State and Local

GLOCUESTER, Mass. — August 17, 2012 — Along with Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine have also been waiting for more than half a year for a response from the Commerce Department to separate filings for fishery disaster declarations.

A week after Gov. Deval Patrick, on Nov. 15, filed scientific studies showing how catch shares, the currency of the newly created commodity market, have had “a devastating impact on the commonwealth’s groundfishery,” Maine Gov. Paul LePage filed a parallel request for his state, and on Jan. 13, 2012, Gov. John H. Lynch filed a disaster relief request for New Hampshire.

Rhode Island and New York are also reportedly preparing similar pleas for federal relief for their fishing communities.

In March, the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, the region’s largest industry group, urged all New England coastal states and New York and New Jersey to appeal for disaster relief.

Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, on Thursday called on “the federal government” to declare a regional fisheries disaster.

In doing so, she put herself in a rare accord with her Republican opponent, Sen. Scott Brown.

 

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times.

 

 

August 16, 2012 – Massachusetts State Representative Robert M. Koczera, a Democrat who represents New Bedford in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, joined Governor Patrick in calling on the Acting  U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank to provide direct economic relief to Massachusetts fishermen.
 
In a letter sent today to Acting U. S. Commerce Secretary Blank, Koczera urged acceptance of Massachusetts’ 2011 request for a disaster declaration to aid fishermen suffering financial losses and consolidation.
 
The text of his letter follows:

The Honorable Rebecca Blank
Acting Secretary
United States Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20230
 

Dear Acting Secretary Blank:

As a State Representative representing the City of New Bedford, a major fishing port in the nation, I am writing to urge the Department of Commerce to accept the Commonwealth’s November 2011 request for direct economic relief for the Massachusetts groundfish fleet.  The 2011 request was based on financial losses and consolidations within the groundfish fleet.  The preliminary report from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) forecasting further, devastating cuts to the New England groundfishery in 2013 makes the need for a disaster declaration more critical now than before.

The preliminary NMFS’ report suggests groundfish cuts between 43 and 73 percent across multiple stocks. A cut of this magnitude will be disastrous to the fishing fleet. Direct economic relief is needed to prevent the catastrophic consolidation of the fleet and to protect the livelihood of fishermen. It is critically important to the viability of the New England fishing industry that the department provide this much needed economic aid before any further cuts in allocation are authorized.

Our fishermen are farmers of the sea. They deserve and need the same supports we provide agricultural farmers.

Sincerely,
Robert M. Koczera
Massachusetts House of Represenatives

 

 

LOUISIANA — August 17, 2012 — Louisiana lawmakers and environmental advocates are teaming up to ensure that hard-won oil spill fine money will be used for coastal restoration projects.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use billions to fix our coast,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie. “Louisiana has gotten big windfalls of money and too many times squandered it. We’ve got to make sure we use this the right way.”

Passed by Congress in July after a year-long fight, the Restore Act will dedicate 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 BP oil spill to five Gulf Coast states.

Under the Clean Water Act, BP can be fined from $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel leaked after the deadly explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. That could add up to fines of between $5 billion and $20 billion.

Louisiana could receive as much as 30 to 40 percent of that money. That’s because in addition to the money that will be directly dedicated to the state, Louisiana is expected to receive a large share of fines based on oil-spill impacts and ecosystem restoration.

Scalise is partnering with top coastal restoration advocates in the state to ensure that Restore Act dollars are spent directly on coastal restoration projects and not squandered on pet projects. They have formed a group called the Restore Coalition.

 

Read the full story at the Daily Comet.

 

 

LOUISIANA — August 15, 2012 — Lasting impressions are made with working examples. That is why area seafood industry leaders, in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, invited 21 congressional staff members to join them in Terrebonne Parish and New Orleans for an inside look at the business.

The tour included multiple activities ranging from cutting fish to harvesting oysters and crabs to skinning an alligator. Federal government insiders – most had never been in this environment – rode along on working vessels, toured oyster, shrimp and tuna processing facilities and dined at area restaurants Thursday through Saturday. The intention was to give those that help process legislation for their elected employers a real-life look at one primary industry of coastal Louisiana.

The tour was capped-off by participating in Saturday’s Restaurant Association’s American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans.

