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Pallone Seeks to Protect and Help Fishermen Through Creating Jobs and
Preventing Saltwater Fishing License |
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Washington, D.C. – The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Tuesday held a hearing on Congressman Pallone’s (NJ-06) Coastal Jobs Creation Act of 2010. The legislation introduced March 23, 2010, will implement a Coastal Jobs Creation Grant Program with the purpose of creating jobs in coastal communities and provides states funds for salt water registry programs satisfying mandates and preventing salt water fishermen from paying for expensive licenses.
The legislation creates jobs by directing funding to research that involves fishermen and produces better fisheries stock assessments, training and deploying observers and restoring water fronts with the help of fishermen. This bill was developed for the purpose of providing assistance to fishermen, the industries that support them and the coastal communities that benefit from fishing.
“Overly restrictive regulation of our fisheries along with fishing bans in the Gulf of Mexico and a slowed tourism industry have all hurt fishermen’s ability to feed their communities and their own families,” said Pallone. “This bill addresses the immediate needs that have resulted from these crises and I urge Congress to move forward quickly on this legislation as we have on other jobs legislation.”
In the hearing Pallone stated that he believed a vital part of his legislation was providing funds to states for the establishment and implementation of recreational fishing registry programs an alternative to costly licenses. Pallone used the case of New Jersey, which does not have a registry program and which will leave fishermen subject to a fee by NOAA planned to be $15-$25 beginning next year. Pallone explained his bill would provide funds to New Jersey to establish and implement a registry so the cost of the program would not be passed onto fishermen through a license.
Pallone asked Jim Hutchinson, Jr. of the Recreational Fishing Alliance to comment on whether he believed this funding for state registry programs would benefit recreational fishermen. Hutchinson replied that this aspect, among others of the bill, would benefit his recreational fishing community and the related industries such as marinas and bait and tackle shops. Hutchinson noted that NMFS had failed to meet an established deadline to coordinate State registries and that this funding would allow New Jersey and other states to properly track fishing data that allows fishermen to keep fishing. Hutchinson later added in response to questioning from Pallone that the bill would provide funds to programs that will mitigate the challenges fishermen and their communities face and put them back to work.
In addressing the Assistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Eric Swabb, Pallone asked that NMFS make a stronger effort to engage fishermen and prioritize programs that help create jobs. Pallone also responded to criticism from NMFS that the funding priorities in the legislation were not in line with the President’s budget priorities. Pallone argued that this was a positive from his perspective and renewed his criticism of allocating $54 million to catch share programs over other programs that support fair fisheries management and jobs. |
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