Officer Kerr began his law enforcement career with the National Park Service in 1995, working as a Ranger at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia and Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, Md.  Kerr served in law enforcement positions at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine, and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, Mass. Through these positions, Mark gained experience and expertise in wildlife law enforcement, while cooperatively working with state and local entities in the conservation field.  Kerr saw the opportunity to join OLE as a way concentrate on the preservation of marine environment.

Wynn Carney, Lieutenant, Mid-Atlantic Supervisory Enforcement Officer

Lt. Carney holds an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and a graduate degree in public administration from Georgia Southern University. He began his law enforcement career 15 years ago and has served as a Game Warden, a municipal police officer, a special agent, and Park Ranger.

Conservation of the nation’s fisheries has been a primary focus of Carney’s law enforcement career. He considers fisheries conservation to be one of his passions and views his career as much more than just a job. Carney believes his role in keeping marine resources healthy and sustainable for future generations is of the utmost importance.

Jed Fiske, Enforcement Officer, Wall, NJ

Officer Fiske graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. in Recreation Management and Policy, and a Minor in Environmental Conservation. Since graduating, he has worked as a law enforcement officer for the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as regulatory enforcement for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Fiske takes pride in being able to protect our nation’s natural resources and looks forward to learning more about the commercial fishing industry.

John Ford, Enforcement Officer, Newport News, VA

Before being hired as an Enforcement Officer, Officer Ford began his career with NOAA in 2009 working on OLE’s Cooperative Enforcement Program. In his new role, Ford hopes to improve working relationships between the fishing community and marine conservation. He enjoys the opportunity to be a part of the natural resource management partnership to ensure fishing opportunities for future generations.

Read the full story from NOAA

NOAA outlines enforcement efforts

December 31, 2015 — Nearly six years after being savaged by a Commerce Department investigation that portrayed it as a department basically run amuck, the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement has issued its first public annual report.

The report, released Dec. 17, is “part of our effort for more transparency,” Casey Brennan, chief of staff at the Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), said Wednesday.

The report, which does not reference the documented abuses by NOAA law enforcement agents at the heart of the 2010 investigation by the Commerce Department’s inspector general, portrays an agency grappling with the challenge of fulfilling its expanding mandate despite shrinking resources, budgetary constraints and declining staff at its headquarters, as well as its five divisional offices and 53 field offices.

“As we continue to navigate the challenges of resource management and budgetary constraints while adapting to new and expanded missions, we have not lost sight of our core priorities,” OLE Director James Landon wrote in his director’s message introducing the report.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

 

Scallop Industry Fights Early Access To Nantucket Lightship Area

December 22, 2015 – Last week, The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), represented by Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, wrote NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard, urging him to disapprove a December 3rd vote at the New England Fishery Management Council that would allow certain vessels early entry into the Nantucket Lightship area in violation of the principles of rotational closure system that has made the scallop fishery sustainable and profitable.

The vote would allow General Category scallopers access to the Nantucket Lightship area, and disallow access by Limited Access vessels. FSF says that allowing different access for different types of vessels in the scallop fleet violates laws, regulations, and the Atlantic Scallop Fishery Management Plan. FSF also argues that the vote failed to meet public notice requirements, failed to provide analysis of effects for public comment, and, as an allocation issue, requires an amendment of the Fisheries Management Plan.

Administrator Bullard himself spoke in opposition to the vote, stating “What I’m worried about is a motion like this … [takes] a chink out ofthis rotational closure and allows one group in early. And so next year, what’s the justification for someone to come in early, and the year after, what’s the rationale? And at what point do we not have the system that created the nation’s most profitable, most productive, most sustainable fishery? At what point do we look and say ‘it really isn’t a rotational closure system anymore, it’s a system where we decide who goes where at what time.'”

View the letter as a PDF

Kelly Ayotte Supports NH Fishermen Challenging At-Sea Monitoring Program

Editor’s Note: Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein addressed Senator Ayotte’s press release by stating that “Cause of Action, on behalf of the fishermen we are representing in this matter, applaud Senator Ayotte, and thank her for her support. We appreciate any help we can get on educating the public about this unlawful regulation that would devastate the fishing industry and would put good, hard-working people out of work.”

WASHINGTON — December 10, 2015 — The following was released by the office of U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.):

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) today expressed support for New Hampshire fishermen who filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the legality of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) at-sea monitoring program:

“I support New Hampshire fishermen in their fight against NOAA’s at-sea monitoring fees. I continue to believe that NOAA should fully fund the at-sea monitoring program and Senator Shaheen and I have also called for a full investigation of the program. Going forward, I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure the survival of New Hampshire’s historic and iconic commercial fishing industry.”

In September, Ayotte introduced legislation to terminate NOAA’s independent third-party at-sea monitoring program for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery unless NOAA fully funds the program using funds within its existing budget. She also sent a letter, together with U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), to the Department of Commerce Acting Inspector General David Smith calling for a full investigation into NOAA’s at-sea monitoring program for the Northeast Multispecies Fishery, which includes New Hampshire’s coastal region.

Also in September, Ayotte hosted a roundtable discussion with NOAA officials, New Hampshire fishermen, and business leaders at the Pease Tradeport in Portsmouth. She invited NOAA officials to New Hampshire to hear directly from fishermen and business leaders about concerns with fishing regulations, federal catch-share limits, NOAA’s process for determining fish stocks, the imposition of fees for “at-sea monitors” on commercial fishing vessels, and NOAA’s implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Ayotte is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard.

Read the original release from the office of U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.)

AUDIO: Cause of Action & Plaintiffs Discuss At-Sea Monitoring Lawsuit

December 10, 2015 (Saving Seafood) — This afternoon, Cause of Action, a government accountability organization “committed to ensuring that decisions made by federal agencies are open, honest, and fair,” held a media call with David Goethel and John Haran, the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the Department of Commerce to overturn the Department’s decision to have the commercial fishing industry pay for the cost of at-sea monitoring.

