Washington

September 25, 2013 — The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 on Thursday, Sept. 19. The bill, according to Fourth District Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, would boost funding for harbor maintenance and direct funding to small Oregon ports.

“Small ports up and down the Oregon coast are critical lifelines that support thousands of fishing jobs and fuel local economies,” DeFazio said in a news release. “The federal government cannot continue to shirk its responsibility to safeguard our infrastructure. We made a commitment to these communities and they have been neglected for too long. This legislation will ensure that our most critical needs will be met in our ports and harbors — no matter what their size.”

Committee passage of the legislation comes as the state of Oregon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. DeFazio and the legislative Coastal Caucus came to an agreement that is allowing dredging the next few weeks at the ports of Umpqua, Siuslaw, Coos Bay and Port Orford.

DeFazio said the federal bill authorizes funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation, flood control and environmental restoration projects.

He said he worked closely with both Democrats and Republicans to ensure, as he put it, that the Corps fulfills its obligation to dredge, rebuild and maintain ports and harbors.

Read the full story at The Umpqua Post

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Seafoodnews.com] — September 24, 2013 — John Connelly, president of NFI, also testified at the sustainability hearing yesterday.  Connelly focused on how the government should speak with a unified voice, and was astonished that the various agencies did not consult or know about NOAA's role in making US fisheries sustainable.

Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Rubio and subcommittee members, the National Fisheries Institute, the nation’s largest seafood trade group, is pleased to present thoughts on US government actions and third party seafood certifications.

Sustainability is a key component of NFI’s work.  We rely on the long term availability of seafood resources — no fish in the future means no businesses in the future.   Because of this commitment to the seafood community, I am on the boards of several global sustainability groups.  For this testimony, though, I speak solely as NFI.

Fisheries management must reside with governments, whether state, federal or intergovernmental.  The management of a common resource, while often aided by property rights, needs the underpinning of government oversight.  For that reason, NFI is a strong proponent of NOAA Fisheries and the Council system. 

For market reasons, some of our members, especially those who export seafood, have engaged in certification programs such as MSC.  NFI is unfamiliar with any major change to a US fishery as the result of these certifications. However, seafood companies earn continued market access to American and European retailers by going thru steps beyond what is required under MSA and getting the third party certification. 

Private sector transactions are based on business decisions.  However, NFI is concerned about US government actions requiring third party certification for the 10 reasons outlined in our written testimony. 

It appears that yesterday GSA modified its policies to reflect the preeminent role that NOAA Fisheries should play in government procurement policy for seafood.  NFI supports those changes.  NFI also thanks the several Senators who urged GSA to review its policy.

We strongly urge the Department of Interior and the National Parks Service to now follow suit.  NPS based their June guidelines on GSA policy.  Now that GSA has shifted, we ask NPS to publicly modify its requirements for vendors.

We further urge DOD to make clear that it believes NOAA Fisheries determinations are sufficient documentation of sustainability.  The Pentagon should make clear to vendors to Navy and Marine mess halls, Army chow lines, or Air Force fine dining establishments that they should not require third party certifications to sell American fish to American sailors, Marines, soldiers, and airmen. 

A last point, about root causes of this situation. 

Even with the change in policy, NFI remains confused about the singular focus of seafood sustainability.  Seafood remains a well-managed global resource.  Seafood uses less water in its production than other proteins.  Seafood has much better feed conversion ratios than other proteins.  And seafood produces much less nutrient loads on the environment than other proteins.   So why the GSA focus on seafood?

NFI believes much of this issue is a communications challenge.  The best way to address the question of NOAA and sustainability is for NOAA to buy a printing press and develop a robust Twitter account. 

NOAA’s fisheries management is generally excellent.  Yet few in government or in the public know it.  The fact that GSA, HSS, and the Park Service developed their policies without coordinating with NOAA suggests NOAA is too quiet, even in the federal family.  This has left others to define what is sustainable and what is not.  

Congress should require NOAA to develop an integrated communications strategy that explains, in lay terms, how the government manages our fisheries resources. 

Part of that strategy should target institutional buyers of seafood.  You and I, when we go to the grocer or restaurant, do not really decide among the variety of seafoods available.  Rather, a few buyers at supermarkets decide for us. Often they have pulled seafood from their counters, under pressure from activist groups, even though NOAA reports these fish are managed sustainably.  NOAA and Commerce need to be much more aggressive about explaining to stores that US fish is caught sustainably.

