Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Grijalva for the time.

I rise to support the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, but not the bill we have before us today.

Like many of my colleagues here in Congress who represent coastal States, I know the importance of a vibrant fishery and the importance of Federal policy in this area that keeps our Nation's fisheries moving forward. I live on a small offshore island, and many of my neighbors make their living as fishermen, as do many of my constituents.

The most lucrative fishery in my area is for lobsters, and it is one of the most successful and sustainable fisheries in America because lobstermen and -women have taken the long-term view.

It is so successful and so sustainable because it has been carefully regulated for decades. Strict rules have led to bigger and bigger catches and rising income for fishermen.

This fishery is proof that building a strong fishery happens first by ensuring there is a resource for fishermen to harvest.

Iconic species like haddock and pollock have been devastated by overfishing. They can still make a comeback, but not if we turn our backs on them and the fishermen who depend on them.

The collapse of many of these fisheries has taken its toll on fishing families and fishing communities, but slowly rebuilding these species is rebuilding our hope for the future.

Now is not the time to abandon these efforts. Now is not the time to give up on the progress we have already made.

The only way to guarantee healthy fishing communities over the long term is to rebuild the fish stocks using science-based methods, and I would ask my colleagues to support more funding for science.

The future of many coastal communities is based on sustainable fisheries, not rolling back management systems that give just a few fishermen a short-term boost.

I urge my colleagues to support many of the amendments that will be on the floor this afternoon that will try to improve this legislation, and I urge a ``no'' vote on the underlying bill.

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Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support the Dingell amendment.

As many of us in Congress know, our Nation's fisheries do not work on artificial timelines. If we want to be sure that fishery plans are getting the critical National Environmental Policy Act analysis that conserve and preserve our resources, we can't force these NEPA studies to be fast-tracked.

The underlying bill would force important environmental analyses to be rushed and, therefore, cut stakeholders out of the process due to rapid timelines.

At a time when we are trying to make sure that we keep stakeholders engaged in the process, they would actually get less consideration under the bill that we have on the floor today.

We need to ensure that our communities are given a chance to weigh in on these plans, and in that process that we take a thorough look at the environmental impacts of these plans.

My colleague has said that her amendment would restore common sense and requires us to look before we leap. I couldn't agree more.

I urge my colleagues to oppose artificial timelines for environmental reviews, and I urge my colleagues to support the Dingell amendment.

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Ms. PINGREE. I thank Mr. Huffman for giving this opportunity and for caring so deeply about our coastal communities and our fisheries.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support the Huffman-Sablan amendment because it would update the process we use to manage our Nation's fisheries without throwing away core programs. In particular, the Huffman-Sablan amendment would modernize fishery data collection by using electronic monitoring and fisheries survey technologies. These are the technologies that our fishermen need to update the current program, and they are the wave of the future--no pun intended.

has been facing devastating cuts as well as the sequester cuts over the past several years. As a result, now more than ever, we need to look at about how we can make our dollars do more with our fisheries. Electronic monitoring is a place where we can make an investment in the future that will help our fishermen today.

Also, the substitute amendment will ensure that we leave intact conservation programs that have been helping us to address overfished stocks. In the Gulf of Maine, we have seen the crisis in our fisheries firsthand, and we want to make sure that we are not forgetting all the work that our men and women who make their livings on the water have done. We do not want to roll back important conservation and management guidelines.

So again, Mr. Chairman, I support the Huffman-Sablan amendment. I appreciate my colleagues for working on this, and I urge all of my other colleagues to do the same.

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