State and Local

Reidar Bendicksen is the founder of Reidar's manufacturing in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Reidar's original invention and product was the "Latching Safety Hook" used on nearly all scallop vessels today. U.S. Patent No: 4,813,170 was issued to Reidar for the invention of the "Sweepline Roller Stopper", a chain stopper made to use on roller and rockhopper gear to stop lateral movement along the sweep.  Reidar also invented the "Bolshline Hanging Spacer" in 1986.

I am writing in a comment to The Standard-Times in response to a sponsored forum on the fishing industry catch-share system, held at the Fairfield Inn on Nov. 9, which I attended.

My interest in this issue is from a supplier's point of view at this present time. But being a former fisherman, boat owner and captain, this issue falls on familiar ground and is close to my heart.

The panelists gave testimony in support of their view on the industry, and, judging from comments and audience reaction, the consensus was that of disapproval of the catch-share system. Richie Canastra's testimony pointed towards the unbelievable number of only 16 boats actually fishing successfully under these rules. This was quite sobering in view of the fleet we see tied up to the piers permanently.

However, pro-catch-shares groups such as Pew and the Environmental Defense Fund have been able to infiltrate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seemingly to the point of no return. Because of this I have noticed all people who work for NOAA have become more and more anti-fishing. They most certainly have an agenda on how the fishing industry is supposed to look in the future. Public meetings are merely protocol. The sad truth is, the small-business, small-boat owner/operators no longer fit their plans for the future, so no pleading, begging or hardship stories are going to find a sympathetic ear within any of the above-mentioned groups.

In short, it is social engineering almost at its worst. Only Hitler has one up on them, because he used to kill his victims by the millions after he kicked them out of their businesses and stripped them of anything of value. He called it the Final Solution.

To me, catch-share management looks like it is being viewed as the only way out. In other words, it looks like the final solution — according to EDF and NOAA.

I believe EDF and NOAA would do anything to fulfill their agenda, including lie, cheat, skew numbers, rearrange statistics, promote false propaganda, break laws, or whatever else to reach their goal. At this forum, I witnessed one fisherman after another get up and tell them (EDF/NOAA) horror stories, and there was no sign of remorse or sympathy. They just sat there with smirks on their faces and dismissed it all.

I say their actions are unconstitutional and criminal. They belong in jail for doing this to hard-working people — especially at a time in our country where unemployment is through the roof and the economy in the toilet.

For people who do not know, when boats had to sign up for catch-share sectors, they did so on lofty promises of quota based on the boats' landing history. They signed on to it on a wing and a prayer so to speak, just like buying a car used, unseen and with no warranty except for the owner's testimony.

Boats had different histories. Some had significant haddock history, others cod, pollock or flounder. All the smaller boats that could not venture offshore to chase haddock had catch limits, 2-to-1 counted days at sea, rolling closures, and anything else that was thrown their way in order to discourage them from catching fish that would show significant landings. These boats ended up with low quota history.

National Marine Fisheries Service and its EDF-infiltrated New England Fishery Management Council practically screwed up the days-at-sea system knowingly to pave the way for sectors, knowing right along the majority of the fleet would be short of landing history.

After sectors where established, NOAA finally passed out the individual quotas — which turned out to be only a fraction of anyone's yearly landings, plus a no-discard clause and very low quotas on just about anything except haddock. This made everything except haddock a choke species.

Only the largest boats along the coast had haddock quota of significance. All the rest did not have enough quota of anything, unless they could buy it from other boats. Most owners choose to sell their quota to others and tie up their boats. Result: unemployment.

"Is all this coincidence?" you may ask. Not likely. By design? Very likely.

There is a good reason for fishermen to be angry at Pew, EDF and NOAA. And now when fishermen hear any of these characters spew their rhetoric and lies, they simply no longer believe them, and therefore do not applaud for them when they speak.

As a supplier I have lost a good 50 percent of my small and owner-operated boats, people who were honest, hard-working, good citizens, and were our bread and butter for cash flow.

I do not believe any of today's remaining working boats would be hurt much if the above 50 percent was able to make a living also. Will stability ever come our way again?

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Brian Rothschild, Dean Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology, spoke at the Standard Times Fishing Forum in New Bedford, Massachusetts on November 9, 2010.

THE FISHERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS BROKEN!

Groundfish management in New England changed radically on May 1, 2010. At that time the days-at-sea system was replaced by the catch-share system. Days-at-sea management resulted in a relatively small number of days fishing per boat, gross underfishing as well as overfishing, and exceeding some quotas. This was not satisfactory, so alternative management structures were proposed. As discussion progressed, NOAA directed the New England Fishery Management Council to implement catch-share management.

