Saving Seafood

Feds in Last-Minute Move OK Fishing Boat Owners for COVID Loans

June 29, 2020 — The Small Business Administration announced Thursday that owners of commercial fishing vessels are now eligible to apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans — giving them only three business days to get their paperwork in before the program expires at the end of the month.

The PPP program was designed to let small business owners keep workers on payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. The loans can be fully forgivable if the recipient uses at least 60 percent of the funding to pay workers.

Advocates for the fisheries on Friday praised the move from the SBA while encouraging fishing boat owners to hustle on down to their local banks to get their applications in. All PPP loans must be approved no later than than June 30.

“We’re hearing that many banks stopped taking PPP loan applications on Friday,” said National Coalition for Fishing Communities Executive Director Robert Vanasse. “With this news from the SBA, we hope that local banks will extend that window until Tuesday.”

Read the full story at WBSM

Statement from Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities Executive Director Robert Vanasse on Changes to the Paycheck Protection Program

June 29, 2020 — The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Our fishing coalition members are grateful for today’s modifications to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which will finally allow most vessel owners to take part in the program and will help save industry jobs. As fishermen deal with the ongoing changes to the industry caused by the COVID-19 crisis, these protections will help support livelihoods and ensure that our fishing communities remain strong.

We would like to thank President Donald Trump and members of his Administration, Secretary Wilbur Ross and the staff of the Department of Commerce, Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the staff of the Department of the Treasury, and Administrator Jovita Carranza and the staff of the Small Business Administration for their efforts in making changes to the program, and for helping to make sure that the PPP is available to as many American businesses as possible.

America’s fishing industry has been a foundation of not just the culture of our coastal communities, but of the US economy as well. Commercial fishing communities span the nation, from Hawaii and the Pacific territories, to Alaska, to the Pacific Northwest, the West Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the East Coast.

The National Coalition for Fishing Communities gives voice to the numerous communities — municipalities, fishermen, shore-side businesses, processors, retailers, and many others — that make up America’s seafood industry. Our members represent tens of thousands of fishermen across the nation.  Neither we nor our members accept financial support  from environmental organizations or their funders.

WTAS: Re-opening of the Northeast Canyons, Marine National Monument to Commercial Fishing

June 5, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT):

Today, President Trump announced the re-opening of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument for commercial fishing. Below is what they are saying:

“American fishermen work hard to support their communities, provide food security to the nation, and protect the environments where they make their livelihoods. President Obama swept aside a public, science-based fishery management process with the stroke of a pen. That was a mistake. Ranking Member Bishop deserves thanks for his work in opposing that sort of misuse of the Antiquities Act. We applaud today’s presidential proclamation on the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument for restoring the open, collaborative, and science-based council management process that has made our fisheries a model for the world.” – Robert B. Vanasse, Executive Director, Saving Seafood

“We want to thank President Trump for recognizing the prior Administration’s actions pursuant to the Antiquities Act to unilaterally close nearly 5,000 square miles to commercial fishing operations were harmful to U.S. fishermen and their coastal communities and undermines our country’s seafood production.” Mr. Reichle added that “While everyone seems to agree our Nation’s fisheries management system achieves sustainability and our seafood production some of the safest and healthiest in the world — it is remarkable that anyone would prohibit access to large productive fishing areas with no scientific justification and the stroke of an executive pen. This President got it right and our industry appreciates the support.” – Jeff Reichle, Chairman, Lund’s Fisheries, Inc.

“Seafreeze extends our sincere thanks to President Trump for re-opening the Northeast Monument to our commercial fishing vessels. Our vessels have sustainably harvested product in the Monument area for over 30 years, and its closure meant a loss of millions of dollars a year to our company. We applaud President Trump’s decision to support our American commercial fishermen and the world’s most sustainable fisheries.” – Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison, Seafreeze Ltd.

“Today, President Trump acknowledged the tremendous social and economic contributions our American Commercial Fishing Industry and the small businesses that support us provide to the American public. This Presidential support comes at a critical time for our Industry and the Nation as a whole. For this, Mr. President, we are grateful.” – Eric Reid, Rhode Island

Warren releases ‘Blue New Deal,’ a plan to help ailing oceans

December 10, 2019 — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday released an addendum to her vision for a Green New Deal: the Blue New Deal.

