WASHINGTON, DC – Nine coastal New England Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to implement an alternative management plan that would avoid the drastic cuts in fishing levels the agency has proposed for the region’s groundfish fleet.

In a letter sent yesterday to Acting Administrator James Balsiger, the Members urged NMFS to withdraw a proposed management plan that could lead to steep additional restrictions on the activities of fishermen in the region, through large scale closed fishing areas and double counting of already limited Days at Sea.  The Representatives urged the agency to replace that proposal with the plan recommended by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC).  The Council plan, approved in September on a 15 – 1 vote and reaffirmed earlier this month, calls for an 18 percent reduction in fishing days, but avoids the other extreme restrictions.  The interim plan is required to go into effect by the May 1 start of the fishing year, and would remain in operation until the following May, when the comprehensive Amendment 16 management plan is scheduled to go into effect.  
The letter states in part:

“Though NEFMC’s interim recommendation would pose serious economic challenges for a ground fishing fleet that has suffered through many years of unsuccessful management measure, it is clear that NMFS’ proposed action would be much worse.  It would further consolidate a once thriving fleet, place increased effort in the Gulf of Maine, and raise significant safety risks as fishermen weigh the dangers of fishing beyond closed and differential areas…with paying their mortgages and feeding their families.”

Several New England House Members had earlier urged that the start of Amendment 16 – originally slated for May 2009 -- be postponed until 2010 in order to ensure that there would be sufficient data to develop the Amendment’s management scheme, and to synchronize its start with the effective date of the changes in overall fishing rules that were mandated by the 2006 Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act.  When NMFS agreed to move back the start of Amendment 16, it then became necessary to develop a one-year interim plan for management of the region’s groundfish.  

The following Members of Congress signed the letter:  Barney Frank (D-MA); Joe Courtney (D-CT); William Delahunt (D-MA); Michael Michaud (D-ME); James Langevin (D-RI); Chellie Pingree (D-ME); John Tierney (D-MA); Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH); and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI).

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