The catch-share system has been in operation for six months. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be an improvement over the unsatisfactory days-at-sea system. Success has been measured by proponents in terms of revenues which are slightly greater than last year. However, this is an incomplete index. Revenues do not take into account substantial added costs of the catch-share system that include, among other things, the uncertainty of lease costs, sector management and administration, and the cost of additional equipment. Ignored, as well, are social costs induced by laying off crew when quota is exchanged.

There is no available analysis by NOAA on the performance of the new system, but it does appear that the catch-share system has generated an economic crisis. The economic crisis was spelled out in a recent letter from Governor Patrick to the secretary of commerce. The governor’s letter pointed out that, of the 385 boats that have joined sectors, nearly 60% have not fished this year. Two-thirds of the fishing permits were allocated only 50-60% of their 2007-2009 harvest. Ten percent of Massachusetts sector boats landed 65% of the total revenue, while 90% of the boats landed 35% of the total revenue.

Projecting this trajectory to the end of the fishing year places the crisis in bold relief as we translate these dry statistics into lost livelihoods and collapses of small businesses.
One of the most striking features of the comparison between the days-at-sea system and the catch-share system is the failure of the catch-share system to eliminate gross underfishing. Under the days-at-sea system, only 30% of the total allowable catch (TAC) was landed. This wasted $280 million each year. Under the catch-share system we project that the fishery will continue to catch only 30% of the TAC. (The absolute waste will be less because the TACs are much lower.)

LACK OF PLANNING AND ANALYSIS AND PREMATURE IMPLEMENTATION

It is striking that this major federal action was put into place prematurely without the level of analysis, planning, budgeting, and community dialogue that would be expected with a major federal action. It turns out that reasonable alternatives were not considered. A greater surprise is that the economic and social performance of the catch-share experiment is not being tracked by NOAA. It appears that NOAA has committed itself to the belief, put forth by conservation organizations, that catch shares are the magical cure to all ills, real or imagined.

FLAUNTING THE INTENT OF CONGRESS

If one reads the plain language of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, one is immediately struck by the extent the catch-share system departs from the intent of congress.

First, the Magnuson-Stevens Act states no … “[conservation and management measure] shall have economic allocation as its sole purpose” (Sec. 301(a)(5)). Yet it is difficult to consider the catch-share system as having any function other than economic allocation as its sole purpose. Second, the Magnuson- Stevens Act states that no individual fishing quota shall be instituted in New England without a referendum. Yet NOAA evidently used catch-share semantics to avoid a referendum. Third, the congress made the analysis of alternatives a center piece in the National Environmental Policy Act. Yet the implementation of Amendment 16 was not based on a portfolio of meaningful alternatives. Fourth, National Standard 8 directs NOAA to take into account “… the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities by utilizing economic and social data …” Yet, as is particularly obvious now, this has not been done. And fifth, National Standard 4 affirms fair and equitable allocation. Yet there are several seemingly valid disputes concerning whether initial allocations were fair and equitable.

STRATEGIC STEPS FORWARD

1) We need a level playing field on what is really happening and what is likely to happen. There is too much at stake to rely on partial answers, suppositions, and false scenarios. Where is the hard analysis of what is happening?

2) We need to maximize economic survival of participants during the first year by relaxing ACLs without overfishing.

3) We need to develop a process to compensate those who have been unfairly or illegally harmed by the catch-share system.

4) We need to implement major programs of cooperative research.

5) We need to facilitate and accelerate restructuring of the fishery management process in New England, including data collection, stock assessment, and delivery of information to stakeholders. Special emphasis needs to be placed on flexibility and the mixed-species nature of our fisheries.

6) An independent commission needs to be empanelled to monitor the progress of the restructuring. The commission should report to congress.

Read Dr. Rothschild's complete statement at the Standard-Times Fishing Forum.                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Nov. 15, 2010 — Scott Lang, Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation's highest-dollar fishing port, has released the following statement in advance of the meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council to be held November 16-18, 2010 in Brewster, Massachusetts.

Office of the Mayor
City Hall
New Bedford, Massachusetts 02740

Monday, November 15, 2010

Dear Council Members:

As you prepare to address a number of important issues over the next three days, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my continued stance that all discussions and deliberations related to rule making be open, transparent and public, and that proper process be implemented.

