Mass. Delegation Requesting Disaster Assistance for Fishermen

Members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation are calling on the Obama administration to issue a distaster declaration for the New England commercial fishing industry after regulators warned of severe reductions in catch limits next year.

Friday, Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, along with Congressmen Edward Markey, Barney Frank, John Tierney and Bill Keating, issued a joint statement in response to the new National Marine Fisheries Service preliminary report on fishing stocks in New England:

"We are extremely concerned about the recent National Marine Fisheries Service report which included troubling information regarding potential declines in groundfish stocks in both Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine. 

"Those numbers suggest the possibility of further difficulties for fishermen and fishing communities in Massachusetts, specifically the small boat fishermen who can least bear the burden of additional declines in available fish. It is our understanding that these declines are not related to overfishing and not due to the actions of our fishermen. We must take immediate action to provide relief to fishing communities and to improve fisheries science so that there will be fish to catch in the future."

Massachusetts and New England congressional delegates, along with New England governors have been pusing for a disaster declaration for the past two years.

"We believe the evidence is now overwhelming in favor of such a declaration," the statement reads.

The release also requests federal assistance to fishermen and fishing communities.

According to a Boston Globe report:

Sen. John Kerry says the potential impact of the cuts would be "absolutely devastating" on fishermen and the 80,000 or so jobs that rely on the fishing industry in the Bay State alone....

Kerry says the delegation has also asked federal fishing regulators to conduct an "end-to-end" review of how fishing stocks are evaluated, citing wide variations in groundfish assessments that have created a lack of confidence in the figures among fishermen.

Groundfish include fish that feed near or at the bottom of the body of water they inhabit. They include halibut, flouder and sole.

The preliminary report that NOAA Fisheries prepared for the New England Fishery Management Council Executive Committee is attached.