According to Cause of Action, “a large majority” of the commercial fishing operations in New England “will be forced to shut down if the government forces those who fish for cod, flounder and other ‘ground fish’ to pay out of pocket for at-sea monitoring, a program the government has traditionally funded.” The industry is expected to begin paying for the cost of at-sea monitors sometime in 2016.

According to Cause of Action, NOAA estimates that up to 60 percent of the groundfish fleet will be unable to afford the cost of at-sea monitoring. Among other reasons for the challenge, Cause of Action noted that “Congress has directed NOAA to use its appropriated funding to cover the cost of these at-sea monitors,” and “NOAA is specifically required by statute to implement regulations that allow fishing communities sustainable prosperity and ‘minimize adverse economic impacts on such communities.'”

Listen to the call here

 

Fishermen suing feds over legality of at-sea monitoring

December 10, 2015 — A New Hampshire fisherman has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration challenging the legality of mandated at-sea monitoring for the Northeast groundfish fleet.

David Goethel, owner of the 44-foot fishing trawler Ellen Diane out of Hampton, and Northeast Fishing Sector 13, are the named plaintiffs in the suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire. The suit also has the backing of Cause of Action, a non-profit governmental watchdog organization.

The suit also names as defendants Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA Assistant Administrator Eileen Sobeck and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Last week, NOAA said it only has enough money left to fund at-sea monitoring until the end of 2015 and will shift the cost of the monitoring, estimated at $710 per vessel per monitoring day, to the fishermen sometime early in 2016.

The suit comes about a week after the New England Fishery Management Council voted to ease the level of monitoring on groundfish vessels from the current 24 percent of all trips to about 13 percent as a means of alleviating the economic impact of absorbing the at-sea monitoring costs.

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

 

NEW YORK: Question Science Behind Fish Quotas

December 10, 2015 — Mid-Atlantic fishermen and their advocates told four members of Congress on Monday that inaccurate stock assessments needlessly limit their catch and endanger their livelihood as the House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing in Riverhead.

Bonnie Brady of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association and Captain Joe McBride of the Montauk Boatmen and Captains Association were among those providing testimony to Representative Lee Zeldin of New York’s First Congressional District and three members of the natural resources committee. Witnesses also included representatives of fishing and seafood trade associations and a scientist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which manages fish species in federal waters.

At issue in the field hearing, called Restoring Atlantic Fisheries and Protecting the Regional Seafood Economy, were the science and data collection used in management of fish stocks.

Along party lines, the committee members either defended or disparaged NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Services’ stewardship and stock assessments, from which quotas are determined. They disagreed on assessments of striped bass and fluke, for which the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council have recommended 2016 harvest reductions of 25 and 29 percent respectively.

Read the full story from The East Hampton Star

Overregulation threatens local fishing economies, Congressmen say

December 8, 2015 — A U.S. House of Representatives committee held a rare field hearing in Riverhead yesterday, the first time in recent memory such a committee has formally met on the East End.

A three-member panel of the House Committee on Natural Resources convened the hearing to discuss the federal policies that currently regulate the region’s fishing grounds, probing the policies’ basis in science, fishery conditions and economic impacts on the local economy with testimony and questioning  of several invited witnesses.

The committee members who conducted the hearing, hosted by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), heard testimony for two hours yesterday at the Suffolk County Community College Culinary Arts Institute on East Main Street.

They also discussed alternatives to what some on the four-member panel characterized as oppressive regulation that could potentially damage the region’s fishing industry.

“In my part of the world, there’s a saying that if you have no farms, you have no food,” said committee chairman Rob Bishop, a Republican congressman from Utah. “The same can be said that if you have no boating access, you have no fish.”

Bishop claimed that federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have “ignored state and local laws, input and science” in their regulatory decisions.

Read the full story from Riverhead Local

New York State gives fishing industry extra time to seek Sandy aid

December 7, 2015 — New York State extended the application deadline for marinas, aquaculture facilities, commercial boat operators, harvesters and other fishery industry professionals to apply for superstorm Sandy recovery money.

The new deadline to apply for the Superstorm Sandy Fishery Disaster Grant is Jan. 29 and is open to businesses and individuals that lost more than $5,000 in revenue or gross income as a result of the 2012 storm.

Eligible businesses must have at least $15,000 in annual earnings and be in operation at the time of the application.

The Governors Office of Storm Recovery and state Department of Environmental Conservation will issue up to $3.6 million in grants, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Eighty applications have been filed since the grant program was announced in September.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

CHRISTIAN PUTNAM: Transparency lacking in harmful fishing restrictions

December 7, 2015 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Obama Administration are working closely with several environmental groups to “protect” vast areas of ocean off New England’s coast from the dreaded commercial and recreational fishermen.

After NOAA’s utter failure to work with the stakeholders that make up the fishing community through the National Marine Fisheries Service, rebranded NOAA Fisheries after the name became synonymous with disastrous over-regulation, it appears an even less transparent process is now underway to regulate our natural resources.

Plans have been hatched by several environmental groups that include the Conservation Law Foundation, Pew Charitable Trust, and the National Resources Defense Council to create at least one Marine National Monument in New England Waters. Potential areas include Georges Bank, east of Cape Cod, and Cashes Ledge, about 80 miles east of Gloucester.

It has been reported that direct conversations have occurred between these organizations, the administration and NOAA. The plan is to use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to allow for unilateral action by President Barack Obama to designate certain areas as national monuments from public lands to preserve their significant cultural, scientific or natural features.

Read the full opinion piece at the Scituate Mariner