Tag Archives: department-of-commerce
Warren hears from local fishermen about industry ‘under attack’
Wicked Local -“They want to get rid of the little guys, the people that know how to nurture the resource, the people who do not care about getting rich,” Welch, a Scituate fisherman, said. “We just want to provide for our families, and we want to work, and we want to employ people.” continued
Lawmakers push to ease fish limits
Citing widespread evidence of an abundance of important commercial in shore fish stocks — and a scientific study that found flaws in the modeling methods used by the government to set catch limits — a contingent of state lawmakers led by Senate President Therese Murray is urging NOAA’s top fisheries official to delay dire cuts planned for May 1 and allow the fleet reasonable access to stocks while new studies are conducted into the vitality of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. continued
NOAA’s spending on itself is under attack by Senator “Mo” Cowan! YOU GO MO!
WASHINGTON – The plight of New England’s groundfishing fleet was once again a topic on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as a Massachusetts senator questioned a federal official about how his agency is spending money that’s intended to help fishermen. But Sen. William “Mo” Cowan, D-Mass., pressed a top Department of Commerce official on the use of federal dollars by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Cowan said that, according to his calculations, just $8 million of the $113 million available in 2010 through the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act program went to fisheries. That decades-old program uses fees on imported fish to provide grants or development projects to benefit the U.S. fishing industry. continued
Fishermen weigh options, risks as dire limits near – Faces of fishing’s ‘disaster’
The desperation shows on their faces and in the risks they’re taking to keep their mom-and-pop businesses on a lifeline. If pulse fishing hadn’t occurred, our sector would have been able to catch our quota,” said Burgess. “It’s a tremendous oversight to let the big boats work in shore,” said Ed Smith, captain of the 40 foot Claudia Marie. “And it wasn’t as if (NOAA) weren’t told” what was going on. Read more
Editorial: Cape Pond Ice’s plight shows impact of fishery losses – Gloucester Daily Times
The Cape Pond Ice case shows once and for all that this economic disaster is not “just” about fishing. It’s about the entire city’s economy – and a rogue agency of our own federal
government should not be allowed to bring it down. Read more
Editorial: Executive order is best route to halt fishing atrocity
NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard may be right; the Obama White House may well have “other priorities” than to worry about the plight of fishermen — especially when 400,000 or so military personnel might be displaced due to spending cuts forced by a second round of our resurrected fiscal cliff. In fact, the White House, its Department of Commerce, and its rogue National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Jane Lubchenco have shown consistently that they don’t give a hoot about this historic industry of mostly small, independent businesses now on the verge of going the way of so many family farms over the last three decades. Read more
As Fisheries Struggle, Debate Heats Up Over How to Help
Russell Sherman stood at the wheel of his boat, the Lady Jane, as light faded and his crew prepared to dock for the night. He made $19,800 fishing last year, he said, and at 64 is afraid he will go into foreclosure. “People are on the hook for money, and they’re not going to be able to pay it off,” said Mr. Sherman, who is a founding member of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, an industry group that supports fishermen and has pushed against deep cuts to the industry. “Desperate situation.” Sadly, Read more here
Editorial: Fed lawmakers must look beyond boat monitor costs
As lawmakers step up the pressure to secure NOAA funding for the failing monitors’ program, it’s also important that they not lose sight of a far bigger picture as the new Congress takes its early steps forward regarding ocean policy. Read more here
Probe cites wrongs by NOAA prosecutors
In reviewing the case against Riley and Saludi, Swartwood wrote that, in seeking a $4.74 million penalty, Juliand and MacDonald intervened with a prospective buyer of their businesses; they also charged Riley and Saludi a penalty 17 times for a single allegation of “interference” with law enforcement — a charge that Swartwood dismissed as false. Once they learned of the potential sale, they immediately wrote up the huge penalty and contacted the buyer, actions Swartwood concluded involved “an intention to intimidate.” Underpinning the actions of NOAA’s agents and litigators was a long history and widespread knowledge that the U.S. Coast Guard administrative law judges would side with NOAA. Read more here
Editorial: Lawmakers must force NOAA’s hand on fisheries
Yes, NOAA can show “scientific” data suggesting that these dire cuts — up to 77 percent for the Gulf of Maine cod catch – may be necessary. Yet, NOAA also had 2008 survey data that showed many of the cod stocks were already rebuilt. And remember that the latest data is off an assessment model that did not include any input from rank-and-file fishermen, meaning it’s no more credible than the admittedly bogus data used in the “Trawlgate” fiasco of 1999-2000, when NOAA conceded its statistics were hopelessly flawed, yet still used them to set stock limits. Read more
SHAHEEN, AYOTTE URGE COMMERCE DEPARTMENT TO RECONSIDER FISHERY DECISION
January 28, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) are calling on the Department of Commerce to reconsider its decision to require drastic quota reductions designed to end overfishing of Gulf of Maine cod and haddock in 2013. In a joint letter, the New Hampshire Senators called on the Department of Commerce to reconsider the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision which threatens the survival of New Hampshire’s fishing industry and the economic well-being of its coastal communities. Read more
VIET NAM Shrimp sector fights US shrimpers’ accusations
US shrimp producers filed a petition asking the US Department of Commerce to run an anti-subsidy investigation into frozen warm-water shrimp imported from Vietnam, Thailand and other prominent shrimp farming countries. The US producers also requested that the US International Trade Commission review losses caused to the domestic shrimping sector as a result of cheaper imports. Read more
Closed Areas need fed’s OK to open
The New England Fishery Management Council has voted to recommend giving commercial groundfishermen access to parts of five areas that have been closed to them for many years. The request to open closed areas to commercial fishing came days before the NOAA Science Center issued a report on the 2011 fishing year that contained the revelation that only 41 percent of allocated fish were landed in 2011. Read More
Remember this guy? “Gloucester, New Bedford Mayors foolishly endorsing crazies in New England” a few fisheries malcontents??
