Jon Mitchell Archives - Page 12 of 15

Carlos Rafael’s guilty plea in federal court draws mixed reactions

March 31, 2017 — There was a mixture of emotions and reactions among members of the local fishing industry over the guilty plea Carlos that “The Codfather” Rafael entered in Federal Court Thursday. Some expressed a certain amount of sympathy for Rafael in the highly regulated business. Some didn’t.

This doesn’t come as a surprise,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. Ever since Carlos’ arrest became public it was clear the government had him dead to rights.”

Mitchell, a former federal prosecutor, said that he thinks Rafael “is looking at three or four years in federal prison and to my mind he deserves it.”

“The more important question is what will happen to the permits. That determination has been left up to NOAA.”

Rafael’s fishing operation has continued under the permits, but it is possible the government will auction them off or send them out of the city in some other way, Mitchell said. He said he “pointedly” made that point with NOAA.

“The numerous people he employs shouldn’t have to suffer because of his dishonesty.”

Jim Kendall, president of New Bedford Seafood Consulting, had the same concern about the permits. He noted that other boat owners have been stripped of their permits. “But I am not sure that it means anything for us,” he said.

“I’m hoping that whatever the decision is that it doesn’t harm the port or the fishermen here. I am concerned about the impact.

Joann Field of Acushnet said, “If he is taking responsibility, that’s a good thing.”

But her husband Roland wondered aloud how much the strain of government monitoring and enforcement pushed him in the direction he went.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell Submits Additional Testimony on Marine Monuments to Congress

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – March 30, 2017 – On March 15, Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts delivered written testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee expressing serious concerns about the impact of marine monuments on fishermen and coastal communities, as well as the process by which president’s designate monuments using the Antiquities Act.

Yesterday, Mayor Mitchell submitted additional answers to questions from Rep. Doug Lamborn, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. In his follow-up answers, Mayor Mitchell supported fisheries management under the Council process created by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

“I would argue that the Council has both the resources and the approach necessary to achieve ecosystem protection (while balancing economic productivity) commensurate with any protections that could be pursued in conjunction with a monument designation under the Antiquities Act,” Mayor Mitchell wrote. “I have witnessed firsthand the strengths of the of the Fishery Council’s deliberative- and decision-making processes.”

Mayor Mitchell went on to cite two recent examples of the Council process effectively being used to protect important marine resources. In the Mid-Atlantic, the Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area, designated by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council in 2015, brought together a broad range of stakeholders to protect over 38,000 square miles of federal waters. The resulting protected area was applauded by conservation groups and fishermen alike.

In New England, the Omnibus Habitat Amendment 2, passed last year by the New England Fishery Management Council after more than a decade of work, used the most up-to-date science to protect essential and vulnerable New England habitats, while opening up areas no longer considered important for successfully conserving fish stocks. The development of this amendment was deliberative and collaborative, with input from federal and state regulators, environmental groups, scientists and academics, and members of the fishing industry, Mayor Mitchell wrote.

Read Mayor Mitchell’s letter here

MASSACHUSETTS: Warren, Markey speak on port of New Bedford

March 27, 2017 — Behind closed doors, politicians from around the state discussed how to improve the Port of New Bedford Friday afternoon at Seatrade International.

“We want to make sure the 21st century is just as prosperous and even more so than the 20th and 19th centuries were for New Bedford,” Markey said. “We’re going to work down in Washington every day to advocate for the commercial fisherman of New Bedford.”

Senators Markey and Elizabeth Warren, along with state representatives Bill Strauss, Paul Schmid, Christopher Markey, Robert Koczera and Antonio Cabral joined Mayor Jon Mitchell, City Council President Joe Lopes and Ward 4 Council Dana Rebeiro, discussed policies affecting the port.

The meeting lasted about an hour and according to Ed Anthes-Washburn, the executive director of the Harbor Development Commission, about two-thirds of the discussion revolved around dredging.

“We heard example after example of what it will mean if we could get proper dredging for new businesses, expanded businesses, more opportunities,” Warren said. “That’s what we want to see in New Bedford. That’s what we want to see here in Massachusetts.”

The New Bedford Harbor Development Commission predicts the dredging would create 898 permanent jobs, $65.1 million in wages and $11.5 million in state and local taxes.

“We have a number of docks in the harbor that are on very shallow water,” Mitchell said. “There are businesses that want to pull boats up to those docks but can’t because of the shallow water.”