In a budget of close to $1 billion it is incumbent that NOAA not just continue to excel technically  ….. but to also explain the good they do.  Most of us don’t like to hear the boastful parent or the co-worker that grabs the credit.  But in this case, it is exactly what NOAA Fisheries must do.    

NFI’s recommendations in Connelly’s written testimony: 

1. Congress Should Clarify that NOAA is the Arbiter of Sustainability of U.S. Caught Fish: Congress should enact legislation that clarifies for executive branch agencies that NOAA Fisheries, through its implementation of the Congressionally- debated and enacted Magnuson Stevens Act, establishes what sustainable seafood for U.S. Government purchases is.

2. NOAA Should Buy a Printing Press and Develop a Robust Twitter Account: NOAA Fisheries oversees a world class fisheries management system, with most stocks in excellent shape. NOAA Fisheries scientists report overfishing has ended due to the requirements of the MSA. Despite that fact, many Americans question the state of the nation`s fisheries.

NOAA Fisheries budget is about $880 million, yet its communications program is limited.

The average American hears little from NOAA Fisheries, and often only in response to some report about a supposedly imminent ocean resource calamity. The fact that GSA and HHS developed a policy and NPS began implementation without conferring with NOAA Fisheries is troubling. This lack of consultation suggests that Americans, including officials at NOAA`s sister agencies, do not know how the nation`s ocean resources are managed. NOAA Fisheries, to a great extent, is a government success story —- yet few know that story.

Congress should require NOAA Fisheries to develop a robust communications strategy that explains, in lay terms, how the government manages its fisheries resources, the opportunities available for all Americans to engage in the Council system, and the success NOAA Fisheries has had in ensuring an abundance of fish now and for the future.

The communications program need not go to formation of a NOAA eco- label. Labels require an extensive and expensive system behind it that can communicate to the nearly 320 million Americans or more than 500 million Europeans. A major part of that background support system would be communications about why an eco-label can be trusted. So, rather than expend money on an eco-label, NOAA Fisheries should spend a portion of its budget explaining the robustness and success of its management system. NGOs long ago determined that a broad advertising program is not as effective as a strategy of finding choke points in the supply chain as the best means to impact consumer choices. That is why so few NGOs advertise widely.

While the NOAA communications strategy should include appropriate tools to inform the general public, a focus should be on communicating to the 350 institutional buyers of fish in the United States. These grocery store and restaurant buyers determine what we are offered on the menu or at fish counter. Many of them have developed relationships with various sustainability partners. Few buyers, though, have regular interaction with the appropriate level of Department of Commerce or NOAA staff that can explain that fish caught in U.S. waters is sustainable. Fewer still corporate communications and marketing staff understand the political impacts of their decision to move to a third party certification system.

NFI feels strongly that if retail and restaurant corporate leaders, their communications and public affairs staff, and their buyers in the U.S. and Europe better understood how American fisheries are managed, the demand for third party certifications would be reduced. Absent that communications effort, neither Congress nor NOAA Fisheries should be surprised if third party certification or private groups` ranking dominates buyers` decisions.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — September 25, 2013 — Both the National Park Service (NPS) and the General Services Administration (GSA) have changed their "sustainable seafood" guidelines to focus on data from NOAA FishWatch instead of third-party ratings and certifications from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program.

The GSA, a federal agency that supplies food to other government agencies, has updated their "Heath and Sustainability Guidelines" to be in accordance with NOAA's Federal sustainability data. Previously, the guidelines instructed vendors to "only offer fish/seafood identified as ‘Best Choices’ or ‘Good Alternatives’ on the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch list or certified by the Marine Stewardship Council."

The seafood sustainability standards are modified in the guideline’s footnotes. Footnote 44 and footnote 44* indicate a clear change from their previous policy:

44. Examples of “Best Choices” do not imply government endorsement of these standards. Only endorsements made directly by governing agencies (e.g., USDA, FDA) should be considered government endorsements.

44.* The NOAA FishWatch Program defines sustainable seafood as “catching or farming seafood responsibly, with consideration for the long-term health of the environment and the livelihoods of the people that depend upon the environment.” Verifying the health and sustainability of U.S. and international fisheries is not always simple. Domestic fisheries are managed by State and Federal agencies under legally established fisheries management plans. International fisheries are managed under sovereign laws and international treaties. Guidance on how to make sustainable seafood choices is found on the NOAA FishWatch site at: www.fishwatch.gov/buying_seafood/choosing_sustainable.htm.

