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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 37 Number 8
April 2010
NOAA chief Lubchenco hears from fishermen, US reps
GLOUCESTER, MA – Jane Lubchenco heard loud and clear fishermen’s fears about sector management and how far off course fisheries law enforcement has strayed over the past decade during two different meetings in Gloucester on March 2.
In the morning, the embattled National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) director attended a “listening session” at Bank Gloucester arranged by Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk. Later in the day, Lubchenco testified before members of Congress at a field hearing convened in City Hall by the House Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee.
During the listening session, fishermen explained just how hard the new groundfish management system that will go into effect on May 1 will hit the industry and fishing ports.
“It’s getting ugly, and it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Paul Vitale, one of about 20 captains and vessel owners invited to participate.
“No one in this room will make it with the sector management. This is the face of consolidation,” said Al Cottone, owner of the day-boat dragger Sabrina Marie. “The whole city will implode.”
Added Vitale, “We can’t lose one more boat. We are at bare minimum now, and it’s not just Gloucester.”
The fishermen argued that attitudes among some environmentalists and government officials no longer match the current reality of the fishery.
“The days of too many boats chasing too few fish are over,” said Russell Sherman.
Dennis O’Connell raised the question on many fishermen’s minds when he asked, “The fish are coming back with the current regulations. Why do we have to put people out of business? Why?”
Qualifying period
Lubchenco also heard at great length why many groundfish fishermen are dismayed by the 1996-2006 qualifying period used to determine their individual quota allocations under sector management.
The New England Fishery Management Council selected that timeframe for most fishermen rather than a more advantageous 1996-2001 period it allowed recreational and Cape Cod hook sector fishermen to use.
“The council did not represent our interests,” said Sherman. “The decision was a done deal before the council met, and it was self-serving and corrupt. Seventy percent of us ended up on the back end of the stick.”
As a result of that qualifying period, Sherman said, “People who have one permit will be gone.”
Lubchenco responded, “The council is supposed to represent your interests.”
Joe Orlando, captain and owner of the Padre Pio, said the vote to treat one group of fishermen differently from another was wrong.
“Why is the government allowing that? We are all Americans. Why did I get treated differently?” he asked.
When Lubchenco replied, “I can’t answer that,” Orlando retorted, “You should. My livelihood depends on that.”
Angela Sanfilippo, longtime president of the 33-year-old Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, added, “The resources are supposed to be for the good of everybody. The fishermen who sacrificed the most are the ones who are going to be forced out because of the history.”
Richard Burgess, owner of four gillnet vessels, echoed Sanfilippo’s statement.
“All I want to do is fish,” he said. “Each boat owner needs more fish to survive. It’s about time that government gives us what we sacrificed for – more fish!”
Audience members further told Lubchenco that federally mandated stock rebuilding deadlines are unrealistic and that Congress badly needs to modify the rigid language in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
“Fish go in cycles,” said Vitale. “All stocks won’t rebuild at the same time.”
Added local attorney Stephen Ouellette, “We have seen the fish stocks rebound, and yet $500 million worth of seafood was not landed because of lack of flexibility in Magnuson.”
Congressional hearing
Later that day at City Hall, three members of Congress joined with industry in expressing dissatisfaction with NOAA and especially with the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) under Director Dale Jones.
Subcommittee members present included Chairman US Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and US Reps. John Tierney (D-MA) and Barney Frank (D-MA).
Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser attended and testified. He explained that his office is in the process of an investigation.
So far, the investigation has found that NOAA/NMFS enforcement has, indeed, treated many Northeast fishermen differently compared to their peers in the country’s other fishing regions.
Federal fishery enforcement is conducted by two separate agencies: the NMFS OLE, which employs the officers who investigate cases; and the NOAA Office of General Counsel, which employs the attorneys who file charges, assess fines, and prosecute cases.
Ouellette, who was a member of an industry panel, told the congressmen that the agency as a whole seems to have lost touch with the people it regulates.
“The situation has been unbearable,” he said. “Much harm has been inflicted on the industry. The fines have been unbelievable. People have lost their boats, their homes, their ability to put their children in college, and part of their culture.”
Added Burgess, another industry panelist, “What has taken place has been criminal and un-American.”
Kucinich soon addressed Jones about an allegation that he had improperly used forfeiture fund money.
“From our information, some of your travel was not case-related,” the subcommittee chairman said. “How did this happen? How did this happen?”
Kucinich also asked Jones why, “in the last 10 years, has there been five times more law enforcement in Gloucester and the Northeast?”
With both questions, Kucinich was visibly upset by Jones’ roundabout answers. At one point, the chairman stopped Jones from testifying and repeatedly asked him, “Do you get it?”
Lubchenco, who was present at the hearing, told the congressional panel, “I inherited the enforcement problems and now I own them. I intend to fix them.”
Several days later in Washington, DC, Jones appeared before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans, and Wildlife chaired by US Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) to answer questions about his role in authorizing the alleged shredding of department documents during the early stages of Zinser’s investigation (see story page 8A).
Peter K. Prybot
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