Washington Archives - Page 74 of 301

Bipartisan Bill to Protect Endangered Fish Species in Pacific Northwest Heads to President Trump for Signature

December 12, 2018 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources:

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 3119, the Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act. This bipartisan bill provides states and tribes with the necessary tools to humanely manage sea lions that have migrated outside their historic range and pose an imminent threat to fish species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

“The habitual Washington D.C. knee-jerk defense of the status quo is harming endangered species instead of protecting them. Existing regulations are leading to the decline in endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest, a key source of ecological vibrancy in the region. This bipartisan bill corrects the problem by giving states and tribes the tools to humanely manage sea lions and prevent further destruction of endangered fish and the region’s economy.” — Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah)

“Today’s passage of our bill to control sea lions was a hard-fought victory – it’s a personal victory for each of us who treasure our Northwest salmon runs and want to see them preserved for generations to come. I’m grateful for the partnership of my colleague Kurt Schrader, and for Senators Risch and Cantwell for shepherding this through the Senate. I’m so pleased we are able to give Northwest fish managers this critical tool to help save our salmon and steelhead runs.” — U.S. Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.)

“This has been an issue that I have worked on since first coming to Congress nine years ago. I want to thank everyone – Rep. Herrera Beutler, Senators Risch and Cantwell, and our states, tribes, and local communities – for the exceptional work to get this bill over the finish line this year. In the last few years especially, we’ve seen a record number of sea lions in the Columbia River from Astoria to Bonneville Dam. Ratepayers and my constituents are paying hundreds of millions of dollars annually towards the largest mitigation program in the country for threatened and endangered salmon. These sea lions, whose population has become totally inconsistent with their historic range, have been undoing all of that work by feasting on the endangered species. Our legislation will provide a great step forward in eliminating this threat to our iconic Oregon salmon that are struggling to survive once and for all.” – U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)

“Eastern Washington believes in both supporting clean, renewable hydropower and protecting our endangered salmon, a species so unique to the history of our region. Over the past 80 years, we’ve seen steady increases in salmon recovery rates on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, largely due to increased technology and innovation at our dams. This bill is another important step in protecting our endangered salmon. By mitigating sea lion predation we can increase fish recovery without costing Washingtonians hundreds of millions of dollars.” – U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.)

“Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest only to see invasive sea lions take a bite out of the population. I applaud colleagues in the House and Senate who have worked together in our bipartisan effort to improve management of pinnipeds threatening our salmon with this legislation.” –U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)

Read the full release here

U.S. Senate passes bill making it easier to kill sea lions on Columbia River

December 10, 2018 — A bill that would make it easier to kill sea lions that feast on imperiled salmon in the Columbia River has cleared the U.S. Senate.

State wildlife managers say rebounding numbers of sea lions are eating more salmon than ever and their appetites are undermining billions of dollars of investments to restore endangered fish runs.

Senate Bill 3119, which passed Thursday by unanimous consent, would streamline the process for Washington, Idaho, Oregon and several Pacific Northwest Native American tribes to capture and euthanize potentially hundreds of sea lions found in the river east of Portland, Oregon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at KATU

Trump signs Coast Guard bill into law, includes Jones Act waiver for America’s Finest

December 6, 2018 — When Dakota Creek Industries took America’s Finest out for its first sea trial on Tuesday 4 December, it looked like the 264-foot vessel was taking a victory lap.

The Anacortes, Washington-based shipbuilder held an event that day to celebrate the Jones Act waiver elected officials were able to get for the processor-trawler. Later in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Coast Guard Authorization Act, which contained the labor provision, into law.

The process itself is not quite finished. The Coast Guard will get 30 days to review information to make sure neither Dakota Creek nor Fishermen’s Finest – the company that commissioned construction of the USD 75 million (EUR 65.9 million) vessel – committed a deliberate violation of the Jones Act in building the ship.

Coast Guard officials did not return a request for comment.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

House passes US Coast Guard bill with Jones Act exemption for America’s Finest

November 29, 2018 — The US House of Representatives has passed a US Coast Guard reauthorization bill that includes provisions allowing Alaska’s Amendment 80 fleet to finally gain the use of one of its newest vessels while also protecting shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico from being fined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for cleaning off their decks.

The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, S. 140, was passed by a unanimous voice vote late Tuesday, moving the two-year, $10 billion bill named after a retiring New Jersey congressman to president Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. The action happened with just a few weeks to spare in the 115th Congress.

The legislation passed the US Senate back on Nov. 14 by a 94-6 tally, as reported by Undercurrent News.

