Washington

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — February 1, 2013 — New Hampshire Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen are speaking out after New England fishing regulators approved massive cuts in cod catch limits.

The New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday approved a year-to-year cut of 77 percent on the Gulf of Maine cod limit and 61 percent for Georges Bank cod.

Shaheen says that would have a devastating impact on New Hampshire fishermen and she is pushing the commerce department to reconsider the catch limits. Ayotte is reintroducing legislation called the Saving Fishing Jobs Act, which would roll back what she called arbitrary regulations.

 

Read the full story from the AP at the Boston Globe

 

 

January 28, 2013 — As Congress today voted in favor of a $50.5 billion relief package for communities affected by Hurricane Sandy last year, Senator Lisa Murkowski expressed frustration that fishery disasters in Alaska and other states were removed from the bill.

Sen. Murkowski called on Congress to do their part and provide federal funding for the 2012 Chinook salmon disaster.

 

Read the full story at KRSM Radio Group

 

 

February 1, 2013 — The following was released by the Scott Brown for U.S. Senate Committee Inc.

BOSTON – Today, Senator Scott Brown issued the following statement:

“Representing Massachusetts in the United States Senate was the greatest privilege of my life, an experience that takes second place only to my marriage to Gail and the birth of our daughters. It was a higher honor than I had ever expected, and in the time given to me I always tried to make the most of it.

“When I was first sent to the Senate in early 2010, it wasn’t exactly welcome news for President Obama or many other Democrats. Yet among my best memories from those three years in office are visits to the White House to see the President sign into law bills that I had sponsored. I left office last month on the best of terms with colleagues both Republican and Democrat. I had worked well with so many of them, regardless of party, to serve the public interest just as we are all supposed to. All of this was in keeping with the pledge I made at the beginning to do my own thinking and to speak for the independent spirit of our great state.

“Over these past few weeks I have given serious thought about the possibility of running again, as events have created another vacancy requiring another special election. I have received a lot of encouragement from friends and supporters to become a candidate, and my competitive instincts were leading in the same direction.

“Even so, I was not at all certain that a third Senate campaign in less than four years, and the prospect of returning to a Congress even more partisan than the one I left, was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time. And I know it’s not the only way for me to advance the ideals and causes that matter most to me.

“That is why I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for the United States Senate in the upcoming special election.”

 

 

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — January 31, 2013  — The following was released by the office of Massachusetts Congressman John Tierny:

Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) today called yesterday’s decision by the New England Fishery Management Council to recommend reductions of 77 percent from last year’s catch for each of the next three years for cod in the Gulf of Maine, devastating for Gloucester fishermen and stressed his renewed dedication to securing immediate assistance for our fishing community and a longer term solution to prevent this kind of disaster from occurring again.

“Yesterday’s announcement by the New England Fishery Management Council, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) continued refusal to provide another year of emergency action before cutting the cod catch shares, could be catastrophic for many fishermen in Gloucester and across New England. Even as the Department of Commerce recognized this economic disaster with a declaration last September, the Department seems unable or unwilling to provide any relief or common sense solutions.

“If Congress does not take action immediately, families and communities in Massachusetts and throughout New England, are going to hit rock bottom. This is not rhetoric or hyperbole, this is real life. As Gloucester fisherman, Joe Orlando, said yesterday, ‘I don’t see myself leaving the dock next year, I’m not sure we’re going fishing (anymore)’.

“In the coming days I will be introducing legislation to provide relief in the short term, but I know that is not the end of the road. We also need to keep our attention on finding a common sense solution to ensure the survival of this historic industry,” Tierney said.

Yesterday, the New England Fishery Management Council voted to recommend reductions of 77 percent from last year’s catch for each of the next three years for Gulf of Maine Cod. It also recommended a one year cut of 61 percent from last year to the cod catch on Georges Bank, a vast area off Cape Cod, which was named for the fish. The council’s recommendations are subject to approval by the federal government, which is expected to put them in place by May 1.

 

 

January 29, 2013 — The day after Congress approved $50.5 billion in relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey senators began lobbying Tuesday to help a group they say was left out — fishermen.

On its way to final passage, the Sandy aid bill was stripped of $150 million intended to compensate recreational and commercial fisheries for recent disasters in New Jersey, New York and elsewhere.

The money was part of a Sandy aid bill the Senate passed last year, but the House didn’t act on the bill before the 112th Congress ended on Jan. 3. After the 113th Congress took office, House lawmakers balked at providing aid to victims of disasters other than Sandy.

The Sandy aid bill that finally passed Congress with a Senate vote on Monday contains just $5 million to address the fisheries disaster caused by the Oct. 29 hurricane.

Democratic Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey called that amount “woefully inadequate” in a letter they sent the Obama administration on Tuesday.

