A meeting took place this week on Capitol Hill with Dr. Jane Lubchenco and Dr. Jim Balsiger, with Rep. Barney Frank, and three industry members from New Bedford: Richie Canastra, operator of the New Bedford Seafood Auction, Roy Enoksen, owner of Eastern Fisheries which operates one of the largest scallop fleets in New Bedford, and Dr. Brian Rothschild, from U. Mass Dartmouth, chair of New Bedford’s Ocean and Fisheries Council (an advocacy group for the city’s fishing interests), and co-director of the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute. Also attending was Vito Giacalone of Gloucester, head of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and organizer of a number of proposed sectors.
The industry in New Bedford has a history of successfully working with NMFS and NOAA to facilitate making money in fisheries. The best example obviously is scallops. Dr. Rothschild pioneered a new method of counting scallops using video cameras instead of the NMFS method of counting scallops in a survey tow. The results validated industry claims of a much larger scallop stock.
Then the industry and NMFS worked out a system of rotating closed areas that dramatically improved the quantity and value of the scallop catch. As a result, there is a recognition in New Bedford that they are in a partnership with NMFS and the government, and they pay attention to making sure their needs are addressed in this partnership.
The recent meeting orchestrated by Barney Frank was simply one step in this process, but one that should be understood by those who might otherwise think the entire industry in New England is in revolt against NMFS.
From Seafood.com News:
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton – Oct 9, 2009 – The value of the scallop industry in 2008 approximately equaled the value of all salmon harvested in Alaska and on the West Coast.
The value of the lobster industry centered in Maine and Massachusetts is greater than that of Alaska pollock.
It is no wonder then that major players in these industries are cultivating and developing the necessary political champions in Washington, in a manner analogous to how Senator Ted Stevens was the point person for Alaska fisheries interests until he left the Senate.
One example of this was a meeting this week with Dr. Jane Lubchenco and Dr. Jim Balsiger, with Rep. Barney Frank, and three industry members from New Bedford: Richie Canastra, operator of the New Bedford Seafood Auction, Roy Enoksen, owner of Eastern Fisheries which operates one of the largest scallop fleets in New Bedford, and Dr. Brian Rothschild, from U. Mass Dartmouth, chair of New Bedford’s Ocean and Fisheries Council (an advocacy group for the city’s fishing interests), and co-director of the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute. Also attending was Vito Giacalone of Gloucester, head of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and organizer of a number of proposed sectors.
Rep. Barney Frank, as head of the House Financial Services Committee, is now one of the most powerful democratic representatives. But he also spends time looking out for New Bedford’s interests.
The specific items in the meeting revolved around the problems that have developed with the NMFS scallop observer program, which through a failure of management by NMFS, have created a situation where boat owners are looking at payments of as much as $10,000 per trip for observer coverage that was supposed to have been paid for out of a common fund.
Congressmen Frank and five other coastal representatives have asked NMFS to take budget responsibility for this failure, and not force it back on to the boat owners.
Other issues involved changes to the skate ABC, upped by about 20% due to a mathematical error in the scientific stock calculations – which now have been demonstrated at the Council, but which NMFS has to accept. They also discussed sector allocations with Lubchenco, and the need that the allocations have to be done in a manner that keeps the sectors economically viable.
Much of the meeting was to demonstrate NOAA head Lubchenco’s support for actions that would need to be taken by Acting NMFS administrator, Jim Balsiger.
In New England, if you want to understand where fisheries political power lies, you have to follow the money. And the money is in New Bedford, which by itself for many years has been the port with the greatest landed value of any port in the U.S. With over $280 million worth of fish and shellfish coming across its docks, it lands six times the value of the next Massachusetts port, Gloucester.
Recently we ran an article on the fact that Gloucester has just gotten the sixth vessel over 85 feet operating out of that port. With about 500 active vessels, New Bedford has nearly a hundred greater than 85 feet.
The industry in New Bedford has a history of successfully working with NMFS and NOAA to facilitate making money in fisheries. The best example obviously is scallops. Dr. Rothschild pioneered a new method of counting scallops using video cameras instead of the NMFS method of counting scallops in a survey tow. The results validated industry claims of a much larger scallop stock.
Then the industry and NMFS worked out a system of rotating closed areas that dramatically improved the quantity and value of the scallop catch. As a result, there is a recognition in New Bedford that they are in a partnership with NMFS and the government, and they pay attention to making sure their needs are addressed in this partnership.
The recent meeting orchestrated by Barney Frank was simply one step in this process, but one that should be understood by those who might otherwise think the entire industry in New England is in revolt against NMFS.
John Sackton, Editor And PublisherSeafood.com News 1-781-861-1441 Email comments to jsackton@seafood.com