AMERICA’S FISHERMEN, SEAFOOD PRODUCERS WELCOME BIDEN ADMINISTRATION 30x30 REPORT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2021
Media Contacts: Blake Androff (202) 234-1224
Leigh Habegger (703) 794-5114
Matt Tinning (202) 286-6498
AMERICA’S FISHERMEN, SEAFOOD PRODUCERS WELCOME BIDEN ADMINISTRATION 30x30 REPORT
The report, “Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful”, recognizes the remarkable success of our nation’s existing marine conservation efforts, and sets out to build on them in ways that can extend win-win outcomes for seafood producers and the marine environment.
Today, the Biden Administration released a new report on implementation of its flagship 30x30 initiative. The report, Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful, lays out a compelling vision for collaborative conservation; facilitating sustainable use that produces social and economic benefits now, while safeguarding biodiversity for generations to come. It is a vision that United States fishermen and seafood producers can fully support.
“America leads the world in fisheries management and ocean conservation. Today, the Biden Administration has committed to maintaining and extending the collaborative, stakeholder-driven and science-based approaches to ocean conservation that have been such a bipartisan success story. The administration’s report states that nature is essential to the health, well-being, and prosperity of every family and every community in America. That is absolutely true for countless fishing communities across the United States, whose futures are inextricably linked to the resilience of the ocean ecosystems that sustain healthy marine fisheries. It is in all our interests to conserve and restore America the Beautiful. We have appreciated the opportunity to provide input to the administration on 30x30, and we look forward to continued engagement.”
- Matt Tinning, Director of Sustainability & Public Affairs, At-sea Processors Association.
“We share President Biden’s conservation vision, which recognizes that many uses of our lands and waters can be consistent with the long-term health and sustainability of natural systems. Area-based conservation measures are one of the important tools that scientists and managers have at their disposal in achieving marine biodiversity goals. In the United States, six Regional Fisheries Science Centers, together with eight Regional Fishery Management Councils, are advancing area-based ocean conservation based on the best available science. America’s seafood harvesters welcome the opportunity to build on those efforts over the coming decade, to ensure our oceans are healthy and productive even in the face of climate change.”
- Leigh Habegger, Executive Director, Seafood Harvesters of America
Additional Background:
The administration’s report can be reviewed here. It was required as part of Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, signed by President Biden on January 27th, 2021. Section 216(a) of that Executive Order required the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a report recommending “steps that the United States should take, working with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, and other key stakeholders, to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030”.
At-sea Processors Association (APA) represents six American seafood companies operating in North Pacific and Pacific fisheries. All operate catcher-processor vessels in the Bering Sea / Aleutian Islands Alaska pollock fishery, the largest seafood fishery in the world.
Seafood Harvesters of America (SHA) is the leading national organization of commercial fishermen, representing 19 different fishing associations from Alaska to Hawaii to Florida to Maine.
You can view a PDF version of this release here.