Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will proceed immediately to final passage, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, preserving our beaches and bays and our coastal communities for future generations has to be a bipartisan endeavor. Congress passed landmark fisheries legislation in 1976 and reauthorized it in 1996 and 2006 with broad support from both parties.

Unfortunately, today's bill is a partisan one that will undermine our four-decade history of responsible and successful fisheries management. It creates loopholes and lessens transparency and accountability, which can only harm our coastal communities.

My amendment today is simple: give communities and regional experts at fishery management councils input, and increase the ability of local agencies to hold polluters more accountable after a spill.

Just a few weeks ago, on the California coast north of Santa Barbara, a pipeline ruptured beneath a coastal cliff, spilling 105,000 gallons of crude oil onto the beach and tidelands and into the Pacific Ocean. Despite rapid cleanup efforts from environmental officials and volunteers from across the State, the leak killed abundant marine life, including lobsters, seals, kelp bass, and local fish populations. It also forced the closure of local State beaches during the Memorial Day weekend, depriving local businesses of revenue from visitors coming to enjoy the scenic California coast.

Now, the short-term harm has been evident, but the long-term damage to the marine life, coastal ecosystems, and biodiversity, including fisheries and food stocks that are part of the region's economy, that damage won't be known for some time.

What is clear is that coastal communities deal with the harm from a spill long after the initial cleanup ends, and they deserve greater oversight over those who caused the damage.

My amendment addresses this issue in three ways: first, it directs the regional fishery management council to conduct a full environmental assessment of the spill; second, it requires the responsible party to pay for any pollution cleanup and restoration of the harmed fishers, and to provide compensation for economic and job losses due to the spill; and third, it protects public safety and food quality by requiring that polluters pay for testing of toxins in fish and in local waters to help fishermen determine the safest areas for fishing.

These provisions are necessary because, as we have seen from past cleanups, the long-term direct and indirect environmental damage is not always immediately apparent, particularly on fish and wildlife populations and marine biodiversity. This is our experience.

For example, despite massive cleanup efforts following the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, a 2007 study conducted by NOAA found that 26,000 gallons of oil from the Exxon Valdez were still trapped in the sand along the shoreline of Alaska. Those thousands of gallons of oil that remain decades later continue to damage fragile marine ecosystems and wildlife habitat and breeding grounds.

That 1989 spill caused more than $300 million in economic harm to more than 32,000 Alaskans whose livelihoods depended on commercial fishing in that region. And in Santa Barbara, where last month's spill occurred, tourism, both on- and offshore, are central to the regional economy and will undoubtedly be harmed by this pollution.

Mr. Speaker, I represent San Diego, California, where the marine industry, the maritime industry, and our large natural harbor are key to the region's tourism economy which supports 158,000 local jobs and $18.3 billion in economic impact. A spill like this could devastate our local economy and irreparably harm our delicate ecosystem.

It is imperative that Congress hold responsible parties accountable in the case of a destructive oil spill. We should all agree that supporting coastal communities and the businesses that depend on rivers, bays, lakes, beaches, and oceans deserve support and shouldn't be forced to pay for the mistakes of polluters.

Join me in supporting our local economies, protecting our coastal environments, ensuring public safety for consumers, and setting a higher standard for accountability.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this motion to recommit, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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