The new plan seeks to address how climate change is affecting oceans and other waters, while ensuring a vibrant marine economy, she said.

“While the ocean is severely threatened, it can also be a major part of the climate solution,” she wrote in a nine-page summary of the plan. “That is why I believe that a Blue New Deal must be an essential part of any Green New Deal.”

“Not being consulted on this isn’t a good start to the relationship,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington, D.C., which represents the scallop industry. “We expected something more well-thought-out from her.”

Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing industry associations and companies, said that “any large industrial project in the ocean will have significant impacts to the sustainability of established activities and the marine environment.”

“To me, it seems like it was written by staff, and they did a lot of Googling,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a Washington-based group that represents commercial fishermen. “It’s disappointing, because we know Senator Warren has a more sophisticated understanding of fisheries.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Robert Vanasse: Former AccuWeather CEO has managerial skills NOAA needs

April 25, 2019 — The USA Today editorial board asked Saving Seafood Executive Director Robert Vanasse to participate in an editorial debate on the nomination of Barry Myers as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The following is an excerpt from that op-ed:

Our members view Barry Myers’ experience at a family-based business as an asset. Many American seafood companies are multigenerational, family businesses, and his understanding of them is unique.

Myers has managerial skills that NOAA needs. NOAA already has top-notch scientists on staff, but it has been plagued by mismanagement.

It was managerial failure, not scientific lapses, that: created a law enforcement program found to have “overstepped the bounds of propriety and fairness,” resulting in a 2011 Cabinet-level apology to fishermen and a return of $649,527 in fines; allowed the destruction of more than 100 files while abuses were under investigation; and built research vessels too large to survey near-shore fish populations.

NOAA needs a strong manager. Barry Myers can do the job.

Read the op-ed at USA Today

New Lobbying Group Formed by East Coast Fishing Industry to Address Wind Power Concerns

June 11, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A new lobbying group, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, has been formed by the East Coast Fishing industry to represent seafood interests in discussions and permitting around offshore wind development.

One of the criticisms by the industry of offshore development of wind power was that with a localized permitting process, there was no way for the overall fisheries impact of multiple projects to be recognized.

“The current, splintered approaches to engaging fishing communities in the offshore wind leasing process are ineffective and inefficient, and the result is that critical fishing industry expertise is not being considered,” said Anne Hawkins, legal and scientific counsel for RODA. “Fisheries need a unified effort to ensure they get the best possible offshore outcomes.”

Hawkins is a lawyer with Kelly Drye, the firm that has long represented scallopers and other fishing interests in New Bedford and elsewhere along the East Coast.

One of RODA’s first priorities is exploring partnerships with NOAA and the Atlantic states to develop collaborative scientific research. This research would address the lack of peer-reviewed information on the effects of offshore development to fisheries and fish populations. It would also be used to inform offshore developers and regulators in planning sites, awarding leases, designing operations plans, and developing mitigation strategies.

Another principal in the effort is Robert Vanasse, communications and media advisor to RODA. Vanasse founded Saving Seafood, and also works on other East Coast fisheries issues such as Omega Protein’s menhaden fishery.

“The industry needs to speak as one,” said Vanasse. “The offshore wind energy industry, and regulators at the federal, state, and local levels need to hear clearly the concerns of participants in our domestic fisheries.  We will work to foster the productive dialogue among those parties that is urgently needed and sorely lacking.

Specifically, RODA will coordinate engagement between offshore development and affected fisheries to guide the planning of future offshore development sites, and to implement effective operations and mitigation programs for existing sites. By creating a united effort from fishing communities, RODA will facilitate more informed development of shared offshore resources.

This article originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

Responsible Offshore Development Alliance Forms to Coordinate Fishing Industry Action on Wind Power

June 1, 2018 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

With offshore renewable and wind energy development becoming increasingly common on the East Coast, a new alliance has formed to ensure that these developments are compatible with the existing interests of the nation’s fishing communities. The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) brings together a broad range of commercial fishermen from across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to advocate for their shared concerns over emerging offshore developments.

