Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, my amendment requires the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, to develop a strategy for how they plan to implement electronic monitoring in the Northeast Multi-Species Fishery by 2021.

Today, the majority of monitoring is conducted by at-sea, in-person monitors who NOAA sends on only about 30 percent of the trips. What is more, vessel owners must pay the cost of this in-person monitoring, at a cost of $900 a day. Not only is this a financial burden, especially on the small boat fleet owners, but it is also less effective because it leaves massive gaps for bad actors to exploit the system.

Modernizing fisheries monitoring programs by the full-scale adoption of electronic monitoring is critical for the future sustainability and the development of the North Atlantic's multi-species fishery. Full implementation of electronic monitoring will mean better data for making stock assessments and making sure that every fishing trip is monitored. This means better protections for our environment and more sustainable fisheries so that our fishing industry can remain strong for the generations to come.

This is why, in my district, there is already broad support among fishermen for moving to an electronic monitoring regime. It costs less. It rewards fishermen who play by the rules. It ensures that sustainability of the fisheries that their industry depends upon goes forward.

In fact, the Northeast Fisheries Council has already outlined the goal of total adoption of an electronic monitoring regime. However, NOAA's Marine Fishery Service does not have a strategy in place to make that goal a reality. Without an implementation strategy from NOAA, fishermen who elect to invest in electronic monitoring for their vessels would still be subject to the costly at-sea monitoring regime, so, in effect, would be forced to pay twice.

We need to move forward on this issue, take advantage of the new technologies that not only make it cheaper and easier to monitor, but more effective as well. We have an opportunity for a win-win scenario, but it requires that we commit to pursuing it.

Step one is NOAA reporting to Congress on what full implementation of the electronic monitoring should look like and by focusing first on the Northeast region. This strategy will serve as a model for other fishery regions around the country as they take their own steps towards adopting electronic monitoring across the country.

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from Alaska. I think the gentleman understands full well that that monitor on the ship poses very challenging times from the time that they are on that ship, and the $900 a day is simply something that fishermen can't afford right now. It is not necessary.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from Alaska for joining with me in this effort, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, this is another amendment that will reduce the cost of monitoring on fishermen.

My amendment would allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, to spend the fees they collect from penalties that are assessed against violators of fisheries regulations to help defray the costs related to monitoring. Being able to use the fees in this way will actually help NOAA prevent against future violations, as well as possibly reduce the cost to fishermen themselves.

Currently, these fees can be used only to support NOAA enforcement actions. While enforcement is important, it unnecessarily prevents NOAA from spending these funds on preventing violations in the first place. Electronic monitoring and at-sea monitoring trips help to ensure that these kinds of abuses do not occur. This makes them a critical tool to NOAA in enforcing regulations and ensuring that our fisheries remain sustainable.

Countless fishermen in my district have been suffering this past year because a select few decided to abuse the system. Greater investments in monitoring may have helped prevent this massive fraud that occurred. However, now that it has, it is important that measures be put in place to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. That means funding for prevention and monitoring.

NOAA should be able to use the funds it collects from the recent cases and any other cases that inevitably arise to double down on protecting the sustainability of fisheries and preventing as much abuse as possible before the harm is ever done.

My amendment does just that by allowing NOAA to use the fees it collects to support prevention efforts. This gives NOAA and the fisheries managers greater flexibility to find the right balance between prevention and enforcement, and, at the same time, lowers the cost of monitoring for fishermen.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague from Alaska for his support. He knows full well how difficult it is, particularly in our region, for fishermen just to sustain themselves, let alone sustain the fish. We want to sustain the fishermen themselves. These small vessels are out there, and they are facing $900-a-day monitoring charges. This is another means by which we will be able to do it.

So I find myself agreeing three times in the last few minutes with my colleague from Alaska--twice on my amendments and the other, indeed, on a prior amendment where he rightfully pointed out the rather hyperbolic description of the State of Maine, as wonderful as it is, and remind and agree with him that, indeed, this was just a mere portion of Massachusetts at one time.

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

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