Washington

December 12, 2014 — Both houses of Congress on Wednesday passed a Coast Guard bill that includes a three-year moratorium on vessel discharge regulations for boats 79 feet and smaller. The bill now goes to the president’s desk for his signature. If the moratorium hadn’t passed, Alaska’s fishing fleet would have had to comply with new regulations the industry claims are unworkable.

Sen. Barbara Boxer’s bill would’ve lifted the small vessel discharge regulations entirely, but the California Democrat said she had to settle for a three-year reprieve.

“It’s the best we can do. And I want the American people and the fishermen to know we tried so hard to get this fixed permanently,” Boxer said, speaking from the Senate floor.

Republican Sen. David Vitter from Louisiana offered the three-year fix the Senate passed. He didn’t explain why that was preferable to permanently lifting the regulation for fishing boats and other commercial vessels. Sen. Boxer alleges lawmakers aim to use the measure as future leverage.

Read the full story from KTOO

December 12, 2014 — When the U.S. Senate passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act this week, it contained funding for continued safety and protection training for fishermen because of U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

The safety training has become an expected part of the annual fishing routine, with some fishermen attending the drills and simulations more than once a year. The training is credited with sharply reducing the number of fishing fatalities, especially in the Northeast, where there had been a spate of fatal accidents in recent years.

The Senate bill applies to fiscal 2015 and 2016 and still needs House approval. Markey's announcement did not specify a dollar amount.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

December 12, 2014 — Americans eat more seafood than just about anyone else. Most of it is imported from abroad. And a lot of it — perhaps 25 percent of wild-caught seafood imports, according to fisheries experts — is illegally caught.

The White House is now drafting recommendations on what to do about that. Fisheries experts say they hope the administration will devote more resources to fight seafood piracy.

This isn't just about fraudulent fish — say, a plate of tilefish advertised as pricy red snapper at a restaurant. It's about boats that secretly fish in protected areas, where fish populations have been dangerously depleted. Or boats that exceed their own government's allowable catch.

"Illegal fishing has been identified as the single greatest threat to sustainable fisheries in the world today," says Michele Kuruc, head of marine policy at the World Wildlife Fund.

"Eighty-five percent of the fisheries around the world that are fished commercially are at their absolute maximum, or are already overfished," Kuruc says, quoting figures from the Food and Agricultural Organization at the United Nations.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at WMHT

December 11, 2014 — Fishermen can safely hose down their decks without fear of violating the Clean Water Act. Congress yesterday voted unanimously to extend a moratorium for three years that exempts commercial fishing vessels from needing incidental discharge permits. Senator Lisa Murkowski spearheaded the bipartisan push –

This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Fishermen won’t need permits to hose down their decks, and the Coast Guard bill flies through Congress. More with Senators Murkowski and Begich after this —

Fishermen can safely hose down their decks without fear of violating the Clean Water Act. Congress yesterday voted unanimously to extend a moratorium for three years that exempts commercial fishing vessels from needing incidental discharge permits. Senator Lisa Murkowski spearheaded the bipartisan push –

This is something that every commercial fishing vessel under 79 feet would have been required to deal with an EPA permit to effectively allow them to hose the decks off.  

The current moratorium- which affects 8,500 Alaska vessels – was set to expire in one week. The EPA regulation is aimed at preventing fuels or hazardous wastes from entering the water. That makes sense, Murkowski says, but needing permits for deck wash is going overboard – especially when it doesn’t apply to recreational boats, even 300 foot yachts.

Read the full story and listen to the audio from Alaska Fish Radio

December 9, 2014 — By December 2015, all restaurant chains with 20 or more units will be required to post calorie counts for standard menu items on menus and menu boards, as well as offer more detailed nutrition information on request in restaurants.

As restaurant chains across the country digest the 300-plus-page rules on menu labeling published by the Food and Drug Administration last month, some details remain unclear.

By December 2015, all restaurant chains with 20 or more units will be required to post calorie counts for standard menu items on menus and menu boards, as well as offer more detailed nutrition information on request in restaurants. The rules are expected to affect about 1,600 chains that include nearly 300,000 restaurant locations.

The long-awaited rules aim to bring a uniform standard to menu labeling that will replace the patchwork of requirements in 15 states and local jurisdictions that currently require menu labeling. The rules would also apply nationwide, creating a more level playing field.

Read the full story from Nation's Restaurant News

 

December 8, 2014 — The second disbursement of $8.3 million in fishing disaster funds has stalled at NOAA headquarters in Maryland, prompting a letter from some members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation seeking the release of the funds.

The letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, dated Dec. 5, asks for Pritzker’s help in releasing the funds before the end of the calendar year. NOAA Fisheries falls under the purview of Pritzker and the Commerce Department.

“The ongoing groundfish disaster has had a huge economic impact on fishing families and communities in Massachusetts,” said the letter signed by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, as well as Rep. William Keating, D-New Bedford. “In many cases, the financial hardship is now acute.”