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton (Editorial Comment) – June 15, 2011 A
Here is our editorial today, and a video.
Gloucester, New Bedford Mayors foolishly endorsing crazies in New England while the industry thrives, sickness has descended on the political class in New England that has so tied themselves to a few fisheries malcontents that they have lost sight of how they might really support their industry. Read and watch the video
Alaska – Better alternatives to fisheries observer program story – dwarfed by the public comment!
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) recently approved a restructured observer program that extends observer coverage to Alaska’s small boat fleet. With the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) taking over observer deployment, the industry-funded restructured program increases the cost of an observer day from the current $400 to approximately $1,000.
The Great King Salmon Mystery – You may be wondering why you failed to that king salmon this year? Some are calling it a king salmon crisis but few if any will attempt to answer the mysterious question as to where all of our king salmon have gone to. It’s not a salmon crisis when your neighbor fails to catch a king, it’s a crisis when you fail to catch one. If you ask the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, they will claim that our freshwater rivers and streams are producing plenty of baby king salmon. The mystery…. Read More
‘What is NOAA trying to hide?’
In the la
test letter, which the Times obtained, Broun wrote that “by law, NOAA must comply with citizen requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days. I shouldn’t have to remind you that a congressional committee with jurisdiction over NOAA is afforded greater access than that of citizens under FOIA.” Lubchenco’s spokeman Scott Smullen emailed the Times that “we will soon provide an answer to the congressman.”
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x2120610000/What-is-NOAA-trying-to-hide
FLASHBACK! John Kerry – “Lubchenco is your friend,” February 2010 To leave the Fish Wars as Secretary of Defense?
Kerry released the following statement to the Times yesterday in response to a request about his position on Magnuson. “The status quo isn’t working, and I say that as someone who is passionate about the environment, but who can see plainly that people are hurting and there are legitimate issues that have to be fixed. “I’m going to be talking with fishing and environmental experts at the state and federal level to develop sustainable fisheries in New England and work with the New England delegation, as I always have, to keep federal assistance flowing into Massachusetts for our fishing families and to rebuild the fisheries.” http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x966804462/Kerry-to-fishermen-Lubchenco-your-friend
No offense Senator,,,,,,,,,,screw it, Senator Kerry, you thought then, as you do now, that its all about frittering out a few bucks to to the victims of President Obama’s US Commerce Department, the New England Fishing Industry. You have been ineffective Senator, and I’m done beating the drum for you. You have not delivered, Senator.
Please, John Kerry, just go away! http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061174640
Election alters fishing’s landscape GDT.- Barney’s Gone. Scott’s Gone. Huge Ramification’s, and they ain’t good.
“Elizabeth Warren will be the champion of the fishing industry,” Ferrante predicted in an interview Wednesday. “She has experience up against Wall Street, big oil, and lost the chance to open the consumer financial protection bureau because of her feuding with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner when Obama refused to submit her name for Senate confirmation.http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1499661062/Election-alters-fishings-landscape
millionaires and billionaires…beep…..millionaires and billionaires…beep…..
Outdoors: Politicians friendly to fisherman sometimes do them no favors. Do me a favor. Stick with writing about moose, will ya?
The Senate race in Massachusetts could affect our region’s fish resources. In televised messages, Sen. Scott Brown tells us that our commercial fishermen (my son is one of them) need more help, that they’ve been over-regulated, excessively fined and unfairly punished. Brown is essentially echoing the same message against commercial fishing regulations that Mitt Romney earlier expressed at a campaign event in April in Portsmouth, N.H., trying to convince voters that protective policies choke small business growth. The two Republican politicians’ solution to deregulate the fishing industry could actually hurt it. Commercial fishermen like Adam Smith, who was forced out of the industry, confides he couldn’t make a living with current regulations. But the real reason he and others like him are out of business is that there aren’t enough fish. Read more.http://www.telegram.com/article/20121026/COLUMN10/110269768/1009/SPORTS#.UIqUoIXGDxQ
Fish report release unlikely before elections By Richard Gaines Staff Writer Gloucester Daily Times
The Obama administration, through its Commerce Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has declined to respond to inquiries as to whether it would release before the Nov. 6 election a special investigator’s set of case studies into allegations of abuse and excesses against American fishermen by federal law enforcers still insulated and protected by top Commerce and NOAA officials. Numerous telephone and email questions over the past month to the acting commerce secretary, Rebecca Blank, General Counsel Cameron Kerry, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and her chief counsel, Lois Schiffer, have been ignored. Read More.