Following a meeting between NOAA and NPS officials, NPS has also changed their seafood sustainability guidelines. In a letter addressed to all Regional Directors, NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis announced that the NPS "Healthy and Sustainable Food Program" guidelines includes the revision:

"Where seafood options are offered, provide those procured from responsibly managed, sustainable healthy fisheries."

This breaks away from a previous policy to only offer seafood certified by MSC or rated as a "Best Choice" or "Good Alternative" under Seafood Watch guidelines.

View the new GSA "Heath and Sustainability Guidelines"

Read the letter from NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis to NPS Regional Directors

Read previous coverage on this issue from Saving Seafood

Read the Saving Seafood Special Report on Third Party Seafood Certifications and Guidelines

See Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski’s press release on the new guideline revisions

 

 

September 24, 2013 — The Massachusetts congressional delegation made it a clean sweep Monday, joining Gov. Deval Patrick in requesting the Small Business Administration provide all possible financial assistance to Bay State commercial fishermen and fishing-related businesses.

In a show of unity, the full delegation signed a letter to SBA director Frank Skaggs supporting Patrick’s certification of the widespread negative economic impact suffered by small businesses in six Massachusetts counties — including Essex County, with Gloucester, all of Cape Ann and Newburyport — in the wake of the 2012 federally declared fishery resource disaster.

“Our fishermen and fishing communities have been struggling to survive amid reductions in some annual catch limits that have limited fishing opportunities,” the letter states. “As a result, many fishermen are drawing on personal income or extended credit, shifting more fishing costs to crew, shrinking crew size or postponing vessel maintenance.”

That assistance, if approved by the SBA, would come from low-interest loans to eligible fishermen and fishing-related businesses through the federal Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

“Our fishermen and fishing-related businesses need SBA assistance as they work to adjust to a perfect storm of events that threatens the future of one of our nation’s oldest and most storied industries and the coastal communities that depend on it,” the letter states.

The SBA said last week it is reviewing Massachusetts’ request for assistance.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times 

 

September 24, 2013 — The entire Massachusetts delegation is backing Gov. Deval Patrick's effort to have the federal Small Business Administration provide economic assistance to fishermen through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

A letter dated Monday and signed by both Massachusetts senators and eight congressmen says: "Our fishermen and fishing-related businesses need SBA assistance as they work to adjust to a perfect storm of events that threatens the future one of our nation's oldest and most storied industries and the coastal communities that depend on it."

Significant cuts in the amounts of groundfish that Northeastern fishermen may catch and other harsh economic factors have driven many fishermen out of the business and significantly threaten those who remain, the lawmakers said.

Sen. Ed Markey, who coordinated the efforts of his colleagues, said: "Fishermen need help, and these small business loans are another way to get them financial assistance that will actually keep their businesses afloat. Massachusetts' lawmakers in Washington are united in our efforts to get fishermen the respect and the assistance they deserve."

Earlier this month, Patrick officially certified to the SBA that Massachusetts fishermen had suffered "substantial economic injury" in seeking assistance through the loan program.

Read the full story at the New Bedford-Standard Times

WASHINGTON — September 23, 2013 — The following was released by the office of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski:

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Lisa Murkowski today welcomed news from the General Services Administration (GSA) that they have completed an internal review of their flawed federal fish certification process allowing third party eco-endorsements to dictate what the government considers ‘sustainable” seafood – despite federal guidelines prohibiting such an outsized role.  Its changes to policy can be read in the GSA’s new ‘Health and Sustainability Guidelines’ posted online hours ago.

Murkowski initially urged them to reconsider this new practice in July, followed that up with a tense Senate committee hearing days later where she was able to have the National Park Service reverse course and then just last week introduced legislation to prohibit any federal agencies from ignoring their own internal rules and using third party non-governmental certification schemes when considering or labeling any domestic catch as ‘sustainable.’

“I appreciate the GSA reviewing its policy allowing third party certifiers to have an undue influence on federal decision-making by determining what seafood is allowed to be procured by federal agencies for our National Parks nationwide, troops overseas, or our own school children,” said Murkowski.  “Not too long ago, wild Alaska salmon served as the flagship species for sustainability around the world. Now some NGO are disparaging the “sustainability” of Alaska salmon, all the while having political agendas, lacking transparency, and using their certification schemes to inappropriately influence federal and state fisheries management. I look forward to seeing the National Park Service work to make similar adjustments to their internal policies.”

