Tag Archives: Blumenthal
It’s time to end the era of billion-dollar ‘sealords’ and heed the fishermen
The recent New Bedford Light/ProPublica investigative report, revealing how a billionaire Dutch family currently operates as the largest New England fish-quota owner, confirms what fishermen have been warning lawmakers for decades: that replacing independent fishermen with outside investment firms will undermine economic, social and environmental goals. However, these warnings extend well beyond New England. The report outlines how Bregal Equity, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in the European Union, maximizes fishing profits from their New England quota holdings by slashing costs and reducing income to captains and crew. Catch share programs have been implemented in Alaska, the West Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as internationally, where the next generation of independent fishermen are being systematically replaced by non-fishing, outside investors who follow in the wake of Bregal. >click to read< By Captain Ryan Bradley 15:57
Booker, Blumenthal, Carper, Whitehouse Introduce Legislation to Protect North Atlantic Right Whale
U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced the Right Whale Coexistence Act, legislation that would establish a new grant program to fund collaborative research between government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and maritime industries to reduce human impacts on North Atlantic right whales. Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA-06) is introducing companion legislation in the House. The Right Whale Coexistence Act has been endorsed by the following businesses and organizations, listed here. (It’s quite a list!)>click to read< 16:37
As fish move north, ‘things are getting weird out there’
Here in one of New England’s oldest fishing communities, there’s a longing for the old days, long before climate change and the federal government’s quota system got so complicated. Convinced that Congress and NOAA will never allow them larger quotas, many fishermen want to take their grievances straight to the White House, hoping the commander in chief will intervene and allow them to catch more fish. At his fish wholesaling business, Mike Gambardella reached for his iPhone to find one of his prized photographs: a picture showing him wearing a white T-shirt bearing the message, “President Trump: Make Commercial Fishing Great Again!” >click to read<08:28
Senators push for federal assessment of right whale deaths from fisheries in Canada
Eleven Democratic senators are asking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct an urgent assessment of the impacts to the endangered North Atlantic right whale from fisheries in Canada. The senators led by Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey said fishing communities across New England have worked to reduce impacts on marine mammals. Markey said last year most observed right whale deaths were in Canadian waters. >click to read<16:35
Effort to restore Stonington Town Wharf gets boost from senators
An effort to restore the Town Wharf along the east side of Stonington harbor has gotten a boost from the state’s two U.S. senators. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy announced last week that they had convinced the authors of the federal Water Resources Development Act to amend the act so the wharf could be returned to town control. “The Old Stonington Wharf is an historic treasure — a proud symbol of the town’s sea-faring and maritime heritage. The wharf has unacceptably been allowed to deteriorate under inadequate stewardship by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and we applaud local efforts to reclaim and revitalize this celebrated marker. We were proud to help lead efforts today to return the wharf back to its rightful hands, and urge the House to adopt this measure,” Blumenthal and Murphy said in announcing the development. Read the rest here 12:10
Will Obama fence off more of the ocean? US fishermen are fearful
American fishermen are deeply fearful that the Obama White House could cut them off as early as this week from major fishing areas of the U.S. continental shelf on both coasts, further restricting one of the most highly regulated fishing industries in the world. At stake are millions of dollars in fishing revenue and hundreds of jobs — and in some parts of the country, the survival of an embattled way of life that has persisted for centuries but is facing environmentalist pressures unlike anything before. “This totally affects us, but we don’t know what’s going on,” one fishing boat owner, who asked to remain anonymous, told Fox News. “We are just out of the loop. No one even wants to say what effect it will have.” “They are throwing all fishermen under the bus, along with their supporting industries”. Behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get influential Democratic legislators to support such new preservation areas publicly — a tough call, since the affected fishermen are also constituents. So far, many of the Democrats are keeping a low profile. One exception has been U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Blumenthal was backed by some 40 environmental groups — but not by many of his neighboring Democratic Senate colleagues. Read the story here 14:10
