"We would like to show you our way of life and to offer our concrete solutions to the (fishery) rebuilding challenge," said the letter from the Northeast Seafood Coalition. Despite the cordiality of the invite, the Gloucester-based coalition — the largest industry group on the East Coast — minced no words in explaining why it felt the need to take the fisheries issues to the very top.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk Friday wrote her own letter of invitation to the president.
"A broad coalition of elected officials from many states, including Gov. Deval Patrick, Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown of Massachusetts, fishermen, and industry advocates, have made multiple pleas for relief on the new regulations that are putting fishermen out of business," Kirk wrote.
"Rather than get into the technical details, I have a simple request," she wrote. "Come to Gloucester. See for yourself the hardworking fishermen who have spent years conserving the fisheries resource, only now to be shut out of their livelihood at a time when the fish are rebounding."
Kirk said she also expected Gov. Patrick, a longtime friend of the president, to weigh in quietly. A number of Democrats have told the Times that Patrick has promised to make the call to Obama at the right moment.
The Seafood Coalition, which boasts members from Maine to Long Island, told the president that "officials in the Department of Commerce (which regulates commercial fishing) have failed to understand the reality and gravity of the challenge upon us."
Congressional meetings with and letters to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and more regular dialogue between Rep. Barney Frank and Locke's fisheries administrator Jane Lubchenco have yielded nothing tangible in terms of regulatory relief.
Frank, representing New Bedford — the No. 1 U.S. port in terms of the dollar value of landings — affirmed a recent promise to appeal to the White House for attention for the fishing industry.
The architect of the House version of the banking reform bill, Frank bluntly made clear he expected attention to the fishing industry's problems.
"I have made it clear to high-ranking members of the administration, including Secretary Locke, that my relationship with the administration will be affected by how they respond to this absolutely urgent need," Frank said after his face-to-face meeting with Locke on May 10.
"This is a big priority for me every single day and I'm bringing this up personally with President Obama," said Sen. John Kerry. "I've organized meetings and calls, but I've got to finish the job because people are really hurting."
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.