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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 9
May 2006
Industry coalition asks fishermen to support health, disaster bills
PROVIDENCE, RI - For just over a year, a group of industry leaders has been working to create a nationwide organization to represent the common interests of US commercial fishermen.
So far, the interim steering committee of the group, which includes fishermen from East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Pacific Coast states, as well as Hawaii and Alaska, has come up with a name – Commercial Fishermen of America (CFA).
And, during a recent meeting held in conjunction with Fish Expo in Providence, RI April 5-6, the interim steering committee endorsed two specific legislative initiatives:
• The “Fishing Industry Health Care Coverage Demonstration Program” outlined in HR 4940, the Fishery Management Amendments of 2006; and
• “Disaster Relief for Fishing Communities” as outlined in HR 4939, the 2006 supplemental appropriations bill.
The group urged all US fishermen to write or call their congressional representatives to express support for these proposals.
Health insurance
The health care language is in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) reauthorization bill filed by US Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and John Tierney (D-MA).
Patterned after the successful Fishing Partnership Health Plan pioneered by the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, HR 4940, among other things, would set up a three-tiered grant program to help establish health care coverage programs for individuals involved in the fishing industry and their families.
“Nationally, the rate of uninsured fishermen is three-to-four times the national average,” said MA partnership Executive Director David Bergeron. “Now, fishermen have a chance to bring health care coverage to fishing families across the nation. We must all write letters to urge our US congressmen and senators to include the Fishing Industry Health Care Coverage Demonstration Program in the final version of the MSA reauthorization.”
Disaster relief
The tragedy wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been compounded by a nearly complete lack of federal assistance to Gulf Coast fishing industry people who have lost not only their homes but their fishing vessels and shoreside infrastructure.
Things were bad for Gulf shrimpers before the hurricanes, noted activist Tracy Kuhns, but the current situation is critical.
“The CFA asks fishermen and concerned citizens to write their US congressmen in support of the language in HR 4939 that provides supplemental appropriations ... for fisheries disaster relief,” Kuhns said.
Added Louisiana Shrimp Association Council member Margaret Curole, “Fishermen the world over are being marginalized daily. Fishermen, by virtue of their own independence, can be their own worst enemies. But there is power in numbers. People are beginning to listen to us and are waiting to see what we can do. Every fisherman represents one vote.”
For more information on the CFA, including a list of participating industry leaders and how to help the organization, visit the group’s web site at <www.cfafish.org> or contact Sara Randall: phone (415) 561-3474; or e-mail <fishermenofamerica@gmail.com>.
Contact information for your congressional representatives is available online at <www.senate.gov> and <www.house.gov>.
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