September 13, 2012 — Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) said that while the aid is needed there is no guarantee how much Congress will include for Northeast fisheries. "When you have a declaration it's not a given that you'll get money," he said. "It's long overdue," Tarr told the News Service. "It's actually frustrating that it took this long." Tarr said fishermen can't survive further tightening of catch limits without transitional assistance and said he'd prefer that aid be targeted at helping fishermen stay in business rather than at buying them out. Keeping fishermen in business, he said, is critical to "shoreline infrastructure" like ice companies and wharf commerce.
Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank issued a disaster declaration on Thursday for Northeast fisheries, which are facing the prospect of severely reduced groundfish catch limits in the 2013 season.
"Despite fishermen's adherence to catch limits over the past few years, recent data shows that several key fish stocks are not rebuilding," Blank wrote in a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday. She said, "Low levels of these stocks are causing a significant loss of access to fishery resources with anticipated revenue declines that will greatly affect the commercial fishery."
The disaster declaration is not tied to any funding but is expected to help elected officials from the region make the case to Congress to approve emergency funding for the industry.
In a statement, Patrick called the declaration "more critical than ever as coastal communities brace for possible additional cuts to the region's groundfishery next year."
The "commercial fishery failure" was issued for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire and Maine.
"This economic disaster is New England's underwater equivalent of a drought, where the drops in stocks of fish are causing serious economic harm to fishing businesses, their families, and their communities. These people need help," U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. "Now it is up to Congress to show the leadership necessary to provide economic relief in the short term as we continue working with the industry, scientists, and resource managers to rebuild our fish stocks."
National Marine Fisheries Service data released over the summer indicated that the U.S. Department of Commerce might cut catch limits for groundfish by between 43 percent and 73 percent. That information prompted much of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation – including Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Scott Brown – and Gov. Patrick to renew calls for disaster relief.
In November 2010, Patrick had sought $21 million in disaster relief for the fishing industry because of the transition to catch shares. Patrick and the governors of New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island last week called on the federal government to deliver $100 million in disaster assistance to New England fishermen and fishing communities. A Kerry aide said the senator will seek a $100 million allocation.
Groundfish live near the ocean floor and include flounder, cod and haddock among other species.
Kerry will include the funding request in an emergency farm bill, his aide said. The U.S. House passed an emergency farm bill this summer and the Senate is expected to pass its own version.
"This is a big deal for our fishermen and the entire industry because it paves the way for the financial assistance that will determine whether they can stay open for business," Kerry said in a statement. "This is exactly what we needed to strengthen our hand as we continue to go after the funding. I've been in close touch with Leader [Harry] Reid and I'm working with the New England Delegation to obtain $100 million in economic disaster assistance. Our fishermen are the farmers of the sea and today our fishermen are facing exactly what farmers in the Midwest are facing – a drought. Instead of a lack of rain, our fishermen are facing a lack of fish. Our fishermen and fishing communities did not cause this drought, but they need our help to get through it."
Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk said the fishing industry is essential to the city, and said she hoped a disaster declaration would bring several types of aid to the area's fishing community, including "direct aid to fishermen." Other funding could be used to improve the fisheries monitoring program, collaborative research between the fishing industry and scientists, protection of the port infrastructure and investment to "diversify the port economy," including into the field of marine technology, Kirk told the News Service.
Kirk decried regulations she said have harmed the industry, which she said fishes in a sustainable manner.
"They see it every day in their pocketbook. Their business plans are subject to total disruption every time a new regulation is handed down," Kirk said. She said, "Every fish that's caught and landed in Gloucester is caught in a sustainable manner."
Read the full story in the Martha's Vineyard Times