Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: Where is money for Long Island’s fishing industry?

May 8, 2020 — Containing more than $2 trillion in stimulus spending, the CARES Act seemingly had something for everybody reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. That includes the nation’s fishermen, many of whom call Long Island their home. CARES contains $300 million to compensate both those who live off the sales of their catches and those whose boats are chartered by recreational anglers.

Boats that docked in Montauk alone in 2018 nabbed 12 million pounds of fish and cleared $18 million for the catch.

But for six weeks, none of the appropriated $300 million had been divvied up or released, and Rep. Lee Zeldin was badgering Congress and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for details on how it would be divided and paid out.  Then, Thursday afternoon, information began to trickle out. The money is reportedly being allotted based on past-year revenues of each state’s fishing industries, so much of it went to big fishing states. Sen. Susan Collins tweeted that Maine, for instance, got about $20 million.

Read the full story at Newsday

Fishermen getting desperate as $300 million federal bailout stalls

May 4, 2020 — It has been more than a month since President Trump agreed to set aside $300 million in COVID-19 bailout money to help the beleaguered U.S. fishing industry, but regulators have yet to say who is eligible for financial rescue, much less distribute any of the money.

Maine fishermen are growing desperate, and lawmakers impatient, for the U.S. Department of Commerce to announce who qualifies for the bailout, how much money they can get, and how it can be spent. They want the president to release the $300 million immediately.

“With each day that passes absent this assistance, the frustration and economic damage mount,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. “These disruptions have harmed the entire seafood supply chain … and the countless Maine communities whose cultures and economies are anchored by fisheries.”

The Commerce Department’s fisheries division refers reporters asking about the bailout delay to its website, which has remained virtually unchanged since March 27, the date that Trump signed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that includes the seafood industry bailout into law.

Read the full story at the CentralMaine.com

Senator Collins Urges President to Swiftly Release $300 Million to Support Fishing Industry During COVID-19 Pandemic

April 30, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME):

U.S. Senator Susan Collins raised the concerns of Maine’s seafood industry directly to President Donald Trump today, urging him to quickly release the $300 million for assistance to fishermen and businesses along the seafood supply chain that was included in the CARES Act.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins helped to secure this critical relief provision in the final legislation.

“When you signed the CARES Act into law on March 27, Maine fishermen and the diverse supply chain businesses with which they work were encouraged by the inclusion of $300 million in assistance specifically for their sector,” Senator Collins wrote to President Trump.  “I worked with a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues to secure this crucial funding. It has been more than a month since you signed the bill into law, and to date none of these funds have been disbursed to those who desperately need this support. With each day that passes absent this assistance, the frustration and economic damage mount.”

“The Maine seafood industry and those who work within it are defined by resilience,” Senator Collins continued.  “I am confident that this sector will demonstrate its resilience once again and emerge strong from this crisis – but these fishermen and businesses need immediate access to the help that Congress rightfully provided them in the CARES Act. I urge you to direct the Department of Commerce to release this much-needed assistance as soon as possible.”

Maine’s fishing industry has been under significant strain due to the closure of restaurants and the disruptions to trade resulting from COVID-19.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has estimated that nearly 70 percent of all seafood eaten in the U.S. is consumed in food service establishments. Senator Collins previously wrote to Commerce Secretary Ross, calling on him to release this $300 million in funding.

Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ letter to President Trump.

Maine fishermen among small business owners hoping for new paycheck protection funds

April 20, 2020 — When the $350 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program ran out, many Maine fishermen were among those waiting in line. Congressional leaders are working on an agreement to be voted on this week that would reload those funds.

“I’m crossing my fingers that that will occur,” Senator Susan Collins told News 8 Sunday, after a conference call with lead negotiator on the talks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Sen. Collins said negotiations on roughly $350 billion in additional funding for the program she co-authored would continue Sunday night, ahead of votes in the Senate on Monday and the House on Tuesday.

“I strongly support adding more funding to the PPP and will keep pushing to make sure the process is fair, clear, and efficient,” Sen. Angus King said in a statement Sunday.

Sen. Collins says she hopes to extend application deadlines in the new agreement beyond the current date of June 30th, because some who were self-employed had to wait.

“The Small Business Administration, which is not used to dealing with people who are self-employed, had them wait an extra week,” Sen. Collins said. “And thus, by the time many of the fishermen or carpenters or plumbers or hair stylists in our state applied, the money was out.”

Read the full story at WMTW

Senator Collins Calls for Swift Release of $300 Million to Support Fishermen During COVID-19 Pandemic

April 6, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME):

U.S. Senator Susan Collins wrote to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, urging him to quickly release the $300 million for assistance to fishermen and related businesses that was included in the Phase 3 coronavirus emergency package.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins worked to ensure that this critical relief provision was inserted in the final legislation.

“The seafood and aquaculture industries are experiencing severe financial harm from disruptions to supply, demand, and labor caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who make their livelihoods harvesting, transporting, processing, distributing, and preparing the bounty of our oceans have incredibly complex and inter-reliant business models,” said Senator Collins.  

