Saving Seafood

ALASKA: $277 million for Alaska fishery relief

September 24, 2024 — U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-AK) and Representative Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK) welcomed the announcement of $277 million in funding for Alaska fishery disasters from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Funding for a number of salmon and crab fisheries from 2020-2023 will be transmitted to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for distribution to fishermen, their crews, seafood processors, and communities impacted by these fishery disasters.

“There is no question that fisheries and coastal communities in Alaska need help as they navigate catastrophic fishery collapses,” Senator Murkowski said. “Although I am grateful our fishermen and communities will finally see some relief, for many, it might be too little too late. After years of waiting, some have already moved onto other professions, and in some cases have even left the state. I will continue working with my colleagues to pass legislation to streamline the process so these regulatory delays are a thing of the past. I am hopeful this assistance will help Alaska’s hardworking fishermen recover from a devastating few years so they can get back on the water and return to their active role in this critical industry.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Unifying Efforts: Bipartisan Legislators Introduce Bill Ensuring Protection and Welfare of Commercial Fishermen

December 14, 2023 — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Dan Sullivan (R-AL), and Edward Markey (D-MA) led a bipartisan group of Senators introducing the Fishing Industry Safety, Health, and Wellness Improvement (FISH Wellness) Act. This legislation will build upon the success of the Commercial Fishing Occupational Safety Research & Training Program to further address the range of occupational safety and health risks that fishermen face, which include worker fatigue and substance use disorder. Authorized funding for the program will increase, and research and training grants will become more accessible by eliminating match requirements.

At this year’s Pacific Marine Expo, a group of commercial fishing industry members came together to discuss strategies for addressing commercial fishermen’s mental health. Generations of fishermen have indirectly dealt with mental health challenges, and the new generation wants to see these issues explored in a much more direct manner.

“Providing our next generation of fishermen and women with the mental health and substance abuse care that they need is vital to the success of our industry,” said Andrea Tomlinson, founder and executive director of New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance. “Commercial fishing is the second most dangerous job in the US after logging, and these workers require extra mental and behavioral health support due to the strenuous and challenging conditions of this valuable trade.”

Opening the conversations within the commercial fishing community can weigh heavy, but also normalize creating a solid support system with further support from U.S. Senators with the FISH Wellness Act. In addition to the work on this act, Senator Collins has worked tirelessly on the Working Waterfront Preservation Act to help preserve access for the nation’s fishermen and maritime workings to the waterfronts in coastal communities. Collins has helped keep the fishing industry alive since holding her seat in 1997.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

SENATORS MARKEY, SULLIVAN INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO PROTECT PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH IN COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY

December 5, 2023 — The following was released by the office of Senator Ed Markey:

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) introduced the Fishing Industry Safety, Health, and Wellness Improvement (FISH Wellness) Act, bipartisan legislation that would build upon the success of the Commercial Fishing Occupational Safety Research & Training Program to better address the range of occupational safety and health risks facing fishermen in this highly strenuous and dangerous industry, including worker fatigue and substance use disorder. This legislation would also increase the authorized funding for the program and make these research and training grants more accessible on every coast by eliminating the match requirement.

“Every day, our fishermen are faced with demanding and dangerous working conditions that take both a physical and mental toll, all while they work to bring food to the tables of families across the country,” said Senator Markey. “The FISH Wellness Act will provide much needed funding to ensure that fishermen are getting the information and resources they need to stay safe and healthy on the job.”

“Fishermen contend with extreme weather, long distances and periods away from shore and family, and often strenuous working conditions—factors that contribute to the industry being consistently ranked among the most dangerous in the country,” said Senator Sullivan. “I’m glad to introduce the FISH Wellness Act with Senator Markey, which would expand job safety training opportunities to support our fishermen as they sustainably harvest a world-class renewable resource and strengthen our coastal economies.”

Read the full release at the office of Senator Ed Markey

USDA plans more Alaska, West Coast groundfish buys for nutrition programs

June 22, 2022 — Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, have announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s approval of up to $52 million in Pacific and Alaskan groundfish purchases.

The USDA will buy cod, haddock, pollock, and flounder to supplement the federal government’s food-assistance programs as part of its Section 32 program.

Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act authorizes a percentage of customs receipts to be transferred to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to support the prices of surplus domestic commodities and to distribute those commodities through various USDA programs designed to feed hungry Americans.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Terry Haines: American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act Will Identify The Needs of the Industry

June 3, 2022 — Alaska’s senators are proudly touting a recently passed law that creates an American Fisheries Advisory Committee.

After its passage Sen. Dan Sullivan, who introduced the bill, said “… our fishermen will again have a seat at the table to offer appropriate input and oversight of the Saltonstall-Kennedy grant process …” But what’s the big deal? Why do we need another committee? And what the heck is a Saltonstall-Kennedy grant process?

Well, it’s all about pots of money.

