[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 40 (Monday, March 12, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S1579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. 
        Whitehouse, and Mr. Brown of Massachusetts):
  S. 2184. A bill to provide exclusive funding to support fisheries and 
the communities that rely upon them, to clear unnecessary regulatory 
burdens and streamline Federal fisheries management, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today, along with Senator Snowe, Senator 
Whitehouse, Senator Scott Brown and Commerce Committee Chairman 
Rockefeller, I am introducing the Fisheries Investment and Regulatory 
Relief Act of 2012. In the House, I am very pleased that Congressmen 
Barney Frank and Frank Guinta will be introducing similar legislation.
  In Massachusetts, commercial fishing supports more than 77,000 jobs. 
Recreational fishing is also an important part of our maritime economy 
and our local research institutions are world-renowned.
  However, today our fishermen continue to face economic peril and they 
are deeply frustrated by science and research they do not trust. We 
have to put the broken pieces back together and restore both trust in 
Washington and economic security for this industry and the brave 
fishermen who get up every day and go out on those boats to make a 
living for their families.
  In short, we need a new path. It starts by remaking the scientific 
research process and transforming it into something that does a much 
better job of including our fishermen in the data collection that forms 
the foundation of the rules and regulations that can determine their 
future.
  We can take an important first step in improving the relationship 
between our fishermen and Federal regulators by passing the Fisheries 
Investment and Regulatory Relief Act.
  The cornerstone of this bill is returning the use of Saltonstall-
Kennedy funds to our fishermen, as was the original intent of its 
creators. In 1954, Leverett Saltonstall and John F. Kennedy, Democratic 
and Republican Senators from Massachusetts, created the Saltonstall-
Kennedy fund for fisheries research and development. Under their law, 
30 percent of the duties on imported fish products was required to be 
transferred to a grant program to benefit the U.S. fishing industry. It 
was meant to be a permanent appropriation to promote science, research, 
and the development of American fisheries. But over years of tight 
budgets the use of these funds has gotten off track: to fund other 
priorities, the money has been going to places other than it was 
originally intended.
  In 2010, the funds collected from the import of fishery products is 
estimated to be $376.6 million. Thirty percent of that total is 
approximately $113 million that should be used to improve science and 
help our fisheries. Unfortunately last year, only $8.4 million of that 
$113 million was used by National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration--NOAA--for grants for fisheries research and development 
projects. The remaining funds were used by NOAA for their operations. 
This simply can not continue, especially given the current situation 
facing our fisheries. Our bill will restore the investment to help the 
fishermen and communities for whom Senators Saltonstall and Kennedy 
originally intended it to protect.
  The New England fishing industry has been facing a serious crisis due 
to declining fish stocks and increasing Federal regulations. The 
transition to a new management plan has increased mistrust between 
fishermen and the Federal Government to the highest it has ever been 
during my 27 years in the Senate.
  The Gulf of Maine cod crisis we are currently facing is emblematic of 
this distrust. Within 3 years of each other, two radically different 
stock assessments were released--the first assessment showed a species 
on the rise while the most recent survey shows a dramatic decline. Many 
of our fishermen do not believe in the new numbers because they have 
not been included in the process. This bill would provide local 
stakeholders with funding to help develop the accurate and credible 
science and stakeholder participation that we need.
  By giving stakeholders the ability to determine how Saltonstall-
Kennedy funds get spent, this bill would let New England decide what 
the unmet priorities in our fisheries research are and give them the 
funds necessary to do something about them. It could pay for things 
like side-by-side trawl surveys, done in cooperation with NOAA and our 
fishermen, so that we can find out if there are fish that are being 
missed by NOAA vessels and make sure that data gets into the 
assessments. It would allow for money to go into figuring out if there 
are more advanced tools, like long-range sonar and other fish imaging 
capabilities, which could do a better job at determining how many fish 
are in the sea. And by giving preference to public-private 
partnerships, it can help rebuild trust between fishermen and Federal 
regulators.
  Most importantly, it helps give our local fishing communities a 
bigger role in making these decisions.
  We know that every region has specific priorities that they would 
like to see funded. Under this bill, money from the Saltonstall-Kennedy 
Act would be used to implement regional fishery investment plans, which 
would be developed by the Regional Fishery Management Councils, 
released in the Federal Register for public comment, and approved by 
the Secretary of Commerce. The priorities would include everything from 
more frequent stock assessments, better recreational data, to crucial 
habitat restoration.
  This legislation will help give our fishermen a better chance to 
develop a clear, open dialogue with Federal regulators to determine we 
are up against and what we can do to fix it. It will help preserve our 
fishermen's livelihoods, their families' economic security and help 
ensure our fishing industry can survive for future generations. Most 
importantly, at a time of bitter division, it will restore trust--the 
rock upon which good governing has always been built.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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