SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [SCOM] — April 2, 2014 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is leading a coalition of seafood associations to pass legislation that would keep the EPA from mandating burdensome discharge requirements on commercial fishing vessels.
Along with the Garden State Seafood Association, the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and the National Association of Charterboat Operators, the SSA is circulating a letter urging the Senate take action of the bill S.2904. The new law would make permanent the current legislative moratorium on the requirement for fishing vessels to secure EPA permits under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for discharges incidental to their normal operation.
The letter has been signed by more than 100 national, regional and State commercial fishing and charterboat organizations and vessels nationwide. It is addressed to Chairman Rockefeller and Ranking Member Thune of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation which has jurisdiction over the legislation.
"Never has SSA worked on a policy issue that has received such broad support from groups whose members earn their living on board fishing vessels from Maine to Hawaii and throughout the Gulf and South Atlantic region. That is because this legislation is absolutely crucial to some of the most basic logistics of their vessel operations and to the financial viability of their fishing businesses. We are very proud to work with our colleagues on all 3 coasts to send such a strong message to the Senate on the need for this legislation to be enacted before the current permit moratorium expires," said SSA Executive Director John Williams.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance said it has been deeply engaged in protecting shrimp vessel owners throughout the Gulf and South Atlantic region from the onerous and expensive requirements of an EPA permit under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) ever since a 2005 federal court decision on an ENGOs lawsuit imposed those requirements on fishing vessels.
Since 2008 a series of bills have prevented the EPA from implementing the court decision. However, the current legislative moratorium on imposing these requirements on commercial fishing vessels will expire on December 18, 2014. The VIDA bill would make this exemption permanent.
28 Senators are now sponsors of this important legislation. This includes many Senators from the 8 "shrimp states"– including Senators Rubio (R-FL), Chambliss (R-GA), Cochran (R-MS), Graham (R-SC), Landrieu (D-LA), Nelson (D-FL), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Vitter (R-LA) and Wicker (R-MS).
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.