According to Washburn, who attended the meeting, lawmakers agreed that Phase V dredging would be most beneficial for the port in terms of cost and reward.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Standard-Times

New Bedford Standard-Times: Congress can realign the bureaucracy

March 17, 2017 — The designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts as a national monument last summer might have appeared to be the end of a battle between environmentalists and commercial fishermen, but the installation of an administration focused on deregulation has revived the fight.

The House Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday held an oversight hearing on the creation of national monuments that included testimony from New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, as well as representatives of extractive industries, academia and commercial tuna fishing. Mayor Mitchell, who couldn’t attend the hearing because of weather-disrupted travel plans, testified about the impact on both the red crab fishery and those fisheries that involve migratory fish that swim in the upper part of the water column. There were questions from committee members that reflected both sides of the issue, including one from a Democrat questioning the validity of the mayor’s argument about migratory fish. The response by University of North Carolina biology professor John Bruno to Democratic Virginia Rep. Don Beyer was that the entire water column needs protection.

Mayor Mitchell also lamented the lack of stakeholder input involved in the monument designation through the executive instrument of the Antiquities Act used by President Barack Obama last year.

Republican Alaska Rep. Don Young also wondered at the Antiquities Act during the hearing, attributing more than just conservation as the goal to the former president: Rep. Young believes the ocean designations made under President Obama were calculated to limit offshore drilling and mining.

Rep. Young noted forcefully that Congress did not create the Antiquities Act to protect oceans, and it represented a clear case of executive overreach.

The Standard-Times is generally in favor of policies that reduce fossil fuel extraction. Nevertheless, Rep. Young’s observation about the Antiquities Act, Mayor Mitchell’s complaint about its use, and the duty of oversight point to the issue of Congress’ intent, which should have weight in the committee’s opinion. Congress has the authority to rein in the bureaucracy, though it doesn’t always exercise that authority.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Mayor questions decision-making process behind marine monuments

March 16, 2017 — Tuesday’s winter storm prevented Mayor Jon Mitchell from appearing in front of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday, but he still voiced his opinion on the matter of national marine monuments through written testimony.

Mitchell submitted five pages laying out criticism of President Barack Obama’s executive order that created a protected marine area about 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod last September.

“The monument designation last fall puts New Bedford jobs in peril, specifically jobs associated with the crab and lobster industries,” he told The Standard-Times. “More generally, the authority exercised by the president is something that could be used again and put other jobs at risk.”

In his testimony, Mitchell highlighted two key concerns with the monuments. First, he called the monument “poorly conceived” and again questioned the process of establishing the protected waters.

“It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: Scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review,” Mitchell wrote in his testimony.

He also questioned the effectiveness of the monuments in protecting marine life, stating that fisheries focused on fish near the surface of the water would “have no impact on the integrity of the bathymetry and substrate that a monument is meant to protect.”

Proponents of the monument refer to the order as a vital piece to the future of marine life. Dr. John Bruno, a biology professor at the University of North Carolina who attended Wednesday’s hearing, supported the protected waters. He criticized past legislation like the Magnuson-Stevens Act saying it’s failed to protect oceanic ecosystems.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens act, temporary fishery management plans are enacted for finite periods. Monuments like those enacted by Obama under the Antiquities Act, are permanent.

“Permanent is an awfully long time to state the obvious,” Mitchell said. “When decisions like that are made, they have to be subjected to the fullest possible input. I’m certainly not taking the position that this sort of thing should never happen but rather these decisions need to be more carefully made.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell Voices Coalition Concern Over Marine Monuments at House Hearing

WASHINGTON – March 15, 2017 – The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Today, New Bedford, Mass. Mayor Jon Mitchell delivered written testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee on behalf of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities. His testimony expressed serious concerns about the impacts of marine monuments, designated using executive authority under the Antiquities Act, on fishermen and coastal communities.

Mayor Mitchell had planned to testify in person before the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans as a representative of the NCFC, but was unable to attend the hearing in Washington due to snow and severe weather conditions in the Northeast.

In his testimony, Mayor Mitchell questioned both the “poorly conceived terms of particular monument designations,” as well as “more fundamental concerns with the process itself.” Mayor Mitchell also delivered a letter to the committee signed by eleven NCFC member organizations further detailing their concerns with the monument process and how fishing communities across the country are affected by monument designations.

The letter was signed by the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, the California Wetfish Producers Association, the Fisheries Survival Fund, the Garden State Seafood Association, the Hawaii Longline Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition, the North Carolina Fisheries Association, the Southeastern Fisheries Association, the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and the Western Fishboat Owners Association.

In addition, three NCFC member organizations, the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, the Hawaii Longline Association, and the North Carolina Fisheries Association submitted individual letters outlining in further detail their opposition to marine monuments.