Included in S. 140 is a long-anticipated Jones Act waiver for America’s Finest, a 264-foot catcher-processor built by Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Washington, for Kirkland, Washington-based Fishermen’s Finest at a cost of about $75 million. More than 7% of the ship’s hull contains steel from the Netherlands, which violates the Jones Act requirement that US fishing vessels be made of no more than 1.5% foreign steel.

The provision, which allows Fishermen’s Finest to use the vessel to replace American No. 1, a 39-year-old, 160-foot vessel, was fought for by senator Maria Cantwell and representative Rick Larsen, both Washington state Democrats, with cooperation from senator Dan Sullivan and representative Don Young, both Alaska Republicans

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Another group opposed to Young’s MSA bill starts working on new Congress

November 28, 2018 — The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC), a group of seven harvester associations that previously opposed efforts to modify the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), is already working to win over the next US Congress.

A statement issued this week by the group makes no mention of Alaska representative Don Young’s bill, HR 200, to reauthorize MSA while giving regional fishery management councils more flexibility when making decisions about harvest limits, but the group expressed strong opposition to the measure early last year. It also opposed S. 1520, a bill sponsored by Mississippi senator Roger Wicker that was championed by the recreational fishing industry.

Young’s bill is seen as being in trouble as it expires in just a few days as the 115th Congress comes to an end and the House is reconstituted in January with Democrats, who have largely rejected HR 200, in control.

“Fisheries policy must protect America’s marine resources and strengthen fishing communities, not advance corporate agendas,” said Dwayne Oberhoff, executive director of the Morro Bay (California) Community Quota Fund, one of the seven groups, in a statement released Tuesday by the FCC.

“We look forward to meeting and working with members of the 116th Congress to ensure a sustainable fishing future for American consumers and the men and women working hard every day to provide them with locally harvested, sustainable seafood.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

U.S. Fishing Vessels May Soon Be Exempt from Ballast Water Rules

November 23, 2018 — The U.S. Senate has passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, and the final text includes several amendments of note for commercial operators – like a permanent Vessel General Permit exemption for fishing vessels.

The Act includes a repeal of the EPA’s Small Vessel General Permit (sVGP) program for boats under 79 feet. In addition, it exempts any and all fishing vessels, fish processing vessels and fish tenders from the regulation of discharges incidental to normal operation. This discharge category includes gray water, bilge water, cooling water, weather deck runoff, stern tube lubricant leakage, OWS effluent and – notably – ballast water.

The new legislation will provide regulatory relief for American factory trawlers and fish processing ships, the largest of which measures 680 feet in length and 19,000 deadweight tonnes. These vessels would normally be subject to VGP requirements – including ballast water management rules – if classified as ordinary commercial vessels.

“[The Act] will provide Alaska’s fishermen with a long sought peace of mind from the threat of federal regulation. While this issue has taken over a decade to resolve– with a series of 11th hour, temporary extensions over the years – I’m pleased to see Congress provide Alaska’s fishermen with a permanent exemption from these over burdensome regulations,” said Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in a statement.

Read the full story at Maritime Executive

Sportfishing interests making late push for agenda in US Senate

November 21, 2018 — With possibly just three weeks remaining in the 2018 U.S. Congressional calendar, recreational fishing supporters are making a last-minute push in hopes of getting at least part of their agenda passed before the end of the year.

Scott Deal, president of Maverick Boat Group, wrote a guest op-ed for The Hill earlier this week urging Congress to pass legislation that he said would modernize fishing regulations and open opportunities for anglers in federal waters.

“Because federal law has never considered the fundamental differences between recreational and commercial fishing practices, federal fisheries management problems facing anglers have been snowballing for decades,” Deal wrote. “Those problems are impediments to participation in sportfishing. How can we engage the next generation of anglers when the federal rules unnecessarily stand in the way?”

Much of what Deal and others sought was included in H.R. 200, which the House passed in July. However, that bill has languished in the Senate as it has remained in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation since then.

While recreational industry leaders, like most others, admit that chances of a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization getting through the 115th Congress are next-to-none, the American Sportfishing Association and other groups have set their sights on a new bill, where they hope some provisions can be included by amendments.

“We’re optimistic that the recreational fishing community’s priorities for improving federal fisheries management, which are contained in the Modern Fish Act, could be included in a public lands bill or another package that gets signed into law before the Congress adjourns,” Mike Leonard, the ASA’s vice president of government affairs, told SeafoodSource. “We know that our legislative champions like U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker are working hard at making that happen.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US Senate votes to free Fishermen’s Finest from Jones Act purgatory

November 15, 2018 — It’s been years since Kirkland, Washington-based commercial harvester Fishermen’s Finest commissioned Dakota Creek Industries, in nearby Anacortes, at a cost of $74 million, to build it a new, 264-foot catcher processor to work the seas of Alaska. To both companies’ misfortunes, the vessel was constructed with more than 7% of its steel coming from the Netherlands, a violation of the 1920 Jones Act, which allows vessels to contain no more than 1.5% foreign steel.