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1133190572/Fish-report-release-unlikely-before-elections
NOAA regional chief, EDF back catch quota caps
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/topstories/x1618664521/NOAA-regional-chief-EDF-back-catch-quota-caps
Once again, the cart before the horse.
This should have been addressed before amendment 16 was rammed through. The EDF goal of Herr Lubchenco.
Yes, consolidation was occuring pre a-16, but then it really was free market driven consolidation.
Of course, the NSC syndicate likes it the way it is now, and why would’t they?
As far as “crossing the border” skirting the referendum vote, that has already taken place, the reason for the lawsuit.
For the syndicate to be concerned, is like Walmart saying they care about their employees, and they are looking out for their best interests! Why the parallel?
There are a whole bunch of fishermen not represented by the syndicate, that work within the syndicate. Crewmen that rely on the owners to do the right thing for them, as they share the expenses in the free enterprise lay/share arraingement of compensation, along with the owners. Crewmen now pay for leased quota with no representation, along with the regular expenses. They have become poorer and marginalized.
Only now is there a half assed effort to understand the system of compensation through a “socio economic survey” that should have been considered pre a-16.
I’m sure Johanna Thompson is a nice lady, but to read about EDFs concerns about fishermen? I find them amusing, and diingenuous following the history of EDFs actions, and knowing they recieve multi millions year in, year out from the Walton Foundation to privatize the resource.
Funny thing about the “socio” survey. All the current data collected already includes people like Johanna, regulators, and “stakeholders” involved in fishery issues.
Everyone except the fishermen!
ABOLISH CATCH SHARES NOW!
Signs of hope in fisheries management October 07, 2012 2:00 AM
When long-time Portsmouth Herald editor Ray Brighton wrote his definitive two-volume history in honor of Portsmouth’s 350th anniversary, he called it “They Came to Fish.” Fishing brought settlers to our shores and was a sustaining industry for centuries. When locals want to celebrate and when tourists come to the Seacoast they want to eat seafood: lobsters, steamers, quahog chowder, cod and haddock. It is the quintessential New England fare. Today our fishing fleet and associated industries are mere shadows of their former selves. Every year a few more fishermen give up the fight. The Yankee Fisherman’s Cooperative in Seabrook offers the last shore support for our decimated fleet. Distrust runs high among regulators, scientists and the fishermen who feed their families by their dangerous and backbreaking work at sea. http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20121007-OPINION-210070312
Despite Tumult, NOAA’s Lubchenco Would Like 4 More Years
It’s been a tumultuous few years for marine biologist Jane Lubchenco, the head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She’s confronted an unprecedented and politically sensitive
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, struggled to keep expensive satellite programs on track, and butted heads with Congress, which sank her efforts to reorganize NOAA’s climate science programs and appoint the agency’s first chief scientist in nearly 2 decades. Still, Lubchenco says she’d like to keep her job if President Barack Obama is reelected in November.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/10/despite-tumult-noaas-lubchenco-w.html?ref=hp
New Bedford Mayor asks Council to Consider Economic Ramifications of Groundfish Cuts; Lauds SSC for Including 1,150mt Upper Range in Yellowtail ACL
New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell urged the NEFMC to “forestall or mitigate” upcoming cuts in the Annual Catch Limits (ACL) for the Northeast Multispecies Groundfish Fishery.
http://www.savingseafood.org/images//mitchell%20letter%20to%20nefmc%20sept.%2026%202012.pdf
Second NOAA abuse report remains tabled
US Commerce. The Armpit of the Obama Administration
Approximately six months have passed since Special Master Charles B. Swartwood III’s second volume of case studies into alleged violations of fishermen’s rights by NOAA law enforcement was completed and submitted to the Department of Commerce for redacting non-public information, deciding on reparations and making the document public…..But there would never have been a Swartwood I if administrator Jane Lubchenco and her chief counsel Lois Schiffer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had had their way in 2010…..Schiffer, who joined Lubchenco’s senior staff, had written a memo to her describing an approach, which Lubchenco quietly adopted, to ignore fixable miscarriages of justice and build a reformed enforcement system without looking back. An environmental activist, Schiffer’s reputation for executive privilege dates from her time with the Justice Department in the Clinton administration.
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x240468846/Second-NOAA-abuse-report-remains-tabled
