After Pressure from Schumer, Commerce Sending Economic Assistance Team to Fishing Community on Long Island

Press Release

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that the United States Commerce Department has agreed to his call to have an economic development team, assembled by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), come to Long Island. The team traveling to Montauk will spend two-plus days on the ground to talk with local businesses, community leaders and fishermen about the challenges and opportunities they currently face. The team will consist of approximately ten members from the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others. The team will be charged with compiling a report identifying unique challenges faced by the Long Island fishing industry, as well as helping to identify best economic practices for the region, at the same time as giving actionable technical assistance ideas.

"This is a very good step and it appears that Commerce is finally starting to listen. They will get an earful from LI's besiege fishing community regarding overly stringent, non-science based regulations that keep them from earning a living, as well as arbitrary, punitive enforcement," said Schumer. "Our fishing industry knows full well the unique problems they face so it is important that Commerce starts focusing on the specific needs of the Long Island fishing community. The key here will be to ensure that the Commerce Department fully reviews the findings that come from the report and then acts upon them to provide our local industry with much needed relief."

Today's announcement comes almost 2 weeks after the Commerce Department reversed an earlier decision it made not to allow fishermen to appeal violations that were issued by overly zealous fisheries officials in the northeast region. In the announcement, Commerce Secretary Locke stated the agency would be sending economic assistance teams to the Northeast Region. Schumer called for Commerce to ensure that it sent an economic development assistance team to Long Island.

According to the EDA, economic assistance teams will arrive on Montauk in late April.

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