Mayor Mitchell was also critical of the monument designation process, by which a president can close off any federal lands or waters on a permanent basis using executive authority under the Antiquities Act. He instead praised the Fishery Management Council process created by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which he said affords greater opportunities for input from stakeholders, scientists, and the public.

“The monument designation process has evolved effectively into a parallel, much less robust fishery management apparatus that has been conducted entirely independent of the tried and true Fishery Management Council process,” Mayor Mitchell said. “It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: Scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency, and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review.”

Mayor Mitchell used his testimony to call attention to issues affecting fishing communities across the country, including New England fishermen harmed by the recently designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and Hawaii fishermen harmed by the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. He also expressed the concerns of fishermen in Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific waters in dealing with the monument process.

Mayor Mitchell concluded by calling on Congress to integrate the executive branch’s monument authority with the established processes of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, ensuring that the long-term interests of all stakeholders are accounted for.

“This Congress has an important opportunity to restore the centrality of Magnuson’s Fishery Management Councils to their rightful place as the critical arbiters of fisheries management matters,” Mayor Mitchell said. “Doing so would give fishing communities much more confidence in the way our nation approaches fisheries management. And it could give the marine monument designation process the credibility and acceptance that it regrettably lacks today.”

The mayor spoke at the hearing on behalf of the NCFC. The city of New Bedford, as Mayor Mitchell stated in his testimony, was instrumental in the founding of the Coalition, providing an initial seed grant for its creation.

Read Mayor Mitchell’s full testimony here

Read the NCFC letter here

Read the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association letter here

Read the Hawaii Longline Association letter here

Read the North Carolina Fisheries Association letter here

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell set to testify to Congress about impact of marine monument

March 15, 2017 — Weather permitting, Mayor Jon Mitchell on Wednesday will be in Washington giving testimony to Congress about an underwater marine monument which former President Obama created with a stroke of the pen in 2016 over the protests of the fishing community.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument spans nearly 5,000 square miles 150 miles off Cape Cod, and it was hailed by environmentalists for preserving enormous underwater mountains and vast, deep canyons only now being explored.

Three years earlier, an underwater remotely-operated vehicle sent back pictures of incredible life forms and geological features.

“These images, shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, demonstrated to the world that this bit of the Atlantic was an ecological hot spot, a veritable underwater Serengeti,” said the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The NRDC was among the leaders of many organizations that jumped at the opportunity to preserve the monument against human activity, fishing in particular.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Marine Monument Designations Sideline Communities and the Domestic Fishing Industry

March 15, 2017 — The following was released by the House Committee on Natural Resources:

Today, the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans held an oversight hearing on the creation and management of marine monuments and sanctuaries. The panel overwhelmingly objected to the lack of local input, transparency and scientific scrutiny in the marine monument designation process.

“Federal decision-making directly impacts local citizens, local economies and the environment. It is important to review how these decisions are being implemented, and, where needed, correct or improve the laws guiding these decisions,” Subcommittee Vice Chairman Daniel Webster (R-FL) said.

Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) discussed his visit to New Bedford, MA, the nation’s top-grossing commercial fishing port, with Democrat Mayor Jon Mitchell, who was unable to attend due to weather.

“[D]uring my visit to New Bedford, we met with dozens of local fishermen and industry to talk about the Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization as well as the state of federal fisheries management. It didn’t take long for the conversation to quickly turn to the then-proposed Marine National Monument off of the coast of Massachusetts. However, the fishermen weren’t just blindly opposing the Monument, they actually came to the table with a pragmatic solution,” Bishop stated.

Unfortunately with the stroke of his pen, President Obama ignored a viable alternative developed with stakeholders and unnecessarily cordoned off vital acreage for fishing communities off the coast of Cape Cod.

In his written testimony, Mayor Mitchell pointed out inherently flawed issues in the monument designation process: “It lacks sufficient amounts of all the ingredients that good policy-making requires: scientific rigor, direct industry input, transparency, and a deliberate pace that allows adequate time and space for review,” Mitchell wrote.

“A decision-making process driven by the simple assertion of executive branch authority ultimately leaves ocean management decisions permanently vulnerable to short-term political considerations,” Mitchell added. “Such an outcome is cause for deep concern no matter one’s position in the current policy debates.”

Brian Hallman, Executive Director of the American Tunaboat Association, outlined the troubling conflicts monuments and sanctuaries have with established procedures including the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act and international treaties and conventions.

