Saving Seafood

Congress backs fishermen over feds in Supreme Court battle, tells justices to curb bureaucracy

July 26, 2023 —  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s chamber is urging the Supreme Court to reconsider the level of deference courts give federal agencies, saying that allowing them too much leeway conflicts with the separation of powers and upends congressional authority over lawmaking.

The House filed its brief in a case that stems from a dispute between herring fishers and the National Marine Fisheries Service, which wants to charge vessels as much as $700 a day to monitor what they are catching.

Fishing industry advocates say that while the law passed by Congress allows for the monitors, the agency is making up its own rules by insisting the boats pay the charges.

The high court agreed to hear the dispute in May, but has not scheduled oral arguments for the legal battle during its 2023 term, which begins in October.

The justices will decide whether to overrule Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 1984 precedent that gave federal agencies deference when interpreting how to implement legislation passed by Congress when lawmakers were silent with respect to certain aspects of enforcement.

Read the full article at the The Washington Times

House Republicans join push to overturn Chevron doctrine

July 26, 2023 — U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is throwing his weight behind a push to scrap a decades-old legal doctrine giving federal regulators wide-ranging powers.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit filed in 2020 by New Jersey commercial fisherman, challenging a federal rule requiring them to pay for monitors to go out on fishing vessels to collect data to craft new regulations.

The lawsuit, pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, calls for scrapping the fish monitoring rules but also seeks to blunt the powers of federal agencies by overturning the so-called Chevron deference. Critics say the legal principle violates the separation of powers doctrine by giving the federal government authority over congressional spending.

Read the full article at The Center Square

McCarthy calls on Supreme Court to ‘rein in’ administrative state in upcoming case

July 25, 2023 — Republicans in Congress including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA) backed amicus briefs Monday calling on the Supreme Court to unwind a landmark precedent that gives the federal government broad authority to interpret laws.

In the upcoming high court term, the justices will weigh a case known as Loper Bright Enterprises v. Gina Raimondo, which asks the justices to pare back the 1984 high court Chevron deference, which tells courts to defer to agency’s interpretations of statutes when the language written in them is ambiguous or vague.

“As part of our Commitment to America, House Republicans pledged to hold Washington accountable. The Chevron framework makes it easier for unelected bureaucrats to weaponize federal regulations against the American people. The Court should rein in the power of unelected bureaucrats and restore the separation of powers,” the House speaker said in a statement.

McCarthy backed the House’s Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group brief it filed at the high court in the Raimondo case, which centers on four New Jersey fishing companies asking the justices whether the National Marine Fisheries Service can force fishing vessels to pay the salaries of federal observers, which costs roughly 20% of company revenues.

Read the full article at the  Washington Examiner

Rep. Huffman Leads Bipartisan Effort to Support Fishermen, Protect Food Supply Chain

May 7, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):

Today, Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA), Chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, along with Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA), Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS), and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) led a bipartisan group of 45 Members of Congress in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy asking them to include urgently needed federal assistance for the American fishing and seafood industry in the next coronavirus relief measure. The effort to support this industry is bicameral, with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) leading a similar letter in the Senate.

“The seafood industry is critical to local and regional economies across the country […and] is currently facing an unprecedented collapse in demand because of the novel coronavirus. We urge you to facilitate the government purchase of seafood products that would both ensure stability in this key sector and provide healthy, domestically produced food for Americans,” the members wrote. “We request that Congress appropriate and permit the Secretary to make funding available as soon as practicable to all fishery participants, including commercial and recreational fishing and seafood businesses that have been impacted by declines in tourism and the closure of restaurants and other food services industries.”
 
Specifically, Representative Huffman and his colleagues called for at least $2 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase domestically harvested and processed seafood products to be distributed through food assistance programs, as the agency does for agricultural products. They also requested an additional $1.5 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide direct relief to fishery participants impacted by coronavirus. 
 
In addition to Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA), Garret Graves (R-LA), Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS), and Kurt Schrader (D-OR), the letter was signed by Representatives Suzzane Bonamici (D-OR), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), David N. Ciciline (D-RI), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Joe Cunningham (D-KY), Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR), Suzan K DelBene (D-WA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Jared Golden (D-ME), Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR), Andy Harris (R-MD), Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Denny Heck (D-WA), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Pramilla Jayapal (D-WA), William R. Keating (D-MA), Joseph P. Kennedy, III (D-MA), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Elaine G. Luria (D-VA), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), David Rouzer (R-NC), Donna E. Shalala (D-FL), Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), Darren Soto (D-FL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Gergory Steube (R-FL), Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Filemon Vela (D-TX), Randy K. Weber (R-TX), Robert J. Wittman (R-VA), Ted S. Yoho (R-FL), Don Young (R-AK), Lee Zeldin (R-NY).
 
The full letter can be found here or below:
 
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy,
 
We write to urge the inclusion of support for the American seafood industry in the next coronavirus relief measure. Our seafood processors and fishermen have been dealt a significant economic blow as a result of coronavirus and are in desperate need of federal assistance.
 
The seafood industry is critical to local and regional economies across the country. In 2016, the industry supported over one million good-paying jobs and generated more than $144 billion in sales, adding an estimated $61 billion to the nation’s GDP. In addition to the jobs, families, and communities it supports along every part of our country’s coastlines, the seafood industry fuels jobs throughout the country in processing and distribution.
 
Due to efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has led to a near total shutdown of restaurants and other outlets serving fresh seafood, the supply chain of fishermen and seafood processors has been decimated. Notably, more than 68% of the $102.2 billion that consumers paid for U.S. fishery products in 2017 was spent at food service establishments. It has been reported that many of the nation’s fisheries have suffered sales declines as high as 95 percent. In addition, while many other agricultural sectors have seen a significant increase in grocery sales, seafood has been left out of that economic upside, as stores have cut back on offerings.
 
We strongly urge you to include in the next coronavirus stimulus package at least $2 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase domestically harvested and processed seafood products and distribute them to local, state, and national non-profits providing food to hungry Americans. Given that few seafood producers have historically participated in USDA commodity purchasing programs, we request that $1 billion be set aside to finance the purchase by USDA of seafood products that have not typically been purchased and that have experienced economic impacts as a result of coronavirus.
 
We also ask that you include an additional $1.5 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the terms of section 12005 of the CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) in order to provide direct relief to Tribal, subsistence, commercial, and charter fishery participants, impacted by coronavirus. We request that Congress appropriate and permit the Secretary to make funding available as soon as practicable to all fishery participants, including commercial and recreational fishing and seafood businesses that have been impacted by declines in tourism and the closure of restaurants and other food services industries.
 
The seafood industry is currently facing an unprecedented collapse in demand because of the novel coronavirus. We urge you to facilitate the government purchase of seafood products that would both ensure stability in this key sector and provide healthy, domestically produced food for Americans.
 
Thank you for your attention to this critical request, and for your continued support of America’s seafood industry.
 
Sincerely,
 
— Members of Congress —

Top House Republican Backs Adding Hospital Funding to Small-Business Package

April 17, 2020 — The top House Republican said he would support adding money for hospitals to funding for a popular small-business aid program, pointing the way to a potential breakthrough in stalled talks with Democrats on the current round of stimulus spending.

In an interview, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said he would pair hospital funding with an additional $250 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, a small-business loan program that exhausted its initial $350 billion allocation money on Thursday.

Both Democrats and Republicans want to add funding to the small-business aid program, but have been sparring for days over the makeup of that aid and what else to include in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats want to expand access to the loans as well as include more money for hospitals, food assistance and state and local governments. Republicans, meanwhile, had said they want to keep the bill focused on increasing small-business aid and defer other funding debates until broader legislation is crafted.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal

Congressman Keating’s Letter to Congressional Leadership

March 25, 2020 — The Office of Congressman Bill Keating (D-Mass.):

On Monday, March 23, Congressman Bill Keating and other Members of Congress sent a letter to Congressional Leadership asking for fisheries aid during the coronavirus pandemic. The text of the letter can be found below:

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy,

We are writing to you today to request that additional direct relief be included in Phase 3 or any future COVID-19 relief package for America’s domestic fisheries. In particular, we are asking that $1.5 billion dollars in direct aid be made available to all participants in the seafood industry including, but not limited to, domestic harvesters, processors, distributors, and aquaculture businesses across the country.

Domestic fisheries in the United States support more than 1.2 million jobs and generate $64 billion dollars of economic activity annually. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak fisheries in the United States are facing an unprecedented breakdown in the market for their products. Americans overwhelmingly purchase domestic seafood products, nearly 70 percent, at restaurant and hospitality establishments. In nearly every state, steps taken by government and citizens to prevent the transmission of the disease has focused on the closure of many of these establishments. This has left the American seafood industry unable to find a market for their products a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has also eliminated any avenue exports. The situation within American Fisheries is dire, and the harm being inflicted will undermine the longterm health of a sustainable industry.

Additionally, we urge the federal government consider any production support measures that may become available for fisheries. Government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, purchase significant volumes of agricultural goods on a monthly basis. As such, we request that the federal government use its purchasing power now to support sustainable fisheries across the nation by altering its purchasing profile to include increased amounts of sustainably harvested domestic seafood.

Read the full letter here

Sound barrier to chase seals, prevent shark attacks debated

May 29, 2019 — A Cape Cod company has proposed building a sonic barrier around the region’s beaches to chase away seals and prevent shark attacks.

Deep Blue LLC presented its idea Wednesday at a public meeting in Barnstable. It sparked a broader debate about addressing the region’s massive seal population.

The company envisions a system of underwater audio devices that will emit a sound unpleasant to seals.

Owners Willy Planinshek and Kevin McCarthy say that if the seals leave the area, the great white sharks that eat them will follow.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times