Mr. Frank has been an ally of commercial fishermen since redistricting gave him representation of the Massachusetts south coast seaports of New Bedford and Fairhaven in 1993.
WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) January 3, 2013 – Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank leaves office today after 32 years in Congress. In his last Saving Seafood interview as a sitting member of Congress, Mr. Frank criticized the policies of some environmental groups as overly rigid, urged lawmakers to listen to fishermen and called for eliminating the ten-year stock rebuilding requirement in the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Congressman Frank, a longtime environmental champion with a 95% voting record rating from the League of Conservation Voters, told Saving Seafood's Bob Vanasse, "I think Democrats have to reexamine the automatic commitment many of us have to whatever the environmentalists say." "Some of my Democratic colleagues have to be persuaded to look more skeptically at the environmentalists," said Frank, 72, from his office on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Frank has been an ally of commercial fishermen since redistricting gave him representation of the Massachusetts south coast seaports of New Bedford and Fairhaven in 1993.
He was active in commercial fishing issues from early on, opposing scallop "meat count" enforcement methods in the 1990s. Under the old system, enforcement officers measured the number of scallops in a pound, frequently resulting in discrepancies when estimates made with analog scales on rolling vessels at sea were checked using digital scales on land.
As he departs office, Frank eyes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act – specifically the so-called "ten-year rebuilding" provision, which has resulted in drastic cuts to fishing quotas in the Northeast.
The act is up for renewal in 2016, and work is expected to begin in the next Congress.
Frank said lawmakers should change the 10-year requirement, which he called "rigid," arbitrary and not based on independent science.
"If you can reach the goal in 13 years instead of ten, and have much less of a negative impact on the working people of the economy, why not do it?" Frank said. He noted we have successfully eliminated — without negative consequences — the 10-year limit on the trans-boundary stocks we share with Canada. The Canadians don't have such a requirement, so before the change, although Canada managed its stocks along a rebuilding trajectory, their catch limits often far exceed those in the United States. The law enacting the change was authored in the House by Congressman Frank and in the Senate by Senator Olympia Snowe. Senator John Kerry and Congressman John Tierney were major proponents.
Frank said he's not willing to compromise on other environmental issues like global warming and clean air. But he said the "reproductive rate of fish is a [subject] much less fit for absolutism than many environmentalists think."
"No matter what your connections might be, don't assume that the environmentalists are the right voices and the fishermen are simply greedy," he said.
Environmentalists can be needlessly inflexible on certain issues, and sometimes lack a "hierarchy of values," he said.
As an example, Frank noted opposition from what he called "irresponsible so-called environmentalists" to the development of a commuter rail extending to Fall River and New Bedford, Mass. which will take polluting cars off of crowded roads. The plan was criticized for potentially impacting the habitat of the nearby Hockomock Swamp.
"We've run into this environmental rigidity," he added.
Frank said outgoing NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco, who announced she will leave the agency at the end of February, was "unfit for the job," noting that she was unwilling to consider changes to the 10-year requirement in the Magnuson Act.
"Her instincts are to be disagreeing with people," Frank said.
He said he fears his colleagues and successors in Congress might need to protect the recently-appointed NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator against those who would seek to undercut his efforts.
Frank suggested that a reauthorized Magnuson Act could require that industry participate in research efforts. Such a requirement might find support among Massachusetts lawmakers like Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), incoming Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who starts her term in January, and Congressman Bill Keating (D-Mass., 9th district), who took office in 2011.
Frank gave some advice to the new lawmakers.
"Recognize that [fishing] is an important economic interest, a cultural interest, a social interest and…understand that the fishermen are very responsible, that nobody has more of an interest in regulating fishing than the fishermen," said Frank, adding, "Be skeptical of our friends, the environmentalists."
He also recommended that Warren hire staffers with experience in commercial fishing.
Frank said the fishing industry has made notable strides in recent years, noting that there now exists an "east coast fishing alliance" composed of fishermen and industry advocates from the Canadian border to the Florida Keys. He said that alliance will be critical in coming years, when the Magnuson-Stevens Act is reauthorized.
In addition, Frank discussed the future financial support of the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He said he worries about funding for the school, which provides independent fisheries research and was founded by renowned marine science expert Dr. Brian Rothschild.
Frank noted that while earmarking has become unacceptable in Congress, earmarks were used effectively in fisheries. "Are the people who run the official agency going to decide how to spend 100% of the money, or will three, four, or five percent of it be available as a check on them?" he asked. Earmarked funds were used to create and operate SMAST.
Frank worries that SMAST may no longer be able to serve as an independent critique of the National Marine Fisheries Service if it is dependent on the agency for its funds. A lack of funding for SMAST could deprive the industry and elected officials of a reliable, independent source of information on fisheries and oceans, he said.
Listen to the interview with Congressman Frank