“The fundamental purpose of marine monuments, as I understand it, is to preclude, or at least severely limit, human activity in the designated area […] but limiting fishing via marine monuments makes no sense whatsoever. […] The establishment of marine monuments completely pre-empts and usurps these longstanding, legally binding and effective processes,” Hallman stated.

Click here to read full witness testimony.

Last week Chairman Bishop and Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) sent a letter to President Trump requesting the removal of all marine monument fishing prohibitions. Click here to read the letter.

Commercial Fishing Interests Fight New York Offshore Wind Project In U.S. District Court

Heat map of scallop fishing effort in the area around the proposed New York wind energy area. The proposed wind energy area is in blue.

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – February 9, 2017 – Lawyers representing a host of fishing communities, associations, and businesses, led by scallop industry trade group the Fisheries Survival Fund, argued in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., yesterday against the lease sale of 127 square miles of ocean off the coast of Long Island for wind energy development. A ruling is expected in the coming days.

The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction against the wind farm lease, which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) preliminarily awarded to Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil for $42.5 million at auction in December, arguing that the site of the project is in the middle of important fishing grounds, particularly for the valuable scallop and squid fisheries. They claim that allowing the lease sale to go through would cause irreparable harm to commercial fishermen and is unlawful.

The plaintiffs argued that the lease sale would have an immediate impact on fishing interests by giving the government and Statoil free rein to conduct a number of harmful actions, including installing a meteorological tower that could damage scallop beds, and performing sonic testing that studies suggest hurts fish populations. The plaintiffs also said that, should the lease proceed, additional investments make it nearly certain that a wind farm will be constructed, permanently restricting fishermen who make their livelihoods in the area.

Lawyers representing BOEM and Statoil countered that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate immediate and irreparable harm to their livelihoods, saying that any impact on fishermen would not happen for years, and that there would be time to address fishing concerns in future environmental assessments.

Federal law requires a balanced process that considers all stakeholders when developing wind energy projects, but the plaintiffs said that fishing concerns have not been properly addressed in the siting of the New York wind energy area.

BOEM estimates the value of fishing grounds in the proposed wind energy area at $90 million, a figure that the plaintiffs argued is too low because the government used less precise vessel trip reports instead of more accurate satellite-based vessel monitoring systems. The defendants argued that the lease siting process was transparent, including meetings with fishermen and multiple requests for information.

The plaintiffs responded that their more accurate information was ignored, the location of the wind farm was chosen in private, and fishermen never had a chance to advocate for alternative sites.

The plaintiffs maintained that their complaint was not against wind energy as a whole, pointing out that Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Mass., a plaintiff in the case, has been an outspoken proponent of wind energy development. Specifically, they are challenging the use of the unsolicited bid process that allows private entities to claim part of the ocean for wind energy development.

The plaintiffs in the case are the Fisheries Survival Fund, the Garden State Seafood Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Narragansett Chamber of Commerce, the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative, the Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance, the City of New Bedford, Mass., the Borough of Barnegat Light, N.J., the Town of Narragansett, R.I., SeaFreeze Shoreside, Sea Fresh USA, and the Town Dock. The case was heard by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.

Court Accepts New Bedford Mayor’s Declaration in Support of Lawsuit Against BOEM

December 9, 2016 — WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – This morning, the court accepted a declaration by New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell in support of a lawsuit filed yesterday by a group of 12 commercial fishing organizations, businesses and municipalties including the Fisheries Survival Fund and the City of New Bedford. The lawsuit alleges the federal government’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), failed to adequately consider the voices of commercial fishermen in the consideration of a proposed offshore wind farm off the coast of New York.

“During my administration, the City also has become a national leader in the development of the offshore wind industry,” said Mayor Mitchell. “Among other initiatives, my administration established the New Bedford Wind Energy Center, the only local economic development agency of its kind in the US, and has facilitated investment in port infrastructure and workforce training programs to support the industry.”

When BOEM previously designated wind lease areas off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, New Bedford worked hand-in-hand with BOEM to ensure fishing voices were considered. Consequently, the wind lease areas were drawn in such a way that they had minimal impact on the commercial fishing industry. In the case of the proposed New York wind farm, however, BOEM, according to the Mayor, has failed to take the same steps to ensure commercial fishing voices are heard.

“The City of New Bedford is joining this lawsuit because in its assessment of the New York Bight for offshore wind development, BOEM has not properly considered the legitimate concerns of the fishing industry,” said Mayor Mitchell. “I believe the opening of the New York Bight for offshore wind leasing, as currently proposed, will cause direct harm to existing fishing interests in New Bedford and elsewhere.”

Read Mayor Mitchell’s full declaration here