SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — November 25, 2014 –Last week two bills were introduced in the U.S. Senate to extend an exemption, expiring next month, for commercial and charter fishing vessels from incidental vessel discharge rules.
If the exemption expires, fishing vessels across the nation will be subject to regulations that would, as Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski says, “impose operational limitations and physical modifications to vessels, many of which just do not make sense for fishing vessels, including trying to limit the ‘environmental impacts of rainwater or waves running off their deck.’ ”
By the end of the day yesterday, an impressive group of 50 individuals and organizations representing most of the nation’s fisheries, came together to urge the Senate to take whatever action it could before Congress adjourns for the year.
In their letter, sent to the 17 sponsors of the two bills, the group urges the senators to “operate in a bi-partisan, cooperative spirit to resolve a problem that faces vessel owners and operators throughout the nation.”
“As members of the commercial and sport-charter fishing industries, many of us have been on record for several years seeking an exemption from Environmental Protection Agency regulations governing incidental discharges due to normal operations of commercial fishing vessels, regardless of the size of the vessel. Those regulations … can impose a significant burden on men and women working in U.S. waters,” the letter says.
S. 2943, introduced by Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), would extend the exemption from unnecessary regulations for one year.
S. 2963, introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) with 11 co-sponsors, would make the exemption permanent.
“Obviously, we would prefer a permanent exemption but knowing the difficulties inherent in passing legislation in the waning days of a Congressional session we would accept a one year exemption if that is the only option available,” notes the letter, written by Rod Moore of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association and signed by 49 other national and regional groups, vessel owners, and businesses.
“We wanted to make the point that this is an urgent problem that transcends party politics, regional differences, and allocation battle,” explains Moore. “We have sport groups and commercial groups, trawlers and trollers, gillnetters and long-liners, fishermen and processors, big boats and small boats, all coming together in support of a common cause.
“We appreciate that there are different strategies being attempted in the Senate to meet our concerns and we are grateful for the attention being given to us. But the bottom line is that the issue needs to be addressed in the next couple of weeks.”
The exemption expires December 19, 2014.
Earlier this year, the U.S. House passed a permanent exemption by a bi-partisan vote as part of the U.S. Coast Guard authorization bill.
Both Senate bills have been referred to a Senate committee. According to govtrack.us, a website that tracks bills and applies a statistical model to predict whether a bill will make it out of a committee and enacted into law, S2963 (the permanent exemption for fishing vessels) has a better chance than the one-year extension, but that forecast could change.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.