Read the full press release at Senator Murkowski's website 

 

September 19, 2013 — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell on Thursday sought a commitment from the Obama administration’s nominee to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that she would make ocean acidification a significant priority.

But the exchange briefly turned, albeit obliquely, to an issue at the heart of the debate about the U.S. response to ocean acidification: funding.

In response to a Seattle Times’ series examining the current and projected effects of changing sea chemistry in the Pacific Ocean, Cantwell asked Kathryn Sullivan, acting chief at NOAA, how the agency would respond to acidification’s growing threat to marine resources.

Follow the discussion here at 2:37.

“As you know very well, Senator, ocean acidification is one of the creeping threats of global change and the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Sullivan said during her confirmation hearing Thursday. “It’s a very difficult problem. It’s going to be a very difficult problem to monitor and provide foresight about to coastal communities.”

Sullivan said the agency had “made some progress” by adding warning systems to alert coastal communities and shellfish growers about incoming corrosive water or harmful algal blooms caused in part by rising carbon-dioxide emissions. Those systems already have helped the Northwest oyster industry — the first business in the world to feel the effects of acidification –  avoid pumping sour water into hatcheries when young oysters are at their most vulnerable stages of development.

But “it’s a large-scale, truly global problem, as you know,” Sullivan added, “systemic in affecting the Earth’s systems but it’s also patchy and has very patchy local consequences. We will certainly continue to work forward with you, if I am confirmed, to make sure that we can put in the right sort of observing, forecasting and monitoring systems to help us be as alert and aware and provide as much foresight as possible on this condition.”

The exchange turned slightly more adversarial, however, when Cantwell sought more definitive answers.

Read the full story at The Seattle Times 

 

September 23, 2013 — The following was released by the office of Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts:

WASHINGTON (September 23, 2013) – The entire Massachusetts delegation today pressed the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide financial assistance to Massachusetts fishermen who have been hard hit by reductions in catch limits and groundfish stocks.

In a letter sent today by the Bay State lawmakers to the head of disaster assistance at the SBA, they ask for the agency to back the certification made by Governor Deval Patrick that small businesses in Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Plymouth, Norfolk and Suffolk counties have suffered substantial economic injury as a result of a fishery resource disaster. They also ask that the SBA enact a plan to provide economic assistance to fishermen through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

“Our fishermen and fishing-related businesses need SBA assistance as they work to adjust to a perfect storm of events that threatens the future one of our nation’s oldest and most storied industries and the coastal communities that depend on it,” write the lawmakers. “The assistance would be used to help ease the economic effects of federal regulations imposed to stop what the Department of Commerce and fishermen anticipate will be dramatic declines in groundfish stocks in the Massachusetts multispecies fishery, while also allowing critical investments to make the industry more sustainable in the long term.”

The letter, led by Senator Edward J. Markey, was signed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Reps. Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Michael Capuano, Stephen Lynch, John Tierney, Niki Tsongas, Bill Keating, and Joe Kennedy III.

Due to determinations that stocks of cod, flounder, and other groundfish are not at healthy levels, significant cuts have been made to the amount of those fish that Northeast fishermen can catch. Combined with high fuel prices and other harsh economic factors, many fishermen who have worked the waters for years or for generations have gone out of business or are in danger of doing so.

The text of the letter follows:

Mr. Frank Skaggs
Director
Office of Disaster Assistance
U.S. Small Business Administration Field Operations Center – East
101 Marietta Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30308

Dear Mr. Skaggs:

We are writing in strong support of the certification made by to by Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts that the small businesses in Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Plymouth, Norfolk and Suffolk counties have suffered substantial economic injury as a result of a fishery resource disaster. We also strongly support Governor Patrick's request for assistance by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

In recent years, our fishermen and fishing communities have been struggling to survive amid reductions in some Annual Catch Limits (ACL) that have limited fishing opportunities. As a result,many fishermen are drawing on personal income or extended credit, shifting more fishing costs to crew, shrinking crew size, or postponing vessel maintenance.

