SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND: PROPOSED NOAA CATCH SHARE POLICY WILL HURT STRUGGLING LONG ISLAND FISHERMEN; SENATORS URGE AGENCY TO IMPLEMENT TRIED AND TRUE FISHERY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
Instead of Assessing Nation's Fishing Stock, NOAA Has Committed Over $35 Million to Unproven Catch Share Policy That Won't End Overfishing
Catch Share Program Will Endanger Struggling Fishing Industry by Reducing Revenue and Fishermens' Flexibility to Pursue Fish
Schumer and Gillibrand: Our Fishermen are Hurting and This Flawed Catch Share Policy Will Only Make Things Worse
Late last week, U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), called on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to implement proven fishery management tools in the wake of their decision to implement flawed catch share programs that will hurt fishermen on Long Island and across the country. In a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Schumer and Gillibrand, joined by U.S. Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Scott Brown (R-MA), and Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Mike McIntyre (D-NC) expressed their concern that NOAA is investing $54 million to encourage the adoption of catch share programs that will severely limit Long Island's commercial fishing industry and further endanger the already-struggling fishing industry. Instead, Schumer and Gillibrand urged NOAA to assess the stocks of the nation's fisheries as required by law.
"Long Island fishermen are hurting, and this flawed catch share policy will only make things worse," Schumer said. "Instead of implementing these flawed, unproven catch share programs that will only further endanger our struggling fishing industry, NOAA should stick with tried and true fishery management techniques. To date, NOAA has still not implemented the necessary funding to accurately assess the health of local fishing stocks, yet it continues to head down a path of restricting catches."
"Long Island's fishermen deserve better," said Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand. "We cannot continue to go down this blind path with unproven programs while shifting funds away from the fishery stock assessments that govern the system as a whole."
A catch share program differs from traditional fishery management by dividing up the total allowable catch in a fishery into shares. These shares are typically allocated based on historical participation in the fishery. They may be assigned to individuals, cooperatives, communities or other entities, who would be allowed to fish up to their assigned limit. Catch share participants also agree to stop fishing when they have caught as much as they are allowed.
NOAA has requested $54 million to encourage the adoption of catch share programs but has not committed the necessary funds to assessing fishery stocks, as it is required to do under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Magnuson-Stevens Act expressly calls on NOAA to assess the health of fishing stocks, but NOAA has not committed significant funding to fulfill this requirement. Schumer and Gillibrand said NOAA should first commit funding to carry out this important duty before providing funding for a new fishery-management tool that requires - and currently does not have - broad-based support from the fishing industry.
Adoption of a catch share program could further reduce the ability of fishermen to generate revenue because success in fishing has traditionally depended upon the ability to choose among various fisheries as conditions warrant. Such flexibility may be lost if a significant number of fisheries are regulated by catch share programs. Catch share programs could deter future generations' interest in becoming fishermen. Catch share programs increase capital expenditures and raise the barriers of entering the business, which discourage young people from considering a career in the fishing industry.
Schumer and Gillibrand noted the very real threat faced by commercial fishers who are seeing significant portions of their industry shut down because of overly stringent caps on catches that are not based on the best available and most accurate data.