Washington

The highlight of NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco's first new budget for federal fisheries is a $54-million investment in catch shares, the hotly disputed regulatory system that's set to take effect in New England May 1.

But, to maximize the size of the catch share fund, $6 million would be shifted from "cooperative research," and $11.4 million shifted from "fisheries research and management programs."

Lee Crockett, director of federal fisheries policy for Pew, questioned the decision to subordinate cooperative research to catch share implementation.

"They shouldn't be cutting that at all," Crockett said of the research funding. "New money is one thing; sacrificing other programs is a bad idea."

But Lubchenco's budget statement claimed that "the scientific evidence is compelling that catch shares can also restore the health of ecosystems and put fisheries on the path to profitability and sustainability.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

NEW BEDFORD — Scallop allocations might be a settled issue for now, but U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is going toe to toe with the head of NOAA over a series of other problems facing the fishing industry in the Northeast.

In a Jan. 29 letter to Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Frank, D-Mass., expressed frustration with the lack of urgency he believes NOAA is showing following an October meeting in Washington, D.C., between fishing representatives and government regulators.

Frank spelled out details of those concerns in an Oct. 26 letter to Lubchenco, calling for specific and immediate remedies for such things as the overfishing limit on pollock, the lack of government funds for mandatory observers on scallop boats, and the impending shrinkage of the fleet as "sectors" are introduced along with quotas strict enough to drive many boats out of business.

Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site]

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This statement was issued by Rep. John Tierney's office on Feb 03, 2010: WASHINGTON, Feb 03, 2010 —  Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) called for an oversight field hearing on the fisheries enforcement programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

On the heels of the Department of Commerce Inspector General report entitled “Review of NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Programs and Operations,” the Congressman asked Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich to convene an oversight hearing on behalf of the City of Gloucester and national fishing communities into the findings and recommendations of this report.

“There is no better community to support a hearing on this matter than that of Gloucester,” said Congressman John F. Tierney (D-MA).  “The fishing industry deserves action on reports pertaining to the immediate matters impacting them – excessive penalties and unfair treatment, among others. It only makes sense to continue to engage in oversight of this agency so Congress and the people of Gloucester can better understand the economic impact of these agency decisions.”

Tierney is supported in his effort to host this hearing by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and other interested colleagues. “Congressman Tierney has taken the lead in this vital effort to help fisherman who have been victimized by unjust enforcement policies of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” said Frank.  “I thank him for his leadership on this important issue, and I look forward to working with him.”

Chairman Kucinich added, “Mr. Tierney is a valued and senior member of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee.  When he informed me of this important issue, I immediately assured him that the Subcommittee would hold a field hearing to investigate.”

The IG report confirmed what fishermen have been attesting to for years – namely, that there are “systemic nationwide issues” with NOAA’s law enforcement programs, practices and personnel. It reveals a number of problems that warrant congressional oversight, including, as detailed in the IG report, NOAA’s regional enforcement operations, the civil penalty assessment process, the use of proceeds from civil penalties (Asset Forfeiture Fund) and the reassessment of the law enforcement workforce composition.

As the IG report rightfully states, “NOAA’s enforcement operations have great potential to affect the fishing industry, the livelihood of individual fishermen and the public’s confidence in NOAA and the Department of Commerce.”

Tierney is working expeditiously to ensure these hearings are scheduled in the near future – potentially as early as March. Furthermore, he anticipates the Subcommittee will invite the following representatives to participate as witnesses and testify on the impact of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement practices and suggested reforms:  the U.S. Commerce Department Inspector General, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement and Gloucester fishing industry experts, among others.

Congressman Barney Frank is a Democrat's Democrat, fiercely loyal to his party and to his president.

So when Frank starts complaining — publicly — about a federal department led by an appointee of President Obama, it's a matter of substance — on the part of Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Frank, after a lengthy meeting with Lubchenco last fall, had sent her a letter asking for support of the fishing industry. After receiving a reply from her in early January, Frank wrote back a week ago, saying she had "squandered" an opportunity to preserve jobs in the industry.

Indeed, with a new regulatory regime due to begin in May, in which fishing will be controlled under a so-called "catch share" system instead of a limited Days at Sea, Lubchenco has acknowledged that it will lead to the consolidation of the industry and fewer jobs. But she said the benefit would be that those fewer remaining jobs would be "better."

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

In response to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) decision to take immediate steps to strengthen and improve the Agency’s enforcement and legal operations within the fishing community, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, released the following statement today:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – "Today's announcement by NOAA that it will pursue both immediate and long-term actions to address the clear flaws in NOAA's law enforcement branch constitutes a step in the right direction," said Senator Snowe.  "As fishermen know all too well, the Inspector General’s report shed light on a deep-rooted problem, and a sustained, concerted effort will be required to get NOAA's law enforcement branch back on track.  I remain deeply troubled by the systemic problems exposed by the Inspector General's Report, and I will work hand-in-glove with fishermen and the Agency to ensure all stakeholders' concerns are addressed and those responsible for past mismanagement are held accountable."

