Lets get every Rep. in the House to Co-Sponsor “American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act” S1322
Greetings from Gloucester! My name is Sam Parisi, and as some of you know, I have been concerned with the process of how S-K Funds, and distribution of the funds have been handled by NOAA.
I had reached out to Senator Markey about my experience in Saint Petersburg last year on a panel to review S-K grant applicants, and was not pleased with NOAA’s selection process and distribution of the funds, and felt it is rigged by NOAA.
Two years ago I was selected by NOAA to severe on a panel with ten others from the industry to go to Saint Petersburg, to review those who applied.
Before I left town, a Mrs. Olsen gave me sixty applications to review and that I had to present five in Saint Pete. I looked them over and found there was no one from here that applied, even though I knew the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wife’s Association and two others, one a seafood company and one from a fisherman I know, had applied.
Any way, off I went to Saint Pete, and I sat on both panels for two days.
The panel selection was good and there were fisherman like me.
After each application we had to grade them, and when we were done, we were not told who was selected.
After about two months at home, it was announced in our local paper that a Gloucester Seafood company was awarded by NOAA $350,000 to process red fish, and get this! They got this money two years in a row . Then, it dawned on me. Mr. Bullard at a city meeting was promoting red fish as the future.
I called a Mr Newmyer the head man in Saint Pete and asked how this could happen when it was not presented in front of the panel.
He said it was presented on a different day, which is untrue. I was there both days it never was presented.
I firmly believe the deck is stacked by NOAA, and its time to end the dirty dealing.
Meanwhile, Senator Sullivan of Alaska had presented a bill, S1322, the American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act to have an advisory board made up of those from the fishing industry as it was in 1954.
The America Fisheries Advisory Committee (AFAC) was created to advise the Secretary of Interior about problems in the commercial fishing industry that should be addressed by the SK grant program. This committee of “19 industry experts from all segments of the industry across the country” was dissolved with other such committees in 1972. NOAA / NMFS took control of the program in the mid 70’s and until fairly recently, most of these ever increasing SK funds have been used for their budget and not for the originally intended purposes of the Act referenced above.
I had reached out to Senator Markey many times recently regarding this important bill by Senator Sullivan.
I have asked our Senators to support Bill S1322 and I am happy to say thanks to Angela Sanfilppo, The Mayor of Gloucester, The Mass Lobster Association, the Gloucester Fisheries Commission and fisherman up and down the coast that have contacted Senator Markey who is on the committee, and is now with us in support of this important the bill, which will be going to the House.
On Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 9:32 PM, Bruce schactler <[email protected]> wrote: > Sam, > On Tuesday, after another several back and forth edits, Senator Markey agreed to lift his objection to S1322.</[email protected]>
On Sat, Jun 23, 2018 at 9:30 AM Bruce schactler <[email protected]> wrote: > Sam, when this ones to the House, we can use all the help we can get to get it out and done. This bill has no downside for anyone anywhere and a big upside for all sectors of the seafood industry…from the Boat to the Throat and the support side too. Lets get every Rep. in the House to Co-Sponsor.
I ask all of you to contact your Congressmen and Senators in your area’s to tell them to vote in favor Senator Dan Sullivans bill, the “American Fisheries Advisory Committee Act”, S1322.
Lets take these funds out of NOAA hands and go back to an advisory panel as it was in 1954.
In all fairness these funds should be for our fisherman, so make those calls!!!
Thank You,
Sam Parisi