After Wednesday’s vote by the US Senate, however, that vessel – America’s Finest – is just one step away from being freed from its moors and able to do its job.

The upper chamber voted 94-6 to pass S. 140, a bill used as a vehicle to reauthorize the US Coast Guard. Most importantly, tucked deep inside the bill, in section 835, is a provision fought for by senator Maria Cantwell, a state of Washington Democrat, that would provide an exemption to the Jones Act for Fishermen’s Finest.

“I’m a very strong supporter of the Jones Act and believe it is important that we continue to have the Jones Act in the future,” Cantwell said after the vote. “I also believe that we were able to work with a solution to save good family-wage jobs at the Dakota Creek Shipyard and appreciate my colleagues working on the incorporation of that language.”

Five of the six senators to vote against the bill were Democrats: Ben Cardin (Maryland), Kirstin Gillibrand (New York), Kamala Harris (California), Chuck Schumer (New York) and Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), Independent Bernie Sanders was also a “nay” vote.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

House flips in US elections, impact likely on MSA reauthorization

November 7, 2018 — Democrats wrestled control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in eight years in Tuesday’s elections across the United States, and that change in control may have implications for the fishing industry.

As of Wednesday morning, 7 November, the Associated Press had 219 House seats going to the Democrats, with 193 going to the Republicans. Democrats needed just 218 seats to win a majority, but with 23 seats still up for grabs, they could see their caucus grow to 230 or more once all election results have been tabulated.

Where Tuesday’s results may have the most impact on the seafood community is through the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Industry insiders who spoke to SeafoodSource Wednesday said they did not expect H.R. 200, a bill which passed the House earlier this year, to get a vote in the Senate before the term ends next month.

That means, the process would start over again when the new Congress convenes in January. U.S. Rep. Don Young, who sponsored the reauthorization bill in this Congress, won re-election for his seat in Alaska, but as a Republican, he’ll be in the minority starting next year.

One thing that may help the seafood industry is that many Democrats represent coastal communities reliant on fishing, according to Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, which conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry. Vanasse told SeafoodSource that his group will work with Democrats to vote for the interests of their constituents. He urged them to follow in the path of former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who worked to support fishermen, many of whom were middle-class small business owners.

“One can be a good liberal and also represent your fishing constituents,” Vanasse said. “One would think that would be a natural fit.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Young’s win in Alaska caps long US election night for seafood industry

November 7, 2018 — It wasn’t expected to be so close.

Until roughly a month ago, most pundits expected Alaska Republican Don Young — the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, a colorful, 85-year-old personality who has an office decorated with wild game trophies, has been known to wield a walrus penis bone in order to make a point, and is also one of the commercial seafood industry’s biggest champions — to handily defeat his Democratic opponent and retain his seat, as usual, on Nov. 6.

Then, a few days before the election, it wasn’t such a given, as polls showed Young’s 53-year-old Democratic challenger, Alyse Galvin, winning by a percentage point.

In the end, Young kept his job, apparently winning a 45th term with roughly 54% of the vote, though more votes remain to be counted.

“We got more votes this time than we got before, and everybody had me down,” he reportedly told the Associated Press in the early morning hours, after Galvin gave her concession speech.

“I feel real good about our campaign, and we were able to prove that Alaskans appreciate what I’ve been able to do. I’m going to have a good two years ahead of us,” he added.

Follow the examples set by Frank and Kennedy

Young wasn’t the only congressional race of consequence to the commercial fishing industry in the 2018 election.

Representative Bill Keating, the Massachusetts Democrat whose 9th district includes New Bedford, home of the US’ most valuable commercial fishing port, is the projected winner over GOP challenger Peter Tedeschi, having secured 61.3% of the vote with 43% of the precincts reporting.

Keating, who outraised Tedeschi by about $1.2 million to $800,000 in his campaign, is one of the Democrats that Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, hopes will continue to represent commercial seafood harvesters in the new Congress.

“Many of our coastal communities are represented by Democrats and they have been in the minority,” said Vanasse, whose group represents pro-commercial fishing interests. “We are hopeful that they will follow the examples of such members of Congress as Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy who demonstrated unequivocally that one can be a strong Democrat and a strong liberal and also stand up for the working families in their fishing communities.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News