Conservation Law Foundation Issues Remarks in Support of Amendment 16 in Advance of Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
CONTACT:
Peter Shelley, CLF, (617) 850-1754 or pshelley@clf.org
Karen Wood, CLF, (617) 850-1722 or kwood@clf.org
BOSTON, MA October 3, 2011 – Conservation Law Foundation issued the following statement and set of recommendations in connection with today’s U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing on the first year of implementation of Amendment 16 to the Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery Management Plan.
Amendment 16, which has been in effect since May 2010, was the result of a three-year public process and was overwhelmingly approved by the New England Fishery Management Council. While some predicted dire revenue losses under the new sector system implemented by Amendment 16, the National Marine Fisheries Service recently reported that all-species gross revenues for the groundfish fleet in the 2010 fishing year–$297.7 million–were $26.6 million more than gross revenues in the 2009 fishing year. Groundfish permit sales, an important indicator of consolidation at an organization level, were extremely low.
“These outcomes show a healthy, adaptive fleet that has diversified to target multiple species beyond groundfish, and that has begun to take advantage of the added flexibility that the sector system in New England provides even in the challenging start-up year,” said Peter Shelley, CLF Senior Counsel. “Amendment 16 is an important step in the right direction for New England and New England’s fishermen. It should be supported in Washington, D.C., and efforts to improve the system should be spearheaded in New England as intended by Congress.”
CLF also issued a set of recommendations for constructive steps forward that will improve the outcomes of Amendment 16 and the sector management system. These recommendations include:
- The New England Fishery Management Council should place Amendment 18 high on its list of priority actions for the coming year. Amendment 18 has been specifically designed to look at a range of social and economic and operational aspects of Amendment 16, including its consolidation and distributional effects.
- Congress should provide targeted research and development funding for gear improvements and sector technology that will allow fishermen to catch higher percentages of healthy fish populations without negatively affecting rebuilding programs of overfished stocks.
- Congress should provide increased funding for data collection (fisheries-dependent and independent data) and analysis that could increase the accuracy of stock assessments and give New England fishermen the benefit of higher annual catch limits associated with rebuilding stocks on a more timely basis.
- Congress should continue to support and fund permit banks, revolving loan funds, and other innovative social programs—including limits on such programs—as those programs are being developed in the region at a local or state level.
The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) protects New England’s environment for the benefit of all people. Using the law, science and the market, CLF creates solutions that preserve natural resources, build healthy communities, and sustain a vibrant economy region-wide. Founded in 1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