Last year, the Department of Commerce declared a fishery failure for the Northeast multi species fishery, including Massachusetts, for the 2013 season. Our fishermen and fishing related businesses need SBA assistance as they work to adjust to a perfect storm of events that threatens the future one of our nation's oldest and most storied industries and the coastal communities that depend on it. The assistance would be used to help ease the economic effects of federal regulations imposed to stop what the Department of Commerce and fishermen anticipate will be dramatic declines in groundfish stocks in the Massachusetts muItispecies fishery, while also allowing critical investments to make the industry more sustainable in the long term.

The problems facing our fishermen and fishing related businesses have been exacerbated by a significant reduction in the 2012 ACL for Gulf of Maine cod, an important stock for the Northeast industry. This reduction was precipitated by 2011 and 2012 National Marine Fisheries Service (''NMFS'') stock assessments that determined that the stock may not be as healthy as previously thought. The 2013 ACL was reduced by 72 percent compared to the 20 I2 level. Other critical stocks of cod, yellowtail, haddock, and plaice have seen similar reductions. It is likely that these reduced ACLs will be in place for several years, further compounding the impact of these cuts to the industry.

Therefore, we respectfully request that you work with us to ensure adequate economic relief is available to help Massachusetts fishermen and fishing communities endure what is becoming one of the most challenging situations in the history of the Northeast groundfish fishery.

We remain committed to preserving and promoting our fishing industry. We look forward to continuing to work with you to quickly and effectively obtain assistance for this critical industry in Massachusetts.

Sincerely,

Senator Edward J. Markey
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Rep. Richard Neal
Rep. Jim McGovern
Rep. Michael Capuano
Rep. Stephen Lynch
Rep. John Tierney
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Rep. Bill Keating
Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

Read a PDF of the letter here

September 20, 2013 — With New Hampshire fishermen having seen a 78 percent cut in their fishing quotas for Gulf of Maine cod, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) pressed Thursday for answers about what steps the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plans to take to help sustain the state’s fishing industry in the future – especially given the agency’s past refusal to approve interim measures that set catch limits at levels that would allow the industry survive.

At a Commerce Committee hearing Thursday focusing on the nomination of Dr. Kathryn Sullivan to serve as the next NOAA administrator, Ayotte noted that NOAA guidelines stipulate that the agency must take into account the impact of federal catch share limits on fishing communities when it sets quotas – and she emphasized that NOAA needs to do a better job of adhering to its own standard.

“I can’t think of a business that can go with a 78 percent cut on their quotas,” said Ayotte, who earlier this week announced her support of a lawsuit New Hampshire recently joined that challenges both the basis for and the scope of onerous catch limits. “I hope that we can find a resolution that allows our noble fishermen and women to continue fishing in New Hampshire and throughout New England.”

Ayotte highlighted the urgency of the situation by explaining to Dr. Sullivan that the number of active fishing boats in the state has gone from 26 in 2010, to 14 this year, with only four out fishing this past summer.

Read the full story and watch the video from the Hampton-North Hampton Patch

September 20, 2013 — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she remains steadfast in her efforts to secure disaster assistance for Massachusetts fishermen, if frustrated by the very process that would deliver it.

“The way I see it, a disaster is a disaster and the federal government should be stepping up to help our hard-working fishermen,” Warren said. “Especially because this is a disaster that was, in part, caused by federal government policies.”

That was her first shot across the bow of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the conversation. It was not her last.

“The fishermen distrust NOAA for good reason,” she said. “They learned the hard way. NOAA has not consulted fishermen in the way it promised. It has not worked with fishermen.”

That is as succinct a description of the current state of Capitol Hill gridlock and partisan angst as you’re likely to find. The blogosphere and punditocracy can go on forever, running the same ribbon of verbal asphalt over the same scarred foothills. Nine words seems to work so much better.

But there was real frustration in Warren’s voice — a resignation that as Washington grinds on, running on devalued currency of payback and posturing, the commercial fishing industry in Gloucester and throughout New England slips a little further over the horizon.

Warren said she was heartened earlier in the week when Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick certified the scope of the economic hardship that has ripped through Bay State fishing communities after NOAA’s drastic cuts in seminal groundfish quotas, thus opening the door to the possibility of low-interest loans to fishermen from the Small Business Administration.

Warren also understands why the same fishermen and shore-side businesses might be underwhelmed by the offer, given the advanced state of the industry’s demise against the backdrop of the immutable equation: no fish, no money to pay back loans.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times