They asked officials at the Housing and Urban Development Department to make up the difference, saying Sandy inflicted “punishing damage upon New Jersey’s hardworking fishing community.”

 

Read the full story here

 

 

January 28, 2013 — The following was released by the offices of Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH):

WASHINGTON – Jan. 28, 2013 — U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) are calling on the Department of Commerce to reconsider its decision to require drastic quota reductions designed to end overfishing of Gulf of Maine cod and haddock in 2013. In a joint letter, the New Hampshire Senators called on the Department of Commerce to reconsider the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision which threatens the survival of New Hampshire’s fishing industry and the economic well-being of its coastal communities.

“Fishing is one of the Granite State’s oldest industries, and it is still a critical driver of our state’s economy today. The National Marine Fisheries Service’s recent decision will deal a blow to coastal communities across New England, but New Hampshire will be especially hard hit.  That is why we’re strongly urging the Department of Commerce to reconsider,” said Shaheen and Ayotte in a joint statement. “Sustainable fisheries are essential to the industry’s long-term success, but the Department must first ensure that sweeping measures do not devastate fishing communities.”

New Hampshire’s small boat fisherman rely heavily on Gulf of Maine cod in particular, and the New England Fishery Management Council requested an extension of interim measures to mitigate the economic damage caused by the recent decline of cod and haddock populations in the Gulf of Maine. NMFS’ decision to deny the Council’s request runs counter to congressional intent under the Magnuson Stevens Act, and Senators Shaheen and Ayotte are now urging Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank to reconsider.

The full text of the letter Senators Shaheen and Ayotte sent to Acting Secretary Blank is included below.

January 25, 2013

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

CC:      Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Samuel D. Rauch III
            Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard

Dear Acting Secretary Blank:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently decided against granting the New England Fishery Management Council’s request for interim measures to reduce overfishing of Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and GOM haddock for the 2013 fishing year.  While we respect your efforts to prevent overfishing, we believe your current policy decision runs counter to congressional intent pursuant to Section 304(e)(6) of the Magnuson Stevens Act and we strongly urge you to reconsider this request.

As you know, under Sections 305(c) and 304(e)(6) of the Magnuson Stevens Act, Congress provided the Secretary of Commerce the authority to implement interim measures at the request of the Fishery Management Councils to reduce overfishing, even if such measures would not prevent overfishing during the interim period.  In addition, Section 304(e)(3) of the Magnuson Stevens Act states that a Council has two years after receiving notice of inadequate rebuilding progress to prepare and implement a plan to address the shortfall.  Taken together, these provisions demonstrate the intent of Congress to prevent fisheries from collapsing while Councils prepare and implement rebuilding plans for fish stocks.  For this reason, we urge you to reconsider your decision and set the 2013 Annual Catch Limits to reduce overfishing for these species at levels that will allow the industry to survive.

We greatly appreciated the action taken by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2012 to adopt interim measures at the request of the Council to reduce overfishing.  Such action demonstrated the cooperation and willingness needed to find a mutually agreeable solution to an increasingly difficult problem.  Allowing interim measures to remain in place through 2013 would show good faith in the Council’s ongoing efforts to prepare and submit a rebuilding plan to be implemented in 2014, within the statutory two years of the date of notification.

Sustainable fisheries are in everyone’s best interest.  However, in keeping with the Magnuson Stevens Act and the intent of Congress, we must ensure that efforts to sustain fish stocks do not eradicate our fishing communities.  Fishing is an historic and honorable trade that has been in many New Hampshire families for generations, and which sustains the livelihood of numerous communities across New England.  New Hampshire’s entire fleet is comprised of small boat fishermen who depend upon cod and haddock for their business’s survival.  Without interim measures for the 2013 fishing year, the New Hampshire fleet will be the hardest hit in the Northeast.  If your decision is not reversed, nearly all fishing jobs in our state will be lost, and it is likely that the fishing industry that has thrived in New Hampshire for generations will soon cease to exist.

For these reasons, we strongly urge you to reconsider granting the Council’s request by implementing an interim action that will reduce overfishing for GOM cod and GOM haddock for the 2013 fishing year.  We remain committed to working with you to achieve a sustainable future for both our natural resources and our fisheries.  Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Kelly Ayotte, United States Senator

Jeanne Shaheen, United States Senator

 

 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — January 26, 2013 — Five Massachusetts congressmen and senators are challenging National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Regional Administrator John Bullard's decision Thursday to deny further temporary steps to avoid drastic cuts in groundfishing quotas for the coming year.

The five wrote Bullard on Friday to rebut his insistence that the Magnuson-Stevens Act does not permit more than a year of interim relief. They claim that it does, and that the economic disaster declaration in the Northeast fishery by the Commerce secretary last September makes it urgent to take action.

