Saving Seafood

The shutdown: How the furloughs affect federal fisheries

January 23, 2019 — When the staff of the New England Fishery Management Council returned to their offices following the winter holiday break to a partial shutdown of the federal government, there was cause for concern, but no alarms were set off.

“We were OK at first,” said Janice Plante, the council’s public affairs officer. “We were plugging along post-holidays, doing what we could without being in touch with our federal partners. There’s always plenty to do to start a new year.”

Then the calendar alerts began popping up, signifying that the days ahead were about to become a lot more difficult for the staff.

“The deeper we’ve gone into [the shutdown],” said Plante, “the more challenging it has become for all of us.”

President Donald Trump refuses to sign any fiscal 2019 appropriations bills that do not include $5.6 billion for the construction of his campaign-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Democratic leaders refuse to sign off on any new bill that includes funds for the wall.

The stalemate has led to an estimated 800,000 federal workers furloughed or forced to work without pay. NOAA employees, working under the Department of Commerce, involved in the regulation of commercial fisheries and stationed in the regional fishery science centers fall under the furloughed category.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

As many industries get shutdown relief, those without political clout feel left behind

January 21, 2019 — In the chaotic landscape of the partial federal shutdown, some constituencies have gotten speedy relief and attention from federal officials — while others are still trying to get in the door.

In some cases, even players within the same industry find themselves in starkly different predicaments.

When the shutdown began, members of Alaska’s congressional delegation said they made it clear that it was imperative that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service keep enough managers on the job. Without the inspections the NOAA staff perform, boat operators would not be able to head out to the Bering Sea to catch cod starting Jan. 1 and pollock beginning on Jan. 20.

Chris Oliver, NOAA assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service — an Alaskan himself — tapped funds the agency had collected from industry to keep some employees at work over the past month and brought at least a couple back from furlough this month, according to several individuals briefed on the matter.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) credited Oliver’s “outstanding work” for keeping the fisheries in business.

“Since holiday break, my office and I have worked and been in direct communication with a number of Commerce Department officials to ensure that federal fisheries in Alaska opened on time and fishermen were able to gain the necessary approvals and inspections to get out on the water,” Sullivan said in a statement. “This approach is vastly different from the 2013 government shutdown, which delayed Alaska’s lucrative and iconic crab fishery, and the agency’s efforts at mitigating impacts from the lapse in funding should be commended.”

But some fishing operators on the East Coast have yet to receive similar help — leaving their vessels grounded.

John Lees, managing partner of the scallop fishing vessel Madison Kate in New Bedford, Mass., said he was in the final stages of getting NOAA officials to transfer his federal permit from his old boat to his new one last month when the agency closed. Under federal rules, he has until March 31 to catch 134,000 pounds of scallops under certain conditions.

If he cannot sail, he said, he and his crew stand to lose $1.5 million worth of seafood.

“All we’re looking for now is for NOAA to just assign a number. That’s it,” Lees said in an interview, adding that he is working to reach agency officials amid the short staffing and that his assigned quota could now be out of reach. “It’s possible that we won’t be able to do it.”

NOAA spokeswoman Julie Roberts said in an email that agency staffers were working on key matters, despite the shutdown.

“NOAA continues to conduct enforcement activities for the protection of marine fisheries including quota monitoring, observer activities, and regulatory actions to prevent overfishing,” she said. “This is not specific to Alaska.”

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Why Alaska has more at stake in the government shutdown than any other state

January 18, 2019 — Alaska is in the fourth year of a statewide recession. It has the nation’s highest unemployment rate and, since 2015, the fastest rate of job losses. And its weak economy is particularly vulnerable to a prolonged government shutdown — the federal impasse has sidelined more federal workers per capita there than in any other state. (D.C. is higher.)

About 5,700 of Alaska’s 15,100 federal employees are likely affected by the shutdown — about 1.7 percent of its entire workforce, according to an analysis of federal data by the Post’s Ted Mellnik, Laris Karklis and Kevin Schaul. That’s more than three times the national rate.