The United States imposes tariffs on imported fish products. These tariffs are on imported “… fish, shellfish, mollusks, crustaceans, aquatic plants and animals, and any products thereof …” Interestingly, most of these products are not destined for the dinner table. In 2017, approximately 77% of revenues from these tariffs were from duties collected on imports of non-edible marine products, including jewelry, ink, various chemicals, and skins. The remaining 23% of revenues were from duties on imports of edible seafood products.

The Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954 requires the secretary of agriculture to transfer 30% of the money from these tariffs into NOAA‘s Promote and Develop American Fisheries Products and Research Pertaining to American Fisheries Fund, also known as the P&D account. This account is what is known in government-ese as a “pot” of money. This is how public entities keep track of the public’s money to be sure it is used as intended. Every different pot of money has its own rules limiting and specifying the use of the money that goes into it. So, for instance when your local government has tax dollars going into the road maintenance account, it has to be used to fill potholes, not to fix pilings in the harbor.

Read the full opinion piece at Seafood News

Alaska Republicans come out against EPA Pebble mine veto

May 31, 2022 — Alaska’s two Republican senators came out against EPA’s proposed veto of the Pebble copper and gold mine near Bristol Bay even though they oppose the project’s development.

EPA on Wednesday proposed using the Clean Water Act to veto mining in the Bristol Bay watershed in southwestern Alaska, citing irreparable damage to the area’s valuable salmon fishery.

But even though Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan don’t want Pebble to advance, they see the Biden EPA’s plan as a heavy-handed federal government intervention that could stymie future resource development in Alaska.

Murkowski said EPA’s action “is one way to further prevent the Pebble mine from moving forward” but provides “no guarantee that a future administration will not revoke it.” Murkowski said she has “never supported a blanket, preemptive approach for any project.”

“My concern has always been that this could be used as precedent to target resource development projects across our state,” she said, asserting the “only lasting path” to stop the mine for good would be “a stakeholder-led process that seeks consensus and helps avoid years of further division.”

Read the full story at E&E News

Alaska Republicans open to EPA Pebble mine veto

May 27, 2022 — The Biden administration’s move to veto the contentious Pebble gold and copper mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed may soothe the state’s Republican senators who in the past have pushed back against federal intervention.

GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan said he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, both staunch supporters of mining in Alaska, are still digesting the agency’s proposal to impose a Clean Water Act veto against mining in the watershed (Greenwire, May 25).

Sullivan suggested his opposition to federal intervention could be muted if EPA’s decision was based on Pebble LP’s most recent proposal. When the Obama administration tried to veto the project, the company had yet to enter the permitting process. The agency used a watershed assessment and publicly available information about the company’s intentions.

Indeed, Sullivan told E&E News his past opposition was based on EPA moving forward with a “preemptive veto.” In 2014, he said, there was “kind of a vague declaration that the EPA had the power to veto any project on state of Alaska land, that they deem vetoable.”

“Most people, myself included, and the whole Alaskan delegation, were vehemently opposed to that, because they didn’t have the legal authority to do it,” said Sullivan. “If this is based on the project, not the 2014 watershed assessment, it’s very different.”

Read the full story at E&E News

Biden signs Fisheries Advisory Committee Act into law

May 13, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law that establishes an industry-led panel to help federal officials oversee grant awards for fisheries.

The American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and was signed by Biden on Thursday, 12 May, 2022. The law will create the American Fisheries Advisory Committee, a 22-member panel representing six regions across the country. Regional members will be selected from the seafood processing, commercial, and recreational sectors, and from experts in regional fishery science. At-large members will include a representative of the foodservice sector, someone from both the commercial and recreational fishing industries, and a NOAA Fisheries representative with a background in research.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Alaska lawmakers applaud Biden administration ban on Russian seafood imports

March 16, 2022 — State and federal lawmakers from Alaska are applauding the Biden administration’s decision to ban Russian seafood imports. It’s part of a series of escalating sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young released statements Friday welcoming the move.

Legislators at the state and federal levels have been calling for a Russian seafood ban for years. Kodiak Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens says the White House is finally paying attention to the issue.

“I’m really pleased the President has made this announcement, and I think it’s extremely important for Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry, you know, it’s been a totally unfair relationship in the past,” Stevens said.

Russia slapped an embargo on American fish and seafood products in 2014 in response to U.S. sanctions imposed over its annexation of Crimea.

Read the full story at KTOO

 

Biden bans Russian seafood imports in latest economic response to Ukraine invasion

March 11, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian seafood imports on Friday, 11 March, amid a raft of new economic sanctions he’s imposing in response Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and other members of that state’s congressional delegation, who called for blocking Russian seafood imports as the country prepared to invade Ukraine, backed Biden’s move. A bill introduced into the Senate by Sullivan and fellow Alaskan GOP U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was blocked just prior to when the invasion began in February.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource