Fishing Industry Stories
NOAA chief to hear local fishermen
Mayor's session to precede congressional hearing
For the first time since she was tapped to be the nation's top ocean administrator just under a year ago, NOAA chief Jane Lubchenco will consult Gloucester's commercial fishermen tomorrow morning about the future of their industry.
The closed-door 8 a.m. session at City Hall will include as many as 30 fishermen hand picked by Mayor Carolyn Kirk, who planned the meeting in the run-up to last week's demonstration in Washington by fishermen across the country targeting federal fisheries management and the need for legislative changes by Congress.
The meeting will come hours before Lubchenco is slated to testify before a congressional oversight hearing at City Hall on alleged abuses in federal fisheries law enforcement identified by U.S. Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser.
And it comes as protests by New England fishermen, steady for years, have been building over the federal government's planned launch in May of an entirely new regulatory regime tied to hard limits on the catch for each fish stock and fishing cooperatives called sectors.
"I feel I am brokering a peace agreement," Kirk said Friday after announcing plans for tomorrow morning's closed-door meeting. "I see it as the beginning of a dialogue. What if there was a willingness to hear directly from fishermen."
Both the oversight hearing and the warm-up with Kirk and fishermen will be new ground for Lubchenco.
When she was confirmed by Congress last March, Lubchenco faced questioning from Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, about conflicts between fishermen and regulators in New England.
But, in her only other time in Gloucester as NOAA head, Lubchenco met briefly with workers at the NOAA regional offices in Blackburn Industrial Park before leaving. She did not meet with either city officials or with anyone within the fishing industry.
Her only meetings with fishermen in New England were at a New England Fisheries Management Council meeting in Mystic, Conn., last April and at a gathering of all the regional councils in Boston last May, according to NOAA spokeswoman Monica Allen.
Lubchenco, however, "wants to strengthen communication between NOAA and commercial fishermen," Allen said Friday.
"She has been seeking these opportunities to meet informally with fishermen," Allen added. "She was in California last weekend meeting with charter fishermen."
Kirk said she was disappointed not to have had a chance to speak with Lubchenco during her quick visit to NOAA offices in Gloucester's Blackburn Industrial Park late last year.
When Kirk met with NOAA staff in Washington last week, she said she "expressed my disappointment that the mayor's office was not notified."
"We need to be in a partnership," Kirk said.
As for what will be accomplished at tomorrow morning's meeting, Kirk said she expects fishermen to touch on suggestions she heard during preparations for last week's "United We Fish" protest, such as basing fishermen's catch histories (and allocations) on more bountiful years than the current plans allow.
No decisions are expected at the meeting, Kirk said, and no personal attacks will be allowed.
Meanwhile, tomorrow's 11 a.m. hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee — organized by Congressman John Tierney and Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio — is slated to feature testimony by Lubchenco, Inspector General Zinser, NOAA Director of Law Enforcement Dale Jones, Gloucester fisherman Richard Burgess, New Bedford seafood consultant Jim Kendall and fishing industry attorney Stephen Ouellette.
That hearing, which is public, is slated for City Hall's Kyrouz Auditorium.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
Congress comes to City Hall
What: Hearing of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee on IG's findings of wrongdoing by NOAA enforcement agents against fishermen, fishing businesses.
Who: Subcommittee is chaired by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; and includes Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem.
Where: Kyrouz Auditorium, Gloucester City Hall.
When: Tomorrow, 11 a.m.
Testifying: Witnesses expected to testify include NOAA chief administrator Jane Lubchenco, national NOAA enforcement chief Dale Jones, Inspector General Todd Zinser, local fisherman Rich Burgess, fishing industry attorney Stephen Ouellette.
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