U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan M. Collins today announced that $11 million in federal funding for environment and fishery restoration projects in Maine has been included in the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Commerce, Justice, and Science spending bill that passed the Senate last night.
“We are pleased to announce this essential funding that is critical to preserving our environment and sustaining our fishing industry,” said Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. “These projects are a vital component of securing the future of our fishing and lobster industry, protecting our valued Maine Atlantic Salmon, and helping our country respond to and be proactive in the fight against global climate change.”
Senators Snowe and Collins announced that the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill includes funding for the following Maine projects:
$10 million for the Maine Atlantic Salmon, Penobscot River Restoration Project
The Penobscot River Restoration Project is a $50 million project to restore the natural flow of Maine’s largest watershed. This project is a partnership of the State of Maine, the U.S. Departments of Interior and Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Penobscot Indian Nation, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, PPL Inc., the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and other environmental groups.
The Penobscot Restoration project is composed of two phases. The first phase of the project is the purchase of three dams on the Penobscot River, the Great Works, Veazie, and Howland Dams. The second phase consists of the removal of the Great Works and Veazie dams, as well as the construction of a fish by-pass at the Howland Dam. The $10 million in federal funding in the CJS bill will be applied toward the purchase of these three dams by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust. In addition to this year’s funding, Senators Snowe and Collins have worked hard to secure nearly $5.4 million in previous appropriations bills. State and local partners have also raised nearly $10 million in a private funding raising campaign. This combined funding will help fulfill necessary requirements for the purchase of the dams and complete the first phase of the project.
“The Penobscot River Restoration is at a critical moment and this significant funding is essential in moving the project towards fruition. As we just recently saw last fall with the first fishing season in more than a decade for Atlantic salmon, the Penobscot River can be a tremendous boon to the local economy. We are extremely pleased that the scale of private funding and this federal investment will allow the Penobscot Trust to move forward with the first phase of the project. The restoration will provide dividends to generations of Mainers and we are thrilled that the Senate has provided this critical funding.”
$500,000 for the University of Maine’s Abrupt Climate Change Research
This funding will support research at the University of Maine to examine issues related to the range, magnitude, forcing, and predictability of abrupt climate change events. The University of Maine is working to establish a new NOAA initiative that will focus on the recovery, analysis and interpretation of paleoclimate archives (glacial deposits and ice cores) that describe the role of the atmosphere in abrupt climate change.
$500, 000 for the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, Groundline Exchange Program
The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation is a non-profit research organization founded by members of the lobster industry. The funding will help coordinate a Maine groundline exchange program providing financial assistance to lobstermen by enabling them to purchase “whale-safe” rope in exchange for their existing groundline.
Senator Snowe and Collins announced that the CJS Appropriations Bill includes the following funding for national programs that will greatly benefit the state of Maine:
$7.8 Million for the Right Whale Protection
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has implemented a rule to reduce interactions between Atlantic large whales, especially the Northern right whale, and the lobster and gillnet fisheries in New England. Research indicates there are currently between 300 and 350 North Atlantic right whales remaining. With such low numbers, any loss can have significant impact on the population as whole.
This funding will help research and investigate foraging and diving behavior in whales that will help determine where the animals engage in these activities that most often lead to gear interactions and ship strikes. This research will facilitate an increase in the survival of right whale adults and calves and contribute to the overall growth and stabilization of the species.
$850,000 for Bluefin Tuna Data Collection
This funding will help the Bluefin Tuna Data Collection project that helps develop and collect data on the North Atlantic bluefin tuna. The bluefin tuna is a highly-migratory species coveted by U.S. commercial and recreational fishermen. The population is currently estimated to be less than 20 percent of that existing in the early 1970s.
This funding will allow the research program to deploy state-of-the-art pop-up archival tags in New England and Canadian waters. In order to improve our understanding of the migration routes, potential spawning areas and environmental associations of bluefin tuna, several hundred more tags should be deployed. The New England Aquarium will also develop and conduct fishery-independent population assessments of North Atlantic bluefin tuna utilizing aerial transect surveys and remote sensing technologies.
$204,000 in National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) funding for Atlantic Herring and Mackerel
Maine Department of Marine Resources maintains primary responsibility for monitoring the east coast Atlantic herring fishery, and since 1960, has processed all of the biological samples collected from the Atlantic herring fishery. In addition to processing biological samples, responsibilities include compiling catch data, monitoring area quotas, entering and compiling data from dealer reports, and providing data for stock assessments. This appropriation would provide continued support for our current East coast herring sampling program and the bycatch survey of the herring fishery initiated as a pilot study in 2003. Additionally, sampling would also be conducted in the Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic halibut fisheries.
