June 12, 2013 — The following was released by the Northeast Seafood Coalition:
Gloucester, Mass. — The Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC) is thankful to the United States Senate, and in particular Sen. William “Mo” Cowan and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for a bipartisan effort to pass the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (“the 2013 Farm Bill”), which includes legislation to support fishermen. The bill expands the Emergency Disaster Loan program to include fishermen, and directs the USDA’s Risk Management Agency to study and propose a tool to insure seafood harvesters.
The commercial Northeast groundfish fishing industry is in the midst of a declared fishery disaster. Despite remaining within allowable catch limits, fishermen are currently faced with draconian reductions of up to 78% in the amount they are allowed to harvest. Many fishing dependent businesses are currently on the brink of financial collapse due to no fault of their own.
During their tenure in the Senate, both Warren and Cowan have been strong advocates for fishermen in Massachusetts and the Northeast region. On April 29, both senators attended the NSC-sponsored Groundfish Industry Rally on the Boston Fish Pier and expressed their unyielding support for the commercial groundfish fishery, and their concern for the industry’s current state. As a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Cowan was in the position to shepherd amendments that will help struggling fishermen.
The bill passed by the U.S. Senate includes two provisions to help commercial fishermen: to direct the USDA’s Risk Management Agency to study and propose a tool for insuring seafood harvesters, akin to crop insurance for farmers; and a provision that would make fishermen eligible recipients of Emergency Disaster Loans, which are low-interest loans available through USDA’s Farm Service Agency to help recover from production or physical losses.
NSC is grateful to U.S. Senators Cowan, Warren, Blumenthal, Murphy, Menendez, Chiesa, Collins, King, Gillibrand, Schumer, and Shaheen for their bipartisan support for the 2013 Farm Bill. We are encouraged by the Senate’s ongoing support for New England’s small fishing dependent businesses. It is clear they continue to pursue every legislative opportunity to help our fishermen.