Marine Monuments Letter to Representative Rob Bishop

March 13, 2017The Honorable Rob BishopChairmanHouse Committee on Natural Resources1324 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Dear Chairman Bishop:On behalf of the Seafood Harvesters of America, I want to express our appreciation for your leadership in examining the creation and management of marine monuments and sanctuaries. The extensive use of the Antiquities Act has unnecessarily impacted the commercial fishing industry, which has otherwise willingly adopted responsible approaches to prevent overfishing.The Harvesters represent over 3,900 small businesses, 19,000 jobs, almost $500 million in income and $1.25 billion in economic output. Our members are privileged to go to sea every day from the Gulf of Alaska, to the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Maine bringing to market healthy, domestic, sustainable seafood. We honor, depend upon and live with accountability in our fisheries and transparency in the regulatory process. Through the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), our fisheries have improved dramatically as the commercial fishing industry has become more responsible, accountable, and efficient.The MSA allows for identification of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) and regulatory mechanisms for preventing fishing in areas designated as essential. This process had been completed through the New England Fishery Management Council, which would have designated extensive areas for EFH protection along the Atlantic Seaboard, from the Carolinas to the Canadian border. This collaborative decade-long process that incorporated the best science available, stakeholder engagement and featured transparency was overridden by the establishment of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama unnecessarily took fishermen off the water across vast stretches of traditional fishing grounds, threatening local economies, increasing our seafood deficit, and ignoring the federal fishery management process.While management decisions to reduce quotas or restrict fishing are always contentious, we willfully engage in the process and abide by the decisions made through the regional council process as it has worked to prevent overfishing, rebuilt dozens of fish stocks and provided greater regulatory and economic certainty for our industry. Consequently, we believe that fishery decisions should continue to be managed through the MSA-established processes and not be subject to restrictions through the monument designation process.We look forward to working with you to ensure that we have a sustainable, renewable and a stable seafood supply that is managed with regulatory certainty and not subject to politically driven executive action.Sincerely,Chris Brown, PresidentKevin Wheeler, Executive Director