Roger Wicker Archives - Page 3 of 4

SEN. ROGER WICKER: Governor’s testimony spotlights blue economy

April 8, 2019 — Mississippians have inherited, harvested, and benefited from our oceans. That is why our state is a leader when it comes to the Blue Economy – the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.

Late last month, Gov. Phil Bryant joined the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which I chair, and provided testimony at the committee hearing, “Our Blue Economy: Successes and Opportunities.”

As Governor Bryant said at the hearing, “On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we have embraced the Blue Economy with all our energy and ingenuity.” The best seafood anywhere comes from the Gulf. Recreational and commercial fishermen up and down the coast contribute billions of dollars to our economy and support tens of thousands of jobs. Looking out at our coastal ports, you can see 55 million tons of goods flow in and out annually. Those goods are often transported on ships made in Mississippi and destined for harbors around the world.

Ocean conservation and development go hand-in-hand. In Mississippi, we take these lessons to heart.

Congress made significant progress on the Blue Economy when my colleagues and I passed the Modern Fish Act and the Commercial Engagement through Ocean Technology Act, or CENOTE, at the end of 2018. Both of these bills attracted bipartisan, bicameral support and were signed by the President.

Read the full opinion piece at the Daily Journal

Petition, gathering kick off new push for US federal aquaculture bills

February 19, 2019 — Another push for passage of a new US federal aquaculture law is in full swing with a petition to Congress signed by 122 professionals mostly from aquaculture or other seafood-related industries.

An informational gathering on Capitol Hill has been scheduled for lawmakers and their staff early next month.

Both the US Senate and House of Representatives’ versions of the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act that were introduced during the 115th Congress expired in December along with the session, but Margaret Henderson, campaign director for the Stronger American Through Seafood (SATS), told Undercurrent News Friday that she believes new bills will be introduced in both chambers within the next two months.

Senators Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and representatives Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, and Steve Palazzo, another Mississippi Republican, all of whom championed the earlier bills, are back, and support is already being built.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Aquaculture supporters send letter to Congress

February 7, 2019 — More than 120 seafood industry leaders and other aquaculture proponents have signed on to a letter that was sent to members of Congress on Wednesday, 6 February, urging federal lawmakers to open up opportunities for offshore fish farming.

The letter, sent to legislators by Stronger America Through Seafood, said House and Senate members plan to reintroduce updated versions of the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act. The bills would streamline the permitting process for aquaculture initiatives based in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“It is time for the U.S. to get into the aquaculture game and provide new local sources of sustainable seafood for consumers,” the letter said. “We can do it here, we can do it right and we can do it [now].”

The letter also said the country risks missing out on getting a piece of the growing aquaculture industry, which researchers believe will continue to grow. According to Beyhan de Jong, a Rabobank researcher, the industry produced USD 232 billion (EUR 204.8 billion) in goods in 2016. It stands to grow by another USD 100 billion (EUR 88.3 billion) in less than a decade.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Recreational fishing rules to be overhauled under new law

January 14, 2019 — The rules that govern recreational marine fishing in the U.S. will get an overhaul due to a new law passed by Congress, and the country’s millions of anglers and the groups that stake their livelihoods on them hope the changes will bring better management.

The new standards are part of a suite of changes that proponents call the Modern Fish Act that were approved by the House and Senate in December. Supporters of the new rules have said they will boost an industry that contributes billions to the economy, though some members of the fishing industry felt deeper rule changes were warranted.

The passage is a “big step toward implementing science-based methods” and “marks the first substantial update to the federal fisheries management system in more than a decade,” said Nicole Vasilaros, senior vice president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, a boating industry trade group.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post

Trump signs recreational fishery bill into law

January 4, 2019 — The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act is now officially a law.

The White House announced on Monday, 31 December, that President Trump signed U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker’s bill, which the Mississippi Republican has said would improve conservation efforts and also help communities that rely on recreational fishing for their economies.

In a statement, Trump said the act strengthens regional fishery management councils. Namely, it requires the Government Accountability Office to review how councils presiding over the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic fishery regions allocate quotas in areas where both anglers and commercial fishermen have access.

The new law also urges councils to consider using alternative means for evaluating recreational fishery catch limits. Rather than using tonnage, councils could now use fishing mortality targets or extraction rates. The law also requires the National Academy of Sciences to review limited access privilege programs to make sure they treat recreational fishing interests fairly.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Senate unanimously passes “compromise” recreational fishing bill

December 18, 2018 — The U.S. Senate on Monday, 17 December, unanimously passed a bill that would urge regional management councils to revise policies and take into account the needs of anglers in mixed-use fisheries.

The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act, proposed by U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), would require the Government Accountability Office to review how the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic management councils allocate catch limits in fisheries shared by commercial and recreational fishermen. It also would encourage the two councils to find alternative methods for managing recreational fisheries.

“I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this bill passed, but there is still more work to be done,” Wicker said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing our efforts to modernize federal fishing policies on the Gulf Coast and to support our fishermen.”

Monday’s vote comes after Wicker and members of the sportfishing industry stepped up their efforts to get the bill passed before the 115th Congress’ term ends. Wicker filed the bill in July 2017, and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee advanced the bill in June.

