Washington

March 25, 2015 — Young’s proposed version of the MSA is titled the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.”

Taking the lead on legislation he’s been involved with since it first passed in 1976, Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young introduced a bill March 4 to reauthorize and amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

 The act, or MSA, governs all U.S. federal fisheries, which take place in the exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, between three and 200 miles off the coast. The MSA was most recently reauthorized and updated in 2006.

Young introduced H.R. 1335 on March 4 with three regional cosponsors: Reps. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., and Amata Coleman Radewagen, R-American Samoa.

Young’s proposed version of the MSA is titled the “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.” His philosophy is to let the councils, who have more intimate understandings of their stocks and more responsiveness than the Department of Commerce, have more control of their respective operations, and to update the act to account for better scientific governance and more attention to economic effects.

The revised act has several amendments regarding stock rebuilding protocols, council transparency, catch limits, pollock cooperative quota limits, the definition of “overfished” or depleted stocks, data collection, MSA authority in relation to other federal responsibilities, and the definition and role of subsistence.

The MSA governs eight regional councils in the federal waters off the U.S. coast. Alaska’s waters, fished mainly by fishermen from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest states, fall under the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s authority.

Some changes make provisions for more flexible planning. The plans for rebuilding depleted fisheries will remove the current mandatory 10 years for rebuilding plans and allow councils to phase in rebuilding plans over a three-year period to limit damaging effects to fishing economies.

Read the full story from the Alaska Journal of Commerce 

 

March 20, 2015 — Alaska Congressman Don Young has introduced a bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation’s primary law governing fishing in federal waters. It leaves fisheries managers some controversial wiggle room.

Previous versions of the law established eight regional councils and required them to set harvest limits based on science to end overfishing. The mechanism is known as the “Alaska Model” of fisheries management.

Young’s bill, though, introduces some flexibility for fisheries managers. Among other changes, it would allow councils to consider a community’s economic need when setting an annual catch limit, and it would allow a more elastic timeline for rebuilding depleted stocks. Spokesman Matt Shuckerow says the provision is intended for regions elsewhere in the country that don’t have enough scientific data.

“We don’t anticipate that changes will be made for the North Pacific Council,” Shuckerow said. “The North Pacific Council is still considered to be the premiere model of fisheries management and it has generally worked very well”

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is among those pressing for greater flexibility, saying it’s in his state’s interest.

Read the full story and listen to the audio from Alaska Public Media

 

March 18, 2015 — "We strongly urge you to remove all Atlantic planning areas prior to issuing the final iteration of the Five-Year Plan. While drilling is not authorized directly off the Jersey Shore, oil spills do not respect state boundaries and the proposed Virginia lease areas are only 90 miles from Cape May, New Jersey."

In advance of today’s hearing in Atlantic City regarding a proposed plan for offshore oil and gas drilling along the Atlantic Coast, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) and Frank Pallone (NJ-06) were joined by U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker (both NJ) and Reps. Albio Sires (NJ-08) and Donald Norcross (NJ-01) in sending a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opposing the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022.  The plan considers offshore drilling sites in a portion of the Mid- and South Atlantic OCS, which includes areas offshore Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Read the full story from The Bergen Dispatch

 

March 16, 2015 — The Obama administration has announced a plan to crack down on the multibillion-dollar global black market in seafood, an effort that would try to trace a fish’s story from where it was caught to how it was shipped.

Officials said that the unregulated part of the fishing industry, which could be worth up to $20 billion annually, contributes to consumer unease about food safety.

The plan, announced on Sunday during the Seafood Expo North America in Boston, would create a new tracking system and stronger enforcement measures by United States Customs and Border Protection and other law enforcement officers at the nation’s ports to identify those engaged in illegal fishing.

It also would focus on seafood fraud, where one species of fish is sold as another. A study by Oceana, an international organization that focuses on oceans, found that a third of more than 1,200 fish samples tested nationwide were mislabeled.

“The Obama administration is committed to working to ensure that America’s fishing industry remains the heart and soul of coastal communities across the country,” said Bruce Andrews, the deputy secretary of commerce. “The task force’s new strategic plan will aggressively implement recommendations to guarantee that U.S. fishing fleets remain competitive in the global economy.”

Read the full story at the New York Times

March 15, 2015 — In an effort to eradicate illegal fishing and seafood fraud, the Obama Administration is launching a fish tracking system that would eventually tell consumers where their fish was caught, processed and stored.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews announced the initiative at the Seafood Expo conference in Boston on Sunday, describing an action plan to stamp out imports of illegally caught fish.

"The steps the United States has taken to be a leader in environmental stewardship are paying off," he said. "However, our nation's fisheries remain threatened by illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud, which negatively affects our markets."

While seafood industry groups are skeptical about potentially onerous and expensive tracking mandates in some fisheries where there are no problems, environmental organizations lauded the new rules that will roll out over the next few years.

"Today's announcement is proof that the Obama administration is committed to stopping seafood fraud and ending global illegal fishing," said Beth Lowell, a senior campaign director of nonprofit Oceana.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

March 12, 2015 — For the first time ever, all five Gulf states have banded together to create a management framework that, if ultimately approved by Congress, would finally remove the red snapper fishery from the control of the federal government.

Randy Pausina, head of fisheries for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said the cover letter for the plan was being wrapped up late Wednesday afternoon and details of the framework were being sent to each Gulf state’s congressional delegation on Thursday.

“In a nutshell, it removes red snapper from the federal government completely – commercially and recreationally,” Pausina said. “And it removes it from the Fisheries Management Plan and from the Gulf Council’s authority and puts it over into this new group that we’re going to form.

“We would then put a management plan together through this authority, which would be the five state directors, and give stock assessments, set up our management scheme, set up our monitoring and our season framework. Then bless it, get it out there and start managing red snapper. That’s really it.”

Read the full story from the Louisiana Sportsman

 

March 10, 2015 — The Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, a proposed amendment to the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, could soon give tribal members and government fishery managers in the Columbia River Basin authority to kill sea lions threatening endangered salmon populations.

U.S. Reps Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced the amendment on January 27.

The legislation is intended to improve the ability of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State to manage growing sea lion populations because they are reducing steelhead and salmon stocks. The Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama tribes will also be eligible for expedited lethal take permits.

Nearly identical legislation introduced each year from 2012 to 2014 was never allowed a vote under the then-Democrat-controlled Senate.

Beutler says the voracious sea lions threaten the fishing culture and economy of the Northwest. “Salmon are part of the very fabric of the Pacific Northwest, which is why significant resources are spent making sure they survive and can continue to support recreational, cultural, and economic interests,” Beutler said.

Read the full story at the Heatland Institute

March 9, 2015 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Walter Jones:

Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) asked federal and state regulators to review shellfish lease permitting policies that are more restrictive than those in neighboring states like Virginia and may be hurting efforts to grow the industry in North Carolina.  In a letter sent today to Colonel Kevin P. Landers, Sr., at the Army Corps of Engineers – Wilmington District, and Secretary Donald R. van der Vaart at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Congressman Jones points out that the Wilmington District has adopted a zero tolerance policy for eelgrass disturbance that goes beyond the policy the Corps uses nationwide, including in Virginia.  Congressman Jones went on to explain that according to North Carolina shellfish growers who have contacted him, this policy is of questionable scientific merit and is inhibiting North Carolina growers from obtaining leases to cultivate shellfish in the state.  As a result, North Carolina must import 75 percent of oysters consumed in the state and only produces $1 million in cultured shellfish per year while Virginia produces $45 million in clams and oysters per year.
 
“We all share the responsibility for balancing the protection of Eastern North Carolina’s coastal environment while creating jobs and growing our economy,” said Congressman Jones. “North Carolina shellfish growers have made a compelling case for how we might be able to do a better job of achieving that goal, and federal and state regulators ought to look into it.  Based on initial conversations, I am confident they will.”
 
For more information, click here to read a letter to Congressman Jones from the North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association on these regulations.

 

WASHINGTON — The following was released by Congressman Don Young (R-AK):

Alaskan Congressman Don Young today announced the following staff changes to his Washington, D.C. staff, which includes the addition of 20-year House Natural Resources Committee staffer Bonnie Bruce and U.S. Army combat veteran Jakob Johnsen of Alaska.

Bonnie Bruce arrives to Congressman Young’s office after two decades on the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs as a Professional Legislative staff member. Originally hired in 1995 by then Chairman Don Young, Bonnie has worked to develop and implement legislative policy in the areas of fisheries, marine mammals, wildlife, and insular affairs. Bonnie will pick up portfolios relating to foreign affairs, telecom and trade, while continuing her work on wildlife and fisheries related activities, including the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which will be introduced by Congressman Young and passed by the House this year.

Jakob Johnsen, who currently serves as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner and Legislative Liaison for the Alaska Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, is a lifelong Alaskan and former Army Officer. In his current capacity, Johnsen has worked broadly on many issues affecting Alaska’s military and homeland security presence, including force structuring, funding, and veteran affairs.  A 2009 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and combat veteran of the Iraq war, Johnsen served his country as an Army Platoon Leader and Strategic Planner. Johnsen, who will begin in Congressman Young’s office in mid-March, will focus on policy relating to military and veteran affairs, in addition to handling homeland security, immigration, and banking issues.

“Bonnie and Jakob are both great additions to my legislative team. In addition to the expertise and understanding they bring to my office, they both have an eagerness and enthusiasm to take on new challenges on behalf of the Alaskan people,” said Congressman Young. “Bonnie’s institutional knowledge on natural resources policy will be invaluable as we continue working to move the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization forward for Alaska’s fishing industry.”

“With more than 22,000 Active Duty military and 73,000 veterans calling Alaska home, it’s critically important to have an experienced and knowledgeable staff member advising me on the many policies affecting our military,” said Congressman Young. “Jakob brings a rare set of skills to the table and I am confident he will hit the ground running as he begins serving the Alaskan people in the halls of Congress.”

The additions to Congressman Young’s office come following the departure of two longtime policy advisors, Erik Elam and Jason Suslavich, who recently joined the office of Senator Dan Sullivan as EPW Subcommittee Staff Director and Legislative Assistant for Armed Services and Veteran Affairs, respectively.

“It’s never easy seeing members of my legislative team leave, but I’m happy to share their talent and wealth of Alaskan knowledge with Senator Sullivan,” Congressman Young said. “These two men advised me on a wide range of issues and will be valuable additions to Senator Sullivan’s team as he begins building out his office and tackling the many issues concerning Alaskans.”