The head of law enforcement for the nation's fisheries was on the hot seat as a congressional panel mat in Massachusettes to discuss a scathing inspector general's report.
See the news clip of the hearing at WBZ-TV 38.
Official statement from GSDA regarding settlement with NOAA
NOAA and Gloucester Fish Exchange, Inc. (owner of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction) agreed late yesterday to settle three pending enforcement cases. From the outset, the Gloucester Fish Auction has vigorously denied all of the claims asserted by the National Marine Fisheries Service which had sought to impose fines totaling almost $400,000 and shut down the Auction for one hundred fifty (150) days based on incidents that occurred between 2004 and 2006. This sanction, if imposed, would not only have been detrimental to the Auction, but to the Gloucester fishing industry and the entire fishing community, which the Agency purports to serve. The Auction has been scrupulous about establishing and maintaining procedures to ensure compliance with the law.
In the settlement agreement the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction denies all liability in the three cases.
The settlement involves payment by the Exchange of $85,000 and a 35-day closure (non-consecutive) of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, over a three-year period. Under the terms of the settlement, the Auction is allowed to choose the days of closure in order to minimize any economic hardship, impact on its customers and/or the vessels that employ its services.
Larry Ciulla, President of the Exchange, said that "the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction settled these matters because we are a small, family owned business and, unlike the government, we could not sustain the enormous expenditures of time and money required to defend our position. Despite having confidence that we would have prevailed if we could have had access to the unlimited resources needed to litigate the matter to the end, we had no choice but to put these matters behind us."
NOAA and Gloucester Seafood Display Auction Settle Three Cases
NOAA and Gloucester Fish Exchange, Inc. (owner of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction) agreed late yesterday to settle three pending enforcement cases that involved allegations of handling illegally caught fish and maintaining false records.
The settlement involves payment by the Exchange of $85,000 and a 35-day closure (non-consecutive) of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, over a three-year period under certain requirements. The days of closure will be coordinated in order to minimize economic hardship and customer burden. Under the terms of the settlement, NOAA and the Exchange further agree to dismiss all outstanding litigation involving these three cases.
“We are pleased to reach a settlement in this long-standing case and we are optimistic that we’ve entered a more constructive relationship going forward,” said Charles Green, NOAA Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation. “NOAA will continue to work with the New England fishing community to build a sustainable fishery that maximizes benefits to coastal communities and the nation. Compliance with fishery laws and regulations is critical to the success of our joint efforts.”
In January, NOAA announced it is developing a comprehensive plan to ensure a fair and effective enforcement program and to promote fairness, transparency and accountability in its fisheries enforcement operations.
Fishermen push Congress for a better deal
Squeezed by tightened regulations, catch limits and a grinding economic downturn, recreational and commercial fishermen surprised members of Congress — and themselves — by coming together as a group and pressing for a better deal from federal authorities.
Their next challenge is to keep that activism going to make sure lawmakers and the Obama administration pay more attention to America's oldest industry, organizers said after the United We Fish rally attracted more than 3,000 fishermen and their families to Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
"Thanks to the Recreational Fishing Alliance for bringing us together," Massachusetts state Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, a Republican who represents the port of Gloucester, told the crowd. "I have a question: Will you stay together?"
New England and New Jersey provided big contingents to the demonstration, which was held in support of legislation sponsored by Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, that would allow the government to extend deadlines for rebuilding depleted fish stocks.
Anglers Dock in D.C. to Voice Concerns
Sporting a gray ponytail and gold chain with a small anchor pendant around his neck, captain Dave Tilley hardly fits the image of the K Street lobbyist.
But last week the burly 42-year-old fisherman drove up from North Carolina to Washington, D.C. — the first time he had ever been to the nation’s capital — to persuade Members of Congress to change a law that he claims is threatening his livelihood.
“It is quite overwhelming, to tell you the God’s honest truth,” Tilley said as he joined in a spirited rally of fishermen across the street from the Capitol.
For the participants, many of whom stumbled onto buses in the wee hours of the morning last Wednesday, the trip to Washington was hardly a routine matter. Though clearly more at home when out at sea than in the halls of Congress, the rough-hewn crowd was motivated by anger at federal policy that has forced them to keep their nets out of the water.
Lubchenco to meet with fishermen before Gloucester hearing
For the first time since she was tapped to be the nation's top ocean administrator just under a year ago, NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco will consult Gloucester's commercial fishermen tomorrow morning about the future of their industry.
