U.S. Sens. Warren, Markey host hearing on Massachusetts fisheries

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey hosted a public listening session Monday at the State House to learn how to best approach the Commonwealth’s suffering fishing industry and how to protect its future for residents.

The fishing industry for Boston and New England has been in decline for more than a year due to fishing caps put in place to help species replenish their population. The session came as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a federal law the places fishing caps, is up for reauthorization.

“We stand at a key moment in determining what will happen in our fishing communities, with our fishers and with our seas,” Warren said.

Warren was joined by other lawmakers in the State House meeting room, several of whom said they also sought to gain greater knowledge on the issues in preparation of legislation to support Massachusetts communities that rely on fishing.

“Fishing is clearly an extremely important part of [Massachusetts’s] economy,” said Mass. Senate President Therese Murray. “While the desire to fish is alive and well, fishermen and lobstermen are finding it very difficult to provide for themselves and their families and to continue their traditional way of life.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, of Alaska and chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, also joined the Massachusetts politicians at the session.

“Our challenge is not only to resolve the local short-term issues with legislation, but the long-term credibility of the producers,” he said. “We need to raise the level of consideration and understanding in our economy and how fishing is part of it. It’s an industry that needs to be supported but also to be in the hands of science and research.”

Various industry members and leaders, who expressed their concerns and suggestions to the board, answered several questions from the audience. On several occasions, attendees asked about the need to control overfishing while still allowing fishermen to bring home enough to have successful careers in the business in both short-term and longer-term contexts.

Tom Dempsey, policy director of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, said the amount of fishing must be closely regulated, but it must be done accurately.

“We must commit to end overfishing and rebuild depleted stocks in order to support our fishing communities … [but] using outdated information [has] repeatedly led to bad decisions and ineffective management that is hurting our fishing business,” he said. “The government must partner with industry to improve the quality, and reduce the costs of these efforts.”

Jonathan Grabowski, associate professor in the department of marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University, said in an interview that the New England fishing industry is facing serious problems due to global climate change, but government management also plays a large role.

“There’s no question that stock assessment scientists are going to use the best data available that’s been validated, but there’s always going to be a lag time, and that is a problem,” he said. “What the fishermen see on the water might be different from the data because they’re working in real time.  If that is the case, the models will hopefully catch up as new data are incorporated, but that is frustrating for fishermen who are struggling to get by.”

At the session, some speakers said the fisheries crisis is exaggerated and overall, the industry is well off.

Peter Schilling, board member of Greater Boston Trout Unlimited, said since the inception of the Sustainable Fisheries Act in 1996, New England fishing industry revenues have grown from $779 million to over $1.4 billion.

“Most of [New England’s] fisheries are healthy and sustainable,” he said. “All the major ports in Massachusetts … shared in these increased revenues.”

Eric Hansen, a fourth-generation Massachusetts fisherman, said fish are at healthy populations, but the fishing industry would not see any improvement until government better regulated it.

“We are facing a management failure,” he said, “not a resource failure.”