However, the bill coming out of the committee met with serious resistance from commercial interest groups, who feared the bill would be detrimental to their industry. The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance as recently as last month said it opposed the bill as written.

Greg DiDomenico, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association, lamented that the time and energy directed toward Wicker’s bill in the Senate could have been better used for discussing a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization. If Wicker’s bill becomes law, the best outcome might be that the pubic gets a truer sense of the impact the recreational industry has on Southeastern fisheries.

“This does not get us the real reform that both industries need,” DiDomenico told SeafoodSource.

The push to revise recreational management policies comes on the heels of the federal government relaxing some regulations in the Gulf. Earlier this year, Gulf states started a two-year pilot to manage the red snapper recreational fishery in federal waters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US commercial fishermen take their aquaculture concerns to Capitol Hill

December 14, 2018 — Commercial fishermen and their supporters let Congress know where they stand on a bill that would grant NOAA Fisheries the ability to regulate aquaculture operations in federal waters.

The letter, signed by 100 fishermen and supporters and sent to elected officials last week, claims each fish farm in the exclusive enterprise zone would restrict access to “hundreds of acres of marine space” to commercial fishermen. They also believe fish farms would produce lower-cost and lower-quality fish, which they believe would deter consumers from paying more for wild fish. Further, the letter raises concerns about the impact that farmed fish escapes and pollution stemming from fish feed and antibiotics might have on fishing stocks.

“Simply put, industrial seafood farms threaten the integrity of the wild fish populations that are key to our industry’s success, and the coastal communities we support,” the letter states.

In July, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) filed the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act to give NOAA Fisheries power to permit aquaculture activities within the country’s exclusive enterprise zone. In September, U.S. Reps. Steven Palazzo (R-Mississippi) and Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) introduced a companion bill in the House.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Another group opposed to Young’s MSA bill starts working on new Congress

November 28, 2018 — The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC), a group of seven harvester associations that previously opposed efforts to modify the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), is already working to win over the next US Congress.

A statement issued this week by the group makes no mention of Alaska representative Don Young’s bill, HR 200, to reauthorize MSA while giving regional fishery management councils more flexibility when making decisions about harvest limits, but the group expressed strong opposition to the measure early last year. It also opposed S. 1520, a bill sponsored by Mississippi senator Roger Wicker that was championed by the recreational fishing industry.

Young’s bill is seen as being in trouble as it expires in just a few days as the 115th Congress comes to an end and the House is reconstituted in January with Democrats, who have largely rejected HR 200, in control.

“Fisheries policy must protect America’s marine resources and strengthen fishing communities, not advance corporate agendas,” said Dwayne Oberhoff, executive director of the Morro Bay (California) Community Quota Fund, one of the seven groups, in a statement released Tuesday by the FCC.

“We look forward to meeting and working with members of the 116th Congress to ensure a sustainable fishing future for American consumers and the men and women working hard every day to provide them with locally harvested, sustainable seafood.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Sportfishing interests making late push for agenda in US Senate

November 21, 2018 — With possibly just three weeks remaining in the 2018 U.S. Congressional calendar, recreational fishing supporters are making a last-minute push in hopes of getting at least part of their agenda passed before the end of the year.

Scott Deal, president of Maverick Boat Group, wrote a guest op-ed for The Hill earlier this week urging Congress to pass legislation that he said would modernize fishing regulations and open opportunities for anglers in federal waters.

“Because federal law has never considered the fundamental differences between recreational and commercial fishing practices, federal fisheries management problems facing anglers have been snowballing for decades,” Deal wrote. “Those problems are impediments to participation in sportfishing. How can we engage the next generation of anglers when the federal rules unnecessarily stand in the way?”

Much of what Deal and others sought was included in H.R. 200, which the House passed in July. However, that bill has languished in the Senate as it has remained in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation since then.

While recreational industry leaders, like most others, admit that chances of a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization getting through the 115th Congress are next-to-none, the American Sportfishing Association and other groups have set their sights on a new bill, where they hope some provisions can be included by amendments.

“We’re optimistic that the recreational fishing community’s priorities for improving federal fisheries management, which are contained in the Modern Fish Act, could be included in a public lands bill or another package that gets signed into law before the Congress adjourns,” Mike Leonard, the ASA’s vice president of government affairs, told SeafoodSource. “We know that our legislative champions like U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker are working hard at making that happen.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US Senator Roger Wicker files bill to further aquaculture industry

July 9, 2018 — U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) has filed a bill that he said would further develop the aquaculture industry in the country.

S. 3138, named the “Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture Act,” calls for the creation of the Office of Marine Aquaculture within NOAA Fisheries. That office would oversee regulatory issues within NOAA and push for development opportunities to spur aquaculture’s growth, especially within the country’s exclusive economic zones.

“Aquaculture is the fastest-growing sector of the agriculture industry,” Wicker said in a press release. “This bill would give farmers a clear, simplified regulatory path to start new businesses in our coastal communities. The AQUAA Act would also fund needed research to continue the growth and success of this important industry.”

The bill itself twice mentions it aims to address the U.S. seafood trade deficit. It notes that the country imports about 90 percent of the seafood Americans consume, with half of those imports coming from aquaculture.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is listed as a co-sponsor, and a trade group has started a letter-writing campaign to land additional co-sponsors.

Read the full story at Seafood Source