June 19, 2013 — The following was released by the office of Congressman William Keating:
WASHINGTON – Yesterday afternoon, Rep. Bill Keating was joined by Reps. Ed Markey and Stephen F. Lynch in sending a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) urging careful consideration of the economic and conservation impacts of modifying access to currently closed fishing grounds. Federal and cooperative surveys show the closed portion of the Northern Edge of Georges Bank alone contains approximately 30 million pounds of harvestable scallops, valued at over $300 million. Being able to open that area, and others like it, while protecting groundfish habitats would be a great benefit for fishing communities in New England.
The NMFS and NEFMC are meeting this week in Portland, Maine, to develop draft management alternatives to the Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Amendment. As part of the amendment process, fishery managers are evaluating whether to re-open currently closed areas, including the Northern Edge of Georges Bank.
“As the Council moves forward with consideration of the Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment, it is critical that the fishing communities’ needs be fully assessed,” said Rep. Keating. “I am proud to represent the most cohesive fishing-related district in Massachusetts, including the Port of New Bedford, home to the largest commercial scallop fleet. I hope that the Council will return the scallop fishery’s access to its historic fishing grounds on Georges Bank and in the Great South Channel, consistent with conservation needs.”
"Now is not the time to keep New Bedford and other Massachusetts fishermen out of historical scallop grounds that have been restored to health," said Rep. Markey. "I hope the Council addresses these issues with an eye towards the economic needs of our fishermen and the ecological decisions that will keep these scallop grounds and other fish stocks as healthy as possible for decades to come."
Rep. Lynch said, “Our efforts to balance the often competing interests of rebuilding our fishing stock with maintaining a viable commercial fishing industry have yielded few successes. However, the recovery of the Atlantic scallop fishery is an example of how the system can work. Providing access to these historic grounds will allow the hard working men and women of our historic fishing community to maintain their livelihood and continue in this cooperative recovery effort.”
Additional cosigners on Rep. Keating’s bipartisan letter include Reps. Frank LoBiondo and Jon Runyan of New Jersey, Robert Wittman of Virginia, Joe Courtney of Connecticut, and Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire.
The full text of the letter is below.
June 18, 2013
Mr. John K. Bullard
Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930
Mr. C. M. “Rip” Cunningham
Chairman
New England Fishery Management Council
50 Water Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
Dear Administrator Bullard and Chairman Cunningham:
As elected officials in Atlantic coastal districts and states, we take a strong interest in preserving our maritime heritage and sustaining diverse coastal economies. We are proud of our fishing communities and, particularly, the hard-working men and women who have chosen fishing as a way of life. Many of these fishing families and businesses in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions have been struggling with a consistent pattern of major harvest reductions, even as many other sectors of our economy are beginning to recover.
Over the past decade, however, one fishery has provided a steady source of income and support for fishing community infrastructure, as well as a model of positive cooperative fishery management: the Atlantic scallop fishery. However, even the scallop industry is facing major harvest reductions, stemming at least in part from the continued closure of certain historic fishing grounds on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank. Federal and cooperative surveys show the closed portion of the Northern Edge alone contains approximately 30 million pounds of harvestable scallops, valued at over $300 million at today’s market prices.
We understand the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) are currently nearing the conclusion of a lengthy effort to develop what is known as the Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Amendment. This action is designed to meet the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act’s (MSA) requirement that adverse impacts of fishing on such habitat be minimized “to the extent practicable.” As you work to conclude the Omnibus EFH Amendment process, we urge you to consider the potential adverse impacts (or foregone opportunities) on fishing communities and loss of sustainable scallop yield that providing or maintaining access to fishing grounds would otherwise provide, as well as reasonable conservation needs.
As part of the Omnibus EFH Amendment process, fishery managers are evaluating whether to re-open areas that have been closed to fishing for nearly twenty years, including the Northern Edge area referenced above. It is our understanding that a wealth of new habitat and fishery abundance information – much of it obtained through cooperative research led by the scallop industry and its academic partners – has become available since the closures were first enacted. We encourage you to use this information to inform your decisions regarding the impact on fish habitat.
Additionally, we have been informed that new areas are being considered for long-term EFH closure, such as historically productive fishing and scalloping grounds in the Great South Channel, located to the south and west of Georges Bank. Closures are also being debated for other areas along the Northern Edge that are currently open to fishing. High levels of quality scallop abundance in the Great South Channel and in the open areas of the Northern Edge are helping to support robust scallop landings this year, despite current conservation cut-backs.
Fish habitat and abundance are not the only issues at stake. We understand that areas such as the Northern Edge offer opportunities to harvest scallops and haddock with lower levels of bycatch of depleted species such as yellowtail flounder. Harvesting more target species with lower bycatch enables more seafood and dollars to flow into the economy, and conservation goals to be more efficiently met.
The MSA requires NMFS and its regional councils to balance conservation and community considerations, and to use the best scientific and economic information available. Thus, we respectfully ask that you support our fishing communities by providing the scallop fishery’s access to its historic fishing grounds on Georges Bank and in the Great South Channel, while continuing necessary habitat protection for groundfish. We thank you in advance for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
William R. Keating (D, MA)
Frank A. LoBiondo (R, NJ)
Edward J. Markey (D, MA)
Jon Runyan (R, NJ)
Stephen F. Lynch (D, MA)
Robert J. Wittman (R, VA)
Joe Courtney (D, CT)
Carol Shea-Porter (D, NH)