John Kerry fights to protect the Fishing Industry:

Statement Of Senator John Kerry to the Senate Subcommittee On Oceans, Fisheries And Coastr Guard Oversight Hearing On NMFS Magnuson National Standards Implementation
Wednesday, October 22, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) submitted today for the record the following statement at the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries and Coast Guard oversight hearing on NMFS Magnuson National Standards Implementation:

Good morning. I want to thank Chairman Snowe for holding today’s very timely oversight hearing on NMFS’ implementation of the National Standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

Following passage of the 1996 amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS issued revised National Standard Guidelines to provide technical guidance to the Councils in developing fishery management plans. However, implementation of these National Standards has been inefficient and a number of problems have been identified. The primary concern is that the Guidelines have not allowed for the management flexibility intended by Congress. In particular, we need to take a hard look at how NMFS and the Councils have implemented two of the National Standards:

** National Standard 1, under which overfishing and rebuilding standards are set; ** National Standard 8, under which socio-economic effects on fishing communities are addressed.

These implementation issues have come to light in ports around the nation, but no where are they more acute than in New England, where NMFS and the New England Fisheries Management Council are under court order to develop a Magnuson-compliant management plan known as Amendment 13.

The development of Amendment 13 has been plagued by conflict, scientific controversy, delays, and overly-stringent and inconsistent interpretations of the 1996 law.

Throughout this time, New England has had to cope with significant environmental and economic instability. Overfishing has continued on certain stocks, and fishing communities have experienced an ever-changing set of management decisions that have contributed to economic stresses on fishermen and fishing-dependent communities. In real terms, that means commercial fishermen cannot implement even a two-year business plan because they do not know how, when or where they will be allowed to work in the fishery. This uncertainty extends to the multi-million dollar shore-side infrastructure and local economies. In these difficult economic times it is imperative that NMFS bring about a reasonable and stable management plan that will allow businesses – from the small boat entrepreneur to the national seafood processor – the opportunity to compete in the American and world marketplaces.

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