The closed-door 8 a.m. session at City Hall will include as many as 30 fishermen hand picked by Mayor Carolyn Kirk, who planned the meeting in the run-up to last week's demonstration in Washington by fishermen across the country targeting federal fisheries management and the need for legislative changes by Congress.
The meeting will come hours before Lubchenco is slated to testify before a congressional oversight hearing at City Hall on alleged abuses in federal fisheries law enforcement identified by U.S. Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser.
And it comes as protests by New England fishermen, steady for years, have been building over the federal government's planned launch in May of an entirely new regulatory regime tied to hard limits on the catch for each fish stock and fishing cooperatives called sectors.
"I feel I am brokering a peace agreement," Kirk said Friday after announcing plans for tomorrow morning's closed-door meeting. "I see it as the beginning of a dialogue. What if there was a willingness to hear directly from fishermen."
Both the oversight hearing and the warm-up with Kirk and fishermen will be new ground for Lubchenco.
When she was confirmed by Congress last March, Lubchenco faced questioning from Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, about conflicts between fishermen and regulators in New England.
But, in her only other time in Gloucester as NOAA head, Lubchenco met briefly with workers at the NOAA regional offices in Blackburn Industrial Park before leaving. She did not meet with either city officials or with anyone within the fishing industry.
OPINION: To stop overfishing of tuna, ban foreign sales of bluefins
Bluefin tuna is the great money fish of the Atlantic, but overfishing by the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea threatens to cause a complete collapse of the stock. The United States should take the lead in stopping international trade of this fish.
Eighty percent of the catch of Atlantic bluefin tuna goes to Japan, where it is prized for sushi. Recently, one fish sold for $177,000 at a Japanese auction. The two main options for keeping the catch at a sustainable level include the current approach – a system of annual quotas set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas – and a proposed ban on international sales of the bluefin as an endangered species.
Conservation advocates say Mediterranean fishermen have routinely exceeded the quotas with impunity. They favor a ban on international sales to drive down the value of the fish and give the species a chance to rebound over five to 10 years. Scientists say current numbers of the fish are less than 20 percent of what they were in the 1970s.
North Carolina anglers march on D.C.
A federal act imposing limits on fisheries along the East Coast has some fishermen up in arms.
Take Capt. Dave Tilley of the Continental Shelf in Morehead City, for example. Year-round for more than two decades, Tilley has loaded his 100-foot head boat with passengers and carted them off the coast of North Carolina to deep-sea fish.
But Tilley closed his doors for the first time in November, claiming that with beeliner and grouper fisheries shut down, there was no point in going out. "I have nothing else to catch," he said.
Tilley joined fishermen from Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach and thousands of others from around the country in a "United We Fish" rally outside the capitol in Washington D.C. this week, demanding that it overhaul its data gathering methods and loosen fishery limits.
They were protesting the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which aims to snip overfishing by mandating annual catch limits and accountability measures. But opponents of the act say it is using inaccurate data to limit and close fisheries that don't need to be. These limits, opponents say, are driving them out of business.
Fishermen rally in Washington against regulations
New England’s fishing activists, including a large contingent from Gloucester, headed to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to participate in the United We Fish rally.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk, state Sen. Bruce Tarr, state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante and local fishermen met with legislators hoping to convince lawmakers to modify the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA).
Armed with their reasons why the regulations placed on the fishing industry should be re-examined, the Gloucester activists packed their day with meetings, and delivered their message to the open ears of Washington lawmakers.
Despite the cold temps and constant threat of rain and snow, a crowd estimated at 5,000 people attended the protest. “I was impressed with the rally,” said Jack Flaherty, a Gloucester fisherman who drove to D.C. with friends. “The biggest crowd was probably from Florida but I met people from as far away as Alaska and also ran into several Gloucester folks. It was a good turnout.”
North Myrtle Beach fishermen join 5,000 at D.C. rally
Upset about newly imposed fishing restriction, fisherman from all over the U.S. gathered in Washington, D.C. to show support for a bill that seeks to prevent future job-killing closing of fisheries across the South Atlantic.
The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) placed a six-month ban on snapper and grouper fisheries due to alleged over fishing and potential endangerment and they have proposed closing nearly 10,000 additional square miles of the South Atlantic. The council was created under the Magnuson Stevens Act of 2006 and is responsible for managing the area up to 200 miles offshore of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Ron McManus attended the rally that took place on February 24th and had the opportunity to hear S.C. Representative Henry Brown.