Today’s action by NOAA comes on the heels of a recent report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce Inspector General that outlined systemic nationwide issues adversely affecting NOAA’s ability to regulate the fishing industry. In addition, the report found that these same issues have “contributed significantly to a…dysfunctional relationship between NOAA and the fishing industry – particularly in the northeast.”

Scallop allocations might be a settled issue for now, but U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is going toe-to-toe with the head of NOAA over a series of other problems facing the fishing industry in the Northeast.

In a Jan. 29 letter to Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Frank expresses frustration with the lack of urgency that he believes NOAA is showing following an October meeting in Washington, D.C., between fishing representatives and government regulators.

Frank spelled out details of those concerns in an Oct. 26 letter to Lubchenco, calling for specific and immediate remedies for such things as the overfishing limit on pollock, the lack of government funds for mandatory observers on scallop boats, and the impending shrinkage of the fleet as “sectors” are introduced along with quotas strict enough to drive many boats out of business.

Read the complete story at The South Coast Today [subscription site]

note: The Standard-Times is a subscription site.  Unregistered visitors are able to read three stories per month, and registered visitors may view ten.  For unlimited access, please follow the subscription instructions on the site.

 

Larry Robinson, Florida A&M’s vice president for research, may soon add another title to his name.

President Barack Obama nominated Robinson to the post of assistant secretary of commerce. The job will require Robinson to be responsible for conservation and management at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“I am grateful that these distinguished men and women have chosen to join my administration as we work to bring about real change for the American people,” said President Obama in a news release announcing the nomination of Robinson and five others Friday. The U.S. Senate must confirm Robinson’s nomination.

A professor in the Environmental Sciences Institute, Robinson has been an administrator at FAMU since 1997. He has links with the agency where he is headed. He is director of NOAA’s Environmental Cooperative Science Center headquarters on the FAMU campus.

Read the complete story at The Famuan.

Congressman Barney Frank has expressed "disappointment" in the pace and significance of Obama administration responses to a suite of New England fisheries' problems placed in front of Jane Lubchenco, the President's top appointee on ocean issues, last October.

Frank, who previously had a lengthy sitdown to enlist Lubchenco's support for "the economic and social health of the fishing industry," received a letter from her on Jan. 6; he answered on Jan. 29.

The Newton Democrat and acknowledged leader of the East Coast fishing caucus minced few words, asserting that Lubchenco, as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had "squandered" a major opportunity to mitigate severe cuts in the mixed groundfish stocks.

Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.

For the last few years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been an also-ran among federal science programs. But if NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco gets her way with Congress, the agency will join the front ranks in 2011.

The agency was excluded from the America Competitiveness Initiative (a budget doubling for the physical sciences begun by the Bush Administration) and left with crumbs in the massive 2009 stimulus package. Observers wondered how a new Administration so supportive of environmental science and climate research could ignore an agency intended to be a good steward of the air and sea. (NOAA received a 9% budget increase last year, for example, but its satellite procurement efforts got the biggest share.) The second-rate status for ocean research was all the more ironic given that the president had put a world-renowned marine ecologist in the driver's seat.

But now Lubchenco has made her move, and the agency is poised for a huge investment in science. Yesterday's proposed 14% increase, to $5.5 billion, for the agency as a whole would be the largest increase in NOAA's budget in a decade. Research efforts at the agency get a 7% increase overall, to $522 million; big winners include earth-system modeling, research on marine pathogens, and studies related to ocean acidification. Each reflects priorities that go beyond the agency's bread-and-butter work of regulating fisheries and monitoring weather. Overall, climate work at the Department of Commerce, most of which is at NOAA, would rise by 21% under the new budget.

Read the complete story at AAAS.

They're mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore.

We're talking about salt water fishing enthusiasts from every coastal corner of the country, fed up with what many see as the haphazard and ineffective way in which our fisheries are managed with the unwelcomed implementation of unreasonable minimum size requirements, diminishing creel limits, shorter seasons, and total closures in the case of some popular species.

In what organizers hope will be a historic show of solidarity, recreational and commercial fishermen will gather together on the steps of the Capitol on Feb. 24, from noon until 3 p.m. in an organized demonstration against the unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the federal fisheries law which was revised in January of 2007.

Those of us who spend our summers fishing the mid-Atlantic coastal waters of neighboring states like Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland have felt the grip of these federal regulations squeeze ever tighter over the past few years. I've been fluke fishing the back bays of Maryland for decades now, and I've seen first-hand how the minimum size requirement has increased to the point where catching a legal flounder is a rare feat indeed.

Read the complete story at Tri County Record.