“I am pleased that, as a result of my and other coastal state members’ advocacy, the Assistance to Fishery Participants provision was included in the CARES Act to provide relief that is targeted specifically for these iconic and essential engines of Maine’s economy,” Senator Collins continued.  “It is critical that the $300 million in fishery-related assistance reach those who need it expeditiously in order to manage this period of uncertainty and emerge as strong as before.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will be responsible for releasing this funding.  Senator Collins requested that:

  • NOAA work with regional fisheries management commissions to distribute the funds to coastal states;
  • Each state is given reasonable flexibility to distribute money in the ways that will best benefit fishermen and their communities;
  • NMFS use comparative methods and averages that span multiple years—as is common with other fisheries disaster calculations—to allocate funding; and
  • NMFS continue to move quickly to get relief funds out to the states, and require states to submit a spending plan to achieve accountability.

Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ letter to Secretary Ross.

Mote teams up to research sharks and other migratory species

November 5, 2019 — Mote Marine Laboratory is bringing its long history of shark expertise to a new consortium studying highly migratory species, thanks to new funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sea Grant program. The Pelagic Ecosystem Research Consortium (PERC) will have a goal of improving stock assessment, management and sustainability of highly migratory species, such as tuna, swordfish and sharks, in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. PERC is being led by the University of Maine, with partners from Mote Marine Laboratory, Nova Southeastern University and Auburn University.

The PERC award was one of three competitive grants totaling $2 million, awarded through the 2019 Sea Grant Highly Migratory Species Research Initiative. More information about the national initiative is on the NOAA Fisheries website. This new Sea Grant initiative was championed by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who together recognized the national need for this research.

PERC will conduct projects in five areas of research focused on bycatch reduction, increased understanding of life history, post-release mortality and other objectives for multiple species of highly migratory fish in the Northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

Comprehensive information on the life history of highly migratory species is lacking, including data on age, growth, indices of abundance, reproduction, post-release and natural mortality, infectious disease, anthropogenic disturbance, habitat utilization/migratory behavior and stock structure.

Read the full story at Longboat Key News

University of Maine receives grant for marine species research

October 7, 2019 — The University of Maine has been awarded $1.6 million to help research Atlantic Marine Species.

The grant is made possible from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

The funds will support a research project on tuna and shark species in the Gulf of Mexico and the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.

Data researches hope to collect includes growth, age, and migratory behavior.

Maine’s Congressional Delegation made the following statements:

“Maine’s coastal communities depend on Highly Migratory Species fisheries as an economic engine, sustaining and creating jobs as well as driving coastal tourism and recreation year after year,” said Senator Collins. “In order to better understand and maintain the health of HMS fisheries, more research is needed. This funding will assist researchers at UMaine as they work with partner institutions to fill the knowledge gaps about the history and biology of HMS fisheries.”

Read the full story at WABI

Bill that would fund Maine lobster industry advances

October 4, 2019 — Federal legislation that supports Maine’s lobster industry and fisheries, as well as the National Sea Grant Program and other aquaculture research efforts, has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a senior member of the committee, said in a news release that it advanced the FY2020 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill by a vote of 31-0.

“These investments will help us to better understand how the lobster stock is reacting to changing environmental conditions and ensure that Maine’s iconic industry that supports thousands of jobs continues to thrive,” Collins said.

“Additionally, this bill supports ongoing efforts to solve the conflicting conservation measures between American and Canadian fisheries and ensure that Maine lobstermen are not unfairly targeted by regulations intended to protect the fragile right whale population.”

Read the full story at MaineBiz

Senate panel approves marine research funding that Trump wanted to kill

October 4, 2019 — The Senate Appropriations Committee has unanimously approved funding increases to several federal programs critical to Maine’s coastal communities, including ones President Trump had repeatedly proposed eliminating.

The committee approved the fiscal year 2020 budget bill for the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Justice and related science agencies, including provisions to boost funding for the National Sea Grant program by $7 million to $75 million, with $2 million allocated to support research on lobsters and herring (which lobstermen use as bait), and how the rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine affects them. This follows the $2 million awarded from Sea Grant’s fiscal year 2019 budget to lobster researchers at the University of Maine, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve and other institutions.

“These investments will help us to better understand how the lobster stock is reacting to changing environmental conditions and ensure that Maine’s iconic industry that supports thousands of jobs continues to thrive,” Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Thursday in a statement announcing the 31-0 vote. “As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I fought to include these provisions, and I am pleased that they were incorporated in the final package.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Sarasota’s Mote ramping up shark research through NOAA grant

October 3, 2019 — Mote Marine Laboratory will bring its shark expertise to bear in a new consortium studying highly migratory species thanks to $400,000 in new funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant program.

The Pelagic Ecosystem Research Consortium, or PERC, will have a goal of improving stock assessment, management and sustainability of highly migratory species, such as tuna, swordfish and sharks, in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. PERC is being led by the University of Maine, with partners from Mote, Nova Southeastern University and Auburn University.

The PERC award was one of three competitive grants totaling $2 million, awarded through the 2019 Sea Grant Highly Migratory Species Research Initiative. The initiative was championed by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Richard Shelby R-Ala.

Read the full story at the Herald-Tribune