Senators Scott Brown, John Kerry, Representatives John Tierney, whose district includes Cape Ann; Barney Frank, who represents New Bedford; and William Keating who represents the ports along Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod have asked the President to direct the Department of Commerce to issue a disaster declaration that would mean emergency financial relief for fishermen.
Maine asked for similar relief late last year. New Hampshire has also filed requests for disaster declarations for their fishing communities and it has been reported that New York is ready to take similar action.
“We are concerned that recent efforts by your administration to provide disaster relief for agricultural producers, including catfish farmers, affected by drought … did not include assistance for the hardworking fishermen and fishing communities in New England,” the letter began.
Kerry and Brown have formed the linchpin of a bipartisan, fishing port coalition in Massachusetts with allied bipartisan delegations all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
The federal lawmakers’ letter was sent after Governor Deval Patrick, co-chairman of the Obama reelection campaign committee, released the text of a letter of his own to the acting commerce secretary. Patrick’s letter asked for a response to his official request for a disaster declaration. That request, submitted last November, included new scientific studies measuring the decline of the industry by different metrics.
The commercial fishing industry has consolidated at an accelerating pace, with higher landings and gross revenues for fewer boats and a lesser number of crew members.
The forces at work at weakening the industry include more stringent conservation regulation, the disappointing pace of recovery of over-harvested stocks and, according to the governor, an Obama administration policy of commodifying the groundfishery; this encourages trading in catch shares.
“Catch shares have had a devastating impact on the commonwealth’s groundfish fishery,” Patrick wrote in his November filing to then Commerce Secretary John Bryson.
Jane Lubchenco, Obama’s choice to administer the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said soon after taking office that the catch share approach was engineered to force “a sizable fraction of the fleet off the water.” At this, she has succeeded. NOAA figures show the number of boats has dropped by more than 20 percent in two years with the number of crewmembers down by more than 13 percent.
Brown, Tierney and Frank have all called for Lubchenco’s dismissal. Kerry has said he may well come to agree with them — if the administration does not come to the aid of the fishing industry.
“While the focus continues to be on the situation facing our farmers and ranchers,” the lawmakers wrote, “the lack of recognition and corresponding help for New England fails to recognize our fishermen who endure harsh conditions and put their personal safety at risk to put food on our tables.”
The congressional delegation has become increasingly frustrated by the lack of any response to calls and letters since the governor filed his most recent formal request for a fisheries failure declaration last November. About that time, Lubchenco, appearing at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Boston organized by Kerry, promised to put the application on a fast track and get the state a rapid response, the delegation letter noted.
“Earlier this month, we again urged the Department of Commerce and NOAA to declare a disaster and put together a plan to provide meaningful relief. The Massachusetts fishing industry has been devastated in recent years and the situation for our fishing communities is becoming increasingly desperate,” the lawmakers wrote.
“According to recent estimates, annual catch limits for several important groundfish species next year could be reduced by between 45 percent and 73 percent,” they said. “This unwelcome news comes at a time when the fleet size has already been decimated by NOAA regulations that have smaller independent operators and fishing communities struggling to survive. More than a third of the New England fleet stands idle and a centuries-old industry is at risk of collapse.”
“While the focus continues to be on the situation facing our farmers and ranchers, the lack of recognition and corresponding help for New England fails to recognize our fishermen who endure harsh conditions and put their personal safety at risk to put food on our tables.”