The five are Democratic Sens. John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Reps. John Tierney, Edward Markey and William Keating.

"When we were considering this, I said I expect we will get letters from every member of Congress, from New England governors, from state representatives and state senators and I'll collect them all," Bullard said. "It doesn't surprise me that elected officials disagree with our interpretation but it doesn't change the law.

"I don't foresee that we're going to change our decision and, even if we did, it doesn't change the biology," Bullard told The Standard-Times Friday.

"Interim measures don't create any fish. They don't change the situation that we're looking at, a depleted fish stock and the measures we're going to have to take to rebuild those stocks," Bullard said.

The letter challenged Bullard to do some homework on economic relief for fishermen and fishing communities.

The legislators asked that Bullard, a former New Bedford mayor, "immediately provide a plan detailing actions you will take to mitigate the adverse economic impacts of these harvest reductions.

 

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times

 

 

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) January 25, 2013 — Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren together with Congressmen Edward J. Markey, Bill Keating, and John Tierney wrote to NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard today asking him to "seriously reconsider [his] recent policy decision to reject the New England Fishery Management Council's request to implement an interim measure for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and GOM haddock…". Congressman Markey is the ranking member on the House Natural Resources committee.

The decision by NOAA was announced yesterday in a response by Administrator Bullard to Captain Paul Howard, Executive Director of the New England Fishery Management Council in which he rejected requests made by Captain Howard in a December 28, 2012 letter asking that that the Secretary of Commerce issue an interim action to reduce but not end overfishing on Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and GOM haddock in fishing year (FY) 2013.

The following was released by the offices of Senators Kerry and Warren together with Congressmen Markey, Keating and Tierney:

WASHINGTON (January 25, 2013) — Massachusetts Democratic Reps. Edward J. Markey, Bill Keating, and John Tierney, joined by U.S. Senators John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren, today sent a letter to John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, urging him to help protect Massachusetts fishermen from the effects of looming cuts to harvest quotas for cod and haddock in the Gulf of Maine. The letter follows still ongoing efforts by the Massachusetts delegation to include fishery disaster relief funding in an emergency appropriations bill that is now before the U.S. Senate.

In the absence of emergency disaster relief assistance, the lawmakers ask fishing regulators to explore other options to assist fishing companies and communities. In the letter, the lawmakers ask Mr. Bullard to reconsider the decision to reject the New England Fishery Management Council's request to implement an interim measure for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and haddock to reduce over fishing in 2013. The lawmakers believe the council's recommended measure will prevent the collapse of GOM fisheries and assist in the rehabilitation of fish stocks.

The letter also contains a request that Mr. Bullard immediately provide a detailed plan describing the actions he will take to mitigate the adverse economic impacts of the decision and "include consideration of carry-over of the maximum possible amount of unused quota for the 2012 season, greater retention and reopening negotiations with Canada on transboundary stocks of haddock and yellowtail flounder."

"We are concerned about our small boat fishermen, who are the core of our most important fishing communities, and depend upon species like cod and haddock in the near shore waters of the Gulf of Maine," write the lawmakers. "Without swift action, our fishermen are left with few if any options in the face of severe reductions in catch limits."

The lawmakers also note that "changes in the ocean environment are making an already difficult situation more challenging."

In September 2012, the Secretary of Commerce declared an economic disaster for the Northeast Multispecies (groundfish) Fishery, one of several fishery disasters declared across the country last year. While the Senate passed a measure that included $150 million in emergency aid for communities hit by these disasters, House Republicans refused to allow a vote on similar proposals offered by Markey, Keating, and Tierney earlier this month.

Read the letter to Administrator Bullard here

 

 

BOSTON (AP) — January 22, 2013 — The first stage of an investigation into how the federal government makes fishing rules has found flaws in record-keeping and financial disclosure by fishery managers.

The report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Commerce Department was released last Wednesday.

The inspector general started the investigation last year after requests from former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and U.S. Rep. John Tierney. The lawmakers say rulemakers had forgotten their mandate to develop and involve the commercial fishing industry.

Among the review’s findings: Financial disclosure by regional managers did little to increase transparency and record-keeping was inconsistent.

It recommended regulators strengthen policies on financial disclosure and develop uniform procedures for managing the records that support decisions. Regulators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration accepted all the recommendations.

The review is being conducted in phases.

The following is taken from the abstract of the report:

WHAT THE INSPECTOR GENERAL FOUND

Fishery Management Council voting members’ financial disclosures do little to increase transparency and lack effective review. We reviewed 72 publicly available disclosure statement forms for current voting council members and noted more than 20 instances where required information was missing.