“These are staff members of different senators and congressmen,” state Rep. Gordon Dove said while joining the tour Friday at Motivatit Seafood and Gulf Fish Inc. “We invited them down for a fact-finding mission on the seafood industry. These are the guys you really want to talk to because they are going to put together the information for congressmen that draft legislation.”
Dove explained to the congressional staffers how BP fines are going toward coastal restoration and said efforts are being made to protect the fishing industry as well as restore the environment.

“These people spend their time in [Washington], D.C., and don’t often get out in the real world,” Motivatit Seafood owner Mike Voisin said. “It’s great for them and for us.”

 

Read the full story at the Tri-Parish Times.

 

 

August 16, 2012 — This week’s free dockside tour of Viking Village Commercial Seafood Producers in Barnegat Light will have a special guest present. John K. Bullard, the new administrator for the Northeast Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, will be on hand Friday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m. at 18^th Street and Bayview Avenue in Barnegat Light.

The dock tours are as visual as they are educational, to give the public a close-up look at the commercial seafood industry. The tour discusses three main fisheries: scalloping, gillnetting and longlining. Visitors get to see the facility in operation, along with a fresh display of the seafood.

The tours also inform the public about how local fishermen have been working alongside the federal regulators to manage the resources through sustainable practices. This is the topic that Bullard will talk more about, along with Viking Village operators.

The administrator assumed his duties Aug. 6. The Northeast Region is headquartered in Gloucester, Mass., and covers coastal states from North Carolina to Maine. The office manages federal commercial and recreational fisheries, marine mammals, habitat and much more. Bullard will also oversee critical aspects of international fisheries conservation and management in the region.

“His efforts will continue to strengthen NOAA’s partnerships with fishing communities as we work together to build an economically vibrant and sustainable future,” said Sam Rauch, acting assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, on Bullard’s appointment.

To register for the dock tour, at no charge, call the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce at 609-494-7211. Space is limited.

Two more dock tours are left on the 2012 season calendar after this week’s tour, Fridays, Aug. 24 and 31, at 10 a.m. Registration is required.

 

Read the full story in the Sandpaper

 

 

SANDWICH, Mass. — August 16, 2012 — There’s been another shark sighting in the waters off Cape Cod, but for the first time this summer, it was on the bay side of the peninsula.

Fisherman Jeffrey Richardson of Sandwich says he was looking for tuna the other day when his crew saw a shark about three miles off the coast of Barnstable.

Richardson took pictures and video of the fish, which he estimated to be about 12 feet long.

The top state shark expert in Massachusetts says based on his initial viewing of the video, he’s pretty sure it was a great white.

 

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.

 

 

August 16, 2012 — After nearly a decade, it looks like efforts to restore the population of Southwest Florida's scallop are paying off. Researchers will count scallops in Pine Island Sound Saturday and anticipate finding even more than last year.

Some say the taste of a Southwest Florida bay scallop is unforgettable.

"When you bite into it, whether it's prepared with panko, steamed in garlic, I mean that is heaven, that is heaven," said Captain Cathy Eagle.

Eagle remembers a time when fishermen found plenty of scallops in Pine Island Sound. That was before overfishing wiped them out and regulators made it illegal to harvest them.

"You want to make sure that we don't ever have this problem again," said Captain Rich Russell.

Russell hopes to one day lead recreational scallop fishing tours.

"They're an important part of the ecosystem and they've been here historically so we want to bring them back," said Eric Milbrandt, Director of the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation's Marine Lab at Tarpon Bay.

In the past nine years, his group has led efforts to restore the scallop population.

"They could be an important fishery locally if we could get the population back," said Milbrandt.

One way researchers have been increasing the population is by putting scallops from Tampa inside cages and into the water at Tarpon Bay where they're protected from predators.

The numbers show it's working.

A graph provided by the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation shows spikes in scallop growth in the years following major efforts to cage them.

 

Read the full story from WZVN.

 

 

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — August 16, 2012 — A bacteria that infects and causes lesions in striped bass apparently has not spread to fish caught in the waters off Cape Ann and the North Shore. There have been no reports of the infected fish being caught locally, according to the state director of marine fisheries and local bait and tackle shops.

The bacterial disease is mycobacteriosis, and causes a kind of tuberculosis in fish; it is believed to trace to Chesapeake Bay.

Some fish with the lesions have been landed in waters around Cape Cod, but according to Paul Diodati, the state director of marine fisheries, “it is not something we are concerned about. We’ve known about this for some time.”