At least 382 of those workers applied for unemployment benefits in the three weeks ending Jan. 11, according to Patsy Westcott, employment and training services director at the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. That’s up from 40 such claims in November. It’s one of many small signs the shutdown is beginning to take a toll in the state, especially in its vital fishing industry.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Fishery management delayed by partial government shutdown

January 18, 2019 — If the partial federal government shutdown drags on the 2018 summer flounder benchmark assessment may not be available, a fishery spokesperson said.

The assessment is needed to move forward with setting the fisheries 2019 regulations. And it’s not just summer flounder assessments, it’s scup, sea bass, and striped bass, to name some other key recreational fisheries.

“Basically, we’re all waiting on the benchmark assessments and stock reviews,” said Tina Berger, spokesperson for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC.

“If all things were normal the council would move forward with making decisions for 2019 seasons,” Berger said. “Our federal partners are part of every part of the process.”

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

Federal fishery regulators forced to postpone official decisions during shutdown

January 16, 2019 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council may not be able to make any official decisions at its February meeting due to the partial federal government shutdown.

Congress’s battle over funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is also causing the council, which regulates federal fisheries in the North Pacific Ocean, to remove some items from the agenda.

Employees at the federal register are no longer working. The council’s Deputy Director Dianna Evans said it needs to publish notices for final action items in the register by Jan. 21.

“There are three actions on our February agenda that are scheduled for final action,” she said. “At this point, unless we can meet those notification requirements, the council will likely be required to take perhaps a preliminary final determination for those different actions and actual final action will need to be rescheduled for another time.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

 

Government shutdown costing New Bedford fishing company more than $17,000 a week

January 16, 2019 — The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is beginning to affect the most valuable fishing port in the country.

The partial shutdown reached day 25 on Tuesday, which means many offices within NOAA have been closed for more than three weeks.

“Our shell stock has dwindled because I have one boat in limbo and only one boat that’s fishing,” CEO and President of Nantucket Sound Seafood LLC Allen Rencurrel said. “So we’re definitely feeling the effect of the government shutdown.”

Without an open government, Rencurrel can’t get federal approval for leasing licenses or “tags.” It’s led Nantucket Sound Seafood to only have one vessel to harvest clams in federal waters and one in state waters.

The regulations in state waters are far more restrictive including less quota.

Without receiving approval for leasing, Rencurrel estimated losses exceeding $17,000 a week.

“And that’s the smallest boat in the fleet,” he said.

It’s just one example of the fallout the New Bedford fishing industry is feeling in dealing with the shutdown in Washington. While monitors and observers continue to police quotas, other aspects of the shutdown have crippled production on the waterfront.

“I think the industry would pay them to go in to work for a week. Just to get all the transfers done,” Rencurrel said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Commercial fishermen stand to lose billions from government shutdown

January 16, 2019 — The government shutdown is jeopardizing jobs and tens of billions of dollars in revenue for the heavily regulated commercial fishing industry, a coalition of groups representing fishermen from Cape Cod to Alaska said Tuesday. 

The Commerce Department’s fisheries service has furloughed key employees that help to oversee commercial fishing operation and the quotas handed out to fishermen that need to be in place and enforced before they can enter the water. 

Without the oversight, fishing data isn’t collected, and the risk of overfishing becomes a problem. That situation prevents fishermen from working and results in lost catches.

Specifically, a plan worked out between the federal government and anglers to fish for highly prized red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico could be in jeopardy due to the shutdown.

Read the full story at the Washington Examiner

 

New England Council Update – January 8, 2019

January 11, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

This is an important update regarding New England Fishery Management Council meetings during the partial government shutdown.

