Lawmakers clash over NOAA fisheries rules

Republicans are seeking to align their agenda with President Donald Trump's order calling for reforms to seafood regulation. Democrats are bewildered.

House lawmakers struggled Wednesday to reconcile President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to bolster the U.S. fishing industry while simultaneously gutting the nation’s fisheries agency.

A hearing before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries offered seesawing interpretations between Republicans and Democrats over how NOAA should regulate the fishing industry.

Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, focused on what critics characterize as overregulation of the fishing industry based on flawed science.

“Fishing in the United States has become quite complicated, with our smaller, independent fishermen facing the greatest challenges,” Hageman said in opening remarks.

“One central challenge for both recreational and commercial sectors has been the lack of adequate data to inform fisheries management decisions,” she added. “A lack of complete data can lead to shorter fishing seasons and more restrictions.” She said that improving data collection and analysis must be prioritized.

Democrats responded with incredulity, pointing to what they call a contradiction between Republicans’ stated goals and the Trump administration’s deep cuts to NOAA Fisheries’ scientific staff and programs.

California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the full Natural Resources Committee and an outspoken critic of Trump’s actions at NOAA, chided Republicans for mischaracterizing the agency’s scientific track record and promising solutions that run counter to sound fisheries management.

“Pretending that what’s going on right now with NOAA and this administration, pretending that this administration is somehow on the right track … and these statements about restoring seafood competitiveness, it is just deeply disingenuous if not gaslighting,” he said. On Wednesday, he introduced an update to

Panelists representing stakeholder groups and fishing communities from Alaska to New England said the U.S. fishing industry faces debilitating challenges — including heavy regulation; gaps in scientific knowledge; competition from foreign imports; and persistent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by rival countries.

While most agreed NOAA reforms are necessary, including updates to the landmark Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, none advocated for dismantling NOAA or stripping it of its role as overseer and enforcer of U.S. fisheries law. On Wednesday, Huffman introduced a bill updating the law to incorporate climate science and protect critical habitats, among other provisions.

“I speak on behalf of rural coastal communities that rely on healthy oceans, and our message is simple: The future of America’s seafood industry depends on a fully funded and fully staffed NOAA,” Jamie O’Connor, a fifth-generation Alaska fisher and deputy executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, told the panel.

“Cuts aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are delayed surveys; outdated stock assessments; long waits for permits, loans and disaster relief; weakened enforcement; and failure to modernize,” she added. “Without timely science and vigorous oversight, we can’t make good decisions, and we risk losing one of the last wild protein sources on Earth.”

Other panelists, including Dustin Delano, a fourth-generation Maine lobsterman and chief operating officer of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, took a dimmer view of NOAA’s regulatory program and called the president’s executive order an important step.

“Fishing isn’t just what we do, it’s who we are,” he said. “But that identity is being regulated to the brink. Every new rule, every flawed quota, every rushed mandate sends the message that our way of life is completely expendable.”

For example, Delano said NOAA’s annual stock assessments for groundfish “consistently underreport stock levels that lead to quota cuts that put fishermen out of business.” He called for greater industry participation in fish surveys to reflect “real-world conditions.”

He also expressed frustration with North Atlantic right whale protection efforts, saying the fishing industry has “made enormous sacrifices to help … but those changes come at a cost, financially and physically,”

In an exchange with Hageman, Rick Bellavance, chair of the New England Fishery Management Council, said robust and timely research by NOAA’s eight regional advisory panels is “very important, so any time there’s a compromise to the level of research that can be accomplished in a given year, it’s going to impact our decision-making process.”

By:  Daniel Cusick
Source: Politico Pro

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