As evidenced by the public outcry last week at the Standard-Times Fishing Forum, at which National Marine Fisheries Service Chief Eric Schwaab spoke and answered questions, it is clear that many in the industry feel that the current Sector implementation of Catch Shares was forced upon them.  There is great frustration that the requirement for an industry referendum — as detailed in the Magnuson Act before an Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) system may be imposed — was averted.

[Editor's note, the Standard-Times issued this editorial , calling for a complete review of fisheries rules and catch share / sector system policies in the wake of the forum.]

Too many times, it has been unclear to members of industry, academics, and elected officials how various alternatives were put before the Council.

This has been exacerbated by the fact that Council and NOAA staff have exerted too great an influence in determining outcomes.

It is because of this lack of transparency, and a failure to adhere to law and process, that I called for an Inspector General investigation of the rule making process in its entirety.  I am pleased that Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk has joined me in that request.

Of course, there have been times when issues have been openly and fairly debated in public, and proper procedure and process was adhered to.  The debate and decision on stacking and leasing in the scallop industry, addressed at the September 29 meeting in Newport is an example.  After hearing from all parties, state and local, pro and con, the council voted.  I commend the Council for its openness in that action, and urge continued transparency.

I would remind the Council that, as noted on all Council agendas, Council actions are restricted to those issues specifically listed in the published agenda — except for emergency action under section 305 (c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act — and even then the public must be notified of the Council's intent to take action to address the emergency.

The agenda item pertaining to setting of priorities should not be used to revisit settled matters.

I trust the Council will, at its meetings in Brewster, address only issues published in the meeting agenda as made public on its website, and will conduct its work in an open, transparent and public manner.

Respectfully,

Scott W. Lang
Mayor
City of New Bedford, Massachusetts

The regional agency that oversees fishing along the Eastern Seaboard rejected two attempts this morning to increase the commercial striped bass quota.

At its annual meeting in Charleston, S.C., the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted, 11-3, to maintain the status quo. Maryland, which had voted earlier this year to get public opinion on increasing the commercial harvest, voted in favor of the motion.

The shrinking commercial industry hasn't had an adjustment in quota since 2003. But states are worried that despite a healthy striped bass population, a recent downturn in juvenile population numbers might indicate problems in the near future.

In addition to Maryland, members voting to maintain the status quo were: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virgina along with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Opposing the measure were Rhode Island, New York and Delaware. The Potomac River Fisheries Commission abstained.

Read the complete blog from the Baltimore Sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kirk said last night that, in Lang's latest call for a full federal probe, "the city of Gloucester stands with New Bedford."

"During the course of the past year or so, certainly enough questions have been raised of a serious nature that warrants this type of investigation," Kirk added.

In a letter to federal Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser, Lang stated that a "lack of fair play and transparency coupled with use of stale science in the development of fisheries management has caused profound and adverse socio-economic impacts that are crippling fishing communities."

"It is paramount that rules and regulations that impact the livelihood of fishing communities be implemented in an open and transparent manner," Lang wrote. "Such is not the case today and fishing communities are collapsing as a consequence."

The mayor noted that, since the release of the "scathing" January 2010 report by IG Zinser's office on the NOAA General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation and Office of Law Enforcement, it has been discovered that — among other concerns — the Office of General Counsel paid administrative law judges out of Asset Forfeiture Funds, which are drawn from the fines assessed and paid by fishermen, and that fishermen were intimidated into settlements.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Daily Times.

 

 

 

 

 

BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday asked the U.S. commerce secretary for emergency increases in fish catch limits, saying a new report by state scientists justifies them.

Fishermen have argued that federal regulators wrongly set limits on some protected species so low that it will prematurely shut them down. Under new rules, if fishermen exceed their limit on one species, they must stop fishing for all species.

Last month, Secretary Gary Locke said he was open to ordering emergency increases in catch limits, but he needed evidence to justify any increases.

In the report sent Friday, scientists from the state's Division of Marine Fisheries and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth said Northeast fishermen could safely catch 14,500 metric tons more groundfish, such as flounder and cod.

Read the Associated Press story in the Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In one of his first acts since Tuesday's election triumph, Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday supplied U.S. Secretary of Commerce with a detailed report making the case for his requested bailout for the groundfish industry in Massachusetts.

Gary F. Locke recently showed a willingness to consider issuing emergency regulations to revise catch limits for common groundfish species, if it could be demonstrated that current regulations are causing economic harm to fishing communities.

At the same time, the secretary asked for proof that increasing catches would not damage fish stocks.

Patrick's letter asks the secretary to "move expeditiously to protect the economic viability of our fishing ports." The report presents justification for increasing catch limits by 30 percent for most species and more for some others.