NMFS has not fully implemented regulatory streamlining remedies. In 2003, NMFS developed a Regulatory Streamlining Project (RSP) in response to criticisms of the fishery management process from Congress and its constituents (such as fishers). Although NMFS received $2.5 million in its FY 2005 appropriation for the RSP, it has still not been fully implemented.

Maintenance of rules packages and administrative records needs to be consistent.

Record-keeping and file organization are not uniform across NMFS regional offices, which make it difficult for NMFS headquarters to provide oversight.

WHAT THE INSPECTOR GENERAL RECOMMENDS

We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries:

• strengthen policy guidance on financial disclosure by FMC voting members, with emphasis on how NOAA intends to handle specific consequences for conflicts or potential conflicts it identifies;

• strengthen processes for formal reviews of financial interest disclosures, considering the time period that the disclosure covers, how financial interest amounts relate to voting restrictions, and when affiliations with outside organizations should be reported;

• strengthen criteria for identifying conflicts of interest and processes to follow up on any conflicts that are identified;

• finalize draft Operational Guidelines and provide them to NMFS regional offices;

• finalize regional operating agreements between NMFS regional offices and FMCs; and

• develop uniform procedures for the collection, management, and maintenance of documents supporting decisions and administrative records associated with fishery regulations.

View the links to the report documents here

Read the story from the AP in the Boston Globe

 

 

January 17, 2013 — The quest for funding to back a government declaration that the Northeast groundfishery and two others have economically failed for reasons not attributable to fishermen shifts now from what industry supporters see as an unsympathetic, Republican-led U.S. House to a more understanding Senate.

And the push from state and federal lawmakers seeking to put money behind the Commerce Department’s September 2012 “economic disaster” declaration is shifting there with it.

A Democrat-heavy coalition in the House late Tuesday approved a $51 billion Superstorm Sandy relief package, but only after barring amendments that would also have steered $150 million to the groundfishery disaster states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Some fishing aid in the Senate bill was also targeted for Mississippi, whose crab and oyster fisheries are facing disasters of nature and the Alaska Chinook salmon fishery, which has also been declared a disaster.

Congressmen John Tierney, whose district includes Cape Ann, William Keating, whose district includes the ports of Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod and Ed Markey, who serves a landlocked district but has announced plans to run for U.S. Senate, all filed amendments to the House’s Sandy package that were ruled out of consideration for the Sandy package.

The House package was passed 241-180 with 179 Republicans, mostly hard-line fiscal conservatives, voting against the leadership proposal. Approving were 42 Republicans, including the House Speaker, John Boehner, and 199 Democrats — including Tierney, Keating and Markey.

State Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante wrote Wednesday to Sens. John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren, urging them to restore the fisheries disaster relief funding, after taking a shot at the House leadership and the mismanagement of fisheries by outgoing NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.

“I am deeply disappointed that the Republican leadership in the United States House ignored the bipartisan advocacy of Massachusetts state elected officials to remedy the damage that Jane Lubchenco and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has inflicted on our community, small businesses, and fishermen,” Ferrante wrote. “The mismanagement of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the direction of Jane Lubchenco, has directly adversely impacted and worsened the plight of fishermen, their families, small businesses and our community.

“Only fairness and equity will preserve one of the nation’s earliest professions by extending to these small business owners the financial resources necessary to remedy the industry’s mismanagement by the federal government,” wrote Ferrante, who has advised Warren on fisheries issues. “Surely, only better management propelled by more accurate science and reasonable interpretation will restore our industry. However, small fishing businesses cannot continue to hold on to that day without the resources necessary to sustain them.

“I ask you to use all of your good efforts to fight for our community, its local economy, its heritage and identity,” she wrote, “and to restore and preserve the federal disaster relief aid for the New England Fishing Industry.

Ferrante also wrote to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“I am asking you to stand firm in the likeness of one of your mentors, (the late) Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was the champion of Massachusetts senators,” Ferrante wrote, “and to help the Massachusetts delegation of John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren to see that this aid for our fishermen, their families, their businesses, and our community stays in the Senate Appropriation Bill and the final conference bill with House Republicans.

“Without your help and your leadership, my fear is that many of our families and small businesses, which have been financially wounded by the mismanagement of NOAA will lose their livelihoods, their homes and their children’s future prospects for higher education,” she wrote. “Moreover, as a community leader, I fear that our port will lose its historic and renowned identity as one of the nation’s leading commercial seaports.”

State Sen. Bruce Tarr wrote to House Speaker Boehner using sharp language to condemn the decision of the House Rules Committee to bar fisheries relief amendments from the Sandy bill.

Tarr, a Republican like Boehner, is state Senate minority leader.  

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Read the letters from State Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante to Senators Kerry, Warren, and Mikulski

Read the letter from Massachusetts State Senate Republican Leader Bruce Tarr to House Speaker John Boehner