Also included in the bill is an amendment that is intended to help cope with coastal fisheries disasters. The amendment, introduced by Senator John Sununu (R-NH) and cosponsored by Senator Snowe, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard and Senators Susan Collins and Judd Gregg (R-NH) that would is intended to set aside $15M in funding for “regional coastal fisheries disaster assistance” under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Section 315 of the MSA allows the Secretary of Commerce to provide disaster relief to communities and industries affected by a fisheries disaster. Senators Sununu, Snowe, Collins, and Gregg recently sent a letter to the Secretary of Commerce requesting the $15 million in disaster relief.
Included is text of the letter:
The Honorable Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary
Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue
Washington, DC 20230
Dear Secretary Gutierrez:
As you are aware, the New England multispecies groundfish industry is currently in the throes of an economic crisis due to increasingly restrictive regulations that have continually reduced the amount of days our fishermen can work. The impacts of these regulations reach shoreside industries as well, such as fish processors and marine suppliers whose business depends on a healthy fishery. Several New England Governors have made this point to you along with pleas to declare a Federal fisheries disaster in the region. On April 20, 2007, Maine’s Governor John E. Baldacci formally requested that you declare a fisheries failure for the Northeast multispecies groundfishery in the state of Maine under section 312(a)(1)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and New Hampshire Governor John Lynch sent a similar letter to you just last week.
Yesterday, the Senate passed the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 (H.R. 3093). This bill
includes $15 million “to provide relief due to economic loses due to new fishing limitations on fishermen,” in Massachusetts. Additionally, the bill makes $15 million available to “to carry out activities under section 315” of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In light of these developments, we respectfully call for you to declare a fisheries failure in the states of Maine and New Hampshire, under the process established by law in the most recent amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and ask that you provide $15 million in disaster relief assistance to Maine’s and New Hampshire’s groundfishing industry and its related fishery infrastructure.
Since passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act in 1996, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the New England Fishery Management Council (Council) have instituted numerous fishery management plans, amendments, and framework adjustments in an attempt to rebuild dwindling fish stocks. However, the region’s groundfish species have not responded as the fishing industry or the regulators expected, leading to ever-tighter restrictions on the days-at-sea allowed to fishermen, the gear types they can use, and access to certain fishing areas.
The Council’s regulatory actions have devastated the groundfish industries in our states. For instance, as a result of the actions taken by the Council through Amendments 5, 7, 9, 13, and additional framework adjustments to the multispecies management plan, the groundfishing fleet in Maine has been cut in half over the past thirteen years, from more than 220 boats in 1994 to just 110 today. Shoreside industries have suffered similar losses. From 2000 to 2004, Maine jobs in fish processing and wholesaling dropped over forty percent from 2,953 to 1,755, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Industries that support groundfishermen, including suppliers, processors, and marinas have also felt the impact of this precipitous decline. The vessel owners that remain have been forced to spend increasing percentages of their decreasing profits to acquire permits allowing them to catch enough fish to pay their bills. Some also have been forced to save money by cutting corners on vessel maintenance and safety standards–adding risk to what is already the most dangerous profession in America.
We understand the concerns of our colleagues in the Massachusetts delegation who are attempting to protect this industry which is suffering in their home state as well. However, to mitigate the regulations’ impact on Maine and New Hampshire, we hope that rather than relying on a Congressional earmark, you will use the process established by Congress in section 112 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-479). This change to the underlying law allows the Secretary of Commerce to make reparations to states or fishing communities for a commercial fishery failure caused by, among other things, “regulatory restrictions.” The challenges these men and women face today as they attempt to retain their livelihood in an industry that has been integral to the New England coast for centuries are a direct result of the regulations described above, and comprise exactly the scenario envisioned by Congress when we amended the Magnuson-Stevens Act last year. Rather than attempting to acquire Federal aid for our fishermen through a legislative fix, we would prefer to see this matter handled through the executive branch as intended by law.
It was the abundance of cod and other groundfish that lured some of the first European settlers across the Atlantic centuries ago. But this resource has dwindled now to the point that it cannot support more than a handful of fishing vessels from our home states. Though we are committed to rebuilding these traditional fish stocks and rejuvenating Maine’s and New Hampshire’s groundfishing industry, we cannot help but conclude that the regulatory regime established to protect our Nation’s fish stocks, has pushed this industry to the brink of extinction in our states. We request that you officially declare this fisheries failure so that our fishermen may receive the assistance they so desperately require to remain afloat until our regulations can do their job and allow the fish to come back.
Sincerely,
Olympia J. Snowe Susan M. Collins
U.S. Senator U.S. Senator
John Sununu Judd Gregg
U.S. Senator U.S. Senator