Read the complete story from The South Coast Today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members of the North Pacific council, particularly the six-member Alaska delegation, and the crab industry were wary of what appeared to be an intrusion of greater federal control defined by new uncertainty "buffers" in the revised Magnuson-Stevens Act that could have resulted in lower harvest levels.

Theoretically, an increase in the OFL should lead to an increase in the harvest, but the crab plan team has observed a lack of new, juvenile crab and is concerned about future recruitment into the fishery.

In contrast to the bitterness in New England, rather than criticize the state scientists for being too conservative, the crab industry has unanimously supported the state's approach to Bristol Bay red king crab.

"I literally have not had anybody come up to me and say they were upset about the direction the state went for king crab," said Bering Sea Crabbers executive director Ed Poulsen, "because everybody is wanting to have a long future in these fisheries."

Read the complete story from The Alaska Journal of Commerce.

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts – Nov. 5, 2010 (Saving Seafood) The mayor of the nation’s highest dollar-volume seaport has asked for a Federal investigation of all parties involved with the implementation of fishing regulations, laws, and frameworks, and into the rule making processes of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC).

New Bedford, Massachusetts Mayor Scott Lang stated that a “lack of fair play and transparency coupled with use of stale science in the development of fisheries management has caused profound and adverse socio-economic impacts that are crippling fishing communities.” 
In a letter to Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser, the Mayor wrote “It is paramount that rules and regulations that impact the livelihood of fishing communities be implemented in an open and transparent manner.  Such is not the case today and fishing communities are collapsing as a consequence. “

The mayor noted that since the release of the “scathing” January 2010 Inspector General’s report on the NOAA General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation (GCEL) and Office of Law Enforcement (OLE), it has been discovered that: GCEL paid Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) out of Asset Forfeiture Funds (60% of salaries for ALJ);  and that fishermen were intimidated into settlements. 

The mayor also pointed out that in defending GCEL from the findings of the IG’s September 2010 report, “union attorneys revealed that GCEL received “questionable” bonuses in the amount of $44,000 prior to the conclusion of cases.  

According to Mayor Lang, “there is no reason to believe that the rest of the management system is absent this abuse of authority.”   The New Bedford Mayor accused NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco of having “predetermined agendas” that “appear to be driven by well funded interest groups, and are outside the open and transparent public process mandated under the Magnuson Steven Act…”

Mayor Lang described NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab’s plans to conduct a review of the fishery management process in New England “a clear attempt to avoid an audit by [the Inspector General’s] office,” and argued that “[i]nternal audits are far less effective and probative and fail to get to the root of the problem at hand ”. 

The mayor said the “scientific judgments on what can be caught and what can’t be caught are, in our view, overly pessimistic or conservative.” 

Read Mayor Lang's request to IG Todd Zinser.                      

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deval Patrick today urged Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to 1)  exercise his authority to issue emergency regulations to revise catch limits to higher levels that are still consistent with conservation requirements (by at least 30% for many species); and 2) formally requested $21 million in direct economic relief in response to a fishery resources disaster as specified under Sections 312(a) and 315 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.  The $21M economic impact resulted from an initial quota misallocation and an ineffectively functioning catch share market. BOSTON – Nov. 5, 2010 – Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick today has provided Commerce Secretary Gary Locke with scientific and economic information that could support the exercise of his emergency authority in response to current fishing industry conditions in Massachusetts.

In a letter dated October 14 the Secretary told Governor Patrick and Congressman Barney Frank that he was  "prepared to issue an emergency regulation to revise catch limits whenever there is both sufficient economic and sound scientific data" to support such an action.

The Governor's report was developed by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science and Technology, the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute, the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and the mayors of New Bedford and Gloucester.  According to its authors, the report's findings demonstrate the existence of an economic disaster and meet the necessary criteria for emergency action to raise catch limits while maintaining conservation goals.

The Governor asks the Secretary to:

1. Exercise his authority to issue emergency regulations to revise catch limits to higher levels that are still consistent with conservation requirements. The report argues that there exists scientific justification to raise catch limits by at least 30% for most species while still remaining within conservation bounds. The report identifies approximately $19 million of lost economic opportunity in Massachusetts due to catch limits that were set at the lowest end of allowable ranges.

2. Provide $21 million in direct economic relief for the impact caused by the transition to catch shares. The report demonstrates a direct economic impact of $21 million because he initial quota allocation left two-thirds of the fleet with 50% to 60% lower allocation than they had in prior years, and because the broader market is not functioning, and has resulted in the inability of fishermen to buy, sell and lease shares.

Read the letter from Governor Patrick

Read the complete report as sent to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke