Congressman Barney Frank has issued the following release:
WASHINGTON – Jan. 7, 2011 — Congressman Barney Frank today responded sharply to a letter from Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, announcing that Locke would not exercise his emergency authority under the Magnuson Act to increase catch limits for the fishing industry.
The news from the administration is mixed at best, and although it points the way for possible longer-term increases in catch allocations, Secretary Locke has declined to use his authority to address the emergency situation fishermen face now.
The refusal by the Commerce Department to use its authority represents a misinterpretation of the scientific data, which provides no evidence for the overly-restrictive catch limits that have been set.
I strongly urge Secretary Locke to reverse his decision not to use the emergency authorities granted to him under the Magnuson Act, and I will continue to express the utmost urgency of policies which provide short-term help to struggling fishermen and substantial long-term increases in catch limits.
This most recent announcement by the Commerce Department provides one strong step in the right direction in that it allows the administration to begin negotiations with their Canadian counterparts in order to negotiate higher catch limits under the Magnuson provision regarding international treaties.
I will form a bipartisan working group to carefully monitor these negotiations and to make sure that the administration moves aggressively to correct the disparity between Canadian and American catch limits which currently put our fishermen at great disadvantage.
Finally, I have already begun discussions with my colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over fisheries, in order to craft legislation to make needed revisions to the Magnuson Act.