The following was released by the Northeast Seafood Coalition:
Contact:
Nick Brancaleone
Tel: 978.283.9992
Email: nsc.communications@gmail.com
WASHINGTON — April 1, 2013 — The Northeast Seafood Coalition (NSC) sent a letter of appreciation to U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Lisa Murkowski to express sincere gratitude for their leadership and effective bipartisan collaboration, which secured an amendment to the U.S. Senate Budget Resolution that addresses the need to fund the disaster declarations for the Northeast groundfish fishery and others issued last year by Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank.
NSC views federal disaster relief as being an important component of a plan for Fishing Year 2013 and beyond. This amendment would allow appropriations in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget to be allocated to provide disaster assistance for industry across the region.
Northeast groundfish fishermen have consistently complied with science and management measures, but several critical stocks on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine are not rebuilding and face catastrophic reductions in upcoming fishing years-beginning on May 1. The reductions in the Annual Catch Limits for Fishing Year 2013 pose life-altering losses for all small businesses that are dependent upon the fishery. This amendment is a step in the right direction toward providing disaster assistance to the struggling fleet.
We are grateful to U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Lisa Murkowski for their bipartisan efforts that successfully brought together such a powerful coalition of Senators behind this initiative. In addition to Senators Warren and Murkowski, NSC would like to express gratitude to the amendment's cosponsors, including Senators Ayotte, Wicker, Cochran, Cantwell, Gilibrand, Begich, Reed, Whitehouse, Shaheen, Collins, Cowan, Schumer, and King.
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About the Northeast Seafood Coalition:
The Northeast Seafood Coalition is a non-profit organization representing over 250 commercial fishing entities, which hold over 500 limited access groundfish permits, in the northeast United States on political and policy issues affecting their interests as participants in the groundfish fishery and the Sector program in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery. NSC members are small, independent, entrepreneurial businesses that fish for-and support fishing for-cod, haddock, flounders, and other groundfish species along the northeast coast. NSC's fishing business members fish from small and large ports all along the northeast coast. They fish small, medium, and large vessels, and they employ all groundfish gear types.
NSC works for rules that embody real solutions to complex fishery problems.
Read the letter to Senators Warren and Murkowski