Testimony of Chris Brown to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science

Testimony of ChrIs BrownPresident, Seafood Harvesters of AmericaHouse Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and ScienceApril 28, 2017

On behalf of the Seafood Harvesters of America, I respectfully request funding for the following lines in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) FY2018 appropriations account.• $180,000,000 – Fisheries Data, Collection, Surveys and Assessments• $ 50,000,000 – Observers and Training• $125,000,000 – Fisheries Management Programs and Services• $ 35,000,000 – Regional Councils and Fisheries Commissions• $ 75,000,000 – EnforcementThe Harvesters represent over 3,900 small businesses, nineteen thousand 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.As a lifelong commercial fisherman, I can attest that after years of hard work and sacrifice, once depleted fish populations are on the rebound and landings and revenue are up where we’ve made the difficult short-term sacrifices to ensure long-term profitability. We achieved this progress by working with NMFS to design and implement rules governing our fisheries regionally, based on a shared commitment to long-term sustainability. Through the accountability standards and conservation mandates in the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), our fisheries have improved dramatically as the commercial fishing industry has become more responsible, transparent and efficient. Where implemented, catch shares programs have ended the race to fish and enabled more flexible harvesting, allowing for more complete yields of target species, reducing bycatch and discards and avoiding catch of prohibited species.Resulting from our joint commitment and the prioritization of funding that this committee has supported over the years, America has some of the best managed fisheries in the world. While far from perfect, this model has proven to be a wise investment for the American taxpayer. The return on investment for these funds is overwhelming as NMFS estimates that rebuilding all U.S. fish populations to healthy levels would deliver taxpayers an additional $31 billion in annual sales and support 500,000 new American jobs.Despite successes in many fisheries, scientific and management uncertainty elsewhere has impeded sustainable harvesting practices and led to unwarranted conflict. Consequently, the Seafood Harvesters of America, support increased funding for NMFS’ programs that are vital to our ability to monitor, forecast and thus responsibly manage our fisheries.I encourage the committee to provide additional funds to support NOAA’s ability to fight the illegal importation and poaching of seafood as well as efforts to support seafood traceability. Our hard-working harvesters demand nothing more and deserve nothing less than a level playing field in a global marketplace where far too many fish are caught and sold illegally.The influx of invasive species, warming waters, altered currents and acidification are impacting the habitat, migration patterns and health of the fisheries that we strive to bring to market each day. I’ve fished in the same waters off of Point Judith Rhode Island for over 40 years and I’m catching species that I have never seen in Narraganset Bay. This tells me that we need better and timelier data so that we can responsibly adjust to the changes that Mother Nature is throwing our way.We are at a turning point in the history of our nation’s fisheries, and I foresee tremendous growth with appropriate investments. However, I fear that budget cuts could lead to less information, less certainty and thus lower quotas to fish; which will devastate fishing communities along all our coasts.We need more, not fewer, surveys of our fisheries, so we can have accurate stock assessments – the lifeblood of sustainable fisheries. We need cooperative research so that we can utilize the on-the-water experience and expertise of fishermen to better understand and predict how our fisheries are responding to climate change. And finally, we need to modernize the data systems so that we can take advantage of real-time information to avoid overfishing stocks in decline or under fishing stocks that are rebuilding.Fishermen in both the commercial and recreational sectors have long offered to provide the data we collect while fishing. And while efforts have been taken to incorporate our contributions, too often the government is unable to use data from fishermen because its’ existing systems are not equipped to handle the additional input. Consequently, I greatly appreciate the committees continued support for incorporating agency-independent data into stock assessments.Investments in technology could help lighten the heavy burden of the cost of human observers who are often required to measure catch, a job that could be accomplished in many instances by cameras and other technology. Personally, I have installed a camera system on my boat that increases the value of data coming out of the fishery by recording the catch when I haul back the nets. I hope the committee will continue to support innovations and implementation of electronic monitoring and reporting technologies that I have found can provide invaluable fisheries knowledge and data.Our harvesters work in some of the most harsh and dangerous environments and leave the dock each day not knowing for sure if they will return to their loved ones. Consequently, safety is of utmost importance for our industry. However, our fishing fleet is aging and thus less safe than ideal. We desperately require access to finances to construct safer vessels and therefore, encourage recapitalization opportunities through NOAA’s Fishing Finance Program.I greatly appreciate your consideration of the Harvester’s appropriations requests. I believe these investments will produce valuable returns for our domestic industries that harvest, process, market, deliver, prepare and serve seafood to Americans across the nation. Accountability is critical for success and as fishermen we will continue to champion transparency so that we can to make wild-caught fish a viable, enduring, dependable source of food.Christopher BrownPresident, Seafood Harvesters of America