RODA is seeking to coordinate the efforts of the fishing industry, offshore wind development interests, and federal, state, and local governments to promote effective offshore development policies, and to support more scientific research on offshore development impacts. Current regulatory efforts to assess the impact of offshore development on fisheries have been disconnected. Past offshore projects have not adequately engaged with the fishing industry and the regional fishery management councils, leading to offshore leases being awarded to projects located in prime fishing grounds.

“The current, splintered approaches to engaging fishing communities in the offshore wind leasing process are ineffective and inefficient, and the result is that critical fishing industry expertise is not being considered,” said Anne Hawkins, legal and scientific counsel for RODA. “Fisheries need a unified effort to ensure they get the best possible offshore outcomes.”

One of RODA’s first priorities is exploring partnerships with NOAA and the Atlantic states to develop collaborative scientific research. This research would address the lack of peer-reviewed information on the effects of offshore development to fisheries and fish populations. It would also be used to inform offshore developers and regulators in planning sites, awarding leases, designing operations plans, and developing mitigation strategies.

RODA is also working with its members in the fishing industry to provide a unified voice on industry-wide issues, such as consideration of new offshore developments, to ensure that these issues are adequately addressed.

“The industry needs to speak as one,” said Robert Vanasse, communications and media advisor to RODA. “The offshore wind energy industry, and regulators at the federal, state, and local levels need to hear clearly the concerns of participants in our domestic fisheries.  We will work to foster the productive dialogue among those parties that is urgently needed and sorely lacking.

Specifically, RODA will coordinate engagement between offshore development and affected fisheries to guide the planning of future offshore development sites, and to implement effective operations and mitigation programs for existing sites. By creating a united effort from fishing communities, RODA will facilitate more informed development of shared offshore resources.

 

Future Of Northeast Marine National Monument Protections Still Uncertain

December 7, 2017 — Protections of a marine national monument made up of underwater mountains and canyons 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod could be at risk after President Donald Trump significantly scaled back the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah Monday – the biggest reduction of monument protections in U.S. history.

On Tuesday, U.S. Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke officially released his review of the designations of 27 national monuments, including the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean.

The three-million-acre monument was designated in September 2016 by former-president Barrack Obama under authority granted by the 1906 Antiquities Act. Since then, commercial fishing, with the exception of lobster and red crab fishing, has been banned within the monuments boundaries.

Read the full story at RI NPR

 

Zinke backs shrinking more national monuments and shifting management of 10

December 7, 2017 — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday called on President Trump to shrink a total of four national monuments and change the way six other land and marine sites are managed, a sweeping overhaul of how protected areas are maintained in the United States.

Zinke’s final report comes a day after Trump signed proclamations in Utah that downsized two massive national monuments there — Bears Ears by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly 46 percent. The president had directed Zinke in April to review 27 national monuments established since 1996 under the Antiquities Act, which gives the president broad authority to safeguard federal lands and waters under threat.

In addition to the Utah sites, Zinke supports cutting Nevada’s Gold Butte and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou, though the exact reductions are still being determined. He also would revise the proclamations for those and the others to clarify that certain activities are allowed.

The additional monuments affected include Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean; both Rose Atoll and the Pacific Remote Islands in the Pacific Ocean; New Mexico’s Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande Del Norte, and Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

 

NMFS finalizing new rules for New England fisheries

December 5, 2017 — Tuesday, 5 December is the final day for the public to submit comments on a series of proposed changes to essential fish habitats and areas within the New England Fishery Management Council’s jurisdiction.

The new regulations were designed to keep the council in compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which calls on the councils to review designated habitat areas and protect those areas as much as possible to allow fish to mature and spawn.

The proposed changes include opening the northern portion of Georges Bank, a shallow plateau located between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, to scallop fishermen.

The council said the potential economic benefits outweigh the benefits of keeping the area closed. The scallop fishery have averaged nearly USD 500 million (EUR 421.2 million) in revenue over the past five years. By allowing fishermen in Georges Bank, it could increase their revenue by almost USD 190 million (EUR 160 million).

Read the full story at Seafood Source