MCFA, as an active member of the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC), visited Capitol Hill to talk about fisheries during the first week of March. (FCC is an advocacy coalition of seven member organizations from different regions of the United States that represent small-scale community-based fishing as an integral part of our nation’s economy and identity.) With the transition in administration, fishermen from Florida, Alaska, and Maine flew into DC to educate legislators on the threats and opportunities facing our collective fishing communities. MCFA staff member Evan Balzano was present to help represent Maine, as was FCC coordinator Noah Oppenheim and Portland fisherman Vincent Balzano.
“The FCC’s spring trip to Washington highlights once again the incredible effectiveness fishermen and seafood business owners have when they tell their own stories,” said Noah Oppenheim. “Industry members are our best messengers, and they made their voices heard at this pivotal time for US economic policy. Fishermen need strong markets, protection from international bad actors, stability and predictability, regulatory reform, and infrastructure investments. Congress heard the industry’s message loud and clear.”
FCC representatives met with Congress members and staff of the following offices:
Senator Susan Collins
Staffers for Senator Angus King, Congressman Jared Golden, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Dan Sullivan from Alaska
Staffers for Senator Patty Murray From Washington, Senator Corey Booker from New Jersey, and Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts
The House Natural Resources Committee Staff
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Staff
Senate Agriculture Committee staff
To lead off each discussion, the Coalition shared a sign-on letter with signatures from 170 businesses and fishing associations from 98 coastal communities in 22 states. Here's a brief quote from the letter, which gets to the core of its message:
“Our nation’s commercial fishing and seafood businesses wish to be a key part of the President’s efforts to bolster domestic food production, nutrition, and self-sufficiency. We represent American businesses that can help Make America Healthy Again by increasing U.S. consumption of nutritious, domestically produced seafood. Today’s fishing businesses are strong, but like our colleagues in other food-producing sectors, we face three main threats: market challenges that impact our bottom line, instability and unpredictability that reduce our ability to confidently participate in the marketplace, and a federal system that undervalues us as food producers and under-invests in our success. We respectfully request that you work with our industry to fix these problems.”
In short, the letter asks the federal government to support fishermen and fishing communities nationwide by:
Boosting Domestic Seafood Markets
Combating Global Seafood Bad Actors
Prioritizing Business Stability and Predictability, and Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens
Investing in Stable and Prosperous Fishing Businesses and Communities
In addition to the letter, Evan and Vincent shared updates from Maine’s working waterfronts with our congressional delegation, such as concerns related to delays to the start of the fishing year for scallops and groundfish, a need for more accuracy in science, and a need for consistent enforcement and safety through support of the Coast Guard and NOAA.
These meetings are already having an impact. The long-delayed scallop regulations required to start the season were published earlier this week.
We are greatly appreciative of the time, care, and follow-up from our Maine delegation in particular. MCFA will continue to advocate for Maine fishermen, track ongoing policy issues, and update stakeholders throughout the process.
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