Spokesmen for Winchester Fishing Co. and Three Lantern Marine and Fishing Co., both in Gloucester, said they had not heard from fishermen of stripers with lesions.

Al Williams, a commercial striper fisherman, said, “I have not seen any, but from what you hear there are a few around.”

Diodati said state marine scientists have taken samples from stripers with the lesions and sent them to a pathologist specializing in mycobacteriosis. His report will determine “for sure” what it is, Diodati said.

The state Division of Marine Fisheries reported in mid-July that about 5 percent of stripers coastwide have the lesions, but the percentage of infection is higher in fish from southern Massachusetts, primarily Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times.

 

 

August 15, 2012 — On the day the White House announced $170 million in meat purchases to help farmers struggling with drought in the heartland, Gov. Deval Patrick renewed his now nearly 9-month-old disaster declaration request for the state’s fishing industry, which is consolidating rapidly while looking at huge cuts in allowable landings next year.

Patrick last November filed a disaster declaration package including two scientific studies, one done jointly with the federal government, showing the state’s small-boat businesses failing at an increasing rate, unable to break even. Much of the industry is based in Gloucester and New Bedford.

Despite repeated telephone conferences with officials at the Department of Commerce over the months, the administration has responded in no way.

Since the filing, the economic climate for fishermen has grown more dire. “(National Marine Fisheries Service) numbers suggest groundfish cuts between 43 and 73 percent across multiple stocks, putting the very viability of the historic and economically vital New England fishing fleet at risk,” wrote Patrick to Acting Commerce Secretary Roberta Blank.

Additional pressure has come from U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown and Congressman John Tierney, whose district includes Gloucester and New Bedford, Barney Frank, who represents New Bedford, William Keating, whose district includes the ports along Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod, and Edward Markey of Malden.

His district is landlocked, but Markey earlier this month urged the administration to acknowledge and act in the face of the disaster, saying, “Fishermen were being hit by a perfect storm of fewer fish, warmer waters, and competition from mislabled foreign seafood.”

Acting Secretary Blank had no immediate response to invitations to comment.

Patrick, who is co-chairman of the Obama reelection campaign, emphasized in his latest letter that “the disaster is not the fault of our fishermen who have been following federal fisheries management plans.” He implied that part of the problem was faulty and contradictory science on which catch limits are set.

“I urge you,” the governor wrote to the acting commerce secretary, “to continue to improve fisheries science to allow for more accurate fisheries management decisions in the future.”

The woes of the fishermen have been mounting for some time, but in the Obama years the New England groundfishery was privatized, converted into a limited access commodity market trading in catch shares and designed, according Jane Lubchenco, Obama’s choice to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to eliminate a “sizeable fraction of the fleet.”

This policy has had the desired effect of culling boats, but has also fed hyper-consolidation, as NOAA data shows.

“Catch shares have had a devastating impact on the commonwealth’s groundfish fishery,” Patrick said in his November 2011 request for the federal government to acknowledge a fisheries failure. He asked for $21 million in emergency aid.

 

Read the full story in the Gloucester Times

 

 

BOSTON — August 15, 2012 — Calling the need for a disaster declaration “more critical than ever” and saying he feared for the state’s fishing industry, Governor Deval Patrick appealed to the federal government Monday to facilitate direct economic relief to Massachusetts fishermen.

In a letter to Acting US Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, Patrick cited recently released National Marine Fisheries Service data suggesting potential groundfish catch limit cuts next year of between 43 percent and 73 percent across multiple stocks, reductions that the governor said would put “the very viability of the historic and economically vital New England fishing fleet at risk.”

“We must take immediate action to prevent a massive consolidation of the fleet and to protect the thousands of fishermen and their families who depend on this industry for their livelihood,” Patrick wrote in his letter, asking Blank to use authority she holds under the Magnuson-Stevenson Act.

Noting Massachusetts had renewed its disaster declaration request in November 2011, Patrick asked Blank to act before cuts in fish catch limits are implemented next year.

“Without this advance and proactive action, I fear for the viability of our fleet, and the communities and shore-side businesses that depend on the industry,” Patrick wrote.

In November 2010, Patrick asked the federal government to provide $21 million in relief to the groundfish fleet in Massachusetts “for the impact caused by the implementation of and transition to catch shares.” In January 2011, that request was denied but federal officials asked for more research.

 

Read the full story at the Boston Globe.