Undercurrent News: Seafood industry gives commerce secretary nominee hopeful embrace
Seafood industry gives commerce secretary nominee hopeful embrace
Governor Gina Raimondo (D-RI). Photo courtesy of Wall Street Journal.
By Jason Huffman
January 8, 2021
Several US seafood industry groups were quick on Thursday to express hopeful confident in president-elect Joe Biden’s choice to head the US Department of Commerce, the federal agency that houses both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
This in spite of a previously stated nervousness by some in the industry about the future actions of a Democratic party-led White House and two chambers of Congress.
Biden has nominated Gina Raimondo, the governor of Rhode Island, to hold the post.
“In light of the increasing number of proposed actions in our federal waters, we sincerely hope governor Raimondo’s experience working with the commercial fishing industry in Rhode Island will guide her in ensuring our businesses continue to thrive,” said Leigh Habegger, executive director of the Seafood Harvesters of America, a trade association that represents 18 commercial fishing groups and thousands of harvesters.
“In particular, her leadership on the Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) will be useful as the Commerce Department navigates ambitious offshore wind goals. We look forward to her swift confirmation and working with Ms. Raimondo and the Department of Commerce on ensuring that our commercial fishermen have a seat at the table during these, and other fisheries management discussions.
Christopher Brown, a Rhode Island area fisherman and the SHA’s president, also chimed in, albeit with some words of cautions.
“Hopefully her time in Rhode Island has granted her the wisdom to make sound choices to ensure the delivery of both. I hope that the commercial industry doesn’t become collateral damage of greater blind ambition,” he said.
John Connelly, the president of the National Fisheries Institute, was positive in an email sent on Thursday.
“Governor Gina Raimondo is an innovator who understands the vital balance between resources management and the needs of the business community,” he said. “We are encouraged that president-elect Biden has chosen a policymaker from a coastal state, who knows the importance of harvesting and the full seafood supply chain, for this leadership position. We look forward to working with her to ensure the continued sustainability of America’s fisheries and the entire seafood value chain.”
Potential influence over fishing and trade
Raimondo, 49, had earlier impressed the Biden team when she was considered to be his running mate and was also in contention to run the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Politico reports. She publicly pulled her name out of the running for HHS in early December after being informed the job was hers if she wanted it, according to the news service.
Raimondo comes with some business chops. The Yale Law School graduate is a former venture capitalist who worked at a fund backed by Bain Capital and started her own venture firm, which she ran before being elected general treasurer of Rhode Island in 2011.
Biden also has tapped longtime aide Don Graves to nominate for the position of deputy commerce secretary and California official Isabel Guzman to lead the Small Business Administration, Politico reports.
If approved by the Senate, the Rhode Island politician will preside over the federal agencies that have the most influence over commercial fishing regulations and also forecasting the weather and setting international product standards. She looks to replace Wilbur Ross, one of the few cabinet secretaries to survive Donald Trump’s first term.
Commerce secretaries don’t often involve themselves directly in fishing issues, allowing the heads of NOAA and NMFS to largely dictate such policies. However, from the early days of his tenure, Ross has been vocal in his desire to promote US-produced seafood and reduce seafood imports. He was an advocate for streamlining regulations to better enable offshore aquaculture.
Raimondo could influence policies related to aquaculture, the spread of windfarms and protections against overfishing. All were issues tackled in a webinar held by Undercurrent in advance of the election, as expert participants expressed their concerns and hopes in relation to a “blue wave” in the results.
Ross was less involved in Trump’s 27th-month trade war with China, which—through October 2020—had resulted in more than $495.1 million in tariffs on seafood imports and significant reductions in US lobster, pollock and other seafood exports to China, as reported by Undercurrent. However, as a member of the Cabinet, Politico advises that Raimondo could play a more visible role in future trade relations.
The Biden team has been working fast and furious to identify its future cabinet members. In November it named Kathryn Sullivan, who led NOAA for the last three years of the Barack Obama administration, as one of 21 names on its transition team list to review the Department of Commerce. But the team has yet to announce who it would prefer to lead NOAA or NMFS, roles currently held respectively by Neil Jacobs, in an acting capacity, and Chris Oliver, the assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries.
Earlier the president-elect announced that he was nominating House Ways and Means Committee trade attorney Katherine Tai to head the office of the US Trade Representative. Tai oversaw trade enforcement of China during the Obama administration (2011-2014), litigating cases before the World Trade Organization, and played a key role in negotiating trade policy for Democrats in the US-Mexico Canada Agreement.
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jason.huffman@undercurrentnews.com