IS THE COUNCIL IMPACTED BY THE SHUTDOWN: The Council staff is at work and conducting business as usual. However, most of our federal partners at the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) are on furlough during the shutdown.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS: Since many GARFO and NEFSC scientists and fishery management specialists are key contributors to the Council’s Plan Development Teams (PDTs) and provide critical input and analyses during Committee meetings, the Council is rescheduling or modifying the agendas of several meetings where NOAA Fisheries representatives were expected to provide pivotal presentations, reports, and/or analyses.

WHAT ABOUT THE COUNCIL’S JANUARY 2019 MEETING: The Council’s January 29-31, 2019 meeting in Portsmouth, NH will proceed on schedule. The Council will not be taking final action on any agenda items during this meeting. If the partial government shutdown remains in place, the Council will conduct as much business as possible given the federal furlough. The agenda and additional information can be found at NEFMC January 2019 meeting.

GROUNDFISH: Groundfish PDT meetings have been revised or postposed. The Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, January 15, 2019 has been postponed. The Groundfish Committee will meet on January 15 at the Doubletree by Hilton in Danvers, MA beginning at 10:00 a.m. under a revised agenda. All groundfish-related meetings and agenda updates will be posted on the Council’s groundfish webpage. Check back frequently during the shutdown.

RECREATIONAL WORKSHOPS: GARFO and Tidal Bay Consulting were scheduled to host three workshops to collaboratively brainstorm short- and long-term approaches for possible future recreational fisheries management strategies that could be shared with the Council, Groundfish Committee, and RAP. The January 8 Recreational Fishing Workshop in Portsmouth, NH has been postponed. The January 10 workshop in Narragansett, RI and the January 12workshop in Plymouth, MA also may be postponed. Interested parties are encouraged to continue checking the workshop registration page at the dates above for more developments.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The Council’s Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Wakefield, MA. Meeting details will be available shortly at Executive Committee.

SCALLOPS: The Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel (AP) will meet on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boston beginning at 9 a.m. Learn more at Scallop AP. The Scallop Committee will meet the following day, Friday, January 18, 2019, at the same hotel. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Meeting materials will be posted in the near future at Scallop Committee.

EBFM: The Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) PDT meeting that initially was scheduled for January 9, 2019 has been rescheduled for January 18. The revised meeting notice and agenda are available at EBFM PDT. The EBFM Committee will meet for two days, Wednesday and Thursday, January 23-24, 2019, at the Boston Marriott Quincy in Quincy, MA. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. both days. Visit the EBFM meeting webpage for more information.

NEW ENGLAND COUNCIL UPDATES: Any further updates to the Council’s January PDT and Committee meetings will be posted on the Council website. Visit the homepage at www.nefmc.org and click on the fishery management plan or Committee you are interested in.

COUNCIL PRIORITIES: During its December 2018 meeting, the New England Council adopted 2019 priorities for each of its fishery management plans, committees, and other responsibilities with partner agencies. View the list at NEFMC 2019 Priorities.

BOEM: Also of interest to New England Council stakeholders, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has postponed a January 8 meeting in New Bedford and a January 9 meeting in Narragansett, RI that were intended to gather public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard Wind. Check the Vineyard Wind Website for updates on these two meetings, as well as the January 15 and 16 meetings currently scheduled for Hyannis and Nantucket, MA respectively.

US fishing councils stay open, but hamstrung by shutdown

January 11, 2019 — As the partial shutdown of the US federal government threatens to enter its fourth week, the eight advisory fishery management councils remain open but their activities have been curtailed.

That’s because, as staff for several of the councils explained to Undercurrent News, the grants the councils receive from the federal government have already been allocated, whereas federal agencies, such as the US Agriculture, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development departments remain shuttered because they still require their funding for 2019 to be authorized.

Outrage continues to build as President Donald Trump refuses to sign any fiscal 2019 appropriations bills that don’t include $5.6 billion for the building of a wall on the US’ southern border. In addition to reports of trash not being picked up in national parks, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) isn’t doing the required inspections of scales for weighing fish on boats or monitoring equipment. Special permits that some boats need are not being issued.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News