On Oct. 24, the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries submitted the state’s grant application to NOAA Fisheries for the $8.3 million in state-specific grants included in the second installment of fishery disaster financial aid.

Read the full story from The Gloucester Daily Times

GREENVILLE, N.C. — December 8, 2014 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Walter Jones:

Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) thanked U.S. administration officials for heeding his call to fight for U.S. fishermen and secure an increase in quota for western Atlantic bluefin tuna.  The issue was decided in Genoa, Italy last month when the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) – the international body which manages Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks and of which the United States is a key member – decided to increase the quota from the existing 1,750 metric tons, to 2,000 metric tons, for each of the next two years.
 
For decades U.S. fishermen have been living under depressed quota levels in order to help rebuild the stock.  However, earlier this year ICCAT scientists released new data showing that the western bluefin stock is more than twice the size suggested in previous assessments and is now more than rebuilt.   They also concluded that the western Atlantic quota could be increased from the existing 1,750 metric tons to up to 2,250 metric tons without hurting the stock.  In a letter sent in October, Jones urged U.S. fisheries administrators to “follow the science and do all you can at the November ICCAT meeting to secure an increase in the western bluefin quota to 2,200 metric tons.”  While ICCAT’s ultimate decision to increase the quota to 2,000 metric tons instead of 2,200 metric tons was less than preferred, it was still welcome news.
 
“After years of steep quota reductions, U.S. bluefin tuna fishermen have more than done their part,” said Congressman Jones.  “The economic costs to them, their families, and the communities they support have been severe.  Now that science shows the stock is fully rebuilt, I am pleased to see that their sacrifice will not go unrewarded.”
 
In a letter sent to administration officials today, Jones thanked them for their assistance is securing the increase.  He also encouraged them to continue to follow the science and work to secure additional quota increases at future meetings.

 

December 7, 2014 — Congressman-elect Seth Moulton continued his campaign in support of the commercial fishing industry today, saying fishermen should have a greater role in stock assessments and other areas of fishery management.

Speaking to about 50 people at the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association's annual meeting at The Gloucester House, Moulton said fishermen should be given a more active part in determining their own fate.

"A the end of the day, we all want the same thing, and that's a sustainable fishery" Moulton said. "The idea that there has to be continual conflict is the wrong way to look at it."

Moulton said NOAA Fisheries should concentrate on devising programs that call for more collaborative partnerships between the fishermen and the federal agency _ particularly its scientific elements _ to provide a more balanced and comprehensive system for determining the state of the fishery.

Read the full story from The Gloucester Daily Times

December 7, 2014 — It’s a matter of scale. Many Americans likely would agree that the owners of large ocean-going fishing trawlers should get a government permit before discharging waste in U.S. waters. Demanding that recreational anglers get the same permit each time they clean their small boats or dispose of bait seems, well, crazy — the kind of bureaucratic overkill that even purveyors of bureaucratic overkill could agree to oppose.

And that’s exactly what happened.

A badly written federal law requires that boats shorter than 79 feet in length comply with the burdensome regulation intended for larger commercial fishing vessels.

Congress plugged that leak with the 2008 Clean Boating Act, which stipulated that no small recreational or commercial fishing vessel would be required to obtain a permit for any discharge incidental to its normal operation. That fix, however, is scheduled to expire at the end of this month.

U.S. Senate Bill 2963 would protect anglers with small boats from the commercial fishing law. A month ago, nearly a dozen recreational fishing organizations co-signed a letter to bill sponsor Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, and others supporting the legislation on behalf of American anglers.

Last week the bill advanced through the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, moving one step closer to passage and proving that Democrats and Republican can see eye to eye, especially when it’s a real no-brainer.

Read the full story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

December 4, 2014 — The following was released by the Gulf Seafood Institute:

Congressional leaders called upon two Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) board members to testify on The Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act of 2013. Florida’s Bob Gill and Louisiana’s Harlon Pearce represented the interests of Gulf of Mexico fishermen before the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs in the ongoing saga of red snapper management.

The subcommittee, chaired by Representative John Fleming of Louisiana, heard testimony on the challenges resulting from the current recreational red snapper management structure and whether the proposed management changes in H.R. 3099 are the correct approach to solving a complex management struggle.

Pearce and Gill joined panel members David Cresson, the executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana, and Captain Jim Green, vice-president of the Destin Charter Boat Association, on the four member panel.

Commercial Red Snapper Management Works

“It is very important to understand that the current red snapper program on the harvest side is working,” Gill told the Congressional hearing. “The species is no longer undergoing overfishing and is now being managed under a rebuilding plan which will allow the species to rebuild back to target population levels.”

According to the Gill, a former member of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council, the commercial red snapper Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program, which began in 2007, has reduced the number of vessels and improved the operation of this fishery. The IFQ program now provides the harvesting sector with flexibility to fish during times that suit their needs and the needs of the market resulting in less pressure on the fishery, less pressure on the resource and a consistent supply of red snapper to meet consumer demand.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute