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Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, my amendment to H.R. 3354 will provide needed regulatory relief to fishermen from the East End of Long Island and the entire region who are struggling under confusing and arbitrary Federal restrictions on striped bass fishing in Block Island Sound.

The unique maritime geography of our region means that making the 15-mile journey by boat from Montauk Point, New York, to Block Island, Rhode Island, requires passing through a segment of waters considered to be part of the EEZ known as the Block Island Transit Zone.

For recreational anglers, charter boat captains, and commercial fishermen, this shift in jurisdiction can mean the difference between a nice day on the water and committing a Federal offense.

My amendment would bar the U.S. Coast Guard from enforcing this ban on striped bass fishing in these waters so that Coast Guard resources can be focused on their important national security and safety mission.

No other species of fish besides striped bass are subject to this confusing ban which was meant to impact the high seas of the EEZ, not a small segment of local waters situated between two State boundaries.

Fishermen should be able to legally fish for striped bass in this limited area just as they currently can in adjacent State waters. A recreational angler or boat captain on the water off of Montauk Point, New York, can easily go from fishing legally and responsibly in State waters to violating Federal law once they pass over the 3-mile limit where New York State waters end and the Transit Zone begins.

Many of these individuals lack the expensive GPS technology to know if and when they have crossed the boundary, and there are no buoys to warn them. These are responsible men and women who have the greatest vested interest in preserving the striped bass fishery, but they also desperately need relief from confusing government regulations that are hurting their livelihoods and access to local fisheries.

Last Congress, my stand-alone bill to address this issue, H.R. 3070, the EEZ Clarification Act, passed the House with a unanimous voice vote.

This amendment is supported by the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, and the Montauk Boatman & Captains Association. On behalf of the hardworking men and women of Long Island who rely on fishing as a way of life, I ask for your support on this commonsense amendment.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. Chairman, this bill removes a burden from the Coast Guard. It doesn't micromanage any local council. It actually empowers the local council. It doesn't make any changes to stock assessments.

You still are subject to the management of the local fisheries. You cannot fish for any more fish than you were previously. So actually, all the logic that was used by my colleague, you could actually very much more easily argue the opposite side.

It should be further noted that my colleague from California, as she speaks about what is the right policy here on the east end of Long Island for our hardworking fishermen, voted in favor of H.R. 3070, which was unanimously passed by the last Congress.

So it wouldn't make any sense to be arguing that this bill places a burden on the Coast Guard when it is lifting it, or that it is micromanaging a local council when it empowers it to control the fishery.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. Chairman, I think it is a great idea to empower the Atlantic Fishery Council by passing this amendment because if we don't pass this amendment, if we don't change the Federal law, they are not empowered. Federal law says you can't fish in the EEZ between Montauk Point and Block Island, Rhode Island. So if we do not pass this legislation, if H.R. 3070 became law in the last Congress, we wouldn't be here right now and the Council would be managing the local fishery.

But Federal law prevents the regional management of the fishery. It actually just says, outright, you can't fish for striped bass at all.

So all the arguments that are now being used for the first time against this particular argument, a proposal that was passed unanimously last Congress, which is now being opposed by a colleague from California, to be telling us what the right policy is on the east end of Long Island, saying that we should be managing this fishery is an argument I absolutely agree with, and that is exactly why it is so important to pass this legislation.

My colleague, in opposing this proposal, is